Category Archives: Cooking

December 14, 2011 · 2:00 am

Pumpkin Muffins: Easier Than They Look… Unless You’re Me.


Saturday afternoon I went grocery shopping and tossed a can of pumpkin into my cart on a whim. I. Love. Pumpkin. And I’ve been dreaming of pumpkin muffins so Sunday morning when I saw that new can of pumpkin in my pantry, I thought, What the heck. I found an easy peasy recipe on Smitten Kitchen and went to work. It took all of 15 minutes to throw this together, and then I was nestled in the couch with coffee, inhaling the scent of autumn coming from my oven. Took the muffins out at allotted time… heavy, dense, and uncooked. Back in the oven. Ten minutes later? Heavy, dense, and cooked. I tasted them. Huh. Kinda weird… Checked the recipe. …Oh. Baking powder. Yes, baking powder. Kind of a key ingredient in muffins, huh? Oh… and only ONE CUP of pumpkin. Not the whole can.

However, these babies aren’t bad. In fact, they’re actually pretty good. They’re just not what you think of when you think “light, fluffy pumpkin muffin”. They’re dense but incredibly moist, not too sweet, and would be perfect toasted with a little butter.

On the menu:
Pumpkin muffins
Makes 12
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 tsp baking powder [optional!]
1 1/2 cups flour
1 15-oz. can of pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 tsp plus 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, with a large whisk, combine pumpkin, oil, eggs, spices, sugar, baking soda, and salt together until combined. Whisk in flour mixture. Pour into greased or papered muffin tin until 3/4 filled.

Mix together 1 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Sprinkle on top of the muffins. Bake for 28 – 32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in tin for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

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December 12, 2011 · 3:00 am

Sweet Pumpkin Dip and Vanilla Wafers

Happy Monday! Oh, who are we kidding, Monday sucks. Bake these tonight and tomorrow will be a little bit sweeter.

On the menu:
Sweet pumpkin dip
Makes 5 cups, 32 servings [aka a LOT of dip!]

8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 15-oz. can of solid packed pumpkin
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp all spice

In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in the pumpkin. Stir in the spices until smooth and blended. Chill until serving.

Vanilla Wafers
Adapted from this recipe at Ezra Poundcake
Makes about 65 cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 large egg yolks
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350. Blend sugar, salt and butter together until smooth with an electric mixer. Add egg yolks and vanilla and blend until smooth. Add flour. Divide dough into 4 portions and roll each into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap each log in saran wrap and chill in the refrigerator at least an hour.

Once chilled, slice each roll into slices 1/4 inch thick. Place slices on cookie sheet [NOTE: these don’t spread so you can place them pretty close together]. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Let cool and then dip them into your delicious pumpkin dip.

Note: These cookies are not your traditional in-the-box vanilla wafers. They are definitely a cookie, and they’re sweeter than the boxed kind. However, the dip plus the cookie is not overly sweet so don’t worry about a sugar overload. Not that I ever do anyway.

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December 9, 2011 · 12:23 pm

How to Throw a House Party and Make Friends While You’re At It

A month or so ago The BF and I threw a little housewarming party to show off our phat new pad (yes, phat. what of it?). I also used it as an excuse to wow my friends with my culinary talents. If you think that’s obnoxious and pompous, well, in the words of Andre 3000, “I’m… just being honest.”

Sweet pumpkin dip with homemade vanilla wafers, blue cheese dip with veggies, chewy chocolate cookies, onion dip with Ritz, and pizza squares

Here are a few tips on preparing successful dishes for housewarming parties:

1. Finger foods: There’s nothing more awkward than carrying around a plate while you socialize, or trying to shovel salad into your face while hitting on a potential beau. You drop some on the carpet, you’re juggling the fork, the plate, and your beverage… it’s not cute. Enter finger foods. There are only a bajillion versions of utensil-free dishes and your spread should be full of them. My favorites are bite-sized squares of pizza, cookies, and cut up veggies. Which brings me to my next point…

2. Dips: I made 3 dips: sweet pumpkin for dipping cookies, tangy blue cheese for the veggies, and hot onion swiss for Ritz crackers. It’s interactive, it’s delicious, and it allows you to make literally everything the day before. Which brings me to my next point…

3. Make things in advance: I spent hours the night before the party baking cookies, chopping veggies, and mixing dips. Not only is most dip better after it’s had a chance to sit in the fridge overnight, but the day of the party all you have to do is pop it on the table and remove the plastic wrap. Easy as pie.

4. Room temperature foods: What’s grosser than hot food that’s been left to harden and coagulate on your dining room table for 6 hours? Well… lots of things. But during a party no one wants to see that. Try and stick to food that still tastes good at room temperature, or that tastes delicious both hot and cold (i.e. pizza squares).

