Shari's Savory Pumpkin Bake

Ok, y'all.  I have a good friend in North Carolina.  She is my sister's college roommate, and she is quite talented in the kitchen. 

Here name is Lauren, and I asked Lauren a few weeks ago if she would like to share a recipe here.  She whipped up a few pumpkin recipes, one of which is a favorite of her family that they enjoy for Thanksgiving.  So, should you be looking for another side dish for Thanksgiving, you should check this out.  It looks amazing!  I wish I was close to her house so I could have some tonight!

Here's what Lauren has to say about this delicious dish... thanks for sharing, Lauren!

Stumped on what side dish to make for Thanksgiving? This savory pumpkin bake has been a long time family favorite.  

 

 

It's perfect for the holidays, but is easy enough to make year round. You can make it more decadent and sweet with a brown sugar pecan topping (as shown here), or a bit more healthy with a toasted wheat germ topping.  

 

 

I'm not sure where my mom found the recipe (possibly from her Michigan roots), but I remember requesting the creamy dessert like dish with dinner growing up.  

 

 

As far as the toasted wheat-germ goes... I don't think I have ever had it in any other dish, but you can find it at Walmart :) 

Hope you enjoy!

 

Shari's Savory Pumpkin Bake

Ingredients:

3-4 cups canned pumpkin (make sure you don't buy pumpkin pie filing)

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

dash of nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2-3 eggs, beat lightly

1/2 stick butter melted

For the topping:

Toasted wheat germ

or

1/3 stick butter, very soft

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Whisk all pumpkin bake ingredients together.  Pour into a greased square baking dish (you can double the recipe and use a 13x9 pan).  Mix the topping ingredients together with a fork (it will be like a crumble topping).  Sprinkle the topping evenly on top.  Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. 

Serve warm & enjoy!

PS--Whipped Cream optional ;)

Turkey Rice Krispie Treats

Thanksgiving is next week.  Next week, y'all! 

When I was growing up, we made these super cute turkey cookies.  They were from the American Girl magazine.  They use oreos, nutter butter cookies, Reese's peanut cups, jelly beans and so many other sugared items.  They are super cute and fun.  But, this year, I tried something new....

To celebrate Thanksgiving, I made these turkey rice krispie treats for the 5th and 6th grade girls at church that I help teach on Wednesday nights.  These treats were perfect since they are gluten free and peanut free.  And they were way easy to make!

All you need are rice krispie treats cut into circle with a biscuit cutter, cookie icing, candy corn, mini chocolate chips, and red and yellow jelly beans.

Happy Thanksgiving!

White Chocolate M&M's and Peanut Butter Blondies

A few weeks ago I made some more blondies.  It's the same recipe as the one I made the night it sleeted here last February.  It is such a yummy recipe.  But, this time I added peanut butter chips and white chocolate m&m's that were colored orange, yellow, and white like candy corns.  So festive!

These blondies really are a winner.  They are so versatile and are a great dessert to take to a party or just enjoy at home.

Reese's now has a white chocolate peanut butter cup.  They are so good.  So, when I saw I had some peanut butter chips and the white chocolate m&m's, I had to combine them in the blondes.

I also love this cookie tin.  It is spray painted in chalkboard paint, so you can change the message for different occasions.  I think I need to go find all the cookie tins I can and paint them all for my upcoming cookie exchange this Christmas!  Have some sitting around?  Paint them and use them to deliver your baked goods to friends :)

You could totally switch out these fall m&m's for red and green.  They'd be super cute in your new tin.  Just sayin'.

Here's the recipe.  It's adapted from my good friend, Eliza.


Blondies

2/3 cup melted butter
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 2/3 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup m&m's, plus extra for sprinkling on the top before baking
1 cup peanut butter chips

Blend together the butter and brown sugar.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Then add the dry ingredients, mixing well.  Finally, add in the m&m's and peanut butter chips.  Spread into a 9x13 inch pan and sprinkle on a few extra m&m's.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  The blondies will be gooey in the middle-- bake longer to avoid the need for a spoon.  :)

Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken Sausage

I made some butternut squash soup for dinner.  Well, I made it twice on the same day actually.  You see, I learned a valuable lesson the first time that I made the soup.  It wasn't related to the butternut squash, the onions, carrots, or any other ingredients.  No, it was the method.  I shall share the disastrous story with you so that you will not make the same mistake.

