Chocolate (or not) Sprinkle Cookies

     My daughters-in-law introduced me to these delightful little shortbread gems. They call them "Rusty Logs" and once you've made them it'll be easy to see how they got the name. These cookies might not win any beauty contests, but what they lack in showiness they make up for in flavor. Oats give them a nutty crunch that keeps little (and big) hands reaching into the cookie jar.

     I decided to take some license with the recipe and dressed some up in party clothes for Christmas. You could make these for any occasion just by changing up the sprinkles! The ones that work best (in my opinion) are the "ice cream" type softer sprinkles, but any kind would dress up the edges of this slice and bake type cookie.

     They're more widely known as "Chocolate Shot" cookies, but  I call those little bits sprinkles, not shot. Is it a regional thing do you suppose?  No matter what you call them, they're great, versatile little cookies that are as easy to make as they are to eat. Enjoy! :)

Betty

Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies (AKA Rusty Logs) Recipe
Printable recipe here

Ingredients
1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1 cup butter, softened but not melted (I use salted)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup rolled oats
chocolate "shot" or sprinkles (2 or 3 small (1.5 oz.) bottles or one large tub) You could also use multicolored sprinkles, or even colored sugar.

Instructions

• Cream together butter and sugar
• Add vanilla and mix well
• Sift or whisk together flour, baking soda, and oats. Add to butter mixture and mix until combined.
• Refrigerate about 1/2 hour, or until dough is firm enough to work with.
• Divide dough in half and form into two rolls, each having a diameter of about 1 1/2 inches.
• Pour chocolate sprinkles onto wax paper.
• Roll formed dough "logs" in chocolate sprinkles until evenly coated.
• Wrap rolls in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, or overnight.
• Slice into cookies about 1/4 - 1/3 inch thick and arrange on parchment covered baking sheets.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Bake cookies 18-25 minutes, or until very lightly browned. Remove to a rack to cool.
• Yield: about 3 dozen

Lemon Glazed Persimmon Date Bars

 

 The persimmons I remember from my childhood were small fruits that grew wild in the woods. If you dared to eat one before it was mushy ripe (and that usually didn't happen until after a hard frost) you'd better have been prepared to have your mouth turned inside out. 

I remember my dad singing:

"Possum up the 'simmon tree,

raccoon on the ground,

Raccoon says to the possum,

won't you throw me some 'simmons down."

The persimmons I used in these bars, however, are not the persimmons of my childhood. A sweet friend gifted me with a bag of these lovely Japanese Fuyu persimmons that she grew herself.

Confession: I was afraid to eat these the first week I had them. I was waiting for them to get soft and mushy like the wild ones. I was soon set straight- these can be enjoyed while still firm, like an apple! They were so sweet and delicious that we ate most of them just as they were. The last three though, I made into these lovely bars to add to Thanksgiving dinner. 

You could just call these "Fall in a Cookie," but they'd feel at home on a tray of Christmas cookies as well. They're spicy, chewy, and the lemon glaze on top is the perfect complement to the delicate sweetness of the bars. They're keepers, for sure... now I just need more persimmons!

Lemon Glazed Persimmon Date Bars
Recipe from Saveur

Bar Ingredients
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 cup pureed persimmon pulp
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely chopped dates (I used a food processor to chop these. I chopped them with a tablespoon of the flour included in the recipe to keep them from sticking together.)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
Glaze ingredients:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tblsp. lemon juice

Directions: 

• Heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 10x15x1 inch jelly roll pan.
• Whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cloves. Set aside.
• Whisk together persimmon pulp, 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice and baking soda. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together sugar, dates, oil and egg. Add dry ingredients and persimmon mixture. (Don't be alarmed if the persimmon mixture appears to gel.) Stir until just combined. Spread with spatula into prepared pan. 
• Bake until lightly browned, about 25 minutes.
• Remove from oven, let cool 5 minutes and then spread with glaze.
• Glaze: Stir together 1 cup confectioners sugar and 2 Tblsp. Lemon juice.
• Cool to harden glaze, then cut into finger size bars.

Spicy Curried Butternut Red Lentil Soup

     I may regret (or even deny) ever saying this, but I really would love to have just a little bit of that snow that other people are getting. Just a little bit, mind you. Not this much. Enough to be able to enjoy a day of being snowed in, but not enough to make my driveway impassable. Is that asking too much?

