Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

While opinions vary, my contention has always been that there are four genres of mystery: the Whodunnit, or classic mystery, Hard-boiled, Police Procedural, and the Cozy, the latter being my favorite.  A sub-genre of this genre (are you still with me?) is the culinary cozy, a variety of mystery that has enamored me since I read my first (though written too early - 1986 - to have been labeled as such), The Nantucket Diet Murders by the late Virginia Rich.  Titles and covers grab my attention first when book shopping, opening up this one and finding the end pages covered in recipes was all it took for me to make the purchase and then fall in love with the genre.  Since then I've tried to read every mystery that features recipes; it's not easy!  Michael Bond, Diane Mott Davidson, Joanne Fluke, Ellen Hart and Joanne Pence are among the writers in this ever-growing list, as well as relative newcomers like Krista Davis, Avery Aames, and Livia Washburn.  Rarely do I actually try one of the recipes, that is until now.  I've decided that not only will I read the mysteries, but also make at least one of the recipes from the book.

Today's selection is a seasonal one, The Pumpkin Muffin Murders by Livia J. Washburn.  I wanted to bake the entire time I read this novel.  Seriously, I could almost smell the pumpkin.  So I gave them a whirl this morning and was very pleased with the results.  I used a jumbo muffin pan, so instead of filling each well of batter with just one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture, I used a 2 tablespoon-size cookie scoop and it worked out well.  I think the next time I may just make the indentation in each muffin a bit deeper and add even more.  I also tend to like raisins in pumpkin muffins (particularly those that have been soaked in 2 tablespoons of rum to loosen, err, plump them up), so will add them when I make these again.  What a wonderful fall breakfast they provided on the patio this morning!  The recipe is below with my comments in parentheses.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

from The Pumpkin Muffin Murders by Livia J. Washburn

Filling:

1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened 

1 egg

3 T. brown sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

Topping:

4-1/2 T. all-purpose flour

3 T. brown sugar

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. ground ginger

3 T. chopped pecans

3 T. butter

Muffin:

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1-1/3 cups canned pumpkin

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Grease and flour 18 muffin cups, or use paper liners (I sprayed with PAM and they came out of the pan with ease.). Fill any unfilled muffin cups with water (to promote even baking).

Filling:

In a medium bowl, beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Add egg, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat until mixed, then place bowl in freezer to set while making other ingredients. 

Topping:

In a medium bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside. 

Muffin batter: 

In a large bowl, blend flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Beat together until well mixed. 

Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full. Take the cream cheese mixture out of the freezer and add 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter in the muffin cups. Having the cream cheese mixture will help you keep the cream cheese from touching the edges. Sprinkle on the streusel topping. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes. (If using larger muffin pans, you may need to bake a bit longer.  Test for doneness with a toothpick.  Remove from oven and run a sharp knife around the edge of each muffin. Allow to cool in pan for ten minutes. Gently pry from pan with knife and place on wire rack to cool completely.)

NOTE: Use remaining pumpkin for pumpkin pie cocoa.

I was tickled pink to be able to add this antique medicine bottle to my collection of flower vases.  Just this morning it was unearthed by the guy who came out to grind down the last of the five stumps we had left from the uprooted trees.  I washed it, added zucchini leaves and a zinnia and had a lovely seasonal addition to my place setting.

This post is linked to:  

Foodie Friday
Food on Friday
Friday Favorites
Friday Fat Camp
I'm Lovin' It Friday
Simply Delish Saturday
Fantabulous Friday

Seasonal Sundays

Comfort Food for all Occasions

There have been any number of times in my life when I have both accepted and offered meals of comfort. Simple, comfort meals to help someone through a loss, sickness, or a difficult or exhausting time due to a change in life situation be it joyous or unfortunate. Whenever I find myself in this situation (as I did last week), wanting to help a neighbor through a rough spot, I head for my "go to" meal that has never failed to satisfy.  It's an easy one to put together, and makes enough to not only share, but provide us with a tasty evening meal.  Roast beef and gravy is always the main course; green beans amandine and mashed potato casserole the two comforting sides.  I package them up in containers that do not need to be returned, and label them with instructions on reheating.  The beef and beans require no recipes, but for the potatoes I head for one of my old favorites among cookbooks (and one you're probably sick of hearing about), St. Louis Days, St. Louis Nights.  I've reproduced the recipe page below so you can have the benefit of my pithy comments.  It's make ahead, reheats beautifully, freezes, can be halved, doubled or tripled, and has found itself gracing the table on any number of holidays.  It's simply one of those recipes where you just can't go wrong.  How right is that?

