Pumpkin Fudge

Fall officially starts tomorrow.  When I think of Fall, pumpkins and scarecrows come to mind.  I love all the Fall colors - the oranges, browns, yellows and golds - so pretty.  Everywhere you go you see pumpkins.  So in keeping with the spirit of Fall, I have been making "Fall" type recipes. 

Today I am going to make Pumpkin Fudge.  Trust me - this is good!!!  You will probably need to run to the store for the ingredients though.

Pumpkin Fudge

2 T butter
2 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 cups evaporated milk
1 cup white chocolate chips
7 ounces marshmallow creme
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not the pie mix)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

1.  line a 9 x 9 inch pan with almunium foil
2.  In a medium size sauce pan, heat milk and sugar over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, stiring occasionally with a spoon.
3.  Mix in pumpkin and cinnamon.  Bring back to a boil.  Stir in marshmellow creme and butter.  Bring to a rolling boil.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 18 minutes.
4.  Remove from heat.  Add white chocolate chips and vanilla.  Stir until creamy and all chips are melted.  Pour into prepared pan.  Cool.  Enjoy!!

Creating your own starter

If you have been following this blog, you will remember, probably about a year ago, that we created a starter using pineapple juice (and, hopefully, it is still alive, well and kicking!).   If not, do not despair!!  Help is here!  Here is another way to create your own sourdough starter.  This is from my good friend, Old Camp Cook's website.  Creating your own sourdough starter is so easy.  Basically all you need is flour and water (and a jar, of course, to put the flour and water in!).

(for those that can't tell, that is a wooden spoon in the jar!).

Here is the recipe to create your own starter:

1.  In a clean jar (I always use a quart size mason jar), place two tablespoons of flour (I am using plain ole all purpose flour here). Add one tablespoon of Spring water.
2.  Stir well. Cover either with a lid with several tiny holes punched in it or with a closely woven cloth (cheesecloth). You want some air to get to your starter, but not bugs. Fruit flies seem to like developing starter really well
3.At 12 hour intervals, you need to feed the starter.  This means you will take 1 teaspoon of starter (throw away the rest - I know this seems wasteful!), feed it 4 teaspoons of flour and 3 teaspoons of Spring water.  Mix this all together in your jar and cover again with your lid or cloth
4.  After about 4 days of this schedule, you should see bubbling action. That means your starter is alive and well. Continue this schedule for about 7 days to ensure that your starter is really alive and kicking!.

See!  Wasn't that easy!  Now go get your jars!

Sourdough Starters!

Even though it is not "officially" Fall yet, I am so in the mood for baking.  So I got a couple of my favorite sourdough starters out of the refrigerator and started feeding them yesterday.  Hopefully, they survived the summer living at the back of my refrigerator!  I love some of the names of the starters - Joshua (I am guessing someone name Joshua created it - this is my most favorite starter!), Family Jewels (hmmm - wonder how that name came about!!), Naples - obviously an Italian starter, Okie is from my good friend Old Camp Cook who lives in Oklahoma.

The starters that I am trying to revive are Joshua and Naples.  So far Joshua is showing signs of life (yeah!!).  I will probably bring my sourdough rye starter out next week.  If Naples doesn't respond, I will throw most of it away except for a tablespoon or two and start from scratch to see if I can revive it.  This is a good example why you should always make "back-ups" of your favorite starters.  I have done this with Joshua.

To Create a Back-up Starter

What you want to do is create a dry starter that you can revive at any time.  You will need parchment paper which you can get at any grocery store or Walmart.  Line a cookie sheet with the parchment paper.  Take about 1/4 cup of starter and dump that on the parchment paper.  Add a little bit of water to the starter to make it slightly runny and smear it all over the parchment paper.  Now put this somewhere to let it dry for the next couple of days.  When it has completely dried, I crumble this up into a blender and pulverize it into a powder.  Put it into a baggie with a label - now you have a back up.  I keep this in my refrigeator so I know where to find it.

To Revive Your Dry Starter

Put one teaspoon of the dry starter in a clean container. Add 4 teaspoons of flour* and 3 teaspoons of  water. I have always used tap water without any problems.  Some believe that you should use Spring Water that you buy in the store.  Your choice.  Cover the jar with cheesecloth or a jar lid with a whole punched in the top.

You will "feed" your starter at 12 hour intervals which means you will take a teaspoon of the starter from the jar and throw away the rest.  I know this seems wasteful.  Add 4 teaspoons of flour* and 3 teaspoons of water to the teaspoon of starter in the jar.

*I use all purpose flour for this.

Do not throw the excess starter down the drain - this is like paste.  I just put it in a baggie and throw in the trash.  Saves on plumbing bills!

Continue doing this until the starter is nice and bubbly, then you can start building up to the quantity you need for your recipe.(i.e, you don't need to throw away the excess starter).

Amish Friendship Bread Starter Revisited

For those of you that followed the thread on the Amish (Herman) Starter . , , you can freeze the starter at any time.  Just take one cup of the starter, get a freezer baggie (label it so you know what it is months from now), pour the one cup of starter into it, and place in the freezer.

When you want to make the bread again.  Just take the baggie out, let it thaw out and start with day one of the instructions by feeding it one cup of flour, one cup of sugar and one cup of milk - easy enough!

Peachy Keen!

