Pumpkin Pie

This recipe is on the Libby's Pumpkin cans but I thought I would post this recipe just in case they quit putting it there. It's the recipe I always use for my Holiday Pumpkin pies, I have tried a few others, but I keep coming back to this one! I did make home made whipped cream and added a little cinnamon in it! Yummo-homemade whipped cream is always better than the canned or frozen stuff!!!!

Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 can (12 fl. oz.)  Evaporated Milk

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
Whipped cream (see recipe below)

MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
POUR into pie shell. (remember to use a Deep Dish Pie shell, other wise you will have some filling left over.
BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes.  (I cover the edge of my crust with aluminum foil for the first half and hour so it doesn't burn)
Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Whipped Cream
1-1/2 cups Heavy cream
1/3 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

I chill the bowl to my mixer and the beaters in the freezer for 30 mins. before whipping the cream, this makes it whipfaster.
Pour your cream into the chilled mixing bowl, and beat on high for a few minutes or until stiff peaks form when the beaters are lifted out and they stay there. (watch this close, you don't want to make butter)
Then add the powdered sugar, Vanilla, and cinnamon, whip together just to incorporate the sugar and flavorings.
You can top your pie with whipped cream before serving by putting into a decorator bag and making whatever design you desire on top (like I did) and then garnish with a light sprinkle of cinnamon or put a dollop of whipped cream on each piece when serving!
Enjoy!

Lion House Rolls

Have you ever been in a Deseret Book Store that has a Bakery? Love the smell.... and this is a recipe for those delicious rolls they make... Thanks Katy for sharing. I LOVE rolls and experimenting with roll recipes. This was a good one! It makes light and fluffy dinner rolls..... and who can resist a hot buttered dinner roll?

Lion House Rolls

2 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons dry yeast
2 teaspoonssalt
1 egg
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
5-5 1/2 cups of flour

In large bowl combine water and milk powder, stir until dissolved.
Add yeast and sugar and whisk to combine. Let rest until the yeast starts to bubble, then add salt, dry milk,  butter, egg, and 2 cups of flour.
Mix on low speed until all ingredients are wet, then 2 minutes at medium speed.
Add 2 cups of flour, mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed.
Add about 1/2 cup flour and mix again, dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff.
You may not use the entire amount of flour.
Scrap sides of bowl and pour about 1 TB of oil around sides of bowl and allow to rise until doubled in size. Or just spray a clean bowl and place dough in clean bowl.
After dough has risen roll out dough and cut into desired shape. Or watch the video here on how the Lion house does it.
Let rise until doubled in size ( about 1 hour).
Bake at 375 for 15 -20 minutes.
Brush with melted butter while hot.

Yams

I know, Thanksgiving is over, but my mother-in-law invented this recipe with me and I was afraid that I would forget what we put in it. I like yams, but sometimes they can be too sweet, and other times not sweet enough. This recipe was just right. Mom J. had watched Bobbi Flay make Yams and remembered the ingredients he put in his but we weren't sure on the amounts. So I experimented and this is what we came up with.... and again we weren't disappointed. I liked the flavor the orange juice gave them, and I used a dash or two of cayenne pepper, it didn't really make them spicy, but I think it toned down the sweetness and enhanced the flavor.  Sorry but I didn't take a picture of what the inside of my Yam dish looked like.... must have been too busy eating them! YUM!

Yams
1 (29 oz) Can Yams, drained (or you can use fresh that have been cooked ahead, about 2 or 3 cups)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice (fresh sqeezed if you have it, I had some oranges leftover from my turkey brine)
Dash or two of salt
Dash of cayenne pepper
Marshmellows, either mini or the large cut in half will do, just enough to cover the top of your Yams

Combine the butter and sugar together in a medium saucepan. After butter has melted, stir in your orange juice and simmer a minute or two until slightly thickened. Next add the yams and seasonings, toss until the ingredients are combined, and cook until everything is bubbly. I don't mash mine, I like the lumps.
Put your yam mixture into a small casserole dish. You can either set aside until about 30 minutes before serving time, then bake in a 350 degree oven until hot  (about 10 to 20 minutes depending on how cold they got while waiting until dinner) or if you are going to eat right away, place the marshmellows on top, turn your oven on broil, and broil 1 or  2 minutes or until Marshemellows turn a light toasty brown color.
Serve and enjoy!!

