Creating cookies with new ingredients...

Blogger has been having issues all weekend and it seems that they are still having problems today - sorry if any comments are not getting through. It seems yesterday's post was eaten, but I'll try to get it back up if I can.

I love this time of the year as all the new holiday baking products come rushing into the markets. We happened to find these little guys this weekend and I picked them up/put them back at least twice... I couldn't help it though, we had to get them.

They are Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips (they are soft though...)

I created this recipe today, Chocolate Peppermint-Toffee Crunch Cookies, so I could try these new chips out in a cookie. I wanted a thin, chocolate-y and crisp - yet chewy cookie and I think we hit the spot with them. I used a cup of the peppermint chips and a cup of toffee bits - the flavor is decidedly peppermint, but has a hint of caramel in the background. The melted toffee also helped to keep them chewy. The chocolate flavor is mild, but it kept the peppermint flavor from being too strong. Don't be afraid of the vinegar in the ingredient list - I've used it before and it keeps the cookies light and I think helps with the crispness. I do want to tinker here and there with the recipe, but Jeff thinks it is good as is.

Dinner tonight uses quick-cooking couscous that is great for when you're running behind on a weeknight. Southwestern Couscous Salad begins with a quick cook of some lightly seasoned chunky turkey breasts. After some chicken broth comes to a boil, frozen corn is added and allowed to briefly cook. Nutty whole-wheat couscous is stirred in and the mixture is left to sit and cook for 5 minutes. We then made a dressing of fresh lime juice, oil, cumin and a dash of cayenne pepper sauce to add some heat. Diced tomatoes, fire roasted red bell peppers and cilantro are tossed with the cooked turkey breast and couscous - then a drizzle of the tangy dressing brings the dish together and keeps everything moist. Fast, healthy and packed with flavor - can't get much better when your short on time!

Recipes
Chocolate Peppermint-Toffee Crunch Cookies
Southwestern Couscous Salad

Playin' with dough in the living room...

We may not have much in the way of a kitchen still, but we did manage to kick out 14 (including today's and a couple we didn't even have a chance to talk about yet) new recipes this week! Lasagna Soup, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bundt Cake and the Bulgur Pilaf with Potatoes and Pistachios were the highlights during the week for us.

Today I made double batch of a sweet dough that I used to make two pastries. In the recipe for Sweet Cream Cheese Dough, the butter is cut with cream cheese, so while the resulting dough is quite tender it is not super-flaky. I found the dough pretty easy to roll out and work with - not very sticky at all. Since most of the work is done in a food processor, it is a snap to throw together and most of the time spent is waiting for it to chill down.

The first pastry I made was Creamy Apple-Cranberry Turnovers. I started by cooking down tart Granny Smith apples until they were tender and beginning to caramelize. Brown sugar, dried cranberries, cinnamon and nutmeg are mixed in to sweeten and mellow the tartness. Cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla are added in once the mixture cools down to create a scrumptious creamy filling. This is then placed in the center of the rolled out sweet dough. The edges meet and a fork seals the deal to ensure the filling stays inside. Before baking, they go in the freezer for about 30 minutes to set the dough and allow it to cook evenly. After baked and cooled, a thin glaze of confectioners' sugar, milk, sour cream and a dash of vanilla is drizzled on top for a sweet finish.

The creamy inside with chunks of tender apples and cranberries was a good match to the tender yet crisp dough.

The next one, Chocolate, Fig, and Marsala Pastries, was fun to say but turned out so much better than I expected when I took my first bite. Dried black mission figs are first steeped in a bit of water combined with a sharp Marsala wine. Once the figs are tender, the mixture is set in the refrigerator as it needs to cool completely. When you are ready to make the pastries, you mix in an egg yolk and chunky bits of bittersweet chocolate to the cool figs. The filling and baking process are the same as the above turnovers. When the edges of the dough are golden, they are removed, cooled and a shower of confectioners' sugar on top is all these need.

The slight smokiness of the Marsala penetrates the sweet figs and compliments the bitter chocolate in this exquisite pastry.

In both cases, I might give them a brush with milk or an egg wash to help color the dough as it bakes - it does stay a bit more pale than I would have liked.

Recipes

Sweet Cream Cheese Dough
Creamy Apple-Cranberry Turnovers
Chocolate, Fig, and Marsala Pastries

Pumpkin bread for a friend...

Back when we first moved to Phoenix, Jeff immediately made friends with the admin for their team, Trish. She eventually moved out of the country with her husband and just recently came back and bought a house here in the states. She's living with some family in the interim that happen to be just a short drive away, so we decided to try and meet for lunch. We decided we wanted to make something to bring to her, something fallish, so we opted for a pumpkin bread!

