Double Chocolate Muffins

Even when I try to avoid carbs during cold months, I fail epically. Don't the muffins make you think of a happy winter wonderland?

Or in my case, Choco Mountain from Super Mario N64. Isn't there a winter course under that same cup? My nerd is showing, anyway.

These muffins have lightly crispy shells and soft rich chocolately insides. They just scream for milk, so make sure you don't use it all for the recipe!

Double Chocolate Muffins:

3 cups flour
3 ½ tbsp cocoa powder
1 ½ tbsp baking powder
1 ¾ cup sugar
1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
½ cup dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
1 ½ cups milk
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, whisk together butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla.

Combine in a large bowl. Add in chocolate.

Fill cups of muffin tin ¾ full.

Bake 20 minutes.

Makes 18-20 muffins.

--Jirafa

Eggy Breakfast Sandwich

This was breakfast. Tasty warm messy breakfast. I made Bisquick drop biscuits (yes, I support Bisquick. I have no urge to make a floury mess at 9 AM) and lightly spooned melted butter over the tops when I took them out of the oven. Filled with a salt-and-pepper egg over easy and added slices of cold, salty French feta.

There is almost nothing I love more than Valbreso feta.

Vanilla Custard

I love custard. As a kid, my favorite donuts came with custard. My favorite cakes had a creamy custard filling. I would antagonize my mother for flan, just so I could enjoy that creamy, slippery feeling on my tongue.

Imagine my delight to learn that custard is insulting easy to make.



These ramekins were a gift from my mother. I remember when she brought them to me. I had just moved into my first apartment and here comes my mom with these onion/garlic-printed ramekins complete with tiny lids, each one carefully wrapped in paper towels. I shunned them. Vehemently. I wanted plain white ramekins like everyone else, not these loserific grandma soup bowls.

She slipped them into my cupboard anyway.

A friend packed my kitchenware when I was moving, so when I found them again at my new apartment, I huffed and shoved them into the back of my pantry. And today I madly cleaned out my pantry in search of them. Thanks to my mother's amazing foresight, I got to eat custard today.

And I think these garlic-printed ramekins are so much cooler than boring white ones. (Not to mention they look fab in my LIME GREEN BAKING DISH [Also a gift from my mother] <3)


Can't touch this

Vanilla Custard:

2 eggs, 1 egg yolk
½ cup white sugar
2 cups milk
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Nutmeg or cinnamon for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk eggs, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla together. Meanwhile, heat milk in a saucepan until it reaches a simmer. (Add cold milk to cold pot, then heat slowly. DO NOT add cold milk to a hot pan, unless you hate your pan and need an excuse to get a new one.)

When milk is hot, slowly add to egg mixture while whisking constantly. (Nice to have a helper at this point). Strain mixture and pour into three small ramekins placed into a large baking dish. Dust with cinnamon or nutmeg, if desired.

Fill the baking dish with boiling water until it reaches about ¾ of the ramekins. Bake for 40 minutes, until custard is set but slightly jiggly.

Remove from oven and let custard sit in the water for 30 minutes. Then remove from the baking dish and cool to room temperature. Then place cooled custard into refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Serves 3.

~Jirafa

Chocolate Krisp Cookies

These are like Nestle Crunch bars meet cookie dough, thanks to the addition of Rice Krispies! On the outside these look like regular chocolate chip cookies, but one bite reveals the crispity crunchity secret inside! (Shut up spell checker, 'crispity' and 'crunchity' are too words.)

Also, this is an epic output recipe. You can make 4 dozen cookies out of this, no problem. I froze half my dough for later; otherwise I'd be spending my entire evening feverishly checking the oven.


Mmmmmmmmmmmm, cookie dough.

Chocolate Krisp Cookies

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 ½ cups flour
1 ½ cups rice krispies
¼ cup oats
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups chocolate chips (whatever kind you want, really)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add oil, egg, and vanilla. Blend.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, rice krispies, baking soda, and salt. Mix into butter mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips and mix until combined.

Use an ice cream scoop to drop dough onto lined baking sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes until center is set and edges are golden-brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 4 dozen easily, probably more. I ended up halving my dough and freezing it, but I got 2 dozen out of the half I baked.

--Jirafa

Spicy Baked Penne

The best things in the world start like this:

and end like this:

Oh baked penne, how I love thee. You are perfect for dinner parties, where I'm too cheap and lazy to toil over lasagna. (My secret has been outed). You are also perfect as leftovers, eaten cold out of the baking dish at 1am after the 800th round of this game:

(My last dinner party involved going through the entire family Apples to Apples card set TWICE. Oh yes, that's how we nerds party.)

