Fall pix

I decided before murdering my pumpkin as described by OhioFarmGirl to take some pictures first:

What’s better for a fall picture opportunity than a boy, a pumpkin, and a cat?

How about a boy, a pumpkin, and three black cats 😉

 

Happy Fall Y’all!

 

PS – No, the pictures are not edited in any way other than to crop them. God blessed us with solid black kitties 😉 Yes, the kittens are from the same litter. And when I see them together I can’t help but hum “One of these things is not like the other ones, one of these things doesn’t belong….”

Pumpkin Cake Yumminess

YUMMMY!!!! Okay, so I had a Tupperware party Tuesday night, 1) to help out my sister’s mother-in-law who sells it, and 2) because I really wanted to! We hadn’t a Tupperware party in these parts in YEARS, so I figured I’d have a good turnout, and boy was I right 😀 (If you’re reading this and you came and/or ordered online, THANK YOU! I made out like a bandit on free and 1/2-price stuff 😀 Enough gloating, though)

Part of the thing is, you have to provide ingredients so the Tupperware Lady can demonstrate the products, but that’s cool, because it’s a party, and I’d’ve provided food anyway, but this way, I didn’t have to fix it! So to demonstrate one of the microwave cookers, she asked me to have a box of cake mix (I use the Betty Crocker because they do the Box Tops for Education and I can give those to my son’s school), whatever eggs that calls for, and a can of apple or blueberry pie filling. Well, I don’t like blueberries, so guess we’re doing apple 😉 She combines all these ingredients (chop the apples up first), puts them in the Pam’d stack-cooker, and microwaves for about 12 minutes. It was delicious! (Wait I minute, Beth! I thought you said this was PUMPKIN cake, not APPLE cake, what’s up with that? Hang on a minute, I’m gettin’ there…)

‘Bout the only thing I had that wasn’t cooked or prepared in any with Tupperware something was a can of nuts; I paid a ridiculous amount for a can of pecans because they just looked so yummy, and I decided I needed to have them at my party. So as I’m eating my cake, and then taking a bite of nuts, I decided – hey, this cake would be DELICIOUS if we stirred the pecans into it before cooking 🙂

So a couple days later, I’m at the grocery store, getting my cake mix, and pecans, and looking for the pie filling so I can make this cake again. (Me and Mama both LOVED this cake! It’s even better with just a smidge of butter spread on …. yummmmm). So I find the cans of pie filling, and I’m looking for the store brand (save my pennies where I can!), when my eyes drift down to the bottom shelf, and there is the PUMPKIN PIE FILLING!!!!! (I am a nut for pumpkin – more on this in a minute) And all my brain synapses fired, and said “use pumpkin pie filling, not apple pie filling!” And then I had to scrounge the store for the nuts, and of course I figured chocolate chunks couldn’t hurt anything… So here’s my Pumpkin Cake recipe…

1 box of yellow cake mix (brand doesn’t matter)

the number of eggs called for on the back of the box

1 can pumpkin pie filling (not the 15 oz 100% puree, the 21 oz ready-to-go-just-add-eggs stuff)

1 6oz  bag pecan pieces (optional, but very yummy)

1/2 of a 12 oz (approx 6 oz) bag of chocolate chunks (again, optional, but YUMMY!)

 

Combine the ingredients in a big mixing bowl. If you don’t have a Tupperware stack cooker, put in some sort of microwave-safe dish with a tube in the middle (it needs to look like a bundt pan – Mama happened to have a ceramic something that worked; it was actually designed to be a chicken cooker – think beer can chicken – but it worked!). Grease the dish. I should’ve microwaved longer – when I flipped it over, it was still ooey-gooey in the middle, and I wound up having to keep cooking it for several more minutes. Okay, so try 10-12 minutes at first, then stick a knife in right by the tube and see if it comes out clean. If it does, you’re cake should be done, and you should be able to flip it out onto a serving dish. If not, keep going a few more minutes. But it is OH-SO-YUMMY!!!! (It’s not very pretty, but boy, does it taste good!) I might try, next time, especially as the weather cools, baking it in the oven, and seeing what that does.

Now see, aren’t you glad you stuck in there; you got two recipes for the price of one 😀

Oh, quick promised tidbit on my and pumpkin – I LOVE pumpkin flavored stuff. October and November are two of my favorite months anyway, but even more so because Dairy Queen brings back the Pumpkin Pie blizzard! And the Beta club at the local high school does a coffee fundraiser; one of the flavors is Pumpkin Spice. This year, I’ve made my deal with the teacher over the Beta club, and he’s just gonna order me my very own box so I don’t have to track down 15 different Beta club kids to get my fix 😉 AND, this is the first time in my life I have EVER bought the ready-mix pumpkin pie filling. I am a stickler for Libby’s pumpkin puree, and mixing it according to the directions on the back of the can when making my pumpkin pie.

Enjoy!