Pumpkin Pancakes!

This morning I made Pumpkin Pancakes
as a special Bella & Conner treat.
My friend, Lydia has been making them for years
and I have always thought
" I should really try that"
Today all thinking was put asunder, and the doing came out!
Here is the recipe I used!
I followed it exactly, even to the time of flipping the pancakes and they came out totally scrumptious.

Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Pancakes

whisk 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour; 

2 tablespoons sugar; 

2 teaspoons baking powder; 

1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, and salt; 

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg; and a pinch of ground cloves. 

In a separate bowl, stir together 1 cup milk, 

6 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree, 

2 tablespoons melted butter, 

and 1 egg; 

fold mixture into dry ingredients. 

Cook over medium heat in a well oiled skillet or griddle; pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. 

Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side; serve with butter and syrup. Makes 8 to 10.

Zucchini Bread

I love Zucchini! I live for it.... you folks in Oregon are so lucky!
I have heard tales of the fact that some church members will slip it into cars because it is so plentiful there. (Sigh... if only)
I will put zucchini in most anything, eggs, casseroles and even sauteed up on its own.
I do have a tender spot in my heart for Zucchini bread.
After trying out many, here is my favorite of them all.

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins (optional)

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, a third at a time. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix. Fold in the nuts and dried cranberries or raisins if using.
2 Divide the batter equally between 2 buttered 5 by 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour (check for doneness at 50 minutes) or until a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.
Makes 2 loaves.

Extra note: DO NOT squeeze any of the water out of the zucchini that is what gives this bread the wonderful moist texture.
Also, I use the small grater holes and not the large ones. 

They Are Delicious, Easy And Are Called.......... Breadsticks!

Mrs Lesley struck gold again! She passed along this tasty recipe, which we are using this Friday for one of our monthly kid activities at church.
I wanted to try it out to be sure I knew what I was doing
so I made them for dinner tonight. After just trying one, I declare bread-sticks, heaven on earth.


Mrs Lesley's Bread-Sticks

1 c. plus 1 TBSP warm water
1 pkg. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
2 TBSP shortening (I use butter)
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour

Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Mix dry ingredients and cut in the shortening. Add yeast and mix into soft dough, rub dough with oil an let stand in warm place for 20 min. Roll into fingers, Rub baking sheet with olive oil and place bread on tray.
Sprinkle with a mixture of coarse salt and garlic powder.
Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes.

Post Biscuit Week Thoughts

Well, I have my husband's stamp of approval on my biscuit making skills.
I kept trying that recipe all week and by the end of it I had light fluffy flavorful biscuits.

I was able to make them taste great, even through rough circumstances.
For example, when my little blessing decided to take a glass jar and drop it onto our feet.
I had just cut in the butter but, was able to stop and get Bella out of there while I cleaned up all the glass. As a bonus, the biscuits were still delicious!

Here is an idea I tried on the last night.
Use my previously posted recipe and add

1 1/2 cups of cheese
1 tablespoon basil
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon chopped garlic

This was so tasty too!

Well enjoy your week ladies.
This one is a busy one for me.
A lot to work on around here and we have contractors afoot! Wheww

Biscuit Week At The Mrs. W's Home

Good evening friends,
This week I am working on the art of making biscuits.
I was thinking wife thoughts today and realized that
I am not very good at making delicious, fluffy biscuits.
So it is a week of.... get ready for it... "practice making biscuits perfect".

Here is my recipe for my first try

BAKING POWDER BISCUITS

2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Using two knives, cut in shortening until crumbly. Add milk and mix in well. Roll out on a lightly floured surface and cut with a biscuit cutter. Bake at 400 degrees for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Enjoy!

These were quite good in flavor, but I made them too thin. :)

I still have a few more days to keep trying!!!!

Blueberry Muffins

The Most Amazing Blueberry Muffins

3 cups minus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Heavy pinch of salt
Dash of Nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 generous cup plain, unflavored yogurt (throw in extra if you want)
2 cups fresh blueberries
Vanilla Extract
Softened Butter, for muffin tins
Turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 385 degrees.

In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In another large bowl whisk together sugar, oil, cap-ful of vanilla, egg, and yogurt. Add the dry ingredients and stir to a count of 10.

Add blueberries, reserving 1/2 cup, to mixture and stir 3 times.

Add mixture to well-buttered muffin pans. Sprinkle remaining berries on top and press down lightly. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over top. (Brown sugar can be used instead.)

Bake 20 to 25 minutes and allow to cool completely.

These muffins are simply wonderful!

I just finished making a new batch for Dave to eat while I am visiting family.