Stuffed Carnival Sqaush Recipe

I am very excited to share this recipe with you today. I haven't enjoyed anything ad much as I enjoyed this in quite some time. At the pumpkin patch last weekend, I picked up a lovely carnival squash. They're similar to the acorn squash in size, with a slightly sweeter flesh.

They also look lovely!

I didn't know what to do with it at first. I looked around for recipes, but ultimately decided I had to make it stuffed. Many of the recipes were stuffed with sausage, which I just don't care for. Then I remembered a Lean Cuisine I had for lunch recently. They make a very tasty, very fall dish called Apple Cranberry Chicken. I like it a lot, and knew something similar would be the perfect mate for this squash.

I looked it up on their website, to see what they put in it, and sort of extrapolated from there. The only part I really had to guess on was the sauce, and it was simple enough to make with just a little guessing. The wheat berries are delicious, but I had a hard time finding them. I didn't even know the existed before I bought that lunch. I got mine at Whole Foods. You could definitely skip them if you can't find any, but I would recommend you try them if you can.

This is a little complicated to do all at once, so it'll definitely give your kitchen a work out. I would recommend cooking the wheat berries and pasta beforehand, but it's perfectly do-able all at once. You'll just be a little bit busy.

Stuffed Carnival Squash

Makes 4 servings

What You'll Need:
4 carnival squash (acorn squash works, too)
1 apple, any variety
2 carrots
2 cups green beans
1 cup dried cranberries
2 cups apple cider
1 cup dry orzo pasta
1 cup dry wheat berries
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tbs lemon juice

The Process:
     Put on a pot to boil 3 cups of water, add the wheat berries, cover, and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 1 hour, until tender.
     Carefully slice each squash in half, lengthwise, and remove the seeds and pulp. Place face down in a baking sheet with 1/4 of water and bake at 375° for 45-60 minutes, until tender.
     Bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Cook as directed, then drain. Simmer cider, lemon, and spices together and let reduce. Meanwhile, slice vegetables and apple in to bite sized pieces. 

     20 minutes before the squash is finished, add vegetables, apple, and cranberries to sauce pot. Let cook on low heat until squash is ready.
     Toss pasta, wheat berries, and vegetable mixture together. Spoon into hot squash halves and serve immediately.

I want to make this every day.

Basic Bread Pudding Recipe

Been a little while, hasn't it? Sorry about that, life has just gotten in the way the last few months. Long story short, I'm a full time student again in addition to working full time. But I think I'm in a good position to get back to blogging (and crafting) regularly again. To kick things off, I have a delightful recipe that I love to make in the fall: bread pudding.

For me, bread pudding is always a fall dish, I rarely make it any other time of the year. My first experience with them was when I made a pumpkin bread pudding, but sometimes you really crave the basics. This recipe is easy to do and you don't need anything special to do it. You probably have all the necessary ingredients on hand already.

What You'll Need:

5-6 cups stale bread, cubed
4 cups milk
3 eggs, beaten in a small bowl
1/2 a stick of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla (yes, tablespoons, it's most of the flavor)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg

The Process:
Preheat your oven to 375°F. In medium heat in a large pot, combine the milk, butter, sugars, vanilla, and spices. Heat until sugar is dissolved, butter is melted, and spices are well incorporated about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Take a 1/2 cup of your pudding mixture and slowly pour it into the bowl with the beaten eggs, whisking the entire time. Repeat once more. Then add the whole mixture back into the pot and mix well. This tempers the eggs so you can add them into the hot liquid without ruining the texture. It's a cool biology thing involving denaturing proteins, but basically you just don't want the heat from the liquid to cook the eggs. Same principle applies when making custards, too.

Put your cubed bread into a 9x13 or equivalent baking dish. Pour the whole pot over the bread, letting it soak in for a few minutes. Then put into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until set. The top should be a little brown.

It's best to eat it the same day or the day after you make it. Bread pudding doesn't keep too well. You can refrigerate leftovers overnight and heat them up in the microwave.

Now, if you have fresh bread that you'd like to turn into bread pudding, you absolutely can. I like to cube it up, put it on a baking sheet, and bake it on a low heat, 200-250 degrees, for 15 minutes, checking it and stirring halfway through. Dry but not hard is the key here. Let it cool a few minutes and then it's ready to use.

