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Puppy Pumpkins

• Puppy Pumpkins by me=)
• So much fun with preschoolers!
  

Smoky Bacon Wraps

Quick Cooking
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"These cute little sausage and bacon bites are finger-licking good," promises Cara Flora from Kokomo, Indiana. "They have a sweet and salty taste that's fun for breakfast or as an appetizer."

SERVINGS: 14

CATEGORY: Appetizer

METHOD: Baked

TIME: Prep: 20 min. Bake: 30 min.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound sliced bacon
• 1 package (16 ounces) miniature smoked sausage links
• 1 cup packed brown sugar

Directions:

Cut each bacon strip in half widthwise. Wrap one piece of bacon around each sausage.
Place in a foil-lined 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 30-40 minutes or until bacon is crisp and sausage is heated through. Yield: about 3-1/2 dozen.

• Comments

• Re: Smoky Bacon Wraps

  I like to make these a day ahead of time. I roll my wrapped sausages in the brown sugar & then cover with plastic wrap for several hours of overnight in the refrigerator. The brown sugar sticks to the bacon instead of falling in the pan. I also use a rack in my pan to keep them out of the bacon fat as they are cooking.

  Nan D

  missusd1
• Re: Smoky Bacon Wraps

  I make these every holiday, but instead of brown sugar, I bake them with BBQ sauce. Mmmm... they are delicious! (You can also try mushrooms wrapped in bacon.)

  TonyaS

Read All Comments

Blueberry French Toast

• ***Update=) : We made this and it is GONE!!! Very yummy recipe, super simple, and wonderfully convenient for a crowd or overnight company. I made ours with a frozen mixed berry medley--raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and blue berries (Aldi's doesn't carry frozen blue berries). We did follow the comment suggestions and chose to cut back on the cream cheese (1 block of cream cheese, instead of two). It is so pretty=)
  

Hunting for Sabrina's Birthday Breakfast--

Taste of Home

This is the best breakfast dish I've ever tasted. With luscious blue berries inside and in a sauce, it's almost more like a dessert. The recipe was shared with me by a local blueberry grower. -Patricia Walls, Aurora, Minnesota

SERVINGS: 6-8

CATEGORY: Breakfast/Brunch

METHOD: Overnight Recipes

TIME: Prep: 30 min. + chilling Bake: 55 min.

Ingredients:

• 12 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed
• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 12 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
• SAUCE:
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Cut bread into 1-in. cubes; place half in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Cut cream cheese into 1-in. cubes; place over bread. Top with blueberries and remaining bread cubes.
In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and syrup; mix well. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 25-30 minutes longer or until golden brown and center is set.
In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 3 minutes. Stir in blueberries; reduce heat. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until berries have burst. Stir in butter until melted. Serve with French toast. Yield: 6-8 servings (1-3/4 cups sauce).

link from be different act normal
Pumpkin Pie Bites « bakerella.com

I’ve been in a mini-mood lately when it comes to baking and these bite-sized pies met my big craving.

They are really, really easy. Let me show ya.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that I used ready to roll refrigerated pie crust. It comes two to a box and if you roll each round pie crust a little bit thinner with a rolling pin, you can get 24 mini pumpkin-shaped pie crusts out of them. Make sure you use all the dough scraps and re-roll to maximize quantities.

Then, stuff each one in a mini muffin baking pan. This one holds 24.

Press the dough down, in and around the edge of each muffin cup. Make sure the stem for the pumpkin stays sticking out. You’ll notice I alternated cups above. I did this mainly to make sure the pie crusts didn’t touch each other. So I ended up baking these in two batches.

Fill each pie crust with pumpkin filling all the way to the top.

When they come out of the oven, they’ll be puffed up like this. Too bad they didn’t stay that way. That would be pretty darn cute.

But no, after they cool for a few, they’ll fall and be flush with the pie crust.

See… easy mini pumpkin pie bites. These would be really cute at Thanksgiving.

You can even drizzle them with melted chocolate to jazz them up a bit. Just melt some chocolate in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave on medium. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between. You can also add a little bit of vegetable oil to make the chocolate more fluid. Then, transfer the chocolate to a re-sealable plastic bag and cut the corner off and drizzle away.

