Pumpkin Roll

I am back… God has healed me and I am able to enjoy life again woohoo! This Thanksgiving is going to be extra special with all that I have to be thankful for. I thank all of you that have been praying for me ,words can’t express how thankful I am for you!   Today I thought I would update the pumpkin roll recipe. We are making a couple of pumpkin rolls for friends that provide service for us over the year. For the past few years I have been trying to convert my mom to using parchment paper instead of wax paper for baking the pumpkin roll on, well today was the day that we tried it and what do you know it worked like a dream! Our pumpkin roll recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving dessert, elegant but no fuss. Let me know your Thanksgiving traditions, one of my family’s is to bake pumpkin rolls for people who have provided us with excellent service through out the year. I hope all of my American friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, love and God’s richest blessings!
Find out more about my pumpkin roll recipe and tradition after the jump 🙂 
Today I am re-posting my pumpkin roll recipe, I originally posted the recipe on November 19, 2013. I have taken new pictures of the pumpkin roll since I have progressed in my food photography as well as bought a new camera. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family has for years!

November 19, 2013
Pumpkin Roll has been a family tradition at Thanksgiving time for as long as I can  remember. My mom was given the recipe many years ago at a Woman’s Event at  church, over the years we have changed the recipe and made it our own. I  remember when I was about 5 years old and living in Florida, we were having a  garage sale and my mom set out a plate of her Pumpkin Roll to give samples. At the  garage sale a Restaurant owner ate a bite of the pumpkin roll and was immediately  in love with it! He asked her to bake several rolls for his restaurants, after that the  word was out! My mom and I made countless pumpkin rolls for restaurants and  friends, my mom turned her pumpkin roll into a business. We had the business for about two years. Now that I am older and love to cook I have taken over the making of the pumpkin roll, I now carry on the tradition ever year.

Moms Pumpkin Roll

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

3 eggs

2/3 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Mix flour, cinnamon, and baking soda then set aside. In another bowl mix remaining ingredients until smooth. Add in flour mixture half at a time slowly in pumpkin mixture. After all of the ingredients are mixed together and smooth, pour the batter onto a jelly pan/ large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure the parchment paper is hanging over the pan so that when it is done cooking you can hold onto the paper to take it out of the pan. Place the batter into the preset oven for 10-15 minutes, while the batter is in the oven prepare a piece of wax paper on the counter with powdered sugar dusted onto it. Once the cake is done in the oven pull the cake out of the pan and turn it out on to the piece of wax paper you have on the counter. Quickly pull the cake off of the parchment paper you cooked it on. Once the cake is off the parchment paper you cooked it on roll the cake onto it self with the wax paper dusted with powdered sugar let it cool. Once the cake is cooled go ahead and make the filling for the pumpkin roll.

Filling for Pumpkin Roll

3 TBS butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract’

Cream the softened butter and cream cheese with a mixer. Once the butter and cream cheese are smooth slowly add in the powdered sugar in small increments. After you have added all of the powdered sugar into the cream cheese and butter mixture and it is smooth add in the vanilla. Spread the cream cheese filling into the cooled pumpkin roll, make sure the filling is evenly distributed through out the pumpkin roll. After you have spread the filling, reroll the pumpkin roll in a new piece of wax paper, tape the ends of the wax paper onto it self so that the Pumpkin Roll is completely covered. Enjoy the Pumpkin Roll out of the fridge.

Crepes for Thanksgiving Breakfast.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope you enjoy this day with your families! We all have so much to be thankful for!

Every year for Christmas for as long as I can remember we have had  Crepes for breakfast on Christmas morning, it has become one of my  favorite traditions! Over the past couple years we have come to the  realization that this tradition is to good to be kept for only Christmas,  last year we had the Crepes on New Years Day as well. This year we  decided to make them on Thanksgiving. This tradition is one I  plan on continuing when I have my own family. The crepes are super easy to make, which is one of the reasons we love them! Also they  look just as wonderful as they taste! Feel free to fill the crepes with  what ever you would like, below I have listed some ideas.