Amaretto Pound Cake Perfection

While at my Trader Joe's recently, I came across this interesting carton of shelf stable whipping cream. I always seem to want whipping cream, but rarely have it on hand. For under $2, I thought it was worth giving it a try. But then, like magic, all my whipping cream needs vanished. I started stumbling around the internet, looking for interesting and creative uses of whipping cream.

Instead, I accidentally came across this pound cake recipe that says it was a favorite of Elvis Presley's and it looked too good not to try. People say a lot of things about famous people like that, but after having tasted it? Total truth, my friends. It must be. This cake is too good to be a lie.

I made a few small modifications to the recipe and it turned out beautifully. The originally recipe called for 7 eggs and that just seemed like far too many. Plus, I only had 6 on hand the first time I made it. The texture turned out great anyway, so I've been sticking with 6. I also added some amaretto, because all baked goods are better with a little booze.

What You'll Need:
3 cups sugar
2 sticks of butter, softened
6 eggs
3 cups cake flour, sifted OR make the DIY cake flour (see below)
1 pint whipping heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup amaretto liquor (optional, but amazing)

DIY Cake Flour:
You'll need all-purpose flour, cornstarch, two medium bowls, and a mesh strainer (or flour sifter)

Take out a 1 cup measuring cup. Put two tablespoons of cornstarch in the measuring cup. Add all-purpose flour on top until the measuring cup is full. Dump it out into a bowl. Repeat twice and you'll have the correct amount of flour for this recipe. Put your strainer over the second bowl, and slowly add the flour/cornstarch mixture to the strainer as you shake it back and forth, which both sifts the flour and mixes the flour and cornstarch together. And volià! An excellent cake flour substitute.

Guinness Pot Roast

 Nothing says St. Patrick's Day quite like putting beer in all your food. I just opted to add it to my main dish, as I wanted to reserve some of my Guinness for drinking. I decided on a pot roast, since Costco had a good deal on a pair of them recently, I had one handy.

 
It's a fun St. Patty's Day twist on the usual slow cooker roast. Instead of just beef broth, you add a bottle of Guinness to the cooking liquid. If you don't have any Guinness on hand, you could certainly substitute any beer you like, but I would stick with dark beers like stouts and porters for their strong flavor.

For some crazy reason, it's still winter here around DC, despite being March. I intended to make this pot roast for St. Patrick's Day, regardless of what silliness the weather had in store. However, the clouds spent the better part of the morning dropping snow on us, so now the leftovers will make a nice hot lunch on this snowy afternoon.

Guinness Pot Roast
makes 4-6 servings, depending on roast size

What You'll Need:
2-3lb pot roast
small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, sliced
1 lb of small red potatoes, halved
12oz Guinness beer
2 cups beef broth, low sodium if possible
1 package onion soup mix
2 tsp thyme
2 Tbs coarse salt
2 Tbs cracked pepper
2 bay leaves

The Process:
   Heat up a skillet on medium heat with some olive oil and let it get nice and hot. Combine the coarse salt and pepper in a bowl and then rub the mixture over the surface of the roast. Sear each side of the roast for 3-4 minutes per side. Place into the crock.

   In the same skillet, cook your onions for 5-6 minutes until soft and then add the garlic. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. Make sure to scrape the bottom for the burned bits from the roast. Add to the crock along with the carrots and potatoes.

   Put the onion soup mix, thyme, and bay leaves into the crock. Add the Guinness and beef broth over top and mix it up to combine the onion soup mix. The roast and vegetables should be almost completely covered. If not, add a little more broth or water. Cover the crock and cook on low for 6-7 hours, until the roast is fork tender and the potatoes are soft. Remove roast from the crock and let it rest, tented with foil, for 10-15 minutes before carving.

   If you prefer a thick broth, as I do, remove 2 cups of liquid from the crock and thicken it in your preferred method. I use arrowroot starch, but cornstarch or flour work just fine. Stir the thickened liquid back in with the rest of the liquid and vegetables while the roast is resting. Carve the roast, spoon vegetables and broth onto your plate, and serve.

   Don't forget to have some bread on hand to sop up the broth on your plate!

Apple Cider Steel Cut Oats

January was a bit of a bust, productivity-wise. I was sick for most of the month and it's a busy season for my job. I did as little cooking as possible, and no sewing whatsoever. But I'm finally feeling better and things have calmed down, so things are back on track with a new steel cut oats recipe.

