Hallowe'en in March

Today at church the sermon was just the kind of sermon I love, about the supernatural, and about demons, and matters like that. It was because of the Gospel reading.

This Gospel reading today was a great one. Christ talks about how a demon is cast out of a man, and then the demon goes wandering around, seeking rest, but finds none, and so decides to return to the home from whence he came.

Got to love that, the idea of the demon looking for rest and finding none! That is a picture up above of the demon failing to find rest.

Anyway, the demon heads back to the poor guy who had been exorcised. And he finds that the place is swept and cleaned -- in other words, the guy has gotten his act together. And so the demon brings six more demons with him, more wicked than himself, to take up residence there.

The priest said, "From this we may learn that demons are not all alike. Some are worse than others."

That is something to ponder! Along with the creepy old story of the demon that made the phone call.

It was like the season of Hallowe'en, discussing matters of demons and possessions. I was on the same page with the priest because I baked, for the after-mass Coffee Hour, Pumpkin Bars. I cannot link to the recipe because it came from an old Broadway Market Cookbook. But here is the recipe really quick, because the Pumpkin Bars came out really well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together 4 eggs, 1 2/3 cups sugar, 1 cup vegetable oil and 2 cups pumpkin.

Separately stir together 2 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. calt and 1 tsp. baking soda.

Mix the dry in with the wet.

Now this is my favorite part! Spread the batter into an ungreased 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan. That is a baking pan size I love. This is the Broadway Market cookbook, not Cooking Light. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool. Cut into bars according to your liking.

Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting: Cream together 3 ounces softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 2 cups powdered sugar.

The frosting was where I hit the skids. I had everything all ready and baked the cookies themselves on Saturday, because I had to work Saturday night and I knew we would be losing the hour because of Daylight Savings Time. And on Sunday even though I had had only five hours' sleep,  I got up feeling like Leonard Pennario used to before a concert -- flawlessly prepared.

But doh! Even though the butter and cream cheese were softened I could not beat out the lumps. I had to go pick up Dorothy and there was not enough time. I was literally frosting these cookies as I ran out the door.

End result: I took my lumps. Along with the rest of the frosting. It was just butter. What's not to love? And clearly no one minded. The Pumpkin Bars all vanished. It all worked out.

I will have to remember them in October.