Leftover Halloween Candy Brittle

Thanks to my friend, Melody, for this great idea!



Cracker Candy

Ingredients:

enough saltine crackers to single line 11x14 pyrex dish (about 40)

1 c butter

1 c brown sugar

2 c chocolate chips

leftover candy, chopped into bite size pieces

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400*

2.  Line 11x14 pan with foil, spray foil with pam

3.  Line foil with crackers

4.  Put butter and sugar in saucepan, heat over med heat

5.  Bring to boil, constantly stirring, for about 5 minutes

6.  Pour mixture over crackers

7.  Bake for 5 minutes, or until sugar is bubbly

8.  Sprinkle chocolate chips over cracker mixture

9.  Let stand about 5 minutes, spread chocolate over crackers.

10.  Sprinkle with Halloween candy. 

11.  Chill in fridge for 1-2 hours until set

12.  Invert pan, remove foil, break into pieces





Try-It Bite: Pumpkin Soup

I needed one more recipe for Pumpkinfest 2011.  I wanted  new different recipe, so to my husbands dimay, I chose Pumpkin Soup.  I hope you like it!  Steve decided he would like a little texture to the soup, not blending it.  He also thought it needed some tabasco (everything always needs tabasco!).  I liked the texture, I thought it needed a little more salt and a little less thyme.  We both thought Italian sausage would be GREAT in this soup. 

Pumpkin Soup

4 main dish servings

*Martha Stewart*

Ingredients

6 c chicken stock

3 c pumpkin

1 med onion

3 cloves garlic

1 1/2 t salt

1/2 t thyme

1/2 c heavy cream

Directions:

1.  In a medium saucepn, defrost stock

2.  Add pumpkin, onion, garlic, salt, and thyme, bring to a boil

2.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

3.  With immersion blender, blend soup until smooth.

*Note*  You can also do this in a blender in batches

4.  Add cream, simmer for an additional 10 minutes

Try-It Bite: Pumpkin Penne

Who's to say Pumpkin is just for dessert?!  Now before you say, "Eww, gross"  like my husband often does, try it!  We have a rule in the Tobin house! Before you say "I don't like it,"  have a Try-It Bite!  How will you broaden your taste buds if you don't try!  This was our most recent Try-It Bite.  My review is 4= Good flavor, but needs a little tweaking.  Its a nice change of pace for a fall meal.  I added Parmesan cheese to the recipe, and the sauce was a little runny, so I think next time, I'll only do the wine, which added a lot of flavor.  I thought as I was making it, there would be too much of a nutmeg flavor, but it mellowed very nicely.  This is the original recipe.

Sausage Pumpkin Penne

serves 4

*Rachael Ray recipe*

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed

4 cloves of garlic

1 med onion

1 bay leaf

1 T sage

1 c white wine

1 c chicken stock

1 c pumpkin

1/2 c milk

1/4 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb penne, cooked

Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Directions:

1.  Brown Sausage

2.  When almost fully cooked, add garlic and onion, cook until garlic and onion soft and sausage fully cooked

3.  Add bay leaf, sage, and wine, cook for about 3 minutes

4.  Add pumpkin, bring to boil

5.  Add milk, cinnamon and nutmeg, remove bay leaf.  Reduce heat, simmer for about 5 minutes

6.  This is where I attempted to reduce the sauce by simmering for about 10 minutes.

7.  I then added about 1 c Parmesan cheese for a little flavor and to help thicken the sauce slightly.

Coffee Creamer

Now, when I think of fall and pumpkins, my all time favorite thing is Starbucks Pumpkin Pie Latte.  But in this economy, who can afford that?  This homemade coffee creamer has a variation I'll make for my coffee jolts I despartely need to keep up with 2 kids and this blog! Add 1-3 T per cup o' Joe.  Enjoy!

Base Coffee Creamer

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

1/2 c milk

1/2 c heavy cream

4 T splenda (or sugar)

Directions:

1.  In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients over medium heat.

2.  Warm mixture until steaming, do not boil.

3.  Pour into Mason jar, let cool slightly

4.  Refridgerate, will keep for 2 weeks

Variations:

1.  Pumpkin Spice:  1/4 c pumpkin, 1 t pumpkin pie spice, 1 t vanilla (may replace splenda/sugar with brown sugar).  Blend with immersion blender when cooled slightly

2.  Chocolate Peppermint:  3 T cocoa powder, 1 T peppermint extract

3.  French Vanilla:  2 T vanilla extract

4.  Amaretto:  2 t almond extract, 1 t vanilla extract, 1 t cinnamon

Pumpkin Bars

This very cake-y dessert is delicious and is great for pot lucks.  It is very good by itself or with walnuts mixed in and a cream cheese frosting.

Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients:

2 c sugar

2 c flour

2 c pumpkin

4 eggs

2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

walnuts, if desired

Directions:

1.Beat eggs

2. Add pumpkin to eggs, combine

3. Combine all flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl

4. Add sugar to pumpkin mixture, thoroughly mix

5.Add flour mixture

6. Pour into ungreased 9x13 pyrex dish

7. Bake at 350* 25-30 minutes

8.  Frost, sprinkle walnuts, if desired

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter (4T)

1/2 stick cream cheese (4 oz)

1 c powdered sugar

1/4 c heavy cream

Directions:

1.  Beat butter and cream cheese until soft.

2.  Add sugar, mix until combined

3.  Add enough cream until smoth

Pumpkin Pie

The quintessential pumpkin dish: PIE!

Pumpkin Pie

serves 8

*Paula Dean*

Ingredients

8 oz reduced-fat (neufchatel) cheese

2 c pumpkin

1 c sugar

1/4 t salt

1 egg PLUS 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1/2 c milk

1/2 c cream

4T melted butter

1 t vanilla extract

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t ginger

1 pie crust

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*

2.  Place pie down down into 9-inch pie pan and press along the bottom an all sides, making pretty.  (Obviously, I'm not very talented in this department!  It may not look pretty, but its Yummy!)

3.  Place the pie shell in the freezer for at least an hour to firm up.  Melted butter is NOT  a pie crusts friend!

4.  Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell.

5.  Fill the shell with dried beans ( you CAN use the beans after) and place it in the oven, bake for 10 minutes.  You do this so the crust doesnt puff during cooking.  I didnt add enough beans, so mine puffed in one spot.  You should use about 2 lbs. 

6.  Remove the beans and foil and bake for another 10 minutes until the crust is dried out and begins to color.

7.  For the filling: in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a mixer. 

8.  Add the pumpkin, beat until combined.

9. Add the sugar and salt, beat until combined. 

10.  Add the eggs/yolks, half and half, and melted butter, mix until combined. 

11.  Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, beat until incorporated

12.  Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set.

13.  Let the pie cool to room temp, serve with whipped cream

Note:

This was a new recipe for me.  I found I had too much "pie" for my "crust," so I put the remainder filling in a greased cake pan and cooked it with the pie.  What do you have here?  Pumpkin Pudding.  Serve with graham crackers.  Delish!