Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll

OK... So this is kind of what I am known for!!! (Well, one of the things.) Not bragging, but every year about this time, friends, family and even people who work at companies nearby, start to inquire about my pumpkin roll. I usually end up making 20 or so and giving them away as gifts for Thanksgiving dinner and to say thank you for friendships. For those of you that are my PA followers... Yes, this is the same roll  that my Mom makes every year. She has passed on her baking genes and she has also passed on this recipe.  The actual recipe is not a secret. It is a very popular recipe this time of the year that you can find in women's magazines or even the inside label of canned pumpkin. This recipe has become special to me because it has become a fall family tradition and I am told, it has become of my specialties. Recently, when I had my best friend who NEVER bakes over for dinner, she told me that she made a list of  items that I cook or bake that she considers "Rebecca's  Specialties." This recipe was on the top of that list. Also on the list were my Pecan Tassies, Stuffed Cabbage, Gobs and my Grandma's Calico Beans.  I thought her admission was funny yet really flattering.

Specialties I am not sure about, but I do know that it is not fall without pumpkin roll in my house. This year I have a lot of be thankful for and a lot of great people to thank. Who knows maybe this year, you will be on the receiving end of one of these great fall treats!!!

Turkey Pumpkin Chili



Turkey Pumpkin Chili

Where have I been? I bet you are thinking I have gone into winter hibernation. Well that is kind of true! We are moving into my least favorite season of the year.... COLD! I hate Cold Season. LOL! No really, I have been busy cooking, but not baking so much. I have been on a 21 day cleanse and for those of you out there who have cleansed you know energy is at a minimum. But.... I AM BACK! And while Cold Season is my least favorite time of the year, I have a tons of comfort food recipes for this time of the year as well as holiday recipes from my family. So.... with any luck, for the next few months, you will be reading so many recipes from me that you will wish I was hiding in a cave somewhere!

So, when we were on our 21 day liver purification, we were restricted to only veggies and fruit for the first 10 days and then thankfully after day 11 we were allowed to eat lean meat. In the fall, on Sundays, there is nothing I love more than to put a pot of chili on in the afternoon and watch football (GO STEELERS!) While on the first 10 days of veggies, I kept saying I want chili, but I was restricted to what ingredients I could use. On day 11 the challenge was on: I was chili or bust.!!  I have had this recipe in my book of tricks for sometime and while it intrigued me, I was a little leery of whether or not it will WOW! me. Boy, am I glad I gave this a try. I think that this will be "my go to chili recipe" now. I have tried so many healthy chili recipes in the past and all were mediocre. This one is fabulous and you don't even realize that is is ground turkey or pumpkin for that matter. When I made this chili and told my friends it had pumpkin in it they looked at me like my cleanse had also erased my common sense but after the first taste they realized that this healthy, vitamin A and C packed chili was Pumpkin-licious!