Cooking for me

I love cooking for me. I don’t have to worry about what I like (basically everything edible) or dislike (basically not much). I can take leftover stuff and turn it into something pretty good most of the time. And I don’t care how many dishes I dirty because I don’t mind cleaning up. I had a late lunch today. I cleaned out my closet, took donations to Goodwill, bought school supplies for a 7th grade project (of course, the first place I stopped had 8 tri-fold boards and I needed 9), stopped in at the grocery store and stopped to get the last board (almost double the price at Michael’s compared to Walmart, shoppers). I had a Michael’s coupon but chose to use it on the cutest cookie cutters in the whole world.

They are, aren’t they? They even come with a template to help me decorate. I will need all the artistic help I can get. Trust me.

When I got home from the errands, I decided to bake Pumpkin Spice Cake Bars from a recipe that one of my former students posted this morning on FB. Heather is a chef and currently teaches at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. While the cake was baking, I realized that I had not eaten lunch. My mind went to pasta– a cute bag of heart-shaped pasta (a gift from globe-trotting Pretend Daughter #2) in the cupboard, half a jar of Newman’s Common Good Organic Tomato Basil pasta sauce in the refrigerator along with some leftover caramelized zucchini I made yesterday. Sprinkle a little grated Parmesan on top et voilà. A couple of slices of my home made baguette and   À table, madame! 

The Ex-Ex would want to know “Where’s the meat?” but he’s not here. Just moi. I will let him sample the cake when he gets home. And there will be meat for dinner.

The cake is out of the oven, cooling, waiting for the cream cheese frosting. Smells pretty good in here. As you can tell, I am on a pumpkin spice roll right now.  Might just last until Thanksgiving. On ne sait jamais.

Pumpkin Cake Bars

recipe from Cross E Ranch in Salt Lake City, Utah

Cake:
1c Vegetable Oil (I used 1/2 c. applesauce and 1/2 c. oil)
2c Sugar (I cut it down to 1-1/2 c. sugar)
4 Eggs
1-15oz can plain pumpkin
2c Flour
2t Baking Powder
1t Baking Soda
½tsp Salt
2tsp Cinnamon
½tsp Ginger and nutmeg
¼tsp Cloves

Mix dry ingredient and wet ingredients separately and then mix together. Pour into 12”x17” buttered and floured cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 8oz Package of Cream Cheese
1/2c Softened Butter
4c+ Powdered Sugar
4tsp Milk
1t sp Vanilla

Beat together, frost cool cake.

Bon appétit, tout le monde. Be good to yourself. Take care of yourself as well as you take care of everyone else. Eat good food, even when you are alone. Bake something so your house will smell good. Bonne Rentrée to all my Frenchies whose first day of school was today.