Holiday Pumpkin Roll

I'm home sick, watching Netflix and drinking a hot toddy. Not better than snowboarding, which was planned, but could be worse.

I am trying to unload all of my pictures that I took for blogging and figured I would start with my yummy Pumpkin Roll Recipe.

When I was a child, one of my uncle's neighbors would take orders and make them during the holiday season. It was always a highlight of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and when she moved away, I decided to get the recipe and make it myself!

{Be warned, make it to bring it to an event, for if not, you will find that you will eat it all yourself. Yes, it is that good.}

{Before: Random Ingredients After: Holiday Heaven in your mouth}

Holiday Pumpkin Roll:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice- I used Penzey's and was very happy
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Filling:

• 1 (8 ounce) package low fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Topping:

• Crushed walnuts- optional, but delicious and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. 

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 x 15 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet.
• In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in pumpkin puree and eggs. Pour mixture into pan lined with wax paper that was coated with confectionery sugar. Spread the mixture evenly. I poured it in one side of the pan and then spread it out so it was maybe a 1/4 of an inch thick.
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes.
• Lay another piece of wax paper on the counter, sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar, and turn the cake onto the towel. Carefully roll the wax paper -left to right, the short ways- with the cake in it. Place the cake in the wax paper in the refrigerator and let it cool for 20 minutes.
• Make the icing: In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and sugar. Since I have no proper baking supplies, I used a fork and my muscles.
• When the cake has cooled 20 minutes, unroll it and spread icing onto it.  you want to spread the icing kind of thin and thinner on the right side of the roll. Immediately re-roll , and wrap it with plastic wrap. 
• Add the crushed walnuts or confectionery sugar as the topping.
• Keep the cake refrigerated or freeze it for up to 2 weeks in aluminum foil. Cut the cake in slices just before serving. 
• If the rolling doesn't work out, you can cut the cake in length, 4 inches and place it on top of each other with the frosting in the middle and it will become pumpkin cream cheese squares! 

{Pumpkin Roll with Crushed Walnut topping}

{Pumpkin Roll with Confectionery Sugar Topping}

                                                    

{Drinking Eggnog with Baileys in it makes the pumpkin roll taste even better!}

P.S.
I calculated the calories on Loseit.com and for my roll -minus the eggnog drink on the side- which I cut into 2 smaller rolls and then cut into 6 servings per roll, the whopping calorie count was 259 calories per serving. Not so bad considering how delicious it is!

Easy Winter Soup

This is a recipe my Bulgarian friends taught me.  It is a really easy recipe to make when you are not feeling well and it is great for warming you as it is already Autumn and Winter is fast approaching.

INGREDIENTS FOR POTATO AND CARROT SOUP:

4 Potatoes

A Handful of baby carrots

1/4 cup of Cilantro or Parsley

Salt

Water

Directions:

Peel potatoes

Boil potatoes and carrots until very well done

Drain Water

Return to pot

Add cilantro

Using a hand held blender, blend the potatoes & carrots

Add salt to your liking

Slowly add water until it is the consistency that you like ( I prefer a creamier consistency, so I don't add too much water)

ENJOY!