I'm back!!!! My last post was October 4th - then I got sick and I believe that I contracted distemper! I have been ill ever since that last post, it started with a runny nose and the sniffles and progressed to the point that I actually thought I would die from a sore throat. The doctor (who shall remain nameless) would not give me any antibiotics and told me it was viral. So, check it out - my symptoms were uncontrollable shaking from being ice cold, my nose was all pussed up, my hair was scruffy, my eyes eventually stuck shut from the puss - now, doesn't that sound like distemper? If I would have been a farm cat, my family would have put me out of my misery with a 22 shell!! Yesterday, I went to a different doctor who told me that if I was not going to stay warm and stay rested, I was never going to get better (and he didn't even know about the Jingle Bell Crop where we worked until we were sick again!) It has been a whole month of hell, but I think that I am getting better, today is the turning point!
For those of you who requested the recipe for the dessert at the Jingle Bell Crop, here it is:

Cindy's Pumpkin Dessert

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 cans PURE pumpkin (14 oz.) not the kind with spices added

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk

Mix these ingredients in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 box of golden cake mix (I have also used lemon when it was on sale and it was just as good) and 1/2 cup hard margarine. (not hard as in chilled to hardness, just hard margarine as opposed to those whipped, soft margarine tubs) Get it?

Cut the margarine in until it is crumbly and sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

*** note, keep checking the pan s it cooks and turn the pan end to end in the oven if your oven does not cook evenly. You want to watch the edges, as they may get brown and burn before the timer goes off. Just keep rotating the pan in the oven if you see any such problems.

Serve with whipped cream, that is sprinkled with a little cinnamon. At home, I picked up some very, very small plastic pumpkin decorations and I put one on the top of every slice. Too cute!!!

This recipe makes a large pan, about 18 servings, so invite some friends over!

Enjoy! Cindy