Cheese Bread

I love bread, and I love cheese.  So if you put both together, it is absolutely incredible, in my eyes at least.  I've picked up a few loaves of cheddar bread baked at our local grocery store, and I have been on the lookout for a good recipe but hadn't seen anything.  And then came yesterday!  I had some surgery, which frankly had me far more afraid than normal people, but I am not that normal.  Anyway, my wonderfully attentive boyfriend pampered me all day once I got home; this included getting me Tylenol, tea, dinner, and - get ready for it  - my very own giant Cuisinart Premier Series 11-Cup Food Processor!  What better medicine for a girl than to hand her a brand spanking new food processor when she has been complaining about her 40-year-old one!  It was very sweet.  Of course, he then begged me to use it all day, but I was too sore.  Today I was feeling a lot better, and ready to bake some cheese bread!  The recipe book that came with the food processor had a recipe for cheese bread, and I was pretty excited to give it a shot with my new fancy schmancy machine!

What is cool about my processor is that it has a "dough" setting and a dough blade, so it can be used to make breads and do your kneading for you.  First I had to shred my own cheese; now you know I love shredding my own anyway for quality reasons, but it does take a long time.  Or, should I say, it did!  With the shredding attachment, I shredded half a block of cheddar in seconds.  It was pretty cool.  Then the dough got mixed right in the processor.  It rose beautifully, and it gets a nice airy texture because you roll the dough into a jelly roll shape before you put it in a loaf pan. 

I am quite happy with the final results.  There may be nothing better than warm cheese bread with sharp cheddar mixed inside!  I loved it.  I know that Nick will love it too because we share an affinity for cheese breads.  Probably Mom will hate it because it "has flavor" but that's okay because Nick and I will take care of it!

I'll post the recipe, even though it calls for the food processor to be used.  I am very sure you could make the bread without it and juse use a mixer, if you're not as lucky as I am with my new processor:) Love you, Marky!

Recipe:

cheese bread

from the Cuisinart Premier Series 11-Cup Food Processor Recipe Book

Ingredients:
1  1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water (105 - 115 degrees)
4 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese
4  1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in 1-inch pieces
1  1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fat free milk (I used 1%)
cooking spray

Directions:

1)  In a 2-cup measuring cup, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water.  Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

2) Insert medium shredding disc and shred cheese.  Leave work in bowl.  Remove shredding disc and insert dough blade.  Add flour, butter and salt; process to combine, about 20 seconds.

3)  Add milk to yeast mixture.  With machine running on dough speed, pour milk mixture through small feed tube as fast as the flour will absorb itand process until dough cleans the side of the work bowl.  Then process for 45 seconds to knead dough.  Place dough in a lightly floured plastic food storage bag and seal top.  Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

4) Spray one 9 x 5-inch loaf with cooking spray. Place dough on a lightly floured surface aand punch down.  Roll dough in a 9 x 5-inch rectangle  Beginning with the short end, roll up the dough jelly roll-fashion.  Pinch the seam and ends tightly to seal.  Place in greased loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap coated with vegetable cooking spray.  Let rise for 45 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

5) Bake until top is well browned and loaf sounds hollow when tapped, about 35-40 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Keeping Busy

I am trying to keep myself busy today.  There is something on my mind that has me all worried and nervous, and I have been trying to keep myself thinking about other things. This made it a perfect day to cook and bake up a storm.  It definitely helped that we are in the middle of a hurricane and thus had the day off from work!  It meant I could spent literally the entire day in the kitchen.

 

I started off with lunch.  I was craving some real comfort food, and immediately decided I needed to make bread bowls.  Those were the easy decision, but then I had to figure out what to put inside them!  I decided to be healthy and check out the soups on the Skinny Taste blog.  I was thrilled when I found the macaroni and cheese soup with broccoli.  Kenzie and I have been talking about the soup that we got at the Big E back in September: we got bread bowls with cheddar and broccoli soup, which in and of itself does not sound amazing, but the soup was incredible, and we think mostly it was because of the noodles!  I've never had cheddar and broccoli soup with pasta in it, and it was amazing.  I have been looking for recipes like that and haven't seen anything.  I know I could just dump some pasta into a regular soup recipe, but I figured there was more to it than that.  Then I found this recipe today.  It's a cheddar and broccoli soup, but not blended -which I like.  I want some chunks in my soup!  And it has pasta!  And it's low fat!  So I was pumped.

The bread bowls, to begin with, are truly amazing.  They are pretty quick as far as yeast breads go, and quite easy.  They make a great, soft, velvety dough, and they rise up instead of outwards, which makes them come out of the oven looking like perfect little snowballs.  They are such a great way to serve soup on a dark, wet, hurricaney day!  I cannot recommend them enough.

Then the soup!  This was pretty simple too, although you know me and being slow with chopping vegetables!  But today was a day I didn't mind taking my time, so it was a fun soup to make.  I doubled it to make sure that we would have plenty to eat even if we lost power - which thank god we didn't.  My only change was adding double the amount of pasta the recipe called for.  Mark bought me whole wheat shells that came in this fancy schmancy bag that was really not going to re-seal, so I figured I might as well toss them all in!  It made it a bit harder to fit a lot of soup into the bread bowls, but it was all okay in the end.  Both the bread bowls and the soup were well-received.  Mom told me my soup had a great flavor, and Kenzie said it helped her bronchitis feel better!  The soup does have a great flavor; I think it helped that I grated my own cheddar and Parmesan, but you know me: I am a cheese purist!  We still have a lot left for lunch tomorrow - and I did just find out that school is closed again, so we can eat it in the comfort of our own home :)

Then, finding myself with a long night ahead of me that desperately needed filling, I decided to make apple cider caramels.  I have blogged about these before, but they remain one of my family's favorite things that I have made.  Rachael specifically has been begging for them for the last couple weeks.  I knew I had all the ingredients, and I definitely had 3 hours to spare, so I made a batch.  It really does take a long time, because you have to bring the mixture up to 234 and then 248 degrees while leaving the stove on low.  Patience is a must for these babies!  But in the end, you have these soft brown pillows that burst with apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg flavor!  They are still cooling in the pan, but my mother and Rachael have already secretly sneaked into the kitchen and dug out spoonfulls for themselves!  I tell you, with these caramels, it is no easy feat to wait for them to cool, be cut into squares, and wrapped in wax paper :)  If you have a few hours to spare, you need to make these caramels.  They are not hard, and they don't require you to stand there stirring nonstop either; you kind of just need to babysit the bubbling goodness, and you definitely need a good candy thermometer.  Trust me: they're worth it in the end.

