For my cooked-food family! 

Apple pies are easy to make – just find a flaky pie crust recipe and a crumb topping.  Granny Smiths are a good type of apple to use.

… waiting for Thanksgiving! And for Glee this evening!

Who else is obsessed with Glee?

I can’t wait to eat with my family. and stuff my mouth with roasted veggies and ‘vegetable’ pie.  and share what we’re thankful for.

As a way to show my thanks in advance, I made some Pumpkin French Toast for the bro.

Topped with a dab of butter and cinnamon-sugar pecans from Georgia.

Lunch plate: Apple, avocado, cucumber, carrots, celery, leftover sauce from last night, and hummus!

A match made in heaven.

On account of tomorrow being Thanksgiving, and quite the busy cooking day, I took the night off from making a family dinner. Instead, it was an ‘Anything’ night. I made myself some cream of wheat with vanilla and cocoa powder, topped with 1/4c pepitas, cinnamon and a dash of almond milk. Twas delicious.

Readers,

I thank you all for brightening my day! Thank you for your kind words and fun comments. Thank you for taking the time and visiting my blog  Thank you for caring about food, health and nutrition. Thank you for being truly delightful. Thank you, to my family, for being the light in my life. Thank you, my friends, for making life worth while. Thank you, everyone, for wanting to live the best life possible. Thank you for being you.

THANK YOU!

Have a lovely Thanksgiving, everyone. You deserve it! Fill your tummies with love and delicious food

Pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger. Those three words conjure up feelings of warmth, festivities and deliciousness. Take those three ingredients and make a crème brûlée with them — and you’ll have a dessert that’s just plain sublime!

Even before the first bite, the sound of the crust cracking with the back of the spoon instantly makes the mouth water in anticipation of the contrast between the crunchy-sweet caramel and the silky-smooth custard. Then each spoonful is pure heaven, best eaten as unhurriedly as one can.

I find crème brûlée to be a perfect dinner party dessert, and I have many different versions for every season of the year. But during the holidays, making them with freshly baked sugar pumpkins is an extraordinary treat. The creaminess of the pumpkin purée only accentuates the inherent smoothness of the custard. The ginger and cinnamon tantalize the taste buds and linger beautifully until you cannot resist and must take another bite.

Simple, elegant and totally scrumptious, this pumpkin crème brûlée is sure to make your holiday dinner party a memorable one.

Viviane’s tip: Contrary to what many people believe, crème brûlée is not hard to make. The custard base is simple to prepare; all you’ll need is to keep an eye on them so they don’t overbake. Crème brûlée can be prepared up to two days ahead — a huge plus when planning a holiday party. The caramel crust, however, needs to be made 15 to 30 minutes before you serve the custards. I highly recommend buying a kitchen torch. It’ll make the job infinitely easier and will yield perfect results.

Pumpkin Crème Brûlée with Fresh Ginger and Cinnamon

serves 6

3/4 cup pumpkin purée
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger root (use a microplane grater)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
5 large egg yolks
1/3 cup organic sugar
pinch sea salt

2 tablespoons organic sugar for the caramelized crust
6 – 4oz ramequins

Preheat oven to 300°F.
Step 1: Place the pumpkin purée, ginger and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk until well blended. Set aside.
Step 2: Heat the cream and milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. When the liquid has reached boiling point remove from heat and set aside.
Step 3: In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high speed, until the mixture is very pale and ribbony, about 2 minutes. Reduce to low speed and slowly whisk the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture. Add the pumpkin purée and whisk until well blended. Skim the air bubbles off the top with a mesh spatula.
Step 4: Pour the custard into the molds, filling them 1/4” from rim. Place the ramequins in a large baking pan and pour enough hot water in the pan to reach about 1/2″ up the side of the ramequins. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The custards should be barely set and wobble when gently shaken. Do not overcook or the crème brûlée will curdle (it would look like scrambled eggs… and if this should happen, unfortunately you’ll have to make a new batch!). Carefully remove the pan from the oven, transfer custards to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate the custards for at least 4 hours.
Cook’s note: The custards can be prepared up to this point and refrigerated for up to 2 days.
Step 5: Sprinkle each custard with a little sugar. Hold a lit kitchen torch 4 inches from the sugar topping and move the flame evenly over the surface until a caramel crust has formed. Return to the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes before serving. (If the caramel crust is refrigerated for too long, it becomes soggy and loses its crunch!)
Cook’s note: For the recipe to make fresh pumpkin purée, click here.

© 2009 viviane bauquet farre – food & style NY LLC

Williams family holiday dinner 1952; I"m on the left next to my mother and baby brother.

My Grandmother Williams made cinnamon apples for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and served them chilled in syrup. The translucent cooked apples were sugary sweet, super cinnamony, and beautifully red.  They were a perfect foil to savory turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, and I looked forward to them every holiday when I was growing up in Indiana. 

I’ve never seen them outside our family, and haven’t known anyone else to make them. Have you ever had them? There are a number of recipes for them on the internet, so someone must make them.

The recipe was simple. Peel and core a half-dozen whole cooking apples. Put them in a pan with an 8 oz. bag of cinnamon Redhots (made by the Ferrara Pan Company–may also be called cinnamon imperials by other companies) and enough water to cover the apples half way up. Simmer until done, turning the apples gently to coat and color both sides while they’re cooking. Chill the apples in the syrup and serve the next day.

