Thanksgiving Desserts 2014

Posted on November 28, 2014 by chatty

Pumpkin Pie!!!!

I made a pumpkin pie because I always do. It’s my thing: pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. Seriously, you can’t find an easier job (unless your job is to have your wife make the easy pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce.)

This year’s pumpkin pie was the easy one that was essentially the recipe you find on the side of the can, with the most difficult part being making the crust. There’s always this weird part in the process where I suddenly panic that the pie pan/crust is too large for the amount of filling, then I throw it in the anyway and somehow it always works out. I wish my AllRecipes app could let me leave a note to myself for next year that says, “chill out, it’ll all work out” but it doesn’t. So, memo to self to ask the app makers to create a memo section.

The kid and I did this first one together, and by 4 p.m. on Wednesday the pie was already cooling, and I felt like doing something more. The kid had been talking about carrot cake for quite some time so I decided, what the heck, I really want to bring something else. The kid did not feel like helping this time.

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This carrot cake is courtesy of AllRecipes (my go-to for these types of things), with a few substitutions. I replaced a 1/2 cup of oil with applesauce. I used a combination of plain greek (2%) yogurt and skim milk/lemon juice as a sub for buttermilk (none at the store, which maybe is what you get for going there on the night before the big day). And left out the coconut flakes due to preference (everyone else’s, I suspected). Also, maybe 1/4 cup of raisins instead of the cup in the recipe. Mainly because of what we had in the house.

It was yum. I used Chef John’s cream cheese frosting, which I couldn’t get quite smooth,but was great nonetheless. In fact, the kid, upon receiving her piece of cake, licked the frosting off, including the middle layer, and left the cake be. She gave it a sideways thumb (unlike the thumbs up she gave that pumpkin pie). I suppose the only reason why it wasn’t a thumbs down was that cream cheese frosting.

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Lastly, the husband’s aunt brought a beautiful pie courtesy of Lisa DuPar catering. Pecan, with a spiced whipped cream. Amazing. I may or may not have gotten up at 5:45 a.m. today to cut myself a slice because I didn’t have any at dinner last night, on account of how full I was yesterday.

A few random food pics of sweet things from yesterday:

My snack before heading over to “Papa and Gaga’s” … Added to the list of pumpkin stuff I tried, and liked. Prior to the eating workout I went for a run. 4 miles = 400 calories = justification for a second slice of dessert

I don’t drink soda much anymore. But it’s hard to pass up a glass of Martinelli’s.

The two-layer cake was surprisingly successful. How do I repeat this every time?

Busy kitchen

PLUS, the Seahawks won! WOOT. Truly thankful, indeed.

Bakin’ with Pum’kin

Posted on January 1, 2014 by chatty

I, like the rest of the nation, went a little crazy with the pumpkin during baking season. It started with Thanksgiving and didn’t end until today (well, we’ll see. I may be making one final batch of pumpkin pancakes this weekend). On Thanksgiving I made a pumpkin pie. A week later, it was the always popular pumpkin roll for a pre-school parent meeting. After that it was pumpkin cookies for a holiday potluck. Then came mini-pumpkin pies for the office potluck. Then pumpkin-chocolate chip-walnut bread loaves as gift giveaways. Pumpkin pancakes.

And, today, trying to rid myself of the leftover pumpkin, some pumpkin mini-muffins.I made half the batch with the chips & walnuts, and the other half plain. I also kept them in the oven a tad too long. Usually I’m a “get-those-out-of-the-oven-early” kind of gal. You know, they’re still baking in the pan even when you take them out. But I adjusted the time incorrectly when I switched to mini muffins from regular muffins.

Throughout the season I went through two 15-oz cans and 28 oz cans (threw some of one of the 28-oouncers away because it was going on weeks in the fridge), and nearly an entire container of pumpkin pie spice. BTW, the inventor of pumpkin pie spice (as in, one jar combining the right amounts of cinnamon; cloves; nutmeg) is a freakin genius.

Finally, here is one quick tip that I’ll share. Chinese dumpling soup spoons are ideal for doling out quick-bread batter into muffin tins. They’re also good for pancakes. I have a pancake batter doler-outer, which I got as a gift a few years ago and is also cool, but the soup spoon requires less clean-up. Also, they’re good for, you know, soup and dumplings and stuff. I have a cheap melamine set, you can get them cheap at Asian grocery stores. Do it.

A long list of recipes:

Granny Kat’s Pumpkin Roll (you can find a similar recipe on any Libby-brand pumpkin puree can)
Perfect Pumpkin Pie (yes, I’m traditional and go with the label recipe) and based my mini pies on this recipe
Pumpkin Cookies (my preference is to go lighter on the sugar and thus I didn’t add the icing to mine. But I forget that is my preference. If I did these again I’d use the icing, and they’d go from meh to wowsas!)
Pumpkin Pancakes. Already discussed. The kid has asked for them again. Thus, the already scheduled date for Saturday.
Pumpkin Bread: My go-to recipe for pumpkin bread is from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. You know which one I’m talking about? The red and white checked book? With instructions on everything? I think the husband must have gotten ours as a gift from his mother. But, i still refer to it even for simple stuff like, ‘how long do I boil corn on the cob?’ ‘how long do i boil rice?’ and so on and so forth. I looked for a link to the recipe online, this one is pretty much it, though the book has a lot more tips and options.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins Again, a little overcooked (my fault), but the kid tried and liked. It’s hard to go wrong when the ingredients include chocolate chips and pumpkin. Amiright?

Finally, I know earlier i said, no more grains. But that obviously didn’t happen today. Tomorrow, I’m sure. I’ve already pulled out the coconut flour from the pantry. It begins. Soon.

Merry Christmas 2010

Posted on December 29, 2010 by chatty

Hope you all had a good one.

Here is the pumpkin pie I made for Christmas dinner. I nearly forgot to include the spices. Had to mix them in IN the pie pan, as we waited for the oven to warm up. Good thing I didn’t pre-heat the oven or I wouldn’t have remembered before putting it in. That would have been one sad pumpkin pie.