Wednesday Fun #57 - Pumpkin!

I was torn between two topics this week- both of them Halloween-ish even! But in the end decided to go the obvious pumpkin route and I will save the other one for next week. (I know you are on the edge of your seats now!)

I want to know, What is your Favorite pumpkin (or other squash) recipe? Pie? Soup? Ravioli? And then, once you tell us what it is, you should dig out the recipe and post it sometime this week. That way we can all try it! Neat, huh?

Here is mine:

Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Squares

Makes 24; Prep time: 30 minutes;
In addition to keeping the cake from sticking to the pan, lining the pan with foil makes it easy to lift it out after baking.

2 C. All-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 Tbl. Pumpkin-pie spice (Note: If you don't have pumpkin-pie spice, substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon cloves (all ground).
1 tsp Baking soda
3/4 tsp Salt
1 C. Unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 C. Sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 CUP Canned pumpkin purée (Note: Not the whole can! Just one cup!)
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin purée (mixture may appear curdled but it's not, it's ok). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

3. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.

4. Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and use a serrated knife to cut into 24 squares.

*I got this recipe from a message board I belong to, so I am sure it is someone's somewhere, but I'm sorry I don't know who to give credit to. All I know is that I never would have thought to mix pumpkin and chocolate chips together but it is seriously yummy and delish.

Braised Red Cabbage with Onions and Apples in Red Wine - Cranberry Sauce

If you're going to make cabbage, this isn't a bad way to do it. It's very, very red. Granted, the name's about as long as the entire list of ingredients, but hey, what're'ya gonna do? It's from Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon. (Ok, so I looked up about the name & here's the scoop.)

1 1/2 tsp. butter
1 to 2 tart apples, such as Winesaps, peeled, cored, and chopped (I used Macintosh 'cuz that's what we had.)
1 small onion, chopped
1 Tbl. plus 1 tsp. [so, 4 tsp.] brown sugar
1/2 head red cabbage (about 1 lb), trimmed, cored, and thinly sliced
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. any good vegetable stock
1/2 c. dry red wine, such as a northern Rhone
1 Tbl. plus 1 tsp. [again, 4 tsp.] unbleached white all-purpose flour
2 to 3 Tbl. jellied cranberry sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the apples, onion, and brown sugar and saute until the onions are fairly limp, about 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and saute for another 5 minutes.

Add the vinegar and then 1/2 c. of the stock. Bring to a boil. Immediately lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer until the cabbage is tender but still has a bit of crispness, 25 to 30 minutes. [I think I did a bit less.]

Uncover and add the wine. Raise the heat and bring to a boil.

In a small bowl, whisk the cranberry sauce and flour into the remaining 1/4 c. stock. [Or, you know, the measuring cup you were using anyway.] When the liquid is boiling, stir in the flour-stock mixture. Lower the heat slightly, and simmer, stirring often, for another 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Wednesday Fun #56 - What do you ALWAYS have on hand?

Whoa! Is it Wednesday already? I have no idea how the middle of the week gets here so quickly!

So Mrs. H's other post inspired me to think of this one: What do you horde? What do you always have on hand to throw a meal together? Is there an item or two that you are always buying, (even though you may have 2 or 3 already stashed in the cupboard?)

**I mean things besides flour, sugar, salt, butter, milk, etc. Spices can count but only if you have an unusually large stash of a particular item. Like nutmeg, just for one example.

For me it's Bread crumbs, pasta, and Fajita seasoning - we almost never run out of those items! How about you?

Candy Corn Cookies

Candy Corn "Log"

Uncooked cookies

ENJOY!!

Candy Corn Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Yellow and orange food coloring

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Tint one portion yellow. Divide remaining dough into two-thirds and one-third portions. Color the larger portion orange; leave smaller portion white.

