Pumpkin Tea Bread

My mom has made this recipe since I was young growing up in Fairborn, Ohio.  It was a recipe given to her by our across the street neighbor, Ruby Schauer.  Mrs. Schauer always made the best food...divinity, homemade strawberry preserves...

My mom always made this bread at Thanksgiving.  They moved here 5 or 6 years ago.  Last year I started making the bread as her dementia was worse.  On September 11th, we lost my mother to a stroke.  It's been rough, but with the upcoming holidays, I've been really feeling her loss.  She was a wonderful, sweet lady.

Pumpkin Tea Bread

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
3 cups flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t baking powder
1 t cloves
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 t baking soda

Directions:

Combine sugar and oil.  Beat until well blended.

Add eggs and blend.  Add pumpkin.  Blend.

Sift flour and add remaining ingredients.  Add to the pumpkin mixture and beat several minutes until well blended.

Pour batter into ungreased tube pans lined with wax paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Cool in pans.

Straight out of the oven

Homemade Turkey Soup (Betty Crocker)

Wednesday at work, we put together a  Thanksgiving meal with everyone bringing a dish.  I made a 7.5 lb turkey in my roaster.  It came out moist and delicious.  I only used butter, salt and pepper on it like I do at home.

I froze the carcass and brought it home to make soup.  I have never used a carcass (or ham bone) to make soup before.  Well....now I have and will do it again!  I found the recipe on Betty Crocker.com.  It smelled great while making the broth.  I couldn't find pearl barley so I used quick barley.  I added it to the last step.  It was still great tasting.  I added some bouilon cubes and some more salt and pepper.  I will definitely make this again.

The recipe can be found on the Betty Crocker website here.

Raspberry Sorbet

Friday, while shopping at Kohl's with my daughter and her family, I decided to get a Cuisinart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker.  It makes 1 1/2 quart servings.  For dessert for tonight's dinner, I decided on the Raspberry Sorbet.  YUMMY!  And, EASY!  I will definitely make this one over and over.  I would like to try it with different fruits.

Raspberry Sorbet

2 cups water
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
pinch table salt
4 cups frozen raspberries, thawed

Directions:

1.  Prepare a simple syrup by combining the sugar and water in medium saucepan set over medium-low heat.  Cook mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved.

2.  Once ready, add salt and raspberries.  Using an immersion blender (I put mine in a regular blender), blend until smooth.

3.  Strain the mixture, half at a time through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds.

4.  Cover and refrigerate 2-3 hours, or over night.

5.  Turn on the ice cream maker; pour the mixture into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 15-20 minutes.  The sorbet will have a soft, creamy texture.  If firmer consistency is desired, transfer to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours.  Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Makes about 5 cups.

Chicken & Dumpling Casserole

One of my favorite blogs is Plain Chicken.  Steph has some such delicious looking food!  I love chicken & dumplings, and so does my now 17 year old son.  This recipe happened to catch my eye.  I loved it!  It was easy to make which was a huge plus!  My son thinks it needed different spices, but I liked it the way it was.

I like the way the flour mixture firms up while baking but still has liquid from the broth.

I forgot to take a picture so I am "borrowing" the one from Plain Chicken.  The recipe can be found here.