Better Than Pumpkin Pie

Recipe: Better Than Pumpkin Pie
Source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/better-than-pumpkin-pie/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=better%20than%20pumpkin%20pie&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page
Time: 1 hour 20 total
Ease: 3
Taste: 10
Leftover Value: 10
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

Not Pumpkin Pie, BETTER Than Pumpkin Pie!

I am not a pumpkin pie lover.  In fact, I can't remember the last Thanksgiving that I ate a slice of pumpkin pie.  I always find them to be too heavy and the consistency to be too thick that after one bite I've had my fill of pumpkin taste.  (Then it's on to the chocolate desserts...)

Therefore, I've never made a pumpkin pie before.  I hear that using real pumpkin to make it can be a bit of an ordeal.  The challenge of using a real pumpkin (rather than canned pumpkin) is the only thing that ever tempts me to try my hand at making pumpkin pie.

But now I don't have to.  My good friend, Amy, who I've known a bazillion years, has a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) membership.  This means that during certain months of the year she gets a share of the local farmers crops.  I'm pretty sure this is the most awesome thing in the world.  Whatever they have a lot of that week, she gets a lot of.  And when she gets a lot, I get to share in her bounty.  Did I mention that I love Amy?

She's brought over anything from kale to collard greens, from zucchini to cucumbers, from red kuri squash to this week's butternut squash.

Amy's mom, Wendy, who I also love very much, sent over a recipe to go with the butternut squash.  It's name: "Better than pumpkin pie" had me intrigued.  I had to make it immediately.

It was everything I have always wanted in a pumpkin pie.  Creamy and light, but not lacking any of the usual flavors of pumpkin pie.  The one exception was it doesn't use any pumpkin.  Not a lick of the orange beast.  As you might have guessed, the secret ingredient in this recipe is the butternut squash from Amy's CSA crop this week.

The squash was not very big, so I thought perhaps I wouldn't have enough for the one and a half cups that the recipe called for.  I was wrong.  It was absolutely perfect.

Peeling and chopping the squash up, on the other hand, was an interesting event, one I wish I had taken pictures of.  

After the squash was chopped, it boiled in water for a few minutes.  Then all the remaining ingredients needed to be blended together with the squash.

It wasn't until I poured my batter into the pre-made pie crust that I bought at Bottom Dollar Food just for this occasion that I remembered reading or hearing somewhere that pies like such should be placed on top of a baking sheet.  I remembered this tip when I tried to pick up the pie and the filling began to shake back and forth until it spilled drastically over the sides of the crust and onto my stove top burner.  (I guess I should mention here that I chose to do this on top of my stove....not a good life choice at all).

After the pie was placed on the baking sheet everything was coming up daisies.  It baked for 50 minutes and despite all that I spilled onto my stove top, the filling was perfect.

I am definitely adding this to my desserts to make for Thanksgiving breakfast*.

 
*I just realized, I've never written about Thanksgiving breakfast.  Look for it around Turkey Day.  You won't want to miss it.

Apples and Buns

I love box mixes.  Especially ones that taste like I slaved for hours and hours in the kitchen, but in reality took about half a minute to mix together.

I had accumulated a few mixes and decided to make them all this weekend (don't worry, I had company over to eat them).  You've already heard about my awesome donuts.  I ordered two boxes of them online and decided this was the weekend to make one of them. 

The other two mixes I had never made before: Nana's Apple Cake Mix and Dove Cinnamon Roll Mix.

My friend Lisa bought me the cinnamon roll mix as a Christmas present along with two boxes of truffle fudge brownie mix.  Lisa is one of my favorite people in the world, not only because she buys me delicious treats that she knows I will love, but because she would never judge me for sitting down and eating the whole tray of cinnamon rolls all by myself.

It's a good thing I had friends to share them with, because otherwise that would be the tale I have to tell you.

They were that good.

They were also that good that they were being devoured so quickly that I had to grab one and put it in hiding for my husband who hadn't come home from work yet.

I do have to tell you that making these cinnamon rolls is not for wimps.  This was not your typical throw-some-water-in-with-the mix-and-it's-done situation.  But I loved it.  It made me feel like I was earning the credit I would receive later for how delicious they were.

And if only I had taken a picture when they were first out of the oven and not half demolished.  That would have been nice.  On the other hand, it is a testament to how scrumptious these cinnamon rolls were.

By the way, that's cream cheese frosting on there and I could eat it by the bowlful, shamelessly.

Now I'd like to introduce you to Nana's Apple Cake Mix.  This was one of those blink-and-you're-done-preparing-it mixes.  Three ingredients: chopped apples, water, and the mix.  I got a little fancy and drizzled caramel on top of my piece and then microwaved it a little.  

