No News is Good News

So I haven't made anything new yet, but there's a reason. For those of you in the Pittsburgh area, the brand new Giant Eagle Market District has opened! And basically, I've been spending every second of my life there.


The food? Incredible. There's so much eat in dining along with the whole supermarket experience. Do you know what rosti's are? Well they've got 'em. Crepes too. Along with just about anything you can imagine. Oh and fresh naan bread is know my most favorite thing in the world at the moment. I also tried my first napoleon. And oh oh oh it's magic, you know...

So now I'm just recovering from shock but will be up and posting again soon. they'll be some dinner items joining this blog in the future too!

Oh and also there's this really neat blog giveaway over here, so check it out!

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl

We've now hit November, we've turned our clocks back, and our thoughts are towards Thanksgiving. But pumpkin recipes are still in their prime. I'm thankful this canned pumpkin shortage I keep reading about hasn't affected me in the least. But what to make now? There are so many options out there and so many I hope to try. Pumpkin scones, pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin cheesecake swirl bars, pumpkin fudge, and many other pumpkin treats are all on my list.

Unfortunately, homework and other school related obligations interfere. Phooey. And so only the lucky few will be chosen. After cupcakes, biscotti, and coffeecake, I've now moved to bread.

When layering the cream cheese and pumpkin, I thought it better to have more pumpkin on the bottom of the cream cheese than on top, right? Wrong! My bottom of my bread was really tough and overcooked so I had to eat around it. If I had put the cream cheese lower and added more pumpkin batter to the top I think it would have kept it a tad moister and allowed for a shorter cooking time. I did have to leave the bread in for over 2o mins longer because the inside still wasn't getting cooked.



Overall taste: The cream cheese layer wasn't very noticeable. It came out in a thin swirl and only on the top. I assume it must have mixed in with the pumpkin which was very moist on top. It had a great pumpkin flavor and was extremely moist. However, I was really hoping for a pronounced cream cheese swirl which unfortunately didn't happen. Oh well, there are still plenty of other recipes to try!

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl
from about.com



8 oz. cream cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan.
2. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, egg and 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Set aside.
3. In another small bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt together.
4. In a large bowl, beat the remaining 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, buttermilk, egg and spices together until smooth.
5. Add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix.
6. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Top with the cream cheese mixture. Top with the remaining pumpkin batter. With a knife, cut through the batter to create a swirl effect.
7. Bake 60-70 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean.

Happy Halloween! with Caramel Toffee Dip and Baked Cinnamon Chips

At the ripe old age of 16, it's hard to find too many people to go trick- or- treating with you. My sister (who's 21) said she'd come, but then she fell asleep (???!). So I eventually dragged my neighbor and her younger brother along with me. She (Julia), played her ukulele, and her brother brought his African drum. So while we went for candy, we also entertained the masses. Needless to say we attracted a lot of attention. We didn't go for long, so my stash this year isn't too great. But, I'd honestly prefer a lovely fresh baked goodie than processed sugar in a bag.

After trick- or- treating, my family went over to my aunt's for a relaxed after Halloween party. So basically it was an excuse to eat a ton of food. There were so many appetizers: cheese and crackers, guacamole and chips, cold veggies and dip, and a really great cheesy spinach bacon dip! I brought a dip too but it definitely was more on the sweet side. Then, after we thought we'd eaten enough for the rest of the month, egg rolls, mozzarella sticks, and chicken wings were served. The wings didn't make it out, but then a cookie cake and sugar cookies did along with apple cider throughout the night. We laughed, played trivial pursuit and had a great time. And thanks to gaining an hour this weekend we felt it justified to stay until 2 in the morning (well, really 1).

So here is the dip recipe along with how to make cinnamon chips because they pair perfectly together. Both recipes are from one of my new favorite sites, Our Best Bites. The recipes are always practical and easy enough to do, yet so creative. Don't be surprised if you see a ton more recipes on here from that site.

