Recipe: Frosted Pumpkin Cake Squares
Here’s a good fall recipe to try I found in a Good Housekeeping magazine a few years ago. If you like pumpkin, you’ll love these and they are easy to make.
Frosted Pumpkin Squares
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Frosting
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9″ square pan. Prepare cake: In bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat sugar and eggs 2 minutes. Beat in pumpkin and oil. At low speed, add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; beat 1 minute. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool pumpkin cake in pan on wire rack.
Prepare frosting: In bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat confectioners’ sugar and remaining ingredients 2 minutes, or until fluffy; use to frost cake.
Enjoy!
Thanks for reading!
Barb
Posted in Cooking in your kitchen on September 28th, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments
They’re Here…
A few weeks ago, I blogged about some new and exotic colors that would soon be arriving at our St. Michael showroom. Well, I am happy to announce that they have arrived, are on display and they are gorgeous!
The new colors include, Black Storm, Delicatus, Ivory Coast, Juparana Amber, Shalimar Gold, and Wineberry. These colors are unique and full of character. If you want something that will stand out on your kitchen countertops, island, bar tops, or vanities check out the new colors!
Feel free to share…
Angie
Posted in Granite, Company, Business on September 27th, 2007 by Angie | | 3 Comments
Seeing Red!
Today as I was paging through the October 2007 issue of Midwest Home magazine, I came across, “The Family Meal,” an article that showcased the homes of some Twin Cities renowned chefs that caught my eye. I especially liked the section that discussed David Fhima’s, victorian home. David is the owner of LoTo Life Cafe and apparently loves the color red. His home incorporates a red kitchen, which he believes puts you in the mood to to eat and cook.
Over the years, we’ve seen many kitchens incorporate the color red and why not? It stands out and makes a statement. Many of our customers are pleased that there are so many granites that contain the color red for their granite countertops, granite islands, etc.
Some of them include:
- St. Cecilia Classic
- Shivakashi Yellow
- Bianco Ramano
- Niagra Gold
- Colonial Champagne
- Juparana China Gold
- Juparana Cream Bordeaux
While these are just a few of the possiblities, there are many more to choose from. Are you seeing the color red as a possiblity for your kitchen?
Thanks for reading!
Barb
Posted in Granite on September 26th, 2007 by Barb | | 1 Comments
Clean Up For Hard Water Deposits
I came across a blog today where someone was inquiring about how to clean hard water deposits on their granite countertops. The blog sparked my attention because we get asked this same question from time to time by some customers.
Hard water build up around faucets is fairly common. It usually happens over a period of time and appears as a white sort of residue. Some customers panic and mistakenly think the residue is some sort of stain. There is no need to panic however, as the hard water residue can be removed with little effort.
To clean the hard water build up:
- Use a razor blade tipped at a slight angle from the horizontal and scrape over the build up area.
- Next use a “000″ (or finer) steel wool to rub over the area to remove the remaining residue.
This process might need to done from time to time as build up occurs, but works well. For more information, please refer to our Maintenance and Care page on our website.
Thanks for reading!
Barb
Posted in Granite on September 25th, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments
Recipe:Milk Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps
Here’s a recipe I came across in the Fall 2007 issue of Lund’s and Byerly’s, Real Food magazine, which sounded good to me.
Milk Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps
2-1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
1-1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger into a medium sized bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Add egg and molasses and mix until blended. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips.
Spread granulated sugar on a large piece of wax paper, or parchment paper. Roll a rounded tablespoon of dough between the palms of your hands in a 1-1/4 inch ball. Roll the ball in sugar. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart. Bake cookies one sheet at a time until they feel firm on top, but soft in the center and have several cracks, about 14 minutes.
Cool cookies on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Use a wide metal spatula to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool competely. Cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Enjoy!
Thanks for reading!