5. Print out a menu: Everyone thought I was such a loser because I printed and framed my menu. Okay, maybe the frame was overboard… It cost $.99! And it looked sweet. Anyway, providing a menu allows your guests to know exactly what they’re eating before they taste it. Also avoids those pesky allergies. And saves you from having to say 809 times, “It’s sweet pumpkin dip! You eat it with the cookies!” Because after 10 beverages (just kidding, mom, I had THREE I said THREE beverages) it might not come out so nicely.

Starting next week I’ll be sharing with you some of the standout recipes from the party. In the meantime I served this onion dip to rave reviews, even though I accidentally microwaved instead of baking it. It separated… and it was gross.

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November 30, 2011 · 12:33 am

How to Chop an Onion… in yo FACE!

It’s me! Oh man, did I love doing this. Someone (cough Food Network Cooking Channel cough) snatch me up already!

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October 27, 2011 · 2:00 am

Engagement Chicken

Let me tell you a story, kids. This is not my traditional blog post. It’s more of an anecdote. Read on at your own discretion.

Continue reading →

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October 17, 2011 · 2:30 am

Warm Me Up, I’m Chili

Beef and bean chili with coleslaw, jalapeno goat cheese cornbread, and pulled pork

Fall is by far my favorite season. Sweaters, boots, crispy apples, baked goods, pumpkins, leaves changing colors… hand me a Hudson Bay blanket and point me to the nearest easy chair, kids. It’s all I’ll ever need in this world.

Cue today’s Fall Football meal. I wanted to make something that would warm the bellies of the boys in my life, but also allow me to watch the games all day without standing over the stove for 6 hours straight. For the next few days I’ll be posting each individual recipe from this meal because they all turned out SO well. And by Friday you’ll be ready to make it all for your own football party on Sunday.

Beef and Bean Chili
Adapted from Epicurious.com
Serves 8

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeds removed and chopped*
2 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
1 28-ounce can tomatoes, diced
2 15.25-ounce cans kidney beans. drained
14 ounces beef broth

Heat olive oil over medium/high heat in a large pot. Add onion and saute for around 6 minutes. Add jalapeno and garlic and saute for 1 minutes. Add ground beef and cook until the meat is browned. Add chili powder, paprika, and cinnamon, then mix in tomatoes with juices, kidney beans, and beef broth. Bring heat up to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and let chili simmer for 45 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve chili in bowls with shredded cheese, sour cream, and/or chives.

*I used one jalapeno because I’m not a huge fan of spicy food. If you love spicy, you can add 3 jalapenos chopped with seeds.

Recipes for jalapeno goat cheese cornbread and coleslaw coming soon!

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September 14, 2011 · 3:00 am

Brown Butter Blueberry Plum Cake


I won’t bore you with the mundane details of my personal life (of which most of you are probably privy to anyway) but I am in between jobs at the moment. Literally just the moment, but I’m smack in the middle of three days of unemployed bliss. Until I start my new job on Thursday, I’m trying to be slightly more productive than watching television and packing the occasional box for my apartment move in 2 1/2 weeks. Did I mention BIG things are happening in my life?

So today I decided to take a break from TV and napping to bake this gorgeous cake I found on Figs, Bay and Wine. The afternoon seemed like the perfect time to take advantage of the natural light that makes my photos their prettiest.

On the menu:
Blueberry plum cake
Adapted from the wild bramble cake on Figs, Bay and Wine

4 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon (I realized mid-recipe that I forgot the lemon, so I substituted 1 tsp lemon extract)
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (feel free to substitute raspberries, blackberries, etc here)
2 small plums, skin on, pitted and sliced to 1/4 inch thick

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Shake out any excess flour.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter is completely melted and starts to froth. WATCH THE BUTTER CLOSELY. Once the small white particles start to turn a light brown and the mixture smells nutty, turn off the heat and remove the pan from the stove. Let the butter cool for at least 15 minutes before you continue with the next step in the recipe. I used this time to prep the fruit!

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, blend together eggs and sugar with an electric mixer for around 3 minutes or until the mixture is thickened a bit and light colored. Add brown butter, olive oil, milk, vanilla, and zest until completely blended.

Fold liquid mixture into flour mixture JUST until moistened and combined. Do not overmix. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.

Fold in blueberries. Pour into springform pan, spread with a spatula so the batter fills the pan, and top with slices of plum. You may have to press down a bit on the plum slices so they’re not just chillin’ on top of the batter.

Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean and the top of the cake is browned. Let cool in the springform pan for 10 minutes. Remove the springform and let cool completely.

*Note: I know this is a “cake” and it has “sugar” in it, but how lovely would this be served at a brunch with some freshly whipped cream served alongside baked eggs? Lovely indeed, I think.

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