What's up Wednesday--pumpkin pie cake

I love pumpkin anything--pie, bread, cookies, muffins, ice cream, and the list goes on.  This dessert has got to be one of my all-time favorite pumpkin desserts.  I call it Pumpkin Pie Cake, but other with a similar recipe call it pumpkin pie cobbler or pumpkin pie bake.  I don't care what you call it--it is good, and very easy.  My 11-year-old Miss E made this for our Monday family night treat this week.  Yum!

Pumpkin Pie Cake

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tes cinnamon

1 1/2 tes ground nutmeg

1 tes ginger

or in place of those 3 you can use 4 1/2 tes pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tes salt

1 large 29 oz can (or two small 15 oz cans) plain pumpkin

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

For top. . . 

1 yellow cake mix (or white if you don't have yellow)

3/4 cup chilled butter

1 cup chopped pecans--optional, we never use these

 whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to top it with.

Mix eggs, sugar, spices and salt.  Stir in pumpkin and milk and mix well.  Pour into ungreased 9x13 pan.

Using knives or pastry cutter, cut in butter into cake mix until crumbly.  Sprinkle over pumpkin mix.

Sprinkle with pecans if using.

Bake 350 for 1 hour or until top is golden brown and edges slightly pull away from sides of pan.  

Serve warm topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

2013 Blue Jeans Week 44

A fun Halloween week we had!  My grandparents were visiting who we don't get to see very often.  We got "booed!" had lots of school activities, went trick-or-treating, had a party, and had a bonfire.  Whoa!  It was a busy week!  Here is a look. . .

4 Generations are in this picture--my grandparents, my Dad, me, and my kids.  So loved having them here!

We got "booed!" tonight and enjoyed some yummy Halloween oreos!  Yum!

School awards assembly this week.  3rd grade is the first year they give letter grades at our school, and Mr J got all A's.  He was been working hard!  Way to go Mr J!

Halloween at school.  They were supposed to have a parade outside, but it was raining, so they got to stand up in the gym and tell everyone their name and what they were.  Mr J and his awesome shield as Captain America, and we love our snoopy principal! 

Halloween football game and last marching band performance of the season.  They were awesome!  That field was so muddy and wet after we got 6 inches of rain in the last few days.  When Miss O was kneeling in it I cringed, but nothing that won't wash out.  She has sure worked hard in marching band!

Mr J and Miss E finally getting to go trick-or-treating.  Not sure what Miss E's costume is--a green haired, masked bandit?  They had fun!

On Friday Miss O had a school Halloween party.  This was her costume she and Ben came up with.  I thought she looked great!

And these are her friends she had over for a party before the party :)

Saturday night we had a bunch of friends over for a bonfire and hot dog roast and s'mores!  It was a beautiful clear evening,and we had a lot of fun!

Thanks for visiting!  

I am linking up with The Mom Creative.

Halloween Happenings

It has been a busy couple of days.  Wanted to share a look at our Halloween happenings.

This is my grandpa and my Dad.  We were so blessed to have my grandparents visit the beginning of the week.  They live a long ways away, so we don't see them often.  It was neat for my kids to have their great-grandparents visit.  They joined us as we carved our pumpkins earlier this week.

This is my grandma.  She is amazing!  

And here is Mr J's creation.  Loved his mouth. 

Miss E's creation--loved her eyes.

Miss A went with a Hunger Games theme.  She did a good job!

And Miss O's--love her mouth too!

They all looked really good outside!

Then we had an elementary awards assembly.  That cute boy got all A's for the first nine weeks.  Way to go Mr J!

Then there was the school Halloween parade which really wasn't a parade because it was raining, so they just all got to stand up in the gym and say what they were.  Pretty awesome Captain American with that shield!  And we love our Snoopy principal!  

Then school Halloween party!   

And then finally it was time to go trick-or-treating.

Mr J was a very cool Captain America.  Not so sure what Miss E was.  She just went through the dress-up box and put on different things--maybe a green haired bandit?

Then Halloween night after some trick-or-treating we all headed to the last football game, and the last marching band performance of the season. Man, they were good.

