Flo's Cakes - Pumpkin Pecan Braid

Flo blesses us with another one of her marvelous recipes. This looks like the perfect coffee cake for Thanksgiving morning.  Flo compiled this recipe from several different recipes. 

This is on my list to make this week! 

Pumpkin Pecan Braid

3 cups flour, divided

¼ cup sugar

1 pkg (¼ oz) quick-rise yeast

½ tsp salt

½ cup milk

½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup water

1 egg

In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. In a small kettle, heat milk, butter, and water to 120˚-130˚. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add egg and remaining flour; beat until smooth. Shape into a ball. Do not knead. Cover and let rest for ten minutes.

Filling:

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 egg

3/4 cup chopped pecans, divided

Mix together all the filling ingredients, using only ½ cup of the pecans. Roll dough into 14x11 rectangle on a large greased baking sheet. Spread filling down center third of rectangle. On each long side, cut 1-inch strips about 3 inches into the center. Starting at one end, fold alternating strips at an angle across filling to braid. Pinch ends to seal. Sprinkle with remaining pecans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 375˚ for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. When slightly cooled, drizzle with milk and powdered sugar glaze. 

 

Prepare - Christmas Countdown - Week Seven

For some of you, this week will be a crazy one with travel or hosting guests. I thought our family would have a rather quiet Thanksgiving holiday but somehow that has all changed. And that is not a bad thing. I'm looking forward to the events of this week. It just won't be quiet and boring!

I'm listing the same goals for this week as I had planned earlier but realize that for me they will most likely be pushed into next week. (And to be honest, not many weeks did I complete the week's goal. But if I got started I deemed it successful.)

Week Seven - Baking Week - November 24-29

In past years, Thanksgiving week for us has been the week to start holiday baking. When our children were small, every year we got together with some friends from Ed's job and made Christmas cookies together on the Friday after Christmas. Eventually as we had more children, this got too crazy to do with another family, but we still enjoyed beginning Christmas baking this week.

I like to bake several kinds of Christmas cookies and freeze them. Then they are ready to place on a plate for a quick gift or take caroling.

I also hope to make a batch or two of Bulgar Rolls. I know if I ask my mom or my mother-in-law what they want me to bring to the family gatherings at Christmas and New Years, they won't have any idea yet what their menu will be. But if the experience from past years holds true this year, the week of Christmas I'll hear, "Do you mind bringing your Bulgar Rolls again?"

I love making Bulgar Rolls and enjoy being asked to bring the same tried-and-true recipe every year. But it always annoys me to have to bake a double batch of Bulgar Rolls right in the middle of the busiest part of December.

Last year, since our baby was due at the beginning of January, I made the Bulgar Rolls early and froze them. Even though our baby was born New Year's Eve, I was able to pull out the rolls in time for the family gathering on New Year's Day. (My mother-in-law will probably never get over the shock that we showed up at her house with a one-day-old baby but we couldn't resist the chance to show off the baby and eat Chocolate Pie. And we didn't stay long.)

As I said, with the plans we have this week, I don't expect to get much baking done. But I'll be making my plans and hope to hit it next week.

What are you baking?

Preparation in Scripture

I found this interesting passage in Nehemiah.

"So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:8-10)

I have often heard this last line "the joy of the Lord is your strength" - I even have it hanging by my sink - but I couldn't have told you the context. Here Nehemiah has been teaching the people the law of the Lord and they were grieved by what they learned. (I'm guessing because they realized that they had not kept God's law.)

So I'm taking from this passage that joy doesn't come from a lack of sorrow or hardship. Joy comes when we have prepared our heart to seek God, when we have heard His Word and are broken from our sin, when we have accepted His forgiveness, and have extended gifts to others.

Then we have His joy which in turn brings His strength.

And that is something worth thanking God for this week.

Only one more week on this Christmas Preparation Countdown!

Prepare - A Chrstimas Countdown - Week Six

Week Six - Grocery Shopping Week - November 17-22

This week continues our shopping - but this time it is to the grocery store. Shopping is not on my favorite thing to do so I'll be glad when this task is complete.

I like to do my holiday grocery shopping the week or two before Thanksgiving to take advantage of the sales. One of the first posts I wrote was about buying turkey on sale. Since often there is a minimum amount that you need to buy to take advantage of the turkey sale, it is a good time to stockpile.

I'll try to stock up on baking supplies to take me into January - if my lists are complete. I'm sure I'll miss something and have to be back to the store, but at least I made an attempt.

