Pumpkin Spritz Cookies

I was needing a new recipe for some leftover pumpkin I had and was hoping to find a recipe for pumpkin spritz cookies. This is the recipe that I found on Recipezaar. I really liked them, plus it gave me another chance to use my cookie press.

Pumpkin Spritz Cookies Recipe #264937
Looking for a new way to celebrate the holiday? For reasons both practical and sentimental, our family loves to make spritz cookies. These are quite different from butter or cream cheese cookies and will round out the trays nicely.
by justcallmetoni

28 min 20 min prep
SERVES 72

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Sprinkling sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg

Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
In a large mixing bowl beat butter until creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in sugar and spices until well combined and the granules have begun to melt. Mix in pumpkin, egg and vanilla until well combined.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until well combined.
Place into a cookie press and press out shapes onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Lightly sprinkle cookies with the spiced sprinkling sugar.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until set but not browned. Allow to cool 2 minutes on baking sheet then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes from Wendy: I used cinnamon sugar for sprinkling (without the nutmeg) and it was still great. Enjoy!

Ice Cream Cake

I made Roger an ice cream cake for his birthday and it turned out really good. Plus, this is so much cheaper than buying one from Baskin Robins or Cold Stone. You can get creative with this and pretty much put any layers you want in but here is what I did:

1 box Devil's Food Cake cake mix
Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
2 containers Cool Whip
Oreos

Prepare the cake as directed on the box. Once it has cooled completely, slice the cake through the middle. You can make the ice cream cake whatever size you want, I chose a rectangle sized pan. Put some plastic wrap in the pan you will be using and leave some on each side so you pull the cake out once it has frozen. I started with a cake layer, slicing the cake to be the size of the pan and laying it in the pan. Next I spread some Cool Whip then a layer of Oreos. Then I did another cake layer, then spread some softened ice cream over the cake. The final layer was another layer of cake. I wrapped the entire pan in foil and froze for about 5 hours. I then removed the cake, flipped it out of the pan onto another piece of foil. Frost with Cool Whip and decorate with Oreos. Wrap again in foil and freeze for another several hours.

Take the cake out of the freezer a few minutes before cutting it so it can defrost a bit.

Easy Rolls

Mom gave me this recipe... this is the one I do when I don't feel like making the potato rolls.

3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup powdered milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon yeast

mix all together

microwave:
1 1/4 cup water and
1/4 cup butter
for 1 1/2 minutes

add 1 beaten egg

mix wet into dry. Plop on counter and kneed. Let rise

Separate into 16 rolls. Keep halfing until you have 16 rolls.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350. Yum Yum

Marianne's Tag

Suzy here - I am at mom's house and saw mom got tagged by Marianne and since she can't figure out what it means I am helping her out. Here are the instructions:



Go to your Pictures folder- Go to the 6th folder- Go to the 6th picture- Publish it to a new post and tell the story of the picture.



Here is the picture on her computer:

Mary says, "The story is that Rachel was at mom and dad's unloading her camera onto the computer."

Suzy says, "What is up with the Hicks being on everyone's computers?????"

Mary says, "I tag Suzy and Wendy."

Creamy Meatballs

My friend Johanna made this for us too. Delicious!

(8 servings)

2 lbs ground beef
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
½ onion, grated
3 eggs
2 potatoes, grated
4 carrots, grated

Sauce:
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can evaporated milk


Combine meatball ingredients and form into balls. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Mix sauce; add cooked meatballs. (If freezing, place meatballs and sauce in freezer bag. Defrost bag when ready to cook.) Place in a 9x13 casserole dish and bake at 350° for 30-45 minuets or until bubbly. Serve over rice and noodles.

Chicken, Garlic, and Sun-dried Tomato Pasta

My friend and dinner group member made this for us and I had to have the recipe. I REALLY liked it. Hope you do too!

INGREDIENTS
· 1 (16 ounce) package farfalle (bow tie) pasta
· 1/2 cup butter
· 3 cloves garlic, minced
· 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
· 1/2 cup milk
· 1 tablespoon dried parsley
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
· 3 cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
· 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes or so
· 2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot with boiling salted water cook farfalle pasta until al dente. Drain. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan. Add garlic cloves and cook until garlic browns. Add the cream of chicken soup and milk, stirring until smooth. Stir in the dried parsley, salt, and ground fresh pepper. Let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add bite size chicken pieces and hydrated sun dried tomatoes. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes. Mix in grated Romano cheese. Toss cooked and drained pasta with chicken sauce. Serve warm. --so easy and so good. The sundried tomatoes are a little pricey, but the jar usually makes at least three or four batches. (Costco has a huge jar for much cheaper) I usually put in extra cheese just for fun. (comments from Johanna)

Banana-Walnut Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

Okay you guys.. you should totally all go and try this recipe... NOW! I got it from the Martha Stewart's book about cookies and i am in love with these cookies now :)

Ingredients :
1 cup all- purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (i only had dark brown and it worked)
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/2 inch chunks (i used  choc. chips)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped wanuts (about 2 ounces), toasted

Directions :
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Whisk together both flours, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
2. Put butter and both sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chunks, and walnut.
3. Using a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12-13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days.

Makes about 3 dozen.