Buttery Soul Cakes
You'll need:
* Two sticks butter, softened
* 3 1/2 C flour, sifted
* 1 C sugar
* 1/2 tsp. nutmeg & saffron
* 1 tsp each cinnamon & allspice
* 2 eggs
* 2 tsp malt vinegar
* Powdered sugar
Cut the butter into the flour with a large fork. Mix in the sugar, nutmeg, saffron, cinammon and allspice. Lightly beat eggs, and add to flour mixture. Add malt vinegar. Mix until you have a stiff dough. Knead for a while, then roll out until 1/4" thick. Use a floured glass to cut out 3" circles. Place on greased baking sheet and bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Sprinkle with powdered sugar while the cakes are still warm.
Butternut squash and apple casserole
Ingredients:
* 1 small butternut squash (about 2 to 2 1/2 lbs)
* 2 tart apples
* 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
* 4 tablespoons butter, cold
* 1 tablespoon flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Preparation:
Butter a 2- to 2 1/2-quart baking dish. Heat oven to 350°. Peel, seed, and cut squash into small slices. Core the apples, peel, and cut into thin slices. Toss squash and apples together. Transfer squash and apple slices to the prepared baking dish.
Combine brown sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; cut in butter with fork or pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over sliced squash and apples. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes, or until squash is tender.
Apple Muffins
2 cups self rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chopped dried apple*
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 muffin tins. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and add the egg, milk and oil. Stir the ingredients until they are just blended. Do not overmix. Spoon the batter into greased muffin pans, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
* Dried apples can usually be found in airtight pouches near the raisins in the supermarket.
Golden Herb Rolls
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/4 cup water
4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 package quick-rising yeast
2 teaspoons dried savory leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed, crushed
1 cup canned pumpkin
4 eggs, divided
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 20 to 24 muffin cups. Combine milk, butter and water in small saucepan; heat until butter is melted. If necessary, cool to 120º F. to 130º F. Combine 3 cups flour, sugar, yeast, savory, salt, thyme and dill in large mixer bowl. Add milk mixture and pumpkin; beat for 2 minutes. Stir in 3 eggs and remaining flour. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place for 10 minutes or until doubled. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling 1/2 to 3/4 full. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place for 30 to 40 minutes or until doubled. Beat remaining egg and brush on top of rolls; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until rolls are golden and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans; serve warm or cool on wire rack.
Pumpkin Pie Muffins
2 cups flour
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
3/4 cup chopped dates (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease twelve muffin cups. In a large bowl, stir together first 9 ingredients. In another bowl, stir together pumpkin, butter, buttermilk, eggs, molasses and vanilla until blended. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add pumpkin mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in pecans and dates.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups; bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean. Remove to wire rack. Cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from cups; finish cooling on rack.
Rye Bread
1 packet yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 quart warm water
3 cups rye flour
2 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon melted shortening
9 cups all purpose flour
Dissolve yeast and sugar in the 1/4 cup of warm water, set aside and let stand until frothy. Pour the quart of water in a large bowl, and add the rye flour, salt, caraway seeds, shortening, and yeast mixture. Mix well. Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, until bubbles start to form on dough's surface. Gradually mix in the all-purpose flour, until the mixture has become a firm dough. Knead on floured board for about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and let rise until the dough doubles in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Knead again for 10 minutes. Form into 2 loaves and put in greased and floured loaf pans or on cookie sheets for a more natural look. Let them rise again until doubled in bulk, and then bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees.
Jack-o-Lantern Cheese Ball
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
4 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. solid pack pumpkin
1/2 c. pineapple preserves
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 pretzel rod, broken in half
Decorations: Dark rye bread, red pepper, black olive slices, parsley sprigs
Assorted crackers
Beat cheeses, pumpkin, preserves and spices in a medium bowl until smooth. Cover; refrigerate 2 to 3 hours or until cheese is firm enough to shape. Shape mixture into a round pumpkin; place on serving plate. Using knife, score vertical lines down pumpkin. Place pretzel rod in top for stem. Cut 2 small triangles for the eyes. Small triangle of red pepper for nose. Slice olives slices in half for the mouth. Cover loosely; refrigerate until serving time. Serve with crackers.
Ultimate Caramel Apples
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
10-inch square piece of styrofoam
6 popsicle sticks or small wooden dowels
6 Red Delicious or Golden Delicious apples
3 ounces white chocolate
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped nuts
In heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine water and sugar. Over low heat, stir mixture gently until sugar is completely dissolved. Increase heat to medium low and cook, without stirring, until mixture is a dark amber color. Remove from heat and carefully stir in heavy cream (mixture will bubble up and spatter a bit, then subside.) Set aside to cool and thicken. Cover styrofoam with waxed paper to catch caramel drippings (this will be a stand for caramel apples). Insert popsicle sticks into bottom center of apples. Dip top half of each apple into thickened caramel. Insert bottom of popsicle sticks into styrofoam, allowing apples to stand upright so caramel runs down sides of each apple. Refrigerate to harden. Meanwhile, melt white chocolate in top of double boiler above gently simmering water; stir until smooth. Transfer melted chocolate to pastry bag fitted with small writing tip. Drizzle thin, random strips of white chocolate over each caramel apple. Repeat melting and drizzling with semi-sweet chocolate. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
After scooping out the insides of your pumpkin, clean the stringy parts off the seeds and rinse the seeds under running water. Let the cleaned seeds dry throughly. Set a few seeds aside to plant in the spring. Spread the seeds on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 oven for 15 minutes or until the seeds just begin to brown (Watch them carefully--once they begin to brown they will burn rapidly) Sprinkle the seeds lightly with salt. Allow to cool and enjoy.
4 medium Potatoes, peeled and boiled
3 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/4 cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Sour Cream
8 ounces Kale, steamed and chopped
1 Tablespoon Onion, grated
Mash potatoes with butter, salt, pepper, milk and sour cream until light and fluffy. Stir in kale and grated onion. Serve at once.
ROAST LOIN OF PORK
1 Pork Loin
1 small Onion, chopped
1 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon Fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 Bay leaf, crushed
1/2 teaspoon Celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon Dry thyme
4 Whole cloves
1 teaspoon Beef bouillon
salt & pepper to taste
Fold 2 large sheets of aluminum foil together with a double fold. There should be enough to enclose the roast. Place roast on foil. Stick cloves into loin and sprinkle other ingredients over top. Enclose roast tightly in foil and cook in 300 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes PER pound.
VEGAN PUMPKIN PIE
Ingredients:
Filling –
1 1/2 packages silken tofu
1 15 oz. canned pumpkin
2/3 cup barley malt syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
Pie Crust –
1 1/2 cups sifted unbleached flour
about 6-7 tbsp. non-hydrogenated margarine
about 2 tbsp. cold water
pinch of sea salt
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Blend tofu in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Pour into a 9" unbaked deep dish pie shell. Bake for about one hour. Filling will be soft, but will firm up as it chills. Chill overnight and serve.
