PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE WITH GINGERSNAP CRUST

Each little cheesecake (or two) is the perfect portion size and the gingersnap crumb crust goes perfectly with the pumpkin filling. This recipe makes 12 little scrumptious cheesecakes, but you could easily double it for a crowd.

 2/3 cup of crushed gingersnaps (about 15)
2 tablespoons of melted butter

Mix the crumbs and melted butter and put a scant tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of 12 paper lined cupcake compartments; press down the crumbs into an even layer and bake in a 325 degree oven for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

8 ounce cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
½ cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream everything together until very well mixed.
Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, until well mixed.

Fill the paper cupcake liners ¾ full. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 325. My oven took 30 minutes. Chill in the pan for several hours. Remove the cupcake paper before serving and top with whipped cream.

LEMON - BUTTER COOKIES

I love it when you find a recipe that you know you already have all of the ingredients, even if you are snowed in, or haven't gone shopping in a while. That describes this super quick, super easy, super tasty lemon butter cookie.

¾ cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
a little extra sugar to roll cookies in

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until it is very light and fluffy (this takes a few minutes at high speed). Beat in egg, corn syrup and extracts. Add the flour, baking soda & baking powder and mix well.

Roll dough into 1" balls then roll the balls in granulated sugar. Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2 or 3 inches a part. Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 12 minutes or until they are just golden around the edges.

FUDGE CREAM PIE

I decided to try this chocolate pie recipe because it looked so simple. You do not have to temper the eggs, no complicated steps and multiple bowls to deal with. It is super quick, super easy and produces a super thick chocolate filling. It was a huge hit for the chocolate lovers at our house!!

 9" baked pie crust
1¼ cups white sugar
2 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
4 egg yolks
2 one ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In medium saucepan, combine sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. In a medium bowl, beat milk and egg yolks until smooth. Gradually stir the milk mixture into the saucepan that has the sugar mixture in it. Cook over medium heat (stir constantly) until the mixture comes to a full boil. Boil and stir for a minute or two or until it's very thick.
Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate, butter and vanilla until the butter is melted. Pour into baked pie shell.
Place plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the hot filling (this will prevent a skin from forming on the pudding). Chill overnight. Top with whipped cream and chocolate curls.

BAKED ONION RINGS

Don't let this terrible photo fool you, these onion rings are deliciously addicting!! I found this recipe on Donna's blog over at My Tasty Treasures. There are only 2 tablespoons of oil in the whole batch, but you would never know it; this recipe is a keeper!!

The onion rings bake up light as air, super crispy and packed with flavor!!
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1 medium size vidalia onion
1½ cups corn flakes
½ cup plain dry bread crumbs (I used Panko)
1 large egg
½ cup low fat buttermilk
¼ cup flour
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
pepper to taste
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Put the corn flakes and bread crumbs in the food processor and pulse until you get fine crumbs (set aside).
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Mix the egg, buttermilk, flour, cayenne and black pepper. Cut the ends off of the vidalia onion and then cut the center of the onion into four thick slices. Separate the rings.
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Dip the raw onion rings into the batter and set them on a baking rack so the excess batter will drip off (put a baking sheet under the rack, or set the whole rack in the sink to help reduce any mess).
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Put 2 tablespoons olive oil (I used canola oil) on a rimmed baking sheet and put it in the oven for 2 minutes to preheat. After 2 minutes, remove the pan and tilt it to redistribute the oil. Coat the battered rings in the fine dry crumb mixture and place on the baking sheet.

Bake for 16 minutes in a 450 degree pre-heated oven (turn them over half way through). Remove from oven and sprinkle with coarse salt.

NOTE: I don't know if these would be as good with a plain yellow onion. I used vidalia's because they are our favorite. Any sweet onion would work.

TACO BELL RED SAUCE CLONE RECIPE

I admit it, there are certain items that I really enjoy at Taco Bell. Yes, I know it's not authentic Mexican food, but when you like something, well, you overlook things like that. One thing I enjoy at TB is a warm condiment called red sauce. It is not the hot sauce that comes in a packet; it is the steaming hot red sauce that is served on their tostados and their Mexican pizza. This recipe is about as close to the original taste as you can get!!!

 1 (8 ounce) can of tomato sauce
1/3 cup water
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1½ teaspoon ground cumin
1½ teaspoons dry onion flakes
1 tablespoon white vinegar
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon white sugar
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix everything and simmer (on very low) for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot. The "spice level" is very moderate if you use it right away. It is a little spicier if you let it sit in the fridge overnight.
Serve (as a hot condiment) with any Mexican food.

NOTE: I was surprised to see that there is vinegar in this sauce (you can't taste it in the final product).

NOTE: I don't usually buy garlic salt. I just mix it up with 3 parts salt to 1 part garlic powder, stir well.

MUFFIN POPPERS

My husbands winter occupation (hobby) is restoring vintage snowmachines. He has a shop on our property and needless to say, there are days when very little "restoring" happens because the shop is full of his buddies discussing their most recent snowmachine adventures. When the shop is full, I enjoy sending out a big plate of baked goods to get their opinion on a new recipe. Today, I sent these (super easy) little muffin poppers out and the "guys" hovered over them like vultures (a good sign), the little gems got a big thumbs up.

2 cups flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat your oven to 400 and lightly grease/spray a mini-muffin pan with vegetable spray.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients, then stir in the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Beat together until well blended.

Fill mini-muffin cups about ½ full. Bake in 400 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes (my oven took 13 minutes) or until they spring back when touched.

Let the little muffins cool a minute or so, then remove them from the pan. Brush all surfaces with melted butter and roll in cinnamon sugar. Serve warm (but great room temperature too).

NOTE: This recipe makes about 3 dozen mini-muffins.

MICROWAVE RICE

This is a handy little recipe for rice cooked in the microwave oven. It is easy, requires no "pot watching" and produces perfect rice.

2 cups boiling water
1 cup long grain white rice (not instant)

Mix everything in a heat safe glass or ceramic bowl and cook on high (uncovered) in your microwave for 10 minutes. Remove and fluff with a fork. Return to microwave and cook at 50% power for another 5 minutes. Fluff again with the fork. That's it!!

NOTE: All microwaves cook differently. If you have an underpowered microwave, you may have to cook it an extra minute on 50% power. If you have a super powerful microwave...maybe subtract a minute during the 50% stage.

NOTE: Add butter and favorite seasonings to rice AFTER it is cooked.