Pumpkin Cookies

It's that time of the year again! Time to bust out your pumpkin recipes! I got this recipe from my mom and recently made them for my pumpkin-lovin' friend who just had her own little pumpkin - a baby boy!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/4 cup Crisco


• 1/2 cup sugar


• 1 egg


• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin


• 1 cup flour


• 2 teaspoons baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


• 1/8 tsp ginger

Start off by creaming the crisco. Gradually add the sugar in. Cream until light and fluffy. Now throw in the egg and pumpkin.

Mix well. The batter will be pretty wet.

Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and all the spices. Mix until blended. This will thicken up your batter a bit, but it still is not your normal "cookie" consistency. It'll be more muffin-ish.

Drop by teaspoonfulls on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. They'll come out nice and soft!

Serve up and enjoy!

Blueberry Crumb Cake

This cake is AMAZING! But then again, I love any type of coffee / crumb cake so I might be a tad biased. But really, this cake is so moist and perfect in every way! I saw it on the food network and had to try it.

Streusel Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sugar


• 1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed


• 1 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg


• 1/4 pound (1 stickk) butter, melted


• 1 1/3 cups flour

Cake Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 2 eggs


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest


• 2/3 cup sour cream


• 1 1/4 cups flour


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Let's start with the streusel. Combine the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then add the flour. Mix it all up and sit aside.

Butter and flour a 9 inch baking pan. For the cake, cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer on med/high for 4-5 minutes. Slow the speed down and add the eggs one at a time. Now add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. Time for the dry ingredients! In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into your pan.

Now back to the streusel!

Sprinkle the streusel over the top of the cake...

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

Serve and enjoy! What a great treat for breakfast! :)

Kale and Quinoa

I believe a few posts back I mentioned the Kale kick we've been on lately. Once I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. It was a huge success!

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch Kale


• 1 cup Quinoa


• 2 cups water


• 1 lemon, zested and juiced


• 1 tablespoon chives


• 1 tablespoon olive oil


• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese


• 1-2 chicken breasts


• salt and pepper
  

Start off by chopping your kale into about 1 inch pieces.

Bring the water to a boil. Add the Quinoa, cover, and lower the heat to simmering. Simmer for 10 minutes.

While the Quinoa is cooking, zest the lemon in a large bowl and add half of the lemon juice. Add in the parmesan cheese, chives, and olive oil.

Season and cook the chicken into bite sized pieces. By the way, this is totally optional. The recipe I saw did not have any meat in it...

Back to the Quinoa. Once it's simmered for 10 minutes, top with the Kale, recover, and simmer another 5 minutes. Now turn off the heat and let steam for an additional 5 minutes. Once it's done, the Kale should be a beautiful bright green like below, and all the water should be absorbed.

Fluff the Quinoa / Kale pot mixture together, add to the serving bowl where you made the lemon mixture, add the chicken, and toss together. Squeeze the remaining half of the lemon over top, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and enjoy!

Lingerie Cookies

I made these cookies for my friend's bachelorette party. I love making sugar cookies - especially for a fun occasion like this!

You can find my recipe for the cookies here.

A taste of Scotland

Hello long lost friends! There's a reason I haven't posted lately, I promise....we've been on our vacation in Scotland!! It was absolutely incredible to say the least.

This is our first full week back at home, and it's been so crazy getting caught up with work that I have not cooked anything too exciting this week. Nothing blog worthy at least. :)
Just so you know I'm alive and well, I thought I'd share pictures of what we ate while traveling around Scotland.

Can you guess what this dish is? It's Haggis, Nips, and Tatties. Tatties = mased potatoes and Nips = turnips. For those of you who don't know what "Haggis" is, I'll let you google that one. Needless to say, this was Danny's meal, not mine. He is more adventorous than I, and ordered traditional Scottish food pretty much every meal.
Complete opposite of Danny's Scottish meal, here's what I had: Grilled Chicken Sandwich. It was delish!

Here's a snapshot of a traditional Scottish breakfast that was served at every B&B we stayed at. Grilled tomatoes, eggs, and bacon. This is the small version. :)

Oooooo, now this was incredible. This is Bruschetta we ordered for an appetizer one meal. Those two slices were gone in a flash!

