Easy Pumpkin Spice

And - more Pumpkin Spice recipes! This seasonal flavor has gotten to be very popular and is a celebration of fall. This year even breakfast cereals have gone 'pumpkin spice'. Here's a recipe that is quick and easy - a revision of a popular no-bake cereal bar. A couple of things I've learned with this type of recipes help make the preparation fool-proof. First - this is not the place to skimp and use less expensive than name-brand marshmallows. It does make a difference. Also, as much as I like to use my microwave for melting and some other stove top preparations, the butter - marshmallow mixture melts and blends best on the stovetop. So with those tips, enjoy....

Pumpkin-Spice Cheerios Marshmallow Bars

 

Simple ingredients

Ingredients:

½ stick (4 Tbsp) unsalted butter

 1 bag marshmallows (the mini-marshmallows melt more quickly, that bag was 10 ounces)

7 cups Pumpkin Spice Cheerios

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

⅛ teaspoon ginger

¾ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions:

Spray 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat.

Add marshmallows to saucepan and stir until melted.

Turn off heat and add Pumpkin Spice Cheerios, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Stir until Cheerios are completely coated in marshmallow.

Fold in white chocolate chips.

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and let sit for about an hour to cool and harden.

Cut into squares.

I've already started cutting! I like to use a 'rocker' knife
(sometimes called a ula knife) to cut bar cookies.

Pumpkin Spice Season

It's finally fall - the calendar says October, and even the weather has decided to drop the temperatures. At last we can get out the sweaters, boots, and rich colored clothing of autumn. And that means its Pumpkin Spice Everything Season! The cooler mornings call for a warm cup of pumpkin spice coffee and a fresh made pumpkin muffin.

Here's a recipe that my family enjoyed on a recent cool day:

Pumpkin Spiced Latte Muffins

Ingredients for muffins:

1¾ cup flour (blend of all-purpose & whole wheat

   or all-purpose)

1 cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 

1-15 oz. can of pumpkin puree

2 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup vegetable oil

Latte Glaze:

½ cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons coffee

(or 2 tablespoons pumpkin spice coffee creamer)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil.

Gently combine the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture, fold with a rubber spatula until it is smooth.

Spray a muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray, blot away extra, and scoop the batter into each slot with an ice cream scooper.

Bake in a 375° oven for 22-24 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and place on a cooling rack placed over wax paper.

Mix glaze ingredients together, whisk until smooth. Spoon glaze over each muffin allowing the glaze to coat the tops and run onto the waxed paper. Let set for 5-10 minutes and enjoy.

Favorite Cookies - even better!

My favorite cookies just got better. One of the things I like about this recipe is the flavors can be varied with the flavor of pudding mix used. Another - the pudding mix keeps the cookies soft and moist longer (but how would I know? Cookies do not last long at my house!). I've done this recipe with chocolate pudding mix (yummy), and with coconut cream pudding mix (with pastel colored white chocolate chips) for spring. And now -- with pumpkin pudding mix - this is the best!! I'd seen pumpkin pudding mix in the stores in previous years, but this year I haven't been able to find it. Except on Amazon.com - one of my favorite shopping spots. I had to order 4 boxes, but I'm sure that will not be a problem to use. Pumpkin Spice baking chips are more easily found, however not in my small town grocery stores - another trip to the bigger town.

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
   (or, as I use - a blend of all-purpose and whole wheat)
1 package instant (3.4 oz) pumpkin spice pudding mix
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup pumpkin spice baking chips

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine oats, flour, pudding mix, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in baking chips.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2-inches apart onto a parchment lined baking sheet, Bake at 375 degrees for 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks.
When I've made this recipe and used to small cookie scoop for dropping onto the baking sheet, I get 6-7 dozen. This time I made them larger (about 2/3 of the ice cream scoop), and made 5 dozen.

National Coffee Day

Yesterday was National Coffee Day - a day to celebrate our caffeine habit and get a free cup of coffee at selected coffee houses. For many of us, Coffee Day is the way we start each day. My house offers a steaming pot of brew each morning, this week's flavor is Pumpkin Spice, anticipating the fall season. Yesterday's publicity of National Coffee Day reminded me of the coffee farms we toured in Hawaii. It was interesting to see coffee as a red bean on a short tree/shrub instead of a dark ground product in a bag.
Coffee is, and has historically been, one of Hawaii's main crops. The first coffee plant was introduced to Hawaii through King Kamehameha in 1813. In 1821, the first coffee tree was planted in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii by a missionary. Thus, the exquisite taste of the cup of Kona coffee had begun. Kona coffee is grown in a 20-mile area that offers just the right temperatures, rainfall, and mix of volcanic soil to produce the distinct flavor. Today the largest coffee farm there has 4 million trees.
There are 715 small coffee farms in the state of Hawaii, some on each island. Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. which grows coffee.

Coffee trees grow in rows in rich volcanic soil that reminded us
of Oklahoma red dirt. 