MacIntosh apples

I haven’t made cinnamon apples for years because neither my husband or my son care for them. But I’m feeling nostagic this year and wanted to make them. At the grocery, I looked for cinnamon redhots and couldn’t find them. I was surprised. Redhots are an old candy that dates back to the 1930s. I wondered if the company had gone out of business.

A quick Google search turned up the company alive and functioning in Illinois. They still make redhots, but their store locator didn’t turn up any stores in Orange County, CA (where I live) that sell redhots. Maybe they are more of a Midwest thing.

I did find this fascinating video showing how the redhot candies are made. http://www.ferrarapan.com/html/rh_tour.html

The ingredients are simple enough–sugar, corn syrup, red food coloring, and probably cinnamon oil. No worries, I think I can recreate the cinnamon apples using sugar to make a simple syrup, plus cinnamon sticks and red food coloring.

I bought a half dozen MacIntosh apples and am going to give it a try. I’m assuming that either MacIntosh or Rome Beauty were the types of apples that my grandmother used, because those were the types of cooking apples available then.

There is a larger variety of apples to chose from at grocery stores today than when I was growing up, but they’re mainly for eating fresh. I learned the hard way to use only cooking apples for cooking. In my younger years, I foolishly tried cooking with Red Delicious apples, but they just fall apart and their flavor doesn’t hold up to cooking.

Granny Smiths would have been another good choice. I’m down to my last few Granny Smiths from our semi-dwarf tree in back, but they’re going into a crumb-topped apple pie that I’ll make later today. Most of my Thanksgiving cooking is going to get done tonight, as I’m leaving shortly for our Thanksgiving dinner for Corps Members at the Orange County Conservation Corps (www.hireyouth.org/).

I’ll update this post later to add photos and let you know how the cinnamon apples turned out. One thing is for sure. The house is going to smell great while those apples are cooking!

I made a syrup from 2C water, 3/4 C sugar, one sliced Meyer lemon, 1 stick cinnamon and 2 tsp whole allspice.

OK, here’s the scoop on my cinnamon apples. I peeled and cored the six apples while cooking 2 C of water and 3/4C sugar in a deep skillet. Woe is me, I had only one cinnamon stick in the pantry, so I put that into the skillet along with 2 tsp whole allspice. I think that box of allspice had belonged to my mother, so they’re probably as old as the La Brea tar pits. I tasted the syrup and it seemed to lack something (flavor?), so I picked a Meyer lemon from the backyard, the first of the season, sliced it, and added it to the syrup along with 12 drops of red food coloring. Then I added the apples and simmered them for about 15-20 minutes.

Apples are supposed to cook in the sugar syrup until tender--these turned to mush

Well, four out of six MacIntosh apples fell apart. Undaunted, I just mashed them all up with a spoon. I thought I’d make chunky, spicy applesauce instead. It tasted pretty good, but then I decided that the addition of a cup of cranberries would make it even better.

Cranberries need oranges, so I picked a navel orange from my backyard, again the first of the season, and grated the peel into the sauce. I just finished cooking the cranberry/applesauce and WOW. I’ll probably never be able to duplicate it, but I think I have a hit.

Add grated orange peel and cook the cranberries, apples, and syrup together after removing the spices and lemon.

Here are the ingredients. While the content of this blog is copyrighted, feel free to copy this recipe for personal use.

Holiday Spiced Cranberry/applesauce

6 cooking apples, peeled and cored

1 stick cinnamon

2 tsp whole allspice

2 C water

3/4 C sugar

1 Meyer lemon, sliced

12 drops red food coloring (optional)

1 C whole cranberries

grated peel of one orange

Put the spices and lemon into a cheesecloth bag to make removal easier (sure wish I’d thought of that BEFORE I started). Cook until the fruit sauce is thick, remove cheesecloth bag, and pour into a hot canning jar. Let stand until it reaches room temperature, then chill overnight. Serve with turkey or pork roast. Makes 5 cups.

Finished cranberry applesauce

Process this in a water bath if you want to store a batch on the shelf, but we’ll be eating all of ours tomorrow.

From philly.com comes the story of a transgender death:

Hamilton, 20, a male-to-female transgender from Little Rock, Ark., died during a spiritual cleansing inside the home of a Camden County voodoo priest on July 10.

Yesterday, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office said that Hamilton’s death had been accidental, resulting from the combined effects of “physical exhaustion, ambient room temperature and an oxygen-depleted atmosphere.”

The only substance found in Hamilton’s system, her mother said, was cinnamon.

Five Day Break Ahead!!!

My only big plans over the break consist of a short shopping trip with la madre tomorrow!  Otherwise, it’s just relaxation (and a little homework) during my time off.

This morning, I started out my day with a bowl of Kashi Heart to Heart.  I first reached for the organic skim milk, but then let my chocolate craving be my guide and opted for light chocolate soymilk.  YUM!  With an organic banana on the side.

After a LONNNGGGGG day at school, I came home and kicked off my weekend with an organic pomegranate, Fage 2% greek yogurt, raw sunflower seeds, and a sparkling iced green tea.