Before all the epic nerdery began though, we were nomming down on this:


Don´t mind me, just licking my laptop screen.

Spicy Baked Penne:

1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 28-ounce cans crushed Italian plum tomatoes
3 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 cups canned chicken broth
1 pound penne or rigatoni
2 1/2 cups packed cheese (sharp cheddar and mozzarella are tasty)


Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a LARGE skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix in tomatoes, dried basil and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil. Add broth; bring back to boil. Reduce heat to medium or lower and simmer uncovered until mixture is thick and is reduced, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cook pasta until aldente. Drain well but don't rinse. Return pasta to pot. Pour sauce over and toss to blend. Mix in half the cheese. Transfer to baking pan and top with remaining cheese.

Bake until cheese is browned and bubbly, about 25 minutes.

Serves 5 to 6.

(PS, if you´re wondering why the pictures look suddenly fab, it´s because they were taken with my friend´s gorgeous fancy expensive camera. I am using them to my advantage.)

Chocolate Toffee Cookies

I love to make cookies but I don't quite like eating them. However, I think my roommates are fine with this arrangement (so are my thighs).

These cookies have a lot of dough with subtle chocolate toffee crunches, if that's your thing. You can always add in another bar and amp up the crunchy yumminess!

Chocolate Toffee Cookies:

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bar Lindt Toffee Crunch, chopped

In a large bowl (or in a mixer) cream butter and sugars together for 4 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl occasionally. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Putting the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture until just combined. Mix chocolate toffee pieces in with a wooden spoon.

Chill dough at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake 10-12 minutes, until cookies are browned but slightly soft still. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

--Jirafa

Pear Crisp

After being introduced to this Paradise of a produce market by a friend I ended up buying an 8-pound bag of pears which sat on my counter. And sat. And sat. And continued sitting until my resolution to no longer waste food kicked in and I ravaged the internets for a good pear crisp recipe.



Soooooo delicious. The nutmeg was cruelty though, because now all I can think of is making gingersnaps until I pass out. Oh winter baking, how I miss thee...

Pear Crisp:

5 pears, peeled, cored, sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar
½ tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix pears, lemon juice, brown sugar, and vanilla; pour into a greased 8x8 baking pan. In a large bowl, mix flour, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together. In a separate bowl, beat together melted butter and egg; add to flour mixture and stir until it forms a strudel-like consistency. Cover pears with floury mixture and bake 30 minutes until top is golden brown.

Serves 4-6.

Lemon Bars

My roommate loves lemon bars. The upscale grocery chain here, Nugget Markets, makes gorgeous lemon bars that she adores.

The challenge was for me to make lemon bars as good as Nugget's. Well my roommate thinks these are even better and so do I.

Find this recipe and other great recipes here at Crepes of Wrath

Blueberry Vanilla Cake with Blueberry Whipped Cream Frosting

I have created the most amazing thing in the world. /modesty.

But in all honesty, blueberry whipped cream is the most fantastic creation ever. So...DELICIOUS.





Mmm...watashi no ke-ki...

Blueberry Vanilla Cake with Blueberry Whipped Cream Frosting:


Cake:
2 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup butter or shortening
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg whites
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two 8 or 9 inch round pans.

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add butter (or shortening), milk, and vanilla. Mix on a low speed for about 1 minute. Scrape bowl and add egg whites. Mix on a medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Fold in blueberries.

Pour batter into greased pans and bake for 30-35 minutes.

COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE FROSTING.

Frosting:
1 pint whipping cream
1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Start whipped cream in a mixer on setting 6 (medium-high) speed. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Meanwhile, blend the blueberries until they’re in liquid form; pour this into the whipping cream as it mixes.

Mix until fluffy; whipping cream should form peaks.

Spread over cooled cakes, put in coffee or hot chocolate, etc.

Orange-Vanilla Banana Muffins with Brown Sugar Streusel

I know, I never update. I am shamed. Please accept this offering of muffins.


Orange-Vanilla Banana Muffins with Brown Sugar Streusel:

2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup vanilla yogurt
2-3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup orange marmalade

Streusel:
1 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon


Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix streusel ingredients until coarse; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Fold banana mixture into dry ingredients with a wooden spoon or spatula. Batter will be thick and chunky.

