Pumpkin Overload

My sister was here for the Thanksgiving weekend and we got a little carried away.  She needed to make this pumpkin cake.  It looked really good and was super easy.  1 and 3/4 boxes of spice cake mix, 1 and 3/4 cup pumpkin and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.  It wasn't that great.

Then we got looking at Pintrest.  Bad idea.  I'm totally hooked and have done so many things off of there already.  It's crazy!  But we found this recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie pies and we had extra pumpkin left from her cake so we had to try them.

I know this picture is blurry but I wanted you to look and drool.  They were so good!

We also found a recipe for a baked oatmeal on Pintrest and had more pumpkin left so we tried that too.

We had to have some cocoa with it.  What is breakfast without cocoa?

I love being able to use my fun pink stuff!

We ended up adding some brown sugar to the oatmeal and we think we need to modify it a bit more. (A lot more) but it was still yummy.

My favorite part... Sharing the weekend with my sister and having a blast!

Coconut and some other breads

I love this coconut bread recipe so much!  Another one from my friend Lisel, (I get all the good ones from her).  I use to just do things for her so she would make some for me but I finally asked her for the recipe because just one little mini loaf was never enough.  I'm being very kind and sharing the recipe here.

Coconut Bread:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 teaspoons coconut extract

Mix together:
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt.
Add this to the egg mixture.  Then add:
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup coconut

This will make 7 mini loafs!  Please don't try and make it fit into 6.  If tried and it does not work.  

Bake at 325* for 40-45 minutes.  

For the glaze you will need:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons butter.
Boil this for 5 min.  Remove from heat and add
1 teaspoon coconut extract
5-10 drops food coloring


Cool for 2-3 minutes and then pour over warm bread.


I do not put food coloring in mine but Lisel always does.

I also tried making a new bread recipe, Cherry Eggnog Tea Bread.  It was okay.  Here is a picture of all the breads I made.  The first is a Chocolate Quick Bread.  The eggnog bread is in front.  The coconut is in back and on the one side and the bread in the middle is my Oatmeal Cinnamon Bread.  LOVE IT! 

Cream Puffs and Peppermint Tarts

Here is an easy recipe for cream puffs.  You can buy some at Costco or you can make these and amaze yourself it was so easy.

Cream Puffs:
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Boil the water, butter and salt.  When its at a full rolling boil, add the flour all at once.  Stir with a wooden spoon until it makes a ball.  (I'll take pictures of this next time I do it.)
Add the dough to the eggs that you have already slightly beaten.  Whisk until smooth.  You can do this by hand, I have done it that way but it is so much easier to put it in your mixer and let it do it for you.
Grease a mini muffin pan.  But small, rounded teaspoons of dough in.  Bake at 375* for 25 min.  As soon as they are done, poke a hole in them with a knife and cool on a cooling rake completely.

For the filling you can do a few things.  I usually make a double batch when I cook these so I use a big tub of Cool Whip and add a small box of French Vanilla pudding. 
You can also use a small tub of Cool Whip and add 1/2 cup powder sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  You can get creative here and do all kinds of things.  I've filled them with chocolate whip and even thought of putting chicken salad in them.  You can then drizzle them with chocolate frosting.  I have a chocolate glaze recipe from my mother-in-law that I use.  They are good just how they are too. 

Here are the peppermint tarts.  Also really yummy. :0)

They are gone so fast!  Love these at the holidays or any day really.

Fudge

I love fudge.  I love making fudge.  It is an easy treat and I get so many complements from it.  My Dad had given me a chocolate heart a few Years ago and I used the last of it with these two batches of fudge I made.

I use the recipe that is on the Marshmallow Cream jar.  When I asked my Mom for her recipe and she told me she used this one I couldn't believe it.  I like mine thinner than putting it in a 9" square pan so I put it in a 9x13 pan.

For my peppermint fudge I put about 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract in when I put in the vanilla and I also crush up Starlite Candies and put them on the bottom of the pan before I pour in the fudge.  So good!  I usually use white chocolate chips when I do the peppermint fudge but I wanted to use the rest of the heart.

For my orange fudge, I use about 2 teaspoons of orange extract.  This makes it taste just like a chocolate orange.  It is so good!

I also made some carmel but it turned out really hard.  That is what is in the middle in the picture below.  When I can get it right, I'll post that recipe.

New Dresses

Yes, I've got them done this year with plenty of time to spare!  I also used fabric that can be worn all year long.

I love how this one stand up on its own.  It is so fluffy and I just love this pattern.  One of my challenges when I was making this pattern for my oldest daughter was the netting.  Not any more.  I love working with it and love what it adds to the dresses.

Here is my two girls and their dresses.  Come spring we can go without the shirts underneath and white instead of black.

I love this picture of my oldest spinning!  Beautiful!

Holiday Craft Ideas

I love this blog!  I wanted to share.  Every day this month they are having a ton of ideas for home-made crafts for Christmas.  This is the 3rd year that I have been glued to this site every day.  I got so many good ideas from them last year and I am really excited about some of them that they have already posted!  You should check it out. :0)

Sew, Mama, Sew!

Popcorn

So last night we had a family movie night.  We had just bought popcorn holders for our kids and my husband wanted to use them.  He got in the pantry only to find I had used the last of the microwave popcorn for my caramel popcorn last week.  He was very sad.  But.. I remembered seeing this post from one of my favorite blogs I like to stalk. :0)  So cool!  We had never thought of trying to pop our own before.  I grew up with my mom using a hot air popper and I have always wanted one.  But now I don't need one.

Look what just a little bit of kernels make!  I even put cinnamon and sugar on it.  I didn't have coconut oil but I think I might have to get some.  The baby loves popcorn and loved that she had her own holder.

My other kids were not fans of the cinnamon and sugar but my husband and I were!  So yummy!  And popcorn is a healthy snack.  Depending on how much cinnamon and sugar you put on it. :0)