Chocolate pumpkin Cake

http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/chocolate-pumpkin-cake-clv0907

I would go and copy and paste it all but this is the best chocolate cake ever...instead of the glaze I put on a cream cheese frosting...which is as follows

2 pkg of Cream cheese
2 cups of powdered sugar
2 sticks of butter
2 tsps of vanilla


mmm

Pasta with the Works

Here's another Italian one for you. This the recipe as I got it.

1/2 cup thinly sliced pepperoni (2 ounces)
1 medium green pepper, thinly sliced
2 cups spaghetti sauce with or without mushrooms
1/3 cup halved pitted ripe olives
4 cups cooked corkscrew macaroni (3 1/2 cups dry)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. In 10-inch skillet over low heat, cook pepperoni until lightly browned, stirring often. Add green pepper; cook 5 minutes or until green pepper is tender-crisp; stirring often.

2. Add spaghetti sauce and olives. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Toss with hot macaroni and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Makes 6 cups or 4 servings.

I do not use either the green pepper or the olives, although they would be good (for me at least. Others here might object!) This is quick to make because it doesn't have to be baked.

Baked Ziti

Abby requested this recipe, so here it is!

1 T. oil
1/2 pound hamburger (optional)
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar 26-30 oz. spaghetti sauce
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 t. oregano
16 oz. ziti (6 cups), cooked and drained
16 oz. cottage or ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella, shredded
1/2 cup parmesan

1. Brown beef (if using), add onion and garlic. (Or, brown onion and garlic in oil.) Stir in spaghetti suce, tomato sauce and oregano. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

2. Combine 1 cup sauce with ziti. Spoon half of ziti mixture into a 13x9 pan. Top with cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, 1 cup sauce, remaining ziti and sauce.

3. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and parmesan on top. Bake uncovered 10 minutes more.

OR: Do steps 1 and 2. Sprinkle with cheeses. Cover and freeze. Do not thaw. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 2 hours.

Ziti is a tube pasta. I use one called penne. Spaghetti sauce comes in smaller jars these days (the old keep the price the same, but shrink the jar trick!). For the three of us here, one jar was enough without the extra tomato sauce. I made 2 smaller pans of it and froze one.

Best Ever Banana Bread

This recipe makes the best banana bread! I am not the one that entitled this recipe or invented it, so all credit goes to someone else. Except for the few minimal changes I made of course! =)

2 Eggs, beaten
1/3 c. Buttermilk
1/2 c. Oil
1 c. mashed Bananas
1 1/2 c. Sugar*
1 3/4 c. Flour
1 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 c. chopped Pecans (optional...I've never bothered)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. (165 C). Grease 1 9x5 inch loaf pan, or 3 mini loaf pans.
2. Blend together the eggs and buttermilk (I make mine by adding a splash of lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk), oil, and bananas (I put mine in the food processor which makes them really soupy...I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the breads amazingness or not. Oh, and I also added a little extra banana just because I had it =)).
3. Sift together sugar (I reduced it by a half cup), flour, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture and add pecans if desired. Mix well.
4. Pour into prepared pan/s and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. I made the little loaves and baked them for 45 minutes and they were perfect.

**Hands shown: Rachel Harry. Photo by: Anna Harry. Used with permission. =)

Due to a formatting failure I am re-posting this in what I HOPE will be a more legible format!