Pecan Pie

Time for another Wordful Wednesday with SevEn cLoWn CirCus.

I am nothing if I am not accommodating. Many of you asked for my Pecan Pie recipe and I am happy to oblige. Here you go:

Susie's Homemade Pecan Pie
Ingredients:
1/2 Fail-Proof Pie Crust Recipe
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 cup pecan, chopped plus enough pecan halves to top the pie

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Prepare pie crust.
3. In a medium bowl, beat sugar, butter, corn syrups, salt and eggs with a hand mixer. Stir in pecans and pour into the prepared crust. Top with pecan halves in concentric circles.
4. Bake 40 to 50 minutes until set. For easy service, cool at least 20 minutes before serving.

Serves 8

Tackling Thanksgiving

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

I spent the weekend preparing for Thanksgiving. I made 18 dinner rolls, 2 apple pies, 2 pumpkin pies and 2 pecan pies. Here are the fruits of my labor:

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cupcakes

...You got it:-) I got a bunch of requests for the recipe for my Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Thanksgiving entry . And I am obliging if nothing else so here it is:

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable

4 eggs

2/3 cups water

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree

2 tsp ground ginger or 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

Orange-colored sugar glaze (see recipe below)

18 cinnamon sticks

mint vines for garnish, if desired

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 bundt-style cupcake pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs. Beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice and cinnamon.

3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until they are incorporated.

4. Fill each cup 2/3 fill. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

5. Dip each cupcake in prepared sugar glaze (see recipe below). Cut each cinnamon stick in half and place in the center of each "pumpkin". Garnish with mint vines, if desired.

Makes 36 cupcakes

Sugar Glaze:

Ingredients:

5 lb powdered sugar

1 tbl milk

Orange food color

Directions:

Mix all ingredients until combined.

Pumpkin Cupcakes and a TV Appearance

This is a really exciting week for me and I have so much to share. So, I am going to do another Wordful Wednesday with SevEn cLoWn CirCus.

We had another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee competition Monday. This time, the theme was Thanksgiving. This was my entry:

This is a Pumpkin Gingerbread Cupake with an orange-colored sugar glaze and a cinnamon stick for the stem. I set it atop a bed of spun sugar to look like straw in the garden and garnished it with mint for the vines. I made these last year for our Thanksgiving table so, I thought that it worked with the theme very well. What do you think?

In addition to the competition on Monday, I am going to be on TV Friday!! Our local NBC affliliate, TMJ4 is airing a story about people making money from home. My chocolate shop on Etsy is being featured!! How cool is that?? So, if you are in the Milwaukee area, tune in Friday at 10:00 p.m! Otherwise, I will post it on Saturday:-)

Susie's Homemade Apple Pie

As promised, this is my apple pie.

When it comes to pies, I am more of a purest in terms of design. I really like the rustic look and the flavor speaks for itself. So, go pick some apples and try this recipe today:-)

Susie's Homemade Apple Pie
Fail Proof Pie Crust (See Recipe Below)
6 cups apples, peeled, thinly sliced
3/4 cup sugar plus additional sugar for top crust
2 tbls flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon plus
1/8 tsp nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Prepare the pie crust recipe. Line 9-inch pie plate with 1/2 the recipe.

3. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add apples and gently toss. Transfer apples to pastry lined pie plate. Cover with remaining pie crust. Brust crust with enough milk until it pools in places. Sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon. Cut slits in the crust for venting.

4. Shield the edges of the crust with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 25 to 30 more minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Servings: 8

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/8 of a recipe (8.1 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 706.1
Calories From Fat (43%) 302.54
% Daily Value
Total Fat 33.68g 52%
Saturated Fat 11.83g 59%
Cholesterol 48.74mg 16%
Sodium 13.51mg <1%>

Recipe Cost: $4.26
Serving Cost: $0.53

And, if you have left over pie crust, make Poor-Man Cookies. It is another recipe my mother-in-law gave me. She got it from her mother. They grow up on a farm in Kansas and nothing was wasted...NOTHING. Besides recycling pie crust, they are really good. Give this a try:

Directions:
1. Roll out leftover pie crust on a cookie sheet.

2. Brush with enough milk until it pools in places.

3. Generously sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

4. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown.

5. Break into pieces and enjoy.