Quick Pickled Red Onion

Pickled red onions are great when you have a dish that just needs a little extra oomph. They add brightness, bite, and crunch without the full-blown punch of straight up raw onion. Better yet, they require very little planning ahead. In the course of making a meal, you can start your prep by throwing together some pickled red onion, continue to the rest of the meal prep, and add your newly pickled red onion to your finished dish 30 minutes later.

The recipe below is very basic to keep the flavor profile more versatile. If you wanted to play around, you could add some whole peppercorns, garlic clove(s), fresh herbs, or the like.

Quick Pickled Red Onion

From Sprouted Kitchen

Yield: about 1 cup (the photos above show a single batch in a pint sized mason jar)

Ingredients

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. sugar

1 small red onion or 1/2 a medium one, sliced vertically 

Splash of water, if needed

Directions

Add vinegar, salt, and sugar to a jar or other microwave safe glass dish. Warm it in the microwave for just a bit (30-60 seconds ought to do it) to help the sugar and salt dissolve. Stir. Add your red onion slices and press down into the liquid. If needed, add a splash of water and/or a bit more vinegar so the onion is mostly covered. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before eating. I find it helps to put the lid on the jar and turn the jar a couple times during those 30 minutes.

Store in the fridge. I like to eat mine within 2 weeks or so, but I've seen nearly identical recipes that say they'll last for over a month. 

Tip

To vertically slice an onion, you basically are slicing from pole to pole instead of around the hemisphere. Slice off the root end and stem end (the poles), then cut the onion in half from pole to pole. With an onion half flat side down on the cutting board, make thin slices, again from pole to pole. Here's a video from Cooking Light.

Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Before we get to these cookies, this seems like as good a time as any to introduce you to Esteban, the newest member of my kitchen tools family. I'd been wanting a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for years, and eventually decided I'd get myself one for my 35th birthday. Well, then I discovered they're not quite as expensive as I'd thought, so I decided to not wait for 35. Then they were on sale, and the sale ended on my birthday, which seemed like a sign from the kitchen gods. And the nice lady at Bed Bath & Beyond let me use a 20% off coupon even though it was already very much on sale. Win! Also, when she asked if I wanted a gift receipt, I said yes, because I felt selfish buying a big-ticket item for myself. Does anyone else do that?

In case you're interested in specs, I got the KitchenAid KSM150 Artisan Series 5-quart tilt-head stand mixer with pouring shield in Empire Red. This article was super helpful in helping me decide which model to get.

Anyway, Esteban has been settling in nicely and churning out scrumptious breads and cookies. He's a stud when it comes to kneading yeast dough. But not too studly to scoff at mixing up shortbread cookies with flowers in them.

Oh hey, what a segue! I made these cookies for house church Easter feast. Since I apparently felt the need to make a million of them, there were leftovers that got to go to the office with me on Monday. Initially I wasn't planning to post this recipe (hence my comment below about not remembering how much lavender to use in the lavender sugar--oops), but the praise from friends and coworkers was effusive enough that it seemed only right to snap a few pics and share the recipe. They may seem kinda froufrou, but the men in my life were enjoying them at least as much as the women.

This may go without saying, but be sure to culinary lavender, which you can often find with other dried herbs in the grocery store. Personally, I like to buy it at Natural Grocers because for just a few bucks you can get a bag that is quite large. Seriously, I shared about half of my lavender with a friend and still had enough to almost fill a pint-sized mason jar. Lots of fresh lavender flowers at nurseries and florists have been treated with pesticides you don't want in your cookies.

Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Adapted from Port and Fin
Yield: about 30 cookies

Ingredients
2-1/4 cups unsalted butter (that's 4-1/2 sticks), softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp. dried lavender buds
Zest from about 3/4 of a lemon
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
5-1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/8 tsp. salt
Lavender sugar, for dusting (optional)

Directions
First, get out your butter so it can soften at room temperature.

Grind or very finely chop your lavender. I used a Magic Bullet; you could use another small electric grinder/chopper, a mortar and pestle, a clean coffee grinder, or a good old fashioned knife and cutting board. In a small bowl, combine the lavender, sugar, and lemon zest. Mix it up well and set aside, ideally for at least 15 minutes so the flavors can infuse.

If you're using lavender sugar, make that now while you have your lavender-grinding implements out. Basically, grind up some lavender and mix it with sugar, like you just did above. I forgot to write down the quantities I used for this, but I think I did about 1-1/2 tsp. lavender buds for about 1/3 cup sugar. That yielded way more lavender sugar than needed for dusting 30 cookies, so I'm looking forward to finding ways to use up the rest of it.

In a good-sized bowl,* cream the butter and sugar-lavender-lemon mixture until well combined. (Use the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer.) Add the vanilla and mix some more, until it's incorporated. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture, and keep on mixing until a dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a clean countertop, divide it roughly in half, and shape into two logs that are about 2 to 2-1/4 inches in diameter. Flatten each side of the logs (to produce squareish cookies). Wrap each log in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour to let the dough firm up.

Preheat oven to 350. Remove cookie dough from the fridge and use a sharp knife to slice cookies off the logs. Aim for about 1/3 inch thick. I know we don't normally think in terms of a third of an inch (why is that?), but 1/4 inch felt too thin, but a 1/2 inch would have been too thick. Arrange cookies on baking sheets that aren't greased or lined with parchment paper or anything. Leave a little room for the cookies to spread.

Bake for 10-14 minutes. You want them to still be kinda soft, but a little browned on the bottom.** Gently remove cookies to a wire rack. Sprinkle with lavender sugar (or plain sugar) while they cool.

Notes
*My 5-quart bowl was veeerry full. Esteban technically did okay with this quantity of cookie dough, but he struggled a bit and spit out some flour a couple times.
**The best way to check for brownness on the bottom is to lift up a cookie with a spatula, try to finagle the your body and the cookie so you can see the bottom, inevitably drop or break the cookie in the process, and be forced to eat the poor broken cookie. Lest it feel neglected.

Winter Fruit Chutney Bites

For a recent slumber party with my foodie club, I was looking for a snack that was wintery, tasty (obviously), could be prepared ahead of time, and could play nicely with a cheese board. Enter fruit chutney. This appetizer met all those criteria. I made the chutney two days before the party, used storebought baguette crisps, did the onions the day of, then transported everything to my friend's house in jars, set the various elements on a tray, and invited my friends to assemble their own bites.

