What Can You Do With a Can of Pumpkin?

As soon as the temperature drops, and the leaves start changing, our menu changes too.  Watermelon, strawberries, and cantaloupe are replaced with squash.  Our favorite squash is pumpkin.  Pumpkin is one versatile vegetable.  Any vegetable that can make a yummy dessert is one worth knowing.

I'm always on the lookout for great new recipes to try.  I wanted to share a few of my "Pumpkin Favorites".

Pumpkin Dip---Here's a savory pumpkin recipe.
12 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 Tablespoons Taco Seasonings
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
2/3 cup chopped bell pepper
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
1/3 cup dried beef, chopped

Cream together cream cheese, pumpkin, taco seasonings, and garlic powder until smooth.  Stir in bell pepper, olives, and dried beef.  Chill and serve with crackers and vegies.

Pumpkin Bread-This is the best pumpkin bread I've ever had.
2 2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening
4 eggs
2 1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup nuts (optional)
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda

Combine sugar and shortening.  Add eggs and blend well.  Blend in pumpkin and water. Sift dry ingredients together 3 times, then add to pumpkin mixture. Then add nuts.
Blend well and pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies-This is a great recipe Lesli shared with us.
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup cooked, pureed pumpkin (fresh or canned)
1 egg
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
(optional: 1 cup walnuts or 1 cup raisins)
Icing:
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1/4 cup butter-softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons whipping cream, fresh OJ or rum

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla and mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg,  Stir into butter mixture until well blended.  (Add nuts and raisins if using). Drop by teaspoonful onto parchment covered baking sheet, about 2" apart. Bake 15 minutes, or until golden.  Cool.

Icing: Cream confectioners sugar and butter. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. (If icing is too thin, add more sugar, if too thick add more liquid) drizzle over cookies (I used a sandwich bag and clipped the corner-perfect!)

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies-Head on over to Tidy Mom for this delicious recipe.  They were so good and so easy!
http://tidymom.net/2010/pumpkin-whoopie-pies-with-marshmallow-filling/

I hope one of these inspires you to get busy in the kitchen!
Happy Fall Cooking!

Crocheted Candy Corn Bunting Pattern

I love all things Candy Corn, if you haven't noticed.  A few months back I saw an adorable Felt Candy Corn bunting from The Funky Polkadot Giraffe.  I loved it, but didn't want to spend the time cutting, sewing, more cutting and more sewing.  Instead, I went back to my elementary days and cut out construction paper and used my glue stick.  Here is a picture of my first attempt at a bunting:

I thought this was pretty cute, but as you can see, some of the candy corn turned backwards.  I also had two little boys who enjoyed hitting it.  The construction paper wouldn't last much longer.

Since I have a renewed passion for crocheting, I thought I would give it a try.  I made a simple band for all the candy corn to hang from.  If you know how to double crochet and half double crochet, this will be super easy and quick!  Here is the updated mantle and a close up:

I'm really happy with how this turned out.  This banner is more likely to withstand two little boys!  If you are interested in making your own, here is the pattern:

Crocheted Candy Corn Bunting

Yarn needed

1-    #10 Yellow Peaches & Creme

2-    #11 Sunburst Peaches & Creme

1-    #1 White Peaches & Creme

H/8 Hook

Chain 353.  Less or more depending on the length desired.  (I got 9 Candy Corn from this length)

Double crochet in third chain from hook.  Double Crochet in every chain till the end.

Row 1-Using Yellow, sl st into the 20^th st.  Ch 1, make 1 hdc in the next 25 sts.

Row 2-Ch 1, turn, make 1 hdc in every hdc st for a total of 25 sts.  Ch 1, turn.

Rows 3-5-Skip the first hdc st, hdc in remaining sts, ch 1, turn. 

Row 6-Skip the first hdc st, hdc in remaining sts. Join Orange color and ch 1, turn.

Rows 7-17- Skip the first hdc st, hdc in remaining sts, ch 1, turn. 

Row 18- Skip the first hdc st, hdc in remaining sts. Join White color and ch 1, turn.