Peachy keen, indeed!!  Peaches everywhere!  If you love fresh peaches as I do, now is the time to get them.  At least in Ohio, the peach crop seems to be doing well.  The berry crop didn't do so well.  I think our record breaking rains really took its toll on the berries.  BUT, so far, it looks like the peaches didn't seem to mind. 

This is what I did yesterday with the peaches that I bought!

Peach Jam

Isn't that pretty!  I always love how the peach jam turns out and it is so easy to make!  The hard part is removing the skins and chopping up the peaches.

To remove the skin of the peach, just gently drop the peach in boiling water (be careful not to splash any of the water on your skin - it burns! trust me, I know!!).  After a few moments, pick up the peach with a pair of tongs and put it in ice cold water for a couple of minutes.  The skin should peel off fairly easily.  If it doesn't, repeat the above steps again. 

Here's the recipe . . .

Before I start the recipe, I always put my jars and lids in my hot water bath canner which is usually boiling by now to sterilize them.

Peach Jam -  makes 6 half pint jars

4 cups peeled, pitted and chopped peaches

2 T lemon juice

5 cups sugar

1 box fruit pectin (Sure Jell or something similar)

Place the chopped peaches and lemon juice in a large enough sauce pan.  Measure out exact amount of sugar in separate bowl.

Stir 1 box of fruit pectin into chopped peaches and add 1/2 teaspoon of butter to reduce foaming.

Bring to a full boil.  Add sugar quickly.  Stir to dissolve and return to a full boil.  Boil for exactly one minute.  Remove from heat, skim off any foam.

Fill the jars, secure tops and lids.  Process in hot water bath canner for 10 minutes.

After I made the jam, I still had plenty of peaches left (I bought a huge box of peaches) - major dilemma - what to do with all these peaches??  Hmmmm  Then it hit me . . . PEACH ICE CREAM - OH MY!   I knew there was a reason I bought the Ben and Jerry Ice Cream recipe book!!!

The recipe says you don't have to peel the peaches, but I know my finicky son, so I thought I better.  Here's the recipe - this is from the Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book. 

2 cups chopped peaches (doesn't have to be peeled)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 T lemon juice

2 large eggs

2 cups whipping cream

1 cup milk

Mix the peaches, 1/2 cup sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. 

After 2 hours, remove the bowl from the refrigerator.  Remove the peaches (place in another bowl) and drain the juice into another bowl.  Put the peaches back in the refrigerator.

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy (never really knew what that meant - my eggs never look light and fluffy!!) - just whisk them for1 to 2 minutes.  Add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar a little at a time until it is completely blended.  Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend.  Add the peach juice and blend.

Transfer the mixture to your ice cream maker and follow the directions for operating the ice cream maker.

After the ice cream stiffens, add the peaches and process the ice cream for another 5 minutes. 

ENJOY!!!  This makes about a quart of ice cream.

My family gobbled this up.  I will probably have to make more today.

Congo Brownies

I have no clue where the name for these brownies came from.  Certainly brings up images of Africa and you would think these would have some wild, exotic taste.  Sorry to disappoint you, but they are basically just chocolate chip brownies.  BUT, what chocolate chip brownies!!  These have to be the BEST chocolate chip brownies you will ever have tasted!

I believe I got this recipe from the Bakerella website.  Her recipe calls for using the regular chocolate chips.  I use the mini chocolate chips.  My family likes my version better.  Try them both ways - make a batch using the regular chocolate chips and another using the mini and see which one you prefer - it doesn't affect the taste at all.  For a variation, substitute either the butterscotch or peanut butter chips - YUM!!

The recipe states that you need to hand mix this.  I have never used my Kitchen Aid mixer for it.  Can't see how that would make any difference.  Someday I will throw caution to the wind and make the brownies with a mixer and see what happens!  Anyway, here is the recipe . . .

Congo Brownies
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened (I always use unsalted!)
1 lb. light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
11.5 ounce package milk chocolate chips (See note above!)
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together. - (I always use a fork, helps to mash eveything together better).

Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.

Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well.

Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Coat a 13 X 9 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don’t over bake.

Enjoy!!  Really good with a scoop of ice cream!

Amish Friendship Bread Starter - Day 10

If you have been following along with the Amish Friendship Bread, we are now at Day10 - YEAH!  No more squishing baggies.  The days of "hard work" have finally come to an end and you can finally enjoy the "fruits" of your labor.  Today we bake!!

First, you will feed your baggie or container once last time and then divide it up into four cups.  One to use today to make bread, one cup for you to start feeding again for your self and the two remaining to give to friends.

Here is the orginial recipe that comes with your starter:

Amish Frienship Bread
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

In a separate bowl combine the following dry ingredients and mix well:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 - (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup nuts

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour

I usually sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of my loaves and I also add chopped and peeled apples - makes a wonderful breakfast bread.

VARIATIONS:
Another variation that works out wonderfully is Lemon Poppy Seed muffins.  Use 2 small packages of lemon instant pudding and add 1/4 cup of poppy seeds (eliminate the vanilla pudding, cinnamon and the nuts).  I bake these in a very small muffin pan for about 20 - 25 minutes.

Another variation . . . Instead of using two loaf pans,  bake it in a bundt pan. Instead of the vanilla pudding, use chocolate instant pudding, and add pecans, chocolate chips and coconut.

For Banana bread, substitute banana cream pudding and a mashed banana.

The possibilities are endless.  Try a couple of these variations or experiment with your own concoctions to see what you can come up with.  I've also found some other recipes using the starter for other things besides the bread.  Stay tuned for more adventures!