Ultimate Party Wings

Source:  Oceanspray Cranberry Jelly

1 12 oz bottle of chili sauce
1 can of jellied cranberry sauce
24 chicken wing drummettes

Over medium heat cook chili sauce and cranberry sauce until smooth and bubbly.

Heat oven to 375.  Place chicken drummettes on baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Brush with 2/3 of sauce.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Turn drummettes over, brush other side with remaining sauce and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes.

I finally got my new stove today, including 2(!!!) fully functioning ovens.   I was eager to try it out.  I didn't have the patience to make anything elaborate.  I wanted to make something right away.

So here is this recipe.  A riff on the chili sauce /grape jelly meatball party favorite.  And I love chicken wings.

Easy to make.

Pretty tasty.  Although if I were to make it again, I would bake the wings at a higher temperature first to get a nice crust on them.  Or at the end turn the temperature up to get some caramelization on the wings.

All in all -- good, but nothing special.

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

Source:  McCormick

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding mix
1 c canned pumpkin
1/4 c oil
1/4 c water
3 eggs
1.5 t ground cinnamon
1 t cloves
1 t vanilla extract

Beat all ingredients together.  Spoon batter into 24 muffin cups.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

There is a cream cheese frosting recipe that goes with this, but I am not a frosting fan so I didn't make it.  It also gave me an excuse of calling these pumpkin muffins and pretending that they were healthy :)

I am still having issues with my oven, but this morning it turned on by some miracle, so I decided to take the opportunity to bake something.  I also came upon my frozen pumpkin puree in the freezer.  Last year I roasted a few pumpkins, and froze the roasted puree -- so I use that instead canned pumpkin.  And, just read last week's post re: cake mixes and puddings in dessert recipes.

This recipe could not be easier.  Just dump everything in the mixer, and scoop into the muffin cups.  Bake.  Ready.

Delicious.  Easy.  Not super unique, not super creative, but simple, easy to make and tasty.  Very light yet velvety texture.  Distinct pumpkin flavor with subtle notes of the spices.  Would be perfect addition to a Thanksgiving  breakfast, or a Fall brunch.

Pineapple Banana Hummingbird Mini Loaves

Source:  Pineapple can

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
4 eggs
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, drained, 1 cup liquid reserved
2 medium bananas well mashed
1/2 c chopped pecans
1 t cinnamon

Preheat 350 F

Combine cakes mix, dry instant pudding, cinnamon, reserved pineapple juice, eggs and oil for two minutes. or until blended.  Add crushed pineapple,  bananas and nuts, mix until just blended.
Pour prepared batter into 5 mini loaf pans sprayed with nonstick spray.
Bake 40 miutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely.

I know my posts have been spotty lately.  And there really haven't been many dessert recipes, despite my self proclaimed fondness for them.  Blame some hecticness in my personal life, but mostly, blame my oven.  It's been having issues ....such as not turning on, or turning on intermittently.  It's hard to bake that way.  Nevertheless, I took another shot at it today.

I am always looking for recipes using standard cake mixes.  Things that jazz them up, and make them seem/taste like real home made desserts.  As a side note, really, how hard is it to throw together the dry mix of a cake batter ....so why we think it's such a time saver??  But I did have high hopes that the pudding would give the cake a rich and velvety texture.  I also had some ripe, very ripe bananas and was excited to find a recipe other than a banana bread to use them in.  I was picking my daughter up from her grandparents today, and thought it would be nice to take a little something for them, and this dessert looked perfect for it.  Finally, who doesn't like anything baked in a mini loaf pan.  I mean how cute are they??  And, surely, there cannot be many calories in such a teeny tiny little slice,  right?  So you can have 2, 3......

So obviously, this was a ridiculously easy recipe to put together. You just dump everything in the mixer, and then you throw it in the oven.  Could not be simpler.

Mine took just a little bit longer than 40 minutes to bake - -but then again, I have issues with my oven.

So this is very good.  Distinct banana flavor but not as pronounces and one tone as in a regular banana bread.  Has a lovely rich texture (most likely from the vanilla pudding), and the occasional bite of pineapple provides little bursts of freshness and tartness.  Excellent variation on a standard banana bread, would be nice addition to a brunch.