     I'm pretty sure I'd make soup. Maybe this one. Just spicy enough, with tender little chunks of butternut squash that create bursts of sweetness as they melt in your mouth. Perfect for a day of staying inside and looking out. I'll be flushing some ice cubes and wearing my jammies inside out and backwards tonight. Think that'll work?


Spicy Curried Butternut Red Lentil Soup
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon olive or coconut oil
1 medium to large onion, chopped (small dice)
1 Tablespoon ginger root, grated or diced (Freeze your ginger root, and it grates beautifully.)
1 butternut squash- peeled, seeded and cubed (smallish cubes, about the size you'd cut potatoes for potato salad) My butternut squash was about 2 pounds.
1 can light coconut milk
2 cups dried red lentils, washed
1 quart broth (vegetable or chicken)
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder (or to taste)
Salt to taste

Directions
Heat oil (medium heat) in large soup pot.  Add onions and ginger and cook until onions are translucent.
Add curry powder and cayenne, and cook a few seconds until fragrant.
Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30-40 minutes, or until lentils and squash are tender.  If, during cooking, soup gets too thick, add water or broth as needed. (Check often to make sure the lentils are not sticking to the bottom of your pan.)
If you prefer a smooth soup, use a blender (careful- it's hot!) to puree. I usually blend about 3/4 of the soup, and then add it back to the rest. That way there are still some chunks of sweet butternut in the soup.

"Wormy" Cider Spiced Apple Pie Bars

     Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms. Do you remember that song? It came to mind as I scattered the topping over these wormy apple pie bars. Well not real worms anyway. I have an aversion to the real ones. What you see here is just a batch of squiggly cinnamon sugar covered wrigglers decking out a tender apple filling with an apple cider spiced cookie crust underneath. Throw a couple of cute little gummy worms on top and you've got a spook-tacular Halloween treat that's just gruesome enough. (But not too gruesome.)

     I spiced mine up with some instant cider mix, but plain cinnamon and sugar would work just as well. I know some people have issues with the ready made refrigerated pie crusts, but they really work here. (And I have issues with making pie crust.) Make your own crust if you wish, but the rolled dough makes it really easy to produce many worms in short order. And those wormy things on top? They bake up nice and crispy and add a cinnamon-sugar crunch to each bite. And trust me, it's the only way I'll be eating worms. :)


Wormy Cider Spiced Apple Pie Bars (Printable recipe here)
adapted from this Betty Crocker Recipe

Ingredients:
Cookie Crust
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 packet instant apple cider or 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Filling
7-8 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup light brown sugar (or to taste, depending on the sweetness of your apples)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 packet instant apple cider (optional)
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Wormy Topping
1 box refrigerated rolled pie crusts (or your favorite homemade pie crust)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 packet instant apple cider

Instructions:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. (400 for dark or nonstick pan) 
• Cream together 1/2 cup softened butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Stir in 1 1/4 cups flour and packet of cider mix or cinnamon until mixed. 
• Press mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 baking pan. 
• Mix together all filling ingredients and pour into the crust. Bake for 10 minutes. While this bakes, prepare the wormy topping.
• Mix together 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, cinnamon and apple cider mix. Cut one cold pie crust (still rolled) lengthwise in half, and then into thin (1/4 inch or less) slices. 
• Separate the pieces and toss to coat in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat with the remaining pie crust.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar coated "worms" over the partially baked filling and bake 18-22 minutes more until crust is golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars. For a spookier effect, try using colored sugar (red for earthworms?) for the topping.

Brown Sugar Maple Walnut Cut-Outs

     Call me a sentimentalist. I love getting letters. The real ones, I mean, written on paper with a pencil or pen. Some of my favorite notes of recent have been painstakingly drawn with crayons on scraps of crumpled notebook paper. In these days of email and texts, a handwritten note carries with it an air of warmth and care.

     Handwritten recipes are like that too. I have a box full of recipes that my friends and family have shared with me, most of them handwritten on recipe cards, notebook paper, index cards- whatever was handy at the time. Going through my recipe box is like a trip down memory lane, recalling special people and special times.

     When this handwritten recipe card fluttered to the floor out of a book I was shelving at the thrift store where I volunteer, I knew at once that it had also been special to someone. Lovingly handwritten (by a Grandma, no less),worn and stained, it had all of the earmarks of a well loved  recipe- one that would feel right at home in my recipe box.

     I changed very little of the recipe, adding some maple flavoring and topping it off with a walnut half and a divine maple glaze. (I had to resist the temptation to eat it by the spoonful.) These brown sugar beauties were perfectly chewy with crisp edges and a rich, buttery maple flavor.  I'm pretty sure Stephanie's Grandma would approve.