Gotta love mixing!

This evening, I let my inner “Squash Master” (as Averie has dubbed me ) take over, and popped an orange acorn squash into the oven.  I topped it off with the usual cinnamon and ginger and savored the deliciousness!

I’m headed downstairs to get in some treadmill walking before calling it a night!

Final call for my Giving Thanks Giveaway!  A winner will be chosen tomorrow night!

Heather

Well, I never thought that I’d turn out to be a blogger. To be honest, I consider myself to a private person when it comes to my personal life. But this is going to be an experiment. I want to see if ranting online will make me feel better, if only so that no one in my real life doesn’t know. I’m sure they’re pretty tired of my complaining. XD

I suppose I’ll start with how I’m feeling right now: pathetic. Hence the title of this post. Now, if anyone is reading this, they’re probably thinking that I’m some melodramatic idiot of a girl who doesn’t understand life (or something to that effect). But I give my word that isn’t quite the case. Everyone is entitled to moments of self-pity. It just so happens that my moments have been lasting for about a month. And of course, the source of these feelings stem from a guy. Sound familiar? XD

For some background, this boy, who I’m going to nickname Cinna (He always has a cinnamon-like smell), is in one of the martial arts clubs I’m involved with on campus. He’s someone you can’t help but like as a person, at the very least. I met him last year, when I was freshman and he was sophomore, and I’ve kind of been half-in-love with him for about a year. Have you ever met someone who makes you feel ten times better when they look at you? That’s what he does to me. I always feel like smiling when he’s around. He’s funny, nice, a total nerd like me XD, and we like the same movies and such.

Unfortunately, I know we’ll be nothing more than friends. Not that it’s a bad thing. He makes a wonderful friend. But I do want something more than that. I don’t exactly know why he doesn’t feel the way I do, but I get nothing but platonic vibes off him, false signals or no.

By the way, quick sidenote: FALSE SIGNALING IS FUCKING FRUSTRATING! Surely you all know what I’m talking about. Those strange glances you catch, where you know they’ve been looking at you. The playful expression on they’re face when you share a silent, but implicitly understood joke. Those touches that aren’t quite intimate but are certainly not platonic. Or one of my favorites: he invites you over to his dorm (where he lives by himself, no roommate at all) and you spend three or four hours there watching horror movies. And then all the formerly mentioned signals occur during such a situation as well.

Needless to say, I was confused, am confused, and probably will remain confused. Because outside of these occasional signals, he treats me like he treats any of his friends. It probably doesn’t help that I’m one of those girls who, due to interest in martials arts and video games, usually gets lumped in the “girl-who-is-one-of-the-guys” category. But still. >.<

I’m not the only one who’s noticed this signaling thing, either. People from our club, who know us both very well, have asked me if Cinna and I are dating. Hell, one of his best friends from high school has even remarked on it.

So I guess that it’s silly, but I feel kind of pathetic. I’m head-over-heels for a guy who treats me like his other martial arts buddies. I’m certainly not going to say anything to him about it since he makes a wonderful friend that I don’t want to lose, but I can’t seem to walk away from it either.

So, I suppose this is where I end with something witty, emo, or dumb phrase. Instead, I leave you with MLIA (My Life Is Avarage).

Kicks and Hugs,

Artemis

I have been up and down Wales promoting The Schoolboy over the last few weeks. The last venue was Bangor, and I’d like to thank everyone who made the effort to attend on such a blustery, rainy evening.

But I will also be bringing The Schoolboy to London. The last leg of my 2009 ‘tour’ will be on Saturday, 5th December at Clapham library, from 7pm. There will be refreshments available (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic), and it’s free to get in. Here’s a map to help you find it. The address is 1 Northside, Clapham Common SW4 0QW. The nearest tube station is Clapham Common. See you there, I hope!

For a while, there were a lot of pumpkins bouncing around this blog. Usually the most frequent bright orange ingredient you’ll find here is a sweet potato, but it is pumpkin season, and we’ve been using the big fruit a lot. This may be one of, if not the final, pumpkin recipe you’ll see here until the need to overdose on pumpkin returns. Although it can be applied to recipes in a great way, there comes a time when you have to say ‘No more!’ Maybe you haven’t boarded the train to See You Laterville yet, but we may just be ready to bid adieu to pumpkin after this.
This recipe was inspired by the pumpkin mascarpone dip we made for Amir’s birthday dinner. It was smooth, creamy and rich–perfect to layer in between sheets of pasta. The sausage adds a noticeable spicy and obviously meaty level to a dish that is full of vegetables and lots of cheese. The best part may just be the bites of sage that mesh well with just about everything. One of our friends had a couple of servings, and she really loved the way sweet and savory do a sexy tango in this dish!

Pumpkin and Sausage Lasagna – Serves 8 to 10
1 pound lasagna noodles, cooked
16 ounces mascarpone cheese
3 cups pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 links spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
1 small red onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
12-14 fresh sage leaves, chopped
5 cups fresh spinach leaves, roughly chopped
3 cups mozzarella, shredded
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn
Olive oil

1. Using an electric mixer, beat mascarpone cheese, pumpkin puree, honey, cumin, ginger, cinnamon and salt until smooth. Set aside.

