Life, Pumpkin Bars and Pancakes

What's been going on of late, you may ask? 

Well.......

I've been grabbing every moment of time I can to spend with my husband while he had some time off from his work out of state; I've spent time with my sweet, lovely step-daughter who is on summer break from what is to be her last year of grad school this coming Fall; and I've helped my own daughter prepare for her first year of college, thankfully nearby at the local community college! While all of this has been going on, as a family we've managed to get in a few day trips to visit relatives, walk a birdsong trail at a beautiful park, stop in at a few farm market stands (and cook up some yummy side dishes with the produce we bought), shop at a couple of thrift stores (Oooo, I found 2 great cookbooks that I've started to browse through!), take a few walks through the neighborhood and "forage" for edible, wild growing things that only my step-daughter seems to know ~ lol! Yes, it's been a busy week and a half to say the least! 

Now that things have slowed down considerably, I was finally able to find time to do some baking in the kitchen, and try out a couple of recipes from one of my new cookbooks. One recipe, which was the biggest hit with everyone else, was also my favorite. Pumpkin Bars. If you've never had them, you'll want to give this recipe a try! The entire tray lasted less than 1 day, and my daughter's friend, who had never had anything pumpkin, took one taste, and was completely hooked!

PUMPKIN BARS

1 c. vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 c. pumpkin

1 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

1 3/4 c. sugar

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

2 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Pour onto a lightly greased cookie tray. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Test with a toothpick to determine when done. Pick should come out clean.

I used one of my favorite large, round cookie trays as the picture below shows.

This next picture shows how shallow the baking tray is, and it worked perfectly. The batter was spread evenly and only came up to about half, or a smidgen more, on the sides.

And you know what? This batter could easily have some chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, or even raisins tossed in, and it would make something great tasting taste even better! But this time, I just made a simple confectionery sugar frosting and spread it over the entire top of the bars before cutting them.

 As an afterthought, I decided to try the little bit of leftover batter as pumpkin pancakes the next morning. I stirred just a few chocolate chips into the batter and dropped it by small ladelfuls into a preheat, greased skillet. They took a bit longer to cook than regular pancake batter, but oh, they were so good, fluffy and really delicious!! Just keep the heat on medium, and flip after a check on the bottom shows it to be turning an even more golden color. I just spread them with butter and no maple syrup, and they tasted wonderful. You may prefer a bit of syrup on yours!

~ ♥ ~

Are you the sort of person that generally sticks to the recipe, or do you like to add your own touch to it?

The Day Unfolds

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I started my day with an unusual breakfast..... gag if you must.....but I was craving fried pasta, which is something my husband taught me to make early on in our marriage. While he would only ever eat this with egg and broccoli or bits of chunked ham mixed in, I took walk on the wild side and added mushrooms, garlic and onions to mine. Now that would be something enough to make him gag! But I simply loved it, and I don't feel guilty saying so. ☺ I have this weird eating philosophy that I don't know if it would work for you, but it seems to work for me. I try to limit my carb intake to prevent that little "podge" in my tummy area. But if I do eat them, I once heard it said, and I have found it to be true, that if you eat carbs in the morning, your body uses nearly all of it and gives you an energy boost that's needed most at the start your day. After that, I mainly stick to proteins, a few veggies and fruits, unsweetened almond milk, water and diluted, 100 percent juices. Hey, all's well that ends well, and this works for me! 

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Next, I moved on to cleaning out the hummingbird feeders, and making new nectar. If you haven't realized already by browsing through a bit of my blog, I LOVE backyard birds! And these cute little creatures so inspire me. As tiny and delicate as they are, they're tenacious and persistent, too! Not to mention, as the last of the slivers of the sun rays are peeking above the horizon at dusk, these little guys are the last ones to be seen at my feeders. I'm just amazed by them!

I really wanted to get started on watering my flowerbeds after that, but quite out of nowhere I began to hear rumbles of thunder while the sun was still out. Curious, I poked my head outside only to discover a batch of storm clouds rolling in from the southeast which was causing all of the disturbance. Well, at least Mother Nature seemed willing to take care of the job for me, or so I thought! Ironically, as quickly as the storm clouds came in, they moved on through grumbling and rumbling all along the way, yet never dropping even a single bit of rain. Guess that chore is put back on the list, but I'll gladly do it because I can kill two birds with one stone by also catching some rays of sun! Ahhhh.....I just love summertime. ♥

Last on my agenda for the day is to wash the minivan. It really needs a washing! Have you ever had one of those moments when you're approaching your vehicle after having done some shopping, and cringed a bit at how dusty and dull your vehicle's getting to look? Well, if you haven't, I have. Lol! And for me, that definitely means it's time to get a little wet, a little soapy and a little refreshed while washing the car on a hot, summer day like today. Then I'll feel a whole lot better about things! Neat, tidy and shiny always makes me happy. ☺

~ ♥ ~

Anyone out there just a little bit like me?

Cute Camper

Perfect for a simple overnight camping adventure!