Pumpkin Cookies

As soon as the temperature drops below 60 degrees, I feel like homemade soup, homemade bread, and pumpkin cookies. I got this recipe from a friend. I love it. I know some recipes use allspice but I hate allspice. Another reason I will never be a professional cook. Here is the recipe. I hope you curl up with a good book when you eat them. They are so much better that way.

3 cups sugar 2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 eggs 2 teaspoons nutmeg

5 cups flour 2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda 1 large can pumpkin

2 teaspoons baking powder 1-2 bags chocolate chips

1 cup oil

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Put sugar, eggs, vanilla, oil and pumpkin in a mixing bowl. Mix on low until everything is combined. Add flour mixture and chocolate chips and mix on low until combined. I like to mix the dough with a spoon at this point so I won't over mix the dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. I sometimes freeze the dough because this recipe makes at least 5 dozen cookies. You can freeze it in a container. You thaw it on the counter until it is thawed out all the way. You then scoop it out and cook it. Or, you can scoop dough out on a wax lined cookie sheet. Freeze the dough balls. Once thoroughly frozen, put them in a ziplock bag and freeze. To defrost them, put them on a cookie sheet and thaw on counter. Once thawed bake. If I freeze the cookies already baked, I leave them on a plate with no covering and let them thaw. Once you cover them they become soggy.

Cooking for Families

I stated in my profile that I love to cook and that is true. You would think that my family likes to eat. Nope! Not mine.

I was watching a commercial for Hamburger Helper. The mom says, "How about we have Hamburger Helper Cheesy Macaroni and Beef?" She shuts the pantry and they are all sitting up to the table. They have this same family filmed showing the husband and kids trying to run to the table. The dad is so excited he almost falls down the stairs. (This made me laugh)

The day after I saw this commercial, I said to my family, "Time for dinner!" I received no response. I said, "If you come to dinner now, you can dish out your own plate. If you come later, I will dish it your plate for you." (We have a rule you have to eat whatever you dish out.) I am not kidding when I say they were in there seats before I finished talking. That is how excited my kids are for my cooking. Maybe it is because I wasn't cooking Hamburger Helper. My husband works the late shift so he has an excuse for missing dinner.

Three days after that I was cooking in the kitchen. I made soup, rolls, bacon, and cookies. Through all of this preparation my dog Cooper was by my side eagerly waiting for some dropped morsel of food. This made me laugh to think that my biggest fan is my dog!

He is the funniest dog ever. He loves to sit right in the middle of the kitchen floor and watch me. He won't move out of the way. He just lays there and stares. Often, my little boy Caleb is laying on top of him. Caleb tries to convince Cooper to go downstairs with him, but Cooper won't leave. Sometimes I get busy in the house and don't get to the timer on the oven right away or I can't hear it. Cooper will stand in the kitchen and bark. I come in and he looks and me and then barks at the oven. I think he is saying, "Get it! We want it! " At least I have one fan!

Family Movies

I will admit that I am not very good at taking home movies. I want to but I feel like I am missing the moment when I am behind a camera. I was watching Ramona and Beezus recently and I realized I really connected with this family. The situations, relationships, and scenerios brought out by each other were very realistic. I thought this movie is like my family.

As I was watching it I was thinking, "So that is what is happening in Lydia's head". There is a scene where Ramona is jumping out of the new addition being built onto her house. In her mind she is jumping out of an airplane. I said, "I wish I had an imagination like that." Lydia said, "Well, it can be bad sometimes because you can scare yourself really bad. It is hard to tell what is real and what is not." Wow! Now I understand her and Caleb so much more.

Brian, my husband, told me that Caleb told him, "The reason I get scared sometimes is there are portals all over our house." I recently took him to the gym with me to work out. He was playing with a pedal on a bike. He pushed it as fast as he could and waited until it stopped moving. At first he was impressed with his strength. Within 20 minutes he was sure there was a robot ghost making it move and he was crying. Brian and I think for Lydia and him the line between reality and fantasy is very thin.

When Ramona spills paint on her neighbors car while giving it a car wash, I laughed so hard I was crying. My Lydia gets herself in fixes all the time. She is super smart and she loves to laugh. She never has to have a game or joke explained. She just gets it. That is why I have decided if I buy Ramona and Beezus I will have some home videos to add to my collection.

