Pumpkin and Harissa Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe has earned it's place in our family's favorite recipes.  Time to record it here on the blog for safe-keeping.   I've tried other pumpkin muffin/cake/bread recipes, but this is the one we like the best. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease a 10 x 15 inch baking pan.

Harissa Chili Paste - for an extra kick of flavor

We have to order it from Amazon.com, as no one around here sells it. Copper Olive sells the harissa-infused olive oil (quite pricey, though). 

Wet ingredients :
4 eggs, beaten
16-oz can pumpkin
1-1/2 - 2 Tablespoons Harissa Paste
1-1/4 cup sugar  (2 cups in the original recipe)
1 cup vegetable oil
________________________________________
Dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
1/2 tsp salt

In a mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin, sugar and oil.  Add the eggs and mix well.
Combine the dry ingredients and add to the pumpkin mixture, beating until well-blended.
Pour into the greased 10-15 inch baking pan.  Bake for 25-35 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Wait for the cake to cool before adding the frosting.  It's the cream cheese frosting that tames the hot pepper in the harissa. 

Cream Cheese Frosting 
5 Tablespoons butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
3-4 Tablespoons milk
chopped nuts for the top, if desired.

Beat the butter and cream cheese together. Add the vanilla and blend until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix well.  Add the milk a bit at a time until you get it to a spreadable consistency.

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The original recipe came from here.  We amended it slightly to our own tastes --  with the addition of 1-2 tablespoons of harissa hot pepper paste.   I swear, this particular pepper from North Africa was MADE for pumpkin!    My friend Vicki made some pumpkin muffins one day, but instead of the regular olive oil, she grabbed some harissa-infused oil.  It was an accident, but they were so good, and we craved more of that harissa heat, that now we make them on purpose!

My husband's mother used harissa in small quantities when he was growing up.  You had to be careful with it (as in consider wearing a haz-mat suit) because it was so hot!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

1 can cream of chicken soup (condensed)
1 cup milk
3 cups shredded chicken
1pkg frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, plus broccoli, cauliflower, etc)
1/2 tsp Thyme Leaves
Poultry Seasoning (to taste)
Ground Black Pepper

1 Can Refrigerator Biscuits
(If you're really feeling ambitious, mix up a batch of home-made buttermilk biscuits.)

Boil 2 chicken breasts for 20-25 minutes, then shred them. 
Stir-fry the frozen vegetables to make sure they are thawed and cooked before adding them to the pot pie.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the soup and milk in a large bowl. Stir in sauteed veggies and chicken.  Add the Thyme, Poultry Seasoning, and Ground black pepper.  Stir and pour into a baking dish.  Top with the refrigerator biscuits.   Bake for 45 minutes or until hot.

Yummy on a cold winter's day.

Blueberry Butter in a Crock Pot

 

Blueberry Butter in a Crock Pot

At the December Craft Sale, I bought a jar of home-made blueberry butter for my husband.  Unfortunately, when I got home, it was dark, and I didn't see it sitting on the back seat.  I unpacked some other things, and the nearly frozen jar hit the driveway pavement and broke.  ;-(    Sigh!
So I decided to make good on my gift, and make my own batch of blueberry butter.  It was easier than than I thought it would be.  The hardest part was committing to spend $11+ on 2.5 pounds of frozen blueberries.  I have to say : It was worth it!

The Recipe
2.5 pounds frozen blueberries
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 lemon, zested
Juice of 1 Lemon

Pour the frozen blueberries into a crock pot.  Let them cook for 6 hours.  Stir every hour or so.  After the first 2 hours, I propped open the lid so the steam could escape and it could reduce to a proper fruit butter. 

In the last hour of cooking, I used a stick blender to puree the mixture, and smooth out the lumps.  Then I added the sugar, and spices.  You may need to add more sugar--not all blueberries are created equal.  This batch seemed sweet enough.

SO GOOD!  It tastes like mulled blueberry cider--but spreadable.  Now if we only had some buttermilk biscuits fresh from the oven!

Welcome, Baby Challah!

Our friend, Samara made this lovely Challah bread.  She delivered it swaddled in cloth, like a baby.  It's about that size, too, but a lot less squirmy.

It's a wonderfully rich egg-y bread to start with.  What better treatment than to soak it in more eggs with cinnamon and milk to make French toast!  So delicious!  What a treat!  Thank you, Samara!

Apple Crisp - Autumn Tastes and Smells

  

 

THIS is the taste and smell of FALL!  The first batch of apple crisp of the season. Yummy!  We get the first apples of the season in August.

Apple Crisp Recipe *
Peel, slice and core 8-10 apples (We don't really measure anymore, we just fill the pan.)
       Cortlands and/or MacIntosh cook down nicely.
       We prefer the saucier apples for this.
       You want enough to fill the baking dish.  Heap it up, because the apples tend to cook down.
       Also-sprinkle some lemon juice on the apples to keep them from turning brown as you work. It also adds a pleasant tang. ;-)

Topping :
1 cup oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup butter (or 1 stick of butter)

Preheat oven to 375 degees F.
Put apples into a 13 in x 9 in glass baking dish.  You can also sprinkle some cinnamon and ginger on the apples.
For topping, combine all dry ingredients.  Cut in butter until the mixture is crumbly.  Sprinkle over apples.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until apples are tender and topping is golden. 

Enjoy!

*  This is another "old family recipe" from my Coop days.   It's adapted from Susan Hollingsworth's Rhubarb Crisp recipe from Summit Ave. Coop in Madison, WI.