The trees are not large, and are trimmed every other year or every third year. 

Beans, called cherries, grow in clusters along the stem.
They are harvested after about 7 - 9 months. Each cherry contains
two small beans. 

Beans/cherries may be strip picked with a harvester machine such
as this one or selective picked by hand taking only the ripe cherries. 

Coffee beans are sorted and separated then dried. Other processing includes
hulling, polishing, and roasting.

The folks at Eating Well have given tips for brewing the best cup of coffee. It gives us something to think about, maybe a change of the plastic-can-brand to the grind-it-in-the-store (or at home) varieties. What ever  your habits are, there are some tips you can use:
1. Buy fresh beans
2. Keep beans fresh at home. They suggest to buy only a 5-7 day supply at a time and keep them in a glass canning jar with a tight fitting lid.
3. Choose good coffee - 100% arabica beans.
4. Grind your own.
5. Use good water.
6. Avoid cheap filters.
7. Don't skimp on the coffee. Their formula is 2 level tablespoons of ground coffee for 6 ounces of water/coffee.
8. Beware of the heat, best temperature is 200 degrees.
9. Keep your equipment clean.

The simple cup of morning joe - gives us a lot to think about. Enjoy the brew.

Apples - for health and fun

For church coffee time - Apple Nachos
and sliced apples to dip

There are always apples in our refrigerator. A good snack, quick dessert, and available at a reasonable price, no matter the season. But fall is really apple season and a time I like to try new apple recipes. This fall's debuts were Skillet Apple Crumble and Apple Nachos.
Apples are a healthy food - after all, haven't we always heard "An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away"?. An average apple contains just 75 calories, no fat, and many nutrients including Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Thiamin, Niacin, and Pectin, as well as being a good source of fiber.
There are lots of apple facts and trivia to tell. But instead I'll share another bit of Apple trivia - Do you know why the apple logo on my Mac computer has a bite out of it? To make you think Apple, not cherry! Made you look at the Apple logo, didn't I?

Skillet Apple Crumble

Filling:
 10-12 Granny Smith or Johathan apples

(or a combo), peeled, seeded, and sliced
3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
Topping:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place apples into the bottom of a 12-inch seasoned cast iron skillet; toss with flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt.
In a bowl, combine crumble topping ingredients, then sprinkle prepared topping evenly over apples in skillet; top crumble with chopped pecans.
Bake, uncovered, on center rack of preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until apples are fork-tender and crumble topping is golden brown.
Optional: serve topped with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with warm caramel sauce.

Ready to serve - Thanks, Chef Alli for the recipe.

Caramel Apple Nachos     

Ingredients:
Sliced apples
caramel sauce
chopped peanuts
mini chocolate chips
Instructions: Easy, peasy
arrange slice apples on a serving plate (dip in lemon juice to prevent browning). Drizzle caramel sauce (and chocolate sauce too if you like) over the slices. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and mini chocolate chips.

Apple slices always have a place on the fruit platter
with dip made with Greek yogurt, sour cream, and
brown sugar. 

Fall Flavors - Pork & Sweet Potatoes

   

 Some recipes just say "Fall" and make us think of golden leaves, foggy mornings, and crisp weather. In Kansas fall likes to play 'hide and seek' with us, so although the day I planned this menu was fall-like, the day I made and served it seemed more like summer. But the calendar tells us fall, so we turn our thoughts and tastes to fall dishes...
     Pork Tenderloin is a surprisingly easy cut to prepare. It differs from pork loin and sometimes the two are confused as the names are similar. The tenderloin is a boneless cut from a muscle along the backbone of the hog, it is a thin long cut of meat, making nice medallion-like servings. This cut is very tender (as the name implies) and best cooked at a high temperature for a shorter time. The Loin cut is from the animal's back and can be bone-in or boneless. It is more like a roast and usually in a 3-5 pound cut. It is better cooked in a lower temperature for a longer time to tenderize the meat.
     My recipe was a slow cooker prep that I adapted to the oven, which I thought was more suitable for the tenderloin. I did precook the sweet potatoes to assure they were done when the meat was ready. I also doubled the recipe for a family sized meal and leftovers.

Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins (about 1.5 pounds each)
3 large sweet potatoes
3 medium apples
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1/4 cup water

Directions:
1. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into chunks. Cook in boiling water until fork tender.
2. Peel and slice apples.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, thyme, salt, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne pepper.
4. Arrange sweet potatoes in baking pan. Add minced onion and sprinkle with half of spice mixture.
5. Coat pork with remaining spice mixture. Place on top of sweet potatoes in baking pan. Top pork with apples, cranberries, and water.
6. Cook at 425 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, or until pork internal temperature is 145 degrees (medium rare) to 160 degrees (medium).
7. Optional - glaze with a mixture of 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and broil for an additional 5 minutes.

Ready to go into the oven

After roasting 1 1/2 hours

We served the sweet potatoes and apples
on the side