You might notice that the tag line on my blog is "adventures in my kitchen", which would imply sometimes there are success stories and sometimes not.  Today had both.

I saw this recipe for butternut squash soup on Two Peas and Their Pod that you make in the crock pot.  It looked delicious, and I love crock pots, simply because you dump in the ingredients and let it do its magic.  So, this recipe calls for the use of an immersion blender.  I've never used an immersion blender, and I've never used a crock pot liner (plastic bag).  This is a bad combo.  This is a particularly bad combo when you have a tired CPA and tax attorney trying to cook on a Thursday night.  We thought it would be fine to use the liner and then just blend the soup with the blender in the bag.  Not. A. Good. Idea.

I really should have thought of it when I came home from work and started blending it.  But, it's Friday night, and I was more tired than I thought.  I'm sure I don't need to explain what happened next.  Really, I know it was a bad idea.  Complete epic fail.

So, I mentioned I made it twice in one night.  So, back to the grocery store I ran for more ingredients since my friends and I needed something for dinner.  And here is what I came up with.  It was so, so good.  In the words of my roommate, it's fall in a bowl. 

Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken Sausage

Inspired/adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

6 cups chopped butternut squash*
1 medium onion, diced
4 carrots, sliced
1 green apple, peeled and chopped
chicken or vegetable broth base
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 chicken sausages, sliced (I used the Johnsonville brand flavored with apple)
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream for garnish

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add the broth base, butternut squash, onion, carrots, and apple.  Cook for 20 minutes or until all the veggies are soft.  Once cooked, scoop out the veggies and measure out 28 ounces of the cooking liquid.  Recombine the veggies and liquid together and blend together with an immersion blender.  (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can blend it in batches in a blender).  Once the soup is fully blended, heat on low heat and add the cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, salt & pepper, and sausage.  Heat the soup until the sausage is warmed completely through.  Serve with a garnish of sour cream, if desired. 


* If you have never peeled and chopped a butternut squash, do not be afraid.  I did it a few times this week, and it's not as hard as you might think it would be.  Here's a great tutorial.

Chocolate Covered "Pumpkin" Pretzels

I don't know about you, but I love chocolate covered pretzels.  I love chocolate covered anything for the most part (who doesn't?).  They fall into the "snack" foods category, and I am such a snacker.  I have to keep it in check or it'll get me in trouble.  I think I come by it honestly as there are other snackers in my family.  Whenever I go to my grandparent's house and look in the pantry, my grandmother has the best snack items in there for my grandfather.  And she usually always has chocolate covered pretzels.

I few weeks ago, when I was on Pinterest, I came across these pretzels, and knew I had to make them.  It wasn't a question of if, but when I would make them.  I love festive foods, too.  So, these were right up my ally!

Now, I will say these can be a bit labor intensive (at least it might seem that way if you start the project at 9:15 pm).  But, they are totally worth it!  If you have never gone to the kitchen to cook something up at 9:15 pm, you should go make these. :)

Here's the recipe.  I made a slight alteration to use the candy bark instead of the white chocolate.  It may not be as "real", but it's definitely simpler.

Chocolate Covered "Pumpkin" Pretzels

Pretzel twists
Green M&M's
White almond bark
Orange or red and yellow food coloring

Melt the almond bark according to the package directions.  Once it is melted, add the food coloring until you reach the color of orange you would like.  If you use red and yellow, use the ratio of two drops of yellow for every drop of red.  I used eight drops of yellow and four drops of the red.  Then, dip each pretzel in the almond bark and then place it on wax paper.  Immediately add the green M&M at the top.  Let the pretzels set completely before storing them.  You can cover them and place them in the fridge overnight to set, and they'll be perfect.

