It is Pumpkin Season...

I thought I would share some of my favorite pumpkin posts with you here.  I am getting ready to bake off pumpkins this weekend and start planning for some holiday treats for my family.

I have grown pumpkins a few times over the years and this post is Pumpkin Gardening photos and Almost Ready to Pick

Here are two great recipes for Pumpkin Muffins and Bread.

Want to know how to bake pumpkins to use in recipes?  

Check out my post on how to bake them.

Want to add pumpkin to your breakfast oatmeal?  

This is how I do it!

Pumpkin pancakes are a hit around here any weekend.

Thanksgiving is not complete until we have that Pumpkin Pie!

If pie is not your thing then maybe you would prefer a Pumpkin Pudding made right in your crockpot!  This is a great one to make for a crowd.

So, now it is your turn!

Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe that you make this time of year?

Please share it with us in the comments below!

Food Memories - My very favorite pie!

I grew up an oil brat.  My Daddy moved us about every 18 months to 3 years until I was in middle school.  We rarely spent big holidays at home.  My Dad's parents had long since passed away but my Mom's parents were still living and made their home in Homer, Louisiana for the duration of my childhood.  We went to my grandparents home on my Mom's side for most of the big holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas until my Meemaw passed away when I was 21 years old.  I also spent lots of time in the summers with her in my time off from school. It was a place that acted as an anchor for me in the midst of all the change we had with my father's job.  It was a familiar cozy lovely nourishing place to be for me.   Meemaw rarely shook things up when she cooked for us.  We loved the familiarity of her meals. She always said that she would make something different if we wanted it but we never wanted that.  There was just something very comforting in those same meals each time we went. We had black-eyed peas made with salt pork or bacon and onion with just about every meal.  She would slow cook them all day and the whole house smelled heavenly!  We also had roasted chicken and cornbread dressing for big meals with vegetable sides.  Holiday and Sunday meals were very similar to each other.  We rarely deviated from that tradition.  I don't even think I ate turkey for Thanksgiving until I was in my teens.  My Dad and my Meemaw preferred chicken and no one else minded or complained. She also kept things on hand such as homemade plum jelly that she or a friend would make each summer.  She kept hamburger buns stocked for toasting in the little toaster oven.  She would slather them with butter and pop them in to get a golden crunchy top to them.  There were always homemade biscuits stashed in the freezer.  She would put them on a tray in the oven at a moments notice.  She might do that 3 or 4 times in a morning as we would straggle out of bed one at a time and work our way to the kitchen.  She always had fresh coffee and as a young girl I would have a little of that coffee with my milk and sugar in my own special mug.   Her pantry held things like peanut butter to go with that plum jelly for lunch or a snack.  She kept small single bags of Fritos to go with our sandwiches.  Fritos are still my favorite!  There were little 8 ounce cokes in glass bottles chilling in the refrigerator.  She kept several little snack items on hand but the one I remember most were the Honey Buns.  I loved it all... she never made anything that I did not love.   There was one thing, though, that was and will remain my most favorite thing she ever made.... her BUTTERMILK PIE!  She was a master pie maker and did do many different kinds over the years but that Buttermilk was always the one we asked for first.  It is a pie that many people today don't make anymore.  It is rich and sweet and it does not take much to satisfy the craving.  It is fantastic with a cup of your favorite coffee.   Here is the recipe I pulled from her stacks after she passed away.  I have kept all of her handwritten and clipped recipes but this one gets the most use to this day.  Second most used is probably her cornbread or ice cream recipes.   Meemaw's Buttermilk Pie You need: 1 (9-10 inch) unbaked pie shell 1/2 cup butter or margarine (I only use butter unsalted) 2 cups sugar 3 slightly rounded Tbsp. flour 3 eggs, beaten 1 cup buttermilk 1 tsp. vanilla Cream margarine of butter and sugar. Add flour and eggs; beat well. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake 45 to 50 minutes at 350*. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting and serving. Want a list of other pies people don't make much anymore?  Here are some articles I found about Retro Pies 5 Retro Pies Sugar Milk Pie 8 Forgotten Pies We Should Bring Back

Bulk Brownie Mix...

There is no reason to buy that box of brownie mix anymore! You just mix this together and follow the individual recipe at the bottom and you are in business. You can use this at home or make gift bags for teachers, friends, or any occasion that you are looking for a simple food gift. Here is how...

start with

* 8 cups sugar
* 5 1/2 cups flour
* 2 1/2 cups cocoa
* 4 tsp. baking powder
* 2 tsp salt

Sift together the dry ingredients. Store it in an air tight container.

When you are ready to make a batch you use...

2 cups of the brownie mix from above
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Stir just until mixed. Spread into an 8x8 greased and floured pan and then bake at 350 degrees for between 25 and 40 minutes depending on your oven. I went a full 40 minutes on mine but if your oven cooks hot then go less.

