Three Pumpkin Pies - Which one do you like best?

Pumpkin pie is my husband's Thanksgiving dessert and there is no negotiation around it. For this special day, we make THE pumpkin pie following his family recipe. Several years ago, he found out that the special recipe for the pumpkin pie, made by his grand-mother, was in fact the recipe in the back of the can of Libby's pumpkin can. What is your family dessert recipe(s) for Thanksgiving?

You will find below three pumpkin pie recipes: Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie of course, Perfect Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin-Maple Pie.

Pumpkin Pie - Libby's Recipe

• Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie by Libby's

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 ground cinnamon
- 1/2 t ground ginger
- 1/4 t ground cloves
- 2 large eggs
- 1 can (15 oz.) Libby's 100% pumpkin pie
- 1 can (12 fl. oz.) Carnation evaporated milk
- One unbaked 9-inch (4 cup volume) deep-dish pie crust

Direction:

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves in small bowl. beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
Pour into pie crust.
Bake in preheated 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15 minutes. reduce temperature to 350 degree Fahrenheit  bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

• Perfect Pumpkin Pie by EAGLE BRAND

Ingredients:
- 1 (15 oz.) can Pumpkin
- 1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 t ground cinnamon
-1/2 t ground ginger
- 1/2 t ground nutmeg
- 1/2 salt
- One (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions:
Heat the oven to 425 degree Fahrenheit  Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth.
Bake 15 minutes. reduce oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit  bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired.

• Pumpkin-Maple Pie

Pumpkin-Maple Pie

Ingredients:
- One 16-ounce can of puree pumpkin
- 1 cup of whipping cream
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 3 large eggs
- 1 T all-purpose flour
- 1/2 t maple flavoring
- 1 t pumpkin pie spice
- Pinch of salt
- One unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Direction:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk all the ingredients in a bowl. Pour the filling into the unbaked crust. Bake 55 minutes, or until the filling is set.

What do I think about this recipe?
I ended up have too much filling for the pie. So, I baked the left over in 2 ramekins.
The filling has a nice rich brown color. The texture of the pie is fluffier than a regular pumpkin pie. It feels really light. However the top of the pie has this very thin layer of sugar which make you think about marshmallow consistency. It is slightly sticky on the top. The hole on the picture was made with the knife. Some of the filling stick to it when I checked if the pie was cooked.

With the maple flavoring and almost a cup of maple syrup, you would think that the maple flavor would be overpowering and it is not. The flavor is just right.


If you have the pie with some whipped cream it gives a creamier texture and enhances the maple flavor.
This recipe was a success to the extend that my husband would like it again but not on Thanksgiving day! ;-)

Recipe from Pumpkins by Jacqueline Farmer (non-fiction, children's book)

ENJOY :-)

Laetitia

DIY Halloween Frame

Spider Theme Halloween Frame

Our little guy did a foot ghost painting last year at his drop in Center. It was kinda too late to frame it at the time and I kept the project on my "To Do List" for this year. So, here it is. The frame is a deep purple with some spider webs and spiders. The frame looks somewhat blue on the picture. It is an easy and quick FUN project.

Ghost foot Paint in a Spider Theme Frame

Time: an afternoon

Cost: $1.75 just for the frame (I already had the paint and props).

Think about buying Halloween related items when the holiday is over to get the best deals for your next year project. I know that I will be looking for googly eyes of different sizes to make another frame to display a picture of our little guy in his Bee costume from this year.

Materials:
- a wooden frame
- acrylic paint
- glass (medium for acrylic paint)
- brushes
- small containers
- hot glue gun
- Halloween props

BOO!!!!

Instructions:

1. Sand the wooden frame to have a nice smooth surface.
2. apply 2 quotes of acrylic paint (purple). Let the paint dry between each quote. It should dry very quickly.
3. Apply 1 quote of acrylic varnish and let it dry.
4. Glue Halloween props of your choice on the frame using a hot glue gun.

