Sweetie's Kitchen Adventures

Can I tell you how excited I am to have joined the Cake Slice Bakers!! The first recipe selected is appropriate for the impending fall-ish weather. (Come on Fall… come down to Texas, I can't wait for you to get here!!) And I am excited even further by the fact that I cooked my own pumpkin! (Not that you have to do that… just another one of those things I wanted to try). Anyways, this recipe is simple to throw together and delicious to boot! It goes perfect with a cup of coffee. Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground cloves Pinch nutmeg 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 1/4 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 cup canned pumpkin puree 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/3 cup milk 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup chopped walnuts Directions: Heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves and nutmeg in a medium...

Sounds a little naughty doesn't it... Mmmmm, pumpkin and cream cheese. Tiny little pumpkin cakes filled with a delectable cream cheese frosting, and to top it off they were so super easy to make! Seriously, if I knew they were that easy I would have made them the first night I read the recipe. I halved the original recipe (thank goodness) because it made A LOT!  Ingredients: For cakes 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 Tbsp cinnamon 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger 1/2 Tbsp ground cloves 1 cup dark brown sugar 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola) 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree, slightly chilled. 1 large egg 1/2 tsp vanilla For filling 1/2 cup butter, softened 4 oz cream cheese, softened 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (Can I make a confession? I never preheat my oven at the beginning of a recipe. Seriously, how long does it take to warm up?? I usually turn it on...

Benvenuto Giada! I am so excited that Giada is the chef we will be cooking from for the next six months over at I Heart Cooking Clubs!!! She is my absolute favorite celebrity chef. Over the years I've made many of her recipes and can't wait to make more. After browsing through some of her recipes over at the Food Network web site I settled on a simple but oh so delicious recipe of fried ravioli. They were so good! And easy... and GOOD!! Mmmm, just looking at the picture makes me wish I has more. Ingredients: Olive oil, for frying 1 cup buttermilk 2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs 1 box store bought cheese ravioli 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Marinara sauce, heated, for dipping Directions: Pour enough olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medioum heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees. While the oil is heating, put the buttermilk and the bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Dip ravioli in buttermilk to coat, al...