So this one’s for you, Mary! And for those of you who have thrown out all your muffin recipes except the butterscotch muffins I made for the cops, this is very similar so your recipe box is getting even lighter.

The aroma of this cake baking in the oven is intoxicating. It is THE cake you want to bake if you have guests coming, your house is on the market and you’re holding an open house, or you can’t get the smell of your kid’s hockey bag out of the back entry.

{To-live-for Pumpkin Butterscotch Coffee Cake}

1 cup butterscotch chips

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cup white sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup pure pumpkin

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Streusel

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Top the cake with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Make it:

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a regular-sized Bundt pan. Melt 1 cup of butterscotch chips over low heat on the stove or in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, eggs, vanilla and melted (and cooled to room temperature) butterscotch chips. Gradually stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture, stirring until well combined.

For the streusel, in a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, chopped pecans, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.

Pour half of the cake batter into the Bundt pan. Toss the streusel mixture evenly over the cake batter. Pour the rest of the cake batter over the streusel. Bake at 350° for 60-65* minutes, or until toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven, turn the Bundt pan upside down onto a cooling rack and let cool for 15 minutes before lifting the pan off the cake. When cake is completely cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

*My Bundt pan is the Pampered Chef Stoneware Fluted Pan so the bake time may be longer than what it would take in a metal Bundt pan. You may want to check the cake after 50 minutes of baking time.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Have you fallen in love with the pumpkin and butterscotch flavor combination?

My Christmas baking this year included Noir bars. It’s the first time I’ve made them. It won’t be the last. I can’t open the refrigerator this week without eating one.

If you aren’t a coffee or espresso drinker, don’t shy away from this recipe — the espresso simply intensifies the chocolate flavors. The filling includes a frothy, creamy combination of cream cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon and chocolate.

The recipe is from one of my Betty Crocker^® magazines. Click here to view the Noir Bar recipe.

What new recipe(s) did you try this holiday season?

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

I don’t know Jennie, but the reminder of painful loss that cuts so deep you don’t know how you’re going to pick yourself up again, is real. We somehow forget that we are God’s children – here on his time, living his plan. Our eternal life is not lived here. Death crushes our spirit and tests our faith because we love so freely, so intensely and then death sneaks in and rips everything we know away, leaving our lives crumbling all around it. Our hearts are wrapped so tightly with love that when we lose someone, we are never the same.

Jennie posted her story in early August. I couldn’t make the peanut butter pie that Friday so I made mini pies the next day and delivered them to three of my teenage nephews who live near me. (The pie is extraordinarily delicious – I can see why it was Mikey’s favorite.) I didn’t post this story at the time, but I was reminded again recently that today may end differently than I think. And it could mean living with one less person in my life that I love. It could mean I am not here tomorrow. Today is the perfect day to “make that peanut butter pie for Mikey“.

Tricia Squashingroff-Schwartz and Officer Joe Fishbaugher from the Brookings Police Department

Tracey wasn’t trying to get out of any parking tickets, she just wanted to let them know there are people who appreciate the work they do. Our community had just experienced two senseless tragedies from two fatal car accidents in town, one of them killing a 17-year-old boy from the local high school. (Tracey’s 17-year-old daughter was about ready to get her driver’s license so I suspect she may have been experiencing some “mom” emotions – and rightly so.)

It was easy to pick the first two flavors because my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip and Butterscotch  muffins are the ones I get the most compliments on, and the most requests for. The third flavor was triple chocolate. Chocolate in a breakfast food. Enough said.