This recipe, Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Bread, is put together cake-style, rather than a quickbread, as the butter is creamed with sugar instead of adding the sugar to the dry ingredients and adding oil or melted butter. For spices, I added Vietnamese cinnamon, ginger, allspice and fresh grated nutmeg - but you could simplify and use a pre-made pumpkin pie spice (use about a tablespoon). Buttermilk is the liquid of choice, but you could use a yogurt if you didn't happen to have some on hand already. Toasted chopped walnuts and sweet dried cranberries are folded in and once the batter is scooped into the pan, I scattered the top with a shower of vanilla sugar. I keep a separate tub of sugar that I use to place spent vanilla bean pods in and just keep replenishing with more sugar when I use it. The sugar takes on a pleasant, but light vanilla scent and is wonderful to sprinkle on muffins or to add another depth of flavor to baked goods. The buttermilk keeps the bread tender and lends a mild twang. Besides adding flavor, the mashed pumpkin keeps the loaf plenty moist as well. I would like to try this recipe with some fresh cranberries and turn this into a muffin next time.

Recipes
Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Bread

Inside hot... outside chilly...

No real updates on the kitchen just yet - we are coming along, execpt we found out the installer had issues at another site they are working on. I have a feeling we may be delayed now, but we knew something would come up as things were going a bit too good!

Tonight's dinner, Tomato Chickpea Curry, was certainly packed full of flavors and had just enough of a kick to it to keep us warm in the cool basement. The base is formed by sautéing onions, fresh ginger and garlic in a bit of canola oil. Garam masala (an Indian herb mixture of sweet and hot spices), brown mustard seeds and red pepper are added to the mix and allowed to toast until they release their fragrant aromas. Creamy coconut milk along with a jalapeno, sugar, turmeric, chickpeas, fire roasted diced tomatoes and plain tomato sauce are added and allowed to simmer until the mixture thickens. Cilantro is folded in once the pan is removed from the heat to freshen up the flavors. This is pretty saucy, so I served it over brown jasmine rice. I would suggest using the brown mustard seeds as they add a depth to the heat in the dish, but you can use yellow mustard seeds if you can't locate them. While we both did like this dish, Jeff thought it was a little too acidic for his tastes.

Recipes
Tomato Chickpea Curry

One of the better dinners...

I decided to give last night's mess another chance at lunch today. The noodle texture was actually better and the flavors seemed to be more cohesive - but, it could just have been because I was pretty tired and hungry from mowing the lawn for 3 hours. Hopefully it was for the last time as the weather is getting pretty cool.

Both dishes we had at dinner tonight blew away any sorry memories from last night. I started by making a quite simple side of Crunchy Pear and Celery Salad. I began the recipe by soaking celery stalks in icy water to crisp them up. As the time passes, you make a modest dressing made from raspberry vinegar, honey and a dash of salt. The salad itself is a combination of the crisp celery, diced pears, chunky bits of sharp white cheddar and nutty toasted pecans. The dressing kept the balance of flavors in check and the slight sweetness from the honey worked well. If you don't like the specific cheese or nuts we used, I think the flavors in the recipe would easily adapt to which ever combination you would like. You can even make this a couple hours ahead of time, but just hold back on the nuts until right before serving.

I had no idea just how well pistachios and potatoes went together until we had tonight's one pot dish of Bulgur Pilaf with Potatoes and Pistachios. Diced new potatoes are sauteed in a bit of olive oil until the light white flesh turns into a rich golden crust. Chopped zucchini and fresh garlic are added in and left for just a minute to get a light coating of the oil. The vegetable mixture is removed and the dry bulgur, shallots and coriander are tossed in to begin toasting - this should not take more than a couple minutes. It may be hard to see a color change while the bulgur is in the pan, but it is ready when you begin to smell the nutty aroma that is released. The vegetables are added back in along with vegetable broth, this mixture is left to simmer until the bulgur drinks up the flavorful liquid. Once it's ready to serve, a generous amount of chopped toasted pistachios and fresh parsley are added into the mix. The tender potatoes and crunchy toasted pistachios added to the filling nature of this vegan main dish. I've never really thought of using bulgur as the grain in a pilaf, but it worked so well here and the quick cooking time was a nice benefit.

Recipes
Crunchy Pear and Celery Salad
Bulgur Pilaf with Potatoes and Pistachios

Do-over needed with tonight's choices...

Over the years I have been pretty good at picking and choosing what recipes I end up making and have had very few duds. Tonight though, was certainly the exception! Fair warning... It's not that they were inedible, they just didn't do much for us and I would not make them again.