I love this one because it combines two of my favorite cold weather things- apple cider and steel cut oats. The original recipe is from Bob's Red Mill (who's products I love) but I changed it around to suit my tastes more. I used spiced cider instead of regular to give it a little extra oomph.

Apple Cider Steel Cut Oats
makes 4 servings

What You'll Need:
3 cups spiced apple cider
1 cup steel cut oats
2 Tbs packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp salt
1 small-medium apple, diced
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

The Process:
Combine the cider, sugar, and spices in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the oats, diced apple, and walnuts. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve and enjoy.

Leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated in the microwave. Just add a little water to the oatmeal before microwaving it.


With all the snowy days we've had lately, this has been my favorite way to start the day. Hopefully, though, we don't get too much snow. So far we've been lucky, the majority of the snows coming through the area have missed us.

Spent Grain Dog Treats

My dad has really gotten into brewing his own beer since the summer, and after each batch, he's left with a big pile of spent grains. He tossed them the first few times, but later learned you can save the grains and use them to make things like bread... and dog treats!

We have no shortage of dogs barking around in the family, so I took what he had recently and turned them into dog treats! Piper, my mischievous hound, and Dante, my parent's dog, both really love the first batch my dad made. I took some tips from him when he made them and improved on the recipe to make it possible to use cookie cutters on them- bone shaped cookie cutters!

Baking these was essentially a waking nightmare for Piper, or so she'd have you believe. She knew what they were, smelled them for over 4 hours, and could see them cooling on the counter. I should go to jail for putting her through this kind of extensive torture.

Beer Grain Dog Treats
makes approximately 30 treats, depending on the size of your cutter

What You'll Need:
2 1/2 cups (approx) of spent beer grains that have not been mixed with hops*
1 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup flour (all purpose or whole wheat)
1 egg

The Process:
Mix all ingredients together well. I used a wooden spoon at first and then finished it off by mixing with my hands. If it's still really sticky, add a little more flour. If it's too dry, add a little bit more peanut butter. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Roll out dough to about 1/4" thick and cut out desired shapes until all the dough is used.

Place cut biscuits onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 2 1/2 hours, turning them after 90 minutes, until they're really well dried out. Using hot pads, break one in half to make sure they're dried all the way through. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

*Hops are toxic to dogs, do never use grains have been mixed with hops.


I had three different kinds of grains on hand, so I made quite a few of these (almost 150), but they're getting spread around between four spoiled dogs. Poor Piper has been stalking the kitchen all evening. Too bad she has to wait until Christmas for these.

Colombian Beef with Cane Sugar Syrup

For the inaugural Supermarket Surprise! segment, I purchased an interesting pancake of compressed cane sugar called panela. I figured I couldn't go wrong with something that was essentially a brick of sugar.

I spent a little time searching around the internet for what to do with it. Almost everything I found at first was called Aqua de Panela, essentially a drink made from dissolving the sugar in water. That felt like cheating, since it wasn't much of a recipe. The search continued.

Eventually, I found a Colombian beef roast recipe called Muchacho con Melao de Panela, from My Colombian Recipes. The roast is rubbed in spices and vinegar and left to marinade for two days prior to cooking then you pour a sugar syrup over it for serving. I made a few changes, the first being that I cooked it in the crock pot.

I can best describe panela as "rich brown sugar". It has a similar color, smell, and texture to brown sugar but the taste is somewhat richer. The panela syrup smelled so delicious while it was cooking. I made more than we needed for the roast, but I brought the remainder to a holiday party and we used it over ham. It was also very delicious.

I accidentally forgot to take a photo until after we had started eating.

