I am an Allrecipes Allstar Brand Ambassador (a voluntary position) and was asked to to review and share my opinion on Barber Food's Seasoned Select Stuffed Chicken Breast.  I had a dinner party and made three different kinds of Barber's Chicken Breast ( broccoli and cheese, spinach florentine and cordon bleu ).

We started out our dinner with with a butternut squash soup. Then we had a fall salad with apple and bleu cheese with a balsamic vinaigrette (my friend Jenny brought it, and it was delicious). Then came our main course the Barber Stuffed Chicken Breasts and a rice dish. I even made a pumpkin dessert. The dinner party was a success!  We all really like the chicken and our favorite was the broccoli and cheese.  The chicken is tender and very flavorful.   We all agreed we would purchase Barber Food's Seasoned Select Stuffed Chicken Breast to keep in the freezer for a quick delicious meal.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Lately I've made pumpkin bread and pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting so I had some pumpkin puree leftover in the fridge so I decided to try these pumpkin pancakes.  I'm not a huge pancake lover BUT I loved these.  These pancakes were light, fluffy and full of pumpkin flavor.  I found the recipe here at Martha Stewart Living.  In the mason jar is real maple syrup, my friend (Cate) brought back from a farm in New York.  Thanks Cate, the maple syrup took these pancakes over the top!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (If batter is too thick add a little more milk)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch ground cloves (I used 1/8 teaspoon)
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons pumpkin puree (I used 1/3 cup)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and cloves in a medium bowl.
2. Whisk together the milk, pumpkin, butter and egg in a separate bowl. Fold this mixture into the dry ingredients.
3. Melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat.
4. Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake and cook approximately 3-4 minutes per side. (These cook longer than regular pancakes)
5. Serve with butter and (real) maple syrup.

Makes 8-10 pancakes

First of all I would like to thank everyone who voted for my original recipe, Caramelized Onion and Peppered Bacon Flatbread during the Pillsbury Bake Off, You be the Judge Contest back in July.  Every vote counted because I am one of 100 finalist in the 45th Pillsbury Bake Off Contest.  I will be competing for a grand prize of $1 Million on March 26, 2012 which is held in Orlando, Florida.  Being part of the Pillsbury Bake Off Contest is a dream come true!  Thanks again for you vote!

                                                                               Dawn Logterman

                        

            

Pumpkin Bread

I love this pumpkin bread, it is spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.  So much flavor and is perfectly moist.  Recipe comes from Allrecipes.com - Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread.  I make 6 mini loaves, that way I can share the loaves or freeze what we're not going to eat right away.

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 4 eggs 1 cup vegetable oil 2/3 cup water 3 cups white sugar 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour six 5.75x3 (mini) inch loaf pans.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3.	Bake for about 40-45 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Crescent Pizza Pockets

I am involved in the Brand Ambassador Program for Allrecipes.com.  We are called Allrecipe Allstars (Midwest Region) .  I like the sound of that!  Allrecipe.com is my favorite recipe website so it's been fun to be involved with them.  It's a voluntary position.  This month our activity is to rate, review and download pictures of the recipes we make from Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.  So far, I've made these Crescent Pizza Pockets.  I always have a can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls in my fridge so I can make these up for a light lunch or snack. I'm a huge fan of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, here is another recipe I use crescent rolls for Cherry Cheese Danish. Crescent Pizza Pockets

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) can Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet 1/4 cup pizza sauce 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 24 pepperoni, diced 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.	Heat oven to 375. Unroll dough on cookie sheet and cut into 4 rectangles; press each into 6x4-inch rectangle.
2.	Spread 1 tablespoon pizza sauce on half of each rectangle to within 1 inch of edge. Sprinkle each with 3 tablespoons cheese; top with 6 (slices) diced pepperoni. Fold dough over filling; firmly press edges with fork to seal. Sprinkle each square with 1/4 teaspoon grated cheese. With fork, prick top of each to allow steam to escape.
3.	Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until deep golden brown. Serve warm.

Cafe Beneflux - Third Ward - Milwaukee, WI

Sunday was a beautiful day so we loaded up our bikes and drove to Milwaukee to ride the bike trail along the lake front.  Finding lunch on our bike rides is always an adventure.  We rode to a the Historic Third Ward Warehouse District.  The Third Ward used to be really run down but now it's full of restaurants, unique shops, theaters, galleries and condos.  As we rode our bikes down the streets we saw this restaurant that was packed with people.  That is always a good sign.  There was a 45 minute wait for the roof top seating  but we didn't mind.  Well, it was worth the wait!

I ordered the portobello benedict (roasted portobellos, sauteed spinach, grilled tomatoes, poached eggs, and hollandaise) It was the BEST eggs benedict that I have ever had. 

My husband, Kevin, ordered their specialty “lowland”- style crepe; loaded with toppings this unique item is called Pannenkoeken.  It had  asparagus, fried eggs, pancetta, parmesan, Belgian beer cheese sauce.  Kevin like it very much.  I had a bite and it was delicious but it was huge.  He ended up leaving a lot of the crepe but ate all the topping.

The drinks we had were beer mosas, (fresh squeezed orange juice and beer).  Never thought of mixing OJ and beer but it works.  Great drinks with our brunch!  You might be thinking how do they get on their bikes after eating all that food!  Well, we did ride a little slower but it was so worth it!

If you are ever in Milwaukee, WI check out Cafe Benelux.