But wait… you say you don’t want to wait until Thanksgiving.

I don’t blame you.

So… pipe some chocolate faces on and make them in October.

Cute!

And I’ll say it again… easy!

Pumpkin Pie Bites

2 refrigerated ready-to roll pie crusts

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter

Optional
1/2 cup chocolate morsels
vegetable oil
re-sealable plastic bags

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Use cookie cutter to cut 12 pumpkin shapes from each pie crust. You will need to roll the dough thinner than it comes out of the box.
Press dough shapes into a 24 cup mini muffin tray. (Make 12 at a time, alternating cups to make sure pie crusts don’t overlap each other.)
Apply egg whites from one egg to the top edges of each pie.
Mix cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin pie filling, remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until thoroughly combined.
Spoon filling into each pumpkin-shaped pie crust.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Remove pies to cool and repeat with second pie crust. Place the muffin tray in the freezer to cool it quickly for re-use.

Makes 24 pies. Keep refrigerated.

To decorate, melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave on medium. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted. Add a little vegetable oil to make the chocolate more fluid. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and cut the corner off. Drizzle or draw faces on pies.

Note: The cutter I used was 3 3/4 inches wide, but if you don’t have one, don’t worry. Just use a round cutter around that size or slightly smaller to cut circle shapes out of the dough. Then make stems with the scraps. Press each stem over the edge and down the side of the dough before filling.

Pumpkin pie spice is a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.

Enjoy!

Chicken Fajita Pizza

I made this for dinner last night, and it was so good. I got it from Taste of Home's Prize Winning Recipes Cookbook. c2006

Yields: 2 pizzas (8 slices each)
Time: Between 45 min & 1 hour

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 4 Tbs veg oil, divided
• 2 tsp of salt, divided
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small strips
• 2 cups sliced onions
• 2 cups sliced green peppers
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack or mozzarella cheese

In a bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add Flour, 2 Tbs oil, 1 tsp salt and sugar. Beat vigorously by hand 20 strokes. Cover and let rest about 15 min. Divide dough in half; press each portion into a greased 12-in pizza pan (at this point, I rolled the edges on one slightly and it turned out prettier than the other one.) Prick dough several times with a fork.. Bake at 425 for 6-8 min.

In a skillet, saute chicken in remaining oil until juices run clear. Ad onions, peppers, chili powder, garlic powder and remaining salt; cook until vegetables are tender. Spoon over crusts; top with salsa and cheese. Bake for 14-18 min or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Slow--n--Easy-Barbecued-Chicken

• Slow 'n' Easy Barbecued Chicken Recipe | Taste of Home Recipes
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 broiler/fryer chicken (2-1/2 to 3 pounds), cut up and skin removed
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon cold water

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine the first 11 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Place the chicken in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Top with sauce. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until chicken juices run clear.
Remove chicken to a serving platter and keep warm. Strain cooking juices and skim fat; transfer to a small saucepan. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into juices. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Spoon some of the sauce over chicken and serve the remaining sauce on the side. Yield: 4 servings.

Bruschetta

• From Chelsi Nelson, 2009
  
• Here's the recipe...I added green onion and cilantro with the topping. Then I topped with parmesean cheese. It was enough to top about 7 large pieces of bread. I also used more basil than it called for. Enjoy!

• http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/bruschetta_with_tomato_and_basil/
  

Colorful Cupcake How To

Colorful swirled cupcakes | Chica and Jo

With as many ways as there are to decorate cupcakes, they can be really boring if you just slap some plain icing on them. I like to make them fun and interesting, and one of my favorite ways to do that is with colorful, swirled icing.

Rather than mix food coloring into the icing, I use it to paint the decorator bag, creating a result so crazy and cool that you won’t believe you got it from such a simple technique. Let me show you how!

