Maple Pumpkin Pie with Salted Pecan Brittle

Pumpkin pie is a holiday favorite.  I love traditional pumpkin pie, but I'm always happy to find a new twist to it.  The filling of this pumpkin pie has a touch of maple flavor and is a lighter filling, more like a chiffon.  I've already made it twice for two different parties, and everyone was asking for the recipe.  It's a winner!!!  (The bonus . . . you'll also love the recipe for the Salted Pecan Brittle.  Yum, yum!)

The Sweetest Applesauce!

We eagerly look forward to canning applesauce as soon as we turn the page of the calendar to the month of September.  Our main motivation for canning is so that we can have those wonderful tastes of summer and autumn deep into the winter.  We also want to save money by growing fruits and vegetables or by looking for the best value.

We have an old apple tree in our back yard that does not produce well, and the apples aren't so great for applesauce. So we do our legwork each year looking for the best tasting apples at the best price. It's fun, especially when we find it!  We strive to make the sweetest applesauce .... without adding sugar!

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Salad

I love fresh fruits and vegetables, and I love summer because they are plentiful. Combining them in a salad makes a perfect lunch or light dinner.  You can select those that are your favorites or use what you have on hand.  Serve it with a light lime dressing and your choice of herbs and cheeses to make it your own. For this salad, I used strawberries, grapes, cucumbers, red bell peppers, fresh basil, feta cheese and a light lime dressing. Other options may include tomato, avocado, mango, kiwi, Romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese.

Berry Cherry Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

Pie crust for 2-crust pie
4 cups fresh or frozen tart cherries or berries
1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, depending on tartness
4 tablespoons corn starch
1 1/2 tablespoons butter to dot

Directions:

(Note): Allow time because you will heat the fruit and then let it cool before pouring into the pie crust.

Place cherries/berries in medium saucepan and heat on stove until the berries give off considerable juice. Remove from heat.

Mix sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl and then pour into the hot fruit and stir well.  Return to stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently.  Remove from the stove and cool. (Note): If the mixture is too thick, stir in a little water. If it is too thick, stir in a little more cornstarch.

Preheat the over to 375 degrees F.

Prepare pie crust for 2-crust pie.  Roll out one piece to fit in an 8 to 9-inch pie pan. Pour the cooled fruit filling into the bottom crust. Dot with butter.  Roll out the top crust and place on the pie, fluting the edges. Make a slit in the middle of the pie to let steam escape.  Cover the edges with aluminum foil to prevent burning.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until lightly browned. (Remove the foil from the edges for the last 10 minutes of baking.)  Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!

Flaky Pie Crust Recipe

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Swedish and Easter Egg Braid Bread

My Grandmother passed down a tradition in our family of making Swedish Braid Bread, a delicious sweet bread flavored with mildly spicy cardamom and braided into a glistening golden loaf of goodness.  It's a tradition I like to continue to this day, and I've recently learned how to combine this Swedish tradition with the Italian tradition of tucking eggs into the bread for a really special treat.

Two things to note:  1) You can follow this tutorial to braid any kind of bread recipe, and 2) there are various ways you can shape and size the loaves of braided bread.

Irish Soda Bread in time for St. Patrick's Day

Irish Soda Bread isn't just for the Irish.  In fact, Native Americans were making soda bread before the European settlers arrived. It became known as Irish Soda Bread because it was considered a poor man's bread; it was the easiest and least expensive bread to put on the table during the great potato famine in Ireland.  It has become a common tradition to buy or make soda bread for St. Patrick's Day.

How to Brine and Roast a Turkey and Make Perfect Gravy

It's November--turkey month!  Turkey has become the traditional main course for Thanksgiving dinner in America. We all have our favorite must-have side dishes, but there's a good chance you'll be serving turkey to your family and guests.  Whether you're making it for a few people or a large gathering, you want your turkey to turn out perfect, both in appearance and in taste. If you'd like your turkey to turn out juicy and flavorful, you may want to consider brining it. I've been eating turkey for Thanksgiving all my life.  I always thought it's ok, a little dry and not real flavorful.  I never knew how really delectable turkey could be until I started brining.  I began brining my turkeys a few years ago, and now it's the only way I'll roast one.

Easy-Make Gourmet Cupcakes for Valentine's Day

For delicious gourmet cupcakes, through and through, try these easy steps to delight your family and guests!

Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers! Amazing!

Peppers are easy to grow and plentiful at the end of summer. In my garden, I planted sweet bell peppers, bull horn peppers, and jalapeno peppers. There are plenty of recipes for using peppers. One of my favorites is Cheese-Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers.

Tomato Pie Fresh from the Garden

I still have lots of tomatoes in my Kitchen Garden.  I've canned them diced, in sauces and salsas, we've had slices in salads and soups and on sandwiches, and we've still got tomatoes coming. So for a change of pace, today I made a tomato pie.

