Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

 

I saved the seeds from our pumpkin carving night, and toasted them up the next day. This is one of my favorite things about this time of year! It was EXTREMELY difficult NOT to eat these all up before I could snap a photo. Now we can eat freely- such a relief.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
3/4 teaspoon olive oil
kosher salt

After separating the seeds from the stringy-innards, rinse them in cold water, and dry them thoroughly.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, add pumpkin seeds and olive oil then stir to coat well. Spread the seeds on a baking pan, in a single layer. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake 15-20 minutes being careful not to let them burn.

Brownies

 

Usually Brownies are either cakey or fudgy, but these are the perfect combination of the two. Try them, you won't be disappointed.

Brownies
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, sliced, plus more for pan
8 ounces Chocolate(or Chocolate Chips), bittersweet, semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour(sift)

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 11 x 7-inch baking pan with butter.

In a bowl of a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate over simmering water, stirring gently till combined. In a large bowl, with a mixer, beat eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla for two minutes or until it's frothy. Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and stir till combined well. Add flour and carefully mix by hand, till no lumps remain. Pour the brownie mixture into your prepared baking ban.

Bake about 30 minutes, or till a toothpick comes out clean in the center of the pan.

Cool on a cooling rack, cut and eat. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

Homemade Caramels

 

These are a great alternative to making Caramel Apples, or to use up any Caramel left from making Caramel Apples.

Homemade Caramels
Ingredients

Wax Paper
Candy Thermometer
1 cup butter
2 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Butter the bottom and sides of a rimmed Baking Sheet.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium high heat, and stir constantly. Add the Sweetened Condensed Milk and Corn Syrup, and keep stirring till the Candy Thermometer reaches 245 degrees. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

This mixture will be full of air bubbles, so once it's off the heat, stir until most of the bubbles have popped. Pour the mixture in the prepared Baking Sheet, and spread evenly. They will be completely set in 2 hours and ready to move.

After two hours, slice with a buttered knife, lengthwise and crosswise to divide Caramel into even pieces. Cut Wax Paper into strips, and cut those strips into smaller pieces to roll up your Caramels. This took trial and error for me, it depends on what size you made your Caramels.

Caramel Apples

 

I haven't perfected a corn syrup free recipe for Caramel Apples yet, so I decided to post these anyway. I think corn syrup has no place being in so many foods, but I give this one, the exception for now.

Caramel Apples

Ingredients
10-12 apples
Candy Thermometer
1 cup butter
2 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Line two baking dishes with buttered parchment paper, or just butter the pans.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium high heat, and stir constantly. Add the Sweetened Condensed Milk and Corn Syrup, and keep stirring till the Candy Thermometer reaches 245 degrees. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

This mixture will be full of air bubbles, so once it's off the heat, stir until most of the bubbles have popped. Dip and roll each apple in the caramel, letting the excess drip back in the pan, and place on prepared pans to cool. They will be completely set in 2 hours and ready to move. Enjoy.

Margarita Pizza

 

I love to eat pizza, and changing it up is a must. Tonight we made this Margarita Pizza, which has a perfect combination of flavors, mmmmmm. After eating this, I realized that every bite should have a tomatoes, so don't be afraid to put lots of tomatoes on. In the picture I only used two, and changed it to four for the recipe. Use more if you like.

Margarita Pizza


Pizza Crust
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large mixing bowl. Stir in sugar, salt, and 2 cups of flour.
Mix until smooth. Stir in enough flour to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (5 minutes). (Dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched.)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Let dough rest for a couple minutes before rolling. It will make it easier to roll. Roll dough to whatever shape pan or stone you will be using(sprinkle your pan with corn meal, or spray with cooking spray)

Pizza Toppings

1/4 cup Roasted Garlic-infused Olive Oil
Fresh Basil
Feta Cheese
Fresh, grated Parmesan Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese, grated
Parmesan Cheese
4 Roma Tomatoes, sliced

Spread the Garlic-infused Olive Oil over the rolled out pizza dough(use the garlic pieces too), including the sides. Spread a single layer of Fresh Basil, a thin layer each of Feta, Fresh, Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella, Tomatoes. Top with Parmesan Cheese.

Bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes, or till done. Tell me how it went for you. :)