Bake Me More

Split Pea & Ham Soup

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 ham bone, (leave some ham on bone)
• 16 oz. bag of split peas, rinsed and picked through
• 2 carrots
• 1 large potato
• Seasonings if desired (or even needed)
• Additional ham, diced

Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie

If you were stranded on a desert island (how old is that?) and you could only choose two foods for your Thanksgiving Dinner it would have to be Turkey and Pumpkin Pie. It’s just not Thanksgiving without these two foods. This year my brother and his family left town for the holiday – leaving just six of us for Thanksgiving dinner. We actually contemplated cooking a nontraditional dinner but quickly decided that turkey would have to be the meat item… so we just stuck with the long time tradition of turkey, ham, dressing, mashed and sweet potatoes, assorted veggies and oh yeah, pumpkin pie.

While I think that there is nothing like a meal or dessert made completely from scratch, there are times (many of them) that using a little “help” is a must. By that I mean building off a mix, or in this case using a refrigerated pie crust and canned pumpkin. Libby’s pumpkin is the first name in canned pumpkin, and thier classic recipe is nearly impossible to mess up.

The pies turned out wonderfully, but I made a little mess in the oven. As I poured the batter into the second pie, I had about 1/2 cup of extra filling that I didn’t want to waste. I thought I could add it and just carefully push the rack into the oven – nope… pumpkin pie filling all over the bottom of a 425 degree oven, ouch. Crisis averted with a wet rag and a long oven mit.

Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
• 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
  Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:
MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

NOTES:
1 3/4 teaspoons pumpkin spice may be substituted for the cinnamon, ginger and cloves; however, the taste will be slightly different. Do not freeze, as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.

Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie (2)

Blueberry Angel Dessert

This is a favorite five ingredient dessert. You need a little “chill” time, but it comes together very quickly. I first came across the recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook. It can also be found on their website. I like to make things a little lighter if possible, you can see my changes…and I made this one into a trifle by just simply layering the ingredients instead of using a 9×13 pan.

• 1 box(8 oz.) cream cheese, softened (light)
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tub(8 oz.) cool whip, thawed (light)
• 1 angel food cake, (16 oz) , cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cans (21 oz each) blueberry pie filling (Used Comstock extra fruit – only 1 can)

Directions:

Annie's Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin is a staple of the holidays. Everywhere you turn it’s pumpkin this, pumpkin that… from entrees to desserts and ice creams, salted seeds, and bowls made out of pumpkin rhine. Oh, and I shouldn’t forget the season opener – the jack-o-lantern. I bought a pumpkin about two weeks before halloween this year – for the kids to carve. Needsless to say that nearly a month later, he still sits lonely in the garage. I just may be able to use it for a science experiment on it soon. Anyway – Last holiday season I was given a slice of pumpkin bread. I had not had any before, so I had nothing to compare it to. It was quite wonderful though. My sil served it cool with a dusting of powdered sugar. I knew I had to have the recipe. She received the recipe after a “taste testing” too. She received it from a friend at church who graciously gave it to her in a nice hallmark card. I jotted it hurriedly on a scrap sheet of paper. I also failed to write down how long to cook it. Anyway, it is a very easy recipe that most anyone could throw together. I named the pumpkin bread after its author, Annie S.

Annie’s Pumpkin Bread

• 1 ½ Cups plus 2 Tbsp Flour
• 1 ½ Cup Sugar 
• ¾ tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• ½ tsp Cinnamon
• ½ tsp Nutmeg
• ½ Cup Oil
• 2 eggs slightly beaten
• 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
• 1/3 Cup Water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour desired pan(s).

Sift together dry ingredients, set aside.

Beat together eggs, oil, water and pumpkin. Make a well in dry ingredients and add wet mixture. Stir with spoon just until all ingredients are wet. Pour into greased pan(s), fill pan 2/3 full. Bake about one hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Makes one 9″ loaf pan. When doubled will make three 8″ loafs.

I always double the recipe

Sliced and Diced

When you have limited cooking space, you improvise. We started improvising a couple of years ago and we aren’t looking back! It was Thanksgiving and we needed to cook a Turkey, ham, stuffing, vegetables, breads and baked goods. Kind of makes for a very busy oven. So we decided to incorporate the grill to help with our meal. I live in Florida, so the weather usually accommodates year round grilling. To avoid being too overwhelmed, I looked for an easy way to “marinate” our bird. I came up with a sunny Florida favorite – Orange Juice. Simple, boring, maybe… but it resulted in the most moist turkey we have ever had. So our grill and a little OJ is now our method of cooking for holiday turkeys. Here is our “recipe”.

How to grill a Turkey – Light and Extremely Easy

• 1 Turkey, thawed if frozen
• 1 Large Container of Orange Juice (your favorite brand…)
• Salt, pepper, desired skin seasonings
• Large roasting pan
• Foil
• A hot grill!

Directions:

The night before, place Mr. Bird breast down in roasting pan and give him an OJ bath for the night – reserve one cup of orange juice. In the morning, drain the juice and season the skin as desired. Pour reserved juice into the hull of the turkey and cover the entire pan tightly with foil. About 2 hours before hand (more or less depending on the size), heat your grill to 350 and place pan directly on the grate of the grill. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees and remove foil. Grill uncovered until the skin begins to brown and the turkey reaches at least 165 degrees. Remove pan from grill (if the skin is not to your liking, you may need to remove it from the pan and grill directly over the heat – I haven’t had that problem though – and I don’t like burnt black skin either.

If you need to be “fancy” add some sliced oranges and orange zest to the skin of the turkey before cooking – that is if you want a little citrus taste… Serve on a tray with halved citrus fruits and some grilled veggies… He will (the bird) look quite handsome! Add some whole cranberries for a nice color variation.

Slice turkey and serve – and trust me, you won’t taste the citrus, but this meat – especially the breast, will be drooling in juices. It is quite wonderful. When my bird finishes today, I will post pictures.Update: Um, in all the hullabaloo I didn’t take a picture of the turkey before we cut it. You will have to settle for a photo of a slice.