Pumpkin Bread Using Homemade Puree

More baking. Love to bake, need to learn how to avoid eating so much. Four boys and a husband should be able to do that deed for me.

Today I made this: Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread from AllRecipes.com.

Ingredients

* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 2/3 cup water
* 3 cups white sugar
* 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7×3 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

I used my pumpkin puree from yesterday. Ooh-la-la. My plans were to make the bread and have Frank take it to Franny’s soccer party. Plan was good. The boys gobbled down slices of the bread before I could even get them arranged on the plate. I put the kabosh on that. And then Frank forgot the nicely (not really, but we’ll pretend) arranged platter behind when he left.

Whatever. I get an “E” for Effort.

Here’s the review I left of the bread. If I were feeling less lazy I would have taken a picture and wrote up a little more here, but… eh.

I make pumpkin bread every year, and wanted to try something new. So glad I tried this one. It is SUPER yummy. Here’s a couple things worth mentioning:

1.) I made mine using 2 loaf pans, 9×5 I believe.
2.) I added about 1.5 cups of milk chocolates at the end, after everything was mixed.
3.) My toothpick NEVER came out clean. Even after 60 minutes. I cooked them about 65 minutes then took them out, letting them cool on a wire rack in the pan. I removed them about 20 minutes later.

I was very fearful they would be a gooey mess, but they were not. Moist in the middle, and yummy.

The only thing I might do different is try to go a little lower on the sugar, but based on the raves from family, maybe I’ll leave well enough alone.

Tastes good with chili. And wine.

Rating:

Preparing Pumpkin Puree With A Crockpot

In making my Pumpkin Dump Cakes, I found myself continually amazed a the price of canned pumpkin. Nearly a dollar and a half for a small can seemed steep to me. Now that Thanksgiving is a little closer, I’ve found them for about .99/can, but, being the happy homemaker that I am, I decided to go through the process of preparing and freezing fresh pumpkin myself. I don’t even really know why I felt it necessary to go through, but I am a curious woman.

I wish I could remember how much my pie pumpkins were. I think they were about .99/each, but I really can’t honestly say. I’ll have to check the prices next time I’m at the store. My real experiment in this case was only partial cost-curiosity.

I decided that I would prepare my pumpkins in the crockpot rather than the oven. I got out my big crock to do this and quickly realized that they weren’t going to fit. I took the pumpkins out and left them on the counter. Days later I had a brilliant idea: do them one by one in the smaller crockpot. Aha! Momma didn’t raise no fool.

Since I have a habit lately of throwing things in the crockpot before bedtime, (beans mostly, to freeze and use) last night with nothing to throw in I looked at my two pumpkins. Plop! In went one.

I set it on its side, poured in about 1 cup of water and put the pot on low, brushed off my hands and walked away.

Prewashed, fear not.

(Notice crazy hair reflected in the lid?)

The next morning I have to say the pumpkin smelled pretty darn good. It was a nice aroma to wake to. Since it had been about 8 hours, maybe 9, I wondered if the pumpkin was ready. The outside didn’t get soft like I thought I would. A fork test didn’t work. A quick jab with a butcher knife didn’t work. A more forceful stab with the knife and I was in like slim.

I didn’t save the seeds for this one. I probably should have, but I was lazy and not really “feeling” the whole pumpkin seed thing. If I really wanted to get my bang for my buck I would have, though.

I took a stickblender to it after gutting it out to puree it, and then put it in the fridge.

I’ve read you’re supposed to let it sit overnight to drain any liquid, and then you can freeze it. In eyeballing I’d guess there’s about as much puree in one pumpkin as there is in the can (or maybe 1.5 cans worth), but I haven’t confirmed that yet. Going to weigh it tomorrow and see if it comes out to 15oz. I suppose I’ll have to make some pumpkin bread with it, too, just to try it out yanno.

Update: Pumpkin #1 was about 15oz. right on the nose. So 1 pumpkin = 1 can of pumpkin

If I were making multiple pumpkins, it would have been better to just stoke up the oven, but this was an easy fix-and-forget method that I would definitely use again.

