I guess it is not like riding a bike.

I can't tell you the last time I baked something that wasn't an entree.  I remember baking cookies before Cooper arrived.  Since then...I'm not even sure I've made anything that sort of resembles dessert.  I've had good intentions - I wanted to bake kolaches as a joke for a friend.  I would have baked a cake for my coworkers birthday, but he requested Baskin Robbins.  And who am I to argue over Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream?

So I really can't remember baking anything since last Christmas.  I felt like Tuesday night was amateur hour in my kitchen.  I planned on baking two Pumpkin Rolls.  And that's where it all went south.  I didn't have enough sugar.  Ok, no big deal...I'll make one Pumpkin Roll and a batch of Pumpkin Pie Bites.  Except I didn't have pie crust.  Because I'm not a pie person.  They usually flop...so why bother?  Never fear, I had a box of phyllo dough in the freezer from, well, a while ago.  Only you're supposed to thaw it out for 5 freaking hours in the fridge!  I took a risk and popped it in the microwave on defrost, rolled them out, had Jason cut out little circles (it tooks some elbow grease) and baked away.

But that's not everything.  Major fail 2: running out of powdered sugar.  WTF!  I clearly remember having about 15 bags of powdered sugar in my pantry at one time because I kept forgetting I had it and bought more.  Apparently that was a long time ago.  Jason was nice enough to run to the store so I could make the Pumpkin Roll filling.

Major Fail 3: it turned out more like donut glaze.  I am still not 100% sure what happened.  First, let me back up.  The cake baked funky and I had to slice off a few inches.  Jason was happy to "test" them out though.  I kept telling myself "I can make this work" but I just couldn't figure out the filling!  I think it is probably because I used fat free cream cheese, but still.  Of course, if I'd had my head on I would have realized that I just needed to keep adding powdered sugar to thicken it up.  Instead I to started pouring the filling on the cake and that crap went everywhere.  I had glaze all over the counter.  I tried rolling the cake and more glaze went on the counter.  In the end I just wrapped it up quickly and put it in the fridge.  I'm going to pour the rest of the glaze on top and serve it that way.  It tastes good...but it just wasn't that pretty.

I think I need to practice baking more often.  Especially considering I'm doing Cooper's birthday cake next week.  This could get ugly.

Pumpkin Pie Bites adapted from Bakarella

• 1 box phyllo dough
• 8oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 t pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350.  Roll out about 6 sheets of phyllo dough and cut circles with a cookie cutter, about 4".  Press the dough into a greased mini-muffin pan.  Combine all of the remaining ingredients.  Pour about 1 T in each cup and bake 12-15 minutes.

Pumpkin Pasta

A few weeks ago I flipped through a magazine at my mom's house.  I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Pasta and it sounded pretty good.  To me.  Jason made this gagging noise when I told him about it.  But, being the good boy he is, he agreed to try it...and order pizza if needed.

Last week I picked up the stuff at the grocery store and...it was approved.  We adjusted the recipe a little bit, but next time I make it I'd really like to try sticking with the way it was written.  I doubled the amount of sausage and added more pasta, so it wasn't quite as pumpkiny.  And the second night I added in more seasoning - mostly pepper and a little oregano.

Pumpkin Pasta

• 8oz Italian Sausage (I used 16oz sweet Italian turkey sausage)
• 1 can pumpkin
• 5 sage leaves, chopped
• 8 oz rotini pasta (I used whole wheat)

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Saute the sausage until brown in a little oil.  Add in the chopped sage leaves, saute for another minute.  Stir in 1 cup of pasta water and the pumpkin.  Drain the pasta and toss everything together.  As mentioned, I added in some salt & pepper, plus a little oregano, for some added flavor.  It has a creamy texture - almost like penne a la vodka without the tomatoes.

WW PointsPlus: 8 PP per serving, 4 servings