Caramel Cream Pumpkin Pie

1 Recipe Gesine's Piecrust (see here)
1 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 c. half-and-half
8 egg yolks, (reserve whites for Meringue Topping)
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
4 tsp. unflavored gelatin
1 c. pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each - ground nutmeg, cloves, and ginger
1/2 c. whipped cream
1 Recipe Meringue Topping (see here)

Prepare Gesine's Piecrust.  Divide pastry into 3 balls.  Combine 2 to form 1 large ball; wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Reserve remaining ball for another use.

For filling, in a large saucepan combine granulated sugar, 1/3 c. water, and lemon juice.  Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Brush sides of pan with moist pastry brush to remove clinging sugar.  Increase heat to medium-high; cook until a medium amber color (slightly lighter than a penny), about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat; pour in half-and-half (mixture will bubble vigorously but calm down quickly).  Return to low heat; stir until caramel dissolves into cream.  Keep warm.

In a large bowl whisk together egg yolks, brown sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and 1/2 tsp. salt until well combined.  While whisking, slowly pour warm caramel mixture into bowl; continue whisking until well combined.  Transfer to a large saucepan; whisk over medium heat until thickened, about 8 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl; cover surface of cream completely to avoid forming a skin.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 F.  On a lightly floured surface use your hands to slightly flatten a large pastry ball.  Roll pastry from center to edges in a circle 13 inches in diameter.  Transfer to a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.  Trim to 1/2 inch over edge; crimp edge lightly to the lip of the plate.  Prick bottom and sides of pastry with a fork.  Wrap and refrigerate 20 minutes.

Line dough with parchment paper; fill with dried beans or pie weights to top.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove parchment paper and weights; bake for another 15 minutes or until lightly golden.  Cool on a wire rack.  Once cool, spread half the caramel mixture in an even layer on prepared crust.

In a large microwave-safe bowl soften gelatin in 2/3 c. water; let stand several minutes.  head in microwave on 50% power for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until gelatin is dissolved, swirling every 30 seconds.  Stir in pumpkin puree, spices, 6 drops of orange food coloring (if desired), and remaining half of the caramel cream.

In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; gently fold into pumpkin mixture.  Spread over caramel in prepared crust.  Refrigerate at least 4 hours.  Top with meringue Topping.

Makes 10 servings.

Fuzzy Citrus Sodas

1 1/4 c. fresh clementine juice (from about 10 clementines)
1 clementine, sliced thinly crosswise for garnishing
1/3 c. sugar
ice
1 Liter seltzer, chilled

In a small saucepan, cook 1 c. clementine juice and sugar over medium-high heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves.  Simmer until syrupy, about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1/4 c. clementine juice.  Allow to cool.  Divide syrup among 4 ice-filled glasses and stir in seltzer.  Garnish each glass with several clementine slices.

Makes 4.

Chocolate Croissant Cookies

• 1 4 ounce stick  unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 9 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 egg white, beaten
• Coarse white sanding sugar

• Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar on high speed for 3 minutes.
• Add the vanilla and salt and mix at low speed until blended. Mix in the flour at low speed until incorporated.
• Divide the dough into thirds; pat into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees . Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment. Roll out each dough disk into an 8-inch round. Stack the rounds between pieces of parchment, place on a small baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter; let cool for 5 minutes.
• Place 1 dough round on a floured surface. Using a small offset spatula, spread with 1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. melted butter; sprinkle with 3 tbsp. chocolate chips and 1 tbsp. granulated sugar. Using a large knife, cut the round into 8 wedges.
• Working from the wide end, roll up each wedge and transfer to a prepared pan, spacing evenly and bending in the ends to form a crescent shape. Refrigerate the cookies while you repeat with the remaining dough round, butter, chocolate chips and granulated sugar.
• Brush the cookies with egg white; sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Bake until golden, 22 to 24 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.

Chocolate Cookie Dough

1 c. sugar
4 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 c. flour

Using an electric mixer, cream the sugar, butter, and salt at high speed until well blended - about 3 minutes.  Scrape the bowl down, add the egg & vanilla, and beat for 1 minute.

Beat in the cocoa at medium speed until thoroughly blended.  Add the flour and mix at low speed just until incorporated.

(Recipe is from Every Day with Rachael Ray.  One person suggested cutting cookies into circles, baking, and then sandwiching with frosting in the middle.  I would guess that you would bake cookies between 325 and 350 F but the recipe does not have any baking instructions.)