Who Makes Your Heart Catch Like This?

Who makes your heart catch like this?
[Click on the link to watch the short video.  Sorry I couldn't imbed it here.]

Read the explanation in Patti Digh's blog post before you watch the video.  It will provide a context for what happens in the video :  3 minutes without a single word. 

A heart opens and blossoms in the presence of another.  What a gift to be able to witness it!  Life past, present and future(?) right there in 3 minutes.  Oh, how I hope they at least went out for dinner afterwards so they could talk. 

One commenter, Marion Williams-Bennett summed it up this way : "Everything happens in this three minutes - Love, passion, forgiveness, hope, connection, remembrance - while others look on. Then, he walks away and she finds herself and starts over. It's life in three minutes."

Yes, there are a few people who could make my heart catch like this.  And I think they know who they are ...  ;-)   Thank you to Patti D for asking the question. 

It also makes me think about the concept of presence.  Was the artist really there with other people who sat down with her at the table?  The ones she didn't have a past with?  I'm not sure ...  She was guarded, that's for sure.

Apple Sheet Cake

For years, this has been my favorite and preferred Birthday Cake.  My Gramma Pickles used to make it just right when I was a teenager.  But now she's older and doesn't cook anymore, it's been years since I had it.  The recipe has been long since lost -- until someone brought it to work one day, and I asked for the recipe.  Yum!  My sweet husband has since made this for me on birthdays the last few years.  It makes me look forward to getting another year older just to have apiece of this Apple Sheet Cake again!   

Here's the gadget that makes peeling all those apples quick and easy!

 

 In about 10 minutes, a whole bag of apples is reduced to the sum of its parts, including cores, flesh, and long strings of apple peels.

Apple Sheet Cake - "Happy Cake"

Use your favorite pie crust / pastry recipe.

We prefer a double batch of Rose Levy Beranbaum's basic crust (p.22 of the Pie & Pastry Bible).
Make 2 batches of the #3 size.  However, if you're short on time, try this one instead :

Pastry :
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup milk

Apple Filling :
3 pounds apples - peeled, cored, and sliced
        Cortlands and/or MacIntosh cook down nicely for this.
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 T. all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter

Icing :
1-3/4 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 T milk
2-1/2 T. butter, softened
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Directions :
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine 3 cups flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening to the consistency of course crumbs. Stir in 1 cup cold milk, slowly until completely blended.  Separate dough into two balls.  Roll out one ball of dough to fit a 15 x 10 inch pan with some dough extending over the edge of the pan.

2.  In a large bowl, combine sliced apples, sugar, cinnamon, and 2 T. flour. Place filling in an even layer over prepared crust.  Thinly slice 1/2 cup butter and evenly distribute over the apples.  Roll out the remaining dough and place over the apple filling.  Seal edges and prick the top all over with a fork.

3.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes before frosting.

4. To make the frosting : In a small bowl, combine ingredients for icing.  Beat until smooth and creamy. 

My Deer Friend ...

 

In 1990, at the age of 19, I took a trip to see Janna's mom, Jackie Kerska, and Tom Bettis in Oregon.   They had a cabin on the Rogue River--wilderness where deer like this one would come up and eat out of my hand.  I always remembered that encounter fondly -- being quiet enough for a Wild One to approach me like this.   Gentle Beauty!

The deer there are much smaller than we have in WI.  I think these are black-tailed deer, as opposed to our white-tails.    I know, so many people are at war with the deer eating their gardens--this is wilderness.  Even Jackie has stated that she would not encourage such behavior from either of us (woman nor beast) in town. 

This is a photo I thought was long-gone, given away a long time ago ...  
I am happy to have it back in digital form. ;-) 
What better way to celebrate it's return than with a poem?


two deer
came walking down the hill
and when they saw me
they said to each other, okay,
this one is okay,
let’s see who she is
and why she is sitting
on the ground like that,
so quiet, as if
asleep, or in a dream,
but, anyway, harmless;
and so they came
on their slender legs
and gazed upon me
not unlike the way
I go out to the dunes and look
and look and look
into the faces of the flowers;
and then one of them leaned forward
and nuzzled my hand, and what can my life
bring to me that could exceed
that brief moment?
- American poet Mary Oliver (from "The Place I Want to Get Back To")

Scenes from the Door County Renaissance Faire 2013

 Vicki says : We're here!

The Door County Ren Faire is only 4 years old, but steadily growing.

 Equestrian Arts included an act with horse tricks, including this magnificent black stallion.

  

Vladimir the Horseman

I love that mane behind him.

They also had a jousting competition, and other contests of precision and skill.  

We were this close to the action!

 Vicki M. enjoying the day.

 The Rat Catcher - Often seen at Bristol, too. 

He provides a valuable service, and I thanked him for his work.

 Vicki, The Rat Catcher, and Me

 The Evil Queen was at the Wishing Well selling bottled water. 
She accepted apples as payment, which Vicki happened to have in her bag.

 My straw hat needs a few small repairs.

 

Andrea the Gypsy Dancer performs The Sword Dance

 

 I love the swirling skirts!

 Vicki blowing bubbles.

 A Lady plays the hammer dulcimer.  

Her music added a lot of atmosphere to the Faire.

 Gypsies with dancing ribbons.

Vicki's walking stick.

 

Fare thee well, until next time!

Simple Goodness : Taste of Summer

 

Red, white, and blue.

Strawberries, angel-food cake, and blueberries : 

The perfect July dessert combination.

Here it is with a little bit pf Peachy Sun thrown into the mix. 

Simple Goodness.