Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'm not a big fan of pumpkin pie...I know, everyone I tell gives me that look. But, I am however a fan of this pumpkin sheet cake recipe I found on allrecipes.com! I've been making it every year for Thanksgiving instead of the traditional pie. Everyone I've made it for has loved it, I made it for my boyfriend's potluck at work and they raved about it so I hope you find it as simple & delicious as I do :)

Cake & Frosting Recipe

• Cake:
• 1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin puree
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Frosting:
•  1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
• 5 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 teaspoons milk

 *Preheat the oven to 350°F & prep a 9 x 13 inch pan*

 In a mixing bowl beat the pumpkin, sugar & oil.

Add the eggs & mix well.

 In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon & salt.

Combine the dry ingredients and the pumpkin mixture, beat until well blended.

Pour into the pan & bake 25-30 minutes (note: it may take a bit longer than that since the recipe was written for a 10x15 pan and we are using a 9x13)

Meanwhile...

time to make the frosting!

Beat the cream cheese, butter & vanilla until smooth.

 Gradually add the confectioners' sugar & blend well. If necessary, add milk to get the desired consistency (at first I didn't think I needed to, but when it came time to frost I did)

 Let the cake cool once out of the oven...

...and then frost! 

(not the prettiest job, but come tomorrow when I bake a second one I'll make it less sloppy)

that red, white & blue~

I made these for the Fourth Of July, but I don't wanna wait another whole year to post this simple but pretty parfait cup recipe!

 All you need is:

• a set of cool looking glasses
• a tub of Cool Whip
• a 3 oz box of Jello, your favorite red flavor
• a 3 oz box of Jello, your favorite blue flavor 

These are a little time consuming, since we're layering but I think they're worth it!

 

 

Start out by making the blue jello according to the package (since it's the bottom layer) and pouring it into your glasses. Place it in the fridge or freezer until it sets. 

 Carefully add the layer of Cool Whip, making them as even as possible. I found that spooning it into the glass and then spreading it out worked best. Once you've done that, place them in the fridge again so the Cool Whip hardens up a bit.

Make the red jello according to the package and let it cool for a bit. This is where it gets kinda tough - you don't want the red leaking through to the other layers. So pour very slowly (I poured it over the back of a spoon) and make sure it's cold enough that it won't melt the Cool Whip. Then, place them in the fridge or freezer until it sets. (Make sure you don't leave them in the freezer long enough for them to freeze like I did...they were ruined.)

Enjoy!

 

look out Taco Tuesdays...

senile Taco Thursdays is gonna take over. I was craving tacos, but being a lazy college kid I didn't feel like running out to the store because I had no cheese, yellow rice or taco seasoning. Right off the bat, something you need to know about my taste is I'm picky and like things extremely plain. Not to say you can't add your own toppings to spice it up (like my boyfriend does more often than not) I won't be offended. Also, just putting it out there I usually make my tacos like a normal person, haha. I mean, I know this is going to definitely get some eyebrow raises, but here goes nothing...

 Because I'm lacking cheese, I'll just substitute macaroni and cheese in place of yellow rice. They're both starches it really doesn't make a difference. And for my lack of a taco seasoning packet I just pan fried my ground turkey breast in olive oil, chili powder & ground cumin.

Voila! Oddly delicious but plain tacos.

my go to cake

I've been taking pictures of my food long before the creation of Instagram. I've always been fascinated with photography & food alike. One of the main things on my bucket list is to create a food blog, so I figured why not start now rather than later? Sure, I'm not as experienced as others and I surely can't write my own recipes from scratch (yet) but I'll learn. I'm a sweet tooth and a firm believer that chocolate deserves it's own food group, so I thought it would be appropriate to start with my preferred made-from-scratch cake recipe.

This cake is literally perfect, they weren't kidding. It's moist and so rich in all the right ways.

Cake Recipe

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cups Hershey's cocoa 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Once you have all the ingredients ready to go, preheat your oven to 350°F and grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Or refer below for other varieties.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.
 

 Mix the dry ingredients together (sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt) in a large bowl.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. (I use olive oil instead of vegetable, it's a little healthier and you can't even tell the difference)

Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes & stir in boiling water. (Don't worry that the batter is extremely runny, it's supposed to be) Pour batter into the pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from the pans to cool completely on a wire rack (I didn't own any at the time...okay I still don't, but I made do with cookie sheets)

What good is cake without frosting? Especially one of the homemade variety? Exactly! While the cake is cooling, whip up a batch of this amazingly simple chocolate frosting.

Frosting Recipe

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 2/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

Yield: approximately 2 cups

Now that the cakes are cool, you can start frosting! I'll admit, it's not my strong suit but it could be worse

I made this cake for my boyfriend's birthday in July, even our cat Baloo wanted some! (Okay, he wanted the sparkler candles but still this cake was quite a hit)