Tonight's side dish, Brussels Sprouts with Sherry-Asiago Cream Sauce, was the better of the two though. I knew it was not going to go over well already with Jeff, as he has never really cared much for Brussels sprouts - but I keep trying. As the Brussels sprouts steam, a thick sauce is made from shallots, milk, dry sherry and Asiago. The sauce was actually pretty rich, tasty and smooth when it was right out of the pot, but it began to get a little pasty after sitting for just a couple minutes. While I did think the total package was not bad, I would probably choose something else if I were to look the recipe over again.

Dinner, Cellophane Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing, sounded better on paper than it turned out. I think the "Peanut Dressing" is a little misleading as some chopped peanuts are just thrown into the salad after it's put together. I think a spicy Thai peanut sauce or something might be a better choice as a dressing. While I like five-spice powder, it didn't seem to taste right with the combination of the other ingredients in the dressing as well. The salad part of the recipe was not too bad, until the cellophane noodles came into play. I've never used bean threads before, so I didn't know what to expect. They just immediately seemed to be a gelatinous clump after they were cooked - the dressing did loosen them some, but not as much as I hoped. The recipe calls for boiling them for 1 minute, but maybe they should be prepared another way? I did have to make one substitute, the original recipe called for Bok Choy, but the ones in the market I went to just looked terrible, so I ended up just using shredded hearts of romaine. I did finish mine, but Jeff only ate about half - we'll see if the leftovers turn out any better after sitting overnight. I don't particularly care for how it presented either...

Recipes
Brussels Sprouts with Sherry-Asiago Cream Sauce
Cellophane Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing

Chocolate and peanut butter...

With the oven back, we are able to continue on with baking for the weekly Wednesday Treat Day that Jeff does for his co-workers. I've heard through the grapevine that some sly people have figured out that we post the treats the day before Jeff brings them in and they come to sneak a peak at what Jeff will be bringing... hmm, I wonder if we should play a trick on them one day!

For a change of pace (and I wanted to make full use of the oven), I opted to make a cake. Not just any cake, but a Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bundt Cake.

This is not a dull chocolate cake flavored with peanut butter, but an intense and rich double chocolate cake with a sweet and thick hidden ring of luscious creamy peanut butter mixed with cream cheese. Two forms of chocolate, natural cocoa powder and chopped bittersweet chocolate, make for a dark cloak to off-set the light filling.

Sour cream is used in the cake batter which keeps the cake extremely moist. Between making the filling, the batter, combining them and the baking, it does take quite a while from start to finish, but the joy of eating a sliver certainly made up for it. I'll be sending along some whipped cream and chopped peanuts if they wish to gild the lily, but I thought this cake needed nothing else but a fork.

On to dinner tonight... we heated things up tonight with a dish of Rice and Corn Cakes with Spicy Black Beans. To make things easy, instant brown rice is used to form the base of the cakes. To perk up the flavor of the rice when it cooks, scallions, garlic and fresh thyme are added before the water comes to a boil. Once the rice is done, corn kernels and fresh whole wheat breadcrumbs are added and the mixture sits to cool down for a couple minutes. This mixture is then mashed with a couple eggs to bind to together. I found the mixture to be pretty loose, but I was still able to form them into cakes and get them in the pan without falling apart. They are then cooked until each side achieves a golden crisp crust. While they brown, a mixture of drained black beans and salsa (use whatever kind/heat level you wish - I used Trader Joe's Chipotle and Lime salsa... it is quite spicy!) is warmed in small saucepan to be served with the cakes. The moist cakes with the spicy beans made for a very filling dinner that left our tastebuds dancing around to cool off.

Recipes
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bundt Cake
Rice and Corn Cakes with Spicy Black Beans

Watch out... the oven is back in action

While the kitchen is still a disaster from the remodel-in-progress, you will soon begin to see we have set up the stove so I can use it again. I went full steam ahead in taking advantage of having it working - I began by making another batch of the new favorite hamburger bun recipe. I love working with this dough and it has not let me down yet!

Jeff loves hush puppies from Long John Silvers... but, we rarely eat there. It is usually for a once in awhile (maybe once or twice a year) unhealthy splurge as we typically eat pretty healthy and I make most of our meals. I thought I could surprise Jeff and try a recipe I found for Baked Hush Puppies! While they are obviously not the exact same since they are baked and not fried, Jeff was really impressed with how close they did taste like them! They do have an unusual special ingredient and I had Jeff guessing for quite a long time trying to figure it out. I ended up having to tell him what it was... crushed rice krispies! The batter is baked in a mini muffin tin and comes out of the oven with a rich golden and pretty crisp crust. The inside is light and moist with a bit more spice to them than at Long John Silvers. I think I liked these better as they are not heavy and greasy - Jeff has already asked me to make them again!

