TWD: Cupcake O’Lanterns (or I should have gone with a filling)
October 28, 2008 at 1:45 pm | In Tuesdays with Dorie, Uncategorized | 21 CommentsTags: cupcakes, tues, Tuesdays with Dorie
Sunday was one of those days in the kitchen. I was pretty enthused to start the day. I set aside time to make the Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes and the (admittedly tardy) Vegetable Pot Pie for the Barefoot Bloggers. The pot pie was from hell so let’s move on from that.
I adore Halloween. True unadulterated love. I have a little get together every year for my family members who aren’t lucky enough to live where trick-or-treaters dare to go (condos and the like). I make a giant pot of vegetarian chili and pumpkin pie every year. The pumpkin pie is in honor of my father-in-law. He passed away several years ago but his birthday is was on Halloween and he celebrated every year with pumpkin pie. I also spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about other desserts, appetizers, etc. to serve. Plus, it gives me a chance to show off my own cute little trick-or-treaters without traipsing all around the city. Although, I am finding it ever difficult to ignore that my “cute” little trick-or-treaters are growing up and developing minds of their own. This year I am sending out a ninja and Jango Fett, bounty hunter from Star Wars for the uninitiated. What happened to my little plush frog and dragon? They grew into weapon wielding candy hoarding maniacs, that’s what.
Yup, we have already been to “Trunk or Treat.” Halloween lasts a week now.
Back to Sunday. I was excited to make the cupcakes despite repeated warnings on the P&Q thread about dryness. I wanted to try to make these cupcake jack o’lanterns from the Taste of Home magazine I picked up in the check-out line. I should have stopped myself right there and reversed courses. (This is the part of the horror movie when the sorority girl decides to take a walk by the lake. Alone. In the dark. In a tight shirt. You don’t know exactly what is going to happen but it isn’t going to end well). I am a terrible cake/cookie decorator. Nothing ever looks like I think it will and it just frustrates me.
The cupcakes went surprisingly well. (Pride goeth before a fall.) To make the jack o’lanterns you slice the top of two cupakes and invert one on top of the other. I whipped up the chocolate ganache to serve as a tasty cement between the cupcakes. Then I –attempted- to make the orange frosting. Does this look like frosting to you? exactly.
Don’t know what happened. Mixedd it more. Tried to chill it. Ended up with goop covered in festive layer of ice. I threw it out. By this time the pot pie (from hell) was seriously annoying me and I had broken a pie plate so I conceded a little on the jack o’lanterns. I turned six of the cupcakes into plain old chocolate cupcakes. No fancy decoration. No tasty filling. Some leftover sprinkles from last year.
Not willing to give up, I made three jack o’lanterns. With, I admit in shame, store bought frosting I tinted a very light orange. I was going to use candy for the faces but….yeah…not going to happen. The children have already plowed through most of these, even Colin which is victory enough for today.
Photo courtesy of my husband who tried valiantly to get a picture in good light before the kids attacked the cupcakes.
Overnight he lost his stem and his nose is runny (ha!).
The full recipe is on CB’s blog IHeartFood4Thought.
Next week starts what I am dubbing the month of surprises. I have never tasted a version of any of the recipes for November, no rugelach, kugelhopf, rice pudding or pumpkin/pecan pie for me (and that last one will remain an unknown). At least there are no pastry bags in site.
BB: All Day Vegetable Pot Pie
October 28, 2008 at 3:55 am | In Barefoot Bloggers | 3 CommentsTags: Barefoot Bloggers, pot pie
Ina, Ina, Ina. Do you think I work on a farm, or in construction or in something –anything- that would require serious physical exertion before sitting down to Sunday dinner? Well, I don’t. I work in an office. I did rake some leaves on Sunday but that is hardly enough to justify even one slice of her Vegetable Pot Pie as written.