Fill muffin cups ¾ full and sprinkle streusel mixture over top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until fork inserted comes out clean.

Yields 12-14 muffins.

Serve with cold milk or hot cocoa! Mmmm.

--Jirafa

Saffron French Fries

These are stars of my youth. The first time my father made these, I remember glaring at him and cursing him for withholding these from me until my 11th or 12th year of age, all while jamming as many in my mouth as I possibly could at one time.

When I was feeling particularly difficult, I would order my mother into the kitchen and oversee the potato cooking process like a nervous addict in need of her fix.

And now that I’m an adult, I can spoil myself with saffron French fries whenever I darn well please.



Because they’re insultingly easy you know. Ovens are helpful like that. You can also fry these in light oil in a frying pan, but I've just lost too many shirts to oil spots to continue that. Besides, think of how many pages of reading you can NOT do while these are cooking in the oven!




Saffron French Fries:

2 yukon gold potatoes, washed well (russet also work fine)
1 tbsp oil (vegetable, olive, whatever)
3 tbsp Saffron-infused water
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice potatoes into wedges. Coat with remaining ingredients and spread over a baking sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes, flipping halfway to ensure even browning (if you’re lazy like me and just care about fries, leave ‘em alone and they’ll be fine).

I serve these with a yogurt dip that 98% of the people I know won’t touch. But if you’re the rare plain yogurt lover or if you were raised under one of those cultures that raise babies on Abali yogurt instead of milk (joking, joking), you’ll love this. Because you probably eat plain yogurt out of the container for fun. You weirdo. Pass me a spoon.

1-2 heaping tablespoonfuls of plain yogurt
½ tsp lemon juice
½ tsp dill weed
And you’ve got a dip.

Serves two.

--Jirafa

White Chocolate Berry Banana Muffins

Sorry for the lack of updates. College has turned into an absolute beast. Junior year is like being on the boss stage of your standard video game. A 9 month long boss stage.

Which is why there are muffins. These muffins give me secret joy since I found a new use for my unwanted foodstuffs. Unwanted foodstuffs sound terrible, don’t they? I’m just talking about this:



Yes. Yoplait yogurt. A little too sweet by itself, but in muffins? Ooh la la.

And yes, I’m proud of this. So shhhhhh. Some of us don’t have access to fresh delicious berries right now.


White Chocolate Berry Banana Muffins

2 cups flour
¾ cup white sugar
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed well
1 container Yoplait Mixed Berry yogurt (or 1/2 cup of your favorite yogurt)
2 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix together bananas, vanilla, eggs, butter, and yogurt. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, white sugar, baking soda, and salt.

Combine, mixing thoroughly. Add in white chocolate chips; mix.

Grease a standard muffin tin and fill each place with a heaping tablespoon of batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Continue until all the batter has been used!

Makes about 18 muffins.

By the way, you can always use a different yogurt flavor. I’m going to play around with the ones I have leftover in my fridge.

--Jirafa

Stuffed Shells (Or, The Only Food With Mystery Filling You WANT To Eat)

I’ll be the first to admit I have an obsession with stuffed pasta. It’s the novelty of it really. “Oh hey there pasta, let me cut you open. *GASP* What is this glorious surprise you have here for me?”

Well, that’s the idea. I imagine the people who eat my stuffed pasta think that since I spoil the surprise for myself by being the relatively unimportant figure behind the meal. *cough*

And they’re so easy to make I’m appalled that I don’t make stuffed shells more often!

Step 1: Glorious fiery bubbling sauce



Step 2: Messily stuffed ricotta-romano joy shells


Step 3: Cue Spice Girls: “When 2 become 1~~~~~” (+ cheese :D)


Step 4: Melty cheesy happy pasta goodness



Stuffed Shells:

Sauce:
1 zucchini, cubed
2 cups mushrooms, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ onion, chopped finely
½ lb ground beef
1 cup olives, diced
24 oz tomato sauce (jarred pasta sauce works fine, too)
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp basil
Salt and pepper
(The spice measurements are all relative, as you have to adjust it to your own tastes, really)

Filling:
1 cup spinach leaves, chopped
½ cup parsley leaves, chopped
24 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
Salt and pepper
¾ cup Romano cheese

1 box conchiglie (AKA super huge shell pasta)
1 ½ cups mozzarella and cheddar cheese, grated

Brown ground beef in a large pan; transfer to small bowl and set aside. Add 1 tbsp of oil to pan over medium-high heat. Toss in zucchini, garlic, mushrooms, and onion and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add olives, beef, tomato sauce, and spices. Stir well and simmer for about 20 minutes over medium-low heat.

