Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

Yet another thing off the Fall Bucket List!

I'm a pumpkin pie girl and a traditionalist. I don't like to mess with things and I like my routine. Just ask my Grandma Nancy who has to make me broccoli salad at every family gathering. If you change things I'm not a happy camper. I was intrigued by this recipe but hesitant to butcher a perfectly good pumpkin pie. I'm glad I did! This was a nice change up but not glaringly different from a traditional pumpkin. There was a slight fruity sweetness due to the apple butter but that was all. It felt like a lightened up pumpkin pie. The proof is in the pie...or lack therefore of. If Mr. Lawyer finishes the pie (and crumbs!) in 24 hours I guess it is a keeper.

We had it with some bubbly because why not?

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

(Taste of Home)

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup apple butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon each ground ginger, cloves and nutmeg
1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)
Whipped cream
Directions:
1. In a large bowl combine eggs, pumpkin, apple butter, brown sugar, evaporated milk, milk, and vanilla. Whisk in salt and spices until well blended. Pour into pastry shell.
2. Bake at 400° for 50-55 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cover edges loosely with foil during the last 20 minutes if necessary. Cool on wire rack. Garnish with whipped cream.

Barley Zucchini Boats

Mr. Lawyer went to the grocery store by himself yesterday. He doesn't shop from a list, that's never a good idea! Drives me crazy. Then he comes home with random things like 2 zucchinis. Luckily I always wanted to make a zucchini boat recipe. For some reason I couldn't get barley out of my head so I found this recipe and then tweaked it to make it a smidgen healthier. 

The original recipe called for half a pound of ground beef or turkey which I swapped up for only two links of sausage. You could easily omit the meat and make it vegetarian. I left out the added salt and cut out some of the butter. I liked how you cooked the barley in the tomato sauce so it held a lot of flavor. It got the manly seal of approval!

Barley Zucchini Boats

(adapted from tasteofhome.com)

Ingredients:
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
2/3 cup medium pearl barley
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 medium zucchini (8 to 9 inches)
2 spicy sausage links, casing removed
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions:1. Drain tomatoes, reserving juice. Set the tomatoes aside. Add water to juice to measure 2 cups; place in a saucepan. Add barley and cumin; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, place zucchini in a Dutch oven and cover with water; bring to a boil. Cook for 6 minutes or until slightly tender. Drain; cool slightly. Slice zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out pulp, leaving
a 1/4-in. shell. Chop pulp and set aside.
3. In a skillet, cook sausage, onion, and garlic in oil until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add barley mixture, pepper, tomatoes and zucchini pulp; mix well. Spoon into zucchini shells.
4. Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and butter; sprinkle over zucchini. Place in two greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dishes. Cover and bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

Tortellini Bake

This stick-to-your-rib casserole is quite yummy. I felt better that it included spinach and mushrooms so I could at least pretend to be a little healthy. It's a very nice basic recipe that would be a crowd pleaser at any party. I halved the recipe and omitted the second batch of butter. It came out just fine.

Cheesy Spinach and Mushroom Tortellini Bake

(from a Taste of Home)

Ingredients:
2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen cheese tortellini
1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup butter, divided (I omitted this butter and it was fine)
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 block (8 ounces) brick or cheddar cheese, shredded
2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Directions:
1. Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the mushrooms, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper in 1/4 cup butter until mushrooms are tender. Remove and keep warm.
2. In the same skillet, combine milk and remaining butter. Bring to a gentle boil; stir in brick cheese. Cook and stir until smooth. Drain tortellini; place in a large bowl. Stir in the mushroom mixture and spinach. Add cheese sauce and toss to coat.
3. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Blueberry Peach Tart!

The Mother Unit sent me this yummy recipe. It was nice way to use up some of the four pounds of blueberries I picked this summer. She had used a mix of blueberries, peaches, and mangos which sounds delicious. While mine was delicious it didn't hold it's form well, or I just suck at taking the pieces out, so it was definitely more on the crumble side of things.

Peach Blueberry Crumble Tart

(from a taste of home)

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups frozen unsweetened blueberries, thawed
2 cups frozen unsweetened sliced peaches, thawed
1 tablespoon honey
CRUMB TOPPING:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup chopped Diamond of California® Pecans
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon; stir in butter just until blended. Press onto the bottom and up the side of a 9-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Bake at 350° for 15-20
minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
2. In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, peaches and honey; toss to coat. In a small bowl, combine the first five topping ingredients; stir in butter.
3. Spoon fruit mixture into crust; sprinkle with topping. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Zucchini Muffins

Yesterday, on my last day off, I made zucchini muffins for breakfast! They were okay but not nearly as good as my Grandpa Norm's recipe for zucchini bread....but it was too early in the morning to convert recipes. Even Mr. Lawyer noticed right away that it was not Grandpa's recipe....yikes! Guess I learned my lesson. Once you give a boy the best you can't go back!

