Pumpkin Carrot Cake

      This is going to be a shorter post today because, guess what? Adam just finished his first block of medical school and he is a free man! --for a week. So we are going to enjoy every second we have together and make this week count! That also means that I will not be posting this week. Call it vacation. Even though I absolutely LOVE this blog, I don't love it as much as Adam and ALL of my time is going to him this week :) But I had to share this one spectacular recipe with you before we start our vacation.

I am very excited to introduce to you my very own, custom, fall, carrot cake recipe: Pumpkin Carrot Cake! It is so moist and soo delish! 

It has carrots...

LOTS of spices...

raisins soaked in brandy...

pecans...

and pumpkin!

This cake baked up SO beautifully-- and SO moist!

I slathered this precious cake in sweet and tangy cream cheese icing and it got rave reviews! I know you will enjoy it, too!

Bake this cake for your loved ones and spend lots of time with them this week! If you love them... let them know it! Here is the recipe sweet friends! :

*FYI the recipe below is for a two layer cake-- just halve the recipe if you want one layer like I made*

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 scant teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1/2 cup oil

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup pureed pumpkin

1 cup finely grated carrots (about 2 large carrots)

4 tablespoons chopped raisins

1 tablespoon brandy

1/2 cup very finely chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 375, grease two 9-inch round pans and line with parchment paper.

In a small bowl combine chopped raisins and brandy and allow it to soak while you make the cake batter.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, white sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk together melted butter, oil, vanilla, eggs, buttermilk, and brown sugar until the eggs are broken down. Pour this liquid mixture into the large bowl with the flour and sugar. Mix to combine. Add in the pureed pumpkin, and mix till smooth. Now it is time to fold in the carrots, raisins/brandy, and pecans. Mix well.

Divide the batter evenly between the greased pans and bake at 375 degrees for 28-32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before icing.

Because I love you, here is the Cream Cheese Icing recipe I use:

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2-3 cups powdered sugar (depending on your taste use more or less. Just add and sample, add and sample till you have it perfect--according to you. Isn't that a beautiful thing?!)

Using a hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until nice and fluffy. Then beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. It's time to ice the cake!

I sincerely hope you bake and enjoy this cake! Much Love y'all!

Fried Pickles

     I absolutely love fried pickles. My favorite place to get fried pickles is at Bob Baumhower's Wings-- they are to die for! In college Adam and I would go on impromptu dates there so I could get my fried pickle fix and he could get his wing fix. Ok, Ok, I got my wing fix too. This country girl likes her chicken on the bone! If my daddy taught me one thing right it was how to clean a chicken bone. I may not do it the proper way all the time, but he certainly taught me how. Whenever we had fried chicken at my house my dad would clean every single chicken bone. He would clean his, and all of ours if he didn't think we had done a good enough job. I guess when you grow up in a family with 9 kids like he did you learn to not waste anything and be grateful for what you have. My daddy is a good man :)

     So turning back to the fried pickles: I have been craving fried pickles for the longest time, and well-- there is no Bob Baumhower's Wings where we live now. Because of this fact I have resorted to creating my own fried pickles and I have to say that they are really stinkin' good. They would be the perfect tailgate food if you are tailgating inside close to the frying pan, or bring your fryer out to the stadium with you like we southerners are known to do. But otherwise I'd say leave the fried pickles up to the restaurants, because like any fried food, these taste best when they first come out of the grease. So let's get started, shall we?

Here is what you will need:

1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/4 cup yellow corn meal, a heaping teaspoon of cajun seasoning, about 30 dill pickles, and vegetable oil.

Begin the process by combining the flour, cornmeal, and cajun seasoning in a shallow dish. I used a small casserole dish to mix mine.

Stir these three ingredients till the mixture looks uniform. Set it aside for a moment.

Now is when you will want to get out your frying pan, pour in enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom, and set the heat to medium. Allow the oil to heat while you are battering your pickles.

Fish several pickles out of the jar and throw them into the casserole dish with the flour and cornmeal mix.

Flip the pickles to coat.

I used a fork to press the flour/cornmeal into the pickle to make a nice thick coating.

Once the pickles are thoroughly drenched in flour/cornmeal you are ready to place them into the oil.

Test the oil to make sure it is hot by sprinkling the tiniest bit of the flour/cornmeal into the grease. If it bubbles and sizzles you are ready to start frying. If nothing happens, wait a little longer and try again.

