Pumpkin Muffins

When Autumn arrives, so does the wonderful array of pumpkin treats.  A former supervisor of mine passed on a recipe for pumpkin muffins that I absolutely love.  They are moist and flavorful, yet not overpowering in one spice.  I don't put frosting on these because I don't think they need them; however, cream cheese frosting is a good option for those who desire it.  Next time, I might add 1/3 of brown sugar in place of 1/4 of it for extra sweetness and flavor. 

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
• 2/3 cup cold water
• 1 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Mix the liquid ingredients first; then, add the (sifted) dry ingredients.  Bake the muffins for 30-35 minutes (rotating the pans halfway through).  This recipe creates 24 perfect muffins. 

Peach Cobbler

I never buy peaches, and they are almost never in my kitchen.  However, as fate would have it, they were given to me while on vacation about a month ago.  I remembered seeing an episode of Paula's Home Cooking with Paula Deen in which she makes this incredible-looking peach cobbler.  Of course I had to try it; this was a rare opportunity!  I followed Paula's recipe, even watching the video a few times to learn her strategies.  I had to buy the self-rising flour, but everything else was already handy.  I used a round ceramic bowl instead of one like Paula's, and it still worked out well.  The end result was very good, but I think it needed a little more cinnamon, and brown sugar would also provide a little kick to it.  This would be a good recipe for apples, too.

Peach Cobbler
Paula Deen's recipe can be found HERE (courtesy of Food Network).  Paula's antics at the 2:12 time on the video are also hilarious...she's too much sometimes!

Ingredients

• 4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/2 cups reduced fat milk
• ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.
3. Put the butter in a baking dish and place in the preheating oven to melt.
4. Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping.  Pour mixture over melted butter.  Do not stir!  Spoon fruit on top, gently pour in syrup.  Sprimple top with ground cinnamon.  Batter will rise to the top during baking.
5. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown.

Chicken Piccata

My mom loves Chicken Piccata; so for dinner one night, I decided to surprise her with one of her favorite dishes.  Of course, I looked to Food Network for inspiration and stumbled on Giada's recipe for Chicken Piccata.  The great thing about this recipe was that the episode video was included on the website; so I was able to read Giada's recipe as well as watch her lead by example.  I'm a visual learner, and I think the dish was successful because the video.  I was too lazy to butterfly my chicken; so I just bought Perdue's boneless and thin chicken breast.  It took a little longer for my chicken to cook than I thought it would; so the flour fell apart a little before plating.  Nonetheless, dinner was another successful Giada creation!  I chose to pair our chicken with linguine, and it was delicious.

Chicken Piccata

Giada's recipe can be found HERE (courtesy of Food Network).

Ingredients

• 2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied
• about 1 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons EVOO
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, washed and chopped (8 teaspoons of Parsley flakes may be used as a substitute)
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Wash the chicken and cut any excess fat.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dredge the chicken in flour and shake off excess.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil.  When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes.  Remove and transfer to plate.  Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  When they begin to sizzle, repeat the same cooking steps for the other two pieces of chicken.  Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.
3. In the pan, add the lemon juice, chicken stock, and capers.  Return pan to the stove and bring to a boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Return all chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.  Next, add chicken to a serving platter.  Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk.  Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley and lemon slices.

Homemade Mashed Potatoes

Whoever tells you that he loves boxed mashed potatoes over homemade mashed potatoes is LYING.  I am a sucker for slightly lumpy homemade mashed potatoes.  I finally found a recipe that allows me to tweak the ingredients to fit my potato needs.  I've successfully made these mashed potatoes twice thus far, and I know that they will be my staple recipe from now on.  The consistency of the potatoes is perfect when you poke a fork in the simmering pot and the potatoes can barely stay together on your fork.  The mashing allows you to make your potatoes as smooth or lumpy as you like them.  I also tend to add more milk than the recipe calls for. 

Homemade Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 teaspoon of salt (TO START)
• 5 tablespoons heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon 2 % reduced milk (TO START)
• Fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. I used golden potatoes from Maine for the first time I made these because they were on sale.  It is perfectly fine to use Yukon Gold or Red Bliss potatoes as well.  After peeling the potatoes, cut them in half down the middle.  I cube my potatoes by cutting each half in thirds, then once again down the middle (best results for cooked potatoes).   After rinsing the potatoes, put them in a short pot with the teaspoon of salt.  Add water until the potatoes are covered and bring to a boil.  When the water has boiled, reduce the heat and simmer (covered) for 20-25 minutes.  It's very important to keep an eye on the potatoes and test with a fork for the last minute or so.  
2. While the potatoes are cooking, heat up your cream and butter together in the microwave.
3. When the potatoes are finished cooking, drain the water from the potatoes in a colinder.  Put the hot potatoes in a bowl and add the warm cream and melted butter.  
4. Use your potato masher to mash the potatoes until they reach your desired consistency.  Add salt and pepper for seasoning.  Add the tablespoon of milk while mashing.  (Add more milk if need be.)
5. Continue to mash until you reach the desired consistency.  Also, keep tasting until the potatoes reach your desired level of saltiness.

This recipe usually allows me to serve 5-6 people.  It has resulted in delicious mashed potatoes that are requested by my family.

Carrot and Bunny Cupcakes

When you use a box of cake mix to make cupcakes, the least you can do is add a little creativity with the decorations.  Therefore, to acknowledge Easter, I made a batch of Carrot Cake Cupcakes with marshmellow bunnies on the top.  They were a hit!  However, marshmellows do not taste very good with carrot cake; so many people opted to eat them separately or just throw them away.  No worries, though; the bunnies were just for show. :)

Carrot and Bunny Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 box of Carrot Cake mix
• 1 can of Orange Soda
• 1 container of cream cheese frosting
• 18 large marshmallows (for the ears)
• 18 large marshmallows (for the faces)
• 32 miniature chocolate chips (for the eyes)
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (for the noses)
• 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)
• Muffin tins

I use a can of soda when baking with boxes of cake mix; so my first step was to mix the can of Orange Soda with my carrot cake mix.  Then, I placed my muffin tins in a 12-spot mini-muffin tray.  Fill each cup a little more than 3/4 of the way up the muffin tin.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for the time stated on the box.  When the muffins have baked and cooled, frost the cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting.  Next, cut 18 of your large marshmallows in the middle of the cylinder to create 2 round faces.  Continue until all the cupcakes have a round face on them.  Next, take the rest of you large marshmallows and cut them diagonally to create the ears.  Place the point side of the ears into the frosting.  I found it easiest to keep the ears in place by making sure that the stick parts of the marshmallow can be squeezed together at the top.  Next, use the mini chocolate chips to create two dark eyes for the bunnies.  With a toothpick, use the teaspoon of ground cinnamon to carefully dust noses on each of the bunnies.  For contrast, add chopped walnuts around each of the bunnies.