Some of you have asked what kinds of Christmas cookies we will be baking. Well, nothing fancy. We tend to keep to the same old favorites!

Here is some links to favorite cookie recipes that I've shared in the past.

Molasses Cookies
Double Chocolate Cookies - I make these with Andes Mints for Christmas
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Monster Cookies
Peppernuts
Lemon Strawberry Swirls
Gingerbread Boys
Peanut Butter Critter
Graham Cracker House - not a cookie - but a fun child's project


Also, a friend shared with me a link for a set of nativity cookie cutters. This set has been in their family for many years and she was thrilled to find them still available since all her daughters want their own set for their home.  What a fun family tradition!

Preparation in Scripture

Our family is reading through Isaiah right now. It has been a perfect preparation for Christmas, especially when the children spot passages that they remember from The Messiah. The prophecies about Christ make encouraging reading.

 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. (Isaiah 40: 1-5)

 This passage about makes me cry. In a world with sorrow and warfare, wilderness and deserts, crooked and rough places - I long for the glory of the Lord to be revealed. And this passage gives a promise (from the mouth of the Lord, who cannot lie) that all of us shall see His glory.

And that is comfort for the bleakest of days.

Pumpkin Pie Squares

Our family loves pumpkin pie - and the more pumpkin the better. So these bars, which taste almost like pumpkin pie but with more pumpkin, is a winner at our house. Plus I don't have to make pie crust!

This recipe is a merging of two recipes that I received from two different friends. I liked parts of both recipes so merged the two.

Proof that I can never make a recipe exactly as it is written!

Pumpkin Pie Squares

Crust: 
1 cup flour
1/2 cup quick oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

Combine ingredients. I use a food processor to make it extra quick to cut in the butter. Press into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool.

Filling:
6 eggs
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
4 cups pumpkin puree
2 cups scalded milk (heated to hot but not boiling)

Mix all ingredients together and pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream.

Edited to add:
Oops! I forgot to list the eggs!  A major mistake! I hope none of you tried this recipe without eggs!

 

Prepare - A Christmas Countdown - Week Five

Week Five - Gift Shopping Week - November 10-15

I made fewer than half of last week's crafting goals. But that is okay. If I would have made no goals, I wouldn't have accomplished anything!

We don't buy a lot of Christmas gifts but the children have been begging to go shopping for some gifts for their cousins. So this week's goal is to do some gift shopping. If the shopping is successful, I plan to wrap the gifts immediately. I have found that it works so much better to wrap and label gifts right away. If I stash the shopping bags in a corner of the closet, I may not remember who I bought them for - or that I bought them at all.

Maybe that is one problem with purchasing gifts early. But one benefit is being able to order gifts and choose the best shipping rates since I have plenty of time.

Besides gifts, another item that can be purchased now is a new planner. I like the Time Keeper but other good planners designed for homemakers are Guiding the House and the Daily Planner. A good planner keeps me on tract and helps my feeble brain remember where I should be and when.

Preparation in Scripture

"The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD." (Proverbs 21:31)

I can make my plans and be prepared for what I think my day or week will hold. But I can only guess at what the future holds.

No matter how well I am prepared - I will always be surprised by the set backs.

This morning I dove into my Monday work knowing I had a busy week ahead. But my daughter lost her breakfast and my plans for the day were derailed.

Since last Monday, we've received news of three deaths. Not of anyone close to us, but close to people we love and so we grieve with them. And while sometimes death comes to the old and frail who long for heaven, at other times it is to the young and appears far too soon.

So I prepare - for Christmas, for life, but maybe most of all, for death.

I wrap gifts and hold sick little girls. I weep for grieving friends and laugh with giggly toddlers. I make another meal for growing boys and sew a dress for daughter. I fail as a mother and wake up to try again another day. I do what I can and know it will never be enough.

My safety is of the Lord. His grace is my only hope.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

A few weeks ago - probably when I was in the midst of cooking one of the 70 or so butternut squash that we harvested this year (I still have a few on my porch - if you want one!), Ed suggested I make pumpkin whoopie pies. When I gave the excuse that I had never made pumpkin whoopie pies and didn't have a recipe, Ed said that his sister Bonnie would have a good recipe.

A few days later I happened to be at Bonnie's house - and there on the counter was a pan of pumpkin whoopie pies! I hinted that I'd like the recipe and Bonnie quickly wrote it out for me. 