Cinnamon Chips (In Halloween shapes)
from Our Best Bites

Flour Tortillas (I used the biggest size and was able to get twelve Halloween cut outs out of just one tortilla)
Melted Butter
Cinnamon Sugar

Preheat oven to 350. I first took the tortilla and used my Halloween cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Then I buttered and cinnamon sugar-ed them. I recommend doing it in this order because sometimes the cutouts get a little hard to use and the butter and cinnamon sugar topping could get messy and all over your fingers (then you might just have to lick it off...) Plus, you're not using every inch of the tortilla so there will be waste. So, I'd definitely cut out your shapes first, then brush on your butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar.

Place them on an ungreased baking sheet and bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes. I did 10 minutes because I don't like when they are overly crisp, but they were not flimsy either at that time. It's all up to your preference, but ten minutes is a good guideline. When they're the right crispness for you, remove from oven and let cool. I then placed mine on a cooling rack but you could leave them on the pan.

Now this dip seriously took less than five minutes to make! It is so tastey and is a perfect fall sweet treat.

Caramel Toffee Fruit Dip
from Our Best Bites

1 8-oz. package cream cheese
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (you can add more to taste)
Toffee bits
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. (about a pinch) nutmeg

Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. I found it pretty easy to mix without dirtying up any equipment, except a spoon. When ready to serve, stir in about 1/2 a bag of toffee bits with more sprinkled on top.

Yes, it's that simple. I served mine with the cinnamon chips, some honey pretzels, and apple slices. The apple slices work great because it's basically a caramel dip, what a classic! You of course can use anything you'd like to dip in. Get creative!

Getting Personal and... Creamy Pizza Dip

I feel like this blog is slipping from me. Have I seemed less personal compared to how I started? Looking back at my first post and up to now, I've lost the stories and little insights into my life. I apologize. I think I got more concerned with throwing a recipe up to show I made something, than really personalizing and giving love into this blog. But I'm hoping to change, I swear.

That's a picture of me on my first day of school. I'm in 11th grade and since it was about 6 in the morning I wasn't too awake. I'm a member of the volleyball team at my school and the hours we keep are insane. 6 days a week commitments. Game days I may not get home until 10 o' clock at night. And Saturdays you get on a bus at 7 am for a tournament and get home by 6 pm. This doesn't leave much time for baking, or school work or anything else. But, I've managed to keep my blog thriving even during these hectic times. Volleyball will be ending soon and I'll have much more time on my hands. (And that means more time blogging hehe)

Also, I've been growing my hair out for quite along time. Truely, the first thing people will say to me is, "Wow! You've got really long hair." I know. I've only been growing it for like ever! And so I've been contemplating cutting it for the longest time. When I ask for other people's opinions I always get a huge gasp and, "No! You can't! It's so nice!" But honestly, It's so unmanageable. It gets really annoying as well. Then one day I took the leap and got 6 inches cut! This was a huge step for me. My hair was my safety blanket and with it gone I thought I would be lost. Well, it's cut and I love my new look. Not too short but still different. I hope I don't sound too conceded talking about my hair, but it's just been such a big part of me, literally. Okay, enough about hair. Here's some pictures of before I cut it, and then we can give it a rest. =o)



Unfortunately I don't have an after photo yet. But I'll get around to it someday...

Now for a recipe of sorts:

I don't have a picture for this dip and I'm not even sure if it's the best recipe possible, but i was hungry and used what I had. I added ingredients as I went, just throwing in what felt right. I'm sure you could add some seasonings or pepperoni or whatever you like.

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4- 1/2 cup pizza sauce, or just to taste
shredded cheeses: cheddar, mozzarella, romano, provolone...

Simple, right? I choose to eat it with butter crackers and to me this was a comforting dish. My fam and I gobbled it up.

Also, more personal tid bits to come in future posts!!!

Pumpkin Biscotti

Yay more pumpkin! I've been hearing on some other blogs that there is a canned pumpkin shortage but that is certainly not the case here in Pittsburgh. For this pumpkin recipe I have two of my favorites, biscotti and white chocolate.


One important rule you need to remember is that the biscotti harden after a few minutes out of the oven. So, though they may seem too soft, there is still the opportunity for them to harden. The recipe made two logs and one turned out fantastic while the other fell short. The latter began really gooey after the first bake and that caused me to rebake them several time for short increments. Still gooey, but I cut them and baked on. In the end they seemed undercooked so I put them in longer. When I gave up and set them out, the hardened super fast and I was left with rock. Edible, but rock-like. The other batch, however, was much more successful and required only one return to the oven.