What are you waiting for? Go bake brownies with the kids!!! :)

Daring Baker January Challenge... the Tuille

In celebration of the Chinese New Year I chose to use my Tuille to make fortune cookies (you can go to this link to see how to shape them) and paired it with a rice pudding.

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

Recipe: Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example) I made circles for the fortune cookies instead and got about 12 to 15 out of it Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch 65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft) 60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar 1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract) 2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork) 65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour 1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice Butter/spray to grease baking sheet Oven: 180C / 350F Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly. Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable. They are done... now to get the creative juices flowing. I made a rice pudding and strawberry sauce to go with it. The classic ACF plating has a chocolate component, a crisp, a creamy or smooth, a sauce and a fruit. I think I covered them all. LOL I could not decide on the container so here are both.


The coffee cup... and the egg cup... top view of egg cup

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

Equipment that I used... make your own template from sturdy cardboard plates or other disposable plates, cups or bowls. They hold up for the job and you just throw them away when you are done. Seriously, since using a Silpat or Exopat I just won't use anything else. They are a little pricey but SO worth it when working with things that stick easily to the pan. It is so easy to clean up after using these, too. This is a small offset spatula... LOVE this tool!

Sugar Cookies...

This is a standard recipe from my reliable Betty Crocker Cookbook (1987) that I got when I got married from Dan's cousin... Etamarie... I use it quite often.

Here is the recipe I am doing today with our Tiger Cubs for our Christmas party.

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup margarine or butter softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
Granulated sugar for topping (I also buy colored sugar sprinkles or use other sprinkles for this)

Mix powdered sugar, margarine or butter, vanilla, almond extract and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients which have been sifted together before adding except for the granulated sugar (remember it is for the top right before baking). Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours before using.

Makes a bit of a crumbly dough but then I work it into a ball and flatten to refrigerate.


Heat oven to 375 degrees. Divide dough into halves. Roll each half 3/16 inch thick on lightly floured cloth covered board. I often do not have a cloth so I just use parchment paper. Cut into desired shapes with 2 to 2 1/2 inch cookie cutters; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake until edges are light brown, 7 to 8 minutes or so. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

We rolled it out, cut the shapes and then decorated...

Got a picture of the finished cookies and the boys but without permissions I won't put it here...

I will try to get a picture tomorrow night of just the cookies before we serve them. This was SO MUCH fun!!!

Some home baking photos...

Speculaas Cookies we made yesterday... without the mold - I want a mold for next year. They are lovely when made in the molds.

J-O-S-H Pancakes made for our four year old on Saturday morning

Pizza on Friday

Bread baking session

Star Brioche I made here at the house with the dough I brought home from my finals

Bake-Off Pie... Harvest Pie

I also used a crumb crust...

It turned out beautifully and took a silver...

Here is what I did...

Pie Crust

1 cup flour (AP flour)

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

1/3 cup shortening or

( I used 3 Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp shortening)

2-3 Tbsp ice water

Crumb Topping

½ cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

Dash of cinnamon

Dash of nutmeg

Dash of allspice

Pinch of salt

½ cup chopped pecans

Cream butter. Mix everything else together with creamed butter and mix lightly to sprinkle over top of pie. Do not over mix.

Pie Filling

3 Granny Smith apples peeled and sliced

3 pears peeled and sliced

½ pint blueberries

2/3 cup dried cranberries

Orange peel

Orange juice from one small orange

½ cup sugar

Cinnamon

Allspice

Nutmeg

Ginger

Salt

Flour to thicken juice

Mix all together and let sit. Fill pie crust and top with crumb topping and bake 1 hour at 375 degrees or until golden brown on top.

Pie Baking Again...

I made some pies today for a Bible Study brunch we are having. It is a picnic themed thing and so pie was the choice for desserts. These are the two I made...

A buttermilk pie with my Meemaw's recipe...



and an apple pie...

Pie Crust 101...

So, I had this phone call from my friend Kellie this morning saying that she was making the Strawberry Chiffon Pie and she had some questions. At that point I realized I had left some things out that were pretty crucial but that I take for granted. LOL This post is spurred by the fact that I need to tell you more about pie crust making. ;)


Let's start with the recipe...

This recipe was shared by my instructor and is the simplest and most flavorful I have used.

Chef New’s Recipe

1 cup flour (AP flour)

1/3 cup shortening or

( I used 3 Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp shortening)

2-3 Tbsp ice water

The first thing to remember is to keep all of your ingredients cold. Cold shortening, cold butter, cold water and cold flour make for a better crust.

The second thing to remember is DON'T OVERWORK THE DOUGH. The more you work the dough the tougher the dough because of gluten development.

I use a cutter or a fork to "cut" the fat into the flour. You want chunks of fat and there are two basic consistencies. There is the larger chunks of fat that make for a flakier crust and then the mealy consistency which is more like the texture of bread crumbs with smaller little bits of fat. The mealy crust would be better for a sturdy bottom crust and the flakier crust is better for a top crust or lattice work.

