[Liz]

Ina Garten Is Hosting a Fundraiser for Joe Biden’s Campaign: ‘We Need to Stop Being Divisive’
People ^ | 8/8/2020 | Shay Spence
Posted on 9/8/2020, 10:31:39 PM by simpson96

Ina Garten is raising money — and a glass — for Joe Biden’s presidential bid.

On Thursday, the Food Network star will be interviewing the former Vice President’s wife Dr. Jill Biden for Cocktails and Conversation, an online fundraising event for the campaign.

Though the Barefoot Contessa host used to be a White House nuclear budget analyst in the Jimmy Carter administration, she has mostly shied away from political statements (besides joking that she would serve President Donald Trump “a subpoena” for dinner) during her career as a culinary star. “I’m not political,” Garten tells PEOPLE. “I think if you research you’ll find I’ve supported political programs privately but I’ve never been really public about it—but sometimes you just have to do it.”

“As a country, we need to pull this together. We need to stop being divisive and be positive and supportive and collaborative,” she adds. “[Biden] is a guy who’s been in Congress for decades and has a reputation for working across the aisle, and I think that’s exactly what we need right now.”

(snip)

The lifestyle guru will be also providing a signature drink for the event, which requires a minimum contribution of $250 to attend. Guests will be given the recipe for the cocktail ahead of time, and they’re calling it a “Winning Ticket Watermelon Cosmopolitan.”

(Excerpt) Read more at people.com ...

[Liz]

FALL FAVORITE

Glazed Streusel-topped Pumpkin Muffins w/ Cream Cheese Filling

CREAM CHEESE FILLING ING: 6 oz. softened cream cheese 1/4 cup sugar teaspoon vanilla

Streusel ING 3/4 cup flour 2 tb ea light brown sugar, gran/sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 cup unsalted butter

PREP Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line muffin pan with paper liners or spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

Streusel topping: combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, and butter. Cut butter in til mixture is coarse and crumbly. Set aside.

Cream Cheese Filling: hand mixer cream cheese, sugar, vanilla smooth 2 min. Refrigerate while you make muffins.

Muffins: In a medium bowl whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt, set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugars, oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, and stir just until combined.

Fill each muffin cup with about 2 tablespoons of batter. Add a heaping spoonful of the cream cheese mixture to each muffin. Top the muffins evenly with the remaining batter, using a spoon to spread so the cream cheese is fully covered. (Muffin tins will be almost filled to the top). Sprinkle the streusel topping over the tops. Bake muffins for 23-25 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out with just a few crumbs. Let cool completely.

Make glaze while muffins cool. Elec/hand mixer cr/cheese, vanilla, pinch salt and milk til smooth.

Drizzle the cream cheese glaze over the cooled muffins. (put the glaze in a small sandwich bag, snip a corner and drizzle it on).