Most of the chutney recipes I looked at included onion in the chutney, but I decided to keep it separate, which frees me up to use the leftover chutney in a variety of ways. I imagine it'd be great served with ham or pork, dolloped atop french toast, stirred into pancake batter, mixed with butter and spread on toast, maybe even added to a citrusy smoothie or mixed into a drink.

Feel free to mix and match ingredients. Add some fresh orange juice or orange zest, use nutmeg or cloves instead of or in addition to the spices here, use thyme instead of rosemary, add a few cracks of black pepper to contrast the sweetness of the fruit, use different kinds of cheese ... basically, be creative and have fun with it!

Winter Fruit Chutney Bites
Yield: About 2 cups chutney and 3/4 to 1 cup caramelized onion
Adapted from Reluctant Entertainer; caramelized onion method from The Kitchn

Ingredients
1 Tbsp. butter
1 medium-large red onion, vertically sliced
Splash of wine, water, or balsamic vinegar (I used cheap chardonnay)

6 oz. fresh cranberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 allspice berries, ground
1 cup peeled and chopped pear
1/2 cup peeled and chopped Granny Smith apple
1/8 cup crystallized ginger, diced
Juice from 1/2 of one lemon
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Blue cheese crumbles
Bread slices, crackers, or toasted baguette slices
Fresh rosemary, minced

Directions
To caramelize the onions: In a medium to large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the onions and stir well to get them nicely coated. Saute them for a couple of minutes, then reduce heat to low or medium-low, and let them hang out for a good 30 minutes or more, stirring every so often, until they're super soft and caramelized. Do keep an eye on them, because you don't want them to burn, but you do want them to caramelize. When they're looking good, increase the heat, add a splash of wine, water, or balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan, and let it cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Remove from heat.

To make the chutney: Pour cranberries into a colander, rinse and drain, and pick out any that look suspicious. If your cranberries are frozen, no need to thaw them. In a large saucepan (tall sides are your friend; this will splatter), combine brown sugar, water, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cranberries. Bring to a boil, ensuring the sugar dissolves. Then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Many of the berries will burst while simmering, so use a splatter screen if if you have one; otherwise, loosely cover the pot with a lid that's tilted to let steam out.

Add the pear, apple, and crystallized ginger, and continue simmering for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and cider vinegar. Taste, and if it's too puckery sweet, add just a bit more cider vinegar.

To serve: Spread some of the cranberry mixture on a your bread or carb of choice, top with some caramelized onion, sprinkle with blue cheese, and finish with a sprinkle of fresh rosemary.

Notes
You can assemble a whole bunch of these and arrange them on a tray, or you can set out the elements and let guests assemble their own. Personally, I like the latter approach because it leaves me available to interact with people instead of fussing over food, and leftovers are easier to pack up and reuse (i.e., no soggy pre-assembled bites that sit out for two hours and get gross).

Finnish Pulla Bread with Apricots and Pistachios

Have you had the pleasure of watching The Great British Baking Show (a.k.a., Bake-Off)? If you like baked goods and you like seeing a more positive side of humanity, I absolutely recommend it. Unlike U.S. American food competition shows, the contestants and judges are actually genuinely nice to each other, and they genuinely seem to care more about having fun with their creative outlet than with winning.

Well, several months ago I watched all the seasons of Bake-Off that Netflix would allow, and though I was thoroughly wowed by every episode, I found myself most inspired by the enriched breads, as these bakers kept creating succulent doughs studded with fruit and spices and shaped into intricate braids and knots that shimmered with sticky sweet glazes. This past weekend I finally went for it!

Based on the numerous pulla recipes I read during the last 48 hours, pulla is a traditional Finnish bread. It's a yeasty cousin to brioche and challah; flavored with cardamom; generally shaped into a braid, a wreath, or buns; and traditionally served with coffee. Some recipes included fruit or nuts, while others were more basic. So I wound up making a more plain, traditional loaf and a more jazzed up loaf.

Finnish Pulla Bread with Apricots and Pistachios
Yield: 2 loaves/braids*
Source: I referenced many recipes but mostly followed the ingredients from Around the World in 80 Bakes and the process from All Recipes

Ingredients
6 Tbsp. butter, melted, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups milk (at least 2%; I used part 2%, part half-and-half)
4-1/2 tsp. active dry yeast (or 2 packets, 7 g each)
2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. sugar (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp.)
3/4 to 1 tsp. ground cardamom**
700 g all-purpose flour (for me this ended up being about 4-2/3 cups)

Zest of 2 oranges
16 dried apricots, finely diced
40 g pistachios, finely chopped

1 egg

Directions
Melt the butter and allow it to cool to room temperature. Warm the milk to 110 degrees.*** Go ahead and measure out your flour into a smallish bowl. You'll add it in increments, so it's easy to measure once and then eyeball it throughout the different steps in the recipe.

To a large bowl add the milk, yeast, salt, sugar, cardamom, and about 1 cup of flour--enough to make a runny batter. Beat the batter until it's really nice and smooth. (For me, this was a couple of minutes on medium speed with my little handheld five-speed mixer.)

Add some more flour (1-2 cups) and continue beating until it's again smooth and elastic. If you're using a hand mixer like mine, aim for more like 1 to 1-1/2 cups flour. I added close to 2 cups, and it made the dough too thick--it just kept climbing up the beaters!--so I had to switch to beating by hand.

Now add the melted butter. Beat the dough some more, until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough looks smooth and glossy. Add the rest of the flour and keep on mixing until it's fully incorporated. If you have a good quality stand mixer, rejoice! If you don't, you'll get a good arm workout!

Now, lightly flour a clean countertop, and turn the dough out onto it. Invert your mixing bowl over the dough, and let the dough (and your arms) rest for 15 minutes. When those 15 minutes are up, knead the dough for a good 10-15 minutes, until it's nice and smooth.****

Remember your mixing bowl? Spritz it with a bit of cooking spray, put your ball of dough inside, turn the dough so all of it gets lightly coated with oil, and cover the bowl with a damp, clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, undrafty place until it's doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough. If jazzing up your bread, add your orange zest, apricots, and pistachios now. Knead them into the dough. Let it rest for another 5-10 minutes (on the counter is fine, covered with that damp kitchen towel you used earlier).

