Past Contest Winners

Winner 2009 Pumpkin Contest
Mellissa Horner-Richardson
Roasted Pumpkin Risotto

2009 Pumpkin Contest Entries

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
Pumpkin Mousse
Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread submitted by Christi Mooney

2 cups pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 tbs veg oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp pumpkin spice
(sometimes I put just a tad more cloves in if I want it EXTRA spicey)

Preheat to 350F. In a large bowl, beat pumpkin, eggs, oil, water and sugar. In a medium bowl, mix dry stuff. Beat the dry mixture in with the pumpkin mixture. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake for 60 minutes or until knife comes out dry in center.


H A P P Y  C O O K I N G !!

Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies submitted by Mellissa Horner-Richardson
Yield: 3 dozen

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 c butter(1 stick), softened
1 tsp baking powder
1 c Libby's 100% pure pumpkin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 lg egg
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 c chocolate chips

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350* Grease baking sheets.
COMBINE flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mix. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.
BAKE for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.


H A P P Y  C O O K I N G !!

Pumpkin Mousse

Pumpkin Mousse submitted by Kari Koepp

My mom gave me this recipe years ago. It really is good :)
 

2 Small pkgs  vanilla pudding
3 cups  Milk
1 can Pumpkin 14 ounce
1 teaspoon Pumpkin pie spice
1 cup  Cool Whip

With wisk beat together pudding, milk, pumpkin and spice. Fold in cool whip.  Refridgerate one hour :)

My mom gave me this recipe years ago. It really is good :)

H A P P Y  C O O K I N G !!

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake submitted by Malisa Shutt

This recipe uses gingersnaps which gives it a small bite and doesn't get overpowered by the cheesecake.You can use many toppings to garnish, my fave is caramel syrup, but you can use dark chocolate syrup,or whipped cream dusted with nutmeg and cinnamin. You can use light or dark brown sugar, with the dark giving it a richer taste.

 

Pumpkin Puree  375F  Makes 5 - 6 cups

2-  3-4 lb. pie pumpkins

Cut pumpkins into 5" pieces. clean out all the seeds and membranes down to the pulp.
Layer pumpkin pieces on a foil lined baking sheet, skin side up.

Bake for 1 hour,or until tender. Let cool. When cool enough scoop out pulp.
Place pulp in a blender or food processer.

Cover and puree until smooth.

At this point you can continue to the next part of the recipe or freeze the
puree for up to 6 months to use later in pies,cookies and any thing else
you need pumpkin for.

 

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake   350F            Makes one cheesecake

15oz. pumpkin puree (from first part)
1/4 cup butter,softened (do not substitute)
1-1/2 cup finely crushed gingersnaps
1-1/4 cup + 2 Tbsps. packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all- purpose flour
2 tsps. pumpkin pie spice
5 brown eggs, lightly beaten

* Before you heat your oven to 350F, place one oven rack on the bottom setting
and place a 13x9x2 pan filled with 1'' water on it.Then place the next rack on
the next setting up. Then heat oven to 350F.

* Meanwhile, in a bowl; stir together the crushed gingersnaps,butter
and 2 Tbsps pressed brown sugar until it makes a nice crumb.
Press the crumbs onto the bottom and about 1-in. up the sides of a 9x3
springform pan.When oven is ready bake crust for 5 min. or until firm.
Cool on a wire rack when done.

*To make the filling:in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and remaining
brown sugar until smooth.Beat in the pumpkin puree,flour and pumpkin pie spice
until combined. Add the eggs stirring them in by hand.

* Pour the filling into the cooked crust. Place the filled springform on a baking sheet
  on the top rack above the pan of water. Bake 1 hour or until filling appears
 set when gently jiggled.

*Turn off the oven; leaving cheesecake in the oven for 30min.
  (top may crack as it cools.)

* Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 min.Using a sharp knife, carefully loosen the
   crust from the sides of pan. Let cool 30 min. more.

* Slowly, carefully remove springform sides,using the sharp knife as needed.
   Cover and chill for 4 hrs or overnight before serving.

H A P P Y  C O O K I N G !!

Pumpkin Recipe Contest!

