Pumpkin Spice Cake--Week #9 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

Well, this was supposed to be a cookie recipe.  I'm not sure I understand what happened here.  The recipe I was working off of clearly said "pumpkin spice bar cookies", but what I ended up was definitely more cake-like.  Maybe my eggs were too big.  Maybe it was because I was using homegrown (by my mom) pumpkin instead of canned.  If I cut out an egg or two, it probably would have been denser and more cookie-like, but I didn't have any more pumpkin to make a second batch to try my theory (if someone else tries that, please post here to let me know how that worked out).  Regardless, it still tasted good and I'd be proud to share it at a holiday party.  In fact, I'll be bringing this (minus the parts we ate in the name of evaluating the finished product) to the in-laws' for Thanksgiving today!

Pumpkin Spice Cake

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups pureed pumpkin (I used frozen and thawed homegrown pumpkin)

2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cup raisins

3 oz cream cheese, softened

6 tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 15 1/2x10 1/2 x1in jelly roll pan.  Beat together eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin.  Blend in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.  Mix in raisins.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 30 minutes or until light brown and cool.  Beat together cream cheese and butter.  Gradually add powdered sugar and beat in until creamy and smooth.  Frost cooled cake.  Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

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Molasses Glazed Carrots--a holiday season side

This is the second in a series of posts dedicated to fancier-schmancier holiday sides, for those that don't like to keep it basic like I do for more versatile leftovers. My husband didn't care for the crisp-tender texture of these carrots--he prefers carrots that have been boiled, so next time, I may cook them like that and make the glaze separately and pour it over the carrots before serving, just to make him happy.

Molasses Glazed Carrots

 2 tbsp butter

about 1 lb of carrots, peeled, quartered, & cut in 2-3 in lengths

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp molasses

1/2-1 cup water

In a large skillet, melt the butter.  Add the carrots.  Stir the carrots to coat them in butter.  Cook for about 5 minutes; stir in brown sugar and molasses.  Add water to prevent burning the sugar.  Continue to cook until crisp-tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. 

Cheddar Mashed Potatoes--a holiday season side

As part of my continued effort to make the world a tastier yet healthier place (although, I admit, this is of questionable healthiness, but at least it is from scratch and not boxes or mixes!), I am starting a new series of posts highlighting side dishes that would be a wonderful addition to holiday meals, whether it be Thanksgiving, Christmas, or what-have-you.

If I was hosting such a dinner, I'd actually prefer to keep holiday meals basic, just a big bird or chunk of roast or something, with fairly plan mashed potatoes (with gravy of course), veggies, etc, to allow for more versatility in the utilization of leftovers (which I will probably post about at some point, like the day after Thanksgiving), but some people like to have some fancy-schmancy holiday sides too and others may wish to just have these sides whenever.  We had these potatoes last night with venison steak and glazed carrots and it was good!  Definitely one I'll be making over and over!

Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

about 1 1/2 lbs potatoes

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp chives, finely chopped

1/3 cup sour cream

2 tbsp-1/4 cup milk

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

salt to taste

Peel potatoes, rinse, and cut into chunks.  Place in a saucepan with water just to cover.  Place over high heat and boil until soft, about 20 minutes.  Pour potatoes into a colander and set aside.  In the same saucepan, place butter and chives and heat over medium heat until butter melts, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat.  Return potatoes to pan.  Add sour cream, 2 tbsp of milk, and the cheese.  Mash with a potato masher until fairly smooth.  Add more milk if necessary.  Salt to taste and serve.