While I babysat my caramel, I also decided to use the pumpkin seeds from the carving that went on at my house Friday night.  I wasn't a part of the carving, but they knew enough to save the seeds for me!  I decided to try to make two different kinds, a sweet and a savory.  I found a recipe for candied pumpkin seeds that I did first.  It basically just calls for brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice.  They needed a lot more time than the recipe called for, and when I took them out finally, they did not look like the picture; they looked more caramelized than candied, and they hardened into one giant pumpkin seed brittle hunk that I had to crumble.  No one has tried them yet, but I don't think they turned out the way I had wanted.  Then I also made a batch of savory pumpkin seeds; this time I used a recipe that called for a secret ingredient: Worcestershire sauce.  Not to mention melted butter, salt and garlic powder.  I can honestly say that these are the best pumpkin seeds ever roasted at the Tucker house, and we do roast them every year.  The Worcestershire sauce really brings out the seeds' flavor, and they are so salty and flavorful.  These will be going fast.

Lots more cooking to come tomorrow... hopefully.

Recipes:
macaroni and cheese soup with broccoli
candied pumpkin seeds
toasted pumpkin seeds

Italian Bread Bowls
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Makes 6-8 bread bowls

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal

Directions:

1) In a large bowl (or bowl of an electric mixer), dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2) Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition until a soft but not sticky dough is formed (you may not need to use all 7 cups, although I did). This bread bowl dough needs to be a bit firmer than a roll/bread dough so that the bread bowls rise up instead of out.

3) When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes (or let knead in an electric mixer). Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.

4) Punch dough down, and divide into 6-8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a round ball. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal (or use silpat liners or parchment paper). If desired, slash the top surface of the bread bowl several times with a sharp knife or razor (I didn't). Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.

5) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and baked through.

Apple Cider Caramels

from Blondie's Cakes and Things

Ingredients:

2 cup high-quality apple cider

1 cup heavy cream or whipping cream, divided

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup real butter, cubed

Directions:

1) Pour cider into a medium saucepan and boil on high for about 20 minutes or until the cider is reduced to 1/3 c. Keep an eye on it...it might try to run away. Set aside to cool.

2)  Line an 8" square pan with parchment paper, making sure to leave about 1" hanging over the edges for easy removal. Coat with a bit of vegetable oil or cooking spray and set aside.

3) In a small bowl, combine 2/3 c. cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and reduced apple cider. Set aside.

4) In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, 1/3 c. whipping cream + enough water to reach the 1/2 c. line on the measuring cup, and corn syrup. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Insert the candy thermometer and simmer until the syrup reaches 234 degrees.  This takes a long time - be patient and don't turn up your heat!  It is normal when the white mixture starts to take on a caramel color... since you are making caramels after all :)

5) Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream mixture. Add the cubed butter and stir until the cream and butter are fully incorporated. Return the pan to heat and re-insert the candy thermometer. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature reaches 248 degrees.

6) Remove from heat and pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Let the mixture cool completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Cut the caramels into 1/2" squares and wrap each caramel in wax paper. Store in an airtight container or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, but I can guarantee that they won't last that long. These things are delicious!

Triple Chocolate Brownies

This is a bit of a late update, since I actually made these brownies Thursday night.  But I have been craz busy; I made the brownies to bring to a friend's house Friday after work, and then yesterday had a wedding to go to, so now I am finally getting the chance to update on my chewy fudgy triple chocolate brownies!

My family said they were craving brownies, and I knew I wanted something to bring to my friends' on Friday, so I went to my favorite blog to find a good recipe.  I have already made brownies from scratch backin the winter for my cousin's birthday, and they were great, but I wanted to try another recipe just for fun!  I was intrigued when I saw this recipe calls for three different types of chocolates: semisweet, unsweeetened and cocoa powder.    I am not a huge chocolate person, but I figured, people who are seem to love it, so triple chocolate must be even better than just one kind!

Like my other recipe, I had to use a double boiler to melt down all my chocolates and my butter, but that is probably pretty normal for from-scratch brownies.  Other than that, they were fairly easy.  I always like recipes that say to stir with "a wooden spoon."  It makes the whole thing feel so rustic!  So my mixer got the night off. 

As for the brownies themselves, they were beautiful. They were fluffy and tall and the top turned into a great shiny brown sheet.  They were a big hit with the kids at the party Friday night.  They ate a bunch (both before and after dinner!)  And I, who am not a big chocolate person like I said, still managed to force down two (okay it wasn't forcing... these are good!)  Of course, nothing can ever please everyone, and Mom and Rach claimed they were "too dark chocolate," which I  am not totally sure what that means, but okay!  However, I would say that the best part about these was the smell of my house.  It smelled great while the brownies were baking, but then again everything baking smells good.  What was interesting was that the smell lasted a long time.  When I woke up the next morning, I thought for a minute that Rachael was baking something, until I realized that Rachael would never in a million years be baking anything, never mind at 6:45 in the morning.  It was pretty great!

Recipe:
chewy fudgy triple chocolate brownies

Lasagna Tuesday

I never would have thought that I would have a night where I made two lasagnas.  To think that a year ago, I thought that I hated lasagna.  Come to find out, I just hate ground beef.  The lasagna itself is a wonderful invention: noodles, cheese, and sauce!  The options are endless, and tonight is an example of that.

my lasagna with Mark's arugula caprese!