I made extra pumpkin muffins and brought them to work. (Michal, here’s the recipe I promised you!)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 36 regular muffins

2 1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup oil

6 eggs

2 1/4 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 cup water

4 1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoons ground cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 cups mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease muffin pans or use cupcake liners. In a small mixing bowl, lightly beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together. Add pumpkin and water and stir. In a large, separate bowl, mix the flour, soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients just until combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. As with most muffin batters, don’t over-mix or the muffins will be tough. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Lightly spray tops of muffins with cooking spray – this gives the muffins a lightly crispy top. (A little restaurant trick my sister, Kalli, taught me.) Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

I used my square muffin tin which is a nice change from traditional round muffins.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

I gave these butterscotch muffins five stars on the Taste of Home website. You can view the recipe here. It quickly becomes a favorite go-to muffin recipe for all occasions. While you are on the site, take a look at this Cappuccino Muffins recipe. I haven’t tried them yet but I need to! 

My sister, Heidi, emailed me the Triple Chocolate Muffins recipe on Wednesday, April 18, 2001. (I printed the email and stuck it with my recipes.) I was eight months pregnant. All she wrote was, “Thought this recipe might also be one that you might enjoy!!!!” I wonder if I was having a pregnant-woman-chocolate-meltdown?

Triple Chocolate Muffins

3 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

4 Tablespoons cocoa

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 stick butter, melted and slightly cooled

2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Melt the butter first so it has time to cool. Preheat the oven to 325°. Grease 12 regular muffin cups or use cupcake liners. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cocoa and brown sugar. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, milk, sour cream and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Stir in the dark chocolate and white chocolate chips. 

Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Tracey’s gift to the Brookings Police Department is one of my favorite random acts of “sweet” kindness. I’m guessing they don’t receive appreciation as often as they should.

Enjoy the muffin recipes! Let me know if you bake a few dozen and give them in your own random act of “sweet” kindness.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

The coffee cake recipe is from Taste of Home. I added a few teaspoons of vanilla to intensify the flavor of the yellow cake, and I didn’t make the icing; not for any particular reason, other than I know the cake is moist and flavorful without it. (You may notice that the recipe on the Taste of Home website says to bake 30-35 minutes but both times I made it this week, I noticed that even in my convection oven, the cake took 45 minutes or so to bake completely.)

The chili is a ”throw in what you like” recipe so you can choose what types of beans and spices you use. This batch, perfect for the slow cooker, makes enough for six hungry guys, one hungry girl, and one serving for later. And because comfort food includes chocolate in my domain, I also made a batch of my Marshmallow Creme Crunch Brownies.

Beginning of rebuilding day #1.

End of rebuilding day #1.

You may be wondering why we are feeding our construction crew. The owner, Lyle Enger, and his crew are from Bigfork, Minnesota which is so many miles from here that they are close to the Canadian border. (As a food blogger, I think it would be awesome to live in a town called Bigfork!) Lyle is a long-time family friend of Jason’s and they know his work well. He owns, and built most of the Maple Ridge Resort on the edge of wilderness in northern Minnesota. (And don’t even get me started on owning a place with the word maple in it. Yum.) The crew is staying in a hotel 10 miles from our house so we felt that the least we could do is feed them lunch each day.  

* * * * * * *

Make-it-Your-Way Rainy Day Chili

3 pounds ground beef

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 (15-ounce) can red beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15-ounce) can chili beans with sauce

2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (46-ounce) can tomato juice

BBQ sauce, approximately 1/4 cup

a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

a couple tablespoons of prepared yellow mustard

cayenne pepper

salt & pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

ground cumin

hot chili powder

onion salt

1 tablespoon or so of brown sugar

Let’s make the chili!

Season the ground beef with onion salt (to taste) and cook with chopped onion until meat is no longer pink. Drain. Put the beef in the slow cooker and add all the beans and the tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, mustard and Worcestershire (all to taste), stirring to combine. Add the can of tomato juice and then add the spices. This truly is a “make-it-your-way” recipe so add any spices or sauces you like. I’ve also been known to add steak sauce and hot pepper sauce. Stir all the ingredients until well combined. Cook until piping hot. Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, and diced red onions.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

What kinds of beans and spices do you use in your homemade chili?

* * * * * * * *

I hope your parents read this, and your managers and the store owners. Because they will be proud of you. Your parents will know they raised you well – well enough to go off into the world and make a difference. Your employers will know that the culture they instill in employees is worth every effort.

