Pumpkin recipes offer a taste of fall

smcclanahan

Every fall brings a flurry of activity to kitchens and ovens that sat idle all summer because it was just too hot to heat up the kitchen. Now Recipe Swap readers are back in the mood to share recipes and enjoy all that fall has to offer them.

The great pumpkin patch at Grace United Methodist Church is another one of my favorite things about fall. As the huge truck of pumpkins arrive to the church, we gather and assemble a fire-bucket-brigade line to unload the mountain of pumpkins. Hard work has never been so much fun. As cars drive down Broadway, it is fun to see the wide array of expressions on the faces of passers-by.

To salute the great pumpkin patch and all the fun of working it over the next few weeks, I would like to share a couple of my favorite pumpkin recipes. The pumpkin squares are so simple that our Lexie helps to stir them together.

Pumpkin Squares

4 eggs

1 (16-ounce) can pumpkin

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 325 degrees for a glass-baking dish. In a bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir together well with a wire whisk, or you can use an electric mixer. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spray a 9-by-13-inch glass-baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter into pan, smooth out. Bake 40 minutes. Cool completely, then frost with cream-cheese frosting.

Another one of my favorite pumpkin recipes is the cake roll recipe with cream-cheese filling. It is well worth the time you will spend preparing the recipe.

Pumpkin Cake Roll

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cups canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Beat eggs on high speed for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar over 1 minute. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice. Mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Fold flour mixture into pumpkin mixture. Spread in a 15-by-10-by-1-inchjellyroll pan that has been greased and lined with waxed paper. Top with chopped pecans. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes. Turn out cake onto a clean dish cloth, heavily sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll up, long-wise, towel and cake together to form a long roll. Cool in refrigerator 2 to 3 hours. Unroll gently for the filling.

Filling:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese

4 tablespoons margarine

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine powdered sugar, cream cheese, margarine and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Spread over cake roll with spatula. Roll cake again with nuts on the outside, ending with seam side down. Chill in refrigerator. Garnish as desired.

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Our Lexie is in kindergarten, and I love it when they cook in class. This week, they were busy making apple cake and caramel apples. They are learning all about apples as they prepare for their trip to the apple orchard. Lexie brought the recipe home for me to share with you.

Prize Apple Cake

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups flour

Pinch salt

4 cups diced and peeled apples

Pecans, chopped, optional

1 cup brown sugar

Cream sugar and eggs with mixer. Add oil and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients and add to batter. Mix well. Fold in apples and nuts, if desired. Pour into a greased 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Sprinkle about 1 cup brown sugar on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

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The Rev. Howard Hardeman requested recipes for buttermilk and vinegar pies. We have had really good response to his request and will finish up this week with one more of each for his collection.

Lillian Westrich of Benton, Mo., shares her favorite recipe for vinegar pie. The recipe is much different than the one from last week. This is much like a lemon pie using a prebaked pie shell.

Vinegar Pie

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup water

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons flour or corn starch

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

4 tablespoons butter or margarine

Combine sugar, eggs, vinegar, flour and water in double boiler and cook until thick and smooth, stirring occasionally. Just before removing from heat, stir in butter and lemon extract. Pour into baked pie shell. If desired, the pie may be topped with a frosting of whipped cream.

Diane Sides of Cape Girardeau shares a recipe she had in her files for buttermilk pie. It had a note on it that the recipe is easy to make and is delicious.

Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

4 heaping tablespoons flour

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1 unbaked 10-inch pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt margarine; set aside to let cool slightly. In a large bowl, beat eggs until smooth. Stir in sugar and flour until blended. Stir in melted margarine, buttermilk and vanilla. Fold in coconut. Pour mixture into pie shell and bake for about 40 minutes or until filling is set. Serve warm.

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The Midwest Food and Poultry recipe contest at the SEMO District Fair was a lot of fun to judge and certainly not an easy task. Each recipe was well done and made for pretty tough competition. Thank goodness there were three judges to have different opinions. This week and next week we will finish up all of the entries from the contest.

Amy Romack's Chicken Recipe

Submitted by Amy Romack of Cape Girardeau

4 leg quarters, grilled

1 box corn bread stuffing mix

1 family size can cream of mushroom soup

1 tablespoon butter

1 green pepper, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grill chicken leg quarters and remove meat from the bones. Combine chicken, stuffing mix, soup and butter. Place in buttered casserole dish. Top with green pepper. Bake 30 minutes until browned on top.

Garden Burritos

Submitted by Jill Peters of Cape Girardeau

2 cups chicken breast, cooked and cubed

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

3 medium tomatoes, peeled and diced

1 large bell pepper, red or green, diced

1 medium onion, diced

8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded

8 ounces Mozzarella cheese, shredded

10 flour tortillas

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Dash salt

In a non-stick pan, stir chicken and soy sauce together. Add vegetables and salt. Cook on medium heat until vegetables begin to soften. Spoon mixture onto center of burrito-sized flour tortilla. Top with shredded cheeses and nuts. Fold tortilla up burrito-style and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. You can make these a day in advance and refrigerate. When ready to serve, microwave until warm, then bake 20 minutes.

Chicken Casserole

Submitted by Opal Kloproth of Jackson

2 cups cooked diced chicken

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup diced potatoes

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup sliced carrots

2 tablespoons diced onions

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup frozen broccoli

1 cup frozen cauliflower

3 tablespoons soy flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 can crescent dinner rolls

Cook chicken broth, potatoes, celery and carrots until tender crisp, about 8 minutes. Thicken broth and vegetables with a paste made of soy flour, cornstarch and a little water. Add the chicken and rest of vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place in an 8-inch-square baking dish. Cover with strips of crescent rolls. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden browned.

Thanks for all of those who submitted recipes today to make for a great column of recipe sharing. Have a great week, and until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by the Southeast Missourian staff.