Cheesy Kielbasa Potato Soup

I stumbled upon the creation of this soup by chance.  The conception was my dad's, but with Dad under the weather it was up to me to pull it off.  We weren't sure what to expect, but it was a pleasant winter-perfect surprise.

4-5 potatoes, pealed and diced
1 16oz. Kielbasa, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 Tbsp. butter
½ gallon whole milk
1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place diced potatoes in a pot, cover with water and boil until tender.  Drain when finished.

2. In the pot melt butter and caramelize onion and kielbasa until onion is soft, stirring often.

3. Return potatoes to pot, slowly add milk, then salt and pepper to taste.  Cook on low, stirring often so soup does not stick to the bottom of pot.

4. When soup is heated thoroughly, stir in Velveeta.  Heat through and serve.

Snow Ice Cream

Another apparent trend I am just stumbling upon.  What better place to conduct a tasty frozen science experiment then in the vast country where the snow is pure and clean, providing it hasn't been tainted by the dogs!

8 cups of clean, unblemished snow
1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Mix together, freeze until ready to serve, and enjoy. Yumm!

We decided to break up two small candy canes and flavor half of our ice cream candy cane style.

{Collect the Snow}

{Add Sweetened Condensed Milk}

{Stir in Vanilla}

{Keep Stirring}

{Candy Cane Snow Ice Cream}

{Vanilla Snow Ice Cream}

For more recipes and ways to incorporate making snow ice cream with science lessons: www.chemistry.about.com/od/snowsnowflakes/a/snowicecream.htm 

Buckeyes

Of all the handmade goodies for me to make as gifts this Christmas season I chose to make Ohio's state confection.... I made that up, though it could be.  People in Ohio love their Buckeyes!

These Buckeyes (known simply as Peanut Butter Balls in the rest of the country) are super yummy, especially when they're cold.  They're superior to any store-bought version I've had.  So if you love a good peanut butter cup, you'll be hooked!

2 cups creamy peanut butter
½ cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
12 oz. chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or chocolate almond bark--melted according to the directions on package

1. Mix together peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla.  Chill to set.

2. Once peanut butter mixture is firm, roll into 1" balls.

3. Dip peanut butter balls into melted chocolate* with a dime-size amount of the peanut butter still visible, and place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Place in candy paper cups, once set, if desired.

*Many people use toothpicks to dip the peanut butter balls into the chocolate.  I do not find this effective and resorted to using a pair of tongs.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

The bonus recipe.  I had half a can of pumpkin open in the fridge and had to make good use out of it.  I think the staff at school was glad I did.  These were a HUGE hit!

Thanks to all who floated recipes my way, and a special thank you to all who politely offered themselves up as guinea pigs to my festive challenge.  This was the perfect way to end the pumpkin bonanza!

1 2/3 cups flour
¾ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup pumpkin purée
2 eggs
½ cup melted butter
1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a separate bowl add pumpkin, eggs and butter; mix well until blended.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Combine with flour mixture until just moistened.

2. Fill muffin cups (either liners or greased pan) ¾ full.  Bake  20-25 minutes at 350°, or until muffins are puffed and spring back when touched.  Remove from pan and serve warm.

Yields 12 regular muffins and 12 mini muffins.

These muffins easily receive 5 out of 5 pumpkins!

Pumpkin Pie Dip

This is it.  The final recipe in my 12 Days of Pumpkin Challenge.  The first thing I heard last night when I arrived at Bunco was, "It's the pumpkin lady."  Yes, that is what this challenge has turned me into.  At any rate, while not completed in my originally allotted amount of time, I have come up with 12 pumpkin recipes, and then some.  I have one more in the works as a special bonus, but maybe that's because I have half a can of pumpkin sitting in the fridge just waiting to serve its purpose.

I found this recipe when I was searching for a crustless pumpkin pie.  It sounded interesting, so last night she made her debut at a night out with the ladies.  To say it was a hit was an understatement.

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup pumpkin purée

½ cup sour cream

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

½ tsp. ground ginger

Gingersnap cookies

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.  Beat in pumpkin, sour cream, and spices until blended.

Serve with gingersnaps.  Refrigerate leftovers.

What I liked about this recipe:

It really does taste like pumpkin pie. I've met more people lately who simply do not like pumpkin pie because they don't like the texture. I'm curious to see if they enjoy the flavor of this dip!

This dip would also be great with:

Sliced pears, apples, or as a spread on a zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, or nut bread.

While the Bunco ladies overwhelmingly gave this dip a 5 pumpkin rating, I'm giving it 4 out of 5. It is good, but it didn't leave me lusting for more. I can tell you the pregnant ladies raved about it!

 

Peanut Butter & Jelly Soup

One of the great things about Lauren is that she dictates what she sees around her.  This was totally her idea, the soup she wants for supper tonight.  The recipe is inspired by the Wild Rice soup on the stove.

Try at your own risk....

First you need some milk.
Then you need water.
Then you need chicken noodles.
You need peanut butter.
You need cookies in there.
You need more milk, then stir.
You need rice, more chicken noodles.
Some ketchup, some mustard in there.
And some M&Ms.  That's it.
Oh, and some chocolate chips.

That's it!

Pumpkin Soup

When we were living in Boston, everyone raved about the pumpkin soup at Au Bon Pain.  I honestly cannot remember if I had it or not.  But I LOVE my squash soup {www.feedingthelovelies.blogspot.com/2009/10/butternut-squash-pureed-soup.html}, so I figured it was worth giving this new recipe a try.  Thanks, Katie, for offering up the recipe.

1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 ½ cups yellow bell pepper, chopped (about 2 large)
1 ½ cup carrots, chopped (about 2 medium)
1 cup onion, chopped (about 1 medium)
½ tsp. Spanish smoked paprika
2 cloves garlic, chopped
5 cups chicken broth, divided
¼ tsp. black pepper
1 (15 oz.) pumpkin purée
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. toasted pumpkin seeds
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add bell pepper, carrots, and onion.  Cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.

2. Add paprika and garlic; sauté for 1 minute.  Add 3 cups broth and black pepper; bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

3. Place vegetable mixture in blender (may have to do in portions).  Secure blender lid, and blend until smooth.

4. Return pureed vegetable mixture to pot.  Stir in remaining 2 cups of broth, and pumpkin.  Cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently.

5. Remove from heat, stir in juice.

Ladle into bowls, garnishing with fresh parsley and pumpkin seeds.  Yields 7 servings.

What I liked about this soup:
Pretty much nothing.  Maybe it was that I didn't use the special Spanish paprika.  Or maybe it is that I used paprika at all.  One thing is for sure, I won't be serving this up again.  However, if anyone has a recipe for a to-die-for pumpkin soup, I won't rule out giving it a whirl.

I'm giving it 1 out of 5 pumpkins.  Let's just say we ate it, consumed a lot of biscuits, but didn't keep any of the remains.