Boil pasta as directed.

Mix all filling items together. Fill pasta shells with about 1 tbsp filling each. (Warning: pasta shells will be very hot so run them under cold water before handling!)
Line pasta shells in a 9x13 baking dish; cover with sauce. Sprinkle grated cheese over top and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serve with salad!

Serves 6-8.

--Jirafa

Spinach-Ricotta Manicotti

Winter quarter begins tomorrow so I held a farewell winter break luncheon today. Manicotti seemed like the perfect food to have on a chilly day. Yes, what really is better than manicotti, salad, and Torchwood season 1?

Manicotti shells that boiled intact, maybe. Lo and behold, ALL of the shells went into the water whole and came out aldente and like flat tortillas instead of round tubes.

Fine. Manicotti is essentially lasagna enchiladas anyway, no reason to not treat it as such. If this happens to you, fill the pasta, curl it into a tube shape and place it into the pan seam side down. It comes out looking and tasting just the same and it’s really a lot easier to fill this way!



Spinach-Ricotta Manicotti:

1 80z package manicotti pasta
1 ½ cup medium cheddar cheese, grated
1 ½ cup mozzarella cheese, grated

Sauce:

½ lb lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 24oz can or jar of tomato sauce
1 cup sliced black olives
1 tablespoon basil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Ricotta filling:

2 cups fresh baby spinach
15oz ricotta cheese
¾ cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 cup parsley
Salt and pepper

In a medium sauce pan, brown the ground beef on medium-high. Transfer to bowl; cook onions and mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Return ground beef to pan, as well as all remaining ingredients. Turn heat down to low; cover and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Boil pasta as directed. While pasta boils, combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Run pasta under cold water, as it will be very hot. Then, using a small spoon (or your fingers, it’s a messy job), fill the manicotti tubes with the spinach-ricotta filling. Line manicotti in a 9x13 glass pan.

Cover manicotti in sauce; finish by covering in both cheeses.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Serves ~6

--Jirafa

Chocolate Cherry Crinkle Cookies

This is my first experience with a chocolate-based cookie. All the cookies I’ve made previously incorporated chocolate in some way but never to this extent.

Verdict: deeeeeeeeelicious.



Cookies are so magical, aren’t they? They shouldn’t work, all of this and that thrown into them and warmed to a crisp.

And yet somehow they do. Cookies, Eighth Wonder of the World. I’m telling you.



¾ cup flour
½ cup white sugar
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ table salt
½ stick butter, melted
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips (semisweet work fine, too)
1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped roughly
¾ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix together butter, cocoa powder, egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; mix in sugar. Combine with wet goods. Add chocolate chips and dried cherries to batter, mixing well.

Roll into roughly 2’’ balls and coat in powdered sugar. Be sure to coat thickly so the cracks will show as the cookies bake. Place on a lined cookie sheet and bake 12-14 minutes.

Yields about 24 cookies.

--Jirafa

White Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

Whew, back from hiatus. In celebration, I bring you a recipe for delicious muffins, two ways.





I use a basic banana bread recipe that is moist and flavorful. You can throw both kinds of chocolate chips in if you’d like. You can do whatever you want really. Think of your kitchen like Burger King: you can always have it your way.



This batter can house chocolate, nuts, cherries, wedding rings…

You get the idea.



The problem with these muffins is that they come out so cute and warm and delicious that it’s hard to back away from them. And you’ll probably want milk, so go buy some before you make them.

I mean it. Go. Store. Now.

And after you’ve devoured them all and licked the muffin pan (wait ‘till it cools, just throwing that out there), you’ll want to do this:




White Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

2 cups flour
¾ cup white sugar
2/4 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 ripe bananas, mashed well
¼ cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
6 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup dark chocolate chips
½ cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix together bananas, vanilla, eggs, butter, brown sugar, and yogurt. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, white sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Combine, mixing thoroughly.

Separate batter into equal parts in two bowls. Mix into one bowl dark chocolate chips and the other with white chocolate chips.

Grease a standard muffin tin and fill each place with a heaping tablespoon of batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Continue until all the batter has been used!

Makes about 24 muffins.

-Jirafa

Cookie Bonanza Night

(Oatmeal Raisin, Snickerdoodles, Thumbprints)

Tomorrow is my Japanese class party (end of the quarter, YAY) so I volunteered to bring cookies. And cookies. Oh yeah, and more cookies.