Danny's Fish & Chips. He was lovin' the Fish & Chips over there. He ordered it about 3 or 4 different times.

Again, a chicken sandwich for me :)

Another big traditional Scottish breakfast...

Believe it or not, this is the only meal Danny did not order Scottish food. I think it was the only place we went that didn't have Scottish food believe it or not. Cajun Chicken Sandwich at what was supposedly Prince William's favorite pub while he was at school in St. Andrews :)

And here's my Chicken Quesadilla. Note to self, do not order Quesadillas in Scotland :)

Quick snack from The Fudge Shop. Amazing!

Here's a hamburger I had in Edinburgh. Another note to self....hamburgers in Scotland are not the same as our burgers here in Texas. To be honest, I'm still not quite sure if this was beef...

Again - Haggis, Nips, and Tatties ate by Mr. Kenyon.

Ham and Chicken sandwich ordered by yours truely. Mrs. America over here.

Alas, more Fish & Chips!

Anybody hungry?

Sauteed Lemon Kale

Have you ever had Kale? I hadn't up until this past week. Lately, I've been hearing all about it. It's the new 'thang apparently. This leafy green is jammed pack with tons of vitamins, anti-oxidants, cancer protectants, and all sorts of other stuff that's great for you! You can read up on it here.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch Kale


• 1/2 chopped yellow onion


• 1 tablespoon olive oil


• 1 lemon

Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add the chopped onion. Saute a few minutes until golden brown.

Remove the kale leaves from the stalks and add to your pan.

Cover and cook on medium until the kale has reduced by about half. 10 minutes or so.

Once the Kale has cooked down, cut 1 lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the pan.

Now your Kale should look like this. Dark green and a little charred. This was actually pretty tasty. Danny and I both loved it, and you can't beat all the nutrients this has. He has requested this be a regular side dish. Yes, my husband, is requesting KALE!

Try some for yourself this week and see what you think!

Friday Surprise

I was thrilled (to say the least) to wake up this morning to an email from Kim over at Little Rays of Sunshine informing me she featured my S'more Brownies on her blog! Remember these things?! The concoction I whipped up at midnight because I had no other ingredients on hand? Ok, so maybe it wasn't exactly midnight, but it was sure close enough. Anyways, it makes the story sound better so we're stickin' with it.

I want to extend a big THANKS to Kim for kicking off my Friday with a great start!

Head on over to her blog and check her out! She's got an adorable family and always has fun, creative ideas! Like these dipped rice krispie treats for Easter. How fun is that?!

Happy Friday everyone!

Chicken Ranch Pasta

My dear college roommate, Tara, and I used to cook this dish together all the time. Well, something similar to this anyways. I'm pretty sure we just made it up one night...which is exactly what I did here. The other day she asked me to put this recipe on my blog because she couldn't quite remember it. Truth be told, I couldn't quite remember it either! So here's my best shot at it, Tara :)

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts (or 4 strips, whatever you have)


• 2 cups pasta


• 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning


• 1 can italian diced tomatoes


• 1 1/2 cup broccoli


• grated Parmesan Cheese


• garlic, to taste


• salt and pepper, to taste

Season the chicken with about half of the ranch packet. Or, if you're like me, and have the big 'ol daddy of seasoning, use about a tablespoon or so. Generously cover the chicken.

Heat up a drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken. Once the chicken has cooked for a couple minutes, add the broccoli to the skillet. I had frozen broccoli on hand, so that's what I used here. Start boiling the water for your pasta.

Once the chicken is done (about 4-5 minutes per side), cut into bite size pieces. Throw in the other half of the ranch seasoning packet, as well as a little garlic and salt and pepper to your liking.

Add the can of diced tomatoes.

Ok, I do remember we used spaghetti back when we cooked this in college...unfortunately I was all out of spaghetti noodles and only had shells on hand. Sometimes you just gotta make do :)
Shells are just as good. Heck, any type of pasta will work! Whatever's in your pantry!

Once the pasta is done cooking, drain and add to your serving bowl.

Now, add in the entire skillet of the yummy chicken/tomato/broccoli concoction.

Top with grated parmesan and a sprinkle of parsley.

What do you think Tara? Close enough? I know; the broccoli and tomatoes are a new addition (I think), but I figured it could use a little more color. And healthiness. ;)