So I made up this recipe which sounded delicious to me, and I thought you should know about it.

Peaches & Cream Crumble

5-6 large peaches, peeled and sliced. (Or enough for about 3 cups of peach slices)
1/2 C. half and half
1/2 packet instant vanilla pudding (I try to use fresh, whole foods in my recipes, so if you’re anti-instant pudding, try 2 T sugar, 1 T flour and 1/4 t. vanilla extract)
1/8 t. nutmeg – I highly recommend freshly grated

Topping
1/2 C. Oats
1/3 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. pecans or walnuts (I left these out because I was serving someone with a nut allergy, but I think it sounds delicious)
1/2 stick butter (4 T)

For the peaches: combine peaches, half and half, pudding and nutmeg. Pour into baking dish.

For the topping: Combine oats, sugar, nuts in a small bowl. Cut in the cold butter until a crumbly mixture forms. See below. (I use my hands to combine the topping – it’s much quicker than using a fork if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty.)

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. The result is a bit soupy, so don’t be alarmed. Feel free to serve with ice cream. Enjoy!

Blackberry Sauce
1 pint blackberries
1 T. sugar
2 T. fruit juice (I used cherry, but whatever you have on hand will work).

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and turn on medium-high until boiling. Bring heat down to medium-low, and stir occasionally to prevent sticking. If berries cook down too much, you may add a tablespoon of water and wisk it in to restore moisture. Also, you may want to add a bit more sugar, depending on how sweet your berries were, but we like ours a little tart.

Enjoy.

You use gelatin instead of eggs (so it isn’t a custard) which means it’s nearly impossible to mess up. I garnished mine with fresh strawberries, but feel free to use chocolate sauce, caramel, or any other topping you think sounds delicious. Also: I served mine in ramekins, but traditionally the dessert would be turned out onto a plate. I’ve heard that silicone muffin pans work best for this method, so give it a try if you’re feeling up to it.

Vanilla Panna Cotta
2 C. milk
1 3/4 C. heavy cream
1/2 C. Milk, set aside
1 1/2 packets of unflavored gelatin
3/4 C. sugar
2 1/4 t. vanilla

In a small bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup milk (try to use skim or 2% here – not whole) and gelatin. Set aside. In a large saucepan, combine cream, remaining milk and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, and bring just to a rolling boil. Add in the milk/gelatin mixture and stir well. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and add in vanilla extract. Pour into ramekins (or muffin pan) and let cool to room temperature uncovered. Cover and chill for at least four hours. Enjoy!

I found a white-chocolate recipe out of the Sweet Food cookbook I had mentioned here before, and added a touch of raspberry syrup to a basic buttercream recipe to add a pink tint and some flavor. To top it all off, a cute chocolate heart. They were as tasty as they were cute. I hope you like them!

White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
1/2 C. (1 stick) butter
3/4 C.  sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 C. buttermilk
1 C. white chocolate chips, melted

Frosting ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
1 2/3 C. confectioner’s sugar
2 T. milk
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1-2 T. raspberry syrup or raspberry preserves

For the cakes:
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale. Add in eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Add the vanilla extract. Alternately add in flour and buttermilk, until just incorporated. Finally, stir in melted white chocolate. Pour into greased muffin tins or cupcake liners. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the frosting:
Cream together very soft butter and sugar. Add vanilla and raspberry preserves. Add in the milk a bit at a time until you get a smooth, spreadable consistency.

For the garnish:
I piped out these dainty hearts using melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and a pastry bag. It was Valentine’s Day, after all. Instructions are available here via MarthaStewart.com.

Finally, I like to pretend I’m at Olive Garden (have you had the Torta di Chocolate? Because it’s fantastic.) and reduce down some heavy whipping cream and serve with fresh berries. Or, if you’re making this in West Virginia in January, add a tablespoon of sugar to a bag of frozen berries and cook down a bit.

