Pumpkin Fluff Dip

Are you burnt out on pumpkin recipes yet? I'm getting there but I am still on a search for the perfect pumpkin cookies. If you like pumpkin pie, you will like this dip. If you don't, you won't like it. I couldn't find the cinnamon graham cracker sticks at the store for dipping so I just used regular graham crackers. Nilla wafers are good too. If you are ambitious it's fun to serve it in a cleaned out pumpkin!

Pumpkin Fluff Dip
adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (adjust this to how "pumpkiny" you want it.)

In a large bowl, mix together instant vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the thawed frozen whipped topping. Chill in the refrigerator until serving. Serve with ginger snaps, Nilla wafers, or cinnamon graham crackers.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

I love the Pioneer Woman. She cooks real cowgirl food and everything I have tried of hers is good. I always enter her amazing giveaways and think I'm going win even though 10,000 other people enter it too.

Today I took my boys to the park and we got rained out after 10 minutes. More than rained out...torrential downpour. We came home threw our soaked clothes in the dryer and got them all nice and warm. Then we made these...

They were good. Really good. They were so moist and full of flavor. Question...what makes a muffin a muffin because I'm pretty sure this was a cupcake disguised as a muffin. The cream cheese frosting was one of the best frosting recipes of its kind that I have ever made. I loved these so much that I bought more ingredients the next day at the store to make them again.

Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins (With Cream Cheese Frosting)

by The Pioneer Woman

Muffins:
1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

1 heaping cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup golden raisins (optional; I did not add them)

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture:

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease 12 muffin tins.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry blender until all incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, and vanilla. Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Add raisins.

Fold gently until mixture is just combined. Pour into greased muffin pan—batter hardly ever fills all twelve unless you keep it down to 1/2 full. Sprinkle generous amounts of cinnamon-sugar over the top of each unbaked muffin. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool. Ice with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup softened butter

4 ounces cream cheese

1/2 pound powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients on high until soft and whipped. Spread onto completely cooled muffins, or place into a large pastry bag with a large star tip and go crazy!
Store in fridge, as icing will soften at room temperature.

Fancy Schmancy Food: Bruschetta with Gorgonzola Cheese and Honey

I have never been a fan of fancy food. You know...the weed salads and small portions. I prefer Outback where the food is good and you get more bang for your buck. However, I recently had this at a fancy luncheon at the coach's house for the player's wives and couldn't stop eating them. I asked the caterer what it was and then went home and googled the ingredients and Giada's recipe came up.

Don't be scared by the Gorgonzola. It wasn't overpowering. At least mine wasn't. The sweet/salty combo is perfect. It's easy and appears gourmet. I was on the phone with my sister when I fixed these and John had just walked in the door from work. When I got off the phone only three were left...THREE. The only drawback to these is they are best when right out of the oven so probably best to be made at your own home instead of taken to a function.









Bruschetta with Gorgonzola Cheese and Honey

36 slices (1/2-inch thick) baguette bread, about 1 loaf
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces Gorgonzola, crumbled
4 tablespoons honey

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Arrange the sliced baguette on a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil. Bake until the bread is pale golden and crisp, about 8-10 minutes.

Arrange the cheese on the toasts and bake until the cheese is melted, about 3 minutes.
Drizzle the toasts with honey. Place on a serving platter and serve immediately.

Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole

This must be MAN food. I got a "Oh babe, this is good" from John and Austin asked for seconds which is unheard of. It was good but it's not exactly diet friendly for this chick. It's hearty for my growing boys. I saw this over on Taste and Tell. It was in the Pillsbury bake-off in 1978. It's easy, easy, easy. Great for weeknights. I had to steal this picture before they finished the whole thing off.

Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole

from Best of the Bake-Off

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 cup spaghetti sauce

6 oz. (1 1/2 cups) shredded mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (8-oz.) can Pillsbury® Recipe Creations (or Crescent Dinner Rolls pressed together along the perforations)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Heat oven to 375°F. In large skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. *I added salt and pepper here and a 1/2 tsp. of Italian seasonings. Drain. Stir in pasta sauce; cook until thoroughly heated.Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine mozzarella cheese and sour cream; mix well.Pour hot beef mixture into ungreased 9 1/2 or 10-inch glass deep-dish pie pan or 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Spoon cheese mixture over beef mixture.Unroll dough over cheese mixture. In small bowl, mix Parmesan cheese and butter. Spread evenly over dough.Bake at 375°F. for 18 to 25 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Marshmallow Blondies

It's no secret that I've been a marshmallow kick lately. The marshmallows melt into these bars making them super chewy and mixed with the chocolate and butterscotch chips they're a super sweet bar. You'll get a cavity just looking at them. The hardest part is letting these cool all the way before trying them. Make sure you do...it's worth the wait.








Marshmallow Blondies
Seen on TwoPeasandtheirPod

1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups mini marshmallows
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butterscotch chips and butter, stirring constantly until smooth. When melted remove from heat and transfer the contents of the pan to a mixing bowl. Don't over heat the butter and butterscotch chips or they will separate, so make sure you watch them carefully and don't cook them too long.

Cool the butterscotch and butter mixture to room temperature. In a large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and eggs into the butter and butterscotch mixture. Make sure you blend everything together really well. The batter will be thick. Mix in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Spread the blondie batter into the pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. The center will feel a little soft, but will firm while cooling. Let cool 2 -3 hours before cutting.

Fantastic Thursday...Gorilla Bread

This is monkey bread on steroids. Cream cheese is stuffed inside the biscuits then the outside is covered in butter, cinnamon sugar, and nuts.

Four years ago I was living at my moms with Austin trying to save money while John was in Miami trying to secure a spot on the team. For four months I lived there and in order to maintain my keep I pitched in cooking when I could. There were seven of us in transition living with my parents at the time so we had quite the crew to cook for. My mom and I tended to get in ruts with the same old meals so every Thursday she dubbed "Fantastic Thursday" in which we had to venture out and make something new that we found online or in a cookbook.

I remember on a certain Fantastic Thursday we attempted this Gorilla bread for dessert by Paula Deen. As we were opening the biscuits my mom's can exploded and biscuits rained all over the kitchen. She screamed like a little girl! We laughed so hard. As I made these for Conference last weekend I laughed out loud when I thought about it. Sorry not the best pics but I had company over and didn't want to keep them waiting while I took pictures.

Gorilla Bread

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
2 12-ounce cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.

Source: Paula Deen

Mmm...Black and White Bean Dip

Thanks to my sister-in-law Kristy's pregnant cravings this dip was discovered by her at the Sister's Cafe. I have made a cold version similar to this but I love a hot dip in the fall or Florida's version of the fall anyway. It's addicting, watch out!
Black and White Bean Dip
by The Sister's Cafe

1 can of black beans
1 can of white beans (I used Great Northern beans)
1 can of shoepeg corn
1 7oz can of Herdez salsa verde
2 cups of shredded Colby Jack cheese
4-6 chopped roma tomatoes (squeeze liquid out of tomatoes before chopping)
garlic salt to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
Avocado-optional

Rinse and drain both cans of beans. Also drain the can of shoepeg corn (drain everything really well so you don't have liquid at the bottom after you cook it). Make sure to squeeze liquid out of tomatoes before chopping so the dip doesn't turn runny. Put everything (except for the avocado) in a bowl and mix together. Spray a shallow baking dish (I used a glass pie plate) with nonstick spray before spooning in the bean mixture. Sprinkle a little cheese on top and pop into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and it is all warm and bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle with diced avocado and serve with tortilla chips.