2. Swirl a bit of olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. When oil is hot enough, add garlic and onions, tossing until coated. Slide in sausage and mushrooms and cook down until sausage has browned fully, approximately 10-12 minutes. Break up sausage as it cooks. Remove from heat and stir in sage. Set aside.

3. Spread a thin layer of olive oil over the bottom and sides of a deep 9″x13″ baking dish. Add about 1/4 cup of pumpkin mascarpone spread to the bottom of the dish and spread evenly to both sides. Top with three lasagna noodles, followed by another layer of mascarpone spread, a handful of spinach, a bit of the sausage and vegetables and a handful of shredded mozzarella. Repeat until all of the ingredients have been used.

4. Top the final layer with the fresh mozzarella pieces and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 375 degrees. Uncover and bake another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Click HERE for printable recipe.

I have watched many hours of ice sports on TV this weekend. It was a hockey & figure skating extravaganza! It’s making me long to get back out there myself. Oh skating, why you gotta be so expensive?

I started my Sunday morning…well….with very little morning left. Oops! Breakfast basically turned into lunch.

I went with a bowl of Matcha Green Tea Goji Oatmeal.

• 1/3 cup oats, almond milk, water
• 1 tbsp Ruth’s Chia Goodness cereal
• 1 tbsp dried goji berries
• 3/4 tsp matcha powder
• Artisana Coconut Butter
• sliced almonds

And a glass of cranberry pomegranate juice.

Dining on the living room rug? Nah, it was just for photography purposes

After enjoy breakfast, figure skating, and catching up on blogging, I made my way outside for a walk with my mom. We only had to endure a short rain storm, and made it home relatively dry. I was needing a little snack by then – bring on the yogurt mess!

Plain, non-fat yogurt, quince compote, pomegranate seeds, and the end of a jar of macadamia nut butter.

Oh, how I’d forgotten how amazing that macadamia nut butter is. I may have to break down and shell out the dough for a new jar one day soon.

Then I had a date with Jillian Michaels and her No More Trouble Zones. I just needed to get some serious sweat on. By the time I was done that, dinner was on the table.

Starting with a wee pour of red wine, leftover from my parent’s social evening last night.

We had baked pork chops with stuffing.

A baked potato with sour cream, a little bit of buttah, and pepper.

And steamed asparagus.

Fun Sunday night dinner.

I followed dinner with a (blurry) piece of dark chocolate.

Then it was time to watch hockey, be disappointed in my team’s loss, and watch the rest of the skating I had taped. So good – I’m excited for Canada’s chances for some figure skating hardware at the Olympics.

Snacky hunger came a calling, and I answered with a piece of cinnamon toast – Silver Hills Squirrelly bread, buttah, brown sugar, and a crap ton of cinnamon.

Plus a mug of Stash Decaf Vanilla Creme Nut tea with almond milk.

Cinnamon toast totally reminds me of being a kid.

And now my mom is watching the skating I taped, so I’m going to go enjoy it again – it was just that good! Night!

Don’t forget to enter my POM juice giveaway!

I have a very big collection of herbs and spices in my pantry. I adore herbs and spices, and I like playing around with different flavour combinations in dishes. But it seems that I always come back to the same ones, because for some reason I just can’t get enough of them: cinnamon, cumin, red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, and rosemary. Those are my standbys: if I feel that I need a little something extra to jazz up a dish, I’ll toss in one or a combination of the above, and voila! Problem solved.

When we tend to gravitate towards the same kinds of foods, it’s usually because that food contains something our body really needs. We can learn something about what might be missing from what we can’t seem to get enough of. In Chinese medicine, it has to do with warming/cooling foods and the effect that these things have on the body. I was curious about the health benefits from the spices that I mentioned above, and what that might mean about what my body is lacking and therefore requires from external sources. This is an overview of what I found:

Cinnamon:

- 1 tsp of cinnamon contains the same amount of antioxidants as 1 cup pomegranate juice or 1/2 cup blueberries

- Contains polyphenols, which act like insulin and thus regulate blood sugar levels (diabetics, rejoice!)

- Has anti-inflammatory properties to prevent blood clots

- Boosts metabolism and aids digestion

- Protects against fungi diseases and can help with the healing process when you have the flu

Cumin:

- Helps with digestion and insomnia

- Boosts immune system

- Detoxifies and prevents against cancer

- Improves health of skin and skin disorders

- Combats respiratory disorders

Red Pepper Flakes:

- Rich in antioxidants

- Increases satiety, making us feel full faster and thus helps to control our appetites

- Boosts metabolism

- Kills bacteria that causes stomach ulcers and stomach cancer

- Clears congestion

Oregano:

- 1 tsp of oregano contains as many antioxidants as 3 oz of almonds and 1/2 cup chopped asparagus; gram for gram, it is 4 times as potent as blueberries when it comes to antioxidants

- Inhibits bacteria and parasite growth

- Very good source of nutrients such as fibre and iron

- Ancient Greeks and Romans used oregano as a symbol for happiness (aww!)

