Cooking.In.College

It snowed about 4 inches here yesterday morning, I have all of my presents purchased and wrapped, family is gathering, and there are only 2 days until Christmas. I could not be more excited! One of my absolute favorite parts of winter break, besides Lucy, has to be cooking and baking for everyone. This is most likely due to the fact that I get to use my parents' KitchenAid mixer and gas stove. Ah yes...it's the little things in life.

Nothing brings out the pumpkin hoarder in me more than cold weather. With the average temperature hovering around 40 degrees we haven't even begun to see winter but that didn't stop me from stocking my pantry with 5 industrial sized cans of pumpkin. I can't help it, I discovered what Fall was like without pumpkin last year and I'm determined to never have that happen again.

I think my skin has started to take on a semi-permanent fake-tan orange hue due to the copious amounts of pumpkin I have consumed in the past couple of months. So if that makes you jealous, which it totally should, make this and enjoy spreading it on toast, dipping cookies into it, and my favorite, stirring it into oatmeal. 

I needed something simple to ease my way back into the realm of cooking. We recently moved to a different apartment complex so I have some "new" culinary territory to make my own. It's a much bigger kitchen and I love it. As soon as we put my food processor in it's new home I decided on making these bars. I wasn't completely sold on their texture when I first put them in to bake but they emerged from the oven wonderfully chewy. The blueberry studded bars are delicious on their own but the cinnamon vanilla glaze is really my favorite part, and rightfully so.

It happens at least once a year, my Grandma makes a brilliant yellow bundt cake slathered in creamy lemon glaze. It is one of the only things she cooks anymore but she pulls it off perfectly every time. If she read my blog and knew I had made my own I would tell her that hers outdoes mine by more than a mile but, in all honesty the first thing I exclaimed after taking the first bite was "It tastes exactly the same"!

Have you ever been really excited about a recipe, whipped it up, waited anxiously for it to bake in the oven, pulled it out, waited for it to cool (or not) and taken that first bite only to find out it is dry, flavorless, or just kinda sucks? I definitely did this last night when I made some very dry banana muffins. The greatest disappointment came when I realized that I was probably going to just throw them away because no amount of peanut butter could save them. Then I had a moment of genius (if I can be so bold). I decided these muffins had to be made into bread pudding and what emerged from the oven after baking this treat did not disappoint in anyway. 

Part Two of the pumpkin shortage: it's not quite over yet but I managed to scrape up an organic can of the orange stuff at Sprouts...oh how I love Sprouts, in the absence of a Trader Joe's it definitely suffices. This recipe is simple but it is so warm, earthy, and satisfying that I just had to share it.

It has been a long time since I have made a quick bread. I had forgotten how much I loved them. This earthy, pumpkin spiced bread is wonderfully healthy and has the ideal texture and amount of sweetness to be perfect with coffee in the morning or served warm with ice cream as dessert.
It filled our apartment with wonderful smells that reminded me of the holidays, which now seem long ago.

I have made my share of custards, pastry cream, mousses, anglaise sauce, lemon curd, creme caramels, pot de cremes, and creme brulees. No...I am not trying to make you all envy my pastry prowess, I am telling you this to give you some perspective when I tell you...I have never made pudding! So, in the holiday spirit, I decided this was something I absolutely needed to do. 

I love sweet potatoes...they are highly nutritious and, let's face it, way tastier than white potatoes.  Topped with rosemary and sea salt they can be the star of your meal or a simple savory side. Sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar and you've got dessert. No matter what you decide these are incredibly easy and super delicious.

I had a surplus of fresh blueberries in my fridge and a lone tortilla leftover from quesadilla night. It was also time to put my new mini casserole dish to use and so, I decided to make a dessert for the first time in a long time! If you prefer a more cobbler like crust you could use some refrigerated biscuit dough and plop it on top instead of the tortilla and sprinkle with sugar before baking.

I made these wonderful hearty and very low fat muffins on Sunday this past weekend and I have been eating them for breakfast everyday since then. I froze 8 of them and I am anxiously awaiting their thawing so I can eat the rest. You can add anything you want to this recipe, it is very forgiving. Dried fruits, fresh fruits (like mashed banana), peanut butter, nuts, just about anything would make a great add-in to this recipe.