Hot Crock Chocolate Pudding

6 eggs, at room temperature
4 c. heavy cream, at room temperature
1/8 tsp. salt
1 lb. semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 c. marshmallow cream, like Fluff
Grated chocolate, for garnishing

In a medium slow cooker, whisk together eggs, cream, and salt.  Add the chocolate chips, cover and set the slow cooker to high heat to melt, about 30 minutes.  Whisk mixture together until smooth.

Cook on low heat for another 30 minutes.  Scrape down the slow cooker; whisk the pudding.  Cook until set at the edges but loose in center, 1 hour 15 minutes; whisk until smooth.  Hold on the warm setting.

Just before serving, whisk the pudding.  Spoon into mugs or bowls and then top with marshmallow cream.  Garnish with grated chocolate.

Chicken Salad-Stuffed Tomatoes

4 large tomatoes
1/4 c. mayo
2 c. finely chopped chicken
1 c. corn
peppers, diced
seasoning of choice

Core tomatoes.  Mix together mayo, chicken, corn, peppers, and seasonings.  Spoon into tomato shells.

Makes 4

Almost Chrissy's Bread

In mixer bowl (I use my Bosch and it is the BEST machine ever!) or large bowl, mix 3 cups of warm water (you want it warm, not cold or hot) with 3 tablespoons of active dry yeast and 5 heaping tablespoons of brown sugar.

*the sugar is important because it feeds the yeast. You can use honey or white sugar but I like the molasses taste of brown sugar. Chrissy uses honey.
*try to get most, if not all, yeast granules immersed in the water either by swirling or stirring

Let mixture proof while you get out flour (King Arthur brand or ConAgra for hotels), salt, yeast enhancer, and prepare milk mixture.

In a glass measuring cup pour about 1/4 cup of molasses (my addition) and fill the remaining 3/4 cup with milk (up to the 1 cup line for those of you who don't want to add fractions). If you don't want to use molasses, fill measuring cup with 1 cup of milk. Add 4 tablespoons of butter - cubed so they melt better. Warm entire mixture in microwave. Again, you want it warm, not hot or cold. (For my current microwave that means 1 minute but my previous microwave only needed 30 seconds.)

*When I am making bread without dairy I use rice or almond milk and a good olive oil. Although not as yummy, it works just fine and my family devours it. In fact, I don't think they know the difference.

Once yeast has proofed (that means it is bubbly and foamy), add about 3 cups of flour. Start to mix into yeast mixture. It does not need to be completely mixed before you continue. Add about 1/2 of the milk mixture and start to incorporate, once again not mixing to completeness. Add about 3 more cups of flour along with 1 tablespoon yeast enhancer Once mixed, add remaining 1/2 of the milk mixture, mix, 2 more cups of flour and 1 1/2  teaspoons - 1 tablespoon of salt. (I pour a palmful of salt into my bread.), mix, and continue to add flour in one cup increments until dough is a slightly sticky cookie dough feel where I get a small amount of dough stuck to my finger but not a lot. It should also pull away from the sides and become a ball as you knead through each step.

*When making it by hand, I would pull it out of the bowl after adding the second flour and salt and knead it on my counter - adding the remaining ingredients a bit slower. When making it by hand it tends to be a bit drier - or at least it was when I made it.

*You don't want to add the salt into the yeast mixture before you have given it a good flour base. The salt will kill the yeast if there is not flour already in the mix which is why I add it in the second flour step.

Once dough is to the consistency you want it, place in 3 greased bread pans. Cover the pans with saran wrap and then a good quality kitchen or bathroom towel. The warmer the bread stays and the warmer the environment, the faster it will rise. (The amount of humidity in the air plays a big part as well.)

Let the dough double in size. While they are rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*If you let them over rise, feel free to reshape them into loaves and let them rise again.

Once they are the size you want them to be, place them in the oven for 36 minutes. You want the internal temperature to be around 190 degrees. (Chrissy cooks hers to 195 and I am okay with mine somewhere between 185 and 190.) Once the internal temperature has been reached, removed from oven. Smother the top with butter (unless you are making it dairy free). Remove loaves from bread pans and place immediately on cooling racks. YUM YUM!!

*I like my crust to be crusty so I leave my bread out for a while to cool
*You don't want to refrigerate homemade bread
*Eat within about 4ish days or it will start to mold
*If making rolls, divide the dough into thirds and divide each third into 12. Place on a greased cookie sheet and let rise until doubled. Cook for 18-19 minutes.