Rainy Sunday

On this rainy fall day it seemed like a good idea to get some baking in. This soup recipe was passed on to me from another Angela in my knit group. I changed it a bit.

Sweet Potato Apple Soup

• 3 small sweet potatoes
• 1 1/2 apples
• 3/4 large onion
• 1/2 can lite coconut milk
• 1 tsp curry
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• salt and pepper to taste

Roast veggies in the oven at 350 degrees until soft. Simmer the veggies in the vegetable broth with the coconut milk and spices until cooked all the way through. Then blend.

The soup is good but a bit sweet for my taste. Next time I'm going to try it like this.

• 4 small sweet potatoes
• 1 large yukon potato
• 1 apple
• 3/4 large onion
• 1/2 can lite coconut milk
• 1 tsp curry
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 cups vegetable broth 

 

Spicy Cauliflower

• 1/2 head of cauliflower
• 3 garlic cloves
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• ~1 tsp of chilli powder
• ~1 tsp cumin
• ~1/4 cup of bread crumbs
• pinch of olive oil

Cut cauliflower and garlic cloves and put in a bowl and toss with some olive oil. Sprinkle the spices over the cauliflower. Toss a bit more olive oil and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees until fully cooked.

This recipe is a mix of a couple different recipes I found online like this and this. It is pretty spicy! I might leave out the cayenne pepper next time.

GRANOLA!

look at those grains!

 I've made this several times. You can check out my original post here.  I made some small changes but the most important update is the temperature and time in the oven. I have a bad habit of over cooking it so turned the heat down and the time in the over.

• 6 cups rolled oats
• 1 3/4 cup oat bran
• 1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 flax seeds
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes, stir, then bake for another 15 minutes.

It's Easter Dammit!

I love Easter Brunch. I've been having hosting some sort of Easter brunch for 14 years now! This year when it was the day before Easter, I was so sick I had to have a friend drive me to the grocery store. She said, "Uh, maybe you ought to cancel brunch." But I didn't want to! In the end, I postponed it and had it this past Sunday. I called it, "It's Easter Dammit!" I'm so glad I waited cause I was able to enjoy myself. Good friends, good food, good times. Look at that spread!

pancakes, bacon, fruit, cinnamon rolls, baked brie, croque monsieurs, mimosas, oh my!

My contribution to brunch was oatmeal pancakes, grapefruit ginger curd and mixed berry syrup. The grapefruit ginger curd turned out really good. One of my friends was actually eating it by the spoonful by the end of the brunch. I'll take that as success.

I took the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, 101 Cookbooks. I modified the recipe slightly below. I doubled the recipe but now I realize, I didn't double the eggs! (below is exactly what I did) Perhaps that's why it wasn't that thick. I also couldn't figure out how to make the ginger juice. I tried to grate the ginger to make the juice but hardly made any juice. So I added some of the grated ginger. I think I could have used a lot more.

 

Grapefruit Ginger Curd

1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp / soft
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks, preferably room temp
2 large eggs , preferably room temp
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon grated ginger


The directions say to simmer the grapefruit juice in a small saucepan, reducing to 1/2 cup. But I didn't have time, so I just left it as is. (which was the appropriate amount for doubling the recipe)

step 1 - fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

Cream the butter in a medium stainless steel bowl. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy and light. Add the yolks, and then the eggs one at a time, beating well. Stir in the salt, and then gradually add the grapefruit juice, lemon juice, and ginger juice.

Make a double boiler out of saucepan and the stainless steal bowl. (Fill the saucepan 1/3 full and bring to a simmer) Stir constantly, and heat the curd slowly enough that the sugar has time to dissolve. This takes at least 10 minutes, maybe it took me longer because I didn't use enough eggs. Pull the curd from the heat when it is just thick enough to coat your spoon. Your curd will thicken as it cools.

irish cream in my coffee, don't mind if I do

101 Cookbooks says it keeps refrigerated for a week, or up to a month in the freezer. But it didn't last that long at brunch! Check out her recipe for more tips.


Notes for next time: I thought it tasted a bit too sweet. Even though she mentions in her blog that she left hers tart, I think I'd start with 1/2 cup of sugar. I might try it without the lemon juice next time. I'd like to add more ginger. I thought the grated ginger would be more potent so I didn't add much maybe not even a 1/4 teaspoon. I need to figure out how to actually make ginger juice.


Now this pancake recipe is from my mom. I don't know where she got it. I also doubled the recipe for brunch. They were a good hearty base for some sweet-treat toppers. I'd say that they are ok but not amazing.

 

Oatmeal Pancakes

1/2 cup flour (add more as needed)
2 cups quick oats
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups buttermilk (I always make my own)
4 tablespoons of melted butter
2 large eggs

Combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients. Then combine together. Use cooking spray to line the pan and cook them up!