You can use your hands but I tend to have warmer hands and melt the fat with my body temperature faster so I try not to actually put my hands into the flour as I mix. LOL

You want the dough to just stick together as you take a bit in your hands and press it together. Refrigerating the dough helps to allow the flour to absorb more of the moisture and gets it ready to work with and roll out.

The dough is good for about two roll out periods. Once you get to the third time of rolling out the dough it will no longer give you the flaky texture because your fat is too incorporated and won't build the pockets of air as it bakes. So, roll out one time and then take the leftover dough and it is good for one more time of rolling it out or using it for lattice or top crust.

Once the dough is made you can form it into flat discs and wrap it in cling film. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Remember cold is better at every step.

Once the dough is chilled then you can roll it out and shape it into your pie pan. I ALWAYS refrigerate it again after it is in the pan because there will be some shrinking as the dough settles from being rolled out and stretched.

I also did an eggwash before baking to shine it up a bit.

A milk wash will brown it up faster.

Now, depending on what you are doing with the pie crust you will either bake it ahead (for pies like cream pies or chiffon pies) or bake it with the filling (for apple, custard or other fruit pies).

If you prebake your pie crust you will need to "dock" it which means to simply take a fork and poke little holes all over the bottom to keep it from bubbling up. I tend to dock and then "blind bake" it. Blind baking is when you put parchment paper in the crust and then fill it with rice or beans to hold the crust down so that it won't bubble either. If you are blind baking you will need to remove the rice or beans and continue to cook it to brown it. You want a golden brown crust. You can usually accomplish this in about 20- 30 minutes at 400 degrees or just watch it to see when it has the desired color.

Always cool it before adding fillings if the recipe calls for a prebaked crust.

For a fruit or custard pie you would simply put filling into unbaked pie crust and bake as the instructions for that pie call for.

Also, always cool pies before serving. Room temperature is good or you can refrigerate any of these pies over night. I have even baked pies in advance and frozen them for future use and all you do is thaw and then if you like you can reheat the fruit pies if you want them a bit warmer than room temperature.

You may not have my phone number to call if you have questions but I am always willing to answer them here or in an e-mail.

If I left anything out just let me know
and
Happy Pie Baking!!!

Strawberry Chiffon Pie

I started with the pie crust

Chef New’s Recipe

1 cup flour (AP flour)

1/3 cup shortening or

( I used 3 Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp shortening)

2-3 Tbsp ice water

I also did an eggwash before baking to shine it up a bit.

Here is how I started…

The recipe I used was from a book I recently picked up through PaperBackSwap online called Great Pies You Can Bake by Lois Hill.

First I made the pie dough recipe above.

The turned out lovely looking but were a bit thick. I should have rolled them out thinner and baked them a bit longer.

The recipe for the Chiffon filling is

Strawberry Chiffon Pie

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

½ cup sugar

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

¼ cup cold water

½ cup strawberry juice (I used my juicer and fresh strawberries for this)

1 Tbsp orange juice (I actually used OJ concentrate)

½ cup heavy cream

3 egg whites

Sweetened whipped cream for top

Sprig of mint and strawberry slices to garnish

Prepare the prebaked pie shell; cool completely.

Mix the strawberries with the sugar and let stand for 30 minutes. Combine the gelatin with the water. Set aside. In the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, bring the strawberry and orange juices to a boil. Add the gelatin mixture. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the strawberry mixture. Chill until slightly thickened. Whip the cream and fold into the gelatin mixture. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg white mixture into the gelatin mixture. Turn the filling into the pie shell. Chill until set. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Note the fruit settling to the bottom. I should have waited a bit longer before incorporating whipping cream and egg whites.

Also the crust needed to be baked a bit longer and it needed to be rolled a bit thinner. The chiffon filling was well done, though and it had a nice texture… not too stiff with the gelatin. It was lightly sweet. I would definitely make this for a summer pie for friends and family with no qualms. It was fun to make this one.

Friday Photos from Culinary School...

Bavarian cream

Chiffon Cake

I was one of the students tempering chocolate for this cake and our
Chef Instructor put it all together.
She does lovely work!

Last night I did a Baumkuchen which is layers of batter baked under a salamander (broiler)
for about 1-2 minutes and then you spread a new layer
and do it all over again until the cake is about 1 1/2 inches thick.
It was a cool process!!!

Teacake night

This semester has been lots of fun so far!!!

Guess What?

I entered the ACF Annual Holiday Bake-Off again this year. I entered a cake,



a cookie


and a pie.


All did well in the upper part of the scoring but the PIE TOOK 1ST PLACE!!! I brought a gold medal home yesterday and that makes two years and two medals. I am SO VERY tickled!!!!!

This is after everyone picked at it and I managed to snag it and get it home for the family to finish up. LOL Notice the crust got picked at first... it was a hit. :)