Recipes for Fall Food Fun

Pumpkin Bread

 

I not only love the burnt orange, fiery reds, and brilliant yellows that fall brings, but I also enjoy the flavors of fall.  I even try to branch out in my cooking and try new recipes so I can enjoy flavors like pumpkin, cranberry, and apple in new ways.
I found two recipes on Allrecipies.com that did not disappoint.  The first one is called Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread.  When you bake this bread it fills your whole house with the smell of fall…  the pumpkin, the cinnamon…  ummmm.  It is soft and full of flavor.  Over 5,000 people have reviewed this bread and it has five out of five stars.  For the ingredients, directions, photos and even videos on how to bake this bread go to this link: Pumpkin Bread.  The only thing I did differently was not use three 7in. x 3in. pans.  I used two 9in. x 5in. ceramic baking dishes and baked both in the oven at the same time for 1hr. 15min.

Spinach Salad

Cranberries are another one of my fall favorites, and I found a spinach salad called Jamie’s Cranberry Spinach Salad. With over 2,700 reviews and five stars, I knew I couldn’t go wrong trying it.  It was delicious!  The best part was the dressing.  I’m not a big fan of onions though, so for me, next time I’ll omit the minced onion in the dressing.  If you like onions, they add great flavor and if you follow the directions you will have a flavorful and yummy salad.

To help celebrate trying out these new recipes, I invited a few friends over and we had a wonderful time sampling these and a few other dishes.  My friend Lisa from the Pampered Chef (click link to go to her web-site) prepared a breakfast ring with eggs, ham and cheese for everyone and I sliced up some apples and served them with carmel dipping sauce as an appetizer.

I’ve included a link to a similar breakfast ring recipe in case you want to try this at home (click on “breakfast ring” above ).

 

 

And this blog wouldn’t be complete without a few photos from this “Fall Foodie” event.
This little rock star, Malia, was the only guest under age 3 who could ride this tricycle all be herself.  She’s even cuter in person!

And two moms after my own heart.  Alison and Amy posing for a quick pic.  Amy snuck away with a goodie wrapped in black and orange tissue paper (fall colors).

And no party is complete without babies!  Here we have Teresa, Arleen, and Erika sporting two of our youngest party-goers.

Mary Ann surprised me with a drop-in visit and even dropped off a few treats for me.  Thank you Mary Ann – you’re the best! I ate that peanut-butter cup as an appetizer to dinner later that day – do you think that qualifies as an appetizer?  There is something about chocolate that binds Mary Ann and I together (*wink).

 

My friend Kerry came with her beautiful daughter Amy and they got to take home a pumpkin bread disguised as tissue paper!

And I’m not sure how they got escaped being captured by my camera but it was so good to see my friends Jill, Laura, and Aubrey.  And special thanks to Stephanie for helping with the boys so I could host these beautiful friends.

I hope you all had fun watching the cooking show and eating some yummy fall flavors.  I always love to spend time with my girlfriends and I look forward to more fun times to come.

For one last fun fall recipe, courtesy of Mary Ann, see below.

In His Grip,

 

Monica

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Yield: about 3-4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

• 3¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:

• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• Dash of allspice

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the pumpkin puree.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend.  Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball.  Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.  Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly.  Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through.  Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Store in an airtight container.