Pumpkin Muffins Updated "2014 Style"

 A lot can change in a couple of years...

I shared an easy pumpkin muffin recipe a couple of years ago here on this blog. I hadn't made them for years so I decided to make a batch last week and this time I ran into a problem. My dear hubby didn't like them very much. His exact words were, "Were they baked long enough?" Of course I said, Yes, I baked them long enough, they are just a little more moist inside than usual. Then a couple days later, I decided to try one so I took one out of the freezer where I had stowed them away. After I took a bite, oooonnnnoooo...yuck, the texture was very moist, like it had not been baked inside. It felt like I had a mouthful of raw pumpkin, not one of my favorite textures. It kind of turned my stomach a little, but I knew no eggs were involved, and after all, my dear hubby was still alive so they must be ok-ish!?!

I puzzled over that for a few days, wondering what in the world had happened. I started looking at the many other recipes for 2-ingredient pumpking muffins/cake and they were all basically the same and didn't offer any insight to the problem. And then I got an idea. Yes, I put some brain cells together and came up with an idea. I raced to my cupboard and pulled out a cake mix I had bought for another project. I looked at the Net Weight. It said 15.25 ounces! I checked my recipe and the recipe calls for an 18.25 ounce cake mix!! Wow, how do the big companies like Pillsbury get away with that! They should have brought it to our attention! I had noticed that the boxes were smaller but never would have guessed that they were putting less inside the box. Think of all the recipes people have used for years and that can't possibly turn out like they did without major adaptation. I knew I had solved the mystery. I do realize that most everyone who bakes with a cake mix has probably solved this mystery years ago. I have been in the baking slow lane for a while now.

Yes, I realize this muffin has a frosty texture on top. I took this frozen muffin out of the freezer for your enjoyment! It's back in the freezer bag with the rest of the pumpkin muffins. We will most likely save them for 6 months and then throw away because we didn't like them!

I do have to say, the flavor in these muffins was fantastic! I added cinnamon, (lots of) ginger, cardamom (just a little, it is very strong), star anise, vanilla and orange peel! Oh what a waste of taste!

In case you are interested, I am posting a recipe for cake mix that you can make ahead and keep on hand. This recipe works in place of a 18.25 ounce cake mix. There may be other cake mixes out there that have kept their weight at 18.25 ounces but I don't use them that often so I'm not going to go searching for them. I am keeping this recipe here for safe keeping.

Homemade Yellow Cake Mix:
2 cups Flour
1-1/2 cups Sugar
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 cup Non-Fat Dry Milk

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and non-fat milk. Store in an airtight container or zip bag. Keeps well in the pantry for months.

Thank you to Chickens in the Road for this recipe. You will see more cake variations on her blog.

Enjoy!

Pickled Golden Beets with Ginger and Star Anise

 While I was in pickling mode, I was reminded how easy it is to pickle things! I went on a crazy search for anything and everything I could pickle! I decided to go for it and make pickled beets, not the red ones but the under-rated yellow beets.

I was so happy to find a recipe that used whole star anise! It looks so nice tucked inside this jar.

 My dear hubby loves beets so I asked him if this recipe's ingredients  sounded good to him when pickled. He said YES so he helped me make these beets that are mostly for him! Don't worry, we will share.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it comes from the food blog Garden Therapy.

This recipe makes 4 pints of pickled beets. We have not tried ours yet because we are trying to save them for the holidays. They will be here very soon. Less than 10 weeks until Christmas!

Enjoy!

Pickled

If you love pickles, raise your hand...I'm raising mine! I consider myself a pickle connoisseur. Not just any old pickle. No run of the mill pickles for me! I grew up in a home that always had Mrs. Neusihin's Pickles. Only Mrs. Neusihin's dill pickles! It was a sad day when they were bought-out by a Wisconsin company. Fred Meyer's sold them for a few years but they appear to be gone from the west coast. Never fear, make your own.

My mom-in-law made pickles every year 30+ years ago. They were very similiar to the pickles we ate at my parents house. When our kids and their cousins were young, we ate Sunday dinner at my in-laws house almost every Sunday after church. The condiments, pickles, olives, carrot and celery sticks were the first foods on the table. By the time we sat down to eat, all the pickles and olives were long gone! Surprisingly, the carrots and celery were left for the adults.

I was pickless for years. It took me many years to find a pickle I would/could eat. I can't tell you how many times I was told, "Here, try this pickle, it's exactly how you like them." Not!!! When we lived in SoCal, I finally found my new favorite pickles, Bubbies. They are so good and hard to beat. We don't eat very many pickles but when we do, it has to be Bubbies.

Well... that is last summer and I got the crazy idea that I wanted to make some dill pickles. I had made pickles with my mom-in-laws recipe back in the 80's and it sounded like a great idea to try it again. My dear hubby is always ready for anything, so we had fun shopping at our favorite farm stands for the best ingredients and then we jumped in and made pickles. We accomplished all of that in one fun afternoon. Projects are always more fun when your helper is very strong and does all the heavy lifting!

These turned out very good!

It's always nice when you put out a lot of time and energy and you are rewarded with it turning out well. I enjoy sharing projects that are successful with family and friends. We made seven quarts and I expect they will be gone by January 2015!

Here is my dear mom-in-laws recipe for Never Fail Pickles

Enjoy!