I am not part of the regular Saturday crowd at Starbucks so you didn’t know me. I am part of the drop-the-kids-at-school-and-get Starbucks-before-you-go-to-work-crowd, and I can’t wait to share with your manager (Karen Andersen) what you’ve done! 

Thank you for the brownies that morning. Thank you for the $100 Hy-Vee gift card that you gave to my family.

You were moved by my story.

But I want people to be moved by yours. You taught my kids a lesson about thoughtfulness and unexpected gifts of compassion. And I am grateful.

For those of you who are curious, here is a fairly short and sweet version of the story.

On Friday, 1 July, a severe storm ripped through our 22-acre, rural Minnesota property; demolishing most everything except our house. My kids and I were at home.

The car was in the garage. The roof is now in the grove and the garage doors are wrapped around trees.

The barn crashed down. It was an earlier 1900s dairy barn.

A silo toppled over onto a semi trailer.

And another…

The workshop blew away.

And the fallen silos crushed everything in the workshop. If you look closely below, you can see our buried ATV. (An Arctic Cat two-passenger that we LOVED and they don’t make anymore.)

Oh, and one of my saddest moments was extracting my old Honda Shadow.

Here’s where our heavenly “luck” came into play. Three large trees, any one of them would’ve crushed half of our house, were ripped out of the ground. But all three landed strategically around the house. One of them kicked over the propane tank, so that was super scary but other than the siding being cracked by debris and our front door shattering, the house is ok.

The good news: our beloved redneck (Intex) pool survived! The bad news: although it survived the winds, the pump and filter was powered from the garage so we ended up losing it anyway.

Back to the Starbucks crew. The storm happened late in the afternoon so we picked up what we could and salvaged items from the garage until it got dark. Since we didn’t have power, Jason stayed at the house and the kids and I spent the night in Brookings.

In the morning, we stopped at Hy-Vee to get a few things for our morning clean-up crew (our amazing families) and we stopped at Starbucks on the way out. It was the beginning of the long Fourth of July weekend so everyone was buzzing about their plans at the lake, picnics, fireworks, etc.

When the barista asked us what fun things we had planned for the weekend, I calmly explained that we were beginning a very long clean-up process from a storm hitting our property. Other than being anxious to get my coffee and get out of there, I don’t think I was very emotional but once the Starbucks employees heard what happened, they were very sympathetic and asked if they could give us some free brownies to brighten our morning. The sheer kindness from these young employees broke me and I cried. It was very touching and my kids were witness to a random act of kindness.

So why did I get all teary-eyed at Starbucks a second time? A few weeks later, the kids and I were making a rushed trip into Hy-Vee to grab a few items and get home. We buzzed passed the Starbucks kiosk and were headed to the dairy section when I thought I heard someone yelling my name. I finally turned back to see Brooke, from Starbucks, following us. She said they had been waiting for a long time to see us again and she was so happy we were there.

You see, Brooke, Dave, Andie, Sean, Nicole, and Amanda had been so touched by what had happened to our place that they put their money together to purchase us a gift card to the Hy-Vee grocery store. A $100 gift card! They didn’t know my name so they had gone back through the garbage that morning to get my name off the receipt. You guessed it, teary-eyed again. That gift card was extremely appreciated. Cleaning up from a storm costs A LOT of money and this helped us pay for some gas and bottles of water and some food for the weekends when people were here helping us.

I’m not sure which of you gave us the card that day but I asked her to write the names down of the employees who contributed to the gift card. I found out it was Brooke who gave us the gift card that day but she hadn’t included her name on the list. And although this comes a couple months later, I sincerely thank you. Your actions speak louder than words, and my kids and I will never forget the kindness you showed our family. Thank you. Staci

The transition only took two weeks but people anxious to see the new digs were treated to ice-cold beer, fine wine, and a lively variety of menu items from jambalaya with shrimp, andouille sausage and chicken, and Cajun chicken penne Florentine to a more traditional summer menu of BBQ ribs, boneless chicken wings, and coleslaw.

