UPDATE: pumpkin bread pudding

Ok, seriously dudes, you need to make this. It will blow people's minds and you will get marriage proposals (sort of a true story there, folks). I made this again recently, but I changed a few things from the last time, and it's even better than before. It was gone within minutes at the party I brought it to. So, I'm re-posting the recipe with the changes. There was always a lot of custard left over and I felt like that was wasteful so I cut that part of the recipe down by 1/4 [(fraction math is so hard.) I had to ask my Dad for help because my brain doesn't work that way.)] I also added a water bath, which I think added a lot to the texture. This is a thing of beauty. Take my word for it... or just make it and see for yourself.

Pumpkin bread pudding recipe:
6 Large eggs
2 2/3rd(-) cups milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1(+) cups whipping cream
3/4 t. vanilla
1 1-lb loaf pumpkin bread (Use this recipe, as it's the best ever. Also, the recipe makes two loaves, so I made the whole recipe and just did one plain for the bread pudding and added a pecan/brown sugar streusel for the other and it was ridiculously good, especially paired with my ginger pear butter I just made)

** (Because of the divisions by even numbers with the odd number amounts of milk and cream, I put in a plus or minus to indicate that it is a bit more or less than the listed amount.)

Butter a 3 quart baking dish. Whisk eggs in large bowl to blend. Add milk, sugar, cream, and vanilla. Whisk to blend well. stir in bread. Let sit covered, in the refrigerator, for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven
to 350°. Scoop coated bread chunks into prepared baking dish, push down the bread crumbs, compacting the mixture. Add a little extra custard on top, and press down some more. Toss any extra custard. Fill a 9x13 pan filled halfway with water and place on the bottom rack, place the bread pudding on the middle rack. Cook for 1 hour, 45 minutes, or until it is set. Before serving, dribble some cinnamon caramel sauce over the top. Freak out.

Cinnamon Caramel Sauce Recipe:
1 cup (packed ) golden brown sugar
1 cube butter
½ cup whipping cream
¾ t. cinnamon

Stir brown sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add cream and cinnamon and bring to simmer. simmer until sauce thickens and is reduced to 1 ½ cups, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

all-day apple butter

 The first thing I made in my crock pot is this "All-Day Apple Butter", from this cookbook my parents gave me called, "Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker". I've been wanting to make crock-pot apple butter for so long, ever since my old, super crappy crock-pot burned a first attempt a few years ago. Burned apples are just sad. So, I went for it right away with my shiny and new crock-pot. Apple butter is such a comfort food, so of course I want to eat it in mass quantity. Also, it makes a delicious gift, which is always helpful this time of year. I highly recommend this fantastic recipe.

3 pounds cooking apples, such as Granny Smith, Rome Beauty or Gala, cored, left unreeled, and cut into eighths

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup apple juice

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 ground cloves

Combine apples, brown sugar, apple juice, and lemon juice in a 4-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours, until the apples are very soft.

Remove the lid, turn the heat setting to High, and stir in the spices. Continue to cook, uncovered, for 2 hours (I did this about 3 hours because it didn't look thick enough), stirring once about halfway through, if possible, until the mixture thickens.

Press the apples through a metal strainer into a large mixing bowl to remove the peels, or process the apples through a food mill. (I actually just used my immersion blender blend everything together, and that worked perfectly)

After cooling to room temperature, the apple butter may be stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator in clean jars, where it will keep for several weeks.

caramelized baked pears

(This photo is from my phone so it's not bad, but it could be way better. Apologies)

As it turns out, the majority of what I eat is based on a completely out of the blue hankering I get. Sounds like I'm pregnant, I know, but this blessing/affliction has been with me since childhood. It's just how I do. If I don't get the thing I'm craving, I'll think about it for weeks until the particular thirst is satiated. This is pretty much the reason why I learned to bake and cook. I would be away at college and call up my Mom and have her coach me on how to re-create whatever childhood concoction I needed to eat at the time. Thanks, Mom! (She's a very patient woman, and the apple fell very far from the tree in that regard.) Anyway, that's how this particular dessert came about. I knew I'd be staying in SF over the weekend, so I emailed my Mom and asked her if she remembered how she used to make these yummy caramelized baked pears back in the day and if we could maybe perhaps make them this weekend? She's always a good sport so she agreed. Problem was, she couldn't remember where the recipe was. We had an idea about what the measurements were, that the oven temp. was hot and the type and amount of pears needed. We just weren't positive on the timing and the exact oven temperature. We called my Aunt who had the recipe and it was very close to what we remembered (what's up memory skills?!) so here it is. Soooo good. The perfect cozy winter night dessert.

Caramelized Baked Pears

6 medium sized Bosc pears
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cube butter
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 450°. Peel, core, and quarter pears, then place in a 9x13" baking pan. Sprinkle sugar over pears and cut butter into chunks and place over pears. Bake for 45 minutes; spooning the syrup over the pears every 10 minutes (once the sugar melts and forms the syrup). When sauce thickens, and turns golden, pour in the cream. Continue to bake and baste pears until syrup and pears turn golden brown. Serve hot over vanilla (or other appropriate flavored ice cream—I'm looking at you, butter pecan).

you should go to here

 

(photo via Sheena Jibson of http://inthelittleredhouse.blogspot.com/)

Please click on this link to see what I've been up to lately...

Along with my crazy traveling full-time job, I've been working with the amazing Fluer De Sel catering talents of Elizabeth Gilman and the gorgeous decor and event planning talents of Jana to create some full-service events. Also, we are selling pies for Thanksgiving. So buy some! Let us feed you! We are way better than the alternative.

