A Yummy Fall treat

Although we are experiencing a few days of summer like weather here on the north coast I've been craving one of my favorite fall treats: Fall Harvest Cake.
The original recipe comes from Gooseberry Patch's Flavors of Fall cookbook  shared by a woman with whom I posted for a good number of years on a message board about recipes. Most of her recipes there were big hits and I was certain before even trying this one for the first time that would hold true for this as well. In the years since first making this I've served it at school (in the days before the healthy eating initiative) and altered it slightly by leaving out the pecans and adding dried cranberries. At home here I use both. I've also experimented and decided I prefer maple sugar over the brown sugar when I have it. Brown sugar is far less expensive however.
I whipped up the batter (using the last granny smith apple) and put it in the oven!  Seventy minutes at 350 degrees and the cake was ready to come out of the oven.  The original recipe also includes a frosting but my personal opinion is that a sprinkle of powdered sugar over the top is enough. The cake is very sweet on its own.

Fall Harvest Cake
Gooseberry Patch's Flavors of Fall
Lynda McCormack

 1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar (or maple sugar)
2 t. cinnamon
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. ginger
1 c. oil
1/2 t. vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 c. all purpose flour
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
1 apple, cored, peeled and  chopped
1/2 c. chopped pecans
my addition: 1/2 c. dried cranberries

Mix first 10 ingredients; add flour 1/2 cup at a time, blend in pumpkin then fold in apples, pecans, and cranberries if you use them. Grease and flour bundt pan and pour in batter. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 70 minutes. Cool 20 minutes on a wire rack. Serves 12

Sunday Supper and Planned Overs

It seems as if this weekend was full of meals that I had future plans for. Our Sunday supper was a delicious eye of round roast purchased at the whole sale club for $14 and cut in half before freezing. I pulled one of these out of the freezer and I seasoned it with Mccormack's Montreal Steak seasoning blend before putting in the oven.
. Alongside I made homemade from scratch genuine mashed potatoes . My favorite potato for these is the basic russet which I peel and cut in half before cooking until fork tender. Unlike a lot of folks I don't much care for your everyday potato masher, I just don't think that tool gets the potatoes as fine as I like, so I use this handy tool  the potato ricer! After pressing the cooked potatoes through this back into the still hot pot they were cooked in I add Smart balance spread, organic milk, and a smidge of salt and pepper and then beat it all together with a slotted spoon. Yum. To round out our meal I served canned corn and brown gravy (take the drippings from the roast, add a bit of beef stock made by combining beef base and hot water to measure one cup and set aside. Melt two tablespoons of butter, whisk in two tablespoons of flour until smooth and just starting to turn brown, add the broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Taste to adjust seasoning and serve).
Knowing that I wanted to use some of this roast again I set aside a good amount of it for a future Beef Stroganoff dish! Two "fancy" beef meals for $3.50 each for the meat. I'll take that.

One Small Chicken..Four big meals..One tiny price

Although I create, shop for, and try to stick as closely as possible to a monthly menu plan there are times when I do go off the plan. Yesterday was one of those occasions. I've been actually craving a good roasted chicken and my friend with whom I am spending a weekend was on board. We stopped at a local grocery store and he purchased the ingredients. Total cost $11.63
I was a bit disappointed that the largest chicken they had on hand was only 4 pounds but since it was just the two of us we went with that. I seasoned the chicken and put it in the oven to roast

. A box of Stovetop stuffing mix from his pantry cupboard

and fresh baby carrots that I cooked and then candied with butter and brown sugar as well as some homemade gravy from the roast chicken drippings rounded out this meal.
This morning I took the chicken carcass and cut off a nice amount of white meat from it for my friend to warm up with leftover gravy and carrots for an evening meal for himself during the week then placed the remaining chicken carcass along with the wings and one remaining quarter leg into a slow cooker. I added carrots, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning, covered it all with cold water and turned it on low to simmer while we went about our day's activities. This stock became the basis of a chicken noodle soup lunch after I cooked and added more carrots and a half a bag of kluski style noodles to it.
After enjoying a couple of bowls of hot soup for lunch we have enough leftovers for another meal for him plus enough for me to take home to the kids for hot lunches on Monday for them!