I find myself making more and more soups lately as the weather cools down - so to go along with the hushpuppies, I made a Lasagna Soup. This soup is filled with spicy hot Italian turkey sausage, onions and carrots. Boosting the flavor in the broth and tomato combination is minced garlic, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. For the noodle part of the recipe, I opted to use Campanelle pasta - the pasta is quite striking to look at, they are small with fluted edges and have a hollow center. Once the pasta is tender, chopped fresh spinach is thrown in to wilt down. For a fun twist to the recipe, cubed provolone cheese is placed in the bottom of the serving bowls right before the soup is poured in. As you dig in, you get small pockets of gooey melted provolone in each bite - such a good way to distribute the cheese in this recipe! Sharp Parmesan is grated on top with strips of fresh basil to finish the dish with a burst of flavor. Jeff and I both commented on how much it did taste like lasagna, albeit a soupy one! I wish I would have doubled the recipe to freeze for lunches later in the week - it was that good!

Recipes
Baked Hush Puppies
Lasagna Soup

The pups have been sad... but we changed that today!

Well, 7 new recipes this week - but if you count the Mini Tacos, then it could be 8! The stand-outs for us were the Caramel-Toffee Crunch Bars and the Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies.

The poor puppies have been without any homemade snacks for a few weeks now - they finished up their pupcakes before the remodel started, so I thought I should set aside some time today and make them some new treats. I made a crunchy biscuit type this time - I was going to go with a peanut butter flavor, but that will be the next one as we went for some Chicken and Honey Doggie Biscuits today! As with this one, most recipes are pretty simple - they do make a lot, but you can keep them for a long time in the freezer and you can make whatever size or shape you like. The dough for these are made with whole wheat flour and cracked wheat - we flavored them with chicken broth, sweet honey and fresh minced garlic. Though there is yeast in the recipe, you don't need to wait for the dough to rise or anything - this just gives them a little lift in the oven.

I used mostly medium-sized cookie cutters, but I did use a small one to cut the dough into mini hearts as Jeff wanted some small bits to use in training with Max. You could dip these in melted carob chips if you want to give them a fancy finish - Spike and Max seemed to think they were plenty tasty as is!


Max was so happy, we think he passed out from excitement!

Recipes
Chicken and Honey Doggie Biscuits

Cookies to welcome the new neighbors

The house next door to us was on the market when we bought this one and it finally sold a few weeks ago. The new neighbors moved in, so I thought we could make something nice to bring over as a proper welcome.

I ended up making Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies as they sounded like they would be a little different than your everyday gingerbread. I thought what really set these apart is the addition of fresh grated ginger root as you begin creaming the ingredients. Dark brown sugar and molasses are the sweeteners, so they have quite a deep and rich flavor background. The chocolate comes into play in the form of a single tablespoon of cocoa with about a cup of chunky bits of bittersweet chocolate. The dough is a little fussy as you need to chill it twice - I found it to still be little sticky, even with the 2+ hour refrigeration. When you roll the dough into balls, you can either lightly flour your hands or use wet hands - I choose the former as it was easier for me. Once the balls of dough are chilled, I rolled just the tops in very coarse crystal sugar for a touch of sparkle to finish. These baked up into beautiful, thick and crackly-topped cookies with a definite chew to them. The bitter chocolate and fresh ginger make for a great pair in these spicy cookies.

Recipe
Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

That's a spicy muffin....

We bought our toaster oven about a year and a half ago and I can't believe how much I end up using it. It has been great for toast, re-heating leftovers and making some dinners - but I had not used it much to bake in it. It has gotten a workout though in the past couple weeks!

I've been wanting to make some muffins for mid-morning snacks and played around with a recipe a couple days ago which ended in these Gingered Pumpkin Muffins. This recipe has been floating around and I'm not sure where it first originated, but it has great potential as base for several variations. Making up these healthy muffins are ingredients such as whole wheat pastry flour, oat bran, mashed pumpkin, a single egg white and just a tablespoon of oil. It may sound like they would turn out heavy, but we thought they were fairly light and moist with a definite fall appeal. They certainly filled the house with a pleasant aroma as they were spiced with cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg. Diced crystallized ginger adds a spicy bite with dark brown sugar bringing a rich sweetness. I only made 5 muffins so I could use my 6 cup muffin pan that fits in the toaster oven. They baked up just as well (if not better...) than the big oven! Although, the house could have used the extra warmth from using the oven... these chilly temperatures are going to take awhile to get used to again. While I did grow up in Minnesota, spending over 2 years in Phoenix sure makes it difficult to adjust!