Mexican Lasagna

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

1 can chili's, chopped & drained

2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 onion, processed

1 c shredded cheese

2 chicken breasts

1-2 cans chicken broth

8-10 tortillas

1 can green enchilada

3 cups shredded cheese

Boil chicken breasts in chicken broth and 1 teaspoon cumin. 5-10 minutes on medium high heat. You will know it is shreddable when you can put a fork in the center and the chicken breaks. Remove chicken from broth mixture and shred onto a plate. Mix cream cheese, chili's, cumin, onion, 1 cup cheese, and meat. Spray 9x13 pan. Layer ripped tortilla on the bottom. 1/3 cheese mixture, 1/3 enchilada sauce. Repeat twice. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Add remaining 2 cups of cheese and cook 5 minutes.

My brother-in-law Brent invented this recipe. It is so creamy and yummy. It makes great leftovers and you can make it ahead and cook later.

Blogging

My husband and both my girls have decided to start blogging. I love reading their blogs and learning more about them. I decided that maybe my blog could add humorous stories and other insights about my life. I am a stay at home Mom and my life on the whole is pretty boring. It is the little things said and done around here that make my life so interesting.

Caleb is my 4 year old boy. We recently had two of his boy cousins over for a couple of days. One of them is 3 and one is 5. Caleb was in heaven. I took them the Air Force Museum at Hill AFB. I was laughing the whole time. They wanted to know the name of each plane, how did they get it in the museum. Couldn't they pick a more awesomer car to pull it in like a transformer? Hey isn't that a deceptagon? I want to sit in that chair. I'm scared! I need to get down. Oh! Those are seat belts. Ok. Take my picture Mom!

Clam Chowder

That white bread makes me think of my favorite soup. Clam Chowder! I might as well share that recipe too.

1 small onion

2-3 stalks celery

3 cups potatoes

1 can minced clams

1 can chopped clams

3/4 cup butter or margarine

3/4 cup flour

1 quart half-and-half

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

I like to puree onion in the food processor. I dice the celery really small and I cube the potatoes so they are bite size. (I don't make them all the same size I just don't have huge chunks of potatoes.) Add all vegetable and clam juice to the sauce pan. Add enough water that all vegetables are covered. (It should be at least 2 1/2 quarts.) Let boil for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally. Keep checking whether they are cooked with a fork. If it is hard to poke through a potato it is not done. If it breaks easily the vegetables are done.

While vegetables are cooking melt butter in a 3 quart saucepan. When butter starts to simmer, bubble around edges, add flour and stir till combined. Remove from heat. Add the half-and-half, salt, and pepper and whisk till the mixture becomes smooth with no lumps. Put saucepan back on heat and cook until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Pour milk mixture into vegetable mixture and stir. Add clams and stir. Keep on heat until soup is warmed through. Serve.

I read somewhere you can use frozen cubed hash browns if you are in a hurry. I love the taste of regular potatoes, but many people prefer red potatoes because they don't fall apart as easily and they taste a little sweeter. The vegetable and types of clams are all your preference. Some people hate celery. If that is the case use less of it.

Perfect White Bread Every Time

This is a recipe my sister-in-laws sister-in-law gave to me. I just had to say that because I think it is funny. I have tweaked it a little. I have given this recipe to Girls and Guys and everyone loves it.

I like to use my kitchen Aid for this recipe. You can use any mixer.

Turn oven to 400 degrees

3 cups Flour

2 Tablespoons Yeast

1 Tablespoon Salt

Mix these ingredients until incorporated

Add 3 Cups Warm water, the temperature of a nice warm bath not hot

Mix thoroughly and let rest for 10-20 minutes. The yeast should be at a foaming stage. It will have multiplied a lot and formed many bubbles. If the water and the room are at the right temperature this will only take 10 minutes.

Add

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup honey

3-5 cups flour.

41/2 cups flour to start. Mix these ingredients at a low-medium speed for 8 minutes. If after 4 minutes dough is still sticking to the side of the pan add more flour a little at a time until it no longer sticks. There have been a few times when I have had to add a little more than 5 cups. You have to watch the mixer. I swear mine walked of the cabinet and jumped to the floor. I have the dent to prove it!