Mixed-Berry Syrup

frozen mixed berries
real maple syrup

This is easy. Heat the berries slowly in a saucepan.  They will create their own juice. Add some maple syrup to sweeten. Pour over your pancakes. It was a good compliment to the curd too.

There you go - a good start to a brunch. Don't forget the mimosas!

The Sweater Challenge - I did it!

Sorry to keep you all in suspense but I did it! Yup, I finished my Dad's sweater in time to give it to him just before we went to Costa Rica for his 70th birthday. Too bad, it's not cold anymore for him to get some real use out of it this winter (sigh).

Homebrew Floats

A last weekend, I had my Housewarming and Beer Reveal Party where I released my first batch of homebrew ever! I got interested in brewing beer in DC when I helped a friend of mine, brew and bottle his beer. My beer turned out great! It was really rich with hints of chocolate and coffee, my two favorite things. The taste of my two favorite things in my favorite kind of beer, how could it get any better? But wait, then we made homemade ice cream and made homebrew floats! They were pretty fantastic.

Homebrew Stout Float Cheers!

I blogged about making ice cream last year (memorable day, there was an earthquake in DC). In that blog, I recommended my ice cream maker, the Mega Ice Cream Ball. But now I'm taking that back. We used the Mega Ball to make this ice cream and it is fun thing to do in a group cause everyone takes a turn and shaking the ball the make it. But this time, I couldn't get the top off to empty the ice. I used the tool to open it and by accident screwed it on instead of off and now there's no way to open it. I just had to throw it in the trash :( Now I'm in the market to buy an old fashioned crank ice cream maker. Keep your eyes peeled at garage sales for me!

The Sweater Challenge - The Countdown Continues

Well, I have 5 days left and I it's looking like I could make it. However, the next two days are going to be a wash because it's St. Patrick's Day weekend. Tomorrow the fun begins at 10am! So that really leaves 3 weeknights. Yikes!

I'm almost done with the left arm. I need to cast on the collar and figure out how to do the i-cord trim and button holes. Wish me luck!

almost done with the left sleeve

The Sweater Challenge!

Holy crap, I've had this blog for over a year now and I haven't yet blogged about sweaters. It's half the blog's namesake! You can tell how big my sweet tooth is :) Well now I've issued myself a 10-day sweater challenge. I started knitting this sweater the day after I moved into my new place in Chicago (Thanksgiving day weekend). I need to finish it by March 21st, cause it's for my dad. It was supposed to be a Christmas present. I wrapped it up for Christmas, when he opened it up the torso was finished up to the armpits. But since then, I haven't been as diligent as I should have been to finish it. Next week my Dad is coming down to Chicago for his birthday.

This is the final countdown. Can I do it? Ok enough blogging, back to knitting!

right arm almost finished, left arm not even started....

So many desserts, so little time - Ginger Pear Cake

I just spent a few days cooking on one of our ships. It was intense, lots of planning, several different dietary needs, along with a strict ship schedule to adhere to. Not to mention, 40 mouths to feed. Phew! :) I wanted to make desserts but just didn't have the time. So when I came back to land, I just wanted to bake and bake and bake! This is a recipe, I had planned on trying on the ship.

Ginger Pear Cake
4 cups peeled, cored and chopped pears - I used 4 Bosc Pears
1 cups white sugar - I used  scant cup
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour, you will need a bit more if you let the mixture sit overnight -  I didn't need more but it's a good reminder
1-2 inch knob of ginger peeled and grated on a micro plane grater about 1 tablespoon - I used 1 inch next time I will use more
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice - I didn't have pumpkin pie spice so I used another teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of allspice and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
3 whole eggs
2/3 cup canola oil - I also didn't have canola oil so I used a bit less of olive oil
1 cup chopped pecans - pecans are expensive, I used walnuts

Directions

1. Combine the pears, sugar and fresh ginger and let stand for one hour or overnight

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray a 10 inch bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Slightly beat the eggs and combine them with the oil, chopped pecans and pear mixture.

4. Stir the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and Pumpkin Pie Spice. Stir in the pear mixture. Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan. - I didn't have a bundt pan so I used a bread loaf pan and a regular cake pan. (Note from the original cook, I let my pear mixture macerate overnight and had to add about an extra 1/2 cup of flour to the mix or it would have been very runny)

5 .Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

 

It turned out very moist, a bit like banana bread. In the future, I may want to smash the pears or cut them a bit smaller. I may also make a ginger glace or serve it with whipped cream to make it more like a traditional cake. But will be perfect to bring into the office tomorrow for some sweets to go with their morning coffee :)