Fresh Pear Cake

Well, (this might sound like I'm starting an entry into my journal, or at least how I would start an entry if I actually journaled) this week started off with a whirlwind.  Yesterday was October 15.  What's so special about this day?  It's the day that I have been working towards for the last month and much more than that.  It's the day that all the extended 401(k) tax filings are due, and with that filing, a set of audited financial statements must be attached.  That's where I come in.  I've been auditing 401(k) plans.  I'll grant that they aren't my favorite.  I could go on with stories, but I'll spare you, because they might only be funny to a really tired CPA.

It's also the day that all extended gift tax returns are due.  But, wait, the government is still shut down.  What are they going to do with all these returns?  They will probably just set them aside and look at them later.  Meanwhile they'll take the any taxes that are remitted with the returns and use them to fund the government.  And, if they owe you a refund, they are planning to hang on to that for a while, too.  As I read today in a tax newsletter, the IRS's middle name is "Revenue".  But, that's not why I'm in the picture.  In order to file the gift tax returns, you have to know the value to of the gift being given.  Again, this is where we end up in the picture.  I promise there is a point to this story...

I was pretty much done with all my 401(k) audits Friday (several days early), but was asked to help out with the valuations for the gift tax returns.  I think what I helped with barely scratched the surface of what had to be done before today.  My tax attorney roommate was in charge of a number of the gift tax returns being filed at her firm.  And due to all the changes in the estate laws at the end of 2012, there were a ton to be done.  So, Monday night, we had a work party (if you can call it that; it was a nerd fest) at home until late.  The effects of a late night are still showing their signs. Here was the living room with our files spread out.

Over the weekend, I had thought about making this cake to take to work, but then decided not to.  But, when I walked into the office on Monday morning and it looked like a warzone (there were folks that had pretty much worked all weekend long and would continue to work late into the day and all night), I knew that a cake would be a nice thing to bring to work with me on Tuesday. 

So, here is the cake that I baked up Monday night while the roommate and I worked.  It's technically a Fresh Apple Cake, but you can easily interchange the apples for pears.  It's such a great fall dessert.

 

Here's the recipe.  Be a hero and make it for your next fall event.  You'll get an A+ from your tax lady coworker like I did or comments like, "it was so good, I had two pieces!"

Fresh Apple (or Pear) Cake

1 1/2 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups chopped apples
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Cream together the oil and sugar in a large mixing bowl until well combined.  Next, add the eggs one at a time.  Sift together the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and add to the creamed mixture.  Add in the vanilla.  Alternate adding the apples and chopped nuts.  Pour into a greased Bundt pan and bake at 290 for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Let cool before removing and placing on a plate.

Serve with cool whip.  OR if you don't have cool whip (like me), you can top it with a simple vanilla glaze made with some powdered sugar, milk, and a bit of vanilla extract.  Also, you can easily omit the pecans or walnuts, if you don't have those on hand (like me, again :) ).  Lastly, it saves super well.  Just cover it well and place it in the fridge.

A Crustless Quiche

Yesterday was World Egg Day or something like that.  I didn't know that until after I had planned to make a quiche for dinner.  That timing worked out quite well, I think.  But, what worked out even better was this recipe I found for a crustless quiche.

I love quiche, and I know I will never be able to make a quiche as good as the French will.  I'll just have to go there to enjoy the flaky, buttery crust and perfectly golden brown top that we all know has about a million calories.

But, this quiche I made last night was delicious, and I know it didn't have the million and a half calories that a piece of quiche on the Champs Elysees would have.  For being a "healthier" quiche, it was a complete winner.

It had the usual suspects of eggs and milk, but it also had Greek yogurt in it.  For the filling I chose to use turkey breakfast sausage, sauteed mushrooms, and Monterrey jack cheese.  So, so good!

Here's the recipe, which I made a slight adjustment from the original here.