The Ingredients

The batter in the blender.

Melting the butter.

Pouring the batter into the hot skillet.

The crepe is cooking.

The finished product.

Without any further adieu here is the recipe for my families crepes.

Crepes 

Ingredients

1/2 tsp salt

1 TBL sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup half and half

1/2 cup skim milk

2  TBS melted butter

1 cup all purpose flour

1 TBS butter

Some Ideads for the Filling for the Crepes

Your favorite jam

Whipped Cream

Powdered Sugar

Nutella

Fresh Fruit

Combine the salt, sugar, eggs, milk, butter and vanilla in a blender until well mixed. Add in 1/2 a cup of flour at a time and blend until smooth. Let the batter chill in the fridge for at least half an hour. When you are ready to cook blend the batter again so that it is smooth. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat, place a small amount of butter in the hot skillet, let it melt. Pour the batter into the middle of the pan, pour enough batter to almost cover the bottom of the skillet, Move the pan around just slightly to bring the batter to the edges of the pan. Once the crepes has bubbles flip it with a plastic spatula. Once the crepe is brown on both sides take it out of the pan and place it on a warm plate. Continue the above steps until you have no batter left. Once all of the Crepes are cooked you can begin filling them with your favorite fillings.  We place all of the fillings on the table so everyone can choose what they would like.

Enjoy!

Christmas at The Galt House Hotel in Louisville Kentucky.

Last night for dinner we visited Cafe Magnolia at The Galt House Hotel.
We arrived around 5:30 and were seated promptly by the window looking out at the river. Our waiter was wonderful! His level of service was reminiscent of a Fine Dining Restaurant! We ordered the Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken and the Florentine Chicken Pasta, both came with a salad. The salad was good, nothing truly spectacular about it, but good! When our food arrived we were shocked to find the Teriyaki Chicken was inedible, it was so salty we could not eat it! Also some pieces of the chicken were shredded, other pieces were cubed, the chicken was not cooked properly. The Florentine Chicken was better but still on the salty side.

When we called our waiter over he immediately apologized and put in a order for the Florentine Chicken and said he would have a manager come over. Fifteen minutes later our waiter came over again to inform us that our new dish would be out soon but that he could not find the manager, he again apologized and said as soon as he found the manager he would send her over. Once our new dish came, the manager finally came over and asked what the problem was. We explained the issue to her, she then replied that she would take the Teriyaki Chicken off our bill then off she went. We ate both dishes of Florentine Chicken but was not completely satisfied. Once we were done with our meal we had to wait another 25 minutes for our bill. So in closing for the restaurant portion of The Galt House Hotel, Cafe Magnolia was very disappointing, but on the bright side our waiter was amazing!

After we finished eating we decided to walk around the hotel to see the Christmas Displays. At The Galt House Hotel they are known for their Christmas Spectacular, they have been featured on several media outlets. We did not have enough time to go through The KaLightoscope Christmas event but we did enjoy walking around the two towers of The Galt House Hotel. There are so many beautiful decorations and lights, the pictures below don’t do justice to the beauty of the Hotel and Christmas decorations. They do have several other restaurants on site. Including the Rivue that is on the 25th floor offering spectacular views of the City. They also have a little coffee shop where you can grab a cup of coffee and sit down in the beautifully decorated atrium and take in all the beautiful hanging lights and displays. If you are ever in the Louisville Kentucky area at Christmas time I highly suggest visiting the Galt House and trying one of the many other restaurants they have.

When we came out of the hotel we where surprised by the fact it was Snowing! The picture below does not do the snow justice!

Related articles

• Dawne Gee plays Santa at the Galt House Hotel (wave3.com)
• Light Up Louisville! (sanctuaryhomes.net)
• Kalightoscope kicks-off for Christmas season at Galt House (whas11.com)

Don’t Know what to do with the Leftover Turkey?? I have a Plan!

If you are anything like my family you always have Turkey leftover after Thanksgiving Dinner!

Here is a sure fire way to impress and use up the leftovers of Turkey!

