Pumpkin Pie Bites recipe

Pumpkin Pie Bites
2 refrigerated ready-to roll pie crusts
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter
Optional
1/2 cup chocolate morsels
vegetable oil
re-sealable plastic bags
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
 
Use cookie cutter to cut 12 pumpkin shapes from each pie crust. You will need to roll the dough thinner than it comes out of the box.
Press dough shapes into a 24 cup mini muffin tray. (Make 12 at a time, alternating cups to make sure pie crusts don’t overlap each other.)
Apply egg whites from one egg to the top edges of each pie.
Mix cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until thoroughly combined.
Spoon mixture into each pumpkin-shaped pie crust.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Remove pies to cool and repeat with second pie crust. Place the muffin tray in the freezer to cool it quickly for re-use.
Makes 24 pies. Keep refrigerated.
To decorate, melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave on medium. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted. Add a little vegetable oil to make the chocolate more fluid. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and cut the corner off. Drizzle or draw faces on pies. 

Note: The cutter I used was 3 3/4 inches wide, but if you don’t have one, don’t worry. Just use a round cutter around that size or slightly smaller to cut circle shapes out of the dough. Then make stems with the scraps. Press each stem over the edge and down the side of the dough before filling.

Pumpkin pie spice is a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.  Enjoy!  

Source:  Bakerella blog

Strawberry Apple Pie recipe

I like unusua; pies, something different.  Since Thanksgiving is coming i'll be posting pie recipes, not the usual, but interesting pies...

APPLE STRAWBERRY PIE

Prepared pastry for a deep dish double crust pie

4-5 apples

1/2 cup sugar

1 lemon, juiced and zested

1 quart strawberries, hulled and sliced 
1/4 cup flour

• Roll out half of pastry and put in bottom of deep dish pie pan.
• Combine the apples, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest and mix together well.  
• Mix in the strawberries, then carefully stir in the flour.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Spoon the filling into the pie shell.
• Roll out remaining pastry and place on top of pie and flute edges.  The strawberries make this a pretty pie for a lattice top.
• Bake pie for 30 minutes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees then bake pie 30 minutes more, or until apples are tender and juices are bubbling.

Green Deviled Stinging Nettle Eggs

A great recipe using Stinging Nettles, a super-food, containing vitamins and minerals.  Nettles are so rich, they saved people near starvation after WWIII, who almost lived solely on nettles and potatoes.

Green Deviled Nettle Eggs:

1.  Prepare a dozen hard-boiled eggs. I always dread the egg peeling process and didn’t want to risk it with such a large number, so I finally learned how to do it the right way – and they peeled effortlessly.
2. Rinse and blanch the nettles.  I put young nettles in boiling (unsalted) water for 1 minute or even less, transfer them into a bowl of iced water (to preserve their emerald green color) and squeeze out the liquid (you can handle blanched nettles with bare hands).  That small basketful cooked down to 2 small handfuls. You may skip this step and just sautée the rinsed nettles — the color will be slightly less intense but the taste might be more earthy/herbaceous.
3. Sautée a handful of ramps (you can use chives or a small shallot/onion) in a little bit of olive oil until wilted (translucent if using shallot/onion).  I used a few young ramp leaves because they also just started growing.  Add the nettles to the pan and sauté for a few seconds before turning off the heat.
4. Halve the eggs.
5. Blend egg yolks, sautéed nettles & stuff, mayo, grated parmesan or pecorino cheese, lime juice, black pepper and salt in a food processor.  Taste and adjust for salt, cheesiness, creaminess, etc.
6. Spoon the mixture into the egg whites, arrange and decorate any way you please.  I used some chives and paprika. (Sorry, I am a lousy, lousy food decorator…)

I made them several hours ahead of time and refrigerated under saran wrap — their emerald brilliance did not fade a bit!