Colombian Beef with Cane Sugar Syrup
makes one roast, adapted from My Colombian Recipes

What You'll Need:
3 pounds rump roast
3 Tbs white vinegar
1 Tbs cumin
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 minced garlic cloves
1 Tbs dry mustard
4 diced scallions
1 Tbs thyme
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 cups of water
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup melao de panela
     8 oz panela
     2 cups water
     1 tsp cinnamon
     1/2 tsp cloves

The Process:
   Two days ahead of time, mix the white vinegar, ground cumin, mustard, onion, scallions, thyme, salt, and pepper. Rub the mixture over the beef. Place the roast in a dish, cover, and let rest for 2 days in the fridge.
   On the day you want to make it, heat a little olive oil in a skillet and brown the roast on all sides. Place the roast in your crock pot. Add the water and bay leaves. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours until internal temp reaches 160 degrees.
   Anytime before the roast is finished, make the melao de panela. Mix all the ingredients in a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat for 30 minutes until well thickened. Make sure to stir it occasionally.
   Once the beef is fully cooked, pull out of the crock and let rest, tented with aluminum foil, for 15 minutes prior to carving. Spoon some of the syrup over each slice and enjoy!

Condensed Cream of Turkey

Have you ever wondered what you should do with all the turkey pan drippings that's left over after you've made gravy? Wonder no more! I have an excellent use for them: cream of turkey soup.

The original recipe, for cream of chicken, came from Tammy's Kitchen. I adapted it to make some cream of turkey that I'll use soon when I make some turkey pot pie with all that leftover turkey we (still) have. The biggest change I made was doubling the recipe. I had a LOT of turkey broth, so I actually made 4x as much as the original recipe.

I ended up with 7 mason jars worth of condensed soup. It worked out very well, actually. Each jar is 2 cups when filled all the way, but since I was planning to freeze them, I left a little wiggle room in there.

Condensed Cream of Turkey

makes a little over 6 cups 

What You'll Need:

3 cups turkey broth*
2 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1 small minced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt (more or less as you prefer)
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp paprika
3 cups milk
1 1/2 cup flour 

Whole Cranberry Sauce

Turkey time is nearly upon us. I have brined several birds and I feel I'm heartily prepared for whatever Thanksgiving can throw my way. Bring it on, holiday foods! Since being responsible for the main staples of the meal wasn't enough, I decided I was going to try my hand at making my own cranberry sauce this year.

I have not been known to enjoy the cranberry sauce, which makes some people go crazy for over the holidays. I just never saw the appeal of something that retained its shape once released from the can. But I have seen the light- and homemade cranberry sauce is why. This tangy but sweet combination will now never be missing from my Thanksgiving table.

This is ridiculously simple to make, and the only ingredient you probably don't have is the cranberries themselves. In fact, if you're feeling up to braving the crowds at the store, you still have plenty of time to make this recipe for Turkey Day. It's very quick to make.

Whole Cranberry Sauce
makes about 2 1/2 cups

What You'll Need:
1, 12oz package cranberries, rinsed
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
2 Tbs amaretto (optional)

Onion Roasted Chicken & Veggies

I hope you are weathering the storm well. Near DC, we are experiencing high winds and a steady rain, with it getting stronger all the time, but fortunately we've not been severely impacted yet. We still have power (obviously) and I was able to bake roasted chicken and vegetables for dinner tonight, instead of my power-outage backup plan (peanut butter and banana sandwiches).

This is incredibly easy to throw together and if you line your pan with foil, cleanup is super simple, too.

Onion Roasted Chicken and Vegetables
makes 4 servings

What You'll Need:
4 small chicken breasts
3 large potatoes, cubed
4 carrots, diced
2 Tbs olive oil
1 packet of onion soup mix

The Process:
   Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Combine all ingredients into a bowl and mix until onion soup mix is well distributed.
   Remove the chicken breasts from the bowl and place them into the pan. Distribute the vegetables evenly around the chicken. Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes, checking potatoes for doneness.


This is also excellent for beef, either cubed or a roast. If you're going to use a roast, instead of just tossing all the ingredients together, I reserve half of the onion mix packet to use as a rub on the roast. Either way, it's simple and satisfying.

Please be careful if you're in the path of the storm. It's dangerous out there, and it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Baked Apple Crisp for Two

In an effort not to turn orange, I've put aside the pumpkin this week. I couldn't just ditch all the fall goodies, though. I had some apples laying around and didn't want to do anything too complicated with them. A nice apple bake fit the bill perfectly.

I love the oatmeal topping on these so much. It goes so spectacularly with the apples and cinnamon. You could easily double the recipe to serve a few more people, but for just Hubs and I, it's sometimes nice to make just two servings and not have any leftovers.