Divide your dough into 6 portions, as equal as you can get them. Roll each portion into a long rope, about an inch in diameter.

Gather up 3 ropes, and pinch them together on one end. Gently braid the 3 ropes together, and when you get to the end, pinch those ends together as well. Tuck both ends (top and bottom) under the braid, so you have a nice, tidy-looking loaf braid. Repeat this process with the other 3 ropes to make your second loaf braid.

Place braids on a greased baking sheet. Spray the tops with oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400. Beat an egg really well, until it's super smooth. Remove the plastic wrap from the loaf braids and very gently brush some beaten egg over the loaves. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan half-way through the baking time, until the loaves are browned, glistening, and look like they should be in a bakery display case!

Notes
*Initially I planned to make just one braid, but one recipe I read made an excellent point: if you're going to go to the trouble of making a homemade yeast bread--including all the kneading and rise time, you might as well make two or more loaves and have plenty to share. Your friends and coworkers will thank you.

**I saw widely varying cardamom measurements and settled on 3/4 tsp. When I nibbled some dough (I'm weird like that) the cardamom flavor was pretty subtle. So I added another 1/8 tsp. or so to the loaf I made with apricots, and kneaded it in along with the apricots, pistachios, and orange zest. That was still a nice amount of cardamom without feeling overwhelming.

***Some recipes I read said to scald the milk by bringing it to a near boil on the stove and then letting it cool to 110 degrees. I simply warmed mine in the microwave until it felt warm but not uncomfortably hot.

****I was expecting mine to reach a super smooth, satiny texture like I get with cinnamon roll dough ... but my pulla dough never got to that stage, even after 15 minutes. It was smooth, but the dough felt denser and heavier than I'm used to. I don't know if it's supposed to be that way, or if it got thrown off by some combination of my technique, the temperature and humidity of my kitchen, the flour measurement in the recipe I followed, or the general mood of the bread gods that day.

Apricot Rose Tartines

One of the food delights I'm enjoying this year is a monthly gathering with a few foodie friends. Each month we pick a theme (like chocolate or pasta), and create a menu based on that theme. This month's theme was a spring-inspired high tea, with a menu infused with edible flowers and herbs. My contributions were these apricot rose tartines and some cucumber radish tartines.

I looked at a bunch of recipes, and drew inspiration especially from recipes in Wild Spice and Honey and Co., but ended up cobbling together something pretty distinct from anything I found online or in my slowly growing cookbook library. If I were a really legit food blogger, I'd make these tartines again to refine the ingredient quantities, instructions, and photography before blogging about them. But who has time for that? (And who can eat that much mascarpone without becoming ill or large?) So I've done my best to capture what I did, but these tartines were far from an exact science.

Apricot Rose Tartines
Yield: about 40 tartines
HercheyK original

Ingredients
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup water
6 whole black peppercorns
1/2 of a cinnamon stick
Approximately 40 dried apricots
1 tsp. orange blossom water
8 oz. mascarpone cheese, softened
1/2 cup fresh rose petals, very finely chopped
1 Tbsp. dried lavender buds
Fresh lemon zest, from about 1/2 of a lemon
Fresh orange zest, from about 1/3 of a medium-small orange
1 (8.3-oz.) baguette, sliced into rounds
A couple handfuls shelled pistachios
Fresh mint

Directions
To a medium saucepan add sugar, water, peppercorns (keep them whole), and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so it's somewhere between a rapid simmer and a slow boil. Let the mixture cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat.

While the sugar mixture is cooking, cut up your apricots into fat matchsticks--about 4 sticks per apricot. When your apricots are cut and your sugar mixture is finished cooking, fish out the cinnamon stick and peppercorns. Add the orange blossom water and the cut apricots to the pot. Stir it so the apricots get nicely coated with the syrup. Breathe in the glorious fragrance. Put a lid on the pot and pop it into the fridge (on a potholder) to chill and steep.

To make the spread, combine the mascarpone, rose petals, lavender, lemon zest, and orange zest in a bowl. Stir to combine well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble the tartines.

Slice the baguette into rounds. I ended up with I think 43 slices not counting the ends, but it'll vary based on the exact length of your baguette and how thick your slices are.

Heat a dry skillet over medium-low heat and toast the pistachios for a few minutes, until they just start to toast. Be sure to shake or stir them frequently to keep them from burning. Remove them to a plate to cool. Chop them fairly finely.

Now's a great time to wash your fresh mint and set it out to air-dry. Right before assembling the tartines, chiffonade the fresh mint. Chiffonade is basically just a fancy way to say, slice it into really thin threads.

When the apricot mixture has chilled sufficiently, assemble your tartines. Spread each with a schmear of the mascarpone mixture. Arrange a few apricot pieces on top--about the equivalent of one apricot per tartine. Sprinkle pistachios over the top. Finally, top with a few ribbons of fresh mint.

Note: If you don't have orange blossom water, squeeze in some fresh orange juice or add some orange zest to the sugar-apricot mixture. It won't give you the same floral quality you'll get from orange blossom water, but it should still be quite yummy. However, I very much recommend getting some orange blossom water! It tastes truly magical, and you can get it on Amazon if you can't find it locally. For more orange blossom water uses, see my Orange Blossom Iced Tea post and the Tunisian Orange Almond Cake recipe linked in my Flavor Trip to Tunisia post.

Prickly Pear Lemon Bars

Today I bring you prickly pear lemon bars. They're a great way to use up a bit of prickly pear juice, and they're a fun twist on classic lemon bars. I've made these a few times and have received many compliments from people who normally find lemon bars to be too sweet and puckery, but like the milder sweetness and balance of flavor found in these bars.

Initially, I was suspicious of how well pecans would go with prickly pear, but I trusted the recipe and went for it, and I must say these flavors play together exceedingly well. The pecans add a lovely richness and...well...nuttiness that helps balance the tartness and sweetness of the dessert.