Chocolate Hazelnut Torte
1 cup hazelnuts
1 cup bittersweet or dark chocolate chips
1 cup butter (soften)
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan. (Note: I use a Springform pan for this because it makes it super easy to get out and cut. But if you don’t have one, you could line your cake pan with parchment paper to help it out more easily.)

In the bowl of a food processor, grind chocolate and nuts to a fine paste. Add butter and sugar and pulse until well mixed. Add eggs 1 at a time. Scrape down bowl. Add flour. Fill prepared cake pan with torte batter. Spread carefully to level and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.

Vanilla Creme Sauce
1/3 C. heavy cream
1 t. vanilla extract

Simmer heavy cream over stove for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in vanilla. Serve warm over torte. Slice fresh berries to garnish. Enjoy!

For the rest of you, enjoy this delicious recipe for Raisin Jingle Jumbles, a soft molasses cookie my grandfather started making about 15 years ago after seeing the recipe in the local newspaper. I really haven’t met anyone who doesn’t like these cookies, so give them a shot.

Raisin Jingle Jumbles
3/4 C. butter
1 C. packed brown sugar
1/4 C. molasses
1 egg
2 1/2 C. flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. ginger
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. salt
1 1/4 C. raisins (I prefer golden)
granulated sugar as needed

In a bowl or large mug, heat a cup of water until steaming. Add in raisins. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add molasses and egg – beat until fluffy. Sift together flour, soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Mix dry ingredients into molasses mixture. Drain raisins, and stir into batter. Chill batter for 10-15 minutes. Form dough into walnut sized balls, and roll in granulated sugar to coat generously. Place 2″ apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes until edges are firm and centers are still slightly soft. Cool on rack, and serve. Makes 2 dozen, so feel free to double…they don’t last long.

1. Yeast Rolls. I felt pretty confident about these, since I had just taken the bread class the week prior.
2. Dressing. Easy – I’ve made this a couple times before.
3. Pumpkin Cookies. I’d made a difference recipe before, there was already going to be pecan pie in attendance, so it was a good variation. Besides, how hard can a cookie be, right?

So I whip up the pumpkin cookie dough, drop it onto the sheet, and throw it in the oven. I peek in halfway through baking time and notice they aren’t rising. At all. The timer goes off and I pull them out of the oven, and they haven’t risen at all. I forgot to add baking powder and baking soda. That’ll do it.

I tasted one, and it had he consistency of a mini-pumpkin pie, and the taste of tube socks. They were disgusting. I wouldn’t eat them myself, much less serve them to my family. So I dumped them in the trash. I figured nobody would care whether I brought a dessert, and reminded myself to try out new recipes on October 12 or May 17, not Thanksgiving morning.

But I sat around playing with the kids and thought about what else I could make easily. I was out of pumpkin, but remembered I had just bought a new jar of maple syrup, and thought maybe a maple cookie could be my comeback. I could rally for Thanksgiving dessert. A quick search around the internet came up with this dough recipe, and I created a glaze to top it off.

Not only were these cookies good, they were so good I made a second batch yesterday.

A few words of wisdom before proceeding with this delicious and simple recipe. Do not – I repeat do not attempt to substitute imitation maple syrup for real maple syrup. Mrs. Butterworth is nostalgic, but she isn’t for cookies. In fact, I would like to assert that “breakfast syrup” as it is sneakily named should be avoided whenever possible. However, maple syrup is more expensive, so if you aren’t used to buying it, don’t say you haven’t been warned. Also, these cookies will stick. I greased the pan well and still had trouble with them sticking. If you have a silicone baking pad, use it. If not, grease your pans heavily. You will thank me for it.

Please, please make these tonight. Or you could wait until tomorrow if you’re tired. They’re now in my top five favorite cookies of all time.