I'm wild, I know.

In closing, I think you should know I'm a big advocate of box mixes despite my love for making things from scratch.  After all, every girl needs a break every once in a while.

'Blah' Baked Corn Mash

Recipe: Baked Corn Mash

Source: The Orange Strainer

Time: 45 minutes total

Ease: 2

Taste: 3

Leftover Value: 2

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Down the Drain!

I gave myself a longer break than normal from posting.  I have my reasons.  After a few unsuccessful recipes, I didn't have the heart to post about my failures right away.  This recipe is one that works great when you follow the original recipe and cook it in a slow cooker, however, my rendition was just blah.  And yes, I have dubbed 'blah' to be a new cooking term.  In fact, in my recipe books, when I don't like a recipe I write 'blah' next to it.

I'm not kidding.  I seriously do that.

Here's what you need**:

1 can creamed corn
1 can frozen corn*
1 cup corn meal*
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp sugar*
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder

**Now, I know you're thinking, 'This recipe was a complete flop, why give the recipe?'.  What I want to make very clear is that this is an awesome recipe when you change three of the ingredients and throw it all into a slow cooker on low for 3 hours.  I've made it for Thanksgiving for the past two or three years and it's a hit.

So, if after reading this post, you think you'll be more successful with the slow cooker just change the items with a * to:

1 quart frozen corn
1 box (8.5 oz) corn muffin mix
2 Tbsp sugar

Now, back to the 'blah' recipe...

Start with a can of creamed corn.  I never tasted the uniqueness that is creamed corn before going with my husband.  And when I had it, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to eat corn like that.  But, it definitely works great in a recipe like this one.  The original recipe calls for a quart of creamed corn, but I never put that much in.  It is too much wet ingredient for me.

Because I was baking this, and had chosen a smaller baking dish, I used less frozen corn than normal.  Normally I will fill the creamed corn can twice.  For this recipe, I filled it once.  However, I'm positive this is not what lead to this recipe's downfall.

Toss in the frozen corn.

This is, I'm sure, what lead to the lack of flavor in my corn mash.  I used a cup of corn meal rather than a box of cornbread mix because, well, I didn't have any cornbread mix.  I realize they are two totally separate things, however, how would I really know if I didn't try?  

Pour the milk all over.

Beat the egg in a separate bowl and then pour all over.

Lightly mix the ingredients together.

Sprinkle the seasonings all over and lightly mix them in.

Top with the butter.

And bake for 45 minutes or longer.

Here is what I have to say in favor of this recipe.  If you, yourself, and yours like a good bland cornbread, this is actually pretty good.  But, if you like something that has a flair of cornbread, but is not dry and bready like cornbread, then make this in the slow cooker with the adjustments at the top and you will not be disappointed.

P.S.  Make it for Thanksgiving along with my slow cooker mac and cheese and everyone will think you've worked so hard all day long.  They'll give you just as much credit as the turkey cooker.  Then you'll smile to yourself thinking about how easy it was to make.

And feel just a little bad that you weren't the one making the turkey.

Orange Scones

Recipe: Orange Scones

Source: The Orange Strainer

Time: 1 hour 45 minutes (give or take a little)

Ease: 6

Taste: 10

Leftover Value: 10

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

I ordered an orange scone at Panera Bread a long while ago.  It was a day when I was looking for a baked good that was not so overly loaded with sugar like a brownie, but not so bready like a bagel.  

By the way, this rarely happens.  My baked good of choice there is usually one of their delicious cookies, and a caramel latte.

Also by the way, if you have never had one of their caramel lattes, please go there right now and have one.  Oh! My! Gosh!

Expecting to taste something relative to dried out cake, I was floored when what I bit into was moist and filled with the subtle hint of orange flavor.

After being able to recreate Starbucks vanilla bean scones I just knew that I had to find a way to make Panera's orange scone.

Here's what you'll need for the scones*:
-3 cups all-purpose flour
-2/3 cup sugar
-5 tsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp salt
-2 sticks chilled butter
-1 large egg
-3/4 cup heavy cream
-zest of 2 oranges

*See below for icing ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Begin by zesting two oranges.

Note: Having your own zester, I'm sure, must work better than a cheese grater.

But, I work with what I got.  What I got I work with.  Whichever way you prefer.

Add the orange zest to the heavy cream and set it to the side as you carry on with the next steps.

But, please, make sure you save those oranges to eat or make orange juice with later.  (I devoured one before I was through making this recipe).

Mmmm, zesty cream, my favorite!

