Bakefest 2008

For the past week I've had the house all to myself. My family took a trip home to Ohio so I took full advantage of having full range of the house. I even skipped choir and ballet. I can't tell you how nice it was to have my own place without having to worry about anyone else or their rules.
I was really looking forward to this freedom week so I could enjoy the kitchen. They left for the airport last Fiday morning and by Friday night I had transformed the kitchen into Rachel Bakefest 2008. I might have been a little too ambitious with my list, but I figured I had to squeeze a year's worth of baking into a short time frame. Over the weekend I went to the grocery store 4 times (3 different stores) and baked the following :

1 loaf banana bread with chocolate chunks
1 batch of linzer tarts
2 pumpkin rolls
2 pans of homemade cinnamon rolls
6 apple dumplings

My list was originally a little longer but I forgot what a pain it was to peel apples so I decided to skip the pies and apple cake. It's probably a good thing because by Sunday I was exhausted. Everything turned out fairly well. It doesn't feel like fall out here so I had to trick myself by baking all my fall favorites. Here are a few photos of some of the finished products.

The rest of the week I enjoyed cooking for myself, cleaning (or not cleaning) as I pleased, and having control of the television. It was a much needed break and I enjoyed every minute of it. The family returned Sunday night and I must say that as much as I didn't want to give up the house, it was good to see them again. Richie is as cute as ever and I missed his hugs and babbles. I guess if I have to go back to living out of one tiny room, it's worth it to have him back in the house.

If you like pumpkin, I highly suggest you give this recipe a try. I remember getting so excited when my mom would make this. It's definitely a family favorite.

Pumpkin Roll: (shown above)

3 eggs, 2/3 cup canned pumpkin, 1c. sugar, 1t. baking soda, 1/2 t. cinnamon, 3/4 c. flour. Mix together. Bake in jelly roll pan on wax paper sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 for 15 min. Place on tea towel sprinkled with pwd. sugar. Roll up with towel. Place in refrigerator for 2 hours.

Filling: 8 oz. softened cream cheese, 1/4 c. soft butter, 3/4 c. powdered sugar, 1t. vanilla. Refrigerate until needed.

Unroll cake. Spread filling then reroll. Sprinkle with pwd. sugar. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 1 hour. Slice when ready to serve.