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If you love pumpkin and cream cheese, you are going to adore these pretty pumpkin cake balls. These do take a little time and effort, but the result is well worth it!

Ingredients

Dump ingredients into a bowl and mix well on medium speed until blended.

 

Pour into a greased cake pan or baking dish and bake at 350 until lightly browned and edges pull away from the pan.

 

Once the cake is done, remove from oven and let cool completely. Spoon in half a can of frosting and mix well.

 

As in completely obliterate the cake while mixing in the frosting. When you are done with this, you’re ready to form the mix into balls.

 

Roll into balls (or scoop) about 1 inch in diameter (or make bigger ones if you want to dip less). If the balls seem a little smooshy, pop in the freezer for a few minutes.

 

Use a pretzel stick, dipped in almond bark, as a handle.

 

Dip away then decorate with edible glitter, sprinkles or food gel!

Pumpkin Cake Balls

 

1 vanilla cake mix

1 egg

1 small can of pumpkin

½ cup evaporated milk

½ cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 can cream cheese frosting

1 package candy coating (Almond Bark)

Sprinkles or other decoration

Pretzel sticks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix cake mix, egg, pumpkin, milk, sugar and spices until well blended. Pour into a greased 11 x 176 baking pan. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cake is lightly browned and a finger poked in the top bounces bake. Cool completely.

In a large bowl, break up entire cake then mix in 1/2 the can of frosting. You may have to get your hands into the project to get it thoroughly mixed and you most definitely will get hands-on- involvement when you form the balls. The size is totally dependent on how big you want to make them. I’d stick in the ballpark of between one to two inches diameter.

If the cake seems too moist, pop in the freezer for a few minutes and the balls will be easy to form. If you are more talented than I am with a melon baller you can use it or form them by hand. Once they are formed, melt the candy coating, a little at a time. Pop it in the microwave in 20-second intervals until it is melted. Do not reheat it as it gets gunky and icky very quickly. Use it up then melt the next round.

When  the candy coating is ready, dip in the ends of the pretzel sticks then stab them into the balls. Let them sit until the coating is nice and firm. This is very important. If you don’t do this, your sticks may fall out.

Once the balls are ready for dipping, use a spoon to swirl coating over the balls. Tap the edge of the stick lightly on the bowl to get off excess coating. Cover the ball in sprinkles, food glitter, whatever sounds good and looks tasty. Rest the balls on a wire rack sprayed with non-stick sprayt until the coating is good and firm.

Repeat until all balls are coated. You can put these in the freezer, wrap in individual cellophane bags or share them as soon as you are finished.

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Captain Cavedweller likes to make breakfast burritos.

They are not for the faint of heart.

Yesterday he whipped one up so I took a few quick photos of the process. Start to finish, takes less than five minutes and they are pretty tasty (but don’t tell him I said that!).

Ingredients

Slice pre-cooked sausage thinly and brown in a skillet.

While the sausage is browning, whisk eggs with milk.

Add in some spices. CC uses Mrs. Dash.

Pour eggs in with sausage and scramble.

Then scoop into a tortilla shell.

Sprinkle with olives and shredded cheese.

Wrap and devour! (Someone got in a hurry to eat their breakfast and wouldn’t let me take more photos, sorry!).

Breakfast Burrito

2 pre-cooked sausages

3 eggs

1 tbsp milk

1/4 cup shredded cheese (CC used colby-jack)

1 tbsp. olives

salt, pepper to taste

seasoning to taste

Thinly slice sausage and warm in a skillet on medium heat. Whisk eggs with milk and seasoning then pour over sausage. Scramble until eggs are set. Scoop into a flour tortilla and top with olives and cheese. This will make three burritos (or two really big ones).

You can also add in sour cream, ranch dressing or salsa if you like. (CC doesn’t like, so his is the plain-jane model).

She Who Would Like One of These for Breakfast

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When Captain Cavedweller and I were on vacation a few weeks ago, one of the places we ate had the best Tomato Caprese Salad. It was fresh and beautiful and so good.

The best part is, it is easy to recreate  at home with some fresh ingredients and a few minutes of time!

Enjoy!

Ingredients

 

Slice the cheese – the fresher, the better!

 

Slice tomatoes and give them just a dash of salt.

 

Line up on a plate or platter then drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

 

Then savor the freshness and blending of flavors!

 

 

 

 

Tomato Caprese Salad

fresh mozzarella, sliced

tomatoes, sliced

spinach leaves

balsamic vinegar

salt, to taste

Layer cheese, spinach and tomato leaves on a plate or platter (I sprinkled the tomato slices with a little salt. At room temp, it just brings out the flavor). Drizzle with vinegar and enjoy!

She Who Loves This So, So Much

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If the world suddenly became devoid of chocolate, I might (and that is purely speculation with no proven theory) be able to survive with raspberries.

My love of them is why, during the summer months, there is usually a bowl of them languishing in the fridge. The other night I decided I had to do something with the berries or wave a regretful goodbye to their juicy goodness, so I whipped up some raspberry cream cheese squares. Yummy and easy to make, you can have these ready to go in just minutes.

Ingredients

 

Mix softened cream cheese, egg, vanilla and sugar.

 

Gently fold in raspberries.

 

Use two crescent triangles for each square. Crimp the edges together to form a rectangle.

 

Spoon filling into pastry, fold pastry in half, like a pocket or square.

Seal edges by crimping with a fork.

 

Sprinkle tops with raw sugar (please make sure your hands are dry before attempting this other wise the only thing that gets sugared is your fingers – not that I know about these things.)

Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown (about 15-20 minutes). By then, the smell will be tempting you!

 

Melt vanilla frosting in the microwave for about 10-12 seconds and drizzle over the top.

 

Serve and enjoy!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Squares

1 can crescent dinner rolls

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups fresh raspberries

vanilla frosting

raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly coat with non-stick spray. Unroll crescent dough and form four rectangles by connecting triangles together. Make sure to pinch seams together so filling won’t leak out.

Combine cream cheese, egg, vanilla and sugar, mixing until well blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Spoon filling onto half of a rectangle of dough then fold the other half over to create a square. Seal edges by crimping with a fork. Sprinkle with raw sugar and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Warm about a tablespoon of frosting in the microwave for about 10 seconds, until thin, then drizzle over squares.

Plate and be prepared for the smiles of gratitude your family will send your way!

She Who Loves Raspberries

 

 

 

 

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