- Excellent source of vitamin K

Basil:

- Excellent source of vitamin K (I find that oregano and basil often go very well together, so it makes sense that they would have a similar nutrition profile)

- Very good source of iron, calcium, and vitamin A

- Good source of magnesium and potassium

- Blocks an enzyme in the body that causes swelling, thus helping people who have arthritis

- Contains flavanoids which prevent cell structure from being damaged by radiation and oxygen

Rosemary:

- Stimulates the immune system and increases circulation

- Improves digestion

- Contains anti-inflammatory compounds that reduce the severity of asthma

- Increases blood flow to the brain, thus improving concentration

- Fresh rosemary has 25% more manganese than its dried counterpart, but it also has 40% less calcium and iron than when it’s dried, so it’s good to use both interchangeably to reap all of the benefits

The Universal Food Rating System is as follows:

Excellent Source: the food provides more than 75% of your recommended daily value of that nutrient per serving

Very Good Source: the food provides more than 50% of your recommended daily value of that nutrient per serving

Good Source: the food provides more than 25% of your recommended daily value of that nutrient per serving

Spices for Health

I find it really interesting that so many of these herbs and spices have the same kinds of health benefits. And all of them are things which I know that my body really does need help with. I found the notes about digestion and insomnia particularly interesting for myself, personally. I’m looking forward to bringing this up with my nutritionist to hear what she has to say about all of it. It could be that my body needs extra help with all of those antioxidants, too.

How about you? What herbs and spices do you find yourself using repeatedly? Do you think that it might be partly because your body needs the properties and nutrients contained within those herbs and spices?

The above information about herbs and spices can be found in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, World’s Healthiest Foods, and Organic Facts.

Time for Thanksgiving review number 2! I figured applesauce and apple butter would fit the bill nicely. We always use applesauce as a compliment to the other dishes, but I like it in place of gravy with my turkey and I like using it as a condiment the next day for cold turkey and apple sandwiches. Yum! So i was excited to try products by Vermont Village Cannery. They make applesauce in the individual cups and jars in flavors Original Unsweetened, Raspberry, Mixed Berry, Peach, Strawberry-Banana, Maple Syrup, Tropical Mango, Cranberry and Cinnamon and they also make a Spiced Apple Butter.  Basically, me being the fan of applesauce that i am, i’m in applesauce heaven. All of the products are naturally grown and made in Vermont, and the apples are purchased locally and are pesticide free. They also don’t have any added sugars or preservatives, and most of the products are organic if not all  natural.
I got to try the Peach, Cinnamon, Strawberry Banana and Maple Syrup varieties of the applesauce, and the spiced apple butter. What did i think?

Each of the applesauces had a velvety smooth texture, which I absolutely loved. No chunks, pieces or even tiny blumps in these applesauces. It had a smooth feeling going down, and you can tell a lot of TLC was put into cooking and making the applesauces. I enjoyed every single flavor I tried.

Peach- this one had a strong and subtly sweet peach flavor, complimented nicely by the apple. I froze this one for about 30 minutes, and had a little peach slushie. Yum! 4 stars

Cinnamon- oooh. total dessert applesauce we got here. SO smooth, SO delicious. The cinnamon flavor is absolutely perfect, and it tastes as if it had been simmering with cinnamon sticks and cooked for a while to acheive such a good taste. 4 1/2 stars

Strawberry-Banana- this one had more of a tartness to it than the peach, probably due to the strawberry flavor. I didn’t taste much banana, but rather more of a strawberry-apple combination. It also had just the right amount of sweetness. 4 stars

Maple Syrup-  another favorite. I was so excited to try this one, because i adore maple flavored things. It was the smoothest out of all of them texture wise, and had just a hint of maple flavor. It also had a bit of a lemon aftertaste. I heated it up in the microwave and it tasted like the inside of an apple pie. Deeeeeeee-lish. I would liek to crush some graham cracker crumbs and heat this up and place it on top- sort of like a mock pie! 4 1/2 stars

Spiced Apple Butter- Vermont Village Cannery is awarded BEST APPLE BUTTER EVER. Seriously. This stuff BLEW ME AWAY. It had a buttery (heh, no pun intended) consistency and it was sweet despite no added sugar. It had a nice blend of a nutmeg/cinnamon/maple taste, and I would totally eat it out of the jar (in fact, i did ) . It was perfect on waffles and heated up. I also used it in place of jelly for my usual PB&J and let’s just say I didn’t miss my sweet grape jelly at all. This stuff is SO good YOU MUST TRY IT. 5 stars!!!

Overall, obviosuly I loved these products. There great and perfect this time of the year, and anytime in my eyes I’m giving 4 stars to the applesauce, and 5 for the apple butter. I would like to try the tropical mango variety. It sounds delish! Clearly, Apples +Vermont Village Cannery = amazing. Keep up the good work!

What’s your favorite flavor of applesauce? Tell me here!

1 individual cup/ 1/2 cup applesauce ranges from 60-80 calories, 0 grams of fat, 16-20 carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of protein.

1 Tablespoon of the applebutter provides 30 calories, 0 grams of fat,  8 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, and 0 grams of protein.