Remember how I roasted my own spaghetti squash the other night?  Today I decided it was time to make it work for me.  There are so many options for spaghetti squash, but I was intrigued by the recipe that turns it into a lasagna!  There are no noodles in this lasagna, obviously - the squash takes its place - but the rest is very lasagna-ish: ricotta, marinara sauce, and mozzarella and Parmesan cheese!  It was very fast to throw together since the squash was already roasted.  I just had to toss it all in a casserole dish: sauce, then squash, then cheeses, more sauce, and more cheeses!  It sounds really unhealthy but I got the recipe from Skinny Taste!  Only 358 calories per serving!  And it certainly does not taste healthy; Mark was moaning about eating a fattening casserole until I informed him that I got the recipe from a low-fat blog! :)  One change I made to the recipe was that it called for you to make 4 mini lasagnas; I just put it all in one dish.  That worked just fine.  The outcome is delicious; all the mushy sauce and cheeses mix together with the crunchy "noodles" of squash; it makes for a really fun texture!  Tucky - I thought you could probably eat this!  And even my mom and Mark liked this lasagna.  Mom kept giggling and saying the squash was "funny" but she loved it :)

Then, since I had my doubts that my family would eat squash lasagna (my doubts were shockingly wrong, but who could have expected that!?) I decided to make another lasagna.  When I scrolled through my blog to see if there was anything worth repeating, I stumbled upon the lotsa green lasagna.  I was reminded how I made it one night when it was just Mom and me, and we devoured almost the entire thing ourselves!  I knew it would be a good meal to make for Mom, me and Marky tonight.  It's a lasagna, but really only because you use lasagna noodles. Everything else is very different!  There are layers of cheese, but the cheeses are mostly cottage cheese, with some mozzarella, Parmesan and goat cheese.  There is a white sauce mixed with spinach, and sauteed carrots, scallions and broccoli. Doesn't sound like your everyday lasagna, now does it?  And this is soooo good.  The cheesy layers are the perfect companion with the tender vegetables, and anything with goat cheese is a must-eat.  Mom says this is one of her favorites, and Mark had seconds.  I highly recommend this lotsa green lasagna any time you want a healthy but decadent vegetarian casserole :)  102 calories per serving - it feels like cheating!

Recipes:
spaghetti squash lasagna

 Lotsa Green Lasagna
adapted from Meatless Mondays

Ingredients:
6-8 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 teaspoon olive oil
Cooking spray
1-1/4 cups chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1-1/2 minced garlic cloves
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 oz chopped spinach
1 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup low fat mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup low fat goat cheese

 

Directions:

 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Boil lasagna noodles according to the directions on the box.

2. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan or skillet over high heat. Sauté carrots, scallions, garlic and broccoli in olive oil for about 5 minutes, or until tender, and set aside.

3. Combine mozzarella, goat and cottage cheeses in a bowl. Mix and set aside.

4. In a saucepan melt butter over medium heat, then whisk in flour. When thoroughly mixed, add milk and whisk until well blended. Turn heat up to high, cover and heat until boiling.

5. Uncover and stir constantly over high heat for about 5 minutes, or until mixture is thick.

6. When mixture is thick, take off heat and season with pepper and add 1/8 cup of Parmesan. Stir until smooth and mix in the spinach. Set aside 1/2 cup to use for the top layer of the lasagna.

7. Spray a 9 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 1/2 cup of the spinach mixture on the bottom. Next, then lay 2-3 lasagna noodles over the spinach mixture (you may need to cut noodles to fit the pan).

8. Pour half the cheese mixture followed by half of the remaining spinach mixture over the noodle layer.

9. Spread half the carrot-scallion-broccoli mixture over that, then add another layer of noodles.

10. Pour rest of the cheese mixture followed by the rest of the remaining spinach mixture on top of the noodles.

11. Spread the rest of the carrot-scallion-broccoli mixture over that, then top with a layer of noodles.

12. Spread the reserved 1/2 cup of the spinach mixture over the noodles and sprinkle with 1/8 cup parmesan cheese.

13. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Squashes and Pumpkins

Today was a day of fall-ish things; we went to get pumpkins, stopping at two different places to get them. Kenzie and Nick bought enormous ones at Wildwood Farm, and I picked up four more sugar pumpkins to make more pumpkin puree.  Then we went to DD Farms to pick up a few more pumpkins, and I spotted a spaghetti squash, which got me pretty excited because I have wanted to try them out.  No pumpkin carving for me tonight - I had far too much to cook and bake!

First I dealt with my spaghetti squash.  Basically all I had to do was cut it in half, salt and pepper it, and bake it for an hour.  Then I took a fork and scraped out the insides.  It was actually really fun, because it was so cool to see the squash coming out in spaghetti-like strands!  I am not sure what to make with it yet, but I am excited to give it a try.  Do you have any great spaghetti squash recipes that I should know about?


looks like spaghetti... but it's squash!

Then since everyone else was carving their pumpkins, I tossed two of my sugar pumpkins in the mix and had them cut them for me.  I scraped them out and saved the seeds, and then I roasted the pumpkins to make another batch of my own puree.  I used the last of my last batch in the next recipe, and I really think it makes a difference to use real fresh pumpkin as oppsed to canned.  It's so easy to do that it seems ridiculous to use a can. And the difference in color is enough to prove that the canned stuff is just not good enough.  

We of course also saved all our pumpkin seeds from the billion pumpkins we carved.  They are currently in the oven after getting tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  They smell delicious!

 My baking of the day, as I said previously, used up the rest of my first batch of pumpkin puree.  I asked Kenzie to choose a recipe for me, and she chose pumpkin cream cheese muffins.  This sounded very similar to my inside-out carrot cake muffins, which I loved, so I gave them a try.  The cream cheese filling was an interesting experience; you mush together cream cheese and confectionary sugar, and then put it on plastic wrap and roll it into a long, thin log.  It has to be frozen for two hours.  I did not wait the full two hours, and it was quite obvious when I took it out of the oven and started to cut it into 24 discs to put one in each muffin.  It didn't slice at all; it just mooshed.  But it was okay, I just scraped it up and schlepped it into the muffin tins.  They were a bit more work than normal muffins, what with the muffin batter, the cream cheese filling, and the cinnamon-butter topping, but they seem to be worth it: they are a huge hit.  Gram said they were delicious, and one of my sisters - can't remember who - said it was my best.  Mark loved his, and Rachael was so eager to eat one that she ate it steaming out of the oven and burned her mouth! Beware: the cream cheese turns molten and will nearly kill you.  I tried to get my family to wait, but that did not go so well :)

Recipes:
roasted spaghetti squash
pumpkin cream cheese mufins


homemade pumpkin puree
adapted from the Pioneer Woman

1)  Use two sugar pumpkins. Cut the pumpkins in half. With a spoon or a scoop, scrape out the seeds and pulp from the center.  Place all the seeds into a bowl (you can roast them later like we did!) Repeat until all the pumpkin pieces are largely free of seeds and pulp.

