Saturdays are Great for Baking

October 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie RecipeToday in Ohio, the weather was crisp, the leaves were showing signs of color, and youth football games were in motion! A pretty perfect Saturday! Fall is a time for the senses, isn’t it? Colors, textures, scents, activities, flavors. I adore Fall in the Midwest. Especially some of the flavors!

Aren’t there just certain foods and drinks that speak Fall to you, too? Maybe apple cider or pumpkin pie or candy corn? I detest candy corn, but I know a lot people love it. I usually reserve my indulging for dark chocolate!

So, when  I saw an advertisement for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies earlier this Fall, I was intrigued. Assuming, of course, that the chips are dark chocolate chips.

As is my habit, I decided I’d figure out how to make them. After perusing a few recipe sites I came up with these:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie RecipeIngredients: 

  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup applesauce
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate chips

Directions: 

  • Combine pumpkin, sugars, applesauce, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flours, baking powder, ground cinnamon, salt, and flax seed. (I add a couple of teaspoons of ground flax seed to many things that I bake, if the texture will support it.) Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
  • Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir into pumpkin mixture.
  • Add vanilla and chocolate chips.
  • Drop by spoonful on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for approximately 12 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

The family verdict: delish! They have a different texture than regular chocolate chip cookies – more spongy. And they are best kept in the ‘frig and served cold.

Unless, you eat them straight off the cookie sheet. That’s ALWAYS an good option, as far as I’m concerned!

Have you tried any new recipes this Fall? What are some of your favorites Fall flavors?

Filed Under: Cooking, Family, Homemaking, Randomness Tagged With: , ,

Saturdays are Good for… Making Vanilla Extract

September 10, 2011 by 2 Comments

Don’t you just love it when the UPS man comes with a package that you’ve been watching for? One time he brought us an empty box – because someone stole the game system that was in said box. BUT, that’s another story for another time! THIS is what he brought me yesterday.

A box full of vanilla beans. Aside from the fact that they are making my house smell amazing, I’m actually using them. To make homemade vanilla extract.

Why am I making vanilla extract? Three reasons…

  1. Because I can. And it sounds fun. I got that whole “I can make this” thing from my mom. She’s very proud right now as she reads this.
  2. Spoiler alert: These will be my Christmas gifts. I made a little promise to myself that I would never get my kids’ teachers another mug or apple decoration for Christmas. Ever. So, I try to do fun things that they can actually use. They, along with some of our other friends, will be getting my homemade vanilla for Christmas this year. I’m excited about this fun idea. Yes, I know it’s only September. Yes, the next three months will fly by. No, I will not be stressed when I’m trying to honor the birth of our Savior this year.
  3. I’m tired of paying through the nose for good vanilla to bake with. And, call me a food snob, but I hate the imitation vanilla. (Another reason my mom is proud of me.) To borrow a phrase from my friend’s preschooler (aka The Happy Tornado), “I can do it myself.” And I will. Thank you very much.

You can to. Here’s how. You’ll need vanilla beans, some vodka, and a large, glass jar with a lid. Yes, sweet mommy friends. I said vodka. The kind that has alcohol in it.

  • Order some yummy vanilla beans. I got both Madagascar and Tahitian. I ordered from Vanilla Saffron Imports after reading a recommendation online. I was happy with the service and price. The jury is still out on the end product but the reviews were very favorable.
  • Buy some vodka. I did a fair amount of online research (aka puttering) and I’m pretty certain that it can be cheap vodka. It just needs to have a 40% alcohol content. (And, btw, let this be a lesson to you. Never judge the woman leaving the grocery store with two brown, paper, bottle-shaped bags in hand. You just never know what she might be up to… )
  • Take 3 vanilla beans for every one cup of vodka. Using kitchen scissors or a sharp paring knife, cut lengthwise down each vanilla bean, splitting them in half and leaving an inch at the end connected. Put the beans in a glass jar or bottle with a tight fitting lid. Cover completely with the vodka.
  • Give the bottle a good shake every once in a while. Maybe when you’re having a bad day or you want to yell at your kids. Just go shake your vanilla instead. Store in a dark, cool place for 2 months or longer.
  • When you’re ready, transfer to cute 2 oz bottles using your handy-dandy kitchen funnel. (Have I ever told you how much I love my kitchen funnels?) Next, tie on some rafia, and give it as a fun gift to someone you love! Don’t just think Christmas. These would make great hostess gifts when you have dinner at a friend’s, too. I think I might try to make some fun, little labels for mine. (This is the point in my post where Rick rolls his eyes because he knows that “fun, little labels” is code for more puttering online.)

There you have it. My Saturday project is well under way.

And, I still have plenty of time to get everyone ready to go watch the man-child’s rainy day football game. Go Riders!

Oh, and here’s a little bonus tip if you’d like to get more bang for your buck with the vanilla beans. You can also make vanilla sugar by putting a split vanilla bean into a jar of white, granulated sugar. It’s a great way to infuse the sugar with vanilla flavor for baking.