Sure proud of the Miss O and her hard work with the band.  It was a great season!  

And then this morning we were all wishing it was Saturday and not Friday.  I think we are going to sleep really well tonight and looking forward to a non-eventful weekend!  Happy November and hope you had a Happy Halloween!

What's up Wednesday--pumpkin stew

Pumpkin stew is a Halloween tradition at our house.  I am making it tonight.  This is last year's picture of our pumpkin stew dinner.  I used to make the pumpkin stew on Halloween night, but then things just go to crazy, so I usually do it the Monday before Halloween or a day or two before.  This year it worked out to be today.  It is a fun tradition, and yummy too!  When you scoop it out you make sure you scrap out some of the cooked pumpkin with your stew, and it is extra yummy.  This does take over 4 hours cooking time plus prep, so plan ahead.  I got this recipe several years ago from my dear friend Robyn.

Pumpkin Stew

2 lbs stew mean, cut into 1 inch cubes

3 Tbls vegetable oil, divided

1 cup water

3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

1 large green pepper, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tes salt

1/2 tes pepper

1 (14.5 oz) can tomatoes, undrained and blended up

2 Tbl beef bouillon granules or about 5-6 cubes

1 (10-12 lbs) pumpkin

1.  Heat 2 Tbl of oil in large pot over med-hi heat.  Place beef in the pan and cook until evenly brown.  Mix in the water, potatoes, carrots, green pepper, garlic, onion, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 2 hours.

2.  Dissolve bouillon in beef mixture.  Stir in tomatoes

3.  Preheat over to 325 degrees

4.  Wash pumpkin and cut a 6-8 inch circle around top stem.  Remove seeds and pulp.  Place the pumpkin in a heavy baking pan.  Spoon stew into the pumpkin and replace top.  Brush outside of the pumpkin with remaining tablespoon of oil.

5.  Bake for 2 hours or until very tender.  Serve the stew from the pumpkin, scraping out some of the pumpkin meat with each serving. 

Happy pumpkin eating!

2013 Blue Jeans Week 43

Super fun week with a big birthday, a Broadway show, and fun Halloween activities.  Here is a look at our week. . .

Sunday dinner prep--Ben and the girls are making twice baked potatoes from The Pioneer Woman cookbook--so yum!

One thing my kids love to do?  Read cookbook and mark recipes to make.  Miss E and Mr J spent some time marking up a new cookbook today.

My Dad's birthday and Ben's birthdays are close, so we celebrate together.  My Dad gets a banana cream pie for his birthday cake, and Ben gets a coconut cream pie--both made from scratch from their cookie pie crusts, homemade pudding, to their real whipped cream--so yum!  I make them about 3 times a year--Father's Day, their birthdays, and on Thanksgiving.

Ben's official 40th birthday!!!  40 used to sound really old, but not so much anymore :)  What a goofy look Miss O has . . .but what lucky kids they are to have such an awesome dad!

Our fall house picture.  Love all the pumpkins and my mums by the front door.

Went to the big city with my mom, Miss E and Mr J to see the Broadway musical Wicked which I love!  Ben, Miss A, Miss O, and I had seen it a few years ago, and this time around it was these kids' turn.  I loved it just as much the 2nd time, and these three all loved it too!  So fun to get dressed up and go to a show!

Mr J was in charge of cleaning the upstairs bathroom.  Loved how he was cleaning the shower.  He did a good job!

Church Halloween party tonight--one of the games was "Donuts on a string" and you see who could eat the donut first without using their hands--Ben, Miss E, and Mr J had some fun doing that.  Ben won :)

Got pumpkins carved this weekend.  In order from left to right--Miss E's, Miss A's hunger games mockingjay, Mr J's, and Miss O's.  

Thanks for visiting!  Have a great week!

I am linking up with The Mom Creative.