Homemade Laundry Detergent Challenge

I realize I have an obsession with laundry and laundry detergent. I’ve swung through so many phases of brand name, generic, homemade, eco-friendly… it is shameful. I don’t even want to dig up the archives that reference it. At this time I have a jug of Tide, Gain, Charlie’s Soap, Downy dryer sheets, Gain liquid softener, Ecos… So we will move forward (after one quick digression). The only recipe I could dig up from my archives was this:

Marthat’s Homemade Detergent
Here’s another laundry detergent recipe, sent in by Martha. I haven’t made it yet, but she tells me it’s easier than mine:
1 quart water (4 cups)
1/6 bar fels naptha or other soap grated as fine as possible (now I soak the cube for a week or two in a cup of water).
¼ washing soda
¼ borax
½ quart hot water
cold water
Mix Fels Naptha soap in a saucepan with 3 pints of water, and heat on low until dissolved. (now I nuke it for 5-6 minutes in the microwave). Stir in Washing Soda and Borax (pop back in the microwave for a minute or two– but watch it as it does bubble up. I really don’t think this part is necessary if it is stirred real well.). Stir until thickened, and remove from heat. Add 1 Quart Hot Water to 1 Gallon Bucket. Add soap mixture, and mix well. Fill bucket with hot water, and mix well. Use 1/2 cup of mixture per load.

I don’t know if it was “Marthat” or “Martha” but the recipe is what it is. At that time, I remember using a liquid version of homemade detergent. Since I’m not still using it, I’d have to say that I wasn’t head over heels in love with it. I still have the bucket that I kept that homemade glop in, though.

At any rate, I wanted to do a powder this time. Less hassle, easier to make and store. The internet has a gazillion recipes, and most of them are the same (Fels Naptha, Borax, Washing Soda). Same ingrediants, different ratios. I went with this one:

Homemade Laundry Powder
4c Fels Naptha (almost an entire bar of it, grated, you can use Kirk’s or Zote’s, too)
2c Borax
2c Washing Soda

Mix, store, use.

Simple to remember. I have a hunk of the bar leftover, though, so it isn’t the best ratio for complete usage. But I can store it and grate it for next time. I also didn’t use any scent in mine because, from my experience, the scent doesn’t stay anyway. So what’s the point in wasting it?

I had help in the grating. No, he’s not naked. He’s still in his shower towel, though. He insisted on helping to grate the soap, and stuck with it until the bitter end, something I am entirely grateful (get it – grateful?) for. When it came time to mix the two powders I had two “helpers” who wanted to get their hands in there. Lootie’s always one who likes to feel, and learns by touching. I am still amazed that he hasn’t had his hand completely burned off from Don’t touch the burners (touch). He’s just one of those kids.

grating away mixed and ready to use

I kept it in one of those plastic shoe boxes. You can see my scooper. You may also notice my empty wine glass in the background of these pictures…

The hard part of the whole laundry thing is figuring out how much to put in each load. With this ratio, I’ve read anywhere from 2 Tablespoons to 1/4 cup. I’m still experimenting and will let you know how it works out for me. There’s a great post here from Frugal Upstate that breaks down the costs per load on homemade (using same formulation above) vs. Tide.

So here’s my challenge: I’m going to use my own homemade laundry detergent powder for two weeks (exclusively).

For what it is worth, I have an HE washer, top-loading (NEVER get a top-loader, I really don’t think it cleans that well), soft water.

I know it won’t be easy, at least not for me. I thoroughly enjoy my highly-scented detergents. I’m a scent driven person. If it weren’t laden with chemicals and didn’t skunk up my washer, dryer and clothes, I’d probably be one of those Tide/Downy people that you can smell across the room. In fact I have been, off and on. But the more I read about it, the less I like. And the more build-up I see on my washer and feel on my clothes, the more I steer away. But, I do fall off the wagon. My lust is severe. Hence the line-up of product I have sitting by my washer and dryer.

My routine for the next couple weeks will be my homemade detergent to wash the clothes, and vinegar to soften (I add this to the softener dispenser – this has been my main source of “softener” for quite some time when I’m not gucking it up with commercial softener, though sometimes I mix the two – don’t ask), bleach occasionally. We’ll see how it goes. Today was Day 1. I’ve got 13 more to go.

Day 1 observations: First observation is that it is really Day 2, since I threw a load in last night. But I need to stop. This isn’t all that technical. I’ve done a couple loads of darks, 1 white, 1 blankets/jacket. All have been fine as far as I’m concerned. Not much unlike Charlie’s Soap, really. I dug my nose in a few different items and they all smelled clean. I even plunged it in some pits. Take one for the team, I do. One bra still smelled faintly of Tide. None smelled like the bar of Fels-Naptha. None smelled like vinegar or the essential oils I put in my vinegar hoping they will smell of the oils. This is not new to me, but I’m letting you know about it. Why I keep wasting my EOs? Slow learner. My whites looks as dingy as they always have. I blame my washer for that. My 2nd load of darks that I removed from the dryer today were laden with static. Not sure why. Stay tuned.