The restaurant opens opened to the public on Monday, 22 August at 5 p.m. and is the latest venture for owners Lance and Ann Park, who have owned and operated the South Dakota hotel, restaurant and bar property since 1998. (They also happen to be friends of ours so this is my “disclaimer” that I may be a little biased in my review.)

The interior has a new look which seems even more warm, welcoming and fun than the previous space. (Get a sneak peek in their Facebook page photo album.) In true Ann and Lance fashion they added a comfy outdoor patio complete with large tables and cushioned chairs, which I’m sure will graciously partake in many late-night summer parties.

So here’s the scoop (and my thoughts) on the menu items that guests enjoyed at the VIP party. (All items are listed on the Ground Round dinner menu or the dessert menu.)

• Cajun Chicken Penne Florentine: I’m a sucker for creamy, white-sauce pasta with spicy chicken so this dish was one of my favorite. The chicken is excellent.
• Jambalaya: The first dish on my plate was jambalaya and I almost passed it up – I’ve never tried jambalaya and had no desire to. I am glad I did though, as it was my favorite main dish! It has an amazing smokey Cajun flavor that will definitely entice me to order this meal again.
• BBQ Ribs and Coleslaw: The ribs have a nice, rich BBQ flavor and the coleslaw is cool and creamy. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I’m not much of a meat-on-a-bone kind of person but I took a stab at eating one and it was worth it. Ok, with a knife and fork instead of my fingers, but do you REALLY need to lick the bone to enjoy the flavor?
• Grilled Chicken and Spinach Salad: The roasted red peppers were fantastic! If you like spinach, bacon, and raspberry balsamic vinaigrette dressing, you’ll love this salad. I am more of a Caesar or garlic onion dressing kind of girl so I’ll be ordering the Buffalo Chicken Salad or the Chicken Club Salad next time.
• Mozzarella Cheese Sticks: Crunchy on the outside, hot and cheesy on the inside – who doesn’t love a mozz stick dipped in marinara sauce?
• Asian Zing Boneless Chicken Wings: Grab your ice-cold beer – these are gonna burn but you’re gonna love it. Yum.
• Buffalo Boneless Chicken Wings: Nice and spicy - we tried a few different flavors of the boneless wings and they are all excellent. The best part is that the chicken is a high-quality, white chicken that is real chicken, not processed meat.
• Choc’late Lovin’ Spoon Cake™: The dessert menu is almost always the first thing I look at on a menu. This one will not disappoint. Don’t let the menu description fool you on this cake – it’s not so much traditional “pudding” layers – it seems more like decadent layers of chocolate ganache. And although it’s called spoon cake, you’ll want to eat a large piece with a small shovel. I. Want. More.
• Rockslide Brownie: Do yourself a favor and leave room for this at the end of your meal. Or eat it first. You’ll thank me.

This is the only restaurant that I’ve seen BOTH of my kids’ favorites not only on one menu, but in one dish! Check out the Hound Dog Mac N Cheese. It’s even from the blue box. Once our kids see this menu, they won’t want to eat anywhere else.

Gluten free? They made a menu just for you.

Not driving? They made a menu just for you. (and me)

The VIP  party is over and the kitchen will soon be is now open to the public. There are many items to choose from and plenty of time for return visits so I’m making a list. The first thing I’m ordering from the lunch menu is the Turkey Pretzel Sandwich (shaved turkey, applewood smoked bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce, mayo, tomato, and honey mustard on a grilled pretzel roll). And for dinner, I’m going Tex Mex with Chimichangas.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

What’s on your first-visit menu list?

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

You may want to buy two boxes of the new General Mills Cocoa Puffs^® Brownie Crunch cereal because they are so good, you’ll want one box for this recipe and one for snacking.

{Brownie Crunch Mint Crispy Bars}

4 Tablespoons butter

5 cups miniature marshmallows, divided

7 cups General Mills Cocoa Puffs^® Brownie Crunch cereal

1 cup Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips, divided

Lightly butter a 9×13 pan or line with parchment paper.

