Crock Pot Pumpkin Butter

So you saw the Crock Pot Pumpkin Puree right? Well so far I’ve used pumpkin puree in the Pumpkin Banana Bread and now I am going to use it to make pumpkin butter. This was super simple to do. The most difficult part being the stirring every once in a while, if you even call that difficult.

This makes for an incredibly sweet, thick pumpkin butter. It looks like apple butter, which the Bennett house loves, but after a finger in the mouth to taste it does not taste like apple butter. I’m okay with that though because it is so good.


Crock Pot Pumpkin Butter
recipe from Laura Williams’ Musings

2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Combine all ingredients in a crock-pot and stir well to mix.

Cook on high for 3 hours, stirring occasionally, about every 30 minutes. Do not let it burn or stick.

After it is done, fill the pint jars or 1/2 pint jars, leaving ¼ inch head space and seal.


Now I skipped the canning process because it only made about 2 ½ cups worth and we were sharing with so many people that I just packaged it up and sent it along with a note and some biscuits to be eaten right away. The note did tell the recipients of the pumpkin butter that it could last about a month when stored in the icebox.

If you do care to can it you can find directions on how to do that over at Laura Williams’ Musings.


Both Baby Cakes and I loved this. It was really rich butter served sparingly over buttered biscuits it was delish.

Love, love, love,

Marmalade Curry Chicken

I am a curry kind of girl. A few months ago Baby Cakes took me to a Thai restaurant for supper and I felt like being a bit daring and trying something curry. Now I had heard stories in the past about how curry makes people smell? I don’t know if there’s any truth to that but either way growing up I had always associated curry with something gross. Not anymore. It is wonderful, a warm spice for sure, slightly sweet on your tongue, it is unlike any other spice.

Being as I am a new crock pot fanatic and I love me some curry I thought I would give this recipe a shot. I did tweak a few little things from the original recipe. The first thing being the ginger, I am allergic to ginger so I tend to omit it, in it's place I added cinnamon although I really can't tell you why. The second tweak was adding more chicken broth and that was because of my third tweak, adding more chicken. I had a family pack with 9 thighs in it, thawed them all, and had a slight panick attack trying to figure out when and what I would make with the left over 5 thighs. Nuh-uh I am cooking them all in this recipe. Left overs are your friend on a busy day, as is the crock pot.

I have to admit that I wasn't crazy about this recipe. Neither was Baby Cakes. Was it good? Sure. Is it something that I'll be making again? Probably not. However, I'm glad that I tried it and just want to tell you, please please don't let my less than stellar rating stop you from giving it a go at least once. You never know, you might love it.


Marmalade Curry Chicken
recipe slighly adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 (18-ounce) jar orange marmalade
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chicken broth

Put the chicken into the bottom of your slow cooker.

In a small bowl, combine the marmalade with the dry spices and chicken broth. Pour this on top of the chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or on high for about 4 hours.

Serve over rice with a bit of the curry sauce.


You know, after thinking about it it the fact that I left out the curry might have been why it didn't turn out as good as the original blog post implied.

XOXO,

Cherry Cola Pork Ribs with Cherry Cola BBQ Sauce

BCakes wanted to grill last weekend, so we went to the store and bought some pork ribs so that he could. Then he didn't. I don't blame him though, our weekend was so crazy busy. Truth be told I'm glad he didn't cook them, because if he had I wouldn't have been able to make these.

I actually came up with this recipe while half asleep. Sometimes I dream about cooking (what you don't?) when I know that there is something in the fridge that must be cooked soon. So this recipe came to me in the wee hours of the morning and I set out the next afternoon in making it happen. It happened alright and it was so good!

BCakes said that this is a company dish and that he loves the sauce. Infact, he ended up pouring it all over his sides and licking the dish clean.

Speaking of the sauce, I happen to be a sweet bbq person, not everyone is. Alot of people prefer spicy or smokey meat. Not me, brown sugar and honey please. So if you don't like sweet (not that it's sickining sweet) you might not want to make this one.


Cherry Cola Pork Ribs

Pork Ribs
Seasoning Blend, your choice
2 cans Cherry Cola, any brand

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Pour the soda into a baking dish and place the seasoned pork ribs into the dish.
Place in oven and cook for 3 hours.

During this time make the sauce, recipe to follow.

After the 3 hours are up drain all the liquid from the baking dish. I actually took the ribs out of the baking dish and put them on a wire rack over a baking sheet pan to finish them up.

Baste the ribs and then place back into oven for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, basteing them every 15-20 minutes.

When you take them out of the oven they will be sticky and sweet. I served them with a little dish of extra sauce. So good!



Cherry Cola Bar-B-Que Sauce

1 can Cherry Cola
2 cups catsup
1 T. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 T. dark brown sugar
1 T. honey
1 T. dried onion flakes
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Whisk all the ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer over medium/low heat for 1 hour or until cooked down into a thick sauce.


Save the rest in a jar or bowl, like above, because I promise you will find something else to use it with. It really is very good sauce if I do say so myself.

Now I know that I normally don't care but this recipe is MINE, MINE I tell you and I ask that if you do post it that you give credit where credit is do on this one. Oh and please tell me what you think about it. Wink.

XOXO,

Sweet Marmalade

Ingredients
4 large seedless oranges
2 lemons
8 cups sugar
8 cups water

Directions
Cut the oranges and lemons in half, then very thin, as thin as you can possibly make them, half-moon slices. Discard any lemon seeds. Place the sliced fruit and their juices into a pot. Add 8 cups water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Cover and allow to stand overnight at room temperature.

The next day, bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours. Turn the heat up to medium and boil gently, stirring often, for another 30 minutes. It will be a golden orange color.

Pour the marmalade into clean, hot Mason jars; wipe the rims thoroughly with a clean damp paper towel, and seal with the lids. Store in the pantry for up to a year.

Look what Michael brought home for us this evening, at work he drives by a farmer and his produce parked out along the road, he stopped and picked up some fresh pineapple. When he gave it to me I couldn't help myself I took the biggest sniff and it smelled so good. I already cut it up because tomorrow I am making fresh pineapple upside down cake. Yummy yummy!