Fair Trade Gifts

I am thankful for….going home on Thursday!

That means homemade sugar cookies, kitties in my bed, Christmas Eve dinner, baking with my mom, a dishwasher, my old pajamas from ninth grade, northern accents, walks with my mom, game nights with my sister, tea every morning, pumpkin bread, our christmas tree, and much needed quality time with my family.

Christmas is my favorite time of year, for all these reasons and more. But one of my favorite holiday activities has always been baking goodies with my mom and my sister. We always make our traditional favorites, but every year we throw in a few suprises. Here’s a recipe I’ve been drooling over for the past month – it sure looks delicious!

Peppermint Crunch Blondies
Servings: 8-12

Ingredients:
1 Cup flour
1 Cup brown sugar
3/4 Cup walnuts, toasted
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 Cup coconut
1/2 Cup chocolate chunks
3/4 Cup crushed candy cane
1/2 Cup earth balance or butter, melted
3 eggs
2 tsp pure peppermint extract
2 Tbsp almond milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a square pan (or round) with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix eggs and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl beat together the brown sugar and melted butter for about 3 mins. Add in the eggs, peppermint extract, and almond milk. Beat for 60 seconds.

Stir in the flour mixture until fully incorporated. Now stir in the walnuts, chocolate, coconut, and 1/4 cup of candycane chunks. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread with spatula. Sprinkle on 1/2 cup of crushed candy cane and bake for 30-35 minutes at 350F. Allow to cool for 30 mins. before removing from pan.

This lovely little number is one of my Dad’s favorites – a sweet indulgence for those special holidays & family get-togethers. In my family the holidays have always been about spending time with friends and family, and sharing our favorite holiday traditions. My mom starts baking the week before Christmas to make sure we have everyone’s favorite treats. It’s definitely my favorite time of year, and I know it’s not so much about the treats or the special holiday menus – but the memories we’ve created around them, so I wanted to share this recipe with you. It’s one that we make whenever my Dad’s family gets together for Christmas.

Special K Bars

Ingredients:
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Light Corn Syrup
1 pinch Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/3 cups Peanut Butter
6 cups Special K cereal
1 pkg chocolate chips
1 pkg butterscotch chips

Directions:
In medium sauce pan – bring syrup, sugar, salt, and vanilla to a boil. Remove from heat. In a large bowl, pour the syrup mixture over the Special K cereal – stir to combine. Pat into 13×9 pan

For the frosting, melt chocolate and butterscotch over low heat – stir constantly. Spread over top of the Special K mixture in the pan. Let it cool completely (you can cheat a little and put it in the fridge or freezer for a while.) Cut into small pieces and garnish with festive sprinkles of your choice.

Enjoy!

With so many holiday parties coming up, I’ve been trying to think of something that would make a fun hostess gift. And since I know there will already be cookies, pie, and things of that nature, I came up with this delicious Homemade Pumpkin Butter.

This is super easy to make. I doubled the batch below so I could have some to enjoy myself. It will be fantastic spread onto pancakes, toast, or muffins! It could also be used to make an amazing Pumpkin Cheesecake. The possibilities are endless, and I plan to find them all. Note that I reduced the sugar by 1/3 of a cup as I didn’t want it super sweet. You can adjust the sugar and seasonings to your own taste of course.

Homemade Pumpkin Butter

Ingredients:
1 (29 ounce) can pumpkin puree, approx. 3 1/2 cups or fresh
3/4 cup apple juice
1.5 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Juice of half a lemon

Directions:
Combine pumpkin, apple juice, spices, and sugar in a large saucepan and stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until thickened. Cover with lid and stir frequently. Remove from heat. Adjust spices to taste. Stir in lemon juice, or more to taste. Once cool, pumpkin butter can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge. Makes enough to fill one large mason jar or about 3.5 cups.

It’s that time of year where the days are getting a little shorter, and it’s getting a bit chillier, so I thought I would share one of my favorite recipes for vegetable stew. It’s such an easy thing to make on those nights where you don’t really feel like cooking, because you can just throw a couple of packages of frozen veggies, along with some pantry staples in the mix and it’s basically done. I hope this soup keeps you warm on a chilly night! Enjoy!

Lentil and Harvest Vegetable Stew
Servings: 6

Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds fresh vegetables cut in bit-sized pieces (or 2 – 12oz packages of frozen veggies)
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
1 15-ounce can cooked lentils (or 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils and cooking liquid)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup quinoa, rinsed very well
2/3 cup pumpkin
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook the onion in a large, non-stick pan until it begins to brown. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add next 7 ingredients and cook until vegetables thaw and broth begins to boil. Add quinoa and cook on medium heat until it is tender, about 15 minutes. Add pumpkin and salt and pepper to taste and cook for 5 more minutes, adding a little water if it seems too thick. Serve hot and enjoy.

*I used a frozen blend of zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, lima beans, red bell peppers, and Italian green beans, but any blend of chunky-cut vegetables will do.

‘Tis the time of jack o’ lanterns, spicy pumpkin pie and other festive holiday recipes, so I’d thought I’d share one of my new favorites with you in honor of All Hallow’s Eve! You can make these delicious gingerbread cupcakes with any type of frosting; I thought since I was was making them to help celebrate Halloween I would try a Pumpkin Cream Cheese frosting & they turned out great! You can decorate them with a little raw cane sugar like I did, or go for a little more festive look with Halloween sprinkles or candy corn.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch salt
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream

Mix flour and baking soda. In separate bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Beat in molasses, then eggs one at a time. Mix in sour cream until well blended. Pour into lined cupcake pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out almost clean.

Frosting

8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup canned pumpkin purée
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (more if you prefer to pipe the frosting on instead of spreading)

In a large bowl, mix frosting ingredients with electric hand mixer. Spread onto cooled cupcakes, or pipe on with a piping bag and a tip. Sprinkle with a little raw cane sugar on top for a little crunch, or place your favorite Halloween candy on top & enjoy!