Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I almost jumped for joy today when I spotted the return of Libby's 100% pure pumpkin puree in the baking aisle at Giant Eagle. I frantically jammed can after can in my cart and rushed home to make a big batch of muffins. Ah, fall is here. My favorite baking time of year.

- 3 cups all-purpose flour

- 2 cups sugar

- 2 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

- 2 tsp ground nutmeg

- 1/2 tsp ground ginger

- 1/2 tsp ground cloves

- 1/2 tsp allspice

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 3 eggs

- 2/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together pumpkin, vanilla, eggs and vegetable oil until smooth. In a seperate bowl, combine dry ingredients. (You could sift but I just use a small wire whisk until there are no clumps.) In batches, add flour mixture to pumpkin and stir until just combined. Add to muffin cups; bake for 18-20 minutes.

Makes 24 muffins. I did 1 dozen plain, then added raisins to the rest. Threw 6 of each in the freezer for quick breakfasts.

Apricot Curry Chicken

This is simmering away in the crockpot right now. :o)

- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

- 1/2 medium onion, chopped

- 1 (12 oz) jar apricot jam

- 1/4 cup chicken stock

- 1 1/2 tsp curry powder

- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

- 1/4 tsp ground ginger

- 1/4 tsp salt

Place chicken breasts in crockpot. Mix together onion, jam, stock, curry powder, cayenne pepper, ground ginger & salt until well blended and pour over chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

A trick if your sauce is too thin - after chicken is done cooking, remove chicken from crockpot. Turn heat to high. Mix 1 tbsp (or more, depending on how much you want to thicken it up) of cornstarch with 1 tbsp of water together until smooth and add to the sauce. Leave the top off for a few minutes until it's thickened. A bit quicker, but messier - remove cooked chicken and pour sauce into a saucepan. Add cornstarch/water mixture and heat on high (uncovered) until thickened. Add chicken back in and serve.

You could also add chopped, dried apricots to this dish for a little texture. I couldn't find any that are peanut-free, so skipped it.

Serve chicken over rice. Yummy with stir-fried veggies on the side!