Prickly Pear Lemon Bars
Yield: one 9 x 13 pan (halve the recipe for an 8 x 8 pan)
Adapted slightly from Cupcake Project

Crust Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter, slightly softened

Filling Ingredients
1-1/3 cups sugar
4 egg whites
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 to 1-1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. prickly pear juice
1 tsp. baking powder
2-4 Tbsp. powdered sugar (for dusting)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray.

Use a pastry blender, forks, or a food processor to combine all the crust ingredients until crumbly. Press into your baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes.

Mix together all filling ingredients except powdered sugar (I use an electric hand mixture). The mixture will be really runny. This is good.

Pour filling mixture on top of the pre-baked crust. It's perfectly fine if the crust is still hot. Bake for 20 minutes, until filling is set. Let cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar, then cut into squares and serve.

The Best Refrigerator Dill Pickles

If you know me, or if you have read many of my posts, you know I’m not the most superlative person. While it does come out in some areas of my life, I’m not usually one to gush on and on about a recipe being the best [fill in the blank] I’ve ever tasted and this is my new favorite recipe of all time, etc., etc., etc.

But these pickles are the best. And the only reason I’m willing to cross into “the best” territory is because everyone with whom I’ve shared these pickles has raved about them. And not just in a polite “you gave me food so I’ll compliment it” kind of way. Effusive praise has ensued. A couple people have even gone so far as to declare these the best pickles they’ve ever eaten.

What’s so great about them? I think it’s their simplicity. You get a few fresh, quality ingredients, add a few more basic ingredients, and you’re done. The simplicity allows the freshness of the cucumbers and dill to shine through, and nothing overpowers anything else.

Bonus points: these pickles are extremely easy to make. You put some cut cucumbers in a jar and add some garlic, dill, and a couple spices to the jar. Then you dissolve some sugar and salt in vinegar and water, pour that into the jar, and you’re done.

It’s important to note that these are refrigerator pickles so, as they name suggests, they need to be kept in the fridge (they’re not shelf-stable). That means that there’s no actually canning process to go through, which means they’re super quick and not scary to make (canning still scares me). I think they taste best if eaten within a week or so, but they’ll keep up to a month in the fridge. The longer they sit, the less crunchy and more pickled they’ll get, and the more the garlic, pepper, and coriander flavors will come out.

I’ve made a lot of jars of dill pickle spears and only one jar of slices. For whatever reason, the day I was photographing pickles, my quart of slices looked more photogenic than my half-pints and pints of spears. So slices are what you see in the pictures, but spears are more what you’ll find in my fridge—and several friends’ fridges!

Refrigerator Dill Pickles
Yield: 2 pint jars (or 1 quart jar)
Adapted slightly from A Couple Cooks

Ingredients
1 lb. cucumbers
3 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
Handful of fresh dill (6-10 sprigs)
1 Tbsp. whole coriander seeds
1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns
2/3 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt

Directions
Trim the ends off the cucumbers and quarter them into spears (or slices). If the cucumbers are long, cut them in half as well so the spears are short enough to fit in the jars.

Pack the cucumbers into two clean pint-sized mason jars, along with 3 garlic clove halves and 3-5 sprigs of fresh dill per jar. Add the coriander seeds and peppercorns to the jar.

In a suitable container, warm the vinegar, water, sugar, and kosher salt, stirring until the sugar and salt are dissolved. I’ve done this in a glass measuring cup in the microwave, and in a small saucepan on the stove. The stove actually seems easier to me. The original recipe calls for putting everything cold into a third mason jar and shaking it until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Do what works best for you.

Pour the liquid over the cucumber goodness in the jars. Tap the jars on the counter to release air bubbles. Cover jars tightly with their lids, and refrigerate immediately. Let them hang out in the fridge for 24 hours, then dig in.

Notes

• I was worried that I should peel the more bitter cucumbers but forged ahead without peeling because A Couple Cooks said nothing about peeling. I have not detected any bitterness at all in any of the pickles.
• The first time I made these I had ground coriander but no whole seeds, so I sprinkled in some ground, and that was fine. For a cheaper alternative, you could probably use some fresh cilantro instead of the seeds.
• The original recipe also calls for 4 small chili peppers (2 per jar) but I left those out.
• This recipe is obviously very scale-able depending on how many cucumbers you have or what sizes of jars you have available. 

Mulled Cranberry Apple Cider

For quite some time now, one of my coworkers and I have been planning to make some warm, festive beverages to share at the office. Originally the plan was to do pumpkin cider in celebration of autumnal weather. Buuut we didn't manage to make it happen until after December 1, so something more Christmasy seemed like the way to go.

Enter cranberries. I've shared before, I always associate cranberries more with winter than fall, even though they're mostly mostly in the stores around Thanksgiving. They look festive, and their tart flavor is perfect for brightening up sometimes-dreary winter days.

So last week I whipped up this mulled cranberry apple cider, my friend whipped up some hot cocoa, and our coworkers rejoiced. I've made this cider once before and love the flavors and the ease of prep.

Mulled Cranberry Apple Cider
Adapted from Rachael Ray
Yield: 12 servings (3 quarts total)

Ingredients
2-inch piece of ginger root
1 orange
4 whole cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
2 quarts cloudy organic apple cider
1 quart cranberry juice
1-2 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed (frozen is fine)
Slow cooker

Directions
Peel the ginger and cut it into 3-4 smaller pieces. Cut 2-3 slices out of the center of the orange. Then use a paring knife to remove some of the peel from the "heels" of the orange that didn't get sliced. Try to get as little of the white pith as possible, but don't stress about it. Stick the cloves through the piece(s) of orange peel. This basically just makes it easy to fish out the cloves later. (Alternatively, you could just throw in some orange slices and some loose cloves.)

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker (4-quart capacity or larger). Cook on high for 2-3 hours, checking it after an hour or so. If it's hot enough, turn the slow cooker down to warm. If it's getting too spiced, then fish out some or all of the ginger, cloves, and cinnamon sticks.

Tips

• If you need to expedite this, then warm the apple cider and/or cranberry juice in the microwave before adding to the slow cooker. I warmed my apple cider in the microwave, and after an hour on high in the slow cooker, everything was piping hot. If you're really in a hurry, follow Rachael Ray's stovetop directions.
• I bought a gallon of cider and roughly a half gallon of cranberry juice. I used half of each to make one batch of this cider. Since I don't normally drink either of these things on their own, I poured the leftover cranberry juice into the cider jug and stuck it in my freezer. I'll pull it out for round two when my family is in town for Christmas later this month. 
• The above tip sounds frighteningly like a story problem from math classes of yorn: If Karissa has 4 quarts of cider and 2 quarts of cranberry juice, then pours half of it into her slow cooker, how many quarts of juice are left?

