Pumpkin Cookies- Hey, it's fall!

Hey friends!  I thought, since it's fall, that I would post a fallish recipe every so often.  So here is a great recipe for Pumpkin cookies from our Matheson cousins:

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients 2 cups sugar (make sure this is all white sugar) 1 small can pumpkin (15 oz) 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 eggs 3 cups oat flour (blend oatmeal in a blender) 2 cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt 3 cups crushed pecans (the original recipe called for 3c chocolate chips, but I thought it was too sweet with the glaze and I love pecans, so there you go.) Mix wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients; mix well. Bake at 375 for 8-9 minutes.  While baking, make glaze: Glaze 2 c powdered sugar 4 oz cream cheese (room temperature) 1 Tbsp. milk Mix well and immediately frost warm cookies.  (If this seems thicker than a glaze, just add a little more milk- I can't attest to the consistency if you're somewhere drier than Dominica) Enjoy!!

Prickly Pear Jelly

Ok, Rebekkah, this is for you J

  I made this tutorial in 2009 and apparently I didn’t post it on the blog... uh yeah..  who knows why.  I did it a week before teaching the young women how to do it at an activity.  In the pictures Matthew is his cute 4-yr-old self. awww.  cute.  Anyway, I’m posting it now because:

ItS tImE tO pIcK yOuR pRiCkLy PeArS! 

This week, people!  If you don’t have access to one, just drive out to ASU East- we have the most productive prickly pear cacti I’ve ever seen right by the VA Hospital.

Things you’ll need:

Tongs
Rubber Gloves- BTW you'll get pokies EVERYWHERE.
Bucket
A hat. cause it’s hot out there.

Pick Prickly Pear Fruits in late July or Early August when very ripe.  Pick them with tongs and they should almost lift off the plant without effort.  If they are hard to remove, they are not ready so don't force it (first hose down cactus fruits if the plant is in your yard, if not, swish with water after fruits are picked).  Easy Peasy!  Don't be afraid, my 4yr old did it! Just pinch and twist.

 however, I don't think any of us will look as cute as this when we're picking them .... it's not possible to attain this level of cute past kindergarten!

Here they are in the bucket all yucky and dirty- wash them off- I used a potato scrubber. 

 Here they are all washed and ready to cook

Barely cover clean fruits with water in large kettle and simmer with lid on until very soft. 

 Mash with Potato Masher.  This will look really weird and the little brownish greenish slimey seeds will emerge.  I love nature. 

Do not strain.  Now cover a deep bowl or pot with a pillowcase and pull tight and bind the case with a rubberband.  This is your seive. 

Sieve through clean cloth. Do not squeeze fabric or try to mush fruit while on the cloth as this could move pricklies through the cloth and into your juice. Just pour the mush on top and let it sit for 15-20 minutes or so so that all the juice can work it's way through on it's own.  Patience is, in fact, a virtue.

 Rinse remains down the disposal then wash fabric in washer.

Now you have your Prickly Pear Juice! Kudos!

(note: For a stronger flavor you can reduce your juice by

boiling it down to your desired strength.  This concentration works fine, though)

Here is the Recipe for the Jelly:

CACTUS JELLY (that's what my mom calls it)

Stir in tall kettle:

3 ½ cups cactus juice

½ cup lemon juice

1 pkg pectin 
(little side note... Instead of Sure Gel pectin, there is a new pectin that you can get in UT[and maybe here] called Ultra Gel- it minimizes the amount of sugar you put in your jellies and jams! 
With Sure Gel you use 3 cups smashed fruit and 4 cups of sugar.
With Ultra Gel you use 4 cups smashed fruit and 2 cups of sugar.
Amazing right? Anyway, just thought you should know- you'd have to experiment with this recipe a little since the amounts are a little different, but basically whatever measurement you use for the fruit, you'd use 1/2 of that measurement for the sugar.)
Bring to boil and add:

5 cups sugar (or if using sure gel, ~1¾ cups sugar)

Return to boil.  Let boil 3 minutes.  Skim off bubbles, if necessary.  Pour into hot pint jars. Seal with lids and rings.  Let cool.  Jars should seal (pop) as temperature lowers.

Wah-LA!

 One more note: you will be finding pricklies in your kitchen for the next week no matter how many times you mop. YE BE WARNED

There is no rhyme for Hummus.

I was going to title this post something cute- an equivalent of such titles as "Playing hookie for a cookie," or "Oh gosh do I love squash," But there is no rhyme for Hummus.  The closest word you can find is one just ending in "us" like nucleus or hypothalamus.  What fun is that?  "I go ape for middle-eastern basil garlic Hummus. as does my almond-sized hypothalamus."  errr..... something....

Despite it's seclusion from all words of rhyming influence, Hummus is actually quite the culinary companion for a lot of food words such as pita chips, homemade bread, tortilla chips, veggies, crackers and chocolate cake.  Just checking to see if you actually were reading or just skipping through to get to the pictures and actual recipe. That's right- I got your number, you blog skimmers (and to that you could simply say "It takes one to know one" and I wouldn't argue).  Since I know how much you love to read and read and read mundane facts, I thought I'd just post a link to the interesting origin of Hummus and get right on to the recipe. Woot!  This is SO SO SO much better than any I've tried from the store.  I also like that there is no added oil- a lot of recipes add evoo, but there is enough natural oil present in the tahini (which can be found at sprouts in the nut spread isle. Yes, they have a nut spread isle).

Hummmmmus

4 cloves garlic

2 cups or 1 can Garbanzo beans- also known as Chickpeas (reserve liquid)

1+1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste- or sub peanut butter)
6 Tbs Lemon Juice (2 lemons)

8 dashes hot sauce (I used Franks Red Hot)

6 Tbs of the reserved Garbanzo bean liquid

Puree together in a food processor.

____________________________________________

yup, that's it.  So nummy.

You can add whatever you want to flavor it differently.  here are some ideas:
roasted red pepper
basil
italian parsley
toasted pinenuts
cilantro
sun-dried tomato
olive
lemon
chocolate cake

Yeah, I must be craving chocolate cake today. lawl.
Enjoy, y'all.