At this point, go ahead and sift all your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt) together.  I had a picture of this, but was so bored by it that I deleted it.

Sorry.

Then, cut the chilled butter up into 1/2 inch chunks and toss them on top of the dry mixture.

Using a pastry blender, chop the butter up and get it all mixed into the dry mixture.  This is not my favorite thing in the world to do, I must admit.

You should end up with a somewhat crumbly mixture.

Beat the egg in a separate bowl and add it to the dry buttered mixture.

Mix the egg in a little, then grab the zesty cream, pour it in, and mix lightly with a fork....

...until it looks like this.

Note: It is going to scream to high heavens of orange smell at this point.

And that's just fine.

Toss the dough onto a clean, floured surface.  For me, the only clean surface that I could find at this point involved a cookie sheet and my stove top.

I think I need a bigger kitchen.

Or a maid.

Either one will do just fine.

Roll the dough out...

...and make the best possible rectangle that you can.

Don't worry, I taught third grade math and even I'm not sure this counts as a rectangle.

Then, cut up your rectangle like this.  I used a pizza cutter.  It was perfect...except for the one spot where I thought I was actually cutting a pizza and went to roll back and forth over it a bazillion times.

Then I said to myself, "Wait a minute, I'm not cutting pizza, I only need to roll once over the spot I need cut."

So I stopped being so forceful and life was good.

Cut each little square you've made in half diagonally.

Set on two baking sheets*, spaced out at least an inch apart.  Bake for 15-18 minutes.

*For the love of everything holy, please use two baking sheets.  They will not fit on just one, despite what you see in the picture above.

This is clear proof that I needed two sheets.  Lucky me, I got most of these bad boys off the pan without breaking them.

Allow the scones to cool for about 15 minutes before icing them.

Now, what you'll need for the icing*:
-1/4 cup milk
-zest of half an orange
-dash of salt
-2 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

(*That's right, in this case, it's called icing)

Pour the milk into a mixing bowl.  Then add the orange zest.

Mix it around real good.

The picture of me adding powdered sugar just looked wacky, so add the powdered sugar little by little until you reach the proper consistency.

This part is very important.  To keep from making a totally ridiculous mess when icing your scones, keep them on the cooling rack and place under the rack either 1. the pan that the scones cooked on or 2. some wax paper or plastic wrap.

Because when you ice the scones they are going to drip furiously and I don't want to clean that mess up from on off the table later.

 

Now that I've cleared up the mess issue.  Use about a spoonful of icing per scone and drizzle it on top.  You may have to use the spoon to help spread it around a little.

I'm considering freezing these, then grabbing one and heading to Panera...

...just to buy a caramel latte.

I Ragu, Won't You?

Recipe: Fettuccine Primavera

Source: Ragu!

http://www.makinglifebetter.com/Recipe/Meatless/RAGU-FETTUCCINE-PRIMAVERA-8-2895.aspx

Time: 30 minutes total

Ease: 1

Taste: 7

Leftover Value: 4

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

I've been doing my best to incorporate more veggies into my life.  This is hard, especially when veggies aren't half as exciting as a good piece of meat or pasta.  (Pasta is my life.  I could eat it day and night.  That and potatoes.  Unfortunately, hubby refuses to count potatoes as a vegetable).

Also, I'm always in the market for a quick and easy meal.  With the new school year coming up, this is a must have for my school nights.

This recipe consists of 6 cups of veggies, so I figure it's a good start.  I used about two cups of a frozen mixture of carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower (ugh, I know--but in this recipe it's not so bad), an extra cup of frozen broccoli, a cup of zucchini, a cup of yellow squash, and a cup of green pepper.

Hello Ragu.  I love Ragu sauces.  They are my favorite, that I'm willing to pay for.  I always feel bad buying jar sauce because I know I can make my own.

But it's just so much easier to let a jar do all the work for you.

Here's where I changed the recipe a little.  Don't worry, it isn't in any fashion that will horribly alter the universe.  Instead of warming the sauce on the side to serve with the veggies, I just tossed it in as the veggies continued to cook.

Then sprinkled some basil on top.

Yum!

My fettuccine noodles were not working for me today.  They boiled all wrong and got all stuck together when I made them sit and think about what they'd done.

Don't be like me.  Boil your noodles correctly.

And also, do not be like me and get sauce on your new shirt and comfy sweatpants.  That is just a total bummer.

But do make this.  Because it is so effortless and delicious.  Fresh (okay, some fresh, some frozen) veggies, with yummy sauce (that you didn't have to make) and pasta.

I can't think of anything that says school night better.