Crustless Quiche
serves 6

8 oz. cooked turkey sausage
1 lbs. mushrooms, sliced
1 shallot
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 eggs
1 cup 1% milk
3/4 cup fat-free, plain Greek yogurt
1 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese, divided (about 3.5 oz.)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the mushrooms and shallot in the olive oil.  Next, add the cooked turkey sausage, mushrooms, and shallot to a greased pie plate.  Be sure to drain off the liquid from the mushrooms, otherwise you will have too much moisture.  Then, sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the sausage and veggies, reserving some cheese to sprinkle on top of the eggs.  Next, add the eggs, milk, and Greek yogurt, as well as the salt and pepper, to you mixer and blend with the whisk attachment.  Once the egg mixture is well combined, pour into the pie dish over the meat, veggies, and cheese.  Add the remaining cheese on top of the eggs.  Place is an 350 degree oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Let the quiche rest about 10 minutes before serving.

PS  For the weight watchers folks out there, each slice is 7 points+.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

A miracle happened in my oven this evening.  I kid you not. 

So, let me just give you the background: I'm sitting here on the couch watching "Chopped".  My roommate and I enjoy such shows.  While we watch such shows, we also will simultaneously be on Pinterest.  We will frequently re-pin each others pins.  Anyway, I came across this pin from Southern Living for Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies.  I love peanut butter and chocolate.  So, I clicked on it to find out just what is in these cookies and how could they possibly work.

After reading the recipe and reading off the list of ingredients to my roommate, I decide I need to make these cookies.  What did I have to lose anyway?  If they're good, I will eat one tonight and take the rest to work.  If they're bad, I'll never make them again.

Well, I didn't have the creamy peanut butter that the recipe called for.  Nor the semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I had crunchy peanut butter and milk chocolate chips.  But, I still pulled out the Kitchen Aid and went to work.  In less than five minutes, I had some cookie dough that I thought would never bake up.  There was no way possible.  It was crumbly and a very odd texture.  But, I persevered on and scooped them onto my cookie sheet.  And into the oven they went for 12 minutes.

And this is when the miracle happened. 

They puffed up just like the recipe said they would, and they are delicious-- divine, to use my roommate's words.  I don't think I'm being overly dramatic about this either ;)  I'm probably just ignorant of how the food science works.  I should call Alton to ask him.  In the mean time, you should definitely try them!

They'll be going to work tomorrow with me.  And you thought you loved your auditor?? :)

Here's the recipe.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy, which worked too)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Stir together the first five ingredients until well blended.  Then, stir in the chocolate chips.  Drop by tablespoonfuls on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes until the cookies are slightly puffed and golden brown.  Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet.  Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Makes 1 1/2 - 2 dozen.

S'mores Pie

I don't know about you, but I love, love, love a s'more.  The whole process of picking out my marshmallows (yes, that was plural), roasting them over the fire, the melting chocolate, and the graham crackers.  I could go on, because they are so delicious and a perfect summer treat.  I usually have two.  I mean, if I'm going to be hanging out at a campfire, which doesn't happen that often, I might as well take advantage of the opportunity, right?  Besides, I probably hiked to the camp fire spot.

Well, I recently came across this recipe on the Tasty Kitchen blog for a S'mores Pie.  It looked divine and a great way to enjoy a s'more inside the A/C.  That's important here in Arkansas. ;)

I made this for a dinner I went to recently.  We finished the pie that night, and my roommate and I were trying to figure out a reason to make another one ASAP.  

The pie has a soft cookie crust, ooey gooey marshmallow cream, a layer of yummy chocolate bars, a sprinkling of mini marshmallows, a top cookie crust and finishing touch of chocolate chips.  The chocolate melts, and all the marshmallows bubble up and become toasty on top.  

This is definitely a crowd pleaser.  Once you have a slice, you might need a second one (not that I'm speaking from experience or anything).

Here is the link to the original recipe.  I did make one alteration-- the original calls for 8 Hershey bars, but I only used 4, which turned out to be plenty!

Peach Cobbler

If any of you have peaches that need to be consumed, I have a delicious method for you to do so.  I know they taste great just by themselves, but, oh, they are heavenly when they are baked into a cobbler and served with homemade vanilla ice cream.  I have been craving peach cobbler-- it just tastes like summer!

