Recipe: Pumpkin Surprise (My Favorite)

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix
2 sticks butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup canned milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 large can pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix together:

1 cup yellow cake mix, 1 stick melted butter and 1 egg.  Press into the bottom of a floured cake pan.

Mix:

1 large can pumpkin, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup sugar, 2/3 cup canned milk and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.  Spread over the cake mixture.

Combine:

1 cup cake mix
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick melted butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Sprinkle over the top of cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.

This is a family favorite.  It is easy to do and ALWAYS a hit.  Give it a try and let me know.

Recipe: My Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups raisins
4 3/4 cups flour
4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2  teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
6 eggs
1 can pumpkin (29 oz)
1 cup applesauce
1 cut nuts (I prefer walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease three 12 cup muffin pans.  Soak raisins in hot water for ten minutes, then drain.

In large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, pumpkin and applesauce until smooth.  Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly to make batter.  Add the raisins and nuts.  Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.  Toothpick should come out clean from the center.

I have not made these muffins in years.  I am thinking it will be a special treat for my kids this Thanksgiving.  Give them a try and let me know your thoughts.

Grateful November

My eyes opened this morning and I was immediately smiling.  I wasn't sure why until I started to pay attention to my thoughts.  It is November!  November is my favorite month of the year.  As a kid I am sure that was because it was my birthday month; however as an adult it is so much more.

I admit, I do love my birthday and I am very spoiled for a full week, yet there is more to November.  My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.  I love having the family and friends together simply to spend time together.  There are no gifts, no cake - just food, fun and laughter.  Last year was one of the hardest Thanksgivings I have ever had.  I have worked very hard at pushing past that and not allowing it change how I feel about Thanksgiving.  

This year a good friend posted on Facebook to post everyday something you are grateful for.  I love this idea!  I know, it has been happening forever, but after the events last year I want to do this, need to even.  

So, my smiling is due to the fact that I already had so many thoughts of things, people, events I am grateful for that I am having to choose what to post each day.  Now that is something to be grateful for.

Happy November Everyone!

Importance of Timing

I found this and thought it was amusing to read some of the things written in the past:

The Importance of Timing

Joshua Harrison and his $2,500 cast

It was just another Sunday, not much to do, just shopping,  errands and a birthday party for our 8 year old son Joshua's  friend. Not the kind of day when you would expect anything  to happen, but have you ever had a day where you  expected something to happen? First up - shopping, we despise doing this, so we get it out of the way. We then made a quick run to the bank and  the post office. Finally, we drop off Joshua at the birthday party. The party is just around the corner from our house, so we walk him there. Day over - all we have left to do is to pick up Joshua in a couple of hours - time to relax, right? Wrong! Two hours later we are at Urgent Care getting  Joshua's wrist and arm x-rayed. You see while Joshua was at the party running and playing with his friends he decided,  like most kids do, that he was unbreakable, like all the  super hero's he loves to imitate. A quick run up a ladder  and jump off the platform amounted to two fractures in his left arm. Don't worry too much - he was fine in 4 - 6 weeks.

The reason we tell you this story is not because we don't want you to send your kids to their friend's birthday parties. We tell you because we found out the hard way, that "time truly is money." You see we decided on September 5th to purchase an accident plan for our family. We could have had it start immediately, but we decided to save a little money and have it start on October 1st. Why was that bad timing? Because Joshua's accident happened on September 28th, two days before our accident plan was effective.
Two days... two days cost us $2,400. With doctor bills, x-rays, urgent care, rehabilitation and medication our total out of pocket was $2,500. If Joshua could have just held off for two more days it only would have cost us $100, the accident plan deductible. Or we could have decided to spend the extra $35 for the month of September and the financial outcome would have been the same.
The moral of our story is a simple one - you make decisions every day because you don't think anything is going to happen. The fact of the matter is it could happen to anyone, any day.

Yvonne Harrison
Fort Collins, CO