Peach Salsa with Spiced Black Beans and Corn

The summer I lived in Georgia, the couple I stayed with kept the kitchen fully stocked with fresh, juicy peaches all summer long. These were not your run-of-the-mill grocery store peaches. Rather, I'm pretty sure she bought most of them from local growers and fruit stands. Jann even knew the names of the different varieties, when each variety would come into season, and the unique flavors of each variety. Many evenings that summer, Jann and I would stand side by side at the kitchen sink, peeling and slicing peaches, our hands dripping with juice while we told each other about our day.

Though I liked peaches before then, it was that summer that really solidified my love for peaches--especially juice-running-down-your-chin, just-picked-that day peaches. So when Google showed me recently that there's an annual peach festival in Weatherford, Texas (of all places), I convinced a couple of my peach-loving and/or festival-loving friends to take a trip to Weatherford for some peach love. Food highlights for me included the Caribbean jerk chicken sandwich for lunch, the homemade peach ice cream for dessert, and the bottle of lavender balsamic vinegar I brought home with me.

One of my goals for our trip to the festival was to get some peach salsa. I'd made it once before and really liked it, so I was interested in trying someone else's version. Unfortunately, though, by the time we got there and ate lunch (and ice cream) and got serious about browsing the manymany vendor booths, the jarred peach salsa was sold out everywhere we looked and asked. But no worries! Because I was already planning to buy a bunch of fresh peaches from the fresh produce stand (which we all did), and I still had that trusted peach salsa recipe from before, so I just made my own again tonight.

Rather than do something the same way twice, though, I took the peach salsa from before, and served it over the corn and black beans from these lettuce wraps. The lettuce wraps recipe also included a guacamole which sounded lovely, but I didn't feel like making three different components, so I just cubed an avocado, and that was simple and perfect. The black bean/corn part of the dish has so many warm flavors going on, the peach salsa pretty much tastes like summer, and the avocado added this creaminess that brought all the flavors into harmony.

If you wanted to bulk this up or make it stretch to more servings, you could easily add some cooked quinoa or millet. Originally I had planned to do that, but I decided to keep it simple tonight, and I didn't miss the grain at all.

Peach Salsa with Spiced Black Beans and Corn

Peach salsa adapted from A Couple Cooks and posted previously on my blog here; black beans and corn adapted from A Couple Cooks.

Yield: About 3 servings. I know that's weird, and I'm sorry. I was planning to do 2 servings but got too excited about peaches once I started cutting into them, so I ended up with 2-3 generous servings of peach salsa and 3-4 servings of the black beans and corn.

Peach Salsa Ingredients
3 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1/2 medium red onion (or 1/4 large red onion), finely chopped
Just under 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced (more or less to taste)
Juice of 1/2 lime
Small handful fresh cilantro, chopped
Kosher salt, to taste

Everything Else
1/4 to 1/2 large red onion
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 ear of corn, kernels removed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. kosher salt
Dried chipotle powder, to taste (or chopped, canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, to taste)
Black pepper, to taste
3/4 cup water
1 avocado, cut into cubes

Directions
For the salsa, combine all the salsa ingredients in a bowl. Toss to combine. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the red onion, green pepper, and corn; saute until veggies are slightly browned, about 5 minutes, stirring only very occasionally. Add the black beans, oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, chipotle, and water. Give it a good stir, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has cooked down.

To serve, spoon some of the black bean and corn mixture into a bowl. Top with avocado and peach salsa, and give it a good stir. Then add some more peach salsa on top because it's hard to resist adding just a bit more.

Summer Squash Refrigerator Pickles

‘Tis the season for gardens bursting with zucchini and yellow squash! Which means ‘tis also the season for those with gardens to become especially earnest in sharing squash with their friends and neighbors. Which means that, whether we’re growing them ourselves or receiving them from a friend, ‘tis the season to find many ways to prepare squash beyond zucchini bread and simple sautés.

So last week I tried my hand at pickling some squash! And I must say that I rather like the result. These are refrigerator pickles, also called quick pickles, which I think just means that 1) you don’t have to go through the extra step of sealing the jars to make them shelf stable and 2) therefore they go straight into the fridge rather than into the pantry. This was perfect for me since I wanted to go ahead and eat them, and canning still scares me.

I looked at lots of recipes for quick pickles, and learned that there are so many variations you can do. You definitely need salt, squash (or other veggies), and some sort of vinegar. Most of the recipes I looked at called for peppercorns. But from there, you can add various fresh herbs, ground spices, onions, other veggies like red bell pepper, or sweeteners to adjust the flavor to your liking. 

I tried a couple different variations—one more basic, and one more flavored—and made a quart jar of each. And I can’t quite decide which one I like better. The basic version (below) tastes very clean and un-fussy, while the slightly spicy variation (see notes) has a more complex flavor. As far as squash quantity, I had one mammoth zucchini plus two smallish yellow squash, which I sliced and split evenly between the two quart jars.

Summer Squash Refrigerator Pickles

Adapted from A Farmgirl’s Dabbles

Yield: 1 quart

Ingredients

4-5 sprigs fresh cilantro

1-1/2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved

1-1/2 tsp. whole peppercorns

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

3/4 lbs. yellow squash and/or zucchini, sliced into rounds

1/4 cup sliced yellow onion

1-1/4 cup white vinegar

1-1/4 cup water

1 tsp. kosher salt

Directions

To a clean, quart-sized mason jar, add the first seven ingredients (through onion). I put my garlic, peppercorns, and coriander at the bottom, and tried to sort of layer the onion and squash. In a small saucepan, bring vinegar, water, and salt to a boil. Pour over the contents of the jar, pressing down the vegetables so they’re submerged. Gently tap the jar on the counter to release air bubbles. 

Allow the jar to cool on the counter, then put a lid on the jar and let it chill in the fridge at least overnight. After mine was cooled and was lidded, I gave it a good swish (that’s gentler than a full-blown shake) every so often to help the flavors permeate the liquid and, therefore, the veggies.