This post is linked to:

Dr. Laura’s Tasty Tuesdays
Tuesdays at the Table
Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays
Tasty Tuesdays with Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday

Recipe Tea Towels

As anyone who's read this blog knows, I love cooking, love recipes, and love collecting things with recipes on them such as recipe postcards, recipe rubber stamps, and now, recipe tea towels. I stumbled upon these quite accidentally with an Anthropologie purchase of a pair of towels bearing a recipe for Irish Soda Bread.  It was close to St. Patrick's Day at the time, and I thought it would be a wonderful way to wrap rustic loaves of Irish Soda Bread to give as gifts.  It was, the recipients loved it!  Foolishly, I failed to photograph the towels, the bread wrapped up in the towels, or buy an extra one to keep for myself.  Lesson learned there.  Ever since this initial purchase, I now seem to find recipe tea towels everywhere.  I also consider them to be a most practical souvenir to pick up whenever we travel.  I don't know that I'll ever make any of the recipes, but I enjoy reading and displaying them.  Try to come up with ideas for their use on your own, and please share them with me.

Here are a few of my favorites. 

A nice assortment of Manx (Gaelic) recipes on a very colorful towel.

Here's a recipe for strudel...in Italian!

I love this towel with both English and Spanish versions of a recipe for Paella. I'm not going to use it as a towel though, but will fly it as a flag at our next Paella cooking bash. 

I love this cozy kitchen scene and recipe for Yorkshire Pudding.

I love everything about the newest addition to my collection from the recipe to the curtain blowing in the breeze from the open window to the table full of delicious looking scones.

This tea towel features Cornish recipes, some of them sound pretty good. I'll have to start a new series of blog posts of recipes I've tried that appear on tea towels!

This post is linked to:
Mosaic Monday - Little Red House
Metamorphosis Monday-BNOTP
Brag Monday-The Graphics Fairy
Motivate Me Monday-Keeping it Simple
Amaze Me Monday-Dittle Dattle
Thrifty Thursday-Tales from Bloggeritaville
100 Ideas Under $100-Beyond the Picket Fence
Show and Tell Saturday-Be Different Act Normal 
Fall in Love - Decor to Adore
Mouthwatering Monday
Seasonal Sunday

Cake Mix Pancakes - A Birthday Breakfast

Today is my birthday! 

And with Monday being my one-year blog-iversary, I have much to celebrate.  So what better way to start the day than with a breakfast of Cake Mix Pancakes?  I have been stalking this recipe for some time.  I'm quite the pancake aficionado (as I'm sure you've come to know by now), so this recipe intrigued me.  It did not disappoint.  These pancakes browned better than any other I've ever made, evenly, golden, perfectly puffed, and had a deliciously dense cake-like texture.  The sprinkles turned into swirls on the griddle, which made them all the more fun.  

I  hope you'll give them a try.  I'm sure kids will love them.  This kid certainly did.

Cake Batter Pancakes from How Sweet It Is

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cake mix
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to1-1/2 cups milk 
Sprinkles


In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar and salt together. Combine 1 cup of the milk, the eggs and vanilla extract in a measuring cup. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Depending on the brand of cake mix you use, you may need additional milk to achieve the proper consistency for your batter. I added about an extra tablespoon or two of milk to my batter; it was still fairly thick, but easily pourable. Fold sprinkles into the batter - how many you use is entirely up to you! 

Preheat a skillet set over medium heat. I used a nonstick skillet and sprayed it lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Use a 1/4-cup measuring cup to portion the batter into the pan. Cook the pancakes on the first side until bubbles form on the top, about 3-4 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the pancakes and cook on the second side until golden and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining batter. You can keep the pancakes warm in a 200 F oven until you've cooked all of them, if desired.

Makes about 12 pancakes

This post is linked to:

Sweets for a Saturday
Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Foodie Friday

and
Cast Party Wednesday

Palmiers with Mustard and Prosciutto

We are nothing if not elegant when it comes to serving up snacks during the big game whether that game is baseball, football, or some Safari segment on Animal Planet.  As complicated as these look, they are actually very easy to put together, and can be assembled in about 15 minutes.  But the real beauty of this tasty little snack is that it can be frozen in log or sliced form and simply popped into the oven when you're ready to make them so you can wow a crowd with your culinary skills while still looking composed and refreshed.  This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, St. Louis Days, St. Louis Nights, and has never failed me.  If you need something sweet rather than savory, mix things up a bit by spreading softened butter on the rolled out pastry instead of the mustard and top with a cinnamon and sugar mixture, or simply spread it with jam.  What could be easier?

I annotate every recipe I make for future reference.

After thawing, open up your sheet of puff pastry and place on a board or countertop that has been dusted with flour.

Using a rolling pin, roll it out to approximately 18" x 11".

I use both Dijon mustard and the grainy, stone ground mustard combination for the best taste.  If you plan to do the same, make the first layer the smooth Dijon.

Spread the grainy mustard on top of the existing Dijon.

Use the best prosciutto that you can find to avoid ending up with a fatty, rubbery variety.  We buy ours at an Italian market, Di Gregorio's.

I have used both Parmesan and Romano cheeses and they work equally well.  I store these cheeses in the freezer (hence the lumps you see here, that do not matter one bit) to keep them fresh and help them to last longer.

Roll up as tightly as you can to keep it from trying to unroll when you slice it.

Trim the edges with a sharp knife.

Cover in plastic and chill to make slicing easier, or cover in plastic and then slip into a freezer bag to freeze for up to 4 months.

The sharper the knife, the easier these are to cut.  I turn the roll seam side down when cutting.  Do NOT use a serrated knife.

Place cut slices on parchment or a Silpat.

Brush with egg wash.  Use a silcone brush (If you don't have one of these, click on the link at the bottom of this post for more info.  You'll thank me later.) to coat with the egg wash.

This post is linked to: 

Foodie Friday
Food on Friday
Friday Favorites
Friday Fat Camp
I'm Lovin' It Friday
Simply Delish Saturday
Fantabulous Friday

Pumpkin Muffins from Longfellow's Wayside Inn

Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the sights, sounds, colors, and crispness in the air.  I found it all today at the local garden center turned pumpkin wonderland.  It was hard to know what to grab first, the colorful, unusually shaped gourds, the pumpkins, or head for the ornamental kale and chrysanthemums.  I managed to come away with something of everything and then was so inspired that I made a batch of pumpkin muffins in muffin top form (I love my muffin top pan!).

Whenever I make pumpkin muffins, I always head for my "go to" recipe, from Longfellow's Wayside Inn (the oldest operating Inn in the country, dating back to 1716) located in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

The recipe yields 12-16 muffins, or about 22-24 muffin tops.  They are perfect with a mug of warm cider or pumpkin pie cocoa.

How cute is this pumpkin muffin top being kept warm perched atop a pumpkin mug?

Pumpkin Muffins
Longfellow's Wayside Inn

1 cup raisins
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1-3/4 cups flour

1-1/2 teaspoon baking power
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Soak the raisins in the water for 5 minutes, do not drain.  Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until foamy, stir in the pumpkin, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and salt.  Add the canola oil and mix well.  In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mixture with half of the raisin-water mixture.  Mix well, add remaining raisin mixture; stir to mix.  Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 degrees F until the top springs back when pressed with fingers, about 25 minutes for muffins, 22 for muffin tops.

Muffin tops served on a favorite pumpkin plate that I drag out and love to bits every year at this time.

This post is linked to:Little Red House for Mosaic Monday

A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday

The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays
Cast Party Wednesday

Turn Newspapers into Logs for Winter Fires

We recycle.  Bottles, cans, paper, plastics, glass, newspapers, I even toss eggshells and coffee grounds into the garden.  It has made a difference. We have been amazed at how much we've lessened our trash output around here, and like to think that we're doing something positive for the environment at the same time.

When fall hits (it's October!), things change a bit.  No longer do I toss newspapers into the recycling bin, but through the use of this wonderful little newspaper rolling tool, I turn them into logs for the fireplace.  If you've ever struggled to get a fire going in your wood burning fireplace or wood stove (we have both), this will end that.  These newspaper logs make great fire starters.  Stack them up with the logs and you'll get a wonderful blaze going with just one strike of the match.  It's a great family project -- kids will beg you to try their hand at it -- with a most practical outcome. One caveat: Use only newspaper pages.  Any shiny pictures, flyers, or magazines can release toxins into the air when burned (this is also a good practice for those of you who simply crumble newspapers under the grate to start a fire).

It's very easy to use.  Fold the top of the newspaper over about 3/4" when you slip it into the rod, this gives it more of a grip so it's less likely to come out when you're rolling up your newspaper log.  Roll it up slowly and tightly to the size you desire.  I generally make a variety of sizes so I'll have what I need for any size fire.  Once you achieve the desired size, tie it up and then slip your newspaper log off of the rod.  I keep mine in a terra cotta garden pot on the hearth.

My log roller was a gift from a friend, but you can also find them on Amazon.

Metamorphosis Monday-BNOTP
 Brag Monday-The Graphics Fairy
Motivate Me Monday-Keeping it Simple
Amaze Me Monday-Dittle Dattle
Thrifty Thursday-Tales from Bloggeritaville
100 Ideas Under $100-Beyond the Picket Fence
 Show and Tell Saturday-Be Different Act Normal
Flashback Friday