New England Style Boiled Dinner

  Tonight I am digging into some of our favorite recipes and using one my Mom gave me (although she just called it Cottage Ham and cabbage). The weather has been blustery and damp and I look forward to having this meal simmering on the back of the stove while I do my Monday afternoon house cleaning chores. I like to add potatoes and carrots to Mom's basic recipe and serve this with corn muffins.
Here are the recipes for both of these items:

Sorta Like Mom's New England Style Boiled Dinner:
Serves 6

3 lb. smoked boneless ham shoulder (aka Cottage Ham)
1/2 head of cabbage, cut into wedges
6 small potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 pound of baby carrots
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

Place all ingredients in a dutch oven, cover with water (or chicken broth), cover pot and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low for 2 hours until potatoes, carrots, and cabbage are cooked through.

 Corn Muffins:
1 cup flour
1 cup yellow or white cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar (I like to use maple sugar)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk (I use sour milk)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg beaten
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, grease or line with paper liners 12 muffin cups. Combine dry ingredients, make a well in the center and add wet ingredients. Mix together well. Spoon 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin cup. Bake 12-15minutes until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and serve.

Party Planning on a budget

When thinking over my October expenses I knew that they would have to include an 18th birthday party for my youngest daughter. Saturday was the big day and we had 25 people (including myself & daughter). My gentleman friend was nice enough to open his home (far larger than mine) and purchase a sheet sized ice cream cake for this. As for the menu I decided to do several chip & dip combos and two weekends ago purchased a few favorites from Robert Rothschild Farm:

I paired this spicy dip up with tortilla chips.

This one was paired with cinammon pita chips. The final dip I purchased was this one served with pretzel sticks:


Several family members also contributed some dips and chips and I made a huge salad, garlic bread, and an enormous amount of penne with homemade sauce.


Dessert was Halloween themed cupcakes my daughter made and the sheet cake:

\Total cost for food, drink, and paper goods was just under $200. At $8 per person I am satisfied with this amount and it was within budget.

Indian Corn Stew

Once again I turned to a Gooseberry Patch cookbook for inspiration and chose something from my newest fall edition: The Harvest Table.


My choice was Indian Corn stew. This got good reviews from the kids although I think it needs a bit of something added, perhaps sage? And less tomato sauce, next time I'll make these adjustments and see how it goes.

Indian Corn Stew:
1 lb bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 onion chopped
28 oz. can stewed tomatoes
29 oz can tomato sauce
2 15 oz cans green beans, drained (I used frozen)
2 15 oz cans corn, drained (I used frozen)
pepper to taste
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
Garnish: Crusty bread, butter
Optional: hot sauce to taste

In a large saucepan over high heat cook bacon until crisp; remove and drain most of the fat. Add onion to remaining drippings and saute until tender. Add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, green beans , corn and pepper; heat through. Ladle into bowls and top with cheese. Serve with bread and butter and hot sauce if desired.
Serves 6

Pumpkin Penne with Sausage

Tonight I turned to a favorite cookbook of mine, Autumn with Family and Friends and one of the best pumpkin based pasta dishes I've ever tried. It got rave reviews from both my teen son and my young adult son.

Tonight's dinner: Pumpkin Penne with Sausage:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, cubed
2/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 c. butter, sliced
1/2 c. milk
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 t. cayenne pepper (I prefer this less spicy and use 1/4 t.)
nutmeg to taste
16 oz. penne pasta, cooked
16 oz. maple flavored breakfast sausage (I prefer a classic sausage),browned and drained
additional grated parmesan cheese for topping

Combine cream cheese, parmesan cheese, butter, and milk in a saucepan; cover over low heat until cream cheese melts, stir frequently. Stir in pumpkin and spices; cook until heated through. Add cooked pasta and sausage and toss lightly. Serve topped with additional parmesan. Makes 8 servings (or four servings if you are feeding a teen boy and a young adult man with healthy appetites).