Home Canning for Beginners

2013 Canning Season: Applesauce, Apple Pie Filling, Peaches, Pickles,
Tomatoes, Spaghetti Sauce, Salsa, Red Pepper Relish, Pumpkin Cake

If you've never done any canning before but you've been thinking about giving it a try, I'm here to tell you that it's easier than you might think.  I always wanted to try canning, but for one reason or another, I never did. I had never even watched anyone can before, so it was a bit of a mystery for me.  I felt a little intimated by it, thinking that I wouldn't do it right, that the jars wouldn't seal, that it wouldn't turn out good, or worst of all that I'd give my family and friends food poisoning.  Finally, last year, I canned for the first time. Last year I was a beginner, but this year I am an experienced canner. (That's how it is.  If you've never done it, you're a beginner.  If you have, you're experienced.)

Lasagna with Meatballs - Original Recipe

Lasagna happens to be my favorite meal.  It has been for as long as I can remember.  There are so many different ways to make it. I've been experimenting for years and have landed on my favorite original recipe . . . all from scratch! I make homemade egg noodles (of course . . . the Chickie-Babes provide the eggs, so why wouldn't I!?). I make homemade pasta sauce (this year using heirloom veggies and herbs that I grew from seed in my Kitchen Garden). And I make homemade meatballs.  Yes, I put meatballs in my lasagna!  I like the texture of them better than browned ground meat.  

Meatballs with Fresh Herbs

It's no secret that I love pasta and all that goes with it . . . the sauces, the vegetables, the meats, and the herbs!  A big favorite at our house is the meatballs.  I like to make them with fresh herbs so much better than dried herbs.  So, in the summer while the garden is producing, I make up batches of meatballs and put them in the freezer.  Then in the winter, we can still have meatballs with fresh herbs! Of course, you can make this recipe with dried herbs, but it's just not quite the same.

Canning Spaghetti Sauce

I love homemade spaghetti sauce made with fresh vegetables and herbs from my garden.  I really believe using fresh herbs makes a big difference in the sauce compared to using dried or frozen herbs. I  like to can some of this goodness at the end of summer, and then we can enjoy it during the winter months too. I use my own spaghetti sauce recipe, taking a short-cut on the tomato sauce. I've made my own tomato sauce before; it is very time consuming for a small yield, so I buy the canned tomato sauce and add my fresh ingredients to it.

Wash Your Hair with Baking Soda and Vinegar, and Make Your Own Toothpaste and Deodorant

Wash your hair with baking soda and vinegar, and make your own toothpaste and deodorant. That was my assignment.  It's simple and basic. The question I had is, "Why?"  This should not have sounded unusual to me, because once I started doing Internet searches, I found posts about it all over the place.  But I hadn't thought much about it before. Actually, I hadn't thought at all about it before. The reasons that were consistently given for doing this were: 1) These homemade personal care products are better for you than commercially made products that contain chemical additives you can't even pronounce; 2) it costs a lot less than buying products off the store shelf; and 3) they work better too.  Numbers 1 and 2 I believed; the third one I would have to see for myself.

A Refreshing and Healthy Smoothie Drink

This smoothie drink is super delicious and nutritious.  A dear friend gave me the recipe recently, and I've been enjoying this healthy drink every day since . . . just in time for the warmer weather!  It is so easy and you can always have the ingredients on hand.  Here's how I make it in my single-serve blender:

Candy Apple Spice Mix for Cider or Tea

Does the cold weather put you in the mood for hot tea or cider?  Here is a spice mix you can add to your hot drinks to give them a burst of flavor and perhaps even give yourself some added health benefits for the cold and flu season.

Homemade Egg Noodles

Since I keep chickens, what a great use for those nutritional, farm-fresh eggs.  I love egg noodles!  And I love using my KitchenAid stand mixer to make them.  How much easier we have it today!  You can make fresh egg noodles by hand; it's just so much easier this way.  The pasta roller attachment rolls out the dough as thick or thin as you want it.  Then the noodle cutter attachment cuts them quickly.

Bacon Bark

Bacon . . . caramel . . . chocolate . . . sea salt!  If you are skeptical about making this treat, don't be!  It is knock-your-socks-off delicious!  Get the recipe from my friends at Farmhouse 38.

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Banana Nut Bread in a Blender

You don't have to be a genius or a gourmet chef to figure out that the key to the best Banana Nut Bread is the bananas!  They have to be ripened to perfection . . . just on the verge of too ripe.  We buy and eat bananas often because they are so rich in Vitamin A, iron, phosphorus and potassium. They're a good source of energy.  Because we buy a lot of bananas, it's not unusual for us to have a couple of overly ripe ones sitting around.

Bananas that are overly ripe have just the right level of sweetness and texture to make  delicious banana bread. Throw in a handful of roughly chopped nuts, and you've got Banana Nut Bread!  I usually keep some walnuts in the freezer so I have them on hand for snacking or when a recipe calls for them. (Walnuts are rich in fiber, Vitamins B and E, magnesium, and protein.  They're a great anti-oxidant!)  Wow . . . add a couple of farm fresh eggs from my free-ranging chickens, and this is sounding like a healthy treat.  Well, not so fast.  It does have refined sugar and flour and vegetable oil in it, so it's not a low-calorie food, but it's still a more nutritional dessert than most cakes.

Banana Nut Bread is quick and easy to make.  Did you ever make it in a blender?