Harvest Pumpkin Pie with Molasses and Spices

This pie doesn’t actually appear in Clockwise: A Ghost Story for Autumn, but Claire and her friends would love it. I’ll probably describe its autumnal goodness in a future book.

Ingredients:

1 unbaked, 9-inch pie shell
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons dark molasses
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoons ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
4 tablespoons non-alcoholic cider or apple juice
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, molasses, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, spices, cider, and heavy cream. Pour into pie shell. (The pie shell will be very full.)

2. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 on middle rack of oven. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees; continue baking for 40-50 minutes until a sharp knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Based on a recipe from the Star Tribune.

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Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps

These are the cookies that Claire shares with her friends in Chapter 21. The chocolate and ginger taste great together, especially with a cup of coffee or hot tea. These are not hard, brittle gingersnaps but nice soft cookies with a snappy flavor. Note that the dough must chill for an hour before you bake the cookies. These bake beautifully on air-bake cookie sheets yet also do fine on regular ones if you watch them carefully (see separate temp and timing). Makes 4 dozen.

Ingredients:

¾ c. (1½ sticks) softened butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
¼ c. molasses
2¼ c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2½ tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. salt
1½ c. (9 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
¼ c. granulated sugar

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, brown sugar, egg, and molasses; beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a small bowl; add to the egg mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon just until combined. Do not overmix!

3. Add the chocolate chips and fold to distribute them evenly through the batter. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator about 1 hour.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees if using air-bake cookie sheets, 290 degrees if using regular cookie sheets.

5. Put the granulated sugar in a shallow dish. Pinch off dough and roll into 1-inch balls, dip in the sugar and set on the baking sheet sugared side up, leaving room for the cookies to spread to about 3 inches across.

6. Air-bake cookie sheets: bake 9-10 minutes at 375. Regular cookie sheets: bake 18-19 minutes at 290. Tops should be crackly. Cool the sheets on a wire rack 1 or 2 minutes. Then gently – the cookies tend to break along the crackle lines in the tops – transfer the cookies to the cooling rack.

Based on a recipe from the Star Tribune.

Printable PDF of this recipe (45K)

Cold Day Tater Tot® Hotdish

This is the dish that Claire makes for her father in Chapter 23. It’s a wonderfully warming and hearty main course for a cold day.

Ingredients:

cooking spray
1 (32 oz.) package frozen, bite-sized potato nuggets, such as Tater Tots®, divided
1 pound ground beef
1 small finely chopped onion or 2 tablespoons dehydrated minced onion
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, divided
1 teaspoon steak seasoning or Old World seasoning 
1 teaspoon garlic powder, regular or roasted
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (10.5 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup milk
1½ cup grated Cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. 

2. Spread 25-30 potato nuggets in the baking dish. Bake in preheated oven until warmed through, about 10 minutes. If using dehydrated minced onion, rehydrate it.

3. While potatoes are warming, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sautee beef and onion in hot skillet until beef is completely browned, 7-10 minutes. Drain and discard grease.

4. Season beef mixture with 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, steak seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper.

5. Stir cream of mushroom soup, milk, ½ cup Cheddar cheese, and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce together in a bowl.

6. Smash the warmed potato nuggets in the baking dish to cover the bottom completely.

7. Spread ground beef mixture over the layer of smashed potato nuggets. Poor soup mixture evenly over the beef layer. Top with the remainder of the potato nuggets, evenly spaced. Sprinkle with 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese. 

8. Bake in preheated oven until hotdish is bubbly and potatoes are golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.

Adapted from a recipe for Tater Tots® Casserole, AllRecipes. 

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