Peach-Organic apples, Organic peach and apple puree, organic white grape juice concentrate, vitamin C, natural flavor.
Cinnamon-Organic apples,  organic white grape juice concentrate, organic cinnamon, organic nutmeg, vitamin C.
Strawberry Banana-Organic Apples, Organic Bananas, Organic Strawberries, Organic White Grape Juice Concentrate, Vitamin C, Natural Flavors.
Maple Syrup- Apples, Maple Syrup, Grape Juice Concentrate, Vitamin C.

Spiced Apple Butter- Organic Apple Puree, Organic Apples, Organic Spices, Organic Caramel Color.

For my first batch of cupcakes I decided to go with something seasonal and settled on Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes.  As the recipe page states, “this winning combination is comfort food at its best.” Sounded like a perfect treat on this brisk fall Sunday afternoon.  

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt  
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1.5 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups sweetened apple cider
• 2 apples, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Insert liners into medium cupcake pans
2. Prepare cupcakes in a bowl, sift white flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon
3. Place butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, beat with the mixer’s flat beater on medium speed until mixture is light and airy
4. Reduce mixing speed to low, add eggs one at a time, mixing well
5. Gradually add dry ingredients (prepared in step 2), and cider, mixing well until matter is smooth
6. Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full
7. Top cupcake batter with apple slices, fan-like, with each slice partially dipped into the batter
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cupcakes are springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the cupcake’s center comes out clean
9. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 10 minutes
10. Decorate: Before serving, sprinkle cupcakes with cinnamon sugar

It was super easy combining all the ingredients.  I didn’t have a flat beater, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.  Clearly, I didn’t do the best job of fanning the apple slices, but oh well!  Appearance isn’t everything, right?!

Ready to go in the oven:

About 25 minutes later….

Sooo the fanned apple slices got even more messed up after the cupcakes started rising, but they smelled delicious right out of the oven!!!  I immediately sprinkled the cinnamon-sugar on top of each cupcake and it started crystalizing right away.  Smelled like pure heaven!

The recipe claims to make 12 cupcakes, but I had leftover batter after the first batch, so I cut up an apple and mixed the chunks in, rather than re-attempt the fanning.  I had enough for 7 more cupcakes!  

The apple-chunky batter….

… 25 minutes later:

All in all, these were DELICIOUS!  They definitely tasted a lot more like muffins than cupcakes, most likely because of the whole wheat flour and lack of frosting.  Now I can have them with coffee for breakfast tomorrow!  

My next batch will definitely be something sweet and savory with lots of frosting and indulgence… mmm I can’t wait!

Anyway, it’s 4:30PM, and I have a football game to watch!  Pats vs. Jets… and the Jets are going D.O.W.N.

Happy Sunday and GO PATRIOTS!

American Pecan Macaron with Caramel Filling, Moonglow Cooks

American Pecan Macaron with Caramel Filling, Moonglow Cooks

American Pecan Macaron with Caramel Filling, Moonglow Cooks

Ingredients

Makes about 30

• 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (4 ounces) PECANS in lieu of the traditional almonds, Costco item of the day!
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

You may use more or less of the pumpkin spice:

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves

Directions

Last week my Grandma was perusing the “Food” section of our local newspaper and found a bread recipe chock full of flax seed meal and pumpkin puree for fall flavor and moisture.  While the recipe doesn’t explictly say this, I noticed an oil/fat substitution involving a couple of bananas—there is virtually no fat in the entire recipe, save a couple of eggs.

There was a time about three years ago when I was very – shall I say – enthusiastic about fat substitutions.  My cookies had no oil, just apple sauce; my blondies had no butter, just bananas.  And every dessert in my house tasted like cardboard!  It didn’t take long for me to embrace the fatty stuff.  (Bring on the buttah!)

Suffice it to say, I was a bit skeptical about this “healthy” recipe.  Boy, was I delightfully surprised!  This recipe made two loaves, both of which were devoured in 3 days by my entire family (I single-handedly demolished one of them).  Even after three days, the bread retained its moisture, chewy texture and warm taste of fall spices.  I made a couple of tweaks to the original recipe (my version below), but I didn’t alter the shockingly high amount of flax seed meal (3/4 of a cup!).  I imagine, though, if you don’t have that much on hand in your fridge, you could substitute oat bran for some of the flax seed meal.  That’s my hunch.

I loved eating a thick slice of this loaf, slightly toasted,  smeared with a generous dollop of raw, toasted almond butter.  And for the record: if you shy away from banana breads, the fall spices/pumpkin supersede the banana-taste.

Ingredients:
15 oz. pumpkin puree (1 can)
2 ripe bananas (verging on the black-side)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
3/4 cup ground flax meal
1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 + 1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Methods:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 22 x 11 x 6cm loaf pans.

2. In a blender or Cuisinart, combine liquids and blend.

3.  In a separate bowl, stir dry ingredients.  Add liquids to dry, stirring lightly, just until incorporated.

4.  Bake 60-70 minutes, until top of each loaf is golden-brown and a knife/toothpick comes out clean.  The bread will give away from the sides.  Remove from oven and let cool for a few hours until cool or barely warm.  The breads will slide right out of each pan.  Cool completely before sealing in an airtight bag or container.  These breads also freeze well; wrap in plastic wrap and seal in an airtight bag to freeze.  On occasion, I’ve found that plastic-wrap can lock in moisture and leave gooey spots on breads when left thawing; I recommend letting it thaw without any plastic around it.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I wanted to post another pie recipe for you. In my household, I was always at odds with my older brother during the holidays. I’ve been putting together Thanksgiving dinner for my family since I was 16, but I am a lover of pumpkin pie and my brother is not so much so. Oh, and my mom is partial to lemon meringue. That said, many a year we would end up with multiple pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Not that I’m complaining. There’s no such thing as too much pie!