Baked Apple Crisp for Two
makes 2 servings, 5 Points+ per serving

What You'll Need:
1 medium/large firm apple (granny smith, etc)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash of cloves
dash of nutmeg

For Topping:
1 tbs brown sugar
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
2 tbs butter, room temp

The Process:
   Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Peel, core, and dice the apple. Mix apples in a bowl with lemon juice, sugar, and spices until well combined. Divide between two small oven safe bowls. Mix the topping ingredients together with a fork and put on top of apples. Cover and bake for 30 minutes until apples are tender.

For an extra decadent treat, top with a little whipped cream or serve with some vanilla icecream.

Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats

All this pumpkin means I'm starting to get creative with it. There's only so much pumpkin bread and pie that one family can handle. I wish I had made this oatmeal sooner, so much sooner, because it is absolutely a delicious way to start the day.

If you recall, I am an avid steel cut oats fan. Mixing pumpkin into it should have been something I thought of ages ago. But, I've made it now and it does not disappoint. I had to alter this one a little bit from my usual steel cut oat recipe, because pumpkin is mostly water and it needed a little extra sweetness.

Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats
Makes 5 servings

What You'll Need:
1 cup steel cut oats
1 cup water
2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
2-3 pats butter
optional: 1/2 cup walnuts

Classic Pumpkin Pie

I couldn't possibly go through 14 cups of pumpkin puree without making at least one pumpkin pie. This recipe is adapted from the one my father made when I was growing up. I actually haven't made it myself since I was in college. There's usually so much when I head to my parents' house for the holidays that I haven't felt the urge to make my own.

In fact, it turns out that I probably haven't made any pies since college- because I don't have a pie pan! I had to use my cake round for this pie. I should probably rectify this egregious error since I'm in charge of Thanksgiving this year.

Classic Pumpkin Pie
makes 8 slices, 8 Points+ per slice

What You'll Need:
   1, 9" pie crust
   1, 15oz can (or 2 cups) pumpkin puree
   2 eggs
   1, 14oz can sweetened, condensed milk
   1 tsp cinnamon
   1/2 tsp ginger
   1/2 tsp nutmeg
   1/4 tsp all-spice

The Process:
   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line pie pan with crust. Mix all the filling ingredients together and pour into pie shell. Bake 45-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Chill before serving, and top with whipped cream.

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! No! It's Beer Bread!

   I recently made some bread from my Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book. There is a plethora of recipes in there, but one kind of bread is conspicuously missing from their book- beer bread. I love beer, and I love the beers that the fall season brings- the Octoberfests and the pumpkin ales.

   After a little trial and error, I finally came up with a modification to their basic recipe. Most beer breads I've seen are soft loafs that you pour into a loaf pan and bake. But I'm in the market for a crusty loaf, akin to the ones I often make. I started with that recipe for Basic Bread to make my modifications.

   The first batch I tried by replacing half the water with beer. Conveniently, a 12 oz bottle of beer is 1 1/2 cups of liquid- precisely half of the water in the original recipe. I also reduced the yeast by half. The beer flavor was very mild in the resulting bread, and it didn't rise quite as much as it should have. This means I needed more beer, and a little bit more yeast. Another batch was made with these changes, and the result was breaded beery goodness.

Beer Bread
adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
makes 4, 1lb loafs

What You'll Need:
2, 12oz room temp bottles of beer, I used and Irish Red.
2 tsp granulated yeast
1 Tbs salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
a large container, preferably with a lid

The Process:
   When selecting a beer, just remember this is where you'll get almost all the flavor. If paring it with a meal, choose a beer that will go well with your meal. I chose an Irish Red because I like that style a lot. Also keep in mind that the beer has to be room temp in order to get the yeast to activate correctly.

Basic No-Knead Bread Recipe

   One of my favorite small pleasures in life is taking a bite of really good bread, particularly if I've used it to sop up a little something from my dinner plate. Buying a nice loaf of crusty bread, though, can be quite hit or miss. My local grocery store wouldn't know a baguette if one hit them in the face and sang Frère Jacques- their "baguettes" are a soft and bland.

A nice, big boule.

   But I don't buy that bread anymore because I learned how to make my own at home. I tried a lot of recipes and made a lot of mistakes. Then, I received a wonderful book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day as a gift. I learned a ton about baking bread and why my previous trials had turned out poorly. I use their Master Recipe quite often for a basic bread that's good for any occasion.