Now I had no excuse. But who would want an excuse? These are so good! And they turned out perfectly, nice and round like a whoopie pie should. Unlike my former experience with whoopie pies when they spread out flat (probably something to do with my complusion to changed recipes). I frosted them (or rather my daughter frosted) with my friend Nola's cream cheese frosting. Yum!



These are a soft cookie. And they will stick together. It is rather a pain but about the only solution is to wrap each cookie individually in plastic wrap. Probably one reason why I've never got excited about making whoopie pies in the past.

But they are easy to freeze and perfect to slide into Ed's lunch. And with all the pumpkin on my porch, I'll probably be making these again.

Bonnie's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

3 cups pumpkins puree
3 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
6 cups flour
3 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
6 tsp baking powder
3 tsp baking soda
3 tsp milk
2 cups chocolate chips

Mix pumpkin, sugar and oil. Add eggs. Dissolve soda in milk. Combine all ingredients together except chocolate chips. Fold in chips. Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Frost.

Cream Cheese Whoopie Pie Frosting

1/2 cup softened butter
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients.

Prepare - A Christmas Countdown - Week Four

Week Four - Craft Week - November 3-8

I don't consider myself a super crafty type person though I do love to sew. But there is something special about homemade gifts and this time of year makes me excited to start crafting again. Maybe it is just being indoors more since the outside work is finished.

Or maybe it is part of my genes. I remember past years when my mom would say that she wasn't sewing any Christmas gifts - but a few days before Christmas would find her sewing machine whirling late at night on some sort of project. And now, I find myself doing the very same thing.

When I first discovered the web, I spent a lot of time on the craft blogs. Until I found that I was bookmarking craft ideas but never doing them. I became discouraged if I spent too much time looking at others' creativity. So I now avoid craft blogs (and pinterest) unless I'm looking for specific project.

Such as today, when I decided to make a Thanksgiving garland for our mantel. A quick search found more than enough ideas. I kept it very simple. I wanted to use burlap, but didn't have any so used card stock instead. I had to use three different colors since I only had a few sheets of each color. I printed off the first two words with my computer printer but I couldn't get a font big enough for the "blessing." I pulled out some stencils and paint and had this hanging 30 minutes later. Not perfect, but I'm okay with imperfection.

If you want a super cute thanksgiving banner that includes a countown, The Dating Divas have a free printable.

One exception to my avoidance of craft blogs is that I do check Sew Mama Sew  each year in November for their Handcraft Holidays. Each day in November they share free tutorials and gift ideas. I am always inspired. Today they had some sweet gifts for babies and I might need to add those dear little shoes to my list of things to try.

For me, finding time to craft will take ignoring other tasks. I finally made peace with the truth that I will never ever be caught up with every household task. I don't recommend that you ignore your responsibilities but (for example) today we are eating leftovers, our school work was done by lunch (a rare event), and the house was in decent shape since we had company yesterday, so I chose to ignore some other work.

My goal this week is to print off mailing labels for Christmas cards, write a Christmas letter, and design a family photo card. If I get those done, I'll be thrilled. If I have more time I have a few other ideas for some craft projects that I'd like to have on hand for gifts. I'm planning to get together with my mom to make candles. I think it has been four or five years since I made soap and it would be fun to try again. But most likely my project will be something like making up soup mixes. That is something my children can more easily help with.

And in my spare time (hah), I want to deep clean my kitchen. After a summer of food preserving, it badly needs some extra attention. I cleaned out the two worse drawers on Saturday. If I'd just do one drawer or cupboard every day, my small kitchen wouldn't take long to complete.

I'd love to hear about your projects if you enjoy crafting of any sort.

Preparation in Scripture

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:1-3)

I already know that my list for this week is far larger than my time. One or two of those items would be more realistic, but maybe I can get a start on a few projects this week and work at it in the coming weeks.

And I know myself well enough to know that the housecleaning project is the one most likely to fall by the wayside. And thinking of houses and preparation brought the above verse to mind.

Sometimes we may wonder if the Lord is ever going to finish His preparations and return to earth for His church. But God's promises are true, just maybe on a different timetable than us.

And when I think of Christ's return, I realize that far more important than my crafting or housecleaning is soul cleaning.

 "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." (James 5:7-8)

If you don't feel like preparing for Christmas yet - that is fine. If you hate crafting - don't feel guilty. But don't put off preparing for the Lord's return.