Zucchini Muffins

(from Taste of Home)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I doubled this)
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dried currants or chopped raisins
Directions:
1. In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Combine the egg and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the zucchini, walnuts and currants.
2. Coat muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners; fill three-fourths full with batter. Bake at 350° for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 6 muffins.

Olympic Party!

We are such cool people that we had an Olympic Watching Party (actually, 2!) this week. Jackie decked out their house out with Olympic themed streamers, table clothes and a homemade medal counter. I dressed the part with a shirt and medal courtesy of summer camp and brought an Olympic themed treat: Fruit Pizza. Gold medals all around! The chocolate shortbread is much more enjoyable than vanilla and the sweet frosting is the perfect compliment to both the shortbread and fruit. My favorite was the strawberry section. We had a ton of leftover fruit which made for some amazing breakfast fruit salad. I think there needs to be more themed parties in my life.

Olympic Rings Fruit Pizza

(Pinterest, from A Taste of Home)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 cups whipped topping
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fresh blackberries
1/2 cup diced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits, drained
1 large kiwifruit, peeled and chopped
Directions:
1. In a bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugars. Beat in the egg, melted chocolate and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Place waxed paper over a 15-in. x 10-in. baking sheet without sides. Shape dough into a flattened rectangle and place on prepared baking sheet. Cover dough with waxed paper; roll dough to within 1/4 in. of edges of baking sheet. Remove top sheet of waxed paper; invert dough onto another greased baking sheet. Remove remaining waxed paper.
3. Using a 4-1/2-in. diameter plate or bowl and a knife, trace three touching circles along a long side of the dough. Trace two more circles centered below and overlapping upper circles by 1 in. Cut around outer edges of the rings; remove dough around rings and use to make cookies if desired. Bake rings at 350° for 14-16 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
4. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Add whipped topping; mix well. Transfer cooled crust to a serving platter. Spread with frosting. On top rings, from left to right, place blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. Place pineapple and kiwi on lower rings. Store in the refrigerator.

Sweet & Spicy!

This is hands down the best appetizer I've had in a long time. Mrs. T whipped up a batch of these this past weekend at the shore and they were to die for. I loved them so much that Monday after work I ran to the store to pick up the ingredients and we had jalapeno poppers for dinner! The sweet and spicy play off each other so well....plus it can't be bad if it's wrapped in bacon! The original recipe used chili seasoning but we subbed Tony's Creole Seasoning which was amazing.

My six jalapenos were very large so I doubled the cheese filling and it worked out perfectly. My bacon didn't cook evenly, especially on the bottom, so next time I will try baking them on a wire rack or pre-cooking the bacon a bit. The only other issue was the bacon shrinking and semi-falling off on some pieces.

Sweet & Spicy Jalapeno Poppers

(adapted from Taste of Home)

Ingredients:
6 jalapeno peppers
4 ounces cream cheese, softened (double if needed)
2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese (double if needed)
6 bacon strips, halved widthwise
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon creole/cajun seasoning
Directions:
1. Cut jalapenos in half lengthwise and remove seeds; set aside. In a small bowl, beat cheeses until blended. Spoon into pepper halves. Wrap a half-strip of bacon around each pepper half.
2. Combine brown sugar and chili seasoning; coat peppers with sugar mixture.
3. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until bacon is firm.

Pretty Beverage Party!

I apologize in advance for the quality of these photos but it was a party and we were....distracted. You're lucky I got pictures at all! The first time I had these daiquiris was last summer down at the shore. Mr. Lawyer's mom made them and they were to die for. In an shopping adventure I would like to title: when grocery stores get *too* healthy, I couldn't find any sweetened strawberries so I just add 4 tablespoons of sugar to the mix. I also had to thaw the strawberries out a bit because my poor little blender couldn't handle them. These are the perfect treat to beat the heat!

Frozen Strawberry Daiquiris

(from The Taste of Home Test kitchen)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup rum
1/2 cup limeade or lemonade concentrate
1 package (10 0unces) frozen, sweetened sliced strawberries
1 to 1-1/2 cups ice cubes
fresh strawberries to decorate optional
Directions:
1. In a blender, combine the rum, limeade or lemonade concentrate, strawberries and ice. Cover and process until smooth and thickened (use more ice for thicker daiquiris). Pour into cocktail glasses.
2. Garnish with fresh strawberries if desired. Enjoy!

Next up was some Whipped Cream Soda. Delicious. The combination of whipped cream vodka and ginger ale tastes like cream soda. We added some whipped cream for decoration but it was totally unnecessary (and looked gross once it started to dissolve). Meanwhile the boys made manly drinks like Manhattans and played with bourbon. Gross.

Whipped Cream Soda

(a friend had it in a NYC bar and I loved it)

Ingredients:

Whipped Cream Vodka

Ginger Ale

Directions:

1. Mix 1 part vodka with 2 parts ginger ale.

2. Enjoy!