Once the biscotti cooled, I microwave melted some white chocolate and drizzled it over top. White chocolate hardens super fast as well and posed some minor problems in that respect.


Also, although the directions mention lowering the temperature at one point, iIforgot. That may have affected my results so I recommend you lower it like the recipe suggests.

I've only had one so far but they are really scrumptious, well at least the good batch is. The white chocolate adds a more complex but delightful taste. Oh, but the big issue I have with the taste is the pecans. They add a great texture and toasty taste, but there were WAYY too many. I would use half the 1 1/4 cup suggested. I also think cinnamon would have been a nice flavor to add and maybe even more pumpkin as well.


Pumpkin Biscotti
seen on My Baking Addiction

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/4 cup nuts, coarsely chopped (I used pecans)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.

2. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl; stir well. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla, stirring well with a wire whisk. Slowly add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. (Mixture will be very crumbly; it will gradually become moist after stirring.)

3. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add nuts. Cook, stirring constantly, until nuts are browned. Remove from heat and cool completely.

4. Knead or gently stir cooled nuts into dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 portions. Lightly flour hands and shape each portion into a 2 x 10" long log. Place logs 3" apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 24 minutes; cool logs 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 F.

5. After some cooling, move a loaf to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2" thick pieces. Do the same to the other loaf. The interior of each biscotto should still be just a little moist (while the exterior is nice and hard). The crust of the loaf will probably be quite hard, so use a large serrated knife such as a bread knife for this job.

6. Place the biscotti with a cut side facing up on a half sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan and flip all the biscotti over so the other cut side is now facing up. Bake for another 7 minutes. Set all the pieces on a wire rack to cool making sure that none of the biscotti are touching each other. If the biscotti are placed too close together, they could get a little soft or soggy as they cool.

7. Once the biscotti have fully cooled, they can be consumed as is, or white chocolate dipped. I opted for a simple white chocolate drizzle. I just melted some white chocolate chips, placed the melted chocolate in a zip top bag, cut a small opening in one corner and drizzled it across the biscotti.

The biscotti tastes best during the first few days, but will keep for up to a month in a sealed air-tight container.

Crepes Parisiennes: A Restaurant Review

I have been waiting to go to this place forever! Crepes and blintzes are my favorite breakfast items ever!!! We were on our way to an applefest (which had a $5 admission!! So we skipped) but instead ended up in Oakland perusing the shops. Tucked away down some cellar steps was this place: Crepes Parisiennes. Though the downward descent into what seems like a cellar might throw some people off, I found it very quaint and authentic.

There are some other interesting things to note about this place as well. When, you walk in, before you sit down, you wait in line to reach the counter to place your order. After you give your order and they give you a number, you may then take a seat. It's not too bad because while you wait there is to perfect view of the crepes as they are made. There are not many tables, however, so going at a busy time of day would be unfortunate.

There are both savory and sweet crepes. The list of savory crepes contains dishes with spinach, mushrooms, sausage, ham, cheese, eggs, tomatoes, etc. Anything you want basically. The sweet crepes list is extremely impressive. Black forest or white forest crepes, fruit preserve crepes, Russian blintz crepes, nutella, nutella and banana, nutella, banana, and chocolate crepes, pineapple and coconut crepes, white chocolate or plain chocolate crepes, and more I can't remember. There is also frenh toast varieties and waffles. There are authentic french drinks like cafe au lait and french hot chocolate, whose name escapes me.

You are served pretty quickly and the staff is nice. The prices themselves aren't too fabulous. Anywhere from $6- 8 crepes. For one crepe. And after you see how big they are, you know it's too expensive. Besides the size, you need to consider taste. I ordered the white forest crepe and my mom got a blueberry Russian blintz. All sweet crepes are served with whipped cream and walnuts unless they are told otherwise.

My crepe itself was nice and soft, a bit chewy though. The white choclate was nice, although the raspberries on top were very overwhelming. They also had tons of seeds which wasn't very pleasant. All together, if you got an even combination of the crepe, white chocolate, raspberries, whipped cream, and nuts, it was nice. But before I got to enjoy my crepe, it was gone. I neede more. So the verdict: good, but certainly not great.