Calling all you aspiring chefs! I have decided to have a contest in which you could win a $25 Amazon gift card! Here's the rules:


1. You're recipe must use pumpkin as the main ingredient
2. Please make sure that this is YOUR recipe.
3. You must be a fan on our Facebook page. Just click the banner along side this posting.
4. All entries must be received no later than midnight EST on Friday, October 23rd 2009. 
5. Entries must be sent to my email - goddessofcooking@zitomedia.net. Pictures, along with the title of your dish, can be uploaded to the pumpkin photo album on our Facebook page and is preferred but not required.
6. All entries will be judge by myself and a winner will be picked on Friday, October 30th 2009. 
7. The sky is the limit! Recipes can be either sweet or savory so have fun!
8. Sorry guys, but my family is ineligible. 


Prizes:
1. $25 gift card to Amazon.com
2. Your recipe will be featured on the website until the following Monday and then will be featured in their own section under contest winners for as long as the site is in existence.


Good Luck and 
H A P P Y  C O O K I N G !!

Goddess of Cooking

Hello and Welcome!

Let me introduce myself. My name is Erica and I maintain the site, Goddess of Cooking. Goddess of Cooking is a blog or a personal website that I have created in the hopes of sharing my recipes with everyone around the globe. Unlike the large recipe sites you might find with thousands of recipes, Goddess of Cooking only has recipes that I have made in my personal life. What’s even better is that I’m not a professional chef so you know that you can recreate these recipes in your own kitchen. The dishes that are collected here come from various places. It might have been seen in a magazine, or a dish that has been past down by my mother, who learned it from her mother and so forth and so on. A great many recipes are simply from my head, and while I’m a cook that does a little bit of this and a pinch of that, I have done my best to include real measurements. With that said, I invite you browse the list of dishes and give one a try. Once you do, I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

I am also here to help you. If you are looking for a special recipe to wow guests at your next dinner party, or you have questions about a dish you’re preparing, I am almost always available through email to help. In most cases, I will get back to you within a days time with an answer. So whatever it is, please email feel free to email me here: goddessofcooking@zitomedia.net

How it all began

My love of cooking, I believe, started with my grandmother. She was a secretary at the local middle school and when school was cancelled on account of the weather, I would spend the day with her. We mostly baked cookies together. I had this extremely old children’s cookbook that I believe was from Betty Crocker. In it were several recipes that were simple enough for a child to make and my favorite were paint brush cookies. Basically they were just cut-out sugar cookies. The “paint” was egg yolk, water and food coloring that you literally painted onto the cookies. I hardly ever ate them because, well the food coloring didn’t taste all that good on a cookie, but I always had a blast making them. Later on, after she past, my step-grandmother, who was a first grade teacher, took over the tradition and continued to encourage the love of cooking that I had. To this day, I can remember making cookies with Grammy and how both of us ended up with flour hand-prints on our backsides because that was the most logical choice to dust our hands off.

Comments

            As I mentioned before, comments and constructive criticism are always welcomed, however please remember that this is a family site and should be treated as such. Foul language will not be tolerated and those posts containing rube or offensive language and behavior will be deleted.

Nutritional Information

            Please know that I am not a nutritionist, therefore I neither have the time nor the expertise to provide this analysis. I believe in a varied diet, using real butter, real cream, eggs, lots of vegetables, and protein from meat, fish, beans, and cheese. Goddess of Cooking is a reflection of how my family cooks and eats, and since we do not analyze thee nutritional information for our meals, it is not done for the site.

Photography

            The photos within the pages of Goddess of Cooking were taken by myself unless otherwise stated. In general I don't mind if my photos are republished on other sites as long as there is a link back to the recipe from which the photo is taken, but I maintain the right to withdraw that permission, and request that a photo of mine be removed from another site, for any reason.

About Erica

            My name is Erica Moses and I live in Genesee Pennsylvania with my husband Jared and our two children. Formally I was an assistant manger for Wal-Mart Store Inc. Currently I can be reached through email at goddessofcooking@zitomedia.net

Special Thanks

            Many thanks go out to my family who have always inspired and encouraged me to cook my heart out.

            Thanks to my husband who indulges my whims and has become my personal taste tester when I try out new things.

            Thanks to Suzie M. who has been my sounding board since the very beginning of this site, and a friend for so much longer.

            And of course, thank you to all of you who have found this site useful and have tried the recipe that are contained with in.