Impossible Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Here is yet another trial run for Thanksgiving!!  My house smelled sooooo good!!!!  I saw these first on Facebook and then did a Google Search for the recipe and found this one HERE.  Its REALLY good!!!  And will DEFINITELY be making these for Thanksgiving.  I LOVE pumpkin!!!!  Can't wait!!!!

Pumpkin Snack Cake

Happy Fall Everyone!!!   What does fall mean?  For me, it means one of my favorite ingredients!!  PUMPKIN!!!!   Can you tell I'm a little excited??  LOL  I also found out that I will be hosting Thanksgiving for my dear friend Jamie (she has guest blogged on here before) and her beautiful family!  Super Excited!!  Maybe we can cook up something amazing to blog about TOGETHER!!  But anyways!  Back to the topic at hand!  I have been on the look out for things I can make for their visit (squeal!!  yes, still super excited!!).  I came across these from Pumpkin Snack Cakes from The Novice Chef.  What's not to love with pumpkin, cake, and only 90 calories a piece????  OH YEAH!!!  They came out amazing (except not quite as pretty as hers since I don't have the special pan to make them individualized) but that's ok, because the taste makes up for everything!!  Here ya go!!!

Almond Meringue Cookies

Hi everyone! Its Melody again from Coffee & Kahlua!
I'm going to share a holiday staple from my house, to yours today.
I've been baking these for a few years now and my family definitely expects these to be around the house come Autumn. They are super easy to make, Delicious, Light & Airy, & you can use so many different flavor combinations, It's great! This recipe usually makes 2 batches depending on size.

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 Tsp Almond Emulsion
1 Tsp Cream of Tartar
3/4 cup sugar ( I tend to use less because I like mine less sweet)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 225
Whip egg whites on low until frothy, then add  Cream of Tartar slowly.

Continue to whip on low until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar & Almond emulsion & turn to medium speed & continue to whip until stiff peaks form & will stand up on their own. Spoon mix onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper & bake for 2 - 3 hours. Let cool for 1 hour before eating.

Enjoy these yummy cookies & feel free to share your experience with me on my blog!

S'mores Cake in a Mug!!!

So, the summer is coming to an end, huh?  The leaves are starting to change.  The days are getting shorter, the nights longer.  You start to need a jacket in the mornings until it warms up later.  BOO!!!  There are many things we will miss about summer.  but who says you have to give ALL of them up just because the weather is changing yet again?  One of my favorite is S'mores.  I LOVE them!! And Now i can have them ANYTIME I want (although I don't recommend eating this every day!!  or you will need quite a bit of time in the gym!!)  but it's SOOOO yummy!!!  I found this on How Sweet It Is's blog full of yummy things!!!  Here is my version, but feel free to check out her blog for more!!!  This was filling, I couldn't finish it!!!  so i put it in the fridge and at the rest for BREAKFAST!!   lol  Just place back in microwave for about 15-20 seconds and Yum Yum Yum!!!  lol

Homemade Griddle Sandwiches

Have you ever gotten a craving for a fast food but don't want to drive to get it?  or would rather not put in your body whatever crazy stuff they have in them?  I got this craving for those dreaded McDonald's Mcgriddle Egg Sandwiches.  I decided to make them myself.  You could use a prepared mix for the pancakes, or you can use the recipe I've already posted for Pancakes from scratch.   I am not giving measurements as it is to your discretion how much you want to make.  

Mini Chocolate Chip Brownies

Sooo, I know it's been FOREVER since I have posted anything on here, but I haven't forgotten!!! I have been racking my brain on interesting things I can post.  I saw a post a while ago on Facebook of brownies with chocolate chip cookies.  So I decided to try it myself.  Soooo yummy!!  Quite simple and the kids devoured them!!

Crockpot Ball-Tip Roast & A Mishap

Hello Pieces of Joj0 readers! This may amuse some of you (as it did my household last night) so I thought I'd share and give you the recipe as well. 

 There is a place down in the bay area here in California that sells a yummy marinated ball-tip called Kinders. I decided to try and make a recipe as close to theirs as I could. Their recipe is top secret so this wasn't an easy task and I spent a good month or more researching recipes and taste-testing to see if I could recreate it. (I have a pretty decent palate)

 I finally just decided to combine some of the ingredients I knew were in the recipe, with a few that I had guessed myself, along with some of go-to ingredients used in a typical beef rub. Here's where the mishap comes in. 

I have numerous recipes on my laptop and I keep them in a few places. Namely a pfd file where I write them out myself. So I go to the crock-pot and start measuring everything and dumping it in. My husband is kind of a picky eater so I always make a side of whatever sauce, dip, marinade etc for him to taste. So I let him taste this one and he HATED it. He got a very sour disgusted look on his face and I had no idea why and I said "Well its too late now because after I spooned your taste out I put the roast in." I figured he was just being picky and he doesn't like too many spices so that's what I chalked it up to. Well a few hours go by and I go to check the temp on the roast and let me tell you I did NOT like the smell coming from the crock-pot. So I took it out cut a piece off and hoped I wouldn't be disappointed. Let me tell you, It took one taste to realize what my problem was and why my husband didn't like it. It was lemon overkill! The marinade itself was  great flavor but I put in wayyyyy too much lemon,which made me scratch my head as I'm usually very careful about balancing my acids. Yet here I was standing there tasting a very lemony roast. So I walked over to the recipe I wrote out on my pfd file and everything seemed fine, until I realized that I had opened a recipe right next to it that called for 3X the lemon. Yep. I did that. LOL! I turned my laptop around and showed my husband who preceded to laugh his lemon hating butt off. So to counteract the acidity from the lemon I made a gravy to cover it and it actually turned out really good! Hubby was delighted with it and we dined happily. 

The recipe you see below is the right version of  my try at a copycat recipe for kinders ball-tip marinade. Its not as close as I'd like but practice makes progress! If you'd like the gravy recipe make sure you go to my blog HERE and get it after you read this. 

I used a 4 lb roast with this so you may need to adjust ingredients depending on how small or big the roast is you're using. Also, if you like to marinate your meat prior to cooking I would recommend 24 to 48 hours as balltip can be tough in certain areas depending on the cut and quality. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of Sesame Oil

2 tsp of parsley 

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp ginger

1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3 cloves of garlic

2 tsp coarse black pepper

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup Lemon Juice

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup Worcestershire

1/4 cup honey

2 cups Beef Broth

Directions:

Combine all wet ingredients into crock-pot and stir. Take dry ingredients and use processor or blender to mince. (I use this method to not only mince the garlic but to also infuse the flavors of the herbs and spices with the garlic) You can also add a little white wine to the processor just to make sure they marry well. 

Empty dry ingredient mix into crock-pot and stir well. Add roast to crock-pot and cook on low for 4-5 hours. 

The finished product with veggies and my homemade gravy