The finished project.

Dry ingredients for the dough.

The dough is all mixed and ready to go in the fridge.

Browning the carrots.

Making a thickener for the filling.

The filling simmering.

The potatoes baked and broken up in the Ramekins.

Cutting the Pie dough for the top of the Pot Pie.

The Filling in the Ramekins awaiting the pie crust.

The Pot Pies ready to go in the oven.

Homemade Pie Crust Recipe Link

TO MAKE THE POT PIES: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and grease 4 10-ounce ramekins with butter or olive oil.

Roll the pie crust out and use a bowl, slightly larger than the ramekin, trace and cut out 4 circles, using the scraps to make more if needed. After you have cut the circles out rewrap with Saran Wrap and place in fridge until you are ready to use them. You should have some dough leftover, I used the leftover pie dough for a Quiche the next day. If you have leftover Pie crust and would like to use it with in a day, roll the dough out to fit your dish then place in fridge until you are ready to use it. If not using the leftover dough immediately wrap tightly with Saran Wrap and freeze.

Individual Leftover Turkey Pot Pies

1 pound Boneless, leftover Turkey

3 TBL butter

2 whole Carrots, peeled and diced small

2 Celery Stalks, diced small

1 cup Diced Cooked Potatoes

1 medium Yellow Onion, peeled and diced small

2 cups leftover Turkey gravy or Turkey Broth

1 cups Whole Milk or Half and Half

1/2 cup Flour

2 teaspoons Kosher Salt, more or less to taste

1/2 teaspoons Black Pepper, more or less to taste

1 tablespoon Dried Parsley

1 Bay Leaf

Homemade Pie Crust

4 (10-ounce) Ramekins

DIRECTIONS:

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large,deep pan.

Add in the diced carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add in the diced onion and celery and season with a teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent and the carrots are soft.

Pour in the Turkey Gravy/Turkey broth and the 1 cup of whole milk. Let that simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened 5-8 minutes. If the filling still needs to be thickened mix together a couple tablespoons of flour with the same amount water in a bowl, slowly add the thickening agent to the filling whisking while pouring it in.

Next add in the dried parsley and bay leaf, stir. Taste, add seasoning if needed.

Place the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Evenly divide the diced cooked potatoes into each prepared ramekin.

Spoon the pot pie filling evenly over the potatoes, filling the ramekins to the brim. Let them cool down a bit before placing the pie dough over top and crimping the edges. With a sharp knife make slits for ventilation.

Slide the tray of pot pies into a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden.

Remove and let them cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

NOTES:

*For a glossy top crust, try beating an egg with a tablespoon of water and brush over top before baking.

*This can also be made in one 13×9 baking dish.

Related articles

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• Individual Chicken Pot Pies (greensmoothiewithasideofries.wordpress.com)
• Herb Crust Mini Chicken Pot Pies (makingitwithdanielle.com)

Homemade Pie Crust

Are you looking for a flaky easy to make Pie Crust? Well then, you have come to the right place!

Dry Ingredients for the Pie Crust.

The pie crust ready to go in to the fridge.

Homemade Pie Crust

YIELD: makes two 9 inch pie crusts

2 1/4 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 stick Ice Cold Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup Shortening Ice Cold, cut into pieces

6-10 tablespoons Ice Cold Water depending on your dough

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the butter into the flour and salt in a bowl until it’s crumbly. Next add one tablespoon of ice cold water at a time mixing the dough with your hands until it forms in to large clumps and resembles coarse wet sand. Divide in half, form into round disks and wrap into plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let it rest.

Roll out dough evenly and lay into a 9 inch pie plate leaving an inch overhang. Fold the inch overhang underneath to form a rim, crimp with fingertips. Add desired filling and repeat with the second disk of dough.

If using the second disk as a top crust, fold top edge of dough under the bottom edge of dough and crimp. Remember to cut the steam vents in the center of the top dough to let the steam escape.

 

Recipes Made Thus Far on this Blog with this Recipe:

Leftover Turkey Pot Pie