Halloween Luncheon

For the Halloween luncheon, JoAnne (my partner in crime) found an idea on Pinterest, pitched the idea to me, and we made it happen. We made a dead guy!

I got the from the waist up, and she got legs. I started out by making a meatloaf "head" the night before - my standard meatloaf recipe, wrapped in bacon, with strategically placed chunks of onion.

Before Baking

After Baking

Then, before the luncheon, I cooked up two racks of ribs (for the chest), and kielbasa with peppers and onions (for the intestines). JoAnne did two flavors chicken wings and chicken tenders for the legs.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

A while back, Wanda sent me the recipe for Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake. It sounded like it would be a great idea for the Halloween luncheon at Huber, so I made it tonight.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Crust

• 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 egg
• 1 stick butter (1/2 cup), melted

Filling

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin (not pie filling)
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 stick butter (1/2 cup), melted
• 1 (16-ounce) box of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix together with electric mixer the cake mix, egg, and butter. Pat mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.
3. For the filling beat cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth with an electric mixer. Add in the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and mix together. Slowly add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg mixing well. Spread the pumpkin mixture over the unbaked crust and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don’t overbake. The center should be a little gooey. You can see I over did mine and the crust was a little overdone. The cake was much easier to cut after refrigerating.
4. Serve with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I needed to bake it for longer than the recommended time (when I tried to cover it in order to put the cake in the refrigerator, it stuck to the aluminum foil), but overall, it tasted good and was well received by my co-workers.

Drip Beef

I have been wanting to try out this recipe for a while, and tonight seemed like a good time to make Drip Beef.

Drip Beef

Ingredients

• 2.5-4 lb chuck roast
• 1 can beef consommé
• 1 16-oz jar pepperoncinis
• 4 T Italian seasoning

Directions

1. Put chuck roast in oven safe pot.
2. Pour in can of beef consommé.
3. Add pepperoncinis and juice from half of the 16-oz jar.
4. Top with 3-4 tablespoons of Italian seasoning.
5. Cover pot and bake in 275° oven for 5-6 hours.

I split this in two by cutting the meat in half, and splitting most of the items between two pots. The only difference between Tom's pot and my pot was that my pot got all of the pepperoncinis as well as all of the leftover juice from the jar (why waste it?). I also misread the recipe, and only used a total of 4 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning. I must say, my drip beef was quite tasty, and has a nice zing to it. Tom hasn't tried his, yet, but I tasted it and I think it'll be good enough for him.

APG Oktoberfest

Tom and I enjoyed APG's Oktoberfest celebration last year, so we decided to attend this year, too. I was able to be cut from work tonight, so we headed over after I got off of work. I tried the weinerschnitzel and bratwurst that were being sold, and well as two beers (Victory's Festbier and Shock Top's Twisted Pretzel Wheat).

Of everything I tried, the Shock Top beer was my favorite. It was dark, which I didn't expect, and had a slightly salty flavor. Delicious! We stayed until the Edelweiss band finished playing for the evening. Tom was a little disappointed, because there weren't a huge amount of people there, but I rationalized that it was Friday night, and last year we attended on a Saturday night.

Trip to Gettysburg

Tom and I had planned a trip to Gettysburg to go on a paranormal investigation, and on the way there, we did a little geocaching. After finding the first cache, I got the Pennsylvania souvenir.

Polly Want a Cracker?

Survivor - No Survivor - White Church

Inn and Out, Out and Inn

First Killed at Gettysburg, pt 1

CINMAR South Mountain: Smithsonian NMNH GeoTour

Stuff Found at Work

Stuff Found at Work

P.O. Box - Aberdeen

P.O. Box - Aberdeen

I'm STUMPED!!

I'm Stumped

My Merit Badge Cache

My Merit Badge Cache

Atari 2600 Tribute: Asteroids!

Atari 2600 Tribute: Asteroids!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Jeff told me a few weeks ago about a recipe his wife had made that was baked, but tasted like it was fried. I just had to try it.

PARMESAN CRUSTED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/4 lbs.)
• 4 tsp. Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise with cheese in medium bowl. Arrange chicken on baking sheet. Evenly top with Mayonnaise mixture, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.
3. Bake until chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 20 minutes.

So, in my opinion, it didn't taste like fried chicken. But really, why did I try to fool myself? It was good, though, and Tom enjoyed it more than I would have imagined.

Yellow Box #56

Yellow Box #56

It's in the clear!

It's in the clear!

What in blue Blazes

What in blue Blazes

Perryville Station Archway

Perryville Station Archway

EASY Maryland Crab Soup

How easy is it to make Maryland Crab Soup? This easy:

EASY Maryland Crab Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 cans Vegetarian Vegetable Soup
• 1 8-oz container crab meat
• 1 t Old Bay (or to taste)

Directions:

1. Dump all three cans of soup into a pot, and add 1 1/2 cans of water to soup.
2. Warm over medium heat until almost boiling.
3. Add crab meat and Old Bay.
4. Stir and continue to warm.
5. Serve.

I had to experiment with the amount of Old Bay, but if I ever get a craving for Maryland Crab Soup, I now have a go-to recipe!

Roadside Trail

Roadside Trail