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

I watched a Thanksgiving Throw Down on the Food Network between The Pioneer Woman and Bobbie Flay before Thanksgiving. The Pioneer Woman made her mashed potatoes like this and they looked sooooo good I had to give them a try for our Thanksgiving dinner... my husband gets annoyed that I experiment on him AND on a Holiday, but we weren't dissappointed, they were delicious!! You can go here for the original recipe, I followed it pretty much the same only I downsized it for my family. It was delicious and they are good with or without gravy!

Creamy Mashed Potatoes
6 medium sized potatoes, washed and peeled
6 Tablespoons Butter, softened
4 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup half and half,  (or you can use regular milk)
1/4 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt (or more to taste)
1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper (or more to taste)

Cut your washed and peeled potatoes onto pieces, try to have the pieces all about the same size so they cook evenly. Add the potatoes to a large pot of water, and add a dash or two of salt. Bring to a boil,a nd let cook for 20 to 30 minutes. (Cooking time depends on the size of the pieces of the potatoe) They are done when they are fork tender and just start to fall apart a little.
Drain the potatoes, and place back into your pot. (I like to put my pot back on the stove on the warm burner, but be sure it's off)
Mash potatoes with a potatoe masher, then add 4 Tablespoons butter, cream cheese, 1/4 cup half and half,  seasoned salt and pepper, mash a bit more. Taste at this point and add more Lawry's or Pepper if desired. Also if potatoes are really thick add 2 or 3 more Tablespoons Half and half. Then I like to whip mine with my hand held electric beaters for a minute.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spoon your potatoes into a medium sized baking dish. Add a few more pats of butter (I use the other 2 Tablespoons cut up) on the top and bake in the oven until the potatoes are warmed through and the butter melts. (they puff slightly too)
Serve and enjoy!
YUM!

Turkey Brine

I know Thanksgiving is over, but I just had to post this recipe, you can use it for a Christmas Turkey or save the recipe until next year. I found it on the Pioneer Woman's Blog but tweaked it a bit to what I had on hand. I love brining the Turkey... it makes it juicy and flavorful. This year I smoked my Turkey in my Traeger
Smoker for about 8 hours, but you can also brine your Turkey and then roast it in the oven as usual. When I roast my turkey I like to use the roasting bags and I follow the directions on the package for cooking time. I usually do the stuffing in a crock pot, you don't really want to stuff it after brining because of the salt in the brine. Yum!

Turkey Brine
3 cups Apple juice
2 Tablespoons dried Rosemary (or 2 or 3 Sprigs fresh)
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1-1/2 cups Kosher Salt
2 cups packed Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons whole Peppercorns
5 whole Bay Leaves
Orange peel, (I thinly sliced mine off of 2 Large oranges, be careful not to get too much of the white pith underneath)
2 Gallons cold Water

In a large soup pot, combine all of the ingredients with 1 gallon of water. Bring to a boil, and stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat and cover with a lid. Let this mixture cool completely.
In a tall gallon bucket (i have one that I use ONLY for Turkey Brine) combine the cooked mixture with the other gallon of cold water, and add your uncooked Turkey, tail side up. Cover with lid and let sit in the Brine for 24 hours. Since it's winter time and really cold outside, I let my bucket of turkey and brine sit outside on my porch, where ever you put it just keep it cold.
When ready to roast or smoke turkey, remove from brine and discard the brine. Let turkey sit in a sink of fresh cold water for about 15 minutes to remove excesss salt from the outside.
Drain Turkey and pat dry. Cook according to your desired cooking method.
Enjoy!!