Working My Day Off Wednesdays

Wednesdays are my official day off… for now. My hours were cut last year, leaving me with an open day in the middle of the week. At first I was nearly Chicken Little, fearing a falling sky and wondering what I would do with my shortened work week, and my lower pay. I guess I was a little reluctant to change. But, as the change settled in, I realized that the extra time allowed me a day to house-manage again. This is something that went a bit by the wayside during the past few years. We lived day by day. My going back to working outside the home played into that, unfortunately, and I felt things slipping.

Flash forward to 11 months later, and I’ve owned my Wednesdays. They have been a day to recoup, reorganize and manage our busy household.

And a day to clean the bathroom. Here I go again on one of my derailments, but can I just say that I absolutely LOVE a clean bathroom. Pissless floors, sparkly clean toilet, fresh air that is untinged by the smell of pee from little boys and their inability to aim (although a threatening of bathroom duty has much improved that). I just HATE to clean the bathroom. If I could suit up for HazMat, I seriously (seriously) would. The whole thing gives me the shivers. But, problem is, I trust no on but myself to clean it the way I want.

Anyway, more often than not I find myself now doing the deed on Wednesdays. I put in my contacts (because my glasses slip off my face when I look down or bend over, and there’s no way I’m fetching them if they fall during this sort of job), grab my yellow gloves and go to town. I also have to time my cleaning with my shower. I wear my pajamas all the way up until I clean, do work, then peel everything off and hop in the shower.

Today was a deep clean, meaning one of those hands-and-knees floor clean.  A bucket filled with some Charlie’s Soap, a splash of bleach and some essential oils. My rags (old towels, cut to washcloth-sized squares). Contemplating goggles and a mask, but don’t get that far. I scrubbed down the toilet, got a new bucket and washed the floor. It was horrific, but the end result feels so nice. If I could have someone to train and unleash them to clean daily, I’d be golden.

If I had to take a survey right now to tell you what I started talking about, I’d surely fail. Immediately.

Wednesdays. That’s right. Wednesday is the day off where I work harder than most other days. If I’ve got other work-at-home stuff (bath bombs for my cousin’s store), I do that. But I also will often make up my shopping list, like today, compiling my recipes and menu (really have been doing that for days), then I rewrote my shopping list in script that I could read, rather than the scribble from days of copying pages of recipes from the library book. Long, tiring day.

Clean, make chili, throw in crockpot, go to appointment, drop off car, take Sal to goalie training, stop at grocery store, stop at Costco, run back to grocery store, come home, unload groceries, get dinner on the table, whip up a batch of homemade laundry soap (more on that in another post). And now, time to sleep. Maybe. I might take a bit more time to throw in another load of laundry before I hit the hay. Or check out more recipes. Who knows.

As it is right now, my work is thinking of offering me back my regular hours again. It’s a bit tough, to be honest, after having a year to expand my ventures into other areas. My “work” of homemaking is probably worth more than a day’s pay, to be honest. We’ll see. But today I’m feeling quite satisfied at the oodles of items on my “To Do” list that are now Ta-Done. Tada!

Spicy Beans

This rice recipe (a variation of it) has made itself a staple in our household over the past couple years.

Spicy Red Rice

  • 2 tablespoons oil or bacon grease
  • 1 cup long grain white rice
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon each oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1 tablespoon dry onion
  • Dash red pepper (optional)
  • Dash black pepper
  • 8 oz can or 1 cup chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
  • 2 cups water

I double it for our family. Generally I heat the rice and spices in the oil for a few minutes, and then add the water. Simmer for 20 minutes, remove from heat. I take the lid off for 30 seconds to allow the steam to escape, but I’ve yet to see a rice recipe that calls for that. Doesn’t stop me, though. I let it sit a while before fluffing.

We’ll eat this the first night, sometimes with sausages mixed in, but usually as a simple side. Last night we had the rice, warm tortilla chips, corn (from Costco, organic and frozen – very good) and tilapia. Decent dinner.

I had about 4 cups of rice leftover from the meal so last night I put 2 pounds of black beans in to soak overnight. Today before work, I rinsed them and threw them into the crockpot, covering them with water, adding about 1/8 cup dehydrated onion, 1 T. dehydrated garlic, a bit of black pepper and a bay leaf. I let that sit on low for about 6 hours, then kicked it up to high for another 2 hours when I got home from work.

