Homestead at Bridle Creek

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The Perfect Pumpkin Bar

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This is the perfect pumpkin bar.

The Perfect Pumpkin Bar

 

 

 

 

 

The recipe is simple and the results are great every time. With all of the winter squash around here, we use homemade pumpkin puree – but of course you can use a 15-oz can of pumpkin puree instead.

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

These bars are very simple and simply delicious.
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Ingredients
  

For the Bars

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup oil (try coconut oil for a wonderful treat)
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree ( or 1-15 ounce can of pumpkin puree)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese softened
  • 1/2 cup butter softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • pinch kosher salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  • Spray a large jelly roll pan with cooking spray.
  • Combine the flour, baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Stir to mix well. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer until foamy.
  • Add the granulated sugar, oil, and pumpkin, beating on medium speed until incorporated, about 2 minutes.
  • Add the flour mixture to egg mixture , beating on low speed until just combined, - about 1 minute.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
  • Cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

For the Frosting

  • Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together in a bowl until light and creamy.
  • Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating until combineid and fluffy.
  • Spread frosting evenly over the cooled pumpkin cake.

Notes

If not being eaten right away, these bars are best kept in the refrigerator.

Enjoy,

Kathy

Oatmeal and Pumpkin Spice Chip cookies

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Oatmeal Pumpkin Spice Cookies 13Every year food manufacturers come up with seasonal releases to gladden our hearts and please our palates.

Nestle has done just that for pumpkin lovers.  Their Pumpkin Spice Morsels (chips) hit the spot in these cookies.

Soft, buttery, chewy oatmeal cookies combine with the flavors of fall – pumpkin and spice. . . Ummmmm.

Served these last night to friends, who, after telling us that they were not very good, offered to take them all home – to relieve us of our burden of disposal.

They mix up quickly, freeze well, and, if you make a double batch, and freeze the little cookie balls before baking – you can store those frozen little balls of wonder in the freezer – in an air-tight container – for months, ready to bake at a minute’s notice.  Just be sure to let them come to room temperature before baking, and bake as directed.  As you can see from the picture, these flatten out quite a bit when they are cooled – that is what adds to their chewy goodness.  Whatever you do, don’t over-bake these babies!

The recipe is below,

Enjoy,

Kathy

 [Continue Reading …]

A Blast To the Past

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Happy “Back to the Future Day!” I have been thinking a lot about the future – and the past lately (mundane farm chores allow for a great deal of reflection time).
With the arrival of the day that Marty McFly was catapulted into (Back to the Future 2)- I have wondered what it would be like to step back into time – to see how I would function. Today – thanks to a special friend, I was able, in a way, to do just that – back to the late 1800’s, early 1900’s.This morning, she arrived at my door carrying these –

old recipe journals 001 - Recipe journals and boarding house registers from 1877 – 1915.
Each one was filled with names and home towns of boarders, and recipes of the day. Many of the recipes bearing the name of someone on the boarding house register.
I can picture these women, in the kitchen, chatting about the news of the day, news of their home towns, and sharing recipes.
The recipes are simple. Most of them are ingredients only – as women of that day knew how to mix up each recipe and at what temperature to bake a cake or bread or cookies. They weren’t working with thermostats, they just knew how hot the oven had to be – how much wood or coal to feed the stove in order to bake the perfect cake. [Continue Reading …]

The Great Pumpkin

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Kirsten's Jack'o lantern

 

When our young granddaughter drew the face she wanted on her pumpkin – we carved it – as she drew it – to preserve the preciousness of youth!  Hope your Jack o’ lantern burns brightly this year!

By following a few simple instructions, you can carve your Jack o’ lantern well in advance of the big night without the worry of him spoiling.  There is also a way to cook your carved pumpkin when the celebrations are over.  Just be sure to follow the steps I’ve outlined.  If you plan to eat your pumpkin [Continue Reading …]

Lemonade With a Little Twist

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grape lemonadeLemonade is frequently associated with hot summer days.  But if you end it there, you are missing out on some of the best that the autumn has to offer.

The juice from Concord grapes makes a perfect pairing with the tartness of lemonade.

This version of lemonade is high on the request list here at the Homestead.  Served over ice, it is a perfect end to a warm autumn day – but heated and served steaming hot in a mug, it can also be a perfect ending to a crisp fall night!

Here is how we do it.

Enjoy,

Kathy

 [Continue Reading …]

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