Deb of Kahakai Kitchen chose Vegetable Pot Pie as our second Barefoot Bloggers recipe for October. I was excited to try it. Pot Pie is such a warm comforting meal on a cold night. Being vegetarians, we aren’t likely to sit down for some good old turkey pot pie.
Well, this recipe started out promising but turned into a frustrating day for me. I was also dealing with some cupcake issues for TWD. First, there is enough fat in this recipe for a sumo wrestler. One and a half sticks of butter for the sauce alone? I think not. I cut way down on that and used a mix of butter and olive oil. I tried to give a health boost to the crust by using a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour. I have no idea if that was the problem but it was the crumbliest ugliest crust in the history of crusts. Take a look.
Gorgeous, dahling.
By this time I had already broken a pie plate and “onion juice” was burning a hole through a cut on my finger. There wasn’t going to be a second crust attempt. I spent about .5 seconds trying to make it fit in one piece and then just patched it together.
My second issue was the preparation. 18 pots and pans and even more steps. I cut the second group of onions because two seemed like more than enough. I liked this recipe. I really did but I don’t think I can give this much effort to pot pie. I have made another version from allrecipes that I like and isn’t nearly as time consuming. I did like the fennel and some of the elements of this one. I may try to combine the two for a reasonable alternative.
TWD: pumpkin CHOCOLATE muffins
October 21, 2008 at 4:50 am | In Tuesdays with Dorie | 22 CommentsTags: muffins, Tuesdays with Dorie
(I baked at night and delivered early in the morning. Bear with the pictures. I had no choice this week…)
Big goings on at work and home this week so this will be short and sweet. My observations on the Pumpkin Muffins.
- I have kids. I was hoping said kids would eat these muffins. Said kids do NOT eat baked goods with heretofore unknown green seeds popping out of them. No sunflower seeds for us. (Ok, only one kid ate the muffins. Shocking, I know.)
I am not what you might characterize as organized. At all. If you are organized and you come to my house, you will shake your head in dismay. If you are hyperorganized (and you know who you are) and you come to my house, your head will explode. Every now and then, however, I do get an urge to purge. On baking day, I found myself staring at three almost empty bags of varying chocolate chips. So, in a rare act declutterment (new word, I think), I emptied bittersweet, semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips into the batter. What? You think I measured?
3. I am impatient. I doubled the recipe and I got more than 24 muffins. After 24, I was done with the muffin tin if you know what I mean. I dumped the rest in a 6 in. springform and added some raisins for fun. I am calling it gigantimuffin (2nd new word!).
They wouldn’t let me rest until they were in the picture with gigantimuffin.
4. I need a little more pumpkin than most. Honestly, I was sort of wishing that I was eating the pumpkin whoopie cookies on Peabody’s site. I found these a little lacking. I liked the chocolate addition but I would have preferred more pumpkin flavor. A couple of people at work really liked them so maybe it is just me. I did like the raisins and chocolate together. Instead of making these again, I may just add chocolate chips to my favorite pumpkin bread.
5. I can’t format on this stupid blog. I am going to quite now before I throw my computer out the window.
TWD: Biscotti Virgin
October 14, 2008 at 1:23 pm | In Tuesdays with Dorie, recipes | 30 CommentsTags: biscotti, Tuesdays with Dorie
If coffee tasted as good as it smells, I would be addicted. But, to me, it tastes like skunk. Yes, I know you can fancy it up with cream and sugar and complicated flavorings but then it might as well be dessert. And I don’t want dessert to be something I barely remember at 7:30am because I need my “dessert” to function at that hour and, for the love of Mike, is that dessert done brewing yet? Coffee is one of those things I sort of wish I enjoyed (like Brie – I keep trying to be an adult and like it but…blech). But I just can’t go there.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I like real official desserts that happen to have coffee flavoring. In high school, I discovered coffee ice cream malts with hot fudge (sweet Jesus!) and I am a sucker for anything mocha. I even went through a brief Frappuccino phase when I first started practicing law. I gave both up cause they made me jittery and unpleasant.