At this point…I think I hate cookies. But 3+ hours of baking will do that to a person. Not to mention out about five dozen cookies my roommates were only allocated three each. I sense their disapproval.

Nevertheless, I’ve included the recipes used for your perusal. Cookies are fun, especially when they’re meant for other people.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:

I used the recipe on the inside lid of my Quaker oatmeal which is as follows:

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix butter and sugars over medium speed until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add this to the wet goods in three batches, mixing well after each addition. Stir in oats and raisins, mixing well.

Drop rounded tablespoons of batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow to cool on a wire rack. If you’re like me, pull out the second rack inside your oven and use it as a cooling rack because you’re a poor college student. Grumble as hot cookie breaks apart and slips through wide gaps. Eat broken cookies. Rejoice.



Snickerdoodles:

I used the recipe here: Eat Me, Delicious

Quite delicious.



Thumbprint Cookies, Two Ways:

½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup shortening
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups finely chopped almonds (or whatever nuts you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix together brown sugar, butter, and shortening; beat in egg yolks and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to wet goods, mixing thoroughly. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Dip balls into egg white then roll into finely chopped almonds. Place cookies about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet; press thumb deeply in center of each. Bake until light brown, about 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Fill thumbprints with jam or melted chocolate.


--Jirafa

Pumpkin Applesauce Bread

Sorry about the mild and unexpected hiatus. This quarter is winding down, which means lots of last minute essays and tests to cram for which leave little room for either cooking or posting. The good news is that they’ll be over soon.

The other good news is that I have a recipe.

I like to consider myself a nonconformist but that’s about as nonconformist as conformity. So instead I strive for nonconformist conformity and come out feeling relatively special most of the time. I’m a spoiled only-child, okay? I need to feel different.

Holiday season=pumpkin=conformist.
Pumpkin bread=conformist.
Pumpkin Applesauce Bread=nonconformist conformity.

Get it?



How about saying this is just not standard pumpkin bread?



It’s lighter than your usual fare.



Well it was until I did that.



And that.



(So was I until I did that)

Promise not to tell?

Pumpkin Applesauce Bread

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (DO IT)
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or homemade)
1 ½ cups flour
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp baking soda


Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl mix together applesauce, yogurt, eggs, vanilla, sugars, and pumpkin. In a separate bowl sift (if you’re feeling pretentious) together flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and baking soda. Combine. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 oz cream cheese
2 tbsp butter, softened
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Using a mixer on the medium setting, blend the first three ingredients. Add the powdered sugar in three separate batches, blending until smooth. Let frosting sit in the fridge for 10 minutes before using.

Lick beaters.

Spinach-Ricotta Lasagna

Spinach-Ricotta Lasagna





Lasagna is a family-food for some, a comfort food for many. It works best for dinners parties, served with garlic bread and salad. It’s one of the few foods I will eat leftovers from, so it holds a heralded spot in the recipe center of my brain.



The secret to a fabulous lasagna is in the ricotta center. I see so many lasagnas that don’t include this portion; it makes me sad. If you’re cooking for kids, I understand why it’s easier to just leave it out. As a child I remember scraping the visible vegetables out of my lasagna and eating only what had cheese touching it.



As an adult, I’ve learned to love this spinach-ricotta center. Lasagna feels barren and lost without it.



Does anyone know why lasagna noodles have those cute ruffled edges?



I can’t tell what’s more fun: putting together lasagna or eating it?

Spinach-Ricotta Lasagna:
Mama Pita’s Pasta Sauce (see previous post)
1lb lasagna noodles
16oz medium cheddar cheese, grated
16oz mozzarella cheese, grated
*Spinach-Ricotta Filling (see below)

Boil noodles as directed on package.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Using a 12x18 glass or ceramic baking dish, spread a small amount of sauce on the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking. Layer with noodles, more sauce, and 1/4 of the cheese. Layer with noodles, all of the ricotta mixture, more noodles, followed by sauce, another fourth of the cheese, more noodles, the rest of the sauce, the third-fourth of the cheese, more noodles, and top with the remaining amount of cheese.

Place into the oven for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted on top and looks golden and crispy.

Spinach-Ricotta Lasagna Filling:
2 cups fresh baby spinach
15oz ricotta cheese
¾ cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 ½ cups parsley

In a large bowl mix together all ingredients.

Next Recipe: Cinnamon-Sugar Apple Cake (Scheduled post: Wednesday, November 19, 2008).