Ingredients: 

• 1 dozen eggs
• some young stinging nettles (probably about a large ziploc bag, if slightly packed)
• a handful of ramp leaves or chives (alternative: 1 small shallot or onion)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese
• 2-3 Tbs mayo
• 1 Tbs lime or lemon juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt & black pepper to taste
• chives & paprika for garnish

Source:  The Feral Gardener blog

VARIATIONS:
You can use other green veggies like spinach, and avocado for example;

Spinach - Nettle Quiche recipe

Dark Leafy Green Veggies, why?

Dark green veggies and so healthy and stinging nettles pack a real punch to immune system.  Dark leafy greens are excellent sources of Vitamins A, C, and K. Dark green vegetables also contain important minerals like calcium, iron and folate. This makes them an excellent alternative to getting calcium from non-dairy sources. The folate can improve heart health and also prevent birth defects in pregnant women and women who want to become pregnant,  So here's your power-packed Quiche recipe:

 

Spinach -- Nettle Quiche
Recipe adapted from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver.
 
Note: If you can't find stinging nettle, use more spinach.
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 large red onions, sliced
1 bunch spinach, stemmed, leaves torn
1 bunch stinging nettle, stemmed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram plus 1 tablespoon leaves
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
herbed crust, recipe follows
3 large eggs
16 ounces crème fraîche (2 cups)
5 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for sprinkling
freshly grated nutmeg
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Warm oil in a saute pan set over medium heat. Add onions and saute until very soft, about 10 minutes. Raise heat and add spinach and nettle in batches, tossing until wilted. Add chopped marjoram. Season with salt and pepper.

Layer baked herbed crust with sauteed vegetable mixture.

In a large bowl or measuring cup, whisk together eggs, crème fraîche, and cheese. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Pour over filled quiche. Sprinkle top with extra cheese and marjoram leaves and drizzle with a little oil. Bake until custard is set and puffed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.



Herbed Crust

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/3 cup ice water

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, and herbs. Add butter and work with a pastry blender until mixture resembles course meal. Add ice water a little at a time and mix until dough comes together. Form the dough into a flat rectangle and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour before rolling.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll out dough on a well floured work surface to fit a 10-by-15-inch sheet pan. Carefully lay dough over pan. Trim any large overhang. Fold extra dough under and crimp edges using your thumb and forefingers. Using a fork, prick the bottom of the pan all over. Freeze shell for 30 minutes. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Folk Medicine in the Civil War -- the South

Much of the suffering in the war was because of a rapidly declining supply of medicine in the South as blockades restricted importation of all essentials.

When enemy camps were overrun, speculators raided the medical stores capturing morphine, quinine and chloroform to resell at 50 times their original value. It was such a problem that General Lee called upon the secretary of war to put an end to the practice.

In anticipation of this supply problem, surgeon Maj. Francis Perye Porcher set about creating a manual on indigenous botanical substitutes titled “Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests, Medical, Economic and Agricultural.”

Published in 1863, the 600-page book was distributed to medical officers to help aid the sick and wounded. It is said to have helped so many that Confederates were able to hold off the Union Army for two additional years.

Malaria was a major problem in the South.  Eupatorium, known as boneset, was a substitute for quinine and also used to treat typhus.

Malaria became a constant problem where insects swarmed like a plague in swamps, marshes and bayous. 

Porcher prescribes “Boneset tea used hot, in the cold stages of malarial fever, and cold in the hot stages.

It is also known to be used by slaves of the southern plantations to treat typhus and is so noted as a useful application by Porcher.

Read Porcher's book Online: 

article source:  TimeRecord News, Wichita  Falls, Texas

Pumpkin Pancakes recipe

These would be great for a Halloween or Thanksgiving brunch.  Or just for regular breakfasts.  Something different and full of autumn taste and color.  Pecans on top.  You could also add whipped cream.  Yum....

 PUMPKIN PANCAKE RECIPE

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp vinegar

Directions

• In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, spice and salt.
• Combine dry and wet ingredients just enough to combine.
• Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake.
• Brown on both sides. Serve hot with whipped cream and pecans.
•  

Variation:  top with apples:

 

Source: Being Suzy Homemaker blog 

Pumpkin Art - Ray Villafane

Pumpkin carving as art form:

 

Visit artist Ray Villafane website: