I love cooking for my family, but sometimes the holidays can get crazy and parents can be very stressful. These recipes can help take the stress away by making it easy on you and everyone else!

Appetizer -Caramel Apple Dip

Caramel can be a warm, comforting food that can be very messy, yet creamy. Caramel apples are a great fall food that everyone might be tired of, so this is a twist on an old classic. It is a great fall snack, that is 3 ingredients and takes less than 5 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz of cream cheese
• as much caramel you wish
• 4 apples or pears, thinly sliced

Instructions:

1. Unwrap your block of cream cheese and lay it on the serving platter and use a spoon to smoothen out the top and make a bowl shape, so your caramel won’t roll off.
2. Pour your caramel over the top if the cream cheese.
3. Thinly slice up apples or pears and serve.

Entree -Chicken and Rice

A great, easy meal when you might not have time to cook for 2 hours. Great for cold nights, that warms you inside and out. The crockpot cooks it all for you, only giving you the task of mixing and boiling the rice.

Ingredients:

• Three chicken breasts
• Two cans of cream of chicken soup
• A package of dry ranch dressing
• Instant brown rice

Instructions:

1. First, put the two cans of soup into the crock pot
2. Then put in your chicken in whole
3. Next, mix the dry ranch up and leave in the crock pot for 10 hours
4. After the 10 hours are up, shred your chicken with a fork
5. Then boil your instant rice for 10 minutes
6. Scoop out rice and chicken in a bowl and serve

Dessert -Pumpkin Spice Latte Layer Cake

This is the pumpkin spice that everyone loves in a delicious, moist cake.

Pumpkin Cake:

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter 57g, melted, cooled
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light-brown sugar packed
• 1 cup pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
• 2 large eggs room temperature

Coffee Buttercream:

• 3 large egg whites
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter cubed, room temperature
• 1 1/2 Tbsp instant espresso powder dissolved in 1-2 tsp hot water cooled

Optional – Pumpkin Decorations:

• One pack of orange fondant
• One pack of brown fondant
• One pack of green fondant
• Chopstick
• Fondant modeling tool

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease & flour two 6″ cake pans.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, and salt.
3. In another bowl, whisk together sugars, melted butter, oil, pumpkin, and eggs.
4. Add dry to wet and mix until just combined.
5. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Should take around  35-40 minutes.
6. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
7. Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
8. Place bowl over a hot water bath on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins).
9. Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
10. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.
11. Add espresso. Whip until smooth.
12. Cut each layer of cake in half horizontally.
13. Place one layer of cake onto a serving plate or cake stand. Top with 1/2 to 2/3 cup buttercream. Repeat with remaining layers.
14. Crumb coat the entire cake (thin coat of frosting all over the cake). Chill for 30mins.
15. Use the remaining frosting to cover the outside of the cake. Decorate the top and sides with a swirl. I used a large offset spatula to do this.
16. Shape your fondant into small spheres
17. Take your tool and make lines to give pumpkin detail
18. Take your green fondant and wrap it around a chopstick to create the vine effect
19. Form brown stems for the pumpkins
20. Decorate with fondant pumpkins.