After that, I removed 3 bowls full of beans and some liquid (about 2.5 cups each) to freeze for when I need black beans, and added some sausages in to the remaining beans. This cooked for a couple hours. After it was done I removed the sausage. The beans I fished out with a slotted spoon and mixed in with the leftover rice. I put that in a small casserole and topped with a bit of cheese, set it under the broiler to melt the cheese.

Dinner was the sausages, rice and beans, corn, warm tortilla chips. It went over well, and was a very cheap meal to eat. The sausages were from Costco (it was a 12-pack that I split over 2 meals), as were the chips (priced as a substantial savings over bying the same chips at our large grocer).

It is so nice to be able to sit down at the table with the kids to a warm meal. I feel spoiled!

The past couple days I’ve intentionally “shopped the freezer” to whip up a couple of meals. Tomorrow I head back to Costco, and possibly the regular grocer (time allowing) to pick up some items for some of the meals I have planned.

This all makes up for the complete glutton-fest I had today as I stopped by my favorite little restaurant to get my Peruvian chop bowl with cilantro rice and arepas, spending $10. Thankfully it was enough food to allow for 2 lunches for me. But still it was totally unnecessary. Old habits are hard to break.

Refinancing Credit Card Debt

We refinanced.

Not our house. That was done before. This time it was our other debt. Two of our debts. One was a credit card for… a sizable amount. It’s so embarrassing to even share this, because my ignorance shows. But, I share in hopes that someone else will make sense of it, and maybe it will help.

We had a credit card that I have been paying on for a good year. Combined balances, lured with a low introductory APR, that had passed and now bounced up to the regular rate. We made the commitment to not spend on the card and pay it down. First step. Sadly, it took that long year to realize that my payments were making a minimal dent in the debt. When I say minimal, I mean… oh, 10 bucks each month? Hardly enough to make the hundreds digit move, and not nearly enough for the thousands to rotate.

As I was paying it a couple months ago I had a gut check. A sick, sick feeling that something needed to be done. But, as far as finances go, I’m but an infant. I seriously think if I were in school and lengthy IEP would be issued for me, and it would be heartily welcomed and helpful. I do not jest. I’m a slow learner in some areas. There are things in life that swirl around my brain and never permeate it, and then, one day, they find an in and they squiggle in. This. This is one of them.

At any rate, I made a plan to visit my local credit union and finance at a lower rate. Before that plan, I made a plan to distribute my balance among multiple lower-APR cards. Option 2 was much more viable, but as I said I learn slow.

After accepting 2 card offers and realizing they weren’t really what would work best for me, I told myself I needed to bite the bullet and visit the credit union down the street. I’ve already got an account there (baby steps), setting up a small savings. I don’t know what kept me from visiting my always-friendly CU to see if they had any options for me. Pride, probably.

Yesterday we set aside all non-necessary deeds, and made ourselves a priority for once. Forget the things I needed to do to manage the two soccer teams I was managing, our own finances, our own lives needed to take priority. For once. Too long I’ve lived diving into volunteer work and other things that put me in a place of doing something very productive, but kept me from facing our own obligations.

That’s got to change.

To the bank we went, at the desk we sat, the conversation we finally had. The refinancing we accomplished.

Credit card shall be paid off in 3 years.

Car loan (refinanced at a lower rate – with a local bank) paid off in 4.

The light at the end of the tunnel is visible. The refinancing on the credit card alone will save us roughly 7 grandola. Yeah, I sad $7000.  It’s still debt, and we’re still giving someone money to borrow money, but it is less, and it has an end in sight.

I. Felt. Terrific. Frank was a little less ecstatic, only because he really isn’t involved in the finances (another thing that needs to change). Bless his heart for coming along, supporting me, and sharing a bit of joy in my relief

When you’re being intentional in one area of your finances, it really helps you to be more thoughtful in other areas.

Overnight

Well, I did end up going along on the trip, making it through OK. Feeling a little bit better, but still tired. I had a really nice time. We didn’t have the entire bookclub group with us, which was unfortunate, but it actually worked out alright that way. There were six of us. We fit around the table, we fit in one vehicle, and the cross-talk at the table was pretty minimal. Mostly what we did was talk, too. We sang some karaoke, played a little cards. But talking was the main attraction.

It didn’t cost too much, either. One lunch out, gas money to both the drivers, pitched in on dinner and breakfast (pizzas and appetizers for dinner, eggs for breakfast). It was all perfect. Well. I shouldn’t say that. It wasn’t entirely perfect. But we’ve agreed that what happened at the overnight stays there.

