Pumpkin Cream Pie

I love this time of year and all of the pumpkin goodies.  Me and my friend Hope cooked almost all of Thanksgiving dinner on our own (Max put some butter on the turkey).  Instead of the traditional pumpkin pie, I made this pumpkin cream pie that I found on the Pioneer Woman's website.  I love her and her food always looks amazing!  I missed her when she came and visited OU :(

Ree's recipe called for a homemade graham cracker crust, but I already had so much today that I used a shortbread crust that I got at Target.  They had run out of graham cracker crusts already!  I probably shouldn't have done my shopping the day before Thanksgiving!  Also, I didn't use the whiskey that is optional.

Pumpkin Cream Pie
from: The Pioneer Woman 

Ingredients

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 1-½ package Graham Crackers (about 15 Cookie Sheets)
• ½ cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 stick Butter, Melted
• FOR THE FILLING:
• 1 box (3 Oz. Box) Vanilla Pudding (Cook And Serve Variety)
• 1 cup Half-and-half
• ½ cups Heavy Cream
• Pinch Of Cinnamon
• Pinch Of Nutmeg
• Pinch Of Ground Cloves
• 2 Tablespoons Whiskey (optional)
• ½ cups (plus 3 Tablespoons) Pumpkin Puree
• ½ cups (additional) Heavy Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• Extra Graham Cracker Crumbs, For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Grind graham crackers in a food processor (or, if you don’t have a food processor, place them in a large ziploc and pound ‘em with a rolling pin.) Add powdered sugar and melted butter and process until totally combined. Press into the bottom and sides of a pie pan until nice and firm. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until warm and “set.” Remove from oven and allow crust to cool completely.
In a medium saucepan, mix dry pudding mix with half-and-half and cream. Add spices. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly and thick. Remove from heat and stir in whiskey, if using. Add pumpkin and stir to combine. Place lid on pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough, place pot in the fridge to cool completely.
When mixture is cool, remove from the fridge. In a mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and brown sugar. Beat until very light and fluffy. Fold in pumpkin cream mixture until combined. Pour into cooled crust.
Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. Serve with graham crackers crumbled on top.

Pumpkin Bars

Hello again.  I know its been a while.  I'm more than halfway through my student teaching and I have really been enjoying it.  I had a little time last weekend and was hanging out with Brittani, so I made some pumpkin bars in honor of Fall!!  I love pumpkin and all things pumpkin related. These bars are very yummy and have the perfect balance of frosting and cake.  I hope you get to try these and enjoy them!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
from: How to Simplify

Ingredients:
Bars

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3-4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Mix the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin with a mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Pour flour, powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda into another bowl and mix.
4. Pour flour mixture into pumpkin mixture and mix until incorporated and smooth.
5. Pour the batter into the baking dish and level out the batter.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the dish or frosting.
8. Frost the bars when they have cooled -- To make the frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter in a bowl and mix until smooth. Add the sugar slowly until you reach the desired consistency. Stir in the vanilla.

Hiatus

Sorry for the lack of posting lately.  I am currently doing my student teaching and working from 5-11 every night.  I'm only at home and awake for about an hour a day, so there hasn't been much baking or cooking for me.  I might be posting every once in a while, but not very often.  Wish me luck!

Berry Crumble

Its been so hot in Oklahoma lately that I haven't been baking too much.  Our little apartment gets so hot once the oven is turned on and our air conditioner barely works.  So, I'm going to post this recipe for berry crumble that I made for some friends in June and for Max's family in July.  It was a real hit with everyone and there were no leftovers either time I made it.  This recipe is very easy and the only thing you will probably have to buy are berries.  I hope you enjoy!

Berry Crumble
adapted from Playing House

•  6 cups of berries of your choice (I like to use half frozen, mixed berries and half fresh berries such as strawberries or blueberries)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or apple pie spice
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar (light or dark)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits, plus some for the pan
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for juicy fruit
• Dash salt

1. Heat the oven to 400 F. Toss the fruit with half the cinnamon or apple pie spice, the lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon brown sugar (and a tablespoon of flour if your fruit is juicy) and spread it in a lightly buttered 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan.

2. Combine all the other ingredients, including the remaining cinnamon or apple pie spice and brown sugar, in a food processor and pulse a few times, then process a few seconds more, until everything is well incorporated but not uniform. To mix the ingredients by hand, soften the butter slightly, toss together the dry ingredients, then work in the butter with your fingertips, a pastry blender, or a fork).

