Piggies!

Piggies have become very popular lately. They are so cute!
Jann gave us a Piggie mold when she was visiting in July. We are loving the silliness of the piggies!


You can order them here.

This is my email to my sisters of ideas of how to use the mold.

I just can't bring myself to say "pig mold". It just sounds so gross!

I did some research on how to use the piggies and found quite a lot of ideas. There was one recipe shared for Lil Smokies and pancake batter... a little something that I've decided should be called...

Pig and Pancake!

1/2 cup pancake mix

1/2 cup water

Mix together and pour in mold.

Lil Smokies (You could use hot dogs and cut them up) 

Put one in each piggie.

Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool a little, then turn out onto a cooling rack. 

Options: 

* Heat the Lil Smokies for a little bit before adding to the piggies.

The recipe doesn't say how to eat them but I want to dip them in maple syrup. I wonder if you could add some maple syrup to the pancake mix....?

Other ideas for piggies:

Canned Biscuits (or Crescent Dough) and Lil Smokies

Cornbread

Cake

Nut Breads

Chocolates

Peanut Butter Cups 

Eggs

Candy (Mints)

Brownies

Jello

Ice

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This recipe is from a cookbook from Harmons grocery store in Utah, called Zucchini, from the 1970's. It was given to us by Nelma Irvine. It is the BEST recipe ever! Yum!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

"it's the zucchini that makes this cake so moist"

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup soft butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
Glaze (directions below)

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside. With a rotary mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until they are well blended.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla and zucchini. Alternately stir in the dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture, include the nuts with the last addition.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 10" bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to cool. Drizzle glaze over the cake. Makes 10-2 servings.

Glaze: Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk and blend smooth. Drizzle over cake.

Additions:
*Add 1 cup chocolate chips!
*I like to sprinkle powdered sugar on the cake and eliminate the glaze.
*Eating the cake plain is delicious, too! 

Cranberry Christmas Cake

This recipe is from Barefeet in the Kitchen, 

Cranberry Christmas Cake

This Cranberry Christmas Cake is one of those recipes that is an instant favorite every single time someone new tastes it.

Tart cranberries, sweet buttery cake, and a fantastic texture all combined to basically beg me to eat another piece.

I recommend stocking up on plenty of fresh cranberries so that you can enjoy these recipes all year long.

Cranberry Christmas Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 12 oz fresh cranberries

Instructions

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   2. With a mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until slightly thickened and light in color, about 5-7 minutes. The mixture should almost double in size. The eggs work as your leavening agent in this recipe, so do not skip this step.
   3. The sugar and egg mixture should form a ribbon when you lift the beaters out of the bowl.
   4. Add the butter and vanilla; mix two more minutes. Stir in the flour until just combined.
   5. Add the cranberries and stir to mix throughout.
   6. Spread in a buttered 9×13 pan. 
   7. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until very lightly browned and a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. (I baked mine for 43 minutes.) Let cool completely before cutting into small slices.
   8. I cut mine into fairly small pieces, about 1″ x 2″ so that they could be easily eaten at a party.
   9. Store this cake at room temperature, either uncovered or very loosely covered. This is a moist cake and the crust will soften a great deal if it is stored airtight. It will still be tasty, but it won’t be the same the next day if it’s kept airtight.

   Options: 
2. I like sprinkle the top with sugar for an extra sweet crust.
3. I would really recommend adding walnuts. The cake is so much better with the walnut crunch.
4. Substitute the cranberries for blueberries or rhubarb or pie cherries... use your imagination!
5.