Brown Sugar Maple Walnut Cut-Outs

"Receipt" adapted from Stephanie's Grandma

Cookies

2 2/3 cups brown sugar, lightly packed (sift to prevent lumps)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 lb. soft butter or oleo

2 eggs, not too small

1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Walnut halves or pieces (Toasting the walnuts slightly brings out their flavor.)

Maple Frosting ingredients

1/2 stick butter

2 cups confectioners sugar (sifted, to prevent lumps)

1/2 tsp. maple flavoring

1-2 Tblsp. brewed coffee, hot

Directions for making cookies:

• Cream together sugar, salt and butter. 
• Beat eggs, maple flavor and vanilla extract together. Add to sugar and butter mixture.
• Sift dry ingredients together and gradually blend into above mixture.
• Chill well. Roll out on floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness.
• Cut with cookie cutters (I used leaf shapes, but a circle would be just as nice) and bake on parchment for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are brown around edges. (Actual baking time will depend on the thickness and diameter of your cookies.)
• Cool on wire rack. Yield depends on thickness of dough and size of your cookie cutters.
• Use frosting (recipe follows) to attach a walnut half to each cookie. Drizzle frosting over cookie and walnut. (Or frost cookies and scatter chopped walnuts on top.)

Maple frosting:

• Melt butter in skillet. Remove from heat.
• Whisk in flavoring and confectioners sugar.
• Thin with hot coffee. Whisk until smooth and of drizzling consistency. (Thin with more coffee if needed.)

This post is linked to:

Apple-Almond Streusel Pie

     Sweet almond paste sandwiched snugly between layers of flaky crust... Tender apples spiced with warm cinnamon ... Crunchy bits of toasted almond streusel ... So many reasons to love this pie!

     The quintessential fall fruit teams up with almonds here to create a treat worthy of any occasion. It's delicious warm or cold, and I say this with authority having made it twice already in the past week. I first saw this pie in the new Pampered Chef catalog, and it sweetly called my name. Hope it calls yours too!


Apple-Almond Streusel Pie
Recipe from Pampered Chef  featured in Simply Sweet with my changes noted
You'll need:
For the crust:
two pie crusts (enough for a double crust pie) your favorite homemade or refrigerated
1  8oz. can of almond paste (or 7oz. tube)
1 tsp. cornstarch
2 egg whites, divided (One of these is just for moistening the edges of the pie crusts to keep them together, so I used the white of an extra large egg and saved back a teaspoon of it to brush on the crusts.)
For the filling:
3 to 3 1/2 lbs Granny Smith Apples, peeled (8 cups sliced)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (I used 2 Tablespoons)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used a bit less than this)
1 teaspoon Cinnamon Spice Blend (Pampered Chef has its own blend. I didn't have any so I used my own spice blend, recipe here.)
2 Tablespoons butter
For the Streusel topping:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup sliced almonds (I used more than this)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 370F or 190C.
• Place almond paste, one egg white and cornstarch in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth.
• Roll each of the pie crusts into a 12 inch circle. Spread almond paste onto one pie crust to within 1/2 inch of edge. Lightly beat the reserved egg white and brush over the edge of the crust not covered by the almond paste.
• Carefully place the second pie crust on top of the first. Pat together gently and press edges together with fingertips. Using a pastry cutter, trim 1/8 inch edge off of the crust to create a decorative border.
• Place crust into a deep dish pie pan, pressing dough into bottom and up sides. Prick bottom and sides. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until edges are light golden brown. (I had to cover the edges to keep them from browning too quickly.) While the crust is baking, prepare the filling.
• Filling: Pour lemon juice into a large bowl. Peel, core and slice apples into the lemon juice. Add brown sugar and spices; toss to coat.
• Melt butter in a skillet. Pour apple mixture into the skillet and cook, covered, over medium high heat until apples are tender. (6-8 minutes)
• Strain cooked apples over a bowl, reserving the liquid. Return the liquid to to the skillet and cook 2-3 minutes on medium-high heat until thickened and amber in color. Toss with apples and pour into crust.
• Combine flour, sugar and melted butter; stir until crumbly. Add almonds; toss to combine. Sprinkle topping over pie. Bake 20-25 minutes or until topping is light golden brown.
• Serve warm

This post is linked to:

Johnny Appleseed Squares

"Oh, The Lord's been good to me

And so I thank the Lord

For giving me the things I need,

The sun and the rain and the apple seed,

The Lord's been good to me."