3. Crumble the topping over the fruit and bake until the topping is browned and the fruit is tender and bubbling, 30-40 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. (I really like to serve this with vanilla ice cream when the crumble is hot, yum!)

Summer Veggie Lasagna (No Bake)

As you may have noticed from my previous post, I have indulged a bit over the past few weeks.  Max and I needed to start eating some more veggies so I combined a few recipes for Summer Veggie Lasagna that I found online.  This is nice for the summer too because you don't have to bake it in the oven so you don't heat up your whole house.

Summer Veggie Lasagna
adapted from a bunch of places

• 1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 small summer squash, thinly sliced
• 1 small eggplant (optional), peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 diced onion
• 1-2 tsp of minced garlic
• 3 tsp chopped, fresh basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 cups part skim ricotta
• lasagna sheets
• olive oil

1. Boil salted water for the lasagna sheets.  The number of lasagna sheets you need depends on how many people you are feeding.  You will need two sheets per plate.  Boil lasagna for the time stated on the box.  Set aside.
2. Saute onion in olive oil until almost translucent.  Add garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes.  Remove onion and garlic from the pan and set aside.
3. Add summer squash, zucchini, and eggplant to the same saute pan.  Cook until the squash starts to become translucent.  Add salt and pepper.  You may need more olive oil to cook these.
4. In a bowl, mix ricotta, onion and garlic mixture, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Taste the mixture to make sure it is seasoned well.
5. To create the lasagna: cut one sheet in half and put on the plate.  Spread with ricotta mixture.  Layer with squash, eggplant, and tomato.  Cut another lasagna sheet in half and put it on top of the tomatoes.  If you want, you can sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and microwave for about a minute to melt it.  Enjoy!

Cruise of the Baltic July 2010

We (Mark, Joann, Allison, Matt, Joseph, Max, and I) recently went on a Cruise of the Baltic Sea.  We lived on a big boat for 12 days.  We started in Amsterdam and continued on to: Rostock and Warnemunde, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki and Porvoo, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; Tallin, Estonia; and Copenhagen, Denmark.  During this time we ate some fabulous food and, since this is a food blog, I thought I would share some of our culinary pleasures during our travels.

Pancake with bacon and cheese in Amsterdam.

Croquettes in Amsterdam.  Tasted like deep-fried biscuits and gravy.

A little bird, I can't remember which kind right now!

Cheese and bread in Warnemunde, Germany.

Potato pancakes and fresh sauerkraut in Warnemunde, Germany.

Seafood risotto on the boat.

Strawberry soup with creme fraiche.

Steak with a cream sauce on pasta.

Crepe with a Grand Marnier sauce and vanilla ice cream that was made fresh on the boat.

Raspberry cream with peach sauce and whipped cream in Finland.

Escargot! It was so delicious that I ordered it three times on the boat.

Chicken spring rolls.

Seafood linguine with shrimp, scallops, calamari, and mussels.

Crepe cigar with pastry cream filling and a dulce de leche sauce.

Chocolate mousse with raspberry creme and Chambord topping.

I believe this was a mushroom and goat cheese puffed pastry.

Chilled butternut squash soup with sage.

Petite filet mignon with pea flan and fresh potato chips.

Another rich, delicious chocolate dessert.

Sorry this is crooked.  This was a popular dish in Copenhagen, an open faced sandwich.  This one had salmon, caviar, onion, and an aioli.

Steak tartare.  This was very delicious.

Mushroom and pearl onions within a puff pastry.

A palate cleanser during a formal dinner.  This one was passionfruit.

Lobster tail with shrimp and scallops and a lobster risotto.

Lamb shank with carrot mashed potatoes, baked apple, and cooked red cabbage.

Chocolate mousse pit with chocolate sauce.

I don't remember the name of this one, but it was like a light cheesecake with a coconut crust and passionfruit topping.

You'll notice that I have an abundance of dessert pictures.  Most nights, desserts looked so good that I ordered two.  I couldn't help myself!  Sometimes, I felt as if I was eating my way through Europe, but that is not a bad thing!  I tried a lot of things that I hadn't tried before, including steak tartare, escargot, and pate.  I hope you enjoyed this small taste of my culinary trip through Europe.

I'm back!

Sorry for the long break!  I took a long trip to Europe and haven't been cooking much (but I have been eating a lot).  I'll be updating soon with pictures of food from the trip and when I get a chance to cook next, I will post some recipes again! Hang in there; I will be back!