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Archive for autumn

Gingersnaps–Its that Time of Year

November 17, 2008 at 11:23 am · Filed under 5584, All Karen's Posts and tagged: , , , ,

Gingersnaps

From the kitchen of Sandy Garrett

 

A decade ago I lived in Ft. Collins, CO.  Sandy Garrett was the Activity Committee head and planned a beautiful Night of the Nativity at a ward members home/barn.  As we left the barn (stable) with the live animals and baby Jesus we were each given a spicy, rich gingersnap.

 

I had to have the recipe.  The cookies are flat.  In fact, Sandy said to drop the cookie tray onto the kitchen counter after taking them out of the hot oven in order to make the cookies fall.  My cookies always seem to fall without the added help.  The cookie dough is very sticky.  Remember to use that small ice cream scoop for perfectly sized cookies.

 

Cream:

1 ½ C. Shortening

2 C. Sugar

2 Eggs

 1 ½ C. Molasses

 

Sift and then add to above:

2 tsp. Baking Soda

4 1/3 C. Flour

2 Tsp. Cinnamon

2 Tsp. Ground Cloves

2 Tsp. Ginger

 

This makes a very sticky dough.  Roll into balls the size of walnuts and roll in sugar.  I simply scoop mine and plop the dough ball into the bowl of sugar.  Place nine (versus the normal 12) cookie balls per cooking sheet because these cookies spread. 

 

Bake for 10 minutes at 375 F.  The cookies will look under done, but you will able to lift the edges.

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Carmel Apples

November 1, 2008 at 5:17 pm · Filed under 5584, All Karen's Posts and tagged: , , , ,

They looked so good, BUT…Aynie’s first try at making carmel apples seemed to be a success.  She bought several pounds of cubed cello-wrapped carmels at Macey’s and washed, dried some perfectly-sized apples.  Friends helped her unwrap all those little critters.

She melted the carmel in a pyrex bowl, dipped the apples then dipped them again in melted chocolate.  I don’t know how long she cooked the carmel in the microwave, but the carmel was not chewable.  It was terribly hard.  Proves again that looks aren’t everything.

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Pumpkin Harvest Brownies

October 23, 2008 at 2:30 pm · Filed under 5584, All Karen's Posts and tagged: , , , ,

 

About five or six years ago while I was a Cub Scout Den Leader and mother of a couple of Cubs I attended a Cake auction.  Luckily, I bid on Marilee’s cake which turned out to be Pumpkin Harvest Brownies–cost me $40 for this recipe.  I called her later that week and she willingly gave me the following recipe.  Definitely a family favorite:

Pumpkin Harvest Brownies

 

2 C. Pureed pumpkin or squash

4 Eggs

¾ C. Oil

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 C. Flour (Option: use 1 C. whole wheat flour and 1 C. white)

2 C. Sugar

1 T. Pumpkin pie spice (I use 1 scant tsp of each of the following spices

            Nutmeg

            Cloves

            Ginger

2 tsp. Cinnamon

2 tsp. Baking powder

2 tsp. Baking soda

½ tsp. Salt

 

Combine all the ingredients and bake at 350 F. for 20-25 minutes in a greased 10×15x1 jelly roll pan.

 

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

 

6 T. Butter

3 ozs. Cream Cheese (I like to use more.)

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 tsp. Milk

1/8 tsp. Salt

2-4 C. Powdered Sugar

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jNae’s Pumpkin Question

October 22, 2008 at 2:53 pm · Filed under 5584, All Karen's Posts, Provident Living and tagged: , , , , , ,

jNae had a question about pressure canning pumkin (see below).  I gave her a totally lame answer and she was smart enough to email the USU Extension service.  YES, jNae!

Here’s the question:

I have a question for you – I bottled pumpkin last night and was too tired to stay up and wait for the pressure cooker to pressure down so I could take off the lid and remove the bottles – so I just left it and did it this morning. The bottles were still warm – is the pumpkin going to be ok? or did it stay the wrong warmish temperature for too long?

 

I know – I should have stayed awake – but it was soo cold and my bed was soo warm and I was sooooo tired!

 

If you’re not sure about the right answer, I’ll give the extension office a call and pass the info on to you so you can know for future reference that I’m just a lazy bones!

Here’s the answer:

SO – I emailed my lazy pumpkin dilemma to the extension office – so for your files – here’s their answer: Assuming it was cubed pumpkin (see http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/tips/fall/pumpkins.html) it may have a risk for a spoilage called flat sour. There is a sporeformer bacteria that does not cause illness, but can spoil foods left at very warm temps. It would have grown and caused acid already. If the pumpkin smells and tatses fine, it will be okay. We do not recommend that practice.

 

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Sourdough Waffles

October 13, 2008 at 1:31 pm · Filed under 5584, All Karen's Posts, Provident Living and tagged: , , , , , , ,

You’ve gotta love Belgian waffle makers.  Here’s the sourdough waffle recipe.  I’ll give you a start if you would like–its easy to do.  You can put the start to sleep in the refrigerator when you are tired of feeding it on the counter.

2 C. Sourdough starter (It is warm and bubbly.)

2 Eggs

2 T. Oil

2 T. Sugar

½  tsp. Salt

 

Mix above ingredients then add:

 

1 scant tsp. Baking Soda. (This inflates the batter.)

 

Cook the batter in your Belgian waffle maker or on the griddle for pancakes.  Top with the Magic Syrup (aka Buttermilk syrup).  The recipe for the buttermilk syrup is back on August 30th.  Enjoy.

 

Check out the SourdoughHome.com link at the right.  This guy knows his stuff, plus he’s baking at high altitude.  FYI we’re at 4,900 feet above sea level.  That’s a bit above the Provo Airport’s altitude because we’re on the bench, the foot of Timp.

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