Grease a bowl. Put dough in the bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise for 20 minutes. (This step is not essential. It makes the bread tall and beautiful but if you are in a hurry it will still taste good if you put dough immediately in pans.)

After the bread has risen punch down and divide into two large loaves or two medium loaves and a small loaf. I grease the counter to shape the bread and grease the bread pans. (I prefer glass loaf pans they cook more even.) Put the loaves in the pans and let rise. The dough needs to be at least as tall as the rim of the bread pan. This takes at least 10 minutes. The longer you let them rise the bigger your loaves will be. I have found that you also get more air pockets.

I melt about 1 tablespoon of butter and spread it evenly over the tops of the loaves of bread and then spray with water (using a spray bottle) right before I put them in the even. This keeps the tops from browning too dark. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. The bottoms of the bread will look a light golden brown. Most of the loaf should be this color before you take the bread out of the oven. Once you take the bread out of the oven, let bread sit in the pan for 5 more minutes before dumping them onto a towel. (This will keep the bottoms of the bread cooking longer which will help the bread cook through the center.)

This bread start to finish can take 1 hour. It should not take more than 1 1/2 hours.

If you use wheat flour do not let the bread rise in the bowl. Simply put it straight in the greased loaf pan and follow the rest of the steps.

Dutch Oven Potatoes

8 medium potatoes

1/2 pound bacon

1 onion, medium and minced

1/2 pound cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 cup butter

Slice the potatoes in a food processor or a salad shredder. Immediately rinse in cold water in a colander. Put in a glass bowl and cover with cold water and a little salt. (These steps are important because they keep the potatoes from turning gray and slimy as they cook!) Cover with saran wrap and heat in microwave on high for 4 minutes. (This is optional; it reduces the cooking time, but you can skip it and still get good results--you'll just need to cook it a little longer.) Heat 12-inch Dutch oven on the stove and saute bacon and onions until bacon is crisp. (You can also do this in a skillet and then move to the D.o.) Melt butter in Dutch oven, then add potatoes after draining water off. Cover and cook 30 to 45 minutes with 14 briquettes on top and 10 beneath. The last 3 minutes lift off lid and add cheese. Put lid back on and let the cheese melt.

(Edited 11 July to add the changes Brian suggested. Thanks, B. You are the best husband in the galaxy!

Skillet Penne, Spinach and Sausage Dinner

This is a fast dinner that all of my kids will eat. I personally love it!

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, minced in food processor

salt

3/4 pound sausage

3 garlic cloves, minced

8 ounces Penne

2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 (5 ounce) bag baby spinach

1/2 cup Parmesan, grated

Pepper

Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and a dash of salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the sausage and cook, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add penne. Pour the broth and cream over the pasta. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer. stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender about 10 minutes.

Stir in the spinach a handful at a time and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese and pepper and serve.

Fluffy Dinner Rolls

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/3 cup honey

4 tablespoons crisco shortening

3 tablespoons butter

1 large egg

5-5 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon yeast

2 teaspoons salt

Microwave the milk, honey, shortening, and butter together until butter and shortening are mostly melted about 2 minutes. Whisk to melt any remaining pieces of butter or shortening, then set aside to cool until just warm. Whisk in the egg.

Combine 5 cups of the flour, yeast, and salt in a Kitchen Aid fitted with dough hook. With the mixer on low speed, add the milk mixture and mix until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes.

Increase mixer speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. If after 4 minutes more flour is needed, add the remaining 1/2 cup flour, 2 tablespoons at a time, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl but sticks to the bottom.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball. place in a large lightly oiled bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let rise until double in size 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Grease a 13x9 dish. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and stretch it into an even 15-inch log. Cut the log into 15 equal pieces and cover with greased saran wrap. Shaping the rolls one at a time fold log in half and then pinch sides down into a ball. Once shaped and put in the dish spray lightly with vegetable spray and cover with saran wrap. Let rise for at least 20 minutes. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Rotate pan halfway through baking. Pull it out of the oven and let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes on a cooling rack. Dump onto cloth and then spread tops with butter.

These rolls get very tall. They are a lot like a roll you would get at a nice restaurant.

