Elegant Endings!

The Maine House keeps a bounty of beautiful books in the library. During the autumn of the year, I take out a favorite from The Mitford series.....I aspire to be able to cook like Puny and Louella and bake like Winnie and Esther!

"In Mitford, we take care of our own." This excerpt takes place at Thanksgiving....

"Line up and collect your baskets," hollered Esther Cunningham, "and hot foot it on outa' here! This is not a cold-cut dinner you're deliverin'." The delivery squad obediently queued up at the kitchen door. "If you could knock th' Baptists out of this deal," said Charlie Tucker, "we'd have somethin' left to go in these baskets.





 "It wasn't the Baptists who gobbled up the turkey....it sure wasn't the Methodists cause they like fried chicken!" It was those dadgum Lutherans!" Everyone howled with laughter, including the Lutherans, who had personally observed the Episcopalians eating enough turkey to sink an oil freighter!"

Pumpkin Pudding Parfaits
1 (7 ounce) jar Marshmallow Fluff/Cream
1 (8 ounce) package Cream Cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons thawed frozen orange juice concentrate, divided
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/4 cup crumbled gingersnap cookies


In a mixing  bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat marshmallow creme, cream cheese, and one tablespoon orange juice concentrate until smooth.
In a separate bowl, stir together pumpkin, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the remaining 1 tablespoons orange juice concentrate. Fold in 1/4 cup of the cream cheese mixture until no white streaks remain.
Into each of four dessert or parfait glasses, spoon about 3 tablespoons of the remaining cream cheese mixture. Then spoon about 3 tablespoons of the pumpkin mixture into each dessert glass. Repeat layers, ending with the pumpkin. Refrigerate until cold, at last 2 hours or up to 1 day.
Just before serving sprinkle each parfait with chopped pecans and a gingersnap cookie.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

1 Large can of Pumpkin
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 box Yellow Cake Mix with Pudding
1 Large can of evaporated milk
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans
2 sticks butter, melted and cooled

Melt and cool butter first. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large mixing bowl. mix pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs and cinnamon together. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over the top, then sprinkle your chopped pecans over entire cake. Pour melted butter over entire cake mixture and bake for 45-50 minutes. Top with whipped cream and a dusting of powdered sugar. 

At Thanksgiving...Draw Close, Hold Hands.......

 Life is Short!

God is Good!