   I highly recommend their book for those of you who are looking to try baking bread at home but aren't sure where to start. There are tons of different kinds of bread for you to try, too. It doesn't take very long to make the dough, and there is no kneading necessary!

Basic Bread
from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
makes 4, 1lb loafs

What You'll Need:
   3 cups lukewarm water
   1 Tbs granulated yeast
   1 Tbs salt
   6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
   a large container, preferably with a lid

The Process:
    Put your warm water, yeast, and salt into your container. Dump all the flour in at once and mix well. I prefer to do this step with a wooden spoon, but if you have a fancy mixer with dough hook, feel free to go that route. Once all the flour is incorporated, you'll be left with a wet, sticky dough. This is exactly what you want. Loosely cover with your lid (or plastic wrap in a pinch) and let rise for two hours.

Shepherd's Pumpkin Pie

I heard about this delightful autumnal recipe through a friend's recommendation. It combines the warm, comfort food aspect of the traditional Shepherd's Pie with my favorite fall food, pumpkin. What's not to love? The recipe passed to me came from My Recipes, but I changed quite a few things about it.

First, I decided not to roast the pumpkin. It seemed needlessly time consuming when I had a perfectly good can of pumpkin puree on hand. I thought that adding cream to the pumpkin was an unnecessary addition of calories (as well as a trip to the store). I also halved the recipe, since I'm cooking for two and don't want a ton of leftovers. Honestly, I made a lot of changes.

Shepherd's Pumpkin Pie
makes 4 servings

What You'll Need:
1 lb lean ground beef
2 carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup red wine (or one of those handy mini187ml bottles)
1 cup beef stock
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp sage 1 Tbs corn starch

The Process:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook the ground beef over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks. Drain. Add the Worcestershire sauce, wine, half of the beef stock, carrots, onions, garlic, cumin, thyme, pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt to the pan. Cook over medium heat for ten minutes.

While the beef mixture cooks, combine the pumpkin puree with a pinch of salt, sage, and cinnamon. Set aside. Then, whisk the cornstarch into the remaining beef stock and add to pan with the beef. Cook for another minute or two until thickened.

Pour beef mixture into a greased 8x8 pan. Evenly spread the pumpkin puree over the beef mixture. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Leftovers can be refrigerated.

Slow Cooked Chicken Pot Pie

My neck of the woods has thoroughly fallen into autumn. For over a week, we've had 75 degree days and 50 degree evenings, just absolutely wonderful weather that makes you yearn for a hearty dish. Tonight I just had to make something in the spirit of this weather. I have quite a bit of chicken on hand, so a chicken pot pie was an easy choice.

But I didn't really want to heat up my whole place by turning on the oven to bake one. Where do I always turn in times of temperature crisis like this? To my trusty crock pot, of course. This is a really easy way to make that savory pot pie dish without using your oven, or having to worry about over baking a crust (as I am known to do).

My vegetables were carrots, peas, lima beans, and potatoes.

Slow Cooked Chicken Pot Pie
makes 6 servings

What You'll Need:
 4 boneless chicken breasts, thawed
 2 cans cream of chicken soup
 1 cup sliced celery (I'm not a fan, so I traded it for a diced potato instead)
 1 medium onion, diced
 2 cloves garlic, mince
 1 bay leaf
 1/2 tsp marjoram
 1/4 tsp sage
 1/2 tsp thyme
 1/2 tsp rosemary
 1/2 tsp black pepper
 salt to taste (I added 1/2 tsp)
 2 cups of cut fresh veggies- carrots, peas, corn, etc OR a 1lb frozen bag mixed veggies
 6 biscuits, either prepackaged or homemade (I'm posting a recipe for some soon)

Udon Noodle Soup

It's been ridiculously hot out, so why am I making soup? Because I needed it. For days, I was aching for some Udon soup and no place nearby is kind enough to make some that isn't terrible. The obvious solution was to make it myself. Never having done so, however, it was a bit of a challenge.

If you don't make Japanese or Chinese food often, you'll probably have to pick up a few more ingredients than I did. You can find dashi in the ethic section of your grocery store or an Asian market. If you can't find any easily, you can use a seafood soup base with similar results.