I stumbled across this blog called The Law Student's Wife last night and enjoyed looking at a few of her recipes.  She has a few that look wonderful.  But, one in particular caught my eye....

Yes, you guessed it-- Prize Peach Cobbler!

And yes, you remembered that I had peaches from the fruit stand from this weekend.  No, they didn't make their way into the freezer, but instead several of them were baked into my cobbler. :)

Here's the recipe.  I did make one alteration-- I added a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.  It was so, so good.  I just have to stop there or else I would go on all night!

Prize Peach Cobbler

From “The Law Student’s Wife”, with a slight addition

Serves 6-8

3/4 cups all-purpose flour 

1/8 teaspoon salt 

2 teaspoon baking powder 

1 3/4 cup sugar, divided 

3/4 cup milk 

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 

3 cup fresh, ripe peaches* (5-6 peaches) 

a dash of cinnamon

a dash of nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix in 1 cup sugar. Slowly stir in milk to make batter.
2. Melt butter in deep casserole dish (about 3 quarts). Pour batter over melted butter. Do not stir.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Carefully add peaches (I use tongs) and boil for about 1 minute. Remove peaches from pot and plunge into a bowl of cold water to stop cooking. Skins can now be easily removed with fingers. Slice peaches into bite-sized pieces.
4. In a clean bowl, Mix the peeled, sliced peaches and 3/4 cup sugar thoroughly and carefully spoon them over the batter..
5. Bake 1 hour. Batter should be nicely browned on top before removing from oven. Top with heavy cream or vanilla ice cream.

*Ingredient tip: Be sure peaches are ripe and slightly soft—place in brown paper bag on counter-top for a few days to ripen if necessary.

Berries!

If any of you had any doubt that I was my mother's daughter, our shared love of fresh picked berries will cast out any remaining doubt.  She loves going to pick berries and loves having them in her freezer to use year round.

Today, I got my berry picking on.  I started off the day with some pancakes with a blueberry sauce and a dollop of ricotta cheese.  I actually still have a few cups of blueberries left from last year and used them to make this sauce (just one more reason to pick berries!).

I have never really like ricotta until recently, and let me tell you, it's good!  I'm a fan.  It is delicious on these pancakes.  The blueberry sauce was warm and it softened the cheese.  

Give it a try, and I'd be willing to bet that you will clean your plate like me.

But, it's not these pancakes or the sauce that I'm all excited about.  It's the berry farm that's 30 minutes outside of town.  As a kid, I remember being taken out to the berry farm to pick berries and what I thought was way too early in the morning.  I never understood why we had to get so many berries.  It was so hot, even for early in the morning.

But now that I am all grown up, I'm glad my mother taught me how to pick berries like a champ.  Seriously, it wouldn't be summer for me unless I go out and pick berries.  I found a berry farm near where I live, and I just have to go pick them to have them in my freezer.  I can't explain it-- it's like a security blanket.  I also just love having berries to make jam.  Homemade jam is out of this world!

 

I know this looks like a ton of berries for a single girl, but hey, they will all get eaten.  These berries were huge and sweet and just falling off the bushes they were so perfectly ripe.  It's good that they don't count how many berries you eat while you pick... :)

On my way home, I passed a fruit stand that was selling peaches.  I quickly stopped to pick some of those up, too.  I'll be enjoying those this week, as well.  I think tomorrow's project will be to get some of those in the freezer, too!

If you've never picked berries, you need to quickly find the nearest berry farm and start picking!

Strawberry Salad with Chicken

The thermometer in my car hit 101 degrees today.  Y'all summer has started, and this is only the beginning.  I don't know about you, but I love a good salad in the summer time.  This is one of my favorites.  It's nothing new, but it's always delicious.

It's just spinach, strawberries, cashews, feta cheese, and craisins with a light vinaigrette.  But, when I make a meal out of a salad, I need some protein.  You know what I mean??

I got this recipe for breaded chicken from my friend, Lindsey.  It's the perfect addition to salad, and it stands alone as a great main dish.  And it totally reheats well! 

