Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie

A fun pumpkin pie recipe I found in Bon Appetit.
They have you make your own crust. I prefer to use Pillsbury. It's better than my own!
Update (after eating the leftovers...) if you're out of the whipped cream/Scotch combination, try the pie with some caramel ice cream topping drizzled over top. I think I like it even better...

1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (They come in packs of 2. Use the second one for a turkey quiche the day after Thanksgiving. Recipe will come in a few days.)

3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Scotch
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Whipped cream:

1 cup chilled whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Scotch

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Unroll Pillsbury crust and place in glass pie dish. Line crust with sheet of foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 20 minutes. Remove foil with beans. Bake until just beginning to turn golden brown, piercing with fork if bubbles form, about 15 minutes longer. Cool completely.

For filling:
Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, butter, and salt in medium saucepan; bring to boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil until deep brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add Scotch, then cream (mixture will bubble vigorously) and whisk until smooth. Return to medium heat and stir until most caramel bits dissolve. Strain butterscotch mixture into small bowl. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Whisk remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and pumpkin in large bowl. Whisk in eggs, then spices. Add reserved butterscotch mixture; whisk to blend. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk before using.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour filling into crust. Bake until just set, about 50 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 3 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Store at room temperature.

For whipped cream:
Using electric mixer, beat cream, sugar, and Scotch in medium bowl until peaks form. DO AHEAD: Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk if necessary before serving.

Cut pie into wedges. Serve with dollop of whipped cream.

Simply Sensational Truffles

This recipe is from Kraft. I was impressed that they were so good, with so few ingredients! I also typically use Ghirardelli chocolate, but I used the Baker's chocolate that was in the recipe and it turned out just fine. I suppose you could use either.

2 1/2 pkg Baker's semisweet chocolate (20 squares)
1 8-oz pkg Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
toppings (chopped pecans, sprinkles, etc. Finely chopped pecans are shown.)

Melt 8 chocolate squares by microwaving in a Pyrex container for 30 seconds, turning, and microwaving 30 seconds more. Stir. (You can put it in for more time if your microwave isn't as hot as mine.) Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Blend in melted chocolate. Refrigerate until firm.

Shape into 36 balls. (This will be terribly messy -- the mixture will be hard and will be melting in your hands. Don't worry. They will turn out.) Place on a wax paper or parchment-covered baking sheet.

Melt remaining chocolate. Use fork or spoon to dip truffles. Return to baking sheet. Decorate and refrigerate.

Texas Two-Step Soup

Probably called two-step because you just mix a jar of dry ingredients with the beef, cans, and water. If you want to give as a gift, layer gravy mix through pasta in jar, in that order, and seal. Then give this recipe to the recipient along with the jar. We bought two of these jars to support the goat project at church. We weren’t fond of the first soup, but this one we would make again!

½ lb ground beef
1 pkg (1.61 oz) brown gravy mix
2 Tbsp mild chili powder
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried minced onion
½ tsp garlic salt
10 to 22 tortilla chips, coarsely crushed
1 cup uncooked medium-size pasta
7 cups water
1 15-oz can confetti corn
1 (16) oz can chopped tomatoes

Brown ground beef in a large saucepan. Add next 8 ingredients (gravy mix through pasta) and 7 cups water. Heat to boiling. Stir in can of corn and can of tomatoes. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.

Serve with additional crushed tortilla chips and shredded Monterey Jack cheese, if desires. Makes 6 servings.

Crock Pot Greek Chicken -- Low Carb

This is from my friend Kolleen and her sister.

2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T white wine
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (I use the ones in a jar in olive oil)
2 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp onion powder
1 T oregano or a tiny pinch of dried/ground oregano
1/2 tsp black peper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 lbs chicken thighs, skinless and boneless, fat trimmed
2 lb Roma tomatoes, seeded and quartered (I accidentally remembered to buy 2 tomatoes instead of 2 pounds of tomatoes, so I added a can of diced tomatoes. That worked well too.)
1 can whole black olives, drained
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Add all ingredients except the chicken, Roma tomatoes, olives, and feta to slow cooker; stir well. Add chicken, Roma tomatoes, and olives to the mixture and stir together. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Before serving, remove chicken. Stir in the feta cheese; heat through. Spoon mixture over chicken.

Snickerdoodle Bars

1 beaten egg
1/2 c butter or margarine
1/2 c sugar
1 c flour
1/4 t pumpkin pie or apple pie spice
cinnamon-sugar mixture

Line 8-inch square pan w/ foil & allow foil to extend about 1 inch above sides of pan (later you'll need to lift bars out by these edges, so make sure there's room). Coat w/ Pam. Reserve 1 T of egg. Mix rest of egg, butter, & sugar. Blend in flour & pumpkin pie spice. Press mixture into prepared pan. Brush reserved egg over top. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until light brown. Lift dough out of pan using foil as handles. Cool on wire rack; cut into bars.
Store in airtight container. Makes 16 bars.

Puppy Cake Pops

For Martina's party. Here is the recipe; it is from Bakerella. Her puppy pops are cuter than mine, but I given up.
http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/09/puppy-pops.html
I used chocolate cake mixed with cream cheese frosting. They were dipped in Ghirardelli white chocolate, and the ears were made of Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate. Collar is a red lifesaver. I did both eyes and nose with mini m & m halves. Bakerella uses a frosting writer also, but I learned that frosting writers do not write on white chocolate.