Pumpkin Trifle

I love baking sweets!! Especially now that my kitchen is finished from the renovation. Last week, I made Chocolate Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins (mmm!) and had half a can of pumpkin left over. Since I was having company over for Sunday dinner, I wanted to make something for dessert, plus I had those leftovers to use. After looking in my pantry, I had a box of white cake mix, a vanilla pudding mix, and some Cool Whip. And thus the idea for Pumpkin Trifle was born. I'm sure that someone else has made this before, but here's my recipe.

Cake:
1 box white cake mix + ingredients on package directions
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Filling:
15-16 oz can of cooked pumpkin
1 block cream cheese, softened
1 box vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
White chocolate chips

Topping:
Cool Whip

Directions:
1. Mix cake according to package directions, adding spices to flavor.
2. Pour cake into a 12 x 17 pan, lined with tinfoil for easy removal.
3. Cook cake about 15-20 minutes, keeping a close watch since it will bake much quicker with a thin layer in the bigger pan.
4. While cake is baking, beat softened cream cheese until smooth, then add pumpkin and beat until smooth.
5. Add vanilla pudding mix and milk to pumpkin mixture, and beat 2-3 minutes. Place mixture in fridge to set up.
6. After cake is cooked and cooled, lift out of pan with tinfoil and onto a cutting surface. Use a long bread knife to cut the cake into 1-inch squares.
7. In a large glass trifle dish, layer about half of the cake squares. Add white chocolate chips around the edge to show along the dish. Sprinkle  chips some in the middle too!
8. Layer half the pumpkin filling on top of the cake and chocolate chips, being sure to be careful along  the edges where the layers will show.
9. Repeat layers, topping the trifle in the middle with Cool Whip. For garnish, add a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger across the top of the Cool Whip.
10. Chill and serve. It's just fine to chill overnight.

Notes on Substituting: 1) You could probably substitute a spice cake  mix for the white cake mix plus spices, but I just used white cake mix since that is what I had. 2) You could probably substitute  butterscotch or cinnamon chips for the white chocolate (again, white chocolate is what I had in the pantry). 3) You can use a 9 x 13, but you will just have to work harder when it's time to cut the cake into squares because you need the cake pieces to be 1-inch squares. 4) I don't think it would be a problem to leave out the cream cheese if you don't have it. However, you might want to double the amount of pudding mix and milk to have enough filling.

Here's the process in pictures:

 

Procrastination; Motivation

Right now, I have many things I should be doing. Such as, folding the clothes that are sitting beside me on the sofa, or the towels that are on the love seat across from the sofa. Beyond the love seat, I can see the Rubbermaid storage tubs which are keeping more packed clothes in safekeeping until I unload them into the crowded bedroom. I can also see the baseboards in the family room off to the left, which needed to be given their final touch-up coat of paint. And while I can't see the dishes in the kitchen, I know that they need to be put away. Off in the half bath in the back of the house, I can hear Justin sanding my patch job furiously. Downstairs, more laundry awaits its turn in the washer. Plus, I need to clean the bathroom. If possibly I got that done, I really wanted to get the backsplash put up on the bathroom sink and the kitchen sink.

I'm not sure what it is, but since we've moved in, I seem to have lost some motivation for the house. I guess it's just not as pressing since we are finally out of my parent's place. Or maybe I'm just plain tired of it. Or just tired in general. Either way, my hardworking husband isn't letting up, so I need to step up. Here I go, I'm getting off....

After I close the Facebook tab, the Yahoo mail tab, and the O'Reilly Factor tab. But, I need to finish the video, which is still buffering since we are connected to a slow server, which is really not ours  to begin with, but an unsecured line from one of our neighbors. So hopefully it will finish playing the Talking Points memo so I can get to work sometime soon.

Meanwhile, I'll try to do something productive and stop procrastinating.. lol!

Mississippi Mud Cupcakes... Yum!