Udon Noodle Soup
Adapted from Bon Appetit
makes 2 servings

What You'll Need:
1 Tbs dashi (powdered soup base)
1 Tbs reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp lime juice
2 tsp rice wine
2 tsp sesame oil
1 shiitake mushroom, sliced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups spinach, cut up
2 carrots, sliced
8 ounces udon noodles, fresh if available (I could only find dried)

The Process:
Boil the noodles according to the directions on the package. If you have dry noodles, the instructions are in Japanese, and you can't read Japanese (which is what happened to me), then boil 4 cups of water and cook the noodles for 12-13 minutes, until the center is tender.
While the noodles cook, put 3 cups of water into a pot and heat to a boil, adding the dashi, soy sauce, lime juice, rice wine, sesame oil, carrots, green onions, and mushrooms. Turn heat down to medium and simmer until the noodles finish cooking. Divide your chopped spinach between the two bowls. Once the noodles are done, using tongs, divide them in half and put into serving bowls. Ladle the soup over top and serve immediately.

I used spinach and carrots as my vegetables but you could swap them out for any number of things: snow peas, green beans, asparagus, mini corn, etc. Unless you don't like mushrooms you should keep them in because they add a nice depth to the flavor. The texture of mushrooms skeeves me out, so my solution is to make it with the mushrooms and then put all of them into Hubby's bowl.

It can get a little spendy on the dashi, sesame oil, and rice wine if you don't have them already, but they keep for a while and they're also used in tons of different Asian recipes, so you can get a lot of mileage out of them. Or, if you're not as adventurous, you could just make this recipe over and over.

Brining and Roasting A Cornish Game Hen

I did a fun/crazy thing this year and volunteered to host Thanksgiving for my parents. Now you're probably thinking, "well, so what? It's August". The thing is- I have this just one teeny, tiny detail: I've never cooked a turkey before. I should have thought of that perhaps before offering, but here we are.

So, in the hopes that I won't ruin Thanksgiving, I've decided to start learning how to cook a whole bird that doesn't turn out dry and leathery. The overwhelming consensus is that to achieve such perfection, I should brine the bird. I decided to start small, and opted to begin with a whole Cornish Game Hen rather than going straight to the turkey. My mom used to make fantastic hens when I was growing up, and they're cheaper so if I screwed up too badly, it would be alright.

There are a couple things you should know before diving into brines. The first is make sure you get an all natural bird, one that hasn't already been prepared with sodium. You'd get salt overload if you brined one of them. Secondly, and this is more a matter of preference, don't use iodized salt (like table salt). Apparently, in such high quantities, it gives a slightly metallic taste to the meat. I used kosher salt.

Rosemary and Sage Cornish Game Hens
makes 2 whole hens, 4 servings

What You'll Need:
2 Cornish Game Hens, thawed
1 gallon water
3/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup white wine, I used a Chardonnay
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbs cracked pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup rosemary
15-20 sage leaves
3 green onions, diced

Sweet Potato Pudding

Against my better judgment, I used the oven tonight and, as expected, it heated up the whole apartment. But, I have to say it was entirely worth it for this lovely little dessert. Last trip I made to the store, I picked up some sweet potatoes and was surprised to find three distinct varieties in addition to a pile of "yams". 

These "yams" looked like the sweet potatoes I always ate as a kid, so I picked them up and they were exactly what I wanted. It got me to thinking, what exactly is a yam? Is it a sweet potato? Or perhaps the other way around? Turns out, that no, yams and sweet potatoes are not the same. Who knew?

They're not in the same family, and there isn't even a species of yam native to the US. Most grocery stores sell "yams" that are really sweet potatoes, real yams are generally only found in international markets. In the US, the term "yam" came into use for sweet potatoes from slaves, because it was similar to the actual yam they knew in Africa. Vernacular can be a trickster like that.

Forgive my linguistic indulgence, I find that sort of thing fascinating- but now back to the pudding. While doing my sweet potato vs. yam research, I came across a fabulous sounding recipe on this site that discusses the differences and includes a few recipes.

Sweet Potato Pudding
Adapted from Tennessee Old Maid’s Sweet Potato Pudding from Classic Home Desserts

What You'll Need:
1/2 stick butter, room temp
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
2 1/2 cups grated raw peeled sweet potato (about two medium potatoes)
1 1/2 cup milk