My mom's crepe was actually a blintz, my favorite. Blueberries were a stretch for her since she usually gets strawberries but we both thought something different would be good. I only got one bite but here's what I thought. Her crepe was a tad crispier and we both prefer ours soft. Also, the blueberries were extremly tart and that was not a good thing. the filling to me was not was I was hoping for, as I have had many blintzes before. It was chunkyish and not smooth and creamy. Verdict: I've had quite a few better.

This trip was necessary, but not something I'd do again. For those high prices and that small of food, and the 'meh'-ness of the taste, we probably won't go back. All the while we kept thinking, "I like our homemade ones so much better."

While we were out we stopped in the Williams Sonoma store, and I fell in love. Ahh, it was such heaven! There were samples out as well and we tried some pecan pie, butternut squash soup, and hot apple cider. They were all amazing! We did end up buying the butternut squash soup we tasted and decided it would make a great Thanksgiving dinner item.

So that's the review. And I will say this, my mom and I have decided to give Pamela's the benefit of the doubt. We will be returning, though this time at a different location. Then we make our final decisions about the restaurant. I can't say when it will be, but hopefully we'll get around to it soon.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake w/ Cinnamon Icing

When I saw this recipe I thought it looked fabulous. had just the right amount of pumpkin left over from my last recipe and this seemed like a great way to use it. Although, I had to put my hopes for making a pumpkin milkshake on the back burner.

This was a bit interesting to make. You prepare a cake batter, a pumpkin filling, and a variation on a streusel topping. The cake was easy to make, but the pumpkin filling just seemed a bit bland. If I had thought about it, I really showed have added some other spices to it because the end result was pretty bland. I hit a bit of a wall with the streusel topping. I didn't have pecans. I really thought I did, but unfortunately it was a bag of slivered almonds instead=( Not the same thing. So I had to leave them out, which was unfortunate because I think they would have added soooo much more to the recipe.

After an hour of baking, I took it out and let it cool over night. In the morning it looked great and I tried a piece. Bland. That's what I'd call it. The different layers just didn't come together very well taste wise. The pumpkin middle wasn't seasoned very well, which again, is why I should have added more spices. The streusel was okay, but pecans would have been a great addition. The cake itself was very good, though.



I also felt as though it needed some icing. So on the spot, I whipped up some cinnamon icing.
I supplied my "recipe" below, but take into account that I eyed balled it all. I put down measurement amounts that I thought I used but I don't really know. Also, the amount I made would not be enough for a whole cake, or let alone half of it. I just made enough for the piece I was having and maybe one or two more.

The addition of the icing, however, completes it. It was just what the cake needed. The large amount of cinnamon made up for the lack of overall spices and definitely took the cake from bland to mighty tasty.



I probably won't make this recipe again, but it was nice to try. With so many pumpkin recipes out there this one isn't super necessary to try. If your ambitious enough to tweak recipes as you go then you might like to play around with this one. Also, I've eaten this room temperature but I'd like to see how it tastes warmed up.

*added 10/18/09: I tried this cake a day after and it was much better. Maybe the flavors had more time to come together? I don't know. But after a day and a half, you don't even need the icing. It's good.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake
from Megans Cooking (hers looked better than mine)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 3/4 cup (16 ounce can) solid pack pumpkin
1 slightly beaten egg
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Streusel
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts
Combine brown sugar, butter and cinnamon until blended. Stir in chopped nuts.

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour a 9 x 13 x 2 pan.

Cream butter, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla in mixing bowl. Add 3 eggs, beating well.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with sour cream.

In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, beaten egg, 1/3 cup sugar and pie spice.

Spoon half of batter into 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish, spread to corners.

Sprinkle half of the streusel over batter. Spread pumpkin mixture over Streusel.

Carefully spread remaining batter over pumpkin mixture.

Spread remaining streusel over top.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean.

Cinnamon Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 cup milk
1 1/2 T cinnamon
A dash of vanilla

These are all eye-balled so play around until you find a taste you like. If it seems too sugary don't be alarmed because the taste of the cake tones it down.