2) Place pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet and roast in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes, or until pumpkin is fork-tender. They should be nice and light golden brown when done.  It usually takes me longer, more like an hour.

3) Peel off the skin from the pumpkin pieces.  Throw in a few chunks of pumpkin into the food processor at a time.

4) Pulse the pumpkin until smooth. If it looks too dry, add in a few tablespoons of water during the pulsing to give it the needed moisture. (Note, if the puree is overly watery, you should strain it on cheesecloth or over a fine mesh strainer to get rid of some of the liquid.)

5) You can either use this immediately in whatever pumpkin recipe you’d like, or store it in the freezer for later use. To store in the freezer, spoon about 1 cupful of pumpkin into each plastic storage bag. Seal the bag with just a tiny bit of an opening remaining, then use your hands to flatten out the pumpkin inside the bag and push out the air. Store them in the freezer until you need them.

Amanda's Baby Shower!

Wednesday night, I did some baking for Amanda's baby shower at work.  She is pregnant with twins!  We had the party yesterday in the library after work.  We wanted to make sure that we had the shower early enough this tim around; our last "bout" with twins was Laura, who ended up giving birth during our shower for her!  We've learned to give early showers when there are twins involved!

One of my recipes was a repeat from last week; I made another batch of pumpkin oatmeal cookies.  They are just so good - and definitely even better with my own homemade pumpkin puree :)  It makes a ton of cookies, which was perfect to bring to a big party.  And Amanda had requested them.  Perfect.  To make it even better, my dream came true at the party: people asked for my recipe!  Laugh all you want, but I've been hoping for this to happen for years.  Usually Kenzie makes people ask me, which is really not the same thing, but this time the people who asked swear they really did want to make these cookies for Thanksgiving :)

The other thing I made was sort of a spur of the moment thing.  I had seen a recipe on my favorite blog for popcorn blogs.  They seemed so easy - make popcorn, make the same "sauce" that you do for rice krispie treats, and then pout it on the popcorn and make balls out of it.  And they were that easy!  The only problem was that I popped my own popcorn using bags of buttered popcorn, so I ended up with some unpopped kernels that I desperately tried to pick out once I poured the sticky marshmallow-butter mixture on top.  It was way too late by then, and some of the kernels stayed in there.  Be careful of that!  Mark did a great job forming the popcorn balls, and Mom was our sprinkler; we used pink and blue sprinkles, since Amanda is having a boy and a girl.  Then we put lollipop sticks that Mom had bought through them.  If I do say so myself, they looked pretty cute.  The recipe says it makes 8-10, but I wanted slightly smaller balls, so we got around 25 perfectly-sized popcorn balls.  Less than half of them went at the party (probably because my sister very loudly announced that she nearly broke a tooth on a kernel!) but I was happy this morning to see people walking down the hall holding them!  I left the extras in the office last night after the shower, and they all went today.  One woman even said, "I don't know who made these, but they were delicious!  This is my third one!"  So I was happy about that :)  I would recommend these for any holiday party; like the blog says, it would be really easy to decorate these for any occasion - just change up the colored sprinkles!  They are easy, cute, and pretty good too - salty, buttery, sugary and sweet all at once!

Recipes:
marshmallow popcorn balls

pumpkin oatmeal cookies
from Annie's Eats

Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
¾ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. grated nutmeg
Dash of allspice
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.

2) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Whisk to blend.

3) In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Blend in the egg and vanilla. Beat in the pumpkin puree until well incorporated.

4) With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Beat in the oats until combined.

5) With a rubber spatula, fold in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries until evenly mixed.

6) Drop in small scoops (about 1½-2 tablespoons) onto prepared baking sheets, spaced 2-3 inches apart. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned, rotating the sheets halfway through baking. Allow to cool on the sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

I'm Nuts

Tonight I wasn't really planning on making anything.  We have lots of leftovers from Mom's birthday, and lots of soup from last night, but Mom was craving something with pasta.  I knew we had broccoli that needed to be used soon, so I did a quick Google of broccoli pasta and came up with broccoli walnut pasta.  It seemed quick and pretty easy, and I knew Mom and Mark in particular would love it.  They love pasta, broccoli, and walnuts.  I knew that in exchange for making them happy, my sisters would not be happy.  For tonight, pleasing everyone was not in the books!

It was pretty quick, which was good because I am feeling exhausted from a very long day.  I cooked the pasta, toasted some walnuts, sauteed some garlic and broccoli, and grated my last hunk of romano and some Parmesan on top.  The end result was a very happy mother and boyfriend.  Mark had seconds, and Mom said it was one of the best pasta dishes I've made.  Rachael complained bitterly and removed every nut from her plate, Nick-style.  When Kenz got home from class, she had it and said "worst pasta ever."  I had to laugh.  They both hate walnuts, so I knew that was coming!

As for me?  I think it's okay.  To be honest, I think I may have slightly over-toasted some of the nuts, so they were a little bitter.  Plus I doubled the pasta but nothing else, just because I didn't have enough of the other stuff.  This meant it was a little drier than it should be.  With that said, I do like the combination of broccoli, garlic, pasta and walnuts, so I think this meal has potential if I wasn't rushing and being lazy!

Recipe:
broccoli walnut pasta

Home Run for Dinner

Wooo!  Tonight I scored a home run with dinner.  NO complaints - not a one!  Do you know how rarely that happens?!  Basically never.  So I am really happy with both recipes for today and highly recommend them.