(Johnny Appleseed Hymn)

      Most school-age children in the United States have heard of Johnny Appleseed, the legendary American frontiersman who planted apple trees over large parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois from seeds recovered from cider mills. From all accounts he was quite an individual! So, while browsing through a copy of Maida Heatter's Book of Great American Desserts, the recipe for these Johnny Appleseed Squares caught my eye. An apple for the teacher? Works for me.

     These bars were sweet, spicy, chewy and chunky and tasted like fall, if that's possible, and the thinly sliced apples sandwiched between the layers of spicy, chewy, chunky oatmeal made them wonderfully moist. The cake-like squares were delicious all by themselves, but I can just imagine how they'd taste topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and gooey caramel drizzled over the top.

     Maida says that she first tasted these bar type cookies at a "gift shop somewhere along the spectacular Skyline Drive in Virginia" and immediately requested the recipe. Skyline Drive, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, has been a fall destination for our family ever since I can remember. The colorful panoramas are breathtaking, and apples are plentiful. Jugs of sweet cider and jars of rich apple butter abound at orchard stands along the route. We haven't made our annual apple pilgrimage yet - we usually time it to coincide with the "peak" leaf color- but cool nights and crisp mornings tell me that I won't have too much longer to wait!


Johnny Appleseed Squares
from Maida Heatter's Book of Great American Desserts
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or mace
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
2/3 cup dark or light brown sugar, firmly packed (I used dark.)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 to 3 firm cooking apples (I used 2 large apples.)
1/2 cup toasted pecans, cut or broken into small/medium size pieces (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 inch square baking pan with foil, making sure the edges extend over the edges of the pan for easy removal. Butter foil then place the prepared pan in the freezer. (This makes it easier to spread a thin layer of dough in the pan.)
• Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg or mace. Stir in the oats and sugar. In a small bowl, stir together the butter, egg, and vanilla and mix into the oat mixture.
• Press half of the dough (1 cup) into the prepared pan. Set aside.
• Place the remaining dough between two 12 inch lengths of wax paper and roll out into a 9-inch square. (It will be very thin.) Slide a flat cookie sheet under the dough and wax paper and transfer it to the freezer for a few minutes.
• Meanwhile, peel, quarter and core the apples and cut each quarter lengthwise into 5 or 6 slices. (Not too thick.) Place the apple slices in rows, each slice slightly overlapping another, to cover the bottom layer of dough. Sprinkle with the nuts.
• Remove the rolled-out square of dough from the freezer, peel off the top piece of paper, turn the dough over the apples. Remove the remaining paper and press down on the edges of the dough. 
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. About 10 minutes before the cake is done, if the top has not started to brown, raise the rack to a higher position.
• Cool in the pan.  Lift cake out using the edges of the foil, and cut into squares or bars. (Maida says that chilling the cake makes it easier to cut neatly. She also adds that they freeze well.)

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread

 

 No French Fridays this week for me. Instead, I'm sharing this recipe for Cranberry Orange Nut Bread. One of my daughters-in-law made this bread for us a couple of Thanksgivings ago. We loved it, and she was sweet enough to share her recipe.

 Full of tart cranberries and crunchy nuts, this orange flavored quick bread makes a delightful not-too-sweet afternoon pick-me-up with a hot cup of coffee or tea. Toasted and spread with a bit of cream cheese, it's also a great breakfast treat.The recipe makes two loaves, so enjoy one now and freeze one for later!

Did you know? Cranberries are also called bounce-berries, because the good ones bounce when they're ripe!

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread
recipe from Madeleine
(makes 2 loaves)
4 cups all purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 and 1/2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup very light flavored olive oil (or canola oil)
2 cups fresh cranberries,cut in half
1 cup chopped nuts
2 tsp. orange zest

• In a large bowl, whisk together first four ingredients. 
• In a separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
• Pour into two greased and lightly floured loaf pans. 
• Bake at 375° F for 55-60 minutes. 
• Cool pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. 
• Remove loaves from pans and continue to cool completely on a wire rack. 

This post has been added to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Cushaw Squash Pie

Looks like pumpkin pie, smells like pumpkin pie, but it's NOT your average, run of the mill pumpkin pie. What is it?

It's a Cushaw Squash Pie! The Cushaw (or Kershaw) Squash, sometimes called a Tennessee Sweet Potato, is an heirloom winter squash grown mostly in the southern United States. It's hardy, heat tolerant and resistant to squash borers, which makes it easier to grow without pesticides. If you're careful about where you grow it, the seeds can be saved from one year to the next, ensuring a steady supply of this versatile squash that can be used for both sweet and savory dishes.