Place the pickles one by one into the grease. Fill your frying pan till the pickles are about one inch apart from one another. As you can see mine have much more space than one inch, I simply chose to fry in smaller batches. You do it how you want.

When they are golden brown on one side, flip and cook till golden brown on the other. This should take between 5-8 minutes. Remove the pickles from the grease and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Once the grease has drained slightly you can put the pickles on a wire rack in a 100 degree oven to keep warm until you finish frying the rest.

Place the fried pickles on a platter and serve with ranch dressing.

Um, yes please!

Oh how I have been waiting for this! These are so good!

Thanks for reading my friends! Till next time, love ya!

Loaded Potato Soup

     It does not matter what restaurant I am at, if there is potato soup on the menu I  am ordering it! My favorite potato soup, without a doubt, is the potato vidalia soup from The Sports Page in Highlands, North Carolina. It is creamy, chunky, and perfect for a hungry belly right after a long hike-- of course I follow it up with a BBQ pulled pork sandwich and maybe a piece of pie or carrot cake. Don't judge me. I only get to eat at The Sports Page like three times a year so when I'm there I have to order everything I love.

     Back to the potato soup...

     Fall weather brings with it the urge to snuggle up with a nice warm bowl of soup in your hands. I have made at least 3 different soups in the past week-- I can't get enough of them! I had not made loaded potato soup in quite some time, plus I had all the ingredients, so I decided to whip some up for me and Adam. My recipe is really just a little of this, a little of that, so feel free to substitute, add in, or change it to please your tastes. Here is what I did to make mine :)

You will need:

4 slices of thick cut bacon, 1/4 cup diced onion, 3 tablespoons flour, 2 1/2 cups milk*, the meat of 4 baked potatoes, 1/3 cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons chopped green onions, 1/2 cup shredded cheese

*If you like thicker soup use about as much milk as I did. If you like a thinner soup, mix in a cup of chicken broth with the milk-- or just add more milk!

Start by browning the bacon in a pot or large skillet-- I used a large skillet. This recipe only serves about 3 people so I didn't need a huge pot.

When the bacon is cooked to your liking, remove it from the grease, and add the chopped onions in-- with the grease. Don't drain off the grease!

When the onions are nice and tender, sprinkle in the flour...

and whisk and whisk and whisk so that there are no lumps. Cook the flour for about a minute, or until it turns lightly golden. It should look like the picture.

While whisking, pour in the milk (and chicken broth if you like).

Boil for several minutes or until thickened.

When the soup becomes thickened you will want to have the potato "meat" ready so you can quickly stir it in.

After you stir in the potatoes, stir in the sour cream and green onions.

And finally, stir in the cheese!

Garnish with bacon, more green onions, and cheese. This was just what the doctor ordered.

Have a great day my friends! Love ya!

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

     My first pumpkin recipe post for fall, hooray! Spiced Pumpkin Muffins... these little guys are perfect for cold mornings with a cup of coffee or a tall glass of milk. Adam and I both LOVE these muffins! I had a base recipe for pumpkin muffins, but then I put my own spin on it and I got these! Pretty tasty :)

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup pureed pumpkin (I used canned Libby pumpkin)

1 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon unsulfered molasses

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

powdered sugar for dusting

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes about 24 muffins.

Gather your ingredients and get ready to cook!

In a large bowl place the oil, eggs, sugar, and pumpkin (I halved the recipe since it's just me and adam-- that's why you just see one egg.)

Next pour in the buttermilk...

and whisk to combine.

Oops! I forgot the molasses. Whisk that in too.

Now dump the flour, spices, salt, and baking soda into the bowl.

Whisk it till nice and smooth.

Scoop the batter into greased muffins tins. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 400 degrees.

"DING!" The timer went off! that means they are ready!

"Mom, are those for us?!"

"I'm afraid not children. These are for grown ups."

Remove the muffins from the pan and place on a wire rack.

Grab some confectioner's sugar and a sifter and get ready to make it snow!

Place about 1/4 cup of sugar into the sifter...

and make it snow on these pretty little muffins.

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." Wrong season, o well.

Perfect! Of course you could always add more-- like I did after I turned the camera off.

Mmmmm...

Stay warm today friends! Have a great day!