First: French bread.  Now, I have baked plenty of bread this year, and I know that it is a slow process.  There's lots of time to let it rise.  In fact, lots of breads (bagels for instance) take two days!  So when I found a recipe that claimed to make two or three loaves of French bread in an hour, I was skeptical.  All the other French bread recipes that I have seen are two-day-ers.  This meant that clearly I had to give it a try.  I have brand new yeast since I am fairly certain my old jar died.  I am keeping this jar in the freezer to keep it fresh longer.  Anyway, the rising was cool because you put it in the (off) oven with a pot of water that you boiled.  The boiling water warms the oven and keeps the dough moist; this helps it rise faster.  Then you form the breads and let them do their final rising in a 170-degree oven until they are the size you want them to be; them you just turn it up to 375 for 30 minutes, and voila: fresh, hot, giant loaves of French bread!  I had my doubts, but I am now a believer!  The bread is soft and chewy with a great crunchy crust (thanks to an egg wash).  And it makes a ton.  We have almost eaten an entire loaf.  We ate it with our  meal, and Mom and Rachael even ate it for dessert with honey.  Mom says it's the best bread I ever made and requested it to be available every day :)  To be truthful, it did take longer than an hour - probably closer to 2 because I let it rise three times in the oven, but still, way quicker than normal bread, and soooo much better than store-bought!

For dinner, Kenzie has been requesting a soup that she saw in the Food Network magazine last month: tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons.  I was intrigued mainly because I love bread in my soup, and I love Gruyere cheese, and I was very interested in cooking with saffron, the world's most expensive spice!  (Thanks Marky for buying it for me!).  The soup was easy and quick to throw together.  I doubled it, but I did not double the salt, pepper, saffron or cream.  I recommend doing the same. It is the most delicious tomato soup I ever tasted!  Not to mention the fact that you top each bowl with little grilled cheese croutons.  I used the panini grill to grill up thick slices of bread (no, not my own!) with Gruyere, then sliced the sandwiches into little cubes.  They were amazing on their own, but added to an already amazing soup?  Perfection.  Make this soup ASAP.  And do not skimp on the croutons!

Okay, gotta go watch The Voice to cheer on our friend Sam James!  GO SAM!

Recipes:
French bread
tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Today, everyone, is my mother's birthday.  She is 58 years old (it took her some time and some math to figure this out) and that is something to celebrate!  She had requested a rather strange menu for her birthday dinner (but are you surprised?): seafood chowder, pulled pork, Olive Garden copycat salad, and cake.  I was in charge of the cake.  Late last night she chose ginger pecan cake.  I figured this was the best I was going to get from a woman who usually just prefers "chocolate cake with vanilla frosting." So, this morning I got right to work, because this baby had a lot of parts to it!

First I worked on the cakes themselves.   There are three (!) layers to this cake.  I kept reminding myself of this when it felt like I was adding huge amounts of things (like 3 stricks of butter or 6 eggs!).  I guess if you divide all the things by 3, it isn't so bad.  Anyway once the cakes were in the oven, I worked on the filling.  Now, here is where things get iffy.  The recipe calls for creme fraiche to be whipped with sugar and bourbon.  Creme fraiche, I found out from some quick research, is a mixture of heavy cream and buttermilk that has been allowed to set for 12 hours.  So clearly, making it this morning was out of the question, and there wasn't any for sale at the grocery store.  I decided to make whipped cream instead.  While this seems like a good enough idea, let me tell you, it is not.  When you have three cake layers and you do not want them to slide all over the place, crack, or end up covered in wet cream, then do not use whipped cream.  It became rather horrifying.  And unfortunately, it gets worse.

Cooking the sugar!

The top of the cake is a "glossy caramel icing."  This was pretty interesting to make.  You put a pan of sugar on the stove and heat it until it reaches 310 degrees.  I have never just heated up sugar on its own, and it was kind of cool to watch it turn brown and melt and caramelize.  Then I added cream and stirred like mad.  It appears I did not stir madly enough though, because I still ended up with lots of little hard candies in there that I had to pick out.  Then it was time to pour it on top of the cake.  Here is where things got worse.  The cake was already a little slidey... add hot caramel to a cake frosted with whipped cream, and what do you think happens?  Yes.  Bad.  Needless to say, I insisted that we have cake immediately, and I hoped people planned to eat with their eyes closed!

Note the severe sliding to the right... also note how all the whipped cream has disappeared and you can hardly see 3 layers...

Here is the good news: the cake was awesome.  Everyone gave rave reviews.  The cakes themselves are really flavorful; you can taste all the fresh and ground ginger, and the ground toasted pecans (yes, I had to both toast and then grind my own pecans for this recipe!) add a great crunch and flavor.  Then the whipped cream, while melty and pissing me off, was light and fluffy and sweet.  The caramel topping was sweet, glossy and soft.  All of this, by the way, was information told to me by others; I didn't actually try any, mostly because I hate cakes,  but also because this cake in particular pissed me off by sliding around.  However, it got rave reviews from everyone who ate it, but especially from Mom, Kenzie, Gram, and Betsy.

Please note the toasted meringue peaks! :)

Then it got crazier.  Mom had said earlier this morning that she was afraid so many people were going to come over that we would not have enough cake.  My triple layer cake was huge, but hey, who am I to argue with the birthday girl?  So she chose another one from her beloved Martha Stewart: meringue-frosted cake with raspberry filling.  I do kind of love making meringue, and this cake was much easier than the first, so I was happy to add it to the menu today.  There are only two cake layers on this one - vanilla cake - and I had them in the oven as soon as I could steal the cake pans from my other cake!  It was a crazy day in the kitchen, let me tell you.  The filling was a mixture of raspberry preserves and frozen (thawed) raspberries - easy to throw that together.  Then the meringue is just egg whites and sugar whipped together like mad until it's cloud-like.  I used a spatula to frost the cake with it, and then - this was scary- I had to bake the whole frosted cake for 2 minutes at 450 degrees.  I hve never frosted a cake after frosting it, but then again, the frosting was raw egg whites so it did feel better baking it for a bit.  The goal was for the peaks that I made on the cake to turn brown and toasted-looking.  A little more than two minutes later, and it looked rather awesome!   Not that it was even close, but this cake definitely "took the cake" (ha) for the best looking dessert today!  It was a pretty fancy presentation.  This cake also got rave reviews.  In fact, after eating slices of both, Betsy claimed this one to be her favorite cake of the day!  Susie only had this one and said it was well worth 5 WW points :)

A little peek into the raspberry filling!