Many southern cooks prefer the sweet yellow flesh of the Cushaw for making pumpkin pies. After tasting this pie that I made from a recipe found  on Chickens in the Road  I'm not surprised. The squash pie had  the same warm spices as pumpkin pie, but had a milder taste and silky texture. Actually, you can use Cushaw squash in any recipe that calls for pumpkin. Next up for me? Probably Cushaw Butter, which I've heard is a family tradition in parts of Tennessee. 

I really hope you're able to find one of these heirloom treasures at your local farmer's market. I'm saving the seeds from mine so I'll be sure to have more next year!

Prepare the Squash:

Preparing the squash is easy. Wash it, cut it in half, remove the seeds and stringy part, and bake it cut side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. (350 degrees for about an hour and fifteen minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork) After scooping out the baked flesh, mash it well or put through a Foley food mill. Proceed as you would with any other pumpkin recipe.  (The seeds can be roasted like you would roast pumpkin seeds.)

Spiced Cushaw Pie

recipe adapted from Chickens in the Road

You'll need:

Your favorite pastry for a nine inch pie 

2 cups prepared squash (or pumpkin)

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

12 oz. can evaporated milk

1 Tablespoon melted butter

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together beaten eggs, evaporated milk and vanilla. In a large bowl, combine squash, melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and cloves. Add milk mixture to squash mixture and mix until well combined. Pour into pie pan (9 inch) lined with an uncooked pastry shell . (Use your favorite pie crust recipe.) Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (lower half of oven) for an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine took a bit longer.) Chill and serve. Keep refrigerated.

This post is linked to:

Cushaw Squash

Fresh Apple Cake

 I've been a bad blogger. AWOL. These last two weeks have been a bit crazy and something had to go. So blogging got shoved to the back burner until I got all of my school stuff under control. And all the other "stuff" too. Well maybe not all of it, but enough of it to be able to sit down and maybe think  about what's been going on in my kitchen. And to dust off my poor neglected camera.

 Thanks to my brother, I've been blessed with several baskets of "just a little bit less than perfect" honey crisp apples. With this wonderful bounty, I've been making applesauce, apple butter and this lovely little apple cake. This is another recipe from my mom, that she got many years ago from someone at church. (There are some really good cooks at our little church. Homecomings with dinner on the grounds are always an occasion to eat way too much good food!)  This cake has just the right combination of spices and will fill your kitchen with scents of apple and cinnamon goodness. The apples (and raisins if you choose to add them) make the cake incredibly moist. You could add a caramel glaze if you like, but I found that it didn't really need another thing. And if by chance you have any of this lovely cake left over, it's even better the next day.


Fresh Apple Cake

Ingredients:
3 cups apples, peeled cored and chopped (I chopped mine pretty small)
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)
1 cup nuts, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup oil (I used canola)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

• Grease and flour tube or bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and oil. 
• Add sugars and vanilla and mix well.
• Sift together flour, salt, spices and baking powder. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture. 
• Stir in apples, nuts and raisins. 
• Put apple mixture into prepared pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes. 
• Cool for 5 minutes in pan and then invert onto wire rack to finish cooling.

Say Cheese!

Sunday was Homecoming at church. We traditionally have a covered dish lunch following the service, but I always have trouble deciding what to bring. When I saw this recipe in an old Southern Living magazine (that I just happened to pick up at the thrift store on Saturday) I knew I had to make it. I love to play with food. (Ask my sister if you don't believe me.)

Pumpkin Cheese Ball
(adapted from a recipe in the October 2002 issue of Southern Living magazine)
1 lb. shredded cheddar cheese
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1 (8 oz.) tub chive-and-onion cream cheese
2 teaspoons paprika
one half teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 broccoli stalk
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tblsp. mayonnaise -I used Baconnaise (Thanks, Rita!) to add a little smoky flavor.

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl until blended. Cover and chill until mixture is firm enough to be shaped.

• Shape mixture into a ball to resemble a pumpkin. (I wrapped it in plastic wrap to make the initial shape.) Smooth entire outer surface with a non-serrated knife. Make vertical grooves using fingertips.

• Cut broccoli stem and press into top of cheese ball.

• Serve with crackers or apple slices.

This made a huge cheese ball. I think that if I make this again, I will half it and just use the tub of chive and onion cream cheese. I might also experiment with adding more paprika...I thought my pumpkin was a little pale!

Pumpkin Time!