Recipes

Gingered Pumpkin Muffins

Here's the "scoop" on one-bite tacos....

While we do quite enjoy having leftovers, especially when one is without a kitchen, I needed a break from them and had to make something different. I didn't have a recipe in mind for tonight, so I just looked in the pantry/freezer to check out what we had already on hand.

I'm sure you have seen the tortilla chips from Tostitos called "Scoops" right? They are basically tortilla chips in the shape of little bowls. They have finally come out with a baked version that we snapped up at the grocery store this past weekend. So, in an effort to try them out, I put together some fun little taco bowls. No recipe really, but I started out with some fresh garlic in a little olive oil and then added some ground sirlion. I seasoned the beef with chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and a couple splashes of Frank's red hot - I didn't measure much, but tasted as I went. Once the sirlion was browned, we filled the little cups with shredded romaine, the seasoned beef and shredded sharp cheddar.

I did add a few bits of diced roasted red bell peppers to about half for color since as I was out of our favorite salsa, but I imagine a bit of that and some sour cream would make these groovy one bite tacos even better!


Here's a sneak peak at a gingery pumpkin muffin I made the other day in our handy toaster oven - I'll talk about these treats tomorrow!

Treat making party in the living room...

So last Wednesday I was feeling a little guilty that we were not able to do anything for Jeff's co-workers, since that is known as Treat Day around his office now. I knew I wanted to do something, but I didn't want to do any plain-jane treats (which can be mighty tasty on their own - nothing wrong with that). We then started to think what we could do to funk-ify some treats.

I ended up making two recipes using that not-so-great burner in the middle of the living room. The first, Chocolate Peanut Butter Krispie Bars, is just your basic krispie bar recipe execpt I used cocoa krispies and added creamy peanut butter to the melted marshmallows. To add a fun festive touch, I dropped a dab of melted chocolate on each bar and placed a candy pumpkin in the center. Hard to go wrong with a crunchy chocolate bar that has a background of sweet peanut butter flavor in each bite.

Who says you have to use marshmallows to make krispie bars stick together? The next recipe, Caramel-Toffee Crunch Bars, uses the little caramel cubes you can buy in the store that would normally be used for caramel apples (or, of course, eating them by their tasty selves). The cubes, butter and a touch of water are slowly (thanks crappy burner!) melted until smooth. You then add plain ol' rice krispies with a 1/2 to 3/4 cup of crunchy toffee bits. I found this comes together a little easier than with melted marshmallows and you had more time to work with the mixture before it begins to set. After they are patted into a pan, I scattered the slab with additional toffee bits and gently pressed to adhere them. These are obviously a little more rich and have a wicked chew to them compared to the chocolate ones.

Being a little silly, I thought it would be fun to bring a "display" of them with the rest of the cut bars in front... so I skewered the chocolate ones as the caramel-toffee bars were too soft. We busted out the glue gun and added some green floral foam inside of a cauldron we picked up this weekend. After we stuck the bars in, I filled the empty area with some tasty mini versions of Reese's, Milky Way Midnights, Twix, Three Musketeers and Snickers. We had a hard time trying to take a good picture, but here's one anyway to see how the cauldron ended up.

Recipes
Caramel-Toffee Crunch Bars
Chocolate Peanut Butter Krispie Bars

Adding fresh side dishes to leftovers...

I thought it was dusty the other day... boy was I in for a shock when I came in from mowing this afternoon! They had been sanding the walls and ceiling for most of the morning today - so when I came in to get a snack, there was almost an inch of stuff all over the floors! Thankfully they have been pretty good about cleaning up, but I have a feeling I will be vacuuming up this stuff for a few days. It looks as if the kitchen could be coming along a little faster than we were told, so we might be back in action in the next few weeks!

To go along with the leftovers we had for dinner tonight, I was able to throw together a side of Broccoli with Spicy Tahini. These quick and simple sides we have been making are good for keeping dinners from getting too boring since we are used to cooking so many recipes each week. In this recipe, instead of just using broccoli florets, you use a good amount of the thick stalk from the broccoli by simply peeling them to remove the tough outer skin. Once prepped, the broccoli is steamed just until crisp tender, then a portion of the liquid used to steam is set aside to help thin out the sauce. To make the sauce, tahini (sesame seed paste), the reserved hot liquid, harissa, lemon juice and salt are blended together to be served over the broccoli. This sauce is creamy and quite spicy from the harissa with the lemon juice bringing a fresh bright flavor. Harissa is red paste made from chili and a few spices - if you can't locate it, you could use chili paste or hot sauce. I used a full tablespoon as we love the spiciness, but start out with a smaller amount if you don't like it too hot. It is easier to add more to taste than to try and reduce the heat later.