So here’s my recipe for apple pie, just in time for those of you that aren’t too keen on pumpkin (although I strongly urge you to try my recipe for Honey Pumpkin Pie before you write off completely).

There’s plenty of discussion around what kind of apples to use in an apple pie, but I use a mixture of what’s readily available at the local supermarket. I pick up some Granny Smiths for tartness and texture, Fuji apples for sweetness, and Galas for juiciness. Paired with an all-butter crust, the product that you get has great mouth feel – the Granny Smiths hold their shape nicely while the Fujis balance out the sour Grannies and the Galas melt into the cinnamon-y filling.

Dessert nirvana awaits you with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream.

Amy’s Classic Apple Pie

Butter Pie Dough | Baking Illustrated

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tbl. sugar
• 1/2 c. vegetable shortening, chilled
• 12 tbl. unsalted butter, cold, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 6-8 tbl. water

Directions

1. Mix together dry ingredients.
2. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two forks until the flour mixture has the texture of course sand.
3. Cut in the butter until the flour mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Sprinkle flour with 6 tablespoons of the ice water and mix until dough starts to come together. If dough still seems dry, add more ice water as needed.
5. Gather dough into 2 balls and flatten each into a 4-inch disk.
6. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days before rolling.

Apple Filling | My own recipe

Ingredients

• 8 medium-sized apples, of different varieties (I used 2 Granny Smith, 3 Fuji, 3 Gala)
• Cinnamon and sugar to taste
• Juice and zest of half a lemon
• 1/4 c. flour

Directions

1. Peel, core, and cut the apples into 1/4-inch slices, tossing with lemon zest and juice.
2. Season with sugar and cinnamon to your liking.
3. Sprinkle flour over the apple mixture and mix thoroughly.

Putting it together: Preheat oven to 500F. Roll out one pie dough disk into a glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1/2-inch. Refrigerate this dough while you roll out the second disk. Remove pie dish from refrigerator, put in apple filling, top with second crust. Trim overhang to 1/2-inch. Flute the two pie crusts together. Cut vents on the top crust.

Put the pie in the oven and lower the temperature to 425F. After 25 minutes, lower the temperature to 375F, loosely covering the pie with foil if the crust is browning to quickly. Bake for another 30 minutes.

Transfer pie to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours.

One day down, One day to go!

I’m SO glad I have a short week of school… I think we all need a bit of a break by this time in the school year. Classes, schedules, work, and everyday life tend to catch up to a person pretty quickly, and it’s important to have these breaks just to have time to kick back and unwind!

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my future lately, and that’s definitely been an overwhelming and stressful endeavor.  I do want to take time to sort things out over my long weekend, but I will make sure to keep in mind my mental health (aka YOGA, renting a few movies, chatting with my brothers who will be home from college, Gossip Girl, reading, and the likes).

Anyways, I think it’s time we move on to a few foodie dishes!

Yesterday’s lunch was a Joseph’s Pita filled with

• organic tempeh
• organic spinach
• organic romaine
• orange bell peppers

With a key lime activia light and POM juice.

Snack Time!!!  I had ~3/4 cup Fage 2% greek yogurt, an organic pomegranate, a persimmon, and a sparkling iced green tea.

I ended up mixing some of the organic pomegranate in the Fage 2% greek yogurt absolutely loved it!  The thickness of Fage 2% is the perfect mixing texture.  Definitely try this combination out!

Dinner was totally simple, but SO darn good.  I made sweet potato crisps topped with loads of cinnamon and dipped them in MaraNatha almond butter.  I also had a glass of organic skim milk.

In the mail today, I received this wonderful Happy Thanksgiving card and coupons from Kristina over at Stonyfield.  She knows me all too well.   Thanks so much Kristina!

Now I have to hit the books for a while this evening before calling it a night!  Hope everyone is off to wonderful start on their Turkey Week!
  

Reminder to enter my Giving Thanks Giveaway! 

Heather

This year marks the first time ever in my life that I’ve undertaken the process of making applesauce. I love applesauce in many forms and applications and I’ve been a slave to expensive commercially jarred organic sauce for too long! When the first wave of this season’s apples showed up, they were delicious Fuji apples but they had some spots on the skins and weren’t too appetizing for out-of-hand eating. Plus, there were just so damn many of them!

I investigated several traditional methods of making applesauce. As far as canning applesauce, I’m particularly fond of the process on PickYourOwn.org, because the methods they describe seem to take all the best and none of the worst from other instructions I’ve read. However, that method does require a large sieve or food mill of some kind and I don’t have one. Yet. Lucky for me, the same site offers an alternate method that doesn’t require any “special” equipment and looks quite easy.