Notes

• For the variation I’m calling Slightly Spicy Summer Squash Pickles, add 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes to the jar, and use cider vinegar instead of basic white. 
• I’ve only just made these so can’t testify personally, but most of the refrigerator pickle recipes I’ve seen say that these will keep for about a month in your fridge.

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

Remember when it was a goal of mine to make something with fresh tomatillos? Wait, you mean you don't remember my food goals as well as I do? Well, it finally happened!

This tomatillo salsa tastes bright and fresh, and the recipe is quick, simple, and summery. It has just a few ingredients to whir up in the food processor, and my friends absolutely loved it. In fact, that's why there is so little salsa in these pictures--I made it, took it to a shower, we ate most of it, and then I photographed it the next day.

It seemed odd to me that the recipe didn't call for any lime or lemon, but I'm glad I trusted the recipe. The fresh tomatillos add plenty of brightness to the salsa--so much so, that my friends almost didn't believe that there was no lime juice in it. Also, the amount of jalapeno was perfect for me. It added flavor, but the salsa was still very mild. If you want more heat, use more jalapeno and/or keep the seeds in.

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa
From Rick Bayless, as seen on Annie's Eats
Yield: 1-1/2 cups salsa

Ingredients
8 oz. fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and quartered
1 large garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped
1/2 to 2/3 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Tortilla chips, for serving

Directions
In a food processor, pulse all ingredients into a coarse puree without over processing. Taste and add more salt if needed. Serve with chips.

Don't have a food processor? Simply mince the tomatillos, garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro by hand, then combine everything in a serving bowl.

The salsa keeps very well in the fridge. I made mine a day ahead of time and just kept it in a mason jar in the fridge until time to serve it.

Spiced Roasted Nuts with Paprika and Thyme

Over a year ago, I earmarked a spiced nuts article in the Food Network Magazine's Thanksgiving edition. And for over a year, this spread sat untouched by me. Occasionally I'd see it on my list of recipes I want to try, and think, "Oh yeah, those sounded really good. I need to make those soon" . . . and then promptly decide to make something else. Well, when the time came to decide what to do for Happy Winter (i.e., Happy Late Christmas) gifts for my coworkers, these roasted nuts finally got their time to shine!

The Food Network article is a mix-and-match recipe of sorts. Kind of a like a "choose your own adventure" book, but with snack foods. They suggested a number of nuts, mix-ins, and flavor combinations, and I went with the paprika-thyme combo with almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pretzels. It seemed to go over well with my coworkers, and I've enjoyed snacking on the leftovers.

Nuts and pretzels are tricky to measure accurately, so I erred on the side of too much. After doubling the recipe below, I wound up with enough to fill a dozen half-pint mason jars plus about half of a quart jar. While I'm quite fond of the nuts/mix-in/flavoring combination I used, it's definitely worth checking out the Food Network article for more ideas.

Spiced Roasted Nuts with Paprika and Thyme
Kind of adapted from Food Network
Yield: 5-1/2 cups 

Ingredients
1 egg white
1-1/2 cups raw unsalted whole almonds
1-1/2 cups raw unsalted walnuts
1 cup raw unsalted pecans
1-1/2 cup mini pretzels
3 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1-1/2 tsp. paprika
3/4 to 1 tsp. dried thyme
3/4 tsp. mustard powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350, and line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat the egg white with a whisk until frothy. Add the nuts and pretzels; use a rubber spatula to mix gently but thoroughly so everything is coated with egg white.

In a separate small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients (sugar through pepper). Mix them well, then sprinkle them over the nut mixture; again, mix gently but well.

Spread the mixture in a single layer on the baking sheet(s). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until nice and roasty, stirring every 3-5 minutes. If using multiple pans, rotate them halfway through the baking time. Let cool on the baking sheet(s) before eating or sharing.

Browned Butter Banana Bread

If you're like me, you never manage to use up all your bananas before they turn brown and mushy. I think it's just a rule for life: no matter how few bananas one purchases, at least one of them will be destined for banana bread (or for the freezer for banana bread later). And you know what? I'm okay with it . . . because who doesn't love a good loaf of banana bread?

This recipe is particularly lovable. The browned butter adds a warm, cozy depth of flavor. It tastes sufficiently banana-y, and has just the right amount of sweetness for my taste. The topping adds a nice crunch and lets you alternate sweeter bites (with topping) and less sweet bites (without topping).

This banana bread uses only one banana, and thus less of the rest of the ingredients. So it yields a slightly shorter loaf than most quick breads, which also means it's easier to cook it all the way through without the outside being overly cooked and dry.

Also, happy Christmas!

Browned Butter Banana Bread
Adapted from The Faux Martha
Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour*
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup milk**
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ripe banana

Topping
1 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
2-4 Tbsp. chopped pecans and/or walnuts

Directions
Brown the butter: Melt 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Continue to cook until it's golden brown and smells like heaven, swirling the pan periodically.*** Allow to cool completely.

While the butter cools, make the crumb topping: In a small bowl (I used a cereal bowl), combine 1 Tbsp. softened butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Use a fork or knives to combine the ingredients until they're crumbly. Add the chopped pecans and walnuts and stir to combine well. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 300. Spray a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the bread: flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: cooled browned butter, milk, egg, and vanilla until well combined. Add banana, mash, and whisk well. At this point, my butter decided to solidify again because my milk was pretty cold, but my bread still turned out just fine. Just whisk it well so you have small clumps of butter instead of giant globs.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and stir just until combined. Don't work it too much. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with the crumb topping. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire cooling rack, and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan. Then loosen the loaf from the pan, and turn out onto a cutting board to cut and serve.

Notes
*The original recipe called for 1/2 cup all-purpose and 1/2 white whole wheat. Use whatever combination strikes your fancy and fits with what you have on hand.

**Original recipe called for 1/3 cup liquid comprised of 1 part milk and 1 part plain yogurt. I didn't have yogurt on hand so went with all milk, and it was fine. If I'd added a bit of lemon juice or vinegar, I may have gotten a slightly fluffier loaf, but I'm completely happy with how mine turned out.