PS - Will there be a treat day tomorrow for Jeff's co-workers? Stay tuned...

Recipes
Broccoli with Spicy Tahini

Well it cooked the pasta... but was it worth it?

Nothing too exciting to report on the kitchen just yet, although we did have a go around with the sink/countertop people as they were trying to sell us something other than what we ordered to make it easier for them...

I mentioned yesterday that we bought a single burner that we could plug in to see if I could make any dinners with it. Well, it did work... sort of. I needed to cook some pasta and it took a good long while for the water to boil (yes, I even covered it!). I eventually got the pasta done, but I would either do it in smaller batches next time, or just forget it, as using the burner just didn't seem worth the effort.

However, I was glad that we were able to try out tonight's dinner of Macaroni Salad with Bacon, Peas, and Creamy Dijon Dressing. The piquant dressing is made from cream cheese, shallots, plain yogurt, sour cream, Dijon, fresh lemon juice and a dash of vinegar. Thick and creamy with a mild tang would be an appropriate description of the dressing. The bulk of the salad is whole wheat macaroni mixed with green peas, roasted red bell peppers, red onions, parsley and a smidge of lemon zest. In some recipes when you mix all of the dressing with the pasta, it tends to absorb most of it and become somewhat pasty if you make it ahead of time. This recipe though is great to make ahead of time as you only need to mix half of the dressing when you make the salad. Right before serving, you then add the rest of the dressing so the salad stays creamy. Crumbled smoky bacon adds a salty finish with some additional crunchy texture.

Recipes
Macaroni Salad with Bacon, Peas, and Creamy Dijon Dressing

Still chuggin along...

Well, I can't say we made a ton of new stuff this week - but even with the kitchen being out of order, we did manage to try 6 new recipes. Our favorites were probably the Pumpkin Waffles and Three-Bean Chili with Vegetables. I wanted to make a pasta dish tomorrow night for dinner so while we were out running errands and picking up groceries this morning, I did pick up a single burner that we could plug into the wall. I have a feeling it probably won't work too well, but we will give it a shot. When we arrived back home, I wanted to make a quick snack before lunch... so with some of the leftover mashed pumpkin I made a Banana Pumpkin Smoothie.

Since I always keep a few frozen ripe bananas in the freezer, this was pretty quick to throw together. I used some of the mashed pumpkin I took out for the waffles yesterday and pureed it with vanilla yogurt, fresh orange juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, fresh grated nutmeg and cloves. Since the banana was frozen and the pumpkin was well chilled, the smoothie was pretty thick with the addition of ice cubes. When I took my first sip, I was surprised how tangy the orange juice made it - I thought it was teetering on the verge of taking over the smooth pumpkin flavor. I would probably half the amount of juice and replace it with soymilk next time.

Recipes
Banana Pumpkin Smoothie

Don't wait to pick your pumpkins!

They've been talking about how the pumpkin crop around the area is pretty bad this year so I was glad that I picked up some Pie pumpkins when I saw them at the market a couple weeks ago. This way I could make and freeze some mashed pumpkin to use this season like we did last year. I wanted to do something different and fun for breakfast this morning, so I surprised Jeff with a batch of Pumpkin Waffles!

It has been such a long time since we've made waffles that I had to search around to find the waffle iron this morning. The dry ingredients are spiced up with Vietnamese cinnamon and ground cloves which compliment the subtle pumpkin flavor. Using dark brown sugar gave them a richer depth of flavor without making them overly sweet. When we were eating the golden waffles, I kept thinking that these would be even better with bits of crystallized ginger in them. Toasted pecans or walnuts in the batter might be a worth a try too! The waffles are light, but they don't stay too crispy. If you prefer yours more on the crunchy side - I would make them ahead of time and use a toaster oven when it's time to re-heat them.

Recipes
Pumpkin Waffles

Quick and easy use for some cooked turkey...

Well, no progress on the kitchen today as the contractor had to go out of town for the weekend. Boo! They should begin again on Monday, but that seems so far away! This will be our first ever remodel of a room and we are certainly learning a lot on the fly... we are starting to figure out what we would do different if we ever need to do the kitchen again.