Maple Glazed Cookies
1 stick (1/2 C.) butter
1/2 C. sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 C. maple syrup
1 1/2 C. flour
1 t. salt

Glaze
1 C. powdered sugar
1 T. maple syrup
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 C. milk
Kosher salt for sprinkling

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar. It should look about like this. Creamy. If your butter is cold this can take a couple minutes.

Add in the egg yolk and maple syrup. Mix well. You’ll have something that resembles maple soup. Sprinkle the salt over the mixture, then add the flour in half at a time until well combined.

Drop the cookies onto a VERY well greased baking sheet in fairly uniform sizes. Then, using a floured bottom of a glass, press the cookies down just a bit to help them flatten out. (See before, front, and after, behind – below.)

Bake for 10-12 minutes. You should probably turn/rotate your baking sheets halfway through because these go from just right to overly done quickly, so you want them to bake evenly.

While they’re in the oven, whip together that glaze.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, syrup and cinnamon. Add in the milk a little at a time until you have a nice, thick but spreadable glaze. Once the cookies have cooled, spoon some of the glaze on, and top with a light sprinkle of kosher salt (or any course salt). Do NOT skip this step unless you’re on a sodium-restricted diet. It is, in my opinion, the best part of the cookie.

Enjoy, and be thankful for even failure in the kitchen, because sometimes it leads to maple glazed cookies.

Dutch Apple Pie
5-6 apples, peeled and sliced
2/3 C. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
2 T flour
2 T butter

Topping
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 C. flour

Place apples in pie crust – the apples should fill the shell completely. (It will probably look like a heaping mound ‘o apples… but don’t worry. They bake down.) Mix together the sugar, cinnamon and flour in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the apples.

Place little pats of (the 2 T) butter over the apples.

For the topping, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Cut in the flour. The mixture should be relatively dry and crumbly.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Enjoy! (I know you will.)

The best part is that it’s really easy to make ahead. I chopped up the apples and put them in a bag with the lemon juice to keep them from browning early this morning. Then while the kids napped I went ahead and assembled the entire thing. All that was left to worry about come dinner time was placing it in the over.

Autumn Apple Crisp
6-7 large apples, peeled, cored and cut (I used Golden Delicious)
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg (I recommend buying it whole and grating yourself if possible. It’s worth the extra effort.)
1/4 t. salt
1/3 C. flour
1/3 C. white sugar
1/3 C. oats
1/2 C. chopped pecans (walnuts will do if you have them on hand)
1/2 stick cold butter (the real thing, please)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the apples and lemon juice. Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Take a deep breath and appreciate that cinnamon-nutmeg-sugar combination. Place apple-sugar-spice mixture in a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, oats and nuts. Cut butter in small pieces and add to bowl. Using your hands, combine all ingredients until well-mixed. Distribute evenly on top of apples in baking dish. Bake for 30-45 minutes until top is golden brown and apples are tender. Enjoy!

I remember thinking to myself…I want to be just like her when I grow up.

I’m still working on that part, but I did have some friends over and I did bake them some pumpkin muffins this weekend. I don’t have cute wooden baskets and cute fall kitchen towels, but I did manage to get them out of the muffin tin and onto a plate for serving. The consensus was that they were delicious. So if you’re looking for something other than pie to satisfy your pumpkin cravings, I heartily recommend:

Aunt Allyn’s Pumpkin Muffins
1 C. shortening
1 egg
1 C. sugar
1 C. fresh or canned pumpkin puree
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. salt
1 1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
2 C. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 C. chopped pecans
1/2 C. raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour boiling water over raisins in a small bowls; set aside. (Note, this is a fantastic tip for using raisins in your baked goods. They absorb some of the water and end up plump and juicy instead of hard and tough. Try it!) In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Beat in egg, pumpkin, vanilla, spices, and salt. Combine flour, baking powder, and soda together. Beat into pumpkin mixture until smooth. Drain raisins. Stir in chopped nuts and raisins. Fill paper-lined muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake 20 minutes. Makes 16 muffins.