Oh, and they liked the Pumpkin Dump Cake.

Problem Solved

I’m going. I’m going to do it. I don’t feel 100% better, though, so I hope it isn’t a huge mistake. But I figure if I feel icky here I’m going to feel icky there. Right? Sort of. Something like that. I don’t know. I’m packed and ready. I want to go. I’d rather not sit home and feel sick. I think. Gah.

Yesterday I decided to whip up a Pumpkin Dump Cake to take along. I don’t really like going to someones house like that empty-handed. As much as I enjoyed that cake, I figured the girls (there I go again) would, too. I also figured it would be budget-friendly since I had the ingredients on hand. Or so I thought.

I brought out my bowl and mixed up my pumpkin and spices. Oh, golly, gee. There’s that call for condensed milk again. The first time I made it I ran down to the pantry (I say “pantry” but really it’s just some steel shelving in our garage that we load up canned goods on) to grab a can of the milk. I knew I had one, if not two. I sure did. And they both expired back in 1845. Goodness. Trash those. I had just been to the store, and really didn’t feel like going again. I searched the ‘net for viable alternatives, but none of them pleased me. So I made my own. I used regular milk. There ya go. I had contemplated coconut milk, but decided that was straying too far from the path.

Well yesterday I couldn’t remember what I used in place of the condensed milk. Sour cream? What? What did I use? I didn’t want to mess it up, and, since Frank was on a run to pick up a pizza (Groupon deal, large for $6), I called my mommy to see if she had a spare can. She sure did. Mommy to the rescue. Called Frank, who had to circle back, to pick up the can.

Problem solved.

I melted my butter in the microwave, and went to grab my yellow cake mix. Hmm. I did have one, didn’t I? Not in the cupboard. Not below… so.. yeah. No. I didn’t have one. So much of making a recipe with stuff I already had.

Called mommy. Again. She didn’t even try not to laugh at me, and because she’s the queen of having extra baking supplies on hand, she sent my husband home with that, too.

Problem solved. Or so I thought.

Frank gets home, I finish off my mix, add the wet stuff to the pan, add the cake mix, pat-pat-pat it down, and put it in the oven; set the timer for 45min.

Half an hour later, Carlito goes to warm his spaghetti in the microwave and says, “What is this?”

“What’s what?” I called from my perch on the couch.

“This yellow stuff, grouse, in the microwave. I can throw it out”

Yellow stuff? MY BUTTER!!! “Nooooooooooooooooo!!”

I forgot my butter, dagnabbit. You can’t complete a recipe without butter. I contemplated throwing myself down the stairs, or hightailing it in to the kitchen to view the disaster that was awaiting me. Begrudgingly I took the butter from my son’s hands, and opened the oven. It looked OK. It smelled fantastic. Here goes nothing.

Butter poured, back in the oven for 10 more minutes. The end verdict is that it looks fine. I’m apprehensive because I made it in a throw-away pan, which I haven’t done before, and I let it sit in the oven longer than it should have. We shall see. It’s still coming with me on the trip.

Verbose Derailment

This weekend I’m supposed to be going on a little “getaway” with some girls from my bookclub. Oh goodness. I called them girls. We are definitely not girls, so I suppose my age is showing. When I start calling them gals (like my mom) we’ll all know that I’ve passed the summit and rounding down the other side of the hill. At any rate, me and the ladies from book club, about half of the club, are traveling off a couple hours away to stay over a night. We’re all pretty cheap, so we’re staying at a father’s house of one of the members. He’s gone, so it’s not creepy or anything. It’s a small town, and there’s really no reason we’d be traveling there besides simply wanting to GET AWAY and have some girl time.

I don’t even know what it will all entail, to be honest. I know there will be wine, and I know a karaoke machine is coming along. I know I will be sleeping on my air-mattress (which I love).

I also know that, as Murphy’s Law would have it, yesterday I started to feel like crap.

It came on at work, really, and thank goodness my boss is out of town for a couple of days or she would have drug-tested me for sure. But I was sitting at my desk, head on my hand and my eyes started rolling back in my head. At least I felt like they were. And then I my nose kind of made that scuffy, lazy snort sound that it makes when you’re just about to fall asleep, your breath is getting deep and you’re, like, mentally tucking yourself into bed.

I swear I hibernated for ten seconds without knowing it.