Feeling the need to cook something, I did make an easy dinner for tonight. I made use of our Griddler to cook some turkey breast for the Curry Turkey Salad we had. Sour cream and yogurt form the base of a creamy dressing flavored with a splash of fresh lime juice, two kinds of curry powder and a touch of honey for sweetness. Mixed with the tender chunks of turkey breast are juicy red grapes, crisp celery and red onion to lend a crunchy bite to the smooth dressing. Once the generous amount of salad is stuffed in some halved whole wheat pitas, roasted cashews are scattered on top to finish the dish with a salty flare. I did find the two curry powders to be pretty mild, so I might try increasing the hot madras powder by a 1/4 teaspoon next time. This would work just as well with some cooked chicken if you already have it on hand!

Recipes
Curry Turkey Salad

Sweet and sour with a crunchy bite...

Whew... who knew there would be so much dust happening when they are working on the kitchen! We put plastic over everything, but it's almost like you have to vacuum it before rolling it back up when they leave! Since Jeff just finished putting in the pantry before this started, we had not gotten the doors put up yet - so there's a large sheet of plastic over that too. It's not too fun trying to wiggle underneath it when you need to grab something quick!

Tonight's dinner is of course more leftovers... this time we warmed up the chili from a couple days ago. This reheats very well and really hit the spot since we had a cold front come through today. They said the high for today was at midnight and it just kept falling throughout the day! I had to make something new as I'm still getting used to not being able to make recipes so often. I prepared a simple Broccoli and Apple Salad to have along side of the chili.

Crunchy raw broccoli and crisp apples make for a light and refreshing dish after being coated with a quick sweet and sour dressing. I was a little worried that the 6 tablespoons of cider vinegar would be a little overpowering, but the sweetness from sugar and the tangy Dijon made sure it was kept in check. I used Granny Smith apples as I wanted a little extra burst of tartness. I think this would be a perfect dish to bring along on a picnic or a last minute side for entertaining.

Recipes
Broccoli and Apple Salad

A peek in our pantry... Part I

We've been getting a few e-mails asking us to talk about what we keep stocked in our pantry. Since we are not making many new (if any) dishes because of the remodel, this would be a good time to do some show and tell! Here are some of the sweeter-type staples we have around. I will try and get a savory one and a freezer version up sometime if you're not bored with reading this!

We stumbled upon Penzeys when we lived near Minneapolis a few years ago, around the same time I started to seriously get involved in changing the way we look at and eat food. Even though we don't live near a brick and mortar store anymore (sigh...), I still keep myself well stocked with their goodies - especially these first two items.

I always have big bags of their Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon in the spice cabinet (or freezer) - they recommend reducing the amount in recipes as it is pretty strong, however I leave it the same and never had it overpower anything. Inhaling the sweet smell when opening a fresh bag is almost intoxicating!

Dutch Process Cocoa is another item I keep handy. I do have a bag of their natural cocoa in case a recipe calls for it or if baking soda is the leavener and a specific type is not called for. I find the flavor to be more rich, delicate and smoother than the natural which can be a little bitter.

For chocolate chips, we often opt for the industrial sized bag of Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet. I do keep some smaller bags of peanut butter, butterscotch and milk chocolate chips to use as mix-ins though.

When I need chocolate chunks or chocolate for melting, I grab the big block I get from Trader Joe's. I like the quality for everyday use, but I will splurge for Valrhona or Callebaut from Whole Foods for special projects.

Since moving out east, I find myself keeping a supply of true Fluff in the pantry as well. It was such fun to use it in the Fluffer Nutter Bars and of course in peanut butter sandwiches!

With all this sweetness, you can't forget one important ingredient to offset it... salt! I have and pretty much always used Morton's Kosher Salt. I tried Diamond once, but just didn't care for it. The one time I prefer to not use it is in recipes for frosting - I like to use fine popcorn salt as it seems to dissolve better for me and leaves no grainy texture. I like to throw a pinch or two in baked goods if the recipe does not call for it just because it seems to bring out the flavors more. I keep it in a handy dish I received as a Christmas gift - it's the one from Alton Brown.

Leftovers with a new no-cook side...

More destruction in the kitchen today... and we even had a couple interesting moments. They found a hidden cable wire and just about cut through it, but they did catch it in time. It provides cable TV to the entire upstairs and has to be moved somehow - they think they are going to take it under the floor then up through the wall. I haven't a clue about that stuff, but they seem to think it should be ok. Two electricians were also here doing some work early this morning (7:30 am no less) - one was in the attic and the other in the bare kitchen... we heard one yell "Oh #$@! you cut the wrong wires!" Thankfully he somehow managed to not electrocute himself and they got it patched back up before they left... Jeff and I looked at each other and quietly said "just think - we are only on day 2!"

