Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancake Recipe
October 17, 2009
This recipe almost appeared here earlier this week, but that would have been the third day in a row of pumpkin recipes, so I held off for a few days. I’ve been living, breathing and (heck) eating pumpkin for days. It’s one of those wonderful (and nutritious) fall foods. And it can take on so many different personalities depending on how you cook it and what you cook it with. Wait till I get into the savory adaptations I have been dreaming about …
Anyway, these pancakes.
These pancakes were really Will’s idea. I mentioned to him that I was thinking of making pumpkin pancakes and he asked me to put chocolate in them. Seemed like a good idea … and it was. The chocolate is a good complementing flavor for the pumpkin.
Rich in flavor, these smell distinctively like pumpkin pie. Drizzle them with some good maple syrup and eat them up. I prefer Grade B maple syrup – it’s got a deeper flavor. Really, try it.
Anyway, these pancakes are absolutely perfect for a cold day. Like today.
» Filed Under breakfasts | 9 Comments
An Open Letter to Mother Nature
October 16, 2009
Dearest Mother Nature,
I am a big fan of your work–Brandywine tomatoes? Genius! Basil, rosemary and lavender? Amazing. Tulips, lilacs and forsythia? Lovely. So, it’s with the deepest appreciation that I write to you. Really, I think you are great at your job.
But recently, I’ve been really concerned. You’re erratic behavior lately has me downright worried. The late start to summer was so disappointing. And I don’t just mean because of the incessant rainy days. The impact was felt all through summer as tomatoes made scarcely any appearance here in Connecticut.
After that let down, I thought you would make it up to us with a drawn out conclusion to summer. I don’t know why, but I thought maybe we’d have some warm days into late October even … but no. No, instead you decided that October 15 was the perfect day for the season’s first snow.
Seriously, Mother Nature? We’re weeks from Halloween. This is when we should be wearing light layers and considering fleece while we pick apples and take hayrides to collect pumpkins. Instead, we are using gloves and winter coats while we shield ourselves from the biting wind. What gives?
Look, you are a smart, competent, lovely woman. You are strong and confident. But these past few months have been a blur of confusing and aggravating behavior. It needs to stop. If you could find it in your heart to bring back the pleasant temperatures, that would just be awesome.
Best,
Sarah
» Filed Under Thoughts | 2 Comments
Slow-Cooker BBQ Joint Beef Brisket Recipe
October 14, 2009
Making food from scratch is one of those things that I take pride in. Pancakes? We have ‘em at least once a week, always from scratch. Biscuits? When I get the hankering I turn to a great recipe that I found on The Perfect Pantry. Cookies? Always from scratch. Macaroni and cheese? Usually from scratch.
But that said, I have a strong aversion to any recipe that strikes me as being fussy. Making puff pastry from scratch? Too fussy – I am happy to purchase the Artisan Puff Pastry from Trader Joe’s instead. Croissants? I would love to know how to make them, but I’ve read recipes for them dozens of times and it’s just too time consuming.
So, when it comes to the rare occasion when I pull out the trusty Crock-Pot, I expect that whatever I make will be easy and fast to pull together. Isn’t that the whole point of using it? I thought so.
This is all a very long lead in to saying that I really find the recipes in Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook
So, it was with great reluctance that I decided to make the Tangy Tomato Brisket recipe from this book (worst name ever — it’s more like a BBQ joint brisket). As usual, I prepped my mise en place and reread the recipe to find that there were way more steps than I wanted. That meant the brisket got into the pan later than I wanted and I had to adjust the heat and time to accommodate it …
But I wouldn’t be telling you about this recipe if it wasn’t good. And good it was. I loved it. The sauce was rich and spicy-sweet, like my favorite BBQ joint’s brisket. It was fork tender and tasted delightful with the onions …
It’s not for a busy mom on a work day – it cooks too fast (5-7 hours on low) and takes too much to pull together (prep time is roughly 30 minutes, maybe 40). But for a lazy Sunday? Perfect. And if you cook it just a little longer than you can shred it with two forks and serve it up on rolls … I bet a little cheddar would be good too.
» Filed Under beef, cookbooks | 6 Comments
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Dreamy Cream Cheese Frosting
October 13, 2009
“Honey, those cupcakes were bangin’.” – Shawn
High praise never fails to make me smile all goofy and wide. Seriously, who doesn’t love to hear that something they made was just awesome?
These cupcakes are moist, but dense. The flavor is reminiscent of pumpkin pie, but it has notes of carrot cake too (no carrots though!). The frosting is creamy and, yes, totally dreamy. It has all the good parts of cream cheese, sweetened just right so that it counters the slightly sour note that it carries.
OMG, these are good. Just make them.
When I made these, it was Sunday morning. I woke up planning on pancakes, but decided to eat some muffins instead. Since we needed some dessert to bring to Sunday dinner, these cupcakes ended up being our Sunday baking experiment du jour.
Of course, the kids got to help too. They take turns pouring things into the bowl and then Will gets to sift it with a wire whisk. It’s a great technique, and he’s really good at it. Paige was really into the whole process, alternating between cheering Will on (literally) and trying to climb onto the table.
They could barely wait to try these. And as soon as the first one was frosted, Will did (Paige was sleeping). He couldn’t say enough about how much he liked them …
Sigh. Make these.
» Filed Under dessert | 10 Comments
Pumpkin Coconut Muffins Recipe
October 11, 2009
Yesterday, it seemed like it went from relatively warm to downright chilly in no time flat. It’s no wonder people say if you don’t like the weather here, wait five minutes — that is just how it is at this time of year in New England. And if you are unprepared, you can find yourself shivering. (For the record, I was a little unprepared.)
When the weather gets like this, I crave warm, rich, heavier foods that keep you comfy even when the weather is not. This muffin totally fits that bill. It’s a rich combination of coconut and pumpkin, two of my very favorite flavors. The brown sugar makes it pleasantly sweet, but not so sweet that you will have a sugar rush at 8 a.m.
The recipe is pretty easy (most muffins are) and I was able to whip these up on a Friday morning, without missing any deadlines to school drop offs. No, I don’t have any magic elves to help out — just two sweet kids.
Actually, I did happen upon a new method for having the kids help me cook while testing this recipe. In the past, they’ve always pulled chairs to the counter and stood on them, as I did when I was a child. But walking space is at a premium near our counter, so I have been trying something different: mixing up recipes at our table. That allows me the freedom to get and put away ingredients as needed, and I don’t have to worry about anyone tumbling from a chair or getting too close to a hot stove. It’s working for us, and the kids really seem to enjoy it (the cooking and the new method).
» Filed Under breakfasts, muffins | 7 Comments
Apple Cider Vinaigrette Recipe
October 9, 2009
A few weeks ago, I started thinking of fall flavors (seriously, when did seasons become flavors to me?). Apples, pumpkins, squash, Brussels sprouts … I started to scheme about how I could use them to create new dishes.
The first thing that came to mind: Apple Cider Vinaigrette.
Not a dressing that just uses apple cider vinegar, though: One that uses actual apple cider to create a sweet, tangy lettuce-coating dressing. Something that could bridge the light foods of summer with the bone-warming foods of winter. Could cider in a dressing even work?
I’ve been working on this recipe ever since, trying to get it just right. And guess what? I did. It’s earthy and lightly sweet, with that tinge of tang I wanted. Even Shawn, who isn’t a vinaigrette fan at all, liked it a lot.
As for the salad above? It’s romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size bits with half a Haas avocado sliced, about eight medium shrimp that were just steamed, two slices of pancetta fried until crisp and about an ounce of Danish blue cheese. Yum.
Next time though, I would choose a lettuce with a less aggressive taste like a Boston Bibb. I think that would make this salad — and dressing — absolutely perfect.
P.S. The cute bottle? It’s a glass flask from The Container Store. I bought it on a recent trip into New York and absolutely love it for dressings like this. It stores in the fridge well and is absolutely airtight. I use a small funnel to help ease the dressing in without spilling. Both are awesome to have in your cupboard if you love to make your own dressing. Read more
» Filed Under dressing, salad, seafood | 5 Comments
Products I Love: Kate’s Homemade Butter
October 8, 2009
Walking by the cheese counter of my local grocery store, I always wondered about all the fancy (and somewhat expensive) butters they sell. It seemed excessive to spend more than a few dollars on something as simple and basic as butter. So, I never stopped, and certainly never bought any fancy butter.
But curiosity got the best of me, as it is wont to do. After discovering that my buy-whatever-is-cheapest strategy was backfiring with foul tasting butter, I bought a tub of Kate’s Homemade Butter. It’s salted with sea salt and made in Maine. The family-owned business buys cream from local dairies and transforms it into butter milk and butter, all with short ingredient and totally recognizable ingredient lists (Yay!).
Honestly, I think, on some level, I wanted this to taste like other butters. That would mean that I wouldn’t be wrong about price mattering more than brand. But I was so wrong. Read more
» Filed Under product reviews | 6 Comments
Putting Up for Winter So We Can Eat Local
October 7, 2009
Eating local in the winter has always been an enigma to me. Where do you find local produce during the New England winter? I really let snow, harsh temperatures and a lack of understanding come between my family and the tastiest local foods.
But earlier this summer, I had an epiphany — it’s not about finding local food, it’s about preparing to have local food all year. It take more effort, more foresight and more work to eat locally all year … but it’s so worth it.
That’s why I was happy thrilled to buy a big crate of tomatoes at the farmer’s market this weekend. They weren’t the prettiest fruits, but they were fresh, local and ready to be processed. I spent the weekend, peeling, seeding, processing and cooking the tomatoes into a garden marinara and tomato paste using recipes from Preserving Summer’s Bounty: A Quick and Easy Guide to Freezing, Canning, and Preserving, and Drying What You Grow
Anyway, back to the tomatoes. Read more
» Filed Under Eat Local, preserving/canning | 3 Comments
Goodbye, Gourmet
October 6, 2009
The post I had planned for today on my canning activities over the weekend will now appear tomorrow.
When I heard the news this morning about Conde Nast’s decision about Gourmet magazine, I was heartbroken. Gourmet is the apex of quality food writing – having lived, breathed and exuded all things food since 1940. It treats food and food writing as an artform. The magazine shares international culture in a vivid and ever-fresh way (look at the back issue from years ago at right — Grilling Around the World in bold).
But the magazine is much more than just wonderfully linked words. The breathtaking photos take you into cultures and customs you might otherwise not know about — whether it’s a celebration in New Jersey or ceremony in another country. Editor Ruth Reichl has led the magazine with honesty, integrity and grace for the last decade. What will we do without her, and this amazing tome? Read more
» Filed Under Thoughts | 4 Comments
Shortbread Candy Cookie Recipe
October 5, 2009
Today felt like summer again, with temperatures that encouraged us to shed the socks and pants and re-embrace our leg-baring attire. When I felt how warm it was, I silently wished that the weather would make up its mind: is it winter or summer? But I didn’t really mean it. Summer can stick around all it wants, and I am happy to oblige.
It seems like everyone shares in my sentiments about this past summer: it felt too brief, cut short by the incessant rains of June and the short-lived hot spell. I was happy to barely run the air conditioner this summer, but would have loved a few more hot days where the best relief you can find is in a crystal clear pool. There just wasn’t enough of that.
Despite the summery temperatures today, it was an in-the-kitchen day for me today. I was able to purchase a big crate of tomatoes for a song this weekend, so they needed to be tended to (tune in tomorrow to learn all about that). But I also wanted to make something sweet. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies at Sweetnicks recently caught my eye, and having just picked up a bag of dark and milk chocolate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures, that seemed perfect. Unfortunately, when I went to the kitchen, I discovered that we were missing a key ingredient: Peanut butter.
Maybe the warm air hit me in the right way or something, but as I contemplated what to do, I remembered a treat from my childhood summers. There were these shortbread cookies with a center of creamy chocolate that debuted when I was in elementary school. Totally smitten, I couldn’t get enough of them and ate them compulsively. I loved the way the milk chocolate was in smooth contrast to the crumbly cookie.
So, that’s how I ended up doing a shortbread cookie with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Miniature pushed into the center. The cookie itself is buttery with a punch of vanilla. It’s crumbly and on the dry side, but it holds its shape. Next to the smooth chocolate and peanut butter center, it’s just dreamy.
Not into the peanut butter cups? No worries, these work equally well with other small chocolate bites — Hershey’s Kisses, other miniatures, even Lindt Truffles. Heck, if you were in a pinch, you could just chop up a bar of chocolate and push a square into the center. Don’t you just love versatility?
» Filed Under cookies | 3 Comments