My lids closed, and I’m thinking, If I let myself go, I could SO totally fall asleep right now, right here, baby. It was a battle of the wills to decide which was worse, staying awake and feeling like I was nodding off, or giving in to the sick curiosity. Because I was curious. Could I really, seriously fall asleep? Right there on my hand? At my desk? At work? My head faced away from the door, so maybe nobody would notice. But then, what if I really went hard and started snoring, drooling, and grinding my teeth like I do at home? And what if someone came to the door and I didn’t realize it? Worse yet, what if I realized it and thought I was acting all normal, but my eyes were red, my face blotchy where my hand had been, and they secretly held in their heart witness that I snore so loudly you can hear it down the hall with the door closed?

So, no. I shook my head and said “no” out loud to make sure I knew that I was going to tough it out. Popped a few candies from my jar, got up and walked around a little. And felt some gurgling in my tummy.

Wah.

Last night wasn’t much better. I made dinner, and ate with the family (I find it best to act normal when sick), but then I made the couch my own and didn’t move from it. Our friends stopped by and asked if we wanted to walk down to the bowling alley for some munchies and beer– something I’d normally all over like monkeys picking back-bugs, but I surrendered to my physical suffering. Frank went on ahead with the twins and Lootie, and I brushed my teeth, put in my mouth guard (I wasn’t kidding about the teeth grinding thing), grabbed my latest Netflix and headed off to my bed with the dog.

I’ma tell you right now, if you are already suffering a physical ailment, the movie Cop Out will not make it any better. Although it works almost as good as Nyquil in putting you to sleep, if you can get over the anger in realizing that you actually paid to rent the DVD (and to think, I wanted to see it in the theatre!). I had high hopes, but it was all formula. Bruce Willis doesn’t even try to act, since he’s done just about every scene already once if not thrice in other cop movies. Cop argues with goofy sidekick partner. Cop botches bust. Cops have to give up badge. Cop has bad home life situation. Cop is a victim of wrong-doing. Cop takes vengeance into his own hands. Bla-bla-bla.

Verbose derailment. Story of my life!

My point is, I felt icky. I awoke feeling icky, and late for work. Showering didn’t help, save for the steamy seclusion notifying me to the condition my sinuses (full) and they were going to erupt. I had all but surrendered to the fact that I probably wasn’t going on the girls getaway. I emailed the hostess to give her a heads up. I whined to my husband. I began to hand out invitations to my pity party. I went to work, stopping to get a FREE FRIDAY COFFEE from Burger King (free small coffee, no purchase required, through the month of November). I threw in a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit since I had forgotten to eat breakfast.

I went to work. I slowly started to feel a bit better. No runs to the ladies room, no curling under my desk to catnap. A little spacey, a little dizzy, but nothing a couple glasses of wine and some mean karaoke can’t cure I hope! We’ll see. Pictures forthcoming. Maybe.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Because, if I’m going to gain weight over the holidays, I’m taking you all down with me. Only addicts drink eat alone, so they say.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1- 15 ounce can pumpkin
  • 1- 12 ounce can evaporated milk (I did not have, so I subbed powdered buttermilk and 10oz. water — worked fine)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg*
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger*
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves*
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • —-
  • 1- 18.25 ounce yellow cake mix
  • 1 cup walnuts or pecans (didn’t use)
  • 3/4 cup or 1-1/2 sticks butter, melted (you KNOW I used this – heck yeah)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 9×13 pan. Completely combine 1st set of ingredients. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with cake mix. Gently pat down with spoon. Sprinkle with nuts. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 50 minutes. Cool and cut in squares.
* Or use 4 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice or Mixed Spice
I’m sharing the fact that I made this, but it is not my recipe. It is all over the internet, though and I don’t know how we’ve never met, Dump Cake and I.
I’m also sharing the fact that you can’t judge a recipe properly if you’re a pig that dives into it very quickly after removing it from the oven (my kids and I did this, yes we did). Right away I was not terribly impressed. Too sweet, pumpkiny and just not very good. I chalked it up to it being an easy recipe.
And then I tried it again the next day. Can you say entirely different opinion? Momma’s taking this badboy to Thanksgiving. If I had to tweak it at all, I’d say don’t be afraid to pack in the cake mix nice and firm. But that’s about it. OK, not really. I had another thought – chocolate cake mix. That sounds super-dee-duper good, but who knows it might just be one of those things that sounds better on paper. If you try it, lemme know. That is, if I don’t try it first. Just remember, this is a good make-ahead cake.
Doesn’t look to special out of the oven, does it? More like a potato casserole or something. Hey kids, want some potato casserole? (Snicker)