Brian and I like to cook these in the dutch oven. Once all the rolls are formed, I roll them in a bowl of melted butter (about 1/3 cup) and put them in the 9x13 dish. I let them rise for 20 minutes and then place them in a 12 quart dutch oven which has 1/4 cup butter melted in the bottom. You will need 14 coals and cook for 30-35 minutes. The bottom of the rolls will be a nice golden brown. The top doesn't brown that much.

Granola

This is my moms recipe. I love it. I have changed it a little bit because I like it softer and with less things in it. The options for add-ins are limitless.

3 cups Oats

1 cup oat bran

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup margarine, my favorite is Land O'Lakes brand

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

You will need a two-quart dish. Microwave oats on high for 2 minutes. I stir it once at least. I let it cool a little, while I soften the margarine in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Add the oat bran and brown sugar. Break up all the brown sugar lumps. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Cook 5 minutes at 70 percent power level stirring once every minute.

You can cook it for a minute longer and it will be crunchier. At camp the girls added all kinds of dried fruit, raisins, m&ms, gummy bears, nuts, sunflower seeds... If you add a fruity candy like gummy bears all of the granola mix tastes like the gummy bears.

In the past I have melted 3 tablespoons butter with 1 package mini marshmallows and then add the granola and 1 cup of mini chocolate chips. Pour them into a greased 7x9 pyrex pan. Let it set and then you can wrap them in saran wrap or whatever you want.

I have just gotten back from girls camp. It was a lot of fun! I came up with a few more recipes. I don't think we are going to have a recipe theme tonight. I will just type till I get tired. It turns out the girls wanted to have a sleep over on the trampoline tonight and I have all the free time in the world.

Devre brought over peanut butter bars yesterday. They were delicious! I really appreciated them because I didn't make any dessert, and what is Sunday without dessert.

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Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

This is my Grandma Dustin's recipe. It is my favorite. I visited her while at college and she had made these.

1 cup shortning

1 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix sugar, shortning, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix well. Chill thoroughly. Roll out, cut, and bake at 325 degrees. 12-13 minutes

Cookies will look white

Macadamia Nut Vanilla Chip Cookies

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup margarine, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup salted macadamia nuts

1 package vanilla milk chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. In large mixer bowl combine sugar, brown sugar and margarine mix in low speed for 3 minutes. The mixture should be creamy and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and let mix 1 minute make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl with each addition. Add vanilla and mix again briefly. Be careful not to mix too much. Add flour mixture, nuts, and chips. I like to stir it by hand until fully incorporated. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Cool for 1 minute on baking sheets. Transfer to wire cooling rack.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 1/3 cups flour

3/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

16 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 bag semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, 1-2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chocolate chips until incorporated.

Working with 1/4 cup of dough at a time roll the dough into balls and lay on two parchment lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake until the edges are golden but the centers are still soft and puffy 17-20 minutes.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

I also make these cookies with a regular cookie scooper. Then I bake for 7-10 minutes. I leave them on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire rack.

I haven't cooked much this week. I have had company. I like to enjoy my company instead of spending all of my time in the kitchen. If I was more organized I would cook and freeze meals so when company comes I could heat them up and have a good meal.

I love cookies. I usually try to have cookies in me freezer at all times. Whether it is frozen dough or baked cookies it doesn't matter to me. My husband just told me he could go the rest of his life and not eat another chocolate chip cookie. He likes my other cookies. It is a really good recipe. He just has had too many. I am now working on gathering more varieties. Today I think I will share my favorite cookie recipes.

I have mentioned Moms roll dough in several recipes. You can find the recipe in the month of May recipes.

Pigs in a Blanket

This is a favorite for every child I have ever fed them too.

Moms Roll Dough

Hillshire Farms Lil Smokies

Roll dough out on a floured surface in a square shape. Make sure the dough is at least 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 1 1/2 inch x 2 inch rectangles. They do not have to be exact. It is just a guideline. I use a pizza cutter to cut dough.

I use smokies right out of the package and roll up one per a rectangle. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake in 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. I like them to be a light golden brown.

I have one daughter who prefers cheddar filled smokies.

Quick and Easy Biscuits

1/4 cup butter

1 package pillsbury biscuits

Turn oven to 450 degrees. Cut butter into 4 even slices and then put it into casserole dish. Place dish in oven and melt butter. Put biscuits in butter then flip to coat the other side. bake for 7-10 minutes.