Creamy Pesto Ranch Dressing

I like experimenting with salad dressings... which is a funny thing because growing up I never ate salad dressing on my salads, I always ate salad plain or dry you could say. I guess I was scared of it. Now I love the stuff.... have you ever been to the Spaghetti Factory? They have a House dressing that is a creamy pesto ... and it's way Yummo... I crave it sometimes. I had some buttermilk in my refrigerator that I needed to use up and some basil pesto so I thought hmmmmmm and then I had some Ranch dressing mix too and thought that would be yummy... So I gave it a shot and this is what I came up with. It's pretty close to what the Spaghetti Factory has but mine might have a little more Ranch flavor to it, but I just LOVE the Basil Pesto in it ! I like a mixed salad with a little grated cheese and homemade croutons with dressing drizzled over it! YUM!

Creamy Pesto Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup Real Mayonaise
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1- 1/2 teaspoons Ranch dressing mix ( can add a little more if you like more Ranch flavor)
1 heaping teaspoon Basil Pesto ( I buy mine in the jars that's usually by the spaghetti sauces)
1 Tablespoon milk (to thin the dressing out just a bit if it's too thick)

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until all of the ingredients are incorporated and smooth. Taste and add more Ranch dressing mix or pesto as desired.
Drizzle over prepared Salad and enjoy. Store leftover dressing in the refrigerator.
YUM!

Pesto Foccacia Bread with Sun Dried Tomatoes

I really LOVE Foccacia Bread... I think I've told the story before of how we would eat it hot out of the oven at the Bakery I worked at. I ran across this recipe in my Food network Magazine for an ad for KitchenAid mixers and it looked delish. I added the Sundried tomatoes and sauteed onions to the batter because I just love sun-dried tomatoes. This was an awesome bread that I cut into triangles to go with my Chicken Milano pasta that I made on Sunday. It would also make a great appetizer, and since Christmas is coming up and that means parties which need appetizers I thought I would post this. Either way you eat it... as an appetizer or side for a pasta dish it's YUMMO!

Pesto Foccacia Bread with Sun Dried Tomatoes
Ingredients:
1 package (3/4 ounce) rapid-rise or quick rise yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes (I use the dried diced ones that come in a bag that you can find in the produce department)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 -1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Basil Pesto ( you can use the already prepared pesto in the jar or make your own, I buy the prepared stuff because my basil didn't grow well this year)
Mozzerella Cheese (about 1 to 2 cups)
Olive Oil

Heat about 1 to 2 Tablespoons Olive oil in a small skillet over medium/high heat. Add the diced onion and saute stiring frequently for a few minutes (about 3-5) until the onion becomes translucent. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the yeast, sugar and warm water (remember the water should be about luke warm or you will kill your yeast, I test it on my wrist so it's just warm). Set aside for about 5 minutes or until mixture starts to form bubbles on the top.
Next add the flour, salt, sauteed onions, and sun dried tomatoes to the yeast and mix together (I use my kitchen aid mixer that way I don't have to do the work) until the dough forms a ball (dough may be slightly sticky but smooth and elastic as well.)
Oil another bowl with Olive oil and place the dough in that, turning so the top is oiled as well. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside allowing to rise for 30 minutes.
Brush a 9x13 inch baking sheet with oilive oil. Punch down dough and place onto pan, allow to rise again for 30 minutes.
Then press dough to fit pan evenly, I like to dimple the dough with my finger tips at this point and let dough rise again for an additional 30 to 45 minutes or until it has puffed slightly.
Preheat oven to 375.
Spoon Pesto over your dough and spread carefully being careful not to deflate the dough... ad as much as you like, I spread a few Tablespoons over mine so it's a really thin layer. Then bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, then sprinkle the mozzerella cheese over the top and continue to bake another 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden brow and cheese is bubbly and melty. Allow to cool about 3 minutes before cutting into triangles.
Enjoy!!

                                          I got 12 good size triangles out of this recipe...