Thanks to the amazing Sheena Jibson for the beautiful photos!

things i've made recently

As discussed earlier, I don't have a whole lot of time/energy/ability anymore to bake new things and blog about them. It's not like I can bring a hot plate and a toaster oven to my hotel room and whip things up. Occasionally, I've made something on the weekends that I'm home but they've been my old stand-bys. So as a reminder to you all, I'm re-posting some links to these must-make recipes.

Hot Fudge Sundae Cake
Coconut Macaroons
Banana Oat Shake (lately I've been adding frozen blueberries into the mix with this)
Plum Jam
and Pumpkin Pie 
(lots of pumpkin ideas here, if you are as excited as I am that pumpkin is back in town)

But, don't you worry about me, I've been eating very well. Too well. Remember how much I love San Francisco food?

Also, as soon as I figure my life out and am in a more permanent situation, wherever that may be, I'm going to make this the winter of crock-potting. Would you guys be interested in more than just baking recipes? Or should I stick to what I know best?

As it turns out, I really need this cookbook.

wheat germ chocolate chip cookies

My sister offered to make me dinner a few Sundays ago, and asked if I could bring a treat. I figured this would give me the opportunity to actually bake again and try my current obsession, a recipe that is like my personal form of crack: the Wheat Germ cookie at Specialty's Bakery. The best part about my traveling situation right now is that I get to eat all my favorite foods, including this ridiculous cookie. I found a recipe online that claims to be the same as Specialty's. After searching online for a recipe I found this one, which seemed to be fairly close. While this cookie is pretty exceptional it's not quite the same. I must figure this out, many test batches must be made…
(note: with my add-ons/changes in parenthesis, it actually is fairly similar)


Also, sorry there is no picture, I couldn't get any pictures taken in good lighting, but I figured a post with no pictures is better than no post? Maybe?

3/4 cup old fashioned whole rolled oats
1 cup whole-wheat flour (I used 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour, and 1/4 cup almond meal)
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cup raw wheat germ
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes (I would chop this up or use flaked coconut so it's in smaller pieces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (I would actually use half of this next time I make these)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
(I added 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons honey)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (Specialty's uses mini chocolate chips)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I used very, very finely chopped pecans)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray (not required if your using non-stick pans or a silpat)
2. Mix oats and flour in a medium bowl. Add baking soda and salt and whisk until mixed in. Whisk in wheat germ, flax and coconut.
3. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy. With the mixer running, add the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and walnut pieces using a wooden spoon or spatula. Chill the dough in a refrigerator for at least 1 hour. The dough should be firm before proceeding with step 4.
4. Force a spoon into the dough to remove about 2-3 tablespoonfuls per cookie, at least 1 inch apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies, until firm around the edges and golden on top, about 12 minutes. (I actually decided to bake for 9 minutes on the second batch and preferred that). Remove baking sheets from the oven immediately and cool the cookies for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks with a spatula to cool.

**Specialty's version of this cookie is tall and rectangular. If you prefer that shape then mold the chilled dough into a 2" x 2" rectangular log and cut into 1.5" pieces to form the cookie. (I will try this note from the original author next time, I think).

six-week bran muffins

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been around these here parts too much lately. I've been traveling to and from San Francisco every week for work. I'm there four days a week and pretty much have no energy left-over for baking + blogging when I get home. Not to mention, it's pretty impossible to keep fresh food around when I can't be in one place long enough to consume it. Which is why this recipe is so perfect for me. This recipe you make overnight and can keep (covered *real* tight) in the fridge for up to six weeks. You can just cook a few at a time and voila! Fresh bran muffins. Plus, when it's just me, the fact that this makes 48 muffins works great, cause I won't run out of that very quickly. In case the germ-freaks are totally grossed out about the length of time you can keep these, just cool out. There are a ton of recipes like this online and it's super legit science and stuff.  (Recipe sent to me by my Momz, and found originally by my eldest sister. I do not know the original source—sorry about that!)

5 cups flour

3 cups sugar, plus additional for sprinkling

5 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

7 1/2 cups (20-ounce box) Post Healthy Classics Raisin Bran (you could add more raisins if this doesn't provide enough, it would be yums to add golden raisins to the mix)

4 cups (1 quart) buttermilk

1 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs, beaten

Melted butter for brushing the tops of the muffin batter

Ground cinnamon and sugar mixed

1.  In a very large bowl, combine the flour 3 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in the cereal, add the buttermilk, oil, and eggs, and blend until moistened.  DO NOT STIR AGAIN.  Place the mixture into a NON-METALLIC (very important science here, don't think you can be sneaky and get around this - Farrah, I'm talking to you!) container, seal tightly, and refrigerate overnight or for up to 6 weeks.

2.  When ready to bake - preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray.  Fill each cup 3/4 full with batter.  Brush the top of the batter in each cup with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar to taste.  Bake 15-20 minutes. (I actually haven't done that the past few batches to make them a little more healthy and they are still super delish!)

**Here's a tip: if you are cooking less than 12 muffins, you can pour about an inch of water in each leftover muffin cup before you throw them in the oven so that the pan cooks everything evenly.

grilled cheese

a friend sent me this site. now i'm in a visual food coma.

i suggest you look at this if you like grilled cheese sandwiches.
http://grilledcheeseacademy.com/

cherry upside down cake

i keep buying as many cherries as i can find, before they are completely gone till next year. which tends to leave me with an extra cherry or two. i was making a brunch for some friends and wanted to make something a little fancy, so i decided to turn our family favorite, blueberry short cake, into cherry upside down cake, but with a few tweaks, i added 1 tsp. almond extract and 1/4 cup of cornmeal. best decision ever. it had the perfect consistency and flavor and crumb and just overall goodness. why are cherries so darn good? why can't summer last forever? i need fresh fruit and veggies at my disposal every day—as well as this cake.