My mom is into those gourmet cupcakes that have been made popular from shows like Cupcake Wars. So for her birthday, I decided to make her cupcakes! I had some inspiration from a recipe that I made as a kid that is super simple: Mississippi Mud Cake. It's just chocolate cake with a layer of marshmallow creme, topped with chocolate frosting. For the cupcake, I kept it simple and used a chocolate cake mix. I mixed up the batter according to package directions and baked in muffin tins. After they cooled, I scooped out a hole in the center with a spoon (about an inch wide by an inch deep) and piped marshmallow creme into the hole, making sure to keep the marshmallow creme level with the top of the cupcake. I don't have a full set of decorator bags for piping and such, so my cheap trick is to put the marshmallow creme into a sturdy Ziploc bag and then cut across a corner for a round tip.

Next, I needed to mix up the icing or frosting, whichever it is. I probably should look up the correct definition, but it's sweet and tasty, so who cares? LOL.... I found a recipie from allrecipies.com and adapted it to the ingredients that I had on hand. Here it is:

Simple Chocolate Frosting
Cream 1/2 cup real butter
Mix 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Add cocoa and powdered sugar mixture slowly to butter and beat until firm
Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk and beat again until all ingredients are mixed
Add more milk to desired consistency if needed

This icing will firm up if stored in the fridge, so pipe it onto the cupcakes right after mixing. Of course, you don't need to store it in the fridge, as far as I know, but the butter in the icing will soften if at room temperature. For the visual effect, I topped the cupcake with a marshmallow.

Mom loved it. Happy Birthday momma!

I love voting!!

I love voting. I just feel so patriotic. I know some people get all caught up and say that each vote doesn't matter because it's really up to the electoral college and yadda yadda yadda... BUT I still believe that voting is part of this great democracy that we have in America. And if no one voted, how would the electoral college vote? It's all tied together, really. MY VOICE DOES MATTER!!

So does your. Did you make yourself heard?

I was listening to B105.9, a country station, this evening and heard the announcer give a shout-out to all those 18-year olds who just voted for the first time. He was proud of them, and I am too. Being informed and participating in democracy is an American rite of passage, I think.  My first presidential election was the Bush/Kerry election in 2004. I was a student at Cedarville U. when Bush drove through Cedarville,  and everyone lined the streets with signs to show support. Of course it is a conservative town, so the reception would be welcoming. I think he stopped in Xenia too, though I didn't leave campus for that. Nevertheless, it was an exciting time and I am glad that I took part in voting in that election. It was great to see some of my students, seniors, who went to vote before school, or were going after. That's just great!

One thing I just keep thinking about too, is how tired Romney and Obama and their teams must be. While they surely both want to win, they must be glad that the campaign is over now. (Heck, I'm tired of seeing the ads). I hope both of them get to relax with their families after this is over. While I don't agree with everything either of them say, I still respect them both as people who are trying to lead. I sure hope they get some rest now!

Peace out... I'm going to check the electoral map and voting results.

Fixing a broken vent and ductwork

As we continue to settle into the house, and as it gets colder, we realized that we really needed to fix the broken duct work that brought the heat to our dining room. I've mentioned before that we bought a foreclosed home, and as such it has had many issues, both large and small. Luckily, this was a smaller issue that only took about an hour to fix.

After a run to Lowe's (they know us pretty well in there) we picked up the three pieces of duct work  that we needed: a 4" x 12" x 6" angle boot ($6.19), a 90 degree elbow ($2.99), and a 6-inch pipe ($7.49). Justin had to trim the pipe to size with wire snips, then he fastened the angle boot into the ceiling (floor of the dining room), since our furnace is downstairs. The elbow was attached next, and finally the pipe was fitted into the elbow. I had to help him hold the pipe for just a minute so that he could attache it with screws. We haven't done anything like the before, but hot air is filling the dining room, so I'm guessing that it's ok. :)

My husband is amazing!!

 And it's connected!!

Sneak peek at the bathroom

Finally, all the drain and plumbing issues are resolved and the bathroom is in place! The walls are painted Bracing Blue and the tub is Antiquity, both from the Rustic Refined HGTV/Sherwin-Williams collection. I don't have decorations up or anything, but what do you think so far? I like it!