So, here the cake breakdown:
People who ate both and were allowed to vote: Mom (she votes for ginger pecan but says it was very close), Kenzie (she votes for ginger pecan because she doesn't like the texture of menigue), Gram (did not vote) and Betsy (voted for raspberry cake)

This means that, by a very thin margin (1-2), the ginger pecan cake won the most votes for best cake.  This makes me feel better about the fact that the cake slid and looked like a mess!  If you are interested in voting, come one over, because there is an embarrassing amount of cake left in this house! :)

Oh, and for anyone wondering how the Olive Garden copycat dressing came out?  That went over really well too.  Everyone said it tastes just like the read thing, except for Susie, who said it tastes even better.  Again, I didn't try it myself (are you sensing a pattern today? Can you see why I am both exhausted and starving?) but Mom said it was a real treat, and is currently eating another bowl of salad.

Happy birthday Mama!  I hope your birthday was everything that you wanted it to be, and that you are stufffed with cakes for the rest of the week :)

Recipes:
ginger pecan cake
meringue-frosted cake with raspberry filling

Hodgepodge

Today I made a weird hodgepodge of foods, but they are all special in their very own ways :)

First, I have been dying to  make sweet rosemary cornbread ever since I saw the recipe on Pinterest.  I love cornbread, and I have made a few but have never been thrilled with the results.  I also love rosemary.  I know that my mom hates it, but I love it enough to make it worth it.  We had our first frost last night, and knowing that was coming, last weekend we got rid of all our potted plants that had been on the porch.  I pulled out all my rosemary and some of the oregano that really took over my herb pot, so I had just enough of my own rosemary for this recipe.  I grew that stuff from seeds!  Anyway, it was really easy to throw together - except for the fact that I did not have whole milk or half-and-half.  I used our regulat 1% milk, and whipping cream.  The issue was that the cream was shoved in the back of the fridge, and frozen solid.  I microwaved it a little and ended up pouring out the most repulsive looking ice cream-y thick mush... ugh.  It only got worse when I added the eggs to that!  I was worried that somehow it would really mess up the recipe, but all was well.  The recipe makes two loaves, which is good because Kenz and I really liked it!  It's sweet - in fact, there is just as much sugar as corn meal.  The rosemary gives it a wonderful fresh flavor, and the consistency is good, which can be iffy with cornbread.  In fact, Kenzie told me this is one of her favorite things that I've made.  Mom says she likes the cornbread but not the rosemary, but since they go hand-in-hand, I am not quite sure how that works!  We're down to half of our first loaf left, and I can only imagine how great it will be thick-sliced and toasted with a little bit of butter tomorrow!

Then I started planning tomorrow's food, since it's my Mama's birthday!  Kenz is taking some of the work on, so I am mostly in charge of the dessert and the salad.  She wants a recreation of Olive Garden's salad dressing, which I wanted to make today to let the flavors mix overnight.  I have a book of copycat recipes that has the dressing recipe, but since it has raw egg yolks, Mom and I were a little freaked out.  I found another one online that used mayonnaise in it, which  frankly upset me more than raw eggs, but Mom wanted  that one, and so that one got whipped up.  Rachael claims it's "the wrong color," but Mom said it tasted right.  We will know more tomorrow after we actually eat the salad!  And by we, I do not mean myself because I loathe mayo.  But still.  It was really easy to make, so hopefully it's good because it would not be too hard to keep it on hand.  My only problem was not having romano cheese, but I doubled the Parmesan.  The recipe says to blend it all in a blender, but being lazy, I just whisked it.  I know that means there are now shavings of cheese in the dressing, but I figure, they always grate cheese over the salad anyway, so what's the difference?  There was nothing else that needed to be blended. More on this tomorrow.

It was dinner time by that point.  I have been craving a repeat recipe from early in the summer: baked falafel.  I loved these delicious little chickpea patties when I made them back in June.  They are bursting with flavor, really easy and healthy, and quick.  I also made tzatziki sauce to go with them.  I panicked at the store when I saw that they didn't have any pita bread, but I brought multi-grain sandwich pockets and they were actually perfect for the job.  Like last time, I filled the pockets with lettuce, tzatziki, and two falafel patties.  Mom didn't get to try these last time, but I kept promising her that she was going to love them, and luckily I didn't steer her wrong!  She said it was delicious.  I loved them just as much as always.  Rach said she'd like it better with more vegetables (in which case, she should go make her own sandwich!).  Alex said nothing, which is probably not a great sign.  To be honest though, I don't even care: this is one of my favorite things that I make, and so falafel has not seen this kitchen for the last time!

Recipes:
sweet rosemary cornbread
Olive Garden Salad Dressing

baked falafel with tzatziki sauce
adapted from Eat Real

ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, quartered
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
2 cups chickpeas
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste
olive oil for brushing
lettuce and whole wheat pita pockets for serving
tzatziki sauce (see below)

Directions:

1) Place garlic, cilantro, parsley, chickpeas, and bread crumbs in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to chop and blend ingredients.
2) Sprinkle 1 tablespoon lemon juice over chickpea mixture and pulse a few more times. Sprinkle baking powder, cumin, salt, and black pepper over mixture and pulse until the chickpea mixture reaches a workable paste-like consistency. Add an additional tablespoon of lemon juice if it seems very dry.
3) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. While the oven is getting hot, line a baking pan with foil and brush with olive oil. Using a large tablespoon, scoop balls of dough into your palms and form them into patties.
4) Arrange falafel patties on oiled baking sheet and brush them with olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and crispy. Turn once midway through baking.
5) Remove from oven and let falafel cool on pan for a minute or two before removing to plates or pitas with a spatula.
6) Serve in a whole-grain pita with leaf lettuce and plenty of tzatziki!