Here's the recipe--

Breaded Chicken

from: Lindsey Clark

8 chicken strips (tenderloins)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated is yummy, but shredded is even yummier)
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt and pepper
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Mix together all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Dip the chicken in the melted butter and then in the dry mixture.  Place the chicken in a greased baking dish.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich

I've been on an avocado kick lately.  I'm also quickly becoming an avid Greek yogurt fan.  I've decided to start using the plain yogurt in place of sour cream and mayonnaise when I can.  So far, so good.  I'll keep you posted on how long the kicks last...

This is a recipe that I found that I love that incorporates both!  If you've haven't seen it on Pinterest, well it's ok, I didn't either.  My sister told me about it, and then I found it here on Two Peas & Their Pod.  I enjoy browsing their recipes as they all look super yummy!

So, this is a fun alternative lunch idea that I hope you will enjoy as much as I have :)

Reflections

I recently returned from my family's annual ski trip.  It was number 15 to be exact.  I think there were a few before then.  Here's proof.

Ever since returning, I've been pretty useless.  Well, I have worked, and I did cook come strawberry pancakes tonight.  But, that's the extent of my productivity this week.  I still need to to unpack!

I'm still dreaming of being there.

Anyhow, here are a few thoughts from the recent trip.  It was a girls trip mostly, but we held our own on the tough stuff.  My younger brother was on a school trip.

I don't have all the visuals that I would like, so you will just have to imagine these...

1.  Ski schools are basically just an obstacle course.  I avoid them at all cost.  It's generally a mass of skiers that are usually extremely slow, and you must weave through them since they are all over the whole mountain, at least the portion where you need to ski.  There is usually one stray student that is out of control and is going way too fast.  Then, there also sometimes is the board instructor that is trying to fancy tricks on his skis.

2.  I'm always thankful that I can tell my right from my left, or at least when I guess, I get it right, when passing someone while skiing.  If you have ever driven with me in a car, and I'm navigating, I can never can tell my right from my left.  It's supposed to be a sign of a balanced brain??

3.  Moguls are those bumps that are on black slopes.  Like I said earlier, the girls held our own and skied down some blacks.  But, these bumps moguls aren't my best friend.  We all did our best to ski around them, some did better than others.  But, let's just say someone has to smooth those out for the other skiers that come after me.

4.  Truly, the best way to do a ski jump is to avoid it completely.  It's safest that way.

5.  There will always be those skiers that are probably skiing out of control doing the pizza down the middle of the cat track.  I don't know that there will ever be a good way to pass them.

6.  Tree hugging has a new meaning.  Sometimes you hug trees when you are slowly going down a black where the snow has all but turned into a skating rink.  You can hug the tree to steady yourself and slow down.

7.  Whether it's just getting older or having a job or knowing the consequences of a bad fall, I've become a more cautious and defensive skier.  Defensive skiing can feel lame, but my sister said it wisely, it's wisdom.  I couldn't agree more.

8.  If they are ever giving away samples of this stuff, don't drink it.  Companies will often give out samples on the ski slopes, but I think peanut butter filled pretzels make a much better post-skiing snack.

Muscle Milk, who wants that?

Go for the peanut butter.

The weekend was wrapped up by celebrating this cutie's birthday.

Totally a successful trip!

Sleet and Blondies

So, we had a bit of a crazy winter storm blow through here last night.  It never dropped below freezing, but the sleet was enough to make evening activities canceled.  I was pumped to have an extra night at home to chill and relax.  But, this is what happens when I get an extra night at home... and it's sleeting and freezing outside...

I bake.

I baked some blondies and took the remaining ones to work today.  Really it was the whole pan minus two-- one for me and one for my roommate.

Little did I know how big of a hit they would be at work.  I've taken goodies there, and my co-workers enjoy them.  But, I've never seen anything go so fast.  I really didn't know what was going on, but by 9 am more than half of these guys were gone out of the break room.