Catching up--Cookies, Christmas, and birthdays

So I obviously didn't get a recipe posted Wednesday, but I meant to :)  Good intentions.  I made 2 different kinds of cookies that I wanted to share.  I made these vanilla pudding chocolate chip cookies over here, and they were really good.  They won't replace my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe here, but they are good, and it is always fun to do something different.  I would post a picture, but we ate them all.

I love pumpkin anything, and will make pumpkin pie all year.  Yum!  But I especially go into high pumpkin cooking mode in the fall.  Pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin muffin--and the yummy list goes on.  I made chocolate chip pumpkin bread last week and had a little pumpkin left in the fridge that was just crying to be made into pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  I went to my usual source for recipes--Mel's Kitchen Cafe, but believe it or not, she did not have a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe, so I went to my 2nd source for great recipes allrecipes.com  This is another great, great source for recipes, and I love how they are rated, and you can see how many reviews and how many stars people give the recipes.  So, I found a pumpkin chocolate chip recipe that had 947 reviews and 4 1/2 stars, so you know it is going to be good.  It was.  And again, I would post a picture, but we ate them all.  You will just have to take my word for it--they were good.

I am working on Christmas presents.  As I have mentioned before I love, love, love Organized Christmas and their countdown to Christmas.  If you want to join me, their 6 weeks to Christmas countdown starts this Sunday, Oct 27.  They just basically breakdown all the holidays tasks and give you lists and help you get ready for the season.  I have been doing it for over 8 years, and love it.  It is free which makes it even better. I normally don't make a lot of Christmas gifts, but this year I am making a few.  Above is a sneak peak because I know the recipient probably won't look at this blog :)  It is called Swedish weave and is fun and easy to do--a pretty throw blanket.  In the cool evenings it is fun to curl up and work on this while we watch TV or read in the evenings.

This week was also a very big birthday.  Ben turned 40.  Man, 40 used to sound ancient years ago, but it looks pretty young to me now.  Age is all relative.

My Dad and Ben have birthdays that are close, so we usually celebrate them together.  My Dad always gets a banana cream pie for his birthday cake, and Ben gets a coconut cream pie.  Yes, I make them from scratch--cookie pie crust, real whipped cream and all.  They are yummy!

On Ben's actual birthday he got to open his presents with a very attentive audience.

Always fun to see the cool things Dad gets!

And then my Dad made Ben this cool 40 candles birthday card.  The kids were being goofy. . .

Which is just how they are. . . most of the time

But that is okay, because it makes things more fun :)  Happy Birthday to the cutest and most amazing man, father, and husband I know--I sure love you Ben!

2013 Blue Jeans Week 42

Fall break week--always nice to have days off of school.  Had a dear friend visit, parent teacher conferences, league cross country meet, Ben's new work open house, and then topped the weekend off with another parade.  Man, we really love our band and parades!  Here is a look at our week. . .

Had a dear friend visit us today.  She had served in our area as a missionary for our church  last year and came back to visit.  Our family sure loves and misses her!

I volunteer in Mr J's class once a week.  I was lucky enough to be there when he got to present his log cabin.  He did an awesome job!

Parent teacher conferences this week.  Mr J has one teacher, but Miss E and Miss O have 7 each and Miss A has 8, so we visited with 23 amazing teachers at 3 different schools.  Thankfully we got great reports from all 23, but it was a very long night!  This was Mr J's cute folder he made for us to see his stuff in.  I love the "Escalator lover"  :)  Can you tell he is a small town/country kid? and he really is a "joyful and happy" kid which I am thankful for!

Tonight was a reception for Ben's new work building--it was a pretty fancy thing with engraved glasses that we all used for a toast.  His new place is so nice, and it will be wonderful when he gets to move in soon!

Miss A and her teammates before their League race.  Miss A didn't do as well as she wanted because she had a knee injury, but she still ended up getting 4th which I think is awesome!  Such cute, nice girls on her team!

Parade time again!  It was fun to be with my parents!  They helped Mr J get all the candy he wanted :)

And of course we loved the band at the parade.  Miss E is the 2nd trombone.  Miss O was in there too, but on the other side.  They sounded great!

Thanks for visiting and hope you have a great week!

I am linking up with The Mom Creative.