Golden Harvest Pumpkin Pie

Happy Thanksgiving. Many are walking up early this morning to put turkeys in the oven and put the last touches on a plentiful meal. We have much to be thankful for.
Today I will not be preparing a family dinner, but instead helping with a community dinner, that will be a later post. This morning I share a pumpkin pie recipe that a good friends of mine brought to a church dinner earlier this year and I made for our church's Fall Festival. It is similar to the traditional recipes I've used in the past but the nut topping adds extra taste and an attractive look.

Festive Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 ¼ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 ½ cups canned pumpkin

1 ⅓ cups evaporated milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Nut Topping:

½ cup nuts, chopped

1 tablespoon margarine

2 tablespoons brown sugar

 1 ½ teaspoons grated orange rind

Directions:

Mix brown sugar, flour, salt, and pumpkin pie spies. Stir in canned pumpkin, evaporated milk, and egg. Stir until smooth. Pour into pastry lined pan. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for 45 minutes, remove pie from oven and spoon topping mixture around edge. Bake 15 minutes longer.

Cranberry Ginger Pear Crisp

Fall flavors include both cranberries and pears. Pears are an often overlooked fruits, many times overshadowed by their cousin, the apple. However, in history pears are found to be a common theme and in ancient times were considered a better fruit than the apple. Pears were introduced to the United States in 1629.
Perhaps one of the difficulties of pears is that there seems to be one good day for a fresh pear. If you don't eat it on that day you've missed it. In anticipation of this recipe and a couple of others, I purchased several pears. And I missed the day for some of them, so they all ended up in this dessert. So I used about 6 pears instead of the 3-4 called for, but I think it made the crisp even better.
I also liked this recipe because it uses Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar. I like shopping for flavored vinegars and oils but sometimes I'm unsure when and where to use them. Olio's Market in Wichita now has an east location, so I'll be buying more frequently, good to have recipes for ideas of using these ingredients. I found the recipe in the Wichita Eagle's Holiday Recipe section.

Cranberry Ginger Pear Crisp

Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2 pounds Bosc pears (about 3-4) (or more!)
1/4 cup sugar
Grated ginger (use a piece approximately .7 oz)
2 tablespoons Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I like Vietnamese Cinnamon)
topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions:
          Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8x8" glass baking dish or a 9-inch pie pan. Peel, core and cut the pears into thin slices. In a large bowl, combine the pears with sugar, ginger, Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar and cinnamon. Combine well and allow to sit while you make the topping.
         For the topping: Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal and butter in a bowl. With an electric mixer or with a pastry blender, cut in or mix until crumbly. Don't over mix. The clumps of butter should be about pea-sized.
        Layer the pears in the baking dish, making sure you include all the juice from the bottom of the bowl. Spread the topping mixture evenly over the pears. Place in the oven for 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and slightly bubbly. It is best served warm, and maybe with a scoop of ice cream.

Favorite Flavors - Chocolate & Peanut Butter

It's been a month of pumpkin tasting, and I have lots of recipes to post and will try to get to those soon. But yesterday was a day to take a break from pumpkin flavors and stir up a recipe for a no-bake cookie bar that combines two favorite flavors - chocolate and peanut butter. That it also contains our favorite cereal is a bonus.

Honey Nut Cheerios Peanut Bars

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light kart syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups honey nut cheerios
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional but very good!)

Directions:
Butter (or spray with non-stick coating) a 9x13 dish and set aside.
In a large pan melt sugar and kart syrup over medium heat until it barely comes to a boil Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Add cheerios, 2 cups at a time and stir until fully coated.
Press cheerios into the 9x13 pan.
Optional: melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips in the microwave for 1 minute and drizzle chocolate (or smear, mine didn't 'drizzle' well) over top of the bars.
Store in an air-tight container for 3 -5 days - if they last that long!