Sunday, October 27, 2013

Fall Gathering

Yesterday, we had our second annual "fall gathering". It's a time for friends and family to gather and make new memories. There was an assortment of soups which included, chili beans, south western black bean soup and chicken chili, cornbreads and desserts - pear cheesecake, apple dapple cake, pumpkin cake, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin dip. We had a great day hanging out around the fire place and watching the little ones play in the backyard.


Fall Table Setting: the table was decorated with mini white and orange pumpkins, a burlap table runner and the center piece was a hollowed-out pumpkin filled with a beautiful flower arrangement and it was made by a family friend, we used golden table cloths and mis-matching chairs








Behind the fire place we set up our "photo booth" - we used two old wicker chairs and decorated the table with pumpkins and a flower arrangement, we had all of the families get pictures here




















Saturday, October 26, 2013

Apple Dapple Cake

Fall-time calls for anything and everything apple. For my family's annual "fall gathering", I made an Apple Dapple Cake. This recipe comes from the kitchen of our dear family friend, Mrs. Charlotte who went home to Jesus this past summer. I will always think of her when I make this cake.

Ingredients:

Cake

3 c flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1.5 c oil
2 c sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1 c pecans, chopped
3 c apples, peeled & chopped

Icing

1 c brown sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 c)
1/4 c evaporated milk (5oz can)

Mix the first eight ingredients together. Add in pecans and apples. Pour the batter into a greased bunt pan. Bake at 350ยบ for 35-45 minutes or until the cake has set. Let the cake cool completely.

For the icing, melt the three ingredients and boil for 2 1/2 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. When the icing has set, pour it over the cake and enjoy!


Thursday, October 24, 2013

Pecan Ice Cream Pie

Last week, my brother-in-law got up at 3:45am to smoke some pork that we finally got to enjoy 15 hours later. It was well-worth the wait! He did a fabulous job and everyone left uncomfortably full. As any proper guest knows, it's always polite to bring a side dish or dessert when you're invited over for dinner. My sister suggested that I make a pecan ice cream pie that she found on pintrest. I am so glad that I took her advice because it was fabulous (if I do say so myself). Even though we were all stuffed on BBQ, we all had our fait share of dessert too!

the recipe can be found here:
Pecan Ice Cream Pie


Spinach, Tomato & Fontina Tarts

This recipe comes from Southern Lady and is a keeper! I have made this tart several times and I can't get enough! The first time that I made it was a little crazy with all of the prep work and the leaky tart dish, but it was good enough that I made it again. This time, I decided to make it into several mini-tarts rather than one big tart. I saved a few of them and took them with me to work. Even after a few days in the freezer they were delish!

Ingredients:
1 box pie crust - I made my own crust and I used a simple pie crust recipe
2 T butter
2 T EVOO
1 T minced garlic
1 large yellow onion
2 (6 oz) bags baby spinach
4 large eggs
1 cup half-and-half
1 3/4 t salt, divided
3/4 t pepper, divided
3/4 t dry mustard
2 cups shredded fontina cheese, divided
5 Campari tomatoes, sliced 3/4 inches thick

Preheat the over to 450

Fit the pie crust (box crust or homemade) into an 11-inch removable-bottom tart pan (or mini-tart pans). Prick the bottom with a fork and bake for 8 minutes, set aside.

Reduce the oven to 375

In a large skillet, heat the butter and EVOO over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute, stirring constantly (attention: this will make your house smell!) Add the onion and cook for about 8-10 minutes stirring frequently until the onion is tender. Add the spinach in batches stirring constantly and until the spinach is wilted and all of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, and mustard.

To assemble the tart, sprinkle 1 1/2 cups cheese over the bottom of the crust. Layer the spinach mixture on top of the cheese then pour the egg mixture over the spinach. Layer the tomatoes on top of the cheese and spinach layers. Sprinkle the tomatoes with the remaining 1/4 t salt and 1/4 t pepper and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the middle is set.

Let cool before serving.

Enjoy!


Sunday, October 13, 2013

Pumpkin Scones

Fall is in the air which means it's time to make pumpkin treats! I was in the mood to do some baking yesterday and I decided to try the Starbuck's Pumpkin Scone recipe via Pintrest. I followed the recipe to a tee and I wasn't disappointed. They were amazing! Of course they didn't look just like the picture but they tasted 10x better!!





Here is the link to the recipe:

Starbuck's Pumpkin Scones