Have a Spooky Halloween!!!!

Laetitia

Busy, Busy!!!

I am Back :-)

I cannot believe that it has been several months since my last post. The summer went on and before you realized it, it is now Fall! I have been busy baking, sewing, gardening and making some craft projects and taking pictures along the way to share it with you on the blog. I have several projects on my list that I will be sharing with you before the end of the year.

Baking: Madeleine, Bread, Sablée, Nutella ice cream, Nutella cookies

Sewing: Toddler Folding Chair Cover and Traveling Train Tracks

Crafts: Frame, Violin, construction theme bedroom on a budget and Frame mate

Laetitia :-)

Pillowcase Dress

Pillowcase Dress

- A Present for Alexias -

Several months ago, I found that great website called Sew Like My Mom. This site has a lot of wonderful sewing ideas and came across this nice and very easy dress tutorial described as the Pillowcase Dress. I thought it was super cute. Since then, I became an Auntie. As I was ready to send a package with some clothes to my niece Alexias, who will be turning 5 months mid June, I remembered that dress, and thought that it would be a perfect addition to the package.

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Here is the direct link to Mellisa's tutorial from her site Sew Like My Mom.

Materials: a piece of fabric with pink heart on fuchsia and some white ribbon and white thread.

Size: 12 months

Feedback: The dress was very easy to make follow the tutorial. It took me 2 afternoons. On the first day, I did all the measurements, cutting and ironing the hems. On the second day, I did all the sewing and took care of the ribbons. Because of the design of the dress The little girl will be able to wear it this year and next year and offers the option to wear it with a tee shirt underneath.

Happy Sewing,

Laetitia

Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins for "Teacher Appreciation Day"

Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Tomorrow Tuesday, May 7th 2013 is "Teacher Appreciation Day" and for the occasion Lucas and I did some cooking. We made some Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins for his teachers. You can celebrate your children's teachers all week long this week :-).

HAPPY TEACHER DAY!

Laetitia

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Mini Chocolate Chips Muffins

Makes at least 24 mini muffins

Ingredients:

Out of the Oven

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 T butter
1 large egg
3 T milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit.

2. Place mini paper holders in the mini muffin pans.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

4. Cream sugar and butter until it looks somewhat white and bubbly in a smaller bowl. Add egg, milk and vanilla and mix well.

5. Gradually add to creamed mixture into the dry ingredients and stir. 

6. Fold in the chocolate chips and mix well.

7. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the batter or 1 level of spoonful of a tablespoon in each mini muffin holder.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until it looks a little brown.

9. When done, let them cool down in muffin pans for 5-10 minutes.

10. Remove from the pans, place them on a cooling rack.

11. Serve very slightly warm or cold.

• Note About the Recipe

The muffins are easy to make. It might be time consuming to measure the batter in the cup holders but it would come very nicely and in a perfect shape. If you put too much the batter, (1) it will stick to the edge of the baking pan and break as you try to remove them from the pan. (2) The muffins will not look as round but flat on the top as they cook on the pan. They are moist and chocolaty. A nice sweet bite to go with a cup of coffee.

• Wrapping

Material: 1 white paper sandwich bag, 1 big paper napkin of color, 1 medium size Ziploc bag, raffia ribbon, pen, a pair of scissors, and a small card

Directions:

1. Open a white sandwich bag.

2. Unfold a paper colored paper napkin (lavender) and place it inside of the bag with the correct side out.

3. Place a medium size Ziploc bag in the bag (inside the paper napkin), put around 10 mini muffins inside the bag and zip it. It will prevent the muffins to dry.

4. Fold the top of the sandwich bag once or twice.

5. With a punch holder, make 1 hole on each side of the fold(s).

4. Pass a string of raffia through the holes and till it.

5. Slide a small, punched on 1 side, into the raffia and secure it with a double knot or a with a bow.

and Voila! Easy, Fast and Simple