Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween Treats.... Pumpkin Squares, and BOO Cookies and more.....,


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Most Years I make Cookies or snacks while I carve pumpkins, my favorite pumkins to carve are puking pumpkins....It's a nurse thing....Here are the treats..enjoy...
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Pumpkin Squares ( Marshmallow rice cookies)
1/2 c Butter (salted)
10 cup Crispy rice cereal
1 bag Miniature marshmallows
2 c Mixture of candy corn and Indian candy corn
1 cup c Miniature chocolate chips
Candy pumpkins
Yellow and red food coloring ( to make orange)

Melt butter and marshmallows; stir until smooth. In a large bowl, mix rice cereal, candy corn and miniature chips together. To marshmallow mixture, blend in 2 drops yellow food coloring and 1 drop red food coloring, adding more coloring if necessary to make it orange. Add marshmallow mixture to cereal mixture; stir real quickly to combine. Spread on a large buttered pan; press with buttered hands. While warm, press on candy pumpkins spaced 1 to 1/2-2 inches apart. Refrigerate and cut into squares.
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BOO Cookies:
Sugar Cookies with white icing and raisens for eyes and the open mouth....I think it is easiest to buy the tube of dough..let the kids make them, and shape them. Cook as regular cookies- decorate when cool.
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Oatmeal Raisen Pumpkin Cookies:
Pop N Fresh Oatmeal Dough is really good, and it has raisens in it...makes great cookies, you can cut into round and bake at 350 degrees.
Pumpkin Filling:
Whip up in a small bowl, and then refrig for a few hours before you make the cookies.One small can of pumpkin pie filling, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, cinnamon, 1 tsp of buttered rum flavoring, powdered sugar half cup, 1 tsp vanilla. Then just like making ice cream sandwiches, put filling in between the oatmeal cookies.
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Lovely Puking Pumpkins....

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Zucchini Bread ( The Special One with Raisins)


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3 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground Saigon cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 cup mashed Zucchini's*
1/2 cup Special Raisens*
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup yogurt-vanilla
2 pats butter (for greasing pan)
Once in a pan, lightly sprinkle freshly zested lemon across the top.

Bake in a Bread Pan, well buttered or greased....Sometimes I like to use Light Virgin Olive Oil. ( there is also PAM Spray that works great). I prefer Glass pans, less stickiness for some reason. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

About the Zucchini, 2 or 3 zucchini's peeled and mashed and preheat in the microwave, with a bit of butter, and salt, slight.

About the Raisins, I soak them overnight in Hot Buttered Rum Flavoring ( or you could use real Rum just as well) and Orange Juice, and a bit of Blueberry Juice is nice too. In the Fall Apple Cider. Let them soak until they are good and Plump.

( If you ever want to try something different, shredded coconut is really nice too....instead of the lemon zest on the top...)
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If I am going to make Bread...any kind..I need the right music...Blues...or R&B...or Soul....So to accompany this I put the Neville Brothers with this receipe...just click the title.....( song is" Fearless."..really haunting song...I think it is about NOLA )......