tzatziki sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or 1/3 tablespoon dried (I didn't have fresh and dried was fine)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1 kirby cucumber, peeled and finely diced (or any small cucumber)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl; stir to incorporate. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes prior to serving. Taste after chilling and adjust seasonings if necessary

Pumpkin Kick

Sorry for the lack of updates this week.  The short work week felt incredibly long.  I actually did do some cooking and baking Tuesday night, but then went out to meet some work friends before I could blog it.  Then my other excuse is simply that I'm lazy and it's cold outside, so it's too tempting to go to Panera and rush to bed early!  But I promise I will be better :)

So, Tuesday: I made dinner.  It was just me and Mom, so I took advantage of the opportunity to use the jar of mushroom marinara sauce that I got for sale a week ago.  I knew anyone else would whine!  Mom has been begging for my stuffed shells, so I whipped up my most commonly used recipe: spinach and ricotta stuffed shells!  The only weird thing was that I realized I had no regular mozzarella cheese... but I did have smoked mozzarella!  So it made for a bit of a different flavoring on top.  In fact, Mom asked if there was bacon in it! Haha.  It was still good though; we both ate lots, and I took more for lunch today.  This is just a recipe that never goes wrong.

I also decided to make a batch of pumpkin cookies.  I had spotted the recipe when looking for good pumpkin things on Annie's Eats, and when I saw a pumpkin oatmeal cookie, with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips, I was pretty pumped.  It sounded like something that Kenzie would love (she loves pumpkin and chocolate chips) and Mom might even eat (she loves oatmeal and cranberries!).  The recipe makes a huge amount of cookies, so it took a while rotating my two pans, but luckily making tons of cookies was not a bad thing. These are actually really good.  They are really flavorful, with spices like cloves and cinnamon and ginger and nutmeg.  The pumpkin mixed in with that, and the oats and cranberries and white chocolate.... they are good.  I am not even a cookie person, and I will confess to taking them to work with me every day this week :)  And for a recipe that makes about 3 dozen cookies, it looks like we have about 8 left.  That's huge for this family!  In fact, I already got another request for these for a baby shower next week.

...which brings me to my mini project tonight.  I somehow got the idea in my head that I needed to make my own pumpkin puree.  I had read on another blog that it really does taste much better than the canned stuff, and it didn't sound too hard, so I figured, why wouldn't I? I have been on a bit of a pumpkin kick lately (in case you didn't notice) and if making my own puree will make my stuff taste that much better, then bring on the sugar pumpkins!  I bought two, chopped off the tops (and gave one to Neely... how adorable is he!?), cut them in fourths, and roasted them.  The "recipe" I found said it takes 45 minutes, but mine took closer to an hour and a half.  When they are done, you know it, because the skin gets all bubbly and easy to peel off.  The hardest part, frankly, was pureeing the pumpkin since my food processor, as you all know, is older than I am.  Still, it got done in the end, and I officially have a Tupperware full of homemade pumpkin puree sitting in my fridge.  What should I do will all this pumpkin!? The options are overwhelming.  What is your favorite thing to do with pumpkin? 

Recipes:
spinach and ricotta tuffed shells
pumpkin oatmeal cookies
homemade pumpkin puree

Cranberries and Pumpkins

Yes, another couple of autumnal treats to share today.  I wasn't sure what I was going to make until my mom came back from her walk with a scarf full of wild cranberries that she picked in the woods!  When I checked on my favorite food blog and found a scone recipe that called for 1  1/4 cups of cranberries, which was exactly what she had, I knew it was a sign! 

I still stand by my statement that working with scone dough is the worst. It is sticky and you aren't supposed to touch it too much or you will melt the cold butter that you cut into it.  Today the recipe was a bit different though: instead of using my pastry cutter, I was able to do it in the food processor.  It was certainly much easier.  But the ease stopped there.  In other recipes, you pat the dough into a circle and slice it.  This one called for you to put a 3-inch round cookie cutter on the pan, fill it with dough and pat it down.  Sounds easy enough, but try then removing said cookie cutter after you have filled it with sticky dough!  Not so easy.  It was also probably hard because we do not have any small round cookie cutters.  Since today is my parents' 34th wedding anniversary, I decided to use a heart-shaped one.  It wasn't the easiest shape to work with, but I still think they came out cute. 

Besides being cute, they are really good.  The tartness of the cranberries plays with the bite of the lemon zest and the sprinkling of sugar on top.  Mom, Mark and I are the only ones who ate them so far, and we were all big fans.  As an added bonus, they made the house smell delicious!

Then tonight when Maggie came over, we were discussing what treats she could eat because she is on Weight Watchers (and down 6.5 pounds!).  I remembered pinning a pumpkin spice smoothie that was healthy and sounded pretty good.  We didn't have all the right ingredients (no protein powder or frozen bananas - or raw, for that matter) but I was pretty pumped to use my new immersion blender (thanks Marky! We learned how necessary it was after he burned himself on that soup last week). In the end, I would say these are okay, but they need something.  I am not sure what yet.  Mags added Splenda to hers and loved it.  I put 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in mine but I still think it wasn't sweet enough.  Probably the banana would have helped sweeten it up a but.  Either way, they were healthy and not awful, and I definitely drank my whole glass!

No work tomorrow :)

Recipes:
cranberry scones
pumpkin spice smoothie

Fall Cooking

Ahhhh, a long weekend!  Christopher Columbus may have been a total jerk who actually did not even discover America, but this weekend, I am very grateful for him.

Last night I made a repeat recipe: skinny baked macaroni and cheese with broccoli.  I made this over the summer and it was a big hit, so I made it again last night.  I love this meal.  To be honest, I don't follow the instructions exactly and so it is not as "skinny" as it should be.  I don't use skim milk (1% is close enough right?) or light butter.  But I tell myself that all the low fat cheese and chicken broth lighten it up enough.  It does not taste low fat, that much I will tell you! We all loved it - even my mom, who hates mac and cheese.  Today we ate the leftovers and it got more compliments.  I recommend this recipe to everyone!