So, I had zero frame of reference for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie. Gretchen of Canela and Comino chose Lenox Almond Biscotti (full recipe on her blog). Biscotti = cookie paired with coffee. Me = no biscotti. It has never once occurred to me to buy, eat or make biscotti. I was flying blind here. One thing I did know was that mine wouldn’t be almond biscotti. I had literally one drop of almond extract and no almonds to be found.
So, I opted for dried pear and apricot flavored with cinnamon and vanilla. In a bit of inspired frugality, I even dried my own pear. It was almost past ripe and I just knew it was destined to rot alone on the counter without some intervention.
The marching band? More like a spine…
So, thanks to Gretchen for exposing me to something new. Check out the marching band biscotti here. Next week: Pumpkin muffins. My son already wants to know how many we are making for home and not work.
BB: Butternut Squash Baby!
October 9, 2008 at 2:11 pm | In Barefoot Bloggers | 10 CommentsTags: Barefoot Bloggers, butternut squash, risotto
Let me just pause for a moment of celebration. I actually posted on time. Beware the sky may open up and swallow us all.
Back to topic, Rachel of Rachel Likes to Cook chose Butternut Squash Risotto for our first October recipe. Great choice! I love winter squashes. Last year, I discovered making risooto at home. Match made in heaven. I did, unfortunately, have to skip the saffron. As I mentioned in Want Pies With Post, the grocery cart was awfully full this week. Do you ever have those weeks where you are out of every staple? I swear we needed jam, pickles, ketchup…all those things you don’t have to buy every week. Plus, I lost $20 bucks at the farmers’ market last weekend. Totally into thin air…
So, no saffron. But it was great without it. I would have taken more pictures, but, as others have noted, it took longer to cook than the recipe specified. The family was ready to eat. The only change I would make would be to give it a little more kick. But I often think that with risotto. I must not have a very sophisticated palate.
Check out the other barefoot bloggers here. Next up Vegetable Pot Pie. We fully into fall….
You want (insert long name here) Pie with that?
October 8, 2008 at 2:46 pm | In recipes | 13 CommentsTags: pie
This was not the pie I was originally going to make for the inaugural You Want Pies With That? round. But I was at the grocery store on Saturday looking at my overflowing cart and then at my purse and back to my cart…and you get the idea. A sizeable amount of money changed hands at the ol’ Hy Vee. I decided to hold off on some items. It immediately reminded me of the scene in Terms of Endearment when Debra Winger (Emma) is at the grocery store in Iowa and doesn’t have enough money so she keeps giving items back to the snotty clerk. And an idea was born. This would be my Terms-of-Endearment-got-no-money-use-what’s-in-the-house-pie. The name kind of rolls of your tongue, yes?
It is fitting as I love that movie. If you haven’t seen it, rent it. I can’t explain it all here. My husband says I have a sixth sense that allows me to know when and where it is on TV at any time. If it were for some reason on the Weather channel at noon on Tuesday I would somehow be there to watch it. It also does not matter how far the movie is along when I turn it on. I WILL cry at the hospital scenes. Now that I have two boys it is practically unbearable.
The whole underlying theme of the movie is how life does not always lead where you think it will (did Emma really plan to end up in Iowa with Flap?). So, here is my unexpected peanut butter pretzel mini-pies (that sort of turned out more like a cheesecake – but don’t tell anyone). I had left over chocolate peanut butter cookie dough in the freezer from the blueberry ice cream TWD awhile back. I had some cream cheese and peanut butter pretzels. Left over caramel from this week’s TWD and voila!
Well, the “pies” took the theme of the movie and ran with it. The cream cheese puffed and burnt. I wanted a thicker layer of caramel to make it more “pie” like but oh well. Some of the cookie crust burnt a little, too. I was shaking my head at the poor little things thinking how can I post these to be compared with everyone else’s? then it hit me. I am Emma at the New York lunch with Patsy and her friends. Keep that in mind when you are comparing.
The good news: I really liked the taste. I congratulated myself on the automatic portion control of the muffin size pies. Then I ate two in 6 seconds. With a little tweaking, it could be even better!
Terms-of-Endearment-got-no-money-use-what’s-in-the-house-pie
Crust:
Maida Heatter’s peanut butter chocolate cookies (about 1/4 of a batch for 6 mini pies)
Filling: (I had a little extra…)
-
4 oz cream cheese (room temp.)
-
¼ c. sugar
-
pinch salt
-
1 egg
-
¼ tsp vanilla
-
handful of peanut butter covered pretzels (broken)
Topping:
Left over Dorie Greenspan caramel sauce
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prepare muffin pan. (I baked mine at 350 and I think a lower temp would be better).
2. Prepare cookie dough and press into six muffin cups.
3. Beat cream cheese until soft. Add sugar and salt and beat to combine. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in broken pretzels. Pour batter into muffin cups.
4. Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Check early if you get nervous.
5. Cool to room temperature. Drizzle or pour carmel sauce over the top and chill overnight.
TWD: Caramel and Peanuts and Brownies…Oh My
October 7, 2008 at 2:32 pm | In Tuesdays with Dorie | 17 CommentsTags: brownie, cake, Tuesdays with Dorie
Making these brownies reminded me of being a kid. I grew up in a very close knit extended family. I saw my cousins on both sides very frequently and went to school with some. There were 7 of us in 7 years on my dad’s side. Two of us cousins who did not like nuts. My grandma would always make this sheet cake with a nut topping but she would always leave a swath at the end with just the chocolate frosting for Eric and me. Back in the day “Grandma Sophie” (as my kids call her) could rattle off the likes and dislikes of all of her grandchildren.
Following Sophie’s lead, I left a little swath of this cake peanutless for Colin and myself. Colin is my new nut free comrade. Without turning this blog into something it’s not, I feel compelled to mention that Eric is no longer with us. It will be 16 years this month and I have been thinking about him ever since this cake was announced. It is amazing how the simple act of making a cake can call forth so many memories (and emotions).
Colin - in a departure from Eric and I’s tradition of actually eating our special section - declared the caramel sauce ick and left the table.
I made a six inch cake, cooked it for 30 minutes and ended up with a giant ol’ crater in the middle. It does not look like the picture in the book. It was good but not awe inspiring. The brownie/cake part could have been moister (word?) and I accidentally got a peanut in mine. I have made the caramel sauce once before and I would make it again. But, I don’t think I would make this whole thing again.
Ooey Gooey Crater (yes, pictures at night again. Damn you autumn…)
For the full recipe visit Tammy at Wee Treats by Tammy. Check out the other blogs here. Next week: Biscotti. Looks like someone will be getting a little homemade gift from yours truly.
Brownies my A**
October 4, 2008 at 7:06 pm | In recipes | 6 CommentsTags: black beans, brownies
Take a look at this picture and tell me if youthink this resembles a brownie. I think not.
These are one of the “black bean brownie” recipes that are floating around. Normally, I don’t like to confuse health food with dessert. Never the twain shall meet for me. When refusing to buy some non-food food item like purple applesauce or “fruit snacks” (I love that fruit is even in the name), I tell my kids that we eat real food at meals so we can enjoy junk food for junk food.
Well, that works for one of them…because he actually eats the real food. The other one? Not so much. So, yes, I am trying to sneak some good foods (and fiber!) into his diet. I thought I would give these a shot. Who doesn’t love brownies?
I don’t know what happened. They boiled and boiled in the oven and never seemed to become the least bit brownie like. I finally took them out and chilled them. Forever. Still goo. If you have any clues, let me know. Meanwhile, I will probably fold this into some ice cream or something. I added some oat bran and raisins to Alton Brown’s chocolate chip cookies. I will post those results another time.
Black Bean Brownies (from allrecipes.com)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8×8 square baking dish.
- Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