On low heat, either stove top or in microwave, melt 4 Tbsp. butter and 4 cups of marshmallows together. Stir until melted and combined. Remove from heat. Add the cereal to the marshmallow mixture and stir until cereal is coated. Stir in 1 cup of marshmallows and 3/4 cup Andes chips. Spread mixture in pan and sprinkle 1/4 cup Andes chips on top. Gently press and smooth the mixture with the back of a metal spoon or a spatula sprayed with cooking spray.

Cool and cut into squares, triangles or rectangles. Any way you slice them, they will disappear quickly!

What is your favorite cereal treat? Have you tried the new Brownie Crunch cereal?

=   =   =   =   =   =   =   =   =   =   =   =   =   =   =

If you spend much time whipping up good eats in your kitchen, you know that even if you have a dishwasher, there are always dishes to wash and dry. A good-quality flour sack towel dries dishes better than any kitchen towel I’ve used. Grandma won’t buy the towels unless they are the big, heavy fabric. And she’ll spend lots of time sorting through the bin to find the towels that are almost perfectly square.

Grandma gives each of her grandchildren a set as a wedding gift.

(The marriages have usually outlasted the towels.)

I already bought one set for each of my kids just in case grandma isn’t around when they find true love and get married.

Notice how flat and neatly folded they are? Grandma insists on ironing each towel before she lets you have them.

They are never ironed again.

Grandma uses random embroidery threads, occasionally purchasing new colors. Even though she is often unsure that she has chosen the right colors for the designs, I have yet to see one that I don’t absolutely love!

I have purchased extra towel sets for myself because as often as we use dish towels, we go through a set every few years. And I don’t ever want our kitchen linen drawer to be without them.

I am not the crafty one in my family so I am hoping one of my sisters will carry on Grandma’s artful tradition. (I will learn how to bake her secret sugar cookies.)

As you can see, there’s one towel from my day-of-the-week chocolate towel set that got burned. I’m not sure why he thought it was ok to wipe a hot burner with a towel, but I was mad. And I was sad that it broke up my set. Then he asked Grandma Janet to make me a new one. She did. And everything was right again.

Grandma Janet and Grandpa Elroy next to their Rambler in 1968.

Does someone in your family make something that your family cherishes? Who is learning to continue their tradition?

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

The ingredient list is short and sweet.

After melting the milk chocolate and butterscotch chips together, pour over the pretzel balls and stir. Stir in the toffee pieces and sea salt.

Spread the melted chocolate pretzel layer into a pan and drizzle with melted caramel. Grab yourself some hand wipes because these babies are sticky!

{Butterscotch Caramel Sea Salt Pretzels}

5 cups mini pretzel balls

8 ounces Hershey’s milk chocolate (can be a little more or a little less, depending on the size bars you use)

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 (8-ounce) package milk chocolate toffee bits

1 Tablespoon sea salt

1/3 package (approximately 20) caramels, unwrapped

1 teaspoon milk

Place pretzel balls in a large bowl. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt Hershey’s milk chocolate and butterscotch chips together until smooth. Pour melted chocolate mixture over pretzel balls and stir until coated. Add toffee bits and sea salt, stirring everything together. Line a large cooking sheet or tray with parchment paper or non-stick foil. Spread the mixture into the pan. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the caramels and milk. Drizzle the caramel over the pretzel mixture and cool completely. Break into pieces before serving.

Other ideas: I bought the pretzel balls from Wal-Mart in the salted snack section (near the bagel chips, Bugels, etc.) but you could use any type of pretzels. The pretzel rods would be fun too. If I have cashews on hand next time, I will decrease the pretzel balls by 1 cup and substitute cashews. You could also add 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter to the milk chocolate and butterscotch mixture. Omit the caramel if you don’t want something too sticky.

What other ingredients would you add?

Join me on Facebook.

=  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =  =