So, why am I not talking much about my actual applesauce-making experience? Well, friends, it’s because I didn’t use either of the methods I linked you to above. I just wanted you to be aware that they exist, in case you decide to set off on your own saucy adventure. But now that I’ve done that, I can get down to the real nitty-gritty and tell you what really happened.

I copped out!

We recently acquired a second-hand slow cooker, with intent to prepare well-planned meals in advance for dinner and leftover lunches. We’ve done some of that, and we’ll do some more, but in the meanwhile, I’ve been using our slow cooker to do all the tedious work of making applesauce.

Ok, maybe not ALL of the work. I’m still responsible for peeling, coring and chopping up the apples and dumping them into the slow cooker. But from there, man, that little machine takes over and my applesauce is worry-free!

I found the basic instructions for slow cooker applesauce on Erin’s Food Files and I developed 3 different recipes that you just HAVE to try. Really!

Here’s the method I used for all 3 batches:

Peel, core and chop/crumble apples. Toss with lemon juice (see recipes) and add herbs and spices. Cover and set slow cooker on “low” for 6-7 hours (or overnight). Remove citrus peels and drain off liquid for later use. Mash/food process. Jar. Eat. Freeze. Can. Love!

THE CLASSIC
This is a no-fuss applesauce that really allows the flavors of your apples to shine. This recipe would be great to use as a baking substitute or for snacking anytime.

10-12 Fuji, Jazz, Honeycrisp or other similar red/sweet/crisp apple variety, peeled, cored and chopped/crumbled
1 Granny Smith apple
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 large pieces of orange peel

Place apples in slow cooker with lemon juice and toss to coat. Add all other ingredients and give it another toss to combine. Cook and store according to the instructions above.

SPICY APPLESAUCE
This batch has a nice kick to it, and I’m willing to bet it would be FANTASTIC as a topping for chocolate cake. I also like to put this one in my oatmeal.

12 apples (see previous recipe for note on variety), peeled, cored and chopped
2 Tbsp lemon juice or fresh orange juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Fresh ground black pepper
2 large pieces of orange peel

Toss apples with juice, then stir in rest of ingredients. Cook and store according to the instructions above.

MORE THAN APPLESAUCE
Technically, this is closer to compote than applesauce. But who needs to get technical, anyway? This one’s great on waffles, with soy yogurt or as a pastry filling.

12 apples (see above)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 large pieces of orange peel

Toss apples with lemon juice and stir in other ingredients. Cook and store according to the original instructions!

So, there you have it, folks. Applesauce 3 ways, applesauce for all occasions! Don’t be afraid to experiment with your sauces, and keep in mind this little tip:

If you don’t want one huge batch of a flavored or spiced applesauce, just start off by making The Classic. After 5 hours of slow cooking, transfer 1/2 or 1/4 of your apples to a large saucepan and add the corresponding amount of spices (cut by half or down to 1/4) to the saucepan. Simmer on low for an hour, covered, and then continue as you would normally with the draining and jarring!

I am happy to be attending a random gathering of people for the festival of thanks and giving this week at the vancouver street house (aka: where all my friends live). As true to my food-geek and control-freak nature, I have been thinking about what to make for many days now.

Yesterday I tested an *amazing* yummy cake from the conscious kitchen.   Last week she wrote about a spicy chocolate pumpkin cake and I finally got to test it yesterday- and it is definitely coming to dinner with me on thursday!  You must try this recipe (or come to dinner with me!)
The cake is soft and moderately dense (due to the pumpkin puree), deep chocolately (melted bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder) and chai-spicy (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cayenne, and I added cardamon too).  I didn’t try the frosting yet, but I trust that it will be yum.

This recipe makes one 8 inch cake (I used a springform pan), but I would like to try to double the recipe and make two layers of the cake… maybe with some spicy vanilla frosting in the middle, with the chocolate ganache frosting on the top.

I saw this recipe in one of the last Bon Appétit magazines that I received and I knew I would love it, with the combination of the unique flavors in a chocolate cake.  Sure enough, it was delicious! 

If you’re looking for a fun unique dessert, give this one a try!

Chocolate-Cinnamon Bundt Cake w/ Mocha Icing

1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
4 teaspoons instant espresso powder, divided
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously brush 12-to 15-cup nonstick Bundt pan with oil. Whisk 1 cup boiling water, cocoa powder, and 2 teaspoons espresso powder in 2-cup glass measure. Whisk 2 cups flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat 2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup vegetable oil, and 1 tablespoon vanilla in large bowl to blend. Add eggs; beat to blend. Beat mixture until smooth, about 30 seconds longer. Beat in half of flour mixture, then cocoa mixture. Add remaining flour mixture; beat to blend. Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips. Transfer batter to prepared Bundt pan.

My world is forever changed. Banana Rabanda owns my soul

AND.

Can you believe this? I put up an open invitation for free breakfast and s’nogged coffee at my house last night on my facebook status and sent out 12 enticing text messages this morning and NO ONE WAS AT MY HOUSE TO SHARE IT WITH ME FOR BREAKFAST. It’s okay, I’m not angry… just disappointed. Yeahhh, that makes the lack of Rabanda in your life sting, doesn’t it? Hah! Jerks.

FYI: Your second opportunity arises in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia on December 26th. Contact me for more details.

Banana Rabanda

suckas!

xo.

TFish