Rows 19-25- Skip the first hdc st, hdc in remaining sts, ch 1, turn. 

Row 26-You should have two hdcs remaining.  Hdc in second ch.  Finish off.

Weave in all loose yarn pieces into coordinating color.

For those of you who love Candy Corn like I do, I have another candy corn project in the works.  Be on the lookout for that soon!

Yummy Baked Beans

Lately, I have been to quite a few potlucks or get-togethers.  My favorite (and easiest) thing to make is baked beans.  These aren't your average baked beans, these are yummy goodness on your plate.  If you are looking for healthy, you won't find it here.  I am a Paula Deen type of cook.  Everything is better with a cup of sugar or butter!

When we have church potlucks, my friend's husband asks which line to get in for my baked beans.  I'm thankful for that compliment, since there is a lot of good food on those tables and my baked beans are his priority!

There is nothing I hate more than taking a dish to share and coming home with half of it still in the casserole.  This is not the case with these baked beans.

Yummy Baked Beans Recipe
1 28oz can Bush's Original Baked Beans
1 Tablespoon mustard
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of ketchup
1/2 cup real bacon bits

Combine all ingredients and pour into a 8 x 11.5" casserole dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until nice and bubbly.  These baked beans will be thick and gooey.  Enjoy!

The picture doesn't do them justice, but you get the idea!

I hope that you enjoy these baked beans as much as my friends and family do!  Please comment and let me know how they turn out for you!

Candy Corn Wreath Tutorial

I love candy corn.  I might be addicted to it.  When I saw the Candy Corn Wreath on the cover of October's Woman's Day, I just had to make it.  I think it turned out great!

Here is what you will need if you would like to make your own:

1 styrofoam wreath (mine was 16 inches)
1 roll of wide satin black ribbon (Woman's Day uses duct tape, ribbon looks much nicer)
1 bag of Brach's candy corn (use the good stuff, you'll want to eat some as well)
A glue gun and glue sticks
Clear enamel spray paint

Unfortunately, I do not have pictures for my step by step as I made this prior to us starting the blog.  If you need visuals you can find some at the Woman's Day site, yet I did mine differently.

1.  Wrap the Styrofoam wreath with black satin ribbon.  Start by gluing down the beginning piece and then add glue as you need it.  This will help secure it for later.

2.  Pour your candy corn in a bowl so that you can easily grab it to put on the wreath and in your mouth.  You will have plenty to enjoy some as well!

3.  Starting at the bottom middle, glue each piece of candy corn in a line around your wreath.  Make sure that each piece faces the same way and is a whole piece.  If you need to break a piece at the end, don't worry, your hanging ribbon will cover any smaller pieces.

4.  Once you have one row completed, go back to your starting place.  Switch the direction of the candy corn and do a row above and below your last row.

5.  Continue doing rows until you no longer see a solid portion of black ribbon.  Do not cover the back.  Be careful as you go not to stick the tip of your glue gun into other pieces of candy corn.  If you do, it will damage the candy and you will then need to replace that piece.

6. Once you are finished with the candy corn, spray your wreath with clear enamel spray paint.  Make sure to get each piece of candy corn.  This will give your wreath a nice shine and keeps you or little ones from eating candy corn from the wreath.  Hopefully, this will keep bugs from getting at the candy before next year as well.

7. Cut out a length of black satin ribbon to your liking.  Put it through your wreath and glue the ends together.

8.  Hang your wreath and enjoy it for the fall season!

Welcome to Our Seven Dwarfs!

Welcome!  We are very excited to start Our Seven Dwarfs blog.

There are three main contributors to our blog:  Jill, Shannon and Lesli.  We are all stay-at-home Moms who love to escape the stresses of our daily lives through crafting.

The name "Our Seven Dwarfs," comes from the seven children we have amongst us. We will share more about our wonderful kiddos in our personal posts.

We are all busy with lots of new crafts for the upcoming holidays.  Be on the lookout for upcoming tutorials.

We look forward to sharing our adventures in crafting with you!