Shape each portion of dough into two 8 in logs. Flatten top and pinch side in at a slight angle. Place orange logs on yellow logs; push the sides in at a slight angle. Top with white logs; form a rounded top. Wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 4 hours or until firm.
Unwrap and cut into ¼ inch slices. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire rack to cool

Yield: about 5 dozen

Tip– I rolled the logs a lot longer. I thought the first time I made them they were too large.

Recipe Request - Green Tomatoes

Um, help?!?!?

CSA Week 19 - Last delivery of 2008!

*sob* It's the last week of this season's CSA. I'm going to miss it! It's been fun every week to get a box of surprises. Sure, I could figure there was often salad mix at the beginning, lots of tomatoes in the middle, onions and garlic and potatoes towards the end, but we really got a lot of variety! I mean, garlic scapes? Gooseberries? Brusselini? Edamame? Not anything I'd've guessed we'd get going into this food adventure!

Will we sign up for next year? All signs point to yes. It's cheaper to sign up before March 1st, so we've got a bit of time to decide for sure (and pay), but it's likely. Next year I'd like to do a better job of preserving what we're not going to get to right away (esp. the herbs - lots of those went bad), and I'd also like to do our own garden with tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans, and other foods that it makes sense to preserve in quantities we don't get in our CSA box. 'Cuz there's nothing like pulling some homemade marinara sauce out of the freezer in the middle of the deep, dark winter!

If you're thinking about joining a CSA for next season, start looking now, as many of them fill up quickly. Some (ours included) have options for half shares if you're not up for as much veggie goodness as we've been getting. It has certainly been an adventure, and gotten all 4 of us to try vegetables (and fruit) we haven't before.

Wednesday Fun #55- Breakfast for dinner?

I was making up the grocery list/menu plan the other day and asked the husband how he felt about Breakfast for dinner. He informed me that Breakfast at dinner time can only be Eggs Benedict. (which I have never made in my life) apparently, all other options of breakfast food are out. He's weird.
Do you do breakfast at dinnertime? We usually don't but I was thinking it would be a good way to shake up the routine, but still be fairly fast and easy. What is your opinion?

Blog all about the crockpot

Just found this blog all about crockpots and thought some might enjoy.

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

CSA Week 18

*le sigh* This is the almost last week of our CSA share. I will miss it! It's been fun getting the box of surprises every week. Granted, I was more keen on some foods than others, but I'm really glad we did this. Also, pretty sure we'll be signing up for next year, too. We've talked about doing the CSA, and then putting in a garden of things to keep/preserve like tomatoes, squash, green beans, etc. Because while we'd sometimes have more than we could eat of something in a week, it wasn't ever enough extra to do something with, you know?

"Autumn Green Mix" is apparently a "beautiful mixture of cooking greens which include red kale, red and green mustards, the Asian greens Komatsuna, Hon Tsai Tai, and Tatsoi, and Swiss chard."

Crockpot- Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce

THAI PORK w/ PEANUT SAUCE 

Cooker size: Medium round or oval crockpot
Setting & Cook Time: LOW for 8-9 hours

One 2-pound boneless pork loin, trimmed of fat and cut into 4 pieces
2 large red bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips
1/2 cup prepared teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to your taste, I always add a bit more than this, we like spicy)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

For Serving:
1/2 cup chopped green onions (white part and some of the green)
1/4 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts
2 limes, cut to make 8-12 wedges

1. Coat the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Put the pork, bell peppers, teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes and garlic in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until pork is fork tender, 8 to 9 hours

2. Remove pork from cooker and coarsely chop. Add the peanut butter to the liquid in the cooker; stir well to dissolve the peanut butter and blend with the liquid to make the sauce. **I also added a touch of honey.** Return the pork to the sauce and toss to coat the meat evenly.

3. Serve in shallow bowls over hot jasmine rice and sprinkle each serving with some of the green onions and peanuts; pass the lime wedges.

** I would recommend also serving with some stir fried veggies (maybe bell peppers and snow peas)

**You could also substitute chicken breasts in this recipe