Cake In A Mug!!

Here's an ingenious recipe, which makes a single cake that bakes right in its own coffee mug in the microwave. It makes an ideal gift for the single friends and college students on your list. While each portion serves one, you could also place matching sets into a baskets and give it to a couples or families.

Ingredients:

Cake Mix:
1 box cake mix, flavor of your choice
1 small instant pudding mix (not sugar free), flavor of your choice

Glaze Mix:
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons dry flavoring such as:
lemonade mix
orange breakfast drink mix
cocoa or vanilla Powder
instant flavored coffee or cappuccino



Instructions:

Combine cake mix ingredients and blend well. Measure 1/2 cup of mix into a sandwich bag. Label this bag "Cake Mix."

Place the glaze mix ingredients into a sandwich bag. Label this bag "glaze mix" and attach it to the other bag with a twist tie.
Place one bag cake mix and one bag glaze mix in each coffee cup and attach the baking instructions.
Tip
Be sure to select a large mug that can hold 1 1/2 cups of water. The mug must be microwavable.

Flavor Options
Lemon cake mix-lemon pudding
Yellow mix-chocolate pudding
Devils food mix-chocolate pudding...Add a few chocolate chips
Pineapple mix-coconut pudding...Sprinkle some toasted coconut on top
Butterscotch mix-butterscotch pudding



Attach the following note to the gift:
Mist inside of coffee mug with cooking spray. Empty cake mix into cup. Add 1 egg white, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon water. Mix well. Microwave on full power 2 minutes.

Empty Glaze Mix into a small bowl and add 1 teaspoon water. Mix well. Pour glaze over baked cake

SLOW COOKED PUMPKIN BUTTER!!! YUMMY GOOD!!

If you have enjoyed pumpkin butter from farms stands, and wanted to make your own, but thought it might be too difficult; guess again!
These step-by-step directions will make it so simple, anyone can make better pumpkin butter and at a much lower cost.

Now, with a crockpot, it's easy!

A side benefit is that your house will smell wonderful while it is cooking - much better than potpourri!

Ingredients

8 cups canned pumpkin
4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
6 tablespoons of lemon juice

Directions

Add the lemon juice to the pumpkin and spices.
Set the crock pot on low or medium heat.
Cover it loosely or use a large pot splatter-guard. It will spatter as it boils slowly, so I also cover nearby surfaces with towels. You don't want to seal it tightly because you want the steam to escape so it can reduce in volume and thicken.
Leave it to cook for 6 - 8 hours. How long depends on the size and power of your crock pot, and how thick you like it, If you want to stir it occasionally, that's fine but not necessary.

Spoon hot pumpkin mixture into sterilized, very hot, pint or half pint jars , filling to within 1/4 inch from top. Remove air bubbles; wipe jar rims. Cover at once with metal lids, and screw on bands.

This is like eating Pumpkin Pie on toast….

***Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life of 6 months in the fridge. Note that it should NOT be stored on the shelf, unrefrigerated!!