I love pumpkin! Here’s a simple pumpkin cake that is nice to eat with a mug of hot tea or apple cider. It’s easy to throw together, and it smells SO good.
To make this cake, preheat your oven to 350°F. Beat together 1 cup of room-temperature butter (2 sticks) and 1 cup of sugar. Then mix in 1 egg and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
Mix in 1 cup of pumpkin purée.
Then, mix in 2 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice, and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Mix in a 12 ounce bag of chocolate chips. It really helps to have an electric mixer or a stand mixer to do all of this hard work!
Spread your mixture into a greased baking dish or cake pan. I used a 9×13 inch pyrex, pretty standard and boring. This cake doesn’t rise much, so you won’t have to worry about it spilling over.
Put your cake into the oven and let it bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. I usually follow my nose when I’m cooking to tell when things are done. But this cake starts smelling delicious after only 5 minutes in the oven! Don’t let your nose fool you… the cake needs the time to get really nice and toasty. Toasty pumpkin cake…yummm!
Stella was so happy I made this cake that she gave me a big high five while licking her lips. That says it all.
This recipe is adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod.
Start off by browning one chicken hindquarter (thigh and leg) per person in a large, heavy pot with olive oil. Make sure to salt and pepper both sides of the chicken first. Heat the oil over medium heat so that the chicken sizzles. Cook the chicken skin-side down for 10 minutes. Then, turn it over and cook it for another 10 minutes so that both sides are brown. Remove the chicken to a side plate. If you want a faster way to make this meal, just dice up some chicken breasts, brown them in the pot, and them set them aside.
While the chicken is cooking, steam some squash. This is a delicata squash that I got in my vegetable delivery. The website said it was “delicata (sweet potato) squash.” I never heard sweet potatoes referred to as a squash before, but I got them anyway. It turns out, they are not sweet potatoes at all. The squash is just shaped like them.
It also tastes like a cross between sweet potatoes and chestnuts. It’s really delicious. I think it might be my new favorite kind of squash!
Also while the chicken is cooking, chop up 3 cloves of garlic, 1 medium onion, 2 medium carrots, and the stalks from a bunch of swiss chard.
Swiss chard is a dark, leafy green. I got rainbow swiss chard, so each stalk was a different color. It was really beautiful. Rip the leafy parts into pieces and set them aside.
When the chicken comes out of the pot, add in the chopped vegetables. Cook them for about 5 minutes or until the swiss chard stems start to turn translucent. When that’s cooked, add in the swiss chard leaves, the zest from 1 lemon or lime, the steamed squash (minus the skin), and 1.5 cups of basmati rice. Stir everything together and let it cook for 1 minute.
Then, add 2.5 cups of chicken broth to the pot, and bring it to a simmer. Sit the chicken pieces on top with the skin facing up. Cover the pot with a lid, and let everything cook for about 30 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is fully cooked. All of the stock should also be absorbed.
Pile the rice and vegetable mixture onto a plate, and top it with a piece of chicken. Squeeze a wedge of lemon or lime over everything. Enjoy your warm, delicious, and nutritious dinner! You’ll also only have 1 pot to clean. Hooray!