***If you're tight on time, you can simply melt the butter in the microwave. But do try it at least once with the browned butter--it tastes wonderful! Also, it'll splatter quite a bit. I recommend using a pan that's bigger than what you need, so the taller sides will help contain the splatter. Or use a splatter screen if you have one.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies! They combine all my favorite cookie element into one amazing cookie. They're pretty filling thanks to the oats and peanut butter. And they're less unhealthy than a lot of cookies out there--sweetened with maple syrup instead of refined sugar, full of oaty goodness, gluten-free if you care about that, and using dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet.

I may or may not eat these for breakfast sometimes. Because oatmeal and maple syrup are breakfast food, right? Please don't judge me.

And please make these cookies.

That is all.


Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted slightly from Cookie and Kate
Yield: 28 cookies (more or less depending on the size of your cookies)

Ingredients
2/3 cup natural peanut butter
2/3 cup real maple syrup
4 Tbsp. butter or coconut oil, melted
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2-3/4 cup rolled oats, divided (or use 1-1/4 cups oat flour plus 1-1/2 cups rolled oats)
1 to 1-1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
2-4 Tbsp. whole wheat flour or oat flour (optional)

Directions
To a medium-large bowl, add the peanut butter, maple syrup, butter/coconut oil, vanilla extract, and egg. Using a mixer, blend until well combined, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the salt, baking soda, and baking powder; mix again until well blended.

Measure 1-1/4 cups oats into a small food processor. Blend until the oats resemble a coarse flour. Add ground oats and remaining 1-1/2 cup rolled oats to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, stir the dough until it's mostly combined; add the dark chocolate chips; stir until well combined. If the dough seems too wet, add 2-4 Tbsp. whole wheat flour, as needed.

Move oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of your oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop cookie dough into balls/heaps (they don't have to be tidy) and arrange on baking sheets. I used a cookie scoop that's about 1-1/2 Tbsp. For a flatter cookie, smoosh each mound/ball down a bit; for taller cookies, don't smoosh them.

Bake for 12-15 minutes total, switching the upper and lower pans with each other about halfway through the baking time. They're done when they starting to brown around the edges and on the bottom, but are still pretty soft to the touch. When they're done, remove both pans from the oven and allow the cookies to cool fully on the baking sheets (they'll keep cooking while they cool, which is why it's important to pull them out of the oven while they're still pretty soft).

These cookies taste great right away while they're still warm and gooey. They also store well in Tupperware for a few days. Whatever you can't eat or share within a few days, put in a Ziploc bag and toss into the freezer; retrieve 1 or 2 whenever you need a quick cookie fix!

Cranberry Crostini with Goat Cheese and Brie

As we approach Christmas day, I'd like to share with you one of my favorite recipes I've made in a while. Though I made these crostini for Thanksgiving, the sauce smelled just like Christmas! I thought it was the perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiving and look forward to putting up Christmas decorations the next day.

These crostini are wonderfully simple to make, but look and taste fancy. I think the blend of spices was pretty much perfect. No single flavor took over the dish, but instead created a symphony of sweet, spiced, tart, rich, creamy, and crunchy.

I made some of mine with goat cheese and some with Brie, and I can't decide which I liked better. If doing small, two-bite bread slices from a skinny baguette, you're probably good either way. If doing larger slices from a fatter loaf, Brie might be a bit rich.

This recipe is very portable and easy to make ahead. Toast the bread slices and, once they're cool, store in a large zip bag until ready to serve. The cranberry sauce can be made days in advance and stored in the fridge. Just warm it up a bit in the microwave right before serving. I traveled with all my components separate, and let people assemble their own crostini. That way each person could choose which cheese(s) they wanted, the bread didn't get soggy from sitting too long, and any leftovers were easy to take home.

Speaking of leftovers, they do well on crackers, leftover turkey, leftover dinner rolls, and pretty much anything else you can think of. One of my friends says the cranberry sauce is good on pancakes, and I may or may not have made french toast topped with leftover cheeses and cranberry sauce.

Cranberry Crostini with Goat Cheese and(or) Brie

Adapted slightly from Cookie and Kate
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients
1 baguette or small loaf of artisan whole grain bread, sliced into 1/2-inch thick slices
Olive oil
Salt
12-oz. bag fresh cranberries
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice (or equal parts cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg)
Zest of 1/2 an orange
10 oz. (total) goat cheese, Brie, ricotta, or cream cheese, or some combination thereof - at room temperature

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush both sides of bread slices with olive oil, and arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet or two. Lightly sprinkle with salt. Toast the bread in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden on both sides, turning them halfway. Set aside to cool, and turn off the oven.

Rinse the cranberries and throw out any bad ones; set aside. In a saucepan, whisk together the honey, water, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Bring to a gentle boil over medium to medium-high heat, whisking often. Add the cranberries and cook, stirring frequently, until cranberries have popped and the sauce is the consistency you like. The longer you cook it, the more saucy and less chunky it will get. Beware that the cranberries may try to attack you while they're popping. Remove from heat and stir in the orange zest.

To assemble the crostini, spread each slice of bread with cheese, then top with cranberry sauce.

Sugar and Spice Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

In one of my Penzeys orders, I got a jar of Tsardust Memories, which Penzeys describes as, "Warm and spicy-sweet, this blend is awesome with ground beef - burgers, meatloaf, meatballs, casseroles... Excellent in hearty soups and stews, and one of the best things ever on pork chops... Hand-mixed from: salt, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, marjoram."

Though I haven't yet managed to grace some pork chops with this Russian blend, Tsardust Memories came in quite handy when seasoning some pumpkin seeds for roasting. It's a great blend of sweet and savory flavors, and the cinnamon and nutmeg are perfect for cooler months! If you don't have any Tsardust Memories, it's okay--just use a combination of salt, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, and marjoram (or oregano).

Sugar and Spice Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
From me! I didn't measure a single ingredient, so these amounts are guesses I made afterward. 

Ingredients
Seeds from 1 pumpkin - strings removed, but NOT rinsed
Dark brown sugar - approx 1 Tbsp
Tsardust Memories - approx 1/2 to 1 tsp. (or use salt, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, and marjoram)
Cinnamon - small to medium sprinkle - maybe 1/4 tsp
Chipotle powder - small sprinkle

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or foil plus cooking spray--these will be sticky!).