Barb
Posted in Cooking in your kitchen on September 21st, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments
Basic Principles For Life
Last night, I attended “Back to School” night at Totino Grace High School. It is always a good opportunity to see where my daughter spends her day. While I enjoyed visiting her class rooms, I especially enjoyed meeting my daughters Spanish teacher and hearing her teaching philosophy. While teaching 4th year Spanish is the main objective of the class, she tries to emphasize the following basic principles to her students, which can be used throughout their life:
- Do your work.
- Work hard.
- Be nice to others.
These principles are clear, straight forward and can be easily understood by a teenager and anyone for that matter. While they are basic principles, they are valueable and have been referenced for thousands of years in books such as the Bible and the Tao Te Ching.
They are great principles to learn and follow. I am grateful my child is being exposed to them daily in her class.
Are you following the basic principles for life?
Thanks for reading!
Barb
Posted in Uncategorized on September 20th, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments
Learning Links 09/19/07
It is interesting how the kitchen has changed over the years. Not that long ago, kitchens were strictly a place for preparing food and eating a family meal together. For the most part, kitchens were small in size and considered a place for the woman of the house. Todays kitchens, however have changed. They have become larger and are often used in part for entertaining. Many kitchens today are designed to be more open and spacious and have many other amenities such as desk areas, TV’s, computers, top of the line appliances, granite countertops and granite islands.
Following are some links containing information on the latest kitchen statistics, kitchen island designs, and getting started with the kitchen remodeling process that I found interesting and useful:
sectionID=156&articleID=566481
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_design_kitchen/article/0,1793,HGTV_3375_1398068,00.html
http://www.hometime.com/Howto/projects/kitchen/kitchen_1.htm#countertop
Thanks for reading!
Barb
Posted in Learning Links on September 19th, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments
JLC Live—A Success
This year we had the opportunity to help staff the NARI booth at the JLC Live Show. It turned out to be a fun filled day, with the opportunity to meet and mingle with others in the industry.
JLC Live is a construction tradeshow for the remodeling industry, that offered over 50 conference sessions, and industry trade booths.
The show was held, September 11-14, 2007 from 7:00am-5:30pm at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Thanks for reading!
Barb
Following are some photos from the event:
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Posted in Granite, Company, Industry News on September 17th, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments
Recipe: Apple Crisp
Here’s a good fall recipe to try. It is easy to make and tastes great!
Apple Crisp
Apple Mixture
6 apples peeled
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. lemon juice
Crust
1-1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter softened
Slice apples in bowl. Add the sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and lemon juice and stir. Pour the mixture into a greased 13 x 9″ pan. Mix the ingredients together for the crust until crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the apple mixture. Top with a few sprinkles of cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let cool a bit. Serve with cool whip, or vanilla ice cream.
Posted in Cooking in your kitchen on September 14th, 2007 by Barb | | 0 Comments
1 Year Extended Care & Maintenance
We often times receive inquiries how to maintain and care for granite countertops. It is far less complicated than some of the engineered (man-made) material manufacturer’s would have you believe. Using hot, soapy water on a daily basis, remains the best way to care for your granite countertops and vanities. From time to time, you may notice a filmy surface, which may be caused by human oils, as well as cooking oil. In cases like this, you can safely use a white vinegar and water (1:2) solution to remove the filmy surface.
PGC also offers a one-time extended care and maintenance package to our customers. The package includes:
1. Sanitizing and resealing all countertops
2. Faucet deck touch up (removing all normal hard water build up, etc.)
3. Seam maintenance (e.g. various circumstances may cause houses to move and/or shift, which in turn may cause some seams to shift.) Affected seams would be re-shimmed and leveled.
4. Up to 3 chips repaired. While chips are rare, they can happen. (e.g. banging pots and pans at sink area, etc.)
If you have additional questions on how to care for and maintain your granite countertops, please feel free to contact our customer service department.
Feel free to share…
Angie
Posted in Granite, Company, Industry News on September 13th, 2007 by Angie | | 1 Comments
