Recipes Discovered

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake Recipe

Paula Deen is the queen of rich and delicious food. It may not be good for you, but it definitely taste good. I have heard so many people rant and rave about her Gooey Butter Cakes, I thought I would try the pumpkin version for one of our Thanksgiving desserts.

The recipe is actually really simple. For the crust, I mixed together a yellow cake mix, an egg, and melted butter until it formed a dough, and then I pressed it into the bottom of a baking dish. For the filling, I creamed together cream cheese, pumpkin puree, eggs, butter, and vanilla. I added powdered sugar and cinnamon to the filling, but I left out the nutmeg. Once the filling was mixed together, I poured it over the crust, and then baked it for 40 minutes. The recipe is very specific to not over bake the cake. The center definitely not set at all when I took it out of the oven, but the cake is supposed to be a little gooey, hence the name. I let the cake set at room temperature overnight, and served it with fresh whipped cream.

True to Paula Deen’s reputation, this cake was rich and incredibly sweet. Maybe a little too sweet, but I’m not sure if I could cut down on the sugar without compromising the gooey center, which was one of my favorite parts of this dessert. I really liked that the crust was just a little bit crisp and then the filling was creamy. There are a lot of variations to this cake, which makes it a great recipe to keep around.

Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe

With the holiday season already started, it’s difficult to stay away from food that might not be so healthy. I’m sure I will be posting a ton of dessert and cookie recipes in the weeks to come, so I thought I would make a quick post about vegetable soup. I really wanted a bowl of soup last night, and this is what I made up as I went along. I first sauteed onions, carrots, and celery for about 10 minutes, and then added some garlic. After sauteing the garlic for a minute, I added tomato sauce, chicken broth, and frozen peas, corn, and green beans. I let everything cook together another 10 minutes or so, and then removed it from the heat and added a squeeze of lemon juice and some parsley. It was a simple and delicious dinner that made me feel a little better about eating all that pie over Thanksgiving.

Triple Coconut Cream Pie Recipe

As I mentioned in a previous post, Seth and I had a chance to eat at Tom Douglas’ restaurant, Dahlia Lounge, in Seattle where we had an incredible dinner that ended with Triple Coconut Cream Pie. It’s called Triple Coconut Cream Pie because the crust is a coconut pastry shell filled with coconut cream and then topped with even more coconut. The pie is simple divine. I bought Tom Douglas’ book, Seattle Kitchen, so I could attempt to make the pie myself. Most of my family likes coconut, so I made it for one of our Thanksgiving desserts. This post will be long since there are a lot of details to making the pie, so I will just say now that everyone loved the pie. My family even asked me to make it again for Christmas! It does take a bit of time so make, but it’s definitely worth the effort. >> Read more

Tomato Soup Recipe

I found this really easy recipe for tomato soup the other day that I thought I would share. Simply saute onions and garlic in a little olive oil until they are soft and then add canned tomatoes and chicken broth. Once everything has simmered together, transfer the mixture to the blender and blend until smooth. In the same saucepan, melt some butter and then add flour. Cook the flour for a minute before whisking the tomato mixture back into the saucepan. Simmer for a couple minutes to let the soup thicken up and then season with salt and maybe some sugar. I like to garnish my tomato soup with a little basil as well. The soup is really simple, but sometimes, definitely in this case, simple is best.

Update: New and Improved Recipe

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage Recipe

Spinach Salad with Apples and Red Onion Recipe

As much as I love to cook, sometimes I don’t like to think about what I am cooking. Enter Rachael Ray. Now I know some people can’t stand her while others think she is the best thing ever, but I will say that usually, she has pretty decent recipes. What I really like about her is that she doesn’t just prepare a recipe, she prepares a complete meal that works together. The flavors compliment each other, and it’s well balanced. For dinner the other night, Seth and I had pasta with pumpkin and sausage along with a spinach salad with apples and red onion. All the ingredients worked together, and, best of all, I didn’t have to think about what I was cooking.

First, the salad, which is really simple. The dressing it simply olive oil, vinegar, grain mustard, honey, salt, and pepper. After whisking it together, I poured it over spinach leaves topped with sliced apples and red onions. >> Read more