Gather the supplies

The first things you’ll need, of course, are cupcakes and icing! This technique works best with white decorator’s icing (see here for my recipe), but you can use canned frosting if you need to, just make sure it’s as white as possible. As for equipment, you’ll need some disposable icing bags, a star-shaped icing tip (I like size 18), and optionally a coupler. You’ll also need a small, clean paint brush and some paste food coloring in various colors. (It must be paste. Liquid won’t work.) Finally, grab a tall drinking glass, which will help to hold the bag for you.

Select the colors

The best part about this technique is that you can choose any colors you want and can customize it to the occasion. You can use orange and black for Halloween, red and green for Christmas, or pink and blue for a baby shower. A rainbow of colors makes for a fun child’s party treat (like Jo’s Candyland party) and can even look tie-dyed. Using team colors will make a great addition to any sporting event, from a child’s soccer game to a tailgating party.

You’ll be painting from 4 to 6 stripes of color for your icing, but you can repeat colors, so you really only need at least 2 different colors (up to 6 max).

Paint the bags

Okay, now for the actual technique! Attach the star tip and coupler to the disposable bag and flip the end of the bag out to form a cuff, so that you can reach the inside easier. Here’s where the glass comes in handy, as it serves as a holder for the bag. Put the tip of the bag in the bottom of the glass and let it stand upright.

Now use the paint brush to paint stripes of color on the inside of the bag, starting at the tip and going up about 3-4 inches. Each stripe of food coloring should be fairly thick and about 1/2″ wide.

If you are using 2 or 3 colors, paint two stripes of each color, alternating them. If you are using 4, 5, or 6 colors, paint one stripe of each color. Be sure to leave some space between each stripe.

The photo on the left shows me painting orange and black alternating stripes, and the result is on the right.

Here’s another example with a rainbow of 6 colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple).

Fill the bags

Now scoop a bunch of white icing into the bag with a spoon. The stripes of color will be very easy to see now.

Twist the top of the bag to close it and squeeze icing out of the tip until it no longer flows white, but starts to show the colors you used. Pretty cool, huh?

Decorate the cupcakes

Now for the fun part! Squeeze the icing out onto the cupcake in any design or pattern you want. Here are some example patterns I like:

The results

Here are my finished cupcakes. You can see that the color starts out bolder and fades as you do more cupcakes. Eventually you’ll run out of icing in the bag, but unfortunately you can’t just keep adding more, because your color will get all used up. You’ll need to start with a clean bag each time you need more icing (which is why I like the disposable ones) and paint fresh stripes on it. You should be able to get about a dozen cupcakes out of one bag of icing.

Cupcake Shirt

from Grace Violet , isn't it darling???=)

(Click on any image to enlarge for detail)

No measuring was required for this project.

I started by cutting out a base for the cupcake,

and attaching it to the shirt with a zigzag stitch.

My next step was to create the icing.

The icing ruffles were made by cutting long lengths of jersey cotton,

and gathering as I went. To create a fluffy cupcake top,

I sewed each strip very close together,

overlapping sections, as I filled in the middle.

Coordinating buttons were added at the top of the cake as "cherries."

My oldest loved her sister's shirt so much that she requested one of her own.

I readily complied - the "icing" was addicting to create (and fat free!).

A few tips:

- Jersey cotton is a breeze to work with; it doesn't fray, but puffs and ruffles up even more after washing and drying.

- It is not necessary to have one looong strip to create the icing ruffle. I used many shorter strips, and overlapped them as I came to the end of the previous strip. The ruffled jersey is so forgiving, you never know when one strip ends and another begins.

- Be sure to sew the ruffles very closely together. On my first attempt, I thought I had enough ruffles, so I threw it in the wash. When it came out of the dryer, the shirt was showing through the icing, so I simply added more ruffles in the empty space.

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe : Giada De Laurentiis : Food Network
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 ounces English toffee candy (recommended: Heath or Skor bar), finely chopped
• 1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked, and chopped
• 1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with parchment paper. Finely chop the oats in a food processor. Transfer the oats to a medium bowl. Mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in the toffee, hazelnuts, and chocolate chips.

For each cookie, drop 1 rounded tablespoonful of dough onto sheet, spacing 1-inch apart (do not flatten dough). Bake until the cookies are golden (cookies will flatten slightly), about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. (The cookies can be prepared 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)