Then today, Tuck and Linda came to visit.  I knew I needed to make a low carb meal for Tucky, so I made the Thai turkey bundles that I made a couple weeks ago.  This time, I made a double recipe of the sauce so that I could give all 8 people eating here their own little bowls of dipping sauc.  This ended up being unnecessary because certain rude people made their own sauce out of soy sauce and wasabi (can you guess who?), but I still say that the sauce really makes this meal!  I also put lettuce out on the table along with the cabbage this time because a few people were saying that they hate cabbage (not so shockingly, the same people who made wasabi soy sauce).  I didn't try the lettuce, but lots of people were saying that they liked it that way too, so that's an option for you.  I still really like this meal because it is pretty easy to throw together, and sooo delicious!

I also made lots of desserts for our little party.  Strangely enough, they were all fall-related, even though I hate the fall.  I will confess to perhaps hating fall but liking fall foods!  I made two pumpkin dishes: a pumpkin roll and a pumpkin bake.  The roll was one I saw on the Skinny Taste blog - that's right, folks, a low fat pumpkin roll with cream cheese frosting!  Its real name is the pumpkin roll lightened up.  There was no butter or oil in the cake; it is a sponge cake with a lot of eggs (3!) and tons of spices. After I baked it, I had to roll it up in a tea towel to help it roll together later.  Then I made the filling, which was lightened up by using low fat cream cheese and Greek yogurt!  Genius!  You never know with a low fat dessert recipe... but I am starting to realize that you do know when the low fat recipe is from Skinny Taste!  This was delicious.  No one even knew that it was less than 200 calories per serving, and they were shocked when I said so.  I think I could eat the filling all by itself because it was so creamy and delicious, and the cake itself was pumpkin and spice and fall perfection!

Then, because I wanted Tuck to be able to have a pumpkin dessert too, I looked up low carb desserts and found a recipe for a pumpkin bake. I certainly had my doubts about this weird congomeration of things: cream cheese, pumpkin, 5 eggs (five!!!!) and lots of spices.  No sugar, either: instead I had to rip open 24 packets of Splenda.  Like I said, I was pretty concerned about this, but I was ecstatic to hear that Tuck loved it!  He ate multiple helpings and kept telling me how good it was.  He said it tasted exactly like pumpkin pie.  I tasted it myself and have to agree, although I detect that weird Splenda aftertaste.  I'd still prefer to use sugar if I was going to make this for a non-weird-diet person, but for Tuck, it was a perfect pumpkin dessert!  He even took the rest home.  Definitely a recipe to try out if you have someone who is on a low carb or gluten free diet.

One quick recipe sidenote: both pumpkin recipes called for pumpkin pie spice.  Last night at Pricechopper, I thought I grabbed a container of it, but when I got home, I somehow ended up with dill weed.  No idea how that happened!  So I made my own to keep in a little jar for future use!  It was quick and easy and I felt better about making my own spice mix than buying it anyway. Now, to find a recipe that calls for dill weed....

Lastly, I have been wanting to make autumn brittle for about half a year now.  I guess it makes sense to wait till autumn, and today was the day I finally had all the ingredients to make it.  It is basically peanut brittle, but instead of peanuts, it uses cashews, almonds, pepitas, and dried cranberries. I got pretty nervous while boiling the sugar, water and honey.  You are supposed to boil it till it reaches 310 degrees, which is way hotter than anything I have ever made before.  It kept smelling like it was maybe burning, and turned very dark.  I had a bad feeling I was going to be ruining lots of cups of nuts and seeds and Craisins, but luckily it wasn't burned at all.  I did burn my arm on my candy thermometer, and then cut my hands trying to break the brittle into pieces, but it is really good.  Even my mom told me that she "really loved" it.  Might be a good thing to have on the dessert table at Thanksgiving. 

And now that I am exhausted from all this cooking, baking, and blogging, it is time for bed.  It's nearly Sunday... and I have Monday off!  Wahooo!

Recipes:
pumpkin roll lightened up
low carb pumpkin bake
pumpkin pie spice
autumn brittle

Skinny Baked Broccoli Mac and Cheese
from Skinny Taste

Ingredients:
12 oz high fiber elbows 
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp light butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup minced onion
2 cups skim milk
1 cup fat free chicken broth
2 cups shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar
salt and fresh pepper to taste
12 oz fresh broccoli florets
1/8 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
cooking spray

Directions:
1) Cook pasta and broccoli together in a large pot of salted water.  Cook 2 minutes less than the package says for al dente (you will be baking it after all!).  Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375°.
2)  In a large, heavy skillet, melt butters. Add onion and cook over low heat about 2 minutes. 

3) Add flour and cook another minute, or until the flour is golden and well combined. Add milk and chicken broth and whisk, raising heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil; cook about 5 minutes or until the sauce becomes smooth and thick. Season with salt and pepper.

4)  Once the sauce is thick, remove from heat, add cheese and mix well until cheese is melted. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked macaroni and broccoli and mix well. Pour into prepared baking dish. Top with grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake for 15-20 minutes, then broil for a few minutes to get the breadcrumbs golden.

Thai turkey bundlesfrom Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup coarsely chopped water chestnuts
1/3 cup fine bread crumbs
1 green onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash ground red pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
12 savoy cabbage leaves
1 recipe Thai dipping sauce (see below)

1) In a large mixing bowl, combine egg, water chestnuts, bread crumbs, green onion, soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger, sugar, salt, and ground red pepper. Add turkey; mix well.

2) Shape into twelve 4 x 1/2 x 3/4-inch loaves (or smaller if you'd like!). Grill over medium-hot coals or boil 3inches from heat for 12-14 minutes or till juices run clear, turning once.

3) Serve each loaf wrapped in a cabbage leaf (I recommend cutting out the thick white spine part and making each large leaf into two small ones). Serve with Thai dipping sauce.

Thai dipping sauce

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon snipped cilantro, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil.