Fall Time Is The Best Time

Well hello!  It's been a nice four month break!

Since last posting, I have been busy.  Busy doing too many things other than cooking and baking!  So now that all that nonsense is basically over, we're now in a rental house that has a really big kitchen.  It's the biggest kitchen I've ever had in a house.  There are so many cabinets, literally every kitchen gadget/appliance/pan that I own fits somewhere.  This is a new feeling for me and I enjoy it.

I bought a new fall cookbook -- $3.99 from Ollie's -- "Quick and Easy Autumn".  I want to say these are the same authors that put together the crock pot cookbooks that are spiral bound.  I used them a lot growing up, because my mother loves a good crock pot recipe.  ANYWAY.  My four-year-old loves all the illustrations in this book and really really really wanted to make something.  Disclaimer -- almost nothing in this book is healthy, which is okay for today.  Page 40 of the "Snacks and Appetizers" section was a winner for limited ingredients and no actual cooking or baking -- Creamy Pumpkin Spread!

Creamy Pumpkin Spread
(I would rather call it Pumpkin Cookie Dip)

8oz cream cheese softened
7oz marshmallow fluff
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix all these things together.  I put it all in the mixer because cream cheese can be lumpy and the fluff is sticky.  I even have a silicone spatula and STILL the fluff was getting the best of me.  But in the end it was all okay, and it was fluffy, creamy, orange, and speckled with cinnamon and nutmeg.  It may also be a little soupy, so chill it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours before you eat it.

And what do you eat it with?

COOKIES.  Shortbread, ginger snaps, and graham crackers!  I thought this would be a good time to look at the fancy cookies in the grocery store, the stuff no one seems to buy.  I found some great ones.

Verdict -- the ginger thins are my favorite because they are delicate and crisp.  My husband loves crunch of the French shortbread.  But overall, we love both cookies with the pumpkin spread.  Feel free to spread or dip!  My husband suggested making them mini ice cream sandwich-style and freezing them.  He's a genius.

Also good dippers could be Biscoffs, waffle cookies, anything almond, something with caramel, and definitely graham sticks or crackers.  And now that I'm thinking about it, you could literally go nuts with this recipe and add nuts or chocolate chips.  My favorite chips for baking are the Enjoy Life semi-sweet mini chips:

We don't have allergies, we just love them.  Excellent flavor, perfect teeny size.

Enjoy!

Granola Bars

I'm going to try the Pioneer Woman's granola bar recipe at some point.  I like the use of molasses and wheat germ in these.  My variations will be apricot cashew, raisin cinnamon pecan, and cherry almond (maybe with coconut).  I will likely add pumpkin seeds and split the wheat germ with flax seed meal.

Granola Bars via The Pioneer Woman

Muffins Two Ways

Today is muffin day:

Bakery-Style Blueberry Lemon

Brown Sugar Banana Clementine

And off I go to bake!

Refrigerated Doughs

Ahhh... the world of refrigerated doughs.  I have experimented in the past with different doughs from the freezer and fridge sections in the grocery store with sad results.  I used to think it was me, but I have come to realize that it is likely the ingredients and the way the dough was processed.  But I'm always up for a new baking adventure, so I saw a new brand in the grocery store and went for it.

Wewalka makes four types of doughs that are rolled in parchment paper and sold in colorful tubes -- croissant, puff pastry, bistro pizza, and family-style pizza.  We tried the croissant and puff pastry dough over the last two days.

Because my children are 2 and 4, the first meal involved nitrate-free beef hot dogs "pigs in a blanket"-style.  I cooked the hot dogs completely, then rolled them in the dough triangles.  For best results, cool the cooked hot dogs before wrapping and don't take the dough out of the fridge til you are absolutely ready to wrap.  Doughs like these depend on the butter in the dough to make the flaky layers, so putting super hot meat in there or leaving it out to get warm will change the texture, as the butter will melt.

They baked at 350 for about 15 minutes and came out perfect!  I wish I had thought to take a picture. Perfectly puffed, golden brown, and the triangles were just the right size to wrap a whole hot dog. And the dough TASTES great!  No rubberiness or chemical aftertaste.  One package has 6 croissant triangles, for 6 pigs in a blanket.

Dinner the next night was perfectly imagined by my husband and perfectly timed for the Outlander premier last night.  We took the meat mixture from my cottage pie and wrapped it in the puff pastry dough.  High fives for that idea.  Same lessons apply from the croissants -- protect the butter in the dough by keeping it cold til ready to use, and cool the meat before loading up the dough.  We wrapped it in a log shape, sealing seams with an egg wash, then Eric tenderly egg washed the whole thing.

It baked at 425 for 18 minutes, and when I went to pull it out of the oven, I swooned.

Look at this brown beauty!  I could hardly wait to slice into it!  So I did -- with a serrated knife, so as not to mangle it:

Amazing.  In hindsight, I could have stuffed all the meat mix in there -- we conservatively tried with half, to make sure the dough would close.  There's totally room for more in there.  Good thing I have one more roll of croissant dough!  And I was so excited to bake this, I forgot the cheese.  When have I ever forgot the cheese??  So the next one gets cheese.

So we celebrated the Outlander premier festively with this!  Yay to Outlander being back on TV... gives me something to look forward to every week.

Chocolate Chip Gelato

One of the things I have in the kitchen that I don't use as often as I should is my KitchenAid ice cream bowl.  It's a bowl that fits on your mixer, which you freeze a day ahead of time and then mix ice cream in.  It has a special ice cream paddle attachment that comes with it and a recipe book.

Home-made ice cream is great because you get to control the quality of the ingredients and pick your mix-ins.  The first time we used the bowl, Eric made amazing (and organic!) pumpkin pecan ice cream that we enjoyed with marshmallow topping.  YUM.  I think we had it in July or August, so we were nowhere near pumpkin time (I blame pregnancy cravings).

Tonight I made simple chocolate chip gelato.  Gelato is a creamier version of ice cream -- denser because less air is whipped into it.  The higher fat content with the added cream is where the creaminess comes from.  It's rich and delicious!  All this required was milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips.  As usual, I like to use organic ingredients where possible.  I used this recipe from Allrecipes, then added about a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a cup of chocolate chips at mixing time.

The gelato base is cooked, cooled for 3-4 hours in the fridge, and then added to the frozen ice cream bowl for mixing.  After 20-25 minutes of slow stirring, the gelato is finished.  It has a soft-serve consistency, and if you're impatient, you can totally eat it now.  However, if you can wait about 6-24 hours, put the whole mixing bowl back in the freezer for firmer gelato.

The eggs and vanilla gave an overall effect of french vanilla ice cream, which I love, but some people may not love.  I'll have to experiment with other recipes to find one that doesn't taste so much of eggs.  And likely involving hazelnuts.  But in the meantime, I have home-made chocolate chip gelato.  Buon appetito!

Blueberry Super Smoothie

1/2 cup fresh or thawed frozen blueberries
1/2 banana
1/4 cup creamed coconut
1/4 cup pureed sweet potato
about 2 cups ice
cold water as needed

Blend all ingredients until smooth and ice is completely crushed.  Add water 2 tablespoons at a time for easier blending.

Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

I am pretty good at baking a lot of things, but biscuits from scratch is not one of them!  I watched a good tutorial recently about making cut out biscuits, which was very enlightening, but I was still afraid to try it.  Then I came across a wonderful drop biscuit recipe from Outlander Kitchen and thought, it seems so simple... I could probably do this.

I followed her recipe exactly, using 2 cups all-purpose flour instead of 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup cake flour.  I also clabbered whole milk with lemon juice instead of using buttermilk.  This is also the first time I put my cast iron griddle pan in the oven and probably the first time I've ever baked anything at 475 degrees F.

Note that my pan has ridges in it -- but it made no difference.  The biscuits baked PERFECTLY and did not stick one bit.

After baking -- minus one because Eric had to taste-test right out of the oven.  He was bowled over! Perfect, tender, buttery, restaurant-quality biscuits.  It was a great side for a beef stew I made in the crock pot.

Mrs. Bug's Buttermilk Drop Biscuits from "The Fiery Cross" via Outlander Kitchen