In a small bowl, sprinkle seasonings over the pumpkin seeds, and stir well. Spread seeds in an even layer on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes; stir; bake for an additional 5-8 minutes, until toasted and crispy but not too dark.

Allow to cool before serving.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

All you non-pumpkin-lovers out there, I'm gonna need you to bear with me for the next few posts. Because there's been a LOT of pumpkin going through my kitchen lately. Pumpkin apple cider, sugar and spice roasted pumpkin seeds, another round of pumpquinoa, and hopefully soon some pumpkin soup. But first, some pumpkin snickerdoodles.

When you love pumpkin as outspokenly as I do, friends tend to think of you when they see amazing-sounding pumpkin recipes. Which is awesome, because not only am I finding delicious pumpkin recipes from around the interwebs, but I'm also receiving the best of the recipes that my friends are finding! Such was the case with this pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe. One of my friends sent me this recipe in late August when it was still regularly in the high 90s, and it sat there in my Facebook inbox torturing me for about a month before it got cool enough for me to justify making them.

They were worth the wait! They were lightly sweet, nicely spiced, and a wonderful excuse to use pumpkin! They were a little more cakey than I'd like, but I learned from another friend that leaving the egg out of pumpkin cookie recipes makes for a less cakey cookie. Apparently the pumpkin plays the role that the egg normally would, so having both is unnecessary.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Adapted ever-so-slightly from Recipe Girl
Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg (omit for less cakey cookies)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Rolling Sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. allspice

Directions
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter until fluffy. Add white sugar, brown sugar, and pumpkin, and beat well. Mix in egg (if using) and vanilla, scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the ingredients.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Working with a little bit at a time, mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients, just until incorporated.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour, until dough becomes slightly firm. Mix together the rolling sugar ingredients; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350, and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Shape the cookie dough into balls, using about 1-1/2 Tbsp. of dough for each one. Roll each cookie dough ball in the sugar mixture, coating well. Place on cookie sheets and press slightly for taller cookies like mine, or press more for flatter cookies.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until they are slightly firm to the touch. Let cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to finish cooling.

Orange and Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Scones

There are two things I'd like to leave you with today.

First, make these Orange and Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Scones from Naturally Ella. I took these to work not too long ago, and my friend described them as triumphant. This may be my favorite food compliment I've ever received.

Second, try out a time-saving tip I learned from Cooking Light. Instead of cutting the butter into the dry ingredients, melt the butter and pour it into very cold buttermilk while stirring constantly. The butter will start to solidify as you stir it around in the cold buttermilk. When it's fairly lumpy, dump it into your combined dry ingredients and mix up your dough. That way, you still end up with tiny bits of butter incorporated throughout the dough, but it takes much less time than using a pastry blender or knives, and doesn't require getting the food processor dirty.

Cooking Light also indicated that using this method allowed them to cut the butter measurement in half (!) for the buttermilk biscuits they were making over. I wanted to test the method and the scones recipe before doing something as drastic as cutting the butter in half. But next time I think I'll give it a shot, saving a whole lot of calories and sat fat!

Happy baking!

photo from naturallyella.com

Spinach Hummus

The school cafeteria.

For many of us, it conjures up images of tater tots and nacho "cheese" at best and unidentifiable "mystery casserole" slop at worst. In high school, my friends and I avoided the cafeteria as much as possible, preferring to eat our brought-from-home lunches outside even when there was snow on the ground.

Most of us would probably not look to a school cafeteria for recipe inspiration, but that's exactly where this Spinach Hummus recipe came from. After eating this hummus one day at my school/work cafeteria, I liked it so much that I went back the next day to ask what was in it! Because I'm like that.

At first when I asked, "What was in the spinach hummus yesterday?" the cafeteria lady got a little politely defensive: "Was there something wrong with it?" When I assured her that I had loved it and wanted to recreate it at home, her face lit up, and she offered, "Well, I've got the recipe right back here. Do you want to take a picture of it?" So I did. And I made it. And it was delicious.

Let me tell you some awesome things about this recipe:

1. It's full of healthy, tasty things--spinach, chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice . . . it's a snack you can feel good about eating.
2. It doesn't call for tahini. So if you don't have any, no worries! 
3. It's so very easy and quick to make. Open a can, peel some garlic, and throw everything in a food processor. Bam. 
4. I'm not sure why Blogger is putting so much space before and after this numbered list. It's legitimately bothering me. My sincerest apologies to anyone else OCD enough to be bothered by this.

So here's to you, cafeteria lady. Thanks for introducing me to this hummus and being willing to share the recipe!

Spinach Hummus

1 (15-oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1-1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
1-1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup packed fresh spinach
Ground coriander, to taste (optional)

Put all ingredients in a food processor; pulse to combine. Process until mixture is smooth and creamy, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides. If it's too thick, add more olive oil or lemon juice, or a bit of water. Serve with pita chips, sliced vegetables, or spread on a sandwich or wrap.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies

It was 92 degrees today where I live, but my friends in the Northeast got snow. So it's not too late for pumpkin recipes, right?

I've never been consistently good at cookies--and more often than not have been consistently bad at cookies--but I'm proud to say I've successfully made these babies twice. Both times elicited much praise and many happy sighs from my coworkers, and both times I confess I ate far more cookies than someone who's trying to maintain her weight should.

Most grocery stores carry cinnamon chips in the same section as chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. If you want a chewier cookie, make the cookies a little larger; if you want crispier, make them smaller. I recommend the chewy option, myself.

Whether it still feels like winter where you are, already feels like summer, or is somewhere in between, I hope you enjoy these little bites of pumpkiny oatmeal goodness.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies

Printer-friendly
Slightly adapted from Eats Well with Others
Yield: 3 dozen

Ingredients
1-1/4 cups flour (I use 1 cup all-purpose, 1/4 cup whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1-1/2 cups cinnamon chips

Directions
Whisk flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a second bowl, use a mixer to cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium speed. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until well-combined, scraping down the sides as necessary. Stir in the pumpkin puree.

Slowly add in the flour mixture. Fold in the oats and cinnamon chips.

Preheat oven to 375 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop the dough by the Tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are set and golden. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

per cookie, from My Fitness Pal