A little later, I was talking to someone and learned that the weekly doughnuts and muffins were being cut, and today was the first day for there to be no doughnuts or muffins to be enjoyed.  The weekly goodies were gone leaving all my doughnut and muffin dependent co-workers without breakfast.  Today the blow was softened by the blondies (thank goodness!  CPAs don't need to starve during busy season!).  I've never had so many 'thank you for bringing the _______' emails than I did today.

Here's the recipe.  It's from my good friend, Eliza.  Take these to work, and you will be a hero.

Blondies

2/3 cup melted butter
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 2/3 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or if you are me, you'll add a few more!)

Blend together the butter and brown sugar.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Then add the dry ingredients, mixing well.  Finally, add in the chopped nuts and chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes in a 9x13 inch pan.  The blondies will be gooey in the middle-- bake longer to avoid the need for a spoon. :)

This Weekend

Well, I'm sure many of you are thinking about or have possibly even started working on your taxes.  Props to you.  I, on the other hand, have not.  Who wants to think about that after doing everyone else's all day, anyway?

What I do like to think about after work is fun new recipes.  Busy season also makes me think a lot about chocolate; we'll discuss that later.  I've also been craving Italian recently.  Maybe it's comforting after a long day's work or something.  So, in an attempt to satisfy the craving, I purchased a spaghetti squash just planning to enjoy it with my spaghetti sauce.  But, I found a recipe that was a fun and delicious new way to enjoy some spaghetti squash.  The original recipe is found here.  I made a few additions, and it was totally yummy.  I added some caramelized onion and mozzarella cheese.  If you like spaghetti squash, you should definitely try it.

Then, as we all know, baking is therapeutic.  So, I baked some chocolate muffins.  I've been seeing this recipe on Pinterest that looked like something that I would totally enjoy.  So, to satisfy my need to bake, experiment, and eat some chocolate, I made these.

They were hardly cool before I dug in.  It's definitely a keeper recipe!  Here's the original.

I'll be having these for breakfast this week, what will you be having?

Homemade Salsa

Apparently, people must think that I like cookbooks.  Ok, they know I love them, really.  I say this because I got not just one, but three for Christmas.

Here's one that I got from my brother and sister-in-law.  They are forever promoting spicy Mexican food and will take random trips to Albuquerque to purchase roasted green chiles.  

It's a cookbook for salsa and tacos from the Santa Fe School of Cooking.  There are some delicious looking recipes in here for traditional salsa, as well as mango, pineapple and other yummy varieties that I am sure I will be testing out sooner or later.  They said that they would help me out with finding some of the ingredients, which I am certain I will need since they don't sell some of these crazy chiles here in Arkansas.  But, since they are 1,500 miles away, it could be a challenge.  Oh, well.  Enough on that.

I was inspired by this new book to make some homemade salsa for a potluck that I have this week.  I've never made it before, but think I have been converted to a homemade salsa only girl.

I didn't follow the recipe in the book exactly, since, well, the chili that it called for was $3.50 each, and it needed two.  So, I went for the chipotle chili in adobo sauce, which has a yummy spicy and smokey flavor. It's buried under the cilantro above.

I dumped it all in my food processor and pulsed it about 15 times to get it all combined while still leaving some chunks.

It made so much.  I love it!  I mean this stuff was so good that my friend and I kept eating it even after having a full dinner.  It was hard to stop.  Now I want to figure out how to seal these jars so that I can store it in my pantry.  I mean I could eat it all, but I don't need the tortilla chips...

So, I have picked up a habit of not always measuring ingredients out and the same recipe may not taste the same from one time to the next.  Experimental cooking, perhaps?  I try to be good and write it down if I really like something, but it doesn't always happen.  But, I was excited about this one and so I did write it down, and I'll share it with you!

Fresh Salsa

2 large cans of whole tomatoes, drained (1 lbs. 12 oz size)

2 cloves garlic, minced

Half of a small red onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cumin

The juice of 1 lime

Half a small bunch of cilantro

1 chipotle pepper with a bit of the adobo sauce (start with a little and add more according to your taste)

Place all ingredients in the food processor.  Pulse about 15 times until mixed, but still chunky.  Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to let the flavors meld.