Filed Under: Cooking, Creativity, Homemaking, Hospitality, Randomness Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Brownies: A Cure for the Wintertime Yuck

February 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Sometimes it’s just good to break up the winter monotony with a Saturday afternoon of baking something yummy. Something yummy enough to stir the senses – long since dulled by the seemingly endless string of bleak winter days. Something so yummy that the aroma will bring the kids into the kitchen sniffing the air…

Today was just such a day. I had been trying to decide what dessert to bake for dinner with friends. And, I sort of wanted to try something new. So, I turned to my trusty standby, food.com (formerly known as receipzaar.com) and found this delightful recipe for Whatever Floats Your Boat Brownies. It had more than 1,000 rave reviews. I mean, who am I to argue with the masses?   

Whatever Floats Your Boat Brownies

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square pan.
  • In a medium bowl, combine melted butter and cocoa. Stir until the cocoa is dissolved. Add sugar and mix well.  Add eggs, one at a time, and stir until well combined.
  • Stir in vanilla, flour and salt until you no longer see any flour (do not overmix). Next, fold in 1 to 2 cups of whatever floats your boat! Reviewers suggested everything from chopped nuts to Heath bar bits to marshmallows to various kinds of baking chips. This is the part where you can go a little crazy. *smile* I added one teaspoon of Kahlua and a cup of dark chocolate chips.
  • Spread the batter into your greased 8×8 pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes. By the end of the time, your whole house will smell like a chocolatey chunk of heaven! Cool completely before cutting into squares. Then, share them with friends over a glass of milk or a warm cup of tea.

Here are some bonus tips that I picked up from other reviewers on the food.com website: DO NOT OVER-BAKE! If you bake them too long, they will come out more cake-like and dry instead of chewy. I made mine in a glass pan and watched them closely during the last five minutes. (I am not a fan of cake-like brownies.) The directions were right on the money. If you do the toothpick test, it should come out with moist crumbs as opposed to clean. (Oh, and, I was making mine for a dinner date with another family so I doubled the recipe. Instead of an 8×8 pan, I used a 9×13 pan and added 5 minutes to the baking time. Perfect.)

Can I just tell you that it gave me great pleasure to make these from scratch instead of dumping them out of a box and adding some water? It was just more fun. Like a little bit of me was going into dessert. And, it really didn’t take that much longer. Maybe five minutes to gather up the ingredients? It’s not like they were gourmet items that I had to run out to get.

The other thing I loved about these brownies was sharing them with friends. Over the dinner table. In their home. While our kids all played together. And Nerf darts flew by once in awhile. And their sweet baby girl cried to be held. And we squeezed in good conversation during the gaps.

I’m pretty sure that’s the way dessert was meant to be enjoyed. But, hey, whatever floats your boat!

Filed Under: Cooking, Hanging-Out, Randomness Tagged With: , , , ,

The Parable of the Banana Bread

January 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I made four loaves of banana bread this weekend. I love homemade bread and the way the smell of it wafts through the house. What is about baking that is so warm and inviting? That draws us into a place?

My Madison came home from a friend’s to it and was drawn immediately into the kitchen – mesmerized. “Banana bread,” she mouthed. Her face was awash with delight as she breathed it in, peeking in the oven to see when it would be finished.

And hope did not disappoint as I sliced the still-steaming loaf and slathered on a bit of butter for her. As she savored the first bite, everything about her said “contentment.”

And that is precisely why we Mama’s do it. Why it’s worth it to take the time…

But the thing I love most about making banana bread is the way that it makes me like Jesus. Yes. Just like Him. (For a moment at least.)

You see, when I make banana bread, I get to take old, nobody-is-ever-going-to-eat-these bananas and turn them into something beautiful. The browner and less-appetizing the banana, the better the bread. When I’m smooshing them up and putting them into bowl, it’s down-right gross – especially if I had to freeze the bananas until I had a chance to bake. Ick.

But somehow, out of that mashed-up mess, I create a golden loaf of warm banana bread that delights the senses.   

And isn’t that just like Jesus? He’s always taking the broken, dead places and turning them into something amazing. Strengthening the bruised reed. Creating beauty from ashes. I hear stories of it all the time. How He brings good stuff out of the junk and the bad decisions in our lives.

Certainly you know about the dead stuff. Maybe you’ve come face to face with the carnage that your own sin leaves behind. Maybe you have a dream that hides in a dead place in your heart because it was just easier that way. The hoping was too painful. Perhaps it’s a relationship that has grown cold. Or an injustice that you can’t forgive. Maybe your New Year’s resolve has already bit the dust and you’re just tired of the fight.

It’s a smooshed-up mess, isn’t it? But, wait. Maybe there’s another way.

Maybe, could we give it to Jesus and ask Him to make banana bread?

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