Fall Fare

Quick, before winter officially begins!

I made this a few weeks (okay, probably two months) ago and it was an absolutely delicious fall meal! Mashed potatoes (and turnips--could've done without those, actually) with spicy sausage and tatsoi. I sauteed onions, then browned the sausage and seasoned it with cayenne pepper, sage, and hickory smoked salt. Just before serving, I added some chopped tatsoi cabbage and cooked it just until it wilted a bit but hadn't lost its color.

Yum, yum!

Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

Wow. Brown butter takes frosting to a new level! It gives a caramel-y punch that really means less icing for a LOT of flavor impact. Paired with pumpkin . . . you gotta do this!

The brown butter frosting is taken directly from Martha Stewart's website (find it here). I think I just added more powdered sugar to make it a little stiffer. I also used whipping cream (because I had it on hand) which made the frosting fluffier than it would have been with just milk.

The pumpkin cake recipe I found on allrecipes.com. I did scale it down to 11 servings instead of 14 for the two nine-inch rounds you see in the picture. For the sake of ease, I'll link to the recipe and also write out the measurements I used below:

Pumpkin Cake

1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. applesauce (or another 1/2 c. vegetable oil)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. pumpkin (I used a mix of pumpkin and butternut squash)
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each of ground ginger, cloves, and nutmeg


Instructions: Beat sugar, oil, and applesauce together. Blend in cooked pumpkin (I never pureed mine, just scooped it out of the shell and dumped it into the batter!), vanilla, and eggs. Sift the remaining ingredients into the bowl and stir until smooth. Bake in two nine-inch greased and floured cake pans for 30 minutes at 350F (you'll have to adjust the baking time if you use a 9 X 13, bundt, or do cupcakes). And don't forget a light frosting of that brown butter icing!

Cran-Cayenne Jam

After an early snow and frost, I had to salvage what hot peppers I could quickly. Their texture was no longer good for canning as rings in sauce, so I came up with this sweet, tart, spicy jam instead. YUM! And the color is absolutely stunning. Now it sits in the fridge, just waiting to be processed in cute little jars (for Christmas presents?) . . .


Cran-Cayenne Jam

2 pkg. fresh, whole cranberries (24 oz.)--sorted and washed
1/2 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. vinegar
3 c. (1/2 lb.) fresh, whole cayenne peppers
3 c. sugar
1 pkg. (1.75 oz.) powdered pectin
water (as desired to achieve the consistency you like)

In a food processor, chop (or grind as fine as you like--I personally like a little texture to my jam) the cranberries and peppers. Combine in a large stock pot with the remaining ingredients and cook until the mixture thickens to the consistency you like (it will cook another 15 minutes later if you process it by boiling water method). Taste and correct sugar/lemon juice/water according to your taste. That's it! Not sure of the yield as I've used a good bit already and haven't canned the remainder yet.


Cook's Word: This is spicy!!! by itself, but less so on bread. In the picture above I served it with bread and cream cheese, placed under a broiler until slightly toasted before adding the jam. I briefly thought about adding some apples to the jam too for more sweetness without using more sugar, but I liked how peppery it was, so I let it be in the end.

Way Back When

Way back when I was cooking and baking . . .




I made this for a combination birthday party/baby shower a few months ago. Two yummy chocolate cake rounds layered with a mint frosting with additional melted chocolate on top! I think I ate a piece of this every day until it was all gone!

Since giving birth to my son at the beginning of September, I honestly haven't cooked much--the food has been rolling in from so many generous friends and family members. But the last meal arrives tomorrow, so it's back to the kitchen for me!

Ethiopian Plate

Wow. I com-PLETE-ly missed August! Not like I was getting ready for a baby, spending as much time as possible with ALL my sisters, and attending (plus helping with) two awesome weddings!

Somehow, I did find time to cook too, just not time to blog. And, honestly, I should be in bed now--preparing my body to give birth--not squeezing one blog post in first. *sigh*

But just to tease you . . .

I had a short Ethiopian food craze last month. Two meals (since I'd made tons of injera the first meal). Homemade injera (wish I could get it nice and tangy!); red beet and lentil salad; potatoes and green beans in tomato sauce; and spicy lentils. Definitely a meal I could repeat any day (besides all the work it takes).

The injera recipe came from a cookbook I have--they were surprisingly easy and fun to make, although I think I need to work on my technique a little to get them to be a more uniform thickness. It was like making crepes (that don't stick to a dry pan). Let me know if you have a kicker recipe!

German Chocolate Cheesecake

For a friend's birthday recently, I got together with two other women to create this concoction. We combined a few recipes: one for the dark chocolate cheesecake (just the filling), and another for the crust (I think) and German chocolate cake topping. Viola! The best of both cheesecake and German chocolate cake. And it was GOOD! Smooth (a food processor makes all the difference in my opinion), chocolate-y, and just plain yumminess in that topping of coconut and pecans.

You really gotta try this, especially with the help of two other friends. Makes the process so much more fun. The only thing I would do different is make MORE of the topping so it could kinda drizzle down the side. Mmmmmm . . .

Pit Pics

So, there you have it! Only a month later (it would have been just 3 weeks later if Blogger wasn't taking such a long time loading pictures--grrrr).

We (that is, David) started by digging a hole in the ground, maybe three feet by two feet and a couple feet deep. This was lined with rocks that we all participated in gathering from public property on the way home from church (it was all legit, promise.)

Once the hole was dug and lined with rock, we (that is, David again) started a fire in it and let the fire burn down to a nice bed of coals. In the meantime, Mom and I were prepping the food--a pork loin rubbed with herbs and some baking potatoes. Once the coals were ready, we lined them with banana leaves and placed the banana-leaf wrapped pork and the foil-wrapped potatoes in the middle of the hole. This was all covered with the remaining banana leaves we had and a wet sheet (to keep dirt from getting in the food packets). Then it was all smothered with dirt, and we went off to distract ourselves with other pursuits for three hours. Below is a picture of us uncovering the food. It was an anxious moment . . .

The pork was succulent and juicy, perfectly done through to the center. But surprisingly, the potatoes weren't yet soft through! I would have thought the potatoes would cook before the meat. Never mind. We finished them up in the microwave and enjoyed our meal splendidly. Complete with fresh mango chutney (for the pork), corn and lima succotash, and fresh pieces of coconut! Yum.