22 October 2010

Fall Treats

*Warning: Do not read this post of you are hungry. If you are not hungry, I'm sorry, but you will be soon.

Part of what makes the fall season so fun is the harvesting, canning, preserving and baking. These activities make me feel warm and cozy, which are good things to feel when the weather turns chilly.

Daphne loves to help me cook, making me excited for the day when she can wear her little apron and help pour and mix. For now she gets bowls of rice on the floor, which keeps her happy and leaves little rice granules spread all over our house. (Just in case you come over and are curious as to why there is rice hiding in the bathroom, hallway, dining room, etc.)

We've tried several new baking recipes this year, which I am sharing with you so to spread the warmth and coziness as well as I can via the internet.

My oven is baking these Cookies for Autumn right now as we speak. The house currently smells amazing.

I made Grandma Florence's Ginger Cookies last night. When I saw this recipe I imagined in my head what they must taste like, and sure enough, I was right on. They are amazing and practically good for you if you see the ingredients. Whole wheat pastry flour. No butter. Raw sugar. And very easy to make.

Hungry yet?

I made Pumpkin Balls inspired by a recipe from the U-Create blog. I mixed 1 cup of peanut butter, 1/4 cup softened butter, 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 cups of Rice Krispies together, formed the mixture into balls and dipped them in orange tinted white chocolate. I used broken pretzel bits as the stems.














As evidenced by the fact that they looked like they were made by a 3rd grader, I had a bit of a challenge keeping them stuck together once they touched the chocolate. These Pumpkin Balls receive very high marks for taste, slightly lower marks for ease of making. I'll probably try again next year, and mix the P.B./butter/sugar/R.K. part with an electric mixer instead of hand mixing. That might make the ingredients stick together better.

Fresh picked apples are plentiful and yummy right now, so if you need to take a perfectly healthy apple snack and turn it into something not so healthy...use an electric mixer to blend 8oz of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Stir in half a bag of Heath bits, and you have a perfect and easy apple dip. Your taste buds will thank you, your waist line will cry. But I learned at the Portland Nursery's Apple Tasting Festival that eating an apple cleans your teeth better than brushing your teeth does, so I say that's a green light to snack away.

Of all these treats, Daph has only sampled the Pumpkin Balls. She wasn't impressed, but for obvious reasons, we don't really rely on her as a culinary expert.


















Happy fall baking!

3 comments:

Kelley said...

Is she eating or spreading? Or both? Come get eggs. Please. And cartons.

Kelley said...

That's bring carton. Not get them.

One Blessed Momma! said...

Mm...those sound good! AND that pic of Daph is hilarious! Good thing for dogs, right? :0)