We are having one of the many leftovers in the freezer for dinner tonight, but I did put together a side dish of Waldorf Slaw in the living room that required little effort. While it should have taken me just a few minutes to throw together, it seemed to take forever since nothing was in its place! I did end up using the last of our Gingergolds so I must make a mental note to put them on the list to get from Costco... we love these apples! The apples are tossed with chopped pears, plump golden raisins, rich toasted walnuts and broccoli slaw. A creamy dressing made with buttermilk, sour cream, plain yogurt, fresh lemon zest, lemon juice and some seasonings cling to the crunchy salad. I thought the dressing was kind of runny while mixing it, but after a chill in the refrigerator, it seemed to really hold together well. Tangy, fresh and with a satisfying crunch - this dish gave us enough for lunch tomorrow and helped to keep a hum-drum leftover dinner a little more interesting!

Recipes
Waldorf Slaw

Squeaking out one more...

If only the kitchen would come back together as fast as it went down this afternoon! The demolition started today and I didn't realize just how often I wash my hands/dishes in the sink! I'm really going to miss the accessibility of that. So far, so good - but we still have quite a while to go. Since I am a glutten for punishment and because the installer called and said they were not going to arrive for a few more hours, I jumped at the chance to make one final recipe early this morning that we could re-heat for dinner tonight.

Because I was not very prepared, I had to make a few changes to the recipe, Sausage and Vegetable Deep-Dish Pizza, so as to use ingredients we had on hand. Before we get to the changes, I did have to knead up some pizza dough. Just a basic dough - although, I did add some dried rosemary and oregano to beef up the flavor a bit. The dough was soft and smooth in just about 6 minutes since I kneaded it by hand. The original recipe called for cooking down zucchini and mushrooms for the filling - but instead, I chopped up some fresh broccoli and steamed it just until crisp tender. Hot Italian turkey sausage is then crumbled and cooked until browned. I mixed in the bright green broccoli and some of the Spicy Pizza Sauce that I made and froze a couple weeks ago in case we would need it for the next few weeks. When the dough has risen, it is pressed into and up the sides of a metal baking dish. The chunky and spicy sauce mixture is spread on top and in the oven it went for about 20 minutes to get the crust going and warm the filling. Once the timer went off, we scattered a generous mixture of shredded mozzarella and sharp Parmesan over the top and back in the oven it went to finish browning the crust and to melt the cheeses.
Be sure to watch the time as this bakes - at about 10 minutes our crust was perfect, but if we would have waited the extra 5 minutes per the recipe, it would have been overdone. It was so hard to sit and wait the 10 minutes for it to settle down before cutting into it! With a pretty thick crust, this is not a pizza for you if you only like pizzas with a thinner crust. The herbs in the dough brought just enough zip to the crust to compliment the spicy flavor of the filling. While I don't necessarily think of broccoli when it comes to pizza and I'm sure it would have been great with the suggested vegetables, we both thought it actually paired pretty well! It has been a long time since we had a deep dish pizza and this was quite filling being cut into 6 large squares. I can definitely see us making this one again once the kitchen is back in one piece!

Recipes
Sausage and Vegetable Deep-Dish Pizza

Warming you from the inside out....

10 new recipes this week - but this will probably be slowing down quite a bit with the tear down of the kitchen starting tomorrow. The favorites for us this week were Peanut Butter and Jam Rolls, Baked Sweet Potatoes with West African-Style Peanut Sauce, and Buttery Apple Loaf Cake.

In anticipation of being without the stove, I made a very large recipe for dinner tonight - mainly so we could have leftovers for lunches and dinners this week. For this recipe, Three-Bean Chili with Vegetables, make sure to use a very large pot as my 6 quart was almost full to the brim by the time everything was in! This is in no way a traditional chili, but we ended up liking this thick hearty version quite a bit! Onions, carrots and garlic start the base flavors in a little canola oil - water, corn kernels (I used kernels I froze from the cob in late summer), sweet red bell peppers and zucchini are added followed by a few select spices. Smoky cumin, chili powder, hot chili powder and oregano filled the kitchen with a rustic homey aroma as soon as they hit the pan. Fire-roasted crushed tomatoes, pinto beans, kidney beans and black beans are the bulk of the chili with dense tomato paste helping to thicken. Cooked until the carrots are tender, a splash of rice vinegar at the end heightens the flavors with some chopped chipotles added for a stomach warming heat. Garnished with fresh cilantro, a dollop of luscious sour cream and sharp cheddar - what more can you ask for? Lunchtime tomorrow can't come fast enough!

Recipes
Three-Bean Chili with Vegetables