Pumpkin Bread Massacre

Several weeks ago I tried a new pumpkin bread recipe from allrecipes.com. It had glowing reviews, and I thought I'd get a couple loaves out of it and be able to bring one to work to share. I followed the recipe with only a few changes: I added some whole wheat flour, reduced the sugar by 1/2 cup, added chocolate chips to one of the loaves, and baked them in 2 regular loaf pans instead of 3 smaller ones (but I increased the cooking time due to the bigger pans). I thought everything was going well; I tested several locations in the loaves and they appeared to be cooked through.

I took the loaves out of the oven and turned them upside down on the cooling rack - and that's when disaster struck! Batter went everywhere - all over me, the counter, the floor. Apparently the loaves weren't done! I managed to salvage most of one loaf, and part of another. I put them back in the oven to continue baking, and they were both still edible in the end. Next time I probably won't add chocolate chips, and I'll be more careful when testing the doneness of the loaves!


Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread
courtesy of allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
15oz pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup olive oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups sugar (I used 2 1/2)
3 1/2 cups flour (I used 2 cups white, 1 1/2 cups wheat)
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ginger

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease 3 loaf pans (or 2 if you increase baking time).

• Mix pumpkin, eggs, water, oil and sugar until blended. In separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture, then pour into loaf pans.

• Bake for 50 minutes, making sure they are done before removing from the oven! :)

**That picture at the top was taken as soon as these were out of the oven. The one on the right came out in pieces, and I had to pry part of it off the bottom of the pan.**

A night out in Sumner

Several weeks ago we met my family at Mama Stortini's, a cute little restaurant in Sumner. We actually had my wedding rehearsal dinner here, so I always enjoy returning to this restaurant.

They give you complimentary bread, and I started my evening with their Mocha Latte Martini. The martini was delicious, but it was very strong! After just one I was done for the evening and switched to water. :)

For dinner I had the Mama's Fettuccine Bolognese, which was good but the sauce was much thinner than I had expected. The husband got the Dungeness Crab Ravioli, but he wasn't as impressed with his meal. The crab tasted a little too "seafoodish", and we think the crab might have been frozen and not fresh, which is sad when you live this close to the ocean!

For dessert we split Tiramisu, and their version was a lot creamier than other versions of this dessert that I've had. It was quite good though.

Veggie Stew in the Crockpot

Here's another recipe from Quick-Fix Vegetarian. You can find the whole recipe here.

Indian-Style Vegetable Stew (page 164)

Heat the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, scallions, cumin, cinnamon and cardamom in a covered skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes, then transfer to a crockpot. Add the potatoes, chickpeas, water and salt/pepper to taste. Heat on low for 8 hours, adding the spinach for the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Serve over rice.
This recipe was good, but it wasn't very filling. We were still a little hungry after dinner, so I'll add more protein next time.

I swear it's not oatmeal

I tried another recipe from Veganomicon, and sadly this one wasn't very good. I saved the leftovers, but they looked so disgusting the next day that I threw them away. When my husband first saw this meal he thought it was oatmeal. It really does have a very similar consistency to oatmeal, but it's actually mostly lentils.

Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions
recipe courtesy of Veganomicon

This recipe actually recommends you use Red Lentils because they become so soft and don't hold their shape - I actually think this recipe would be improved with a different lentil because some texture would be nice!

I honestly don't even feel like giving you the ingredients or directions to this recipe, as it just wasn't very good at all. If you want to make it, check out page 177 in Veganomicon. Here's some pictures from this recipe - now tell me, doesn't that last picture just look unappetizing?

Pretty Quick Pinto Picadillo

I just discovered that the Quick-Fix Vegetarian cookbook is on Google books and the entire book is searchable! So, you can see every recipe that I've been making in this book, which is pretty sweet!

I made the Pinto Picadillo recipe this time around, which you can find here. This recipe is easy and has a very interesting flavor profile. The apple lends a nice, sweet taste to this dish, although my husband was a little put-off from combining apples with beans. Still, I recommend giving this dish a try.
Add onions, pepper and garlic to a large oiled skillet, cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, apple, raisins, olives, chili and seasonings. Simmer for 15 minutes, then serve over rice. Garnish with parsley and almonds if desired.I served this with some leftover broccoli from my pierogi meal.

Pierogis with broccoli and walnuts

I made another fun, easy recipe from the Quick-Fix Vegetarian cookbook (mentioned earlier this week) which uses store-bought pierogi. However, I also came across the exact same recipe online which credits Ladies' Home Journal. The recipe isn't very complex so perhaps they both came up with the recipe on their own.

Potato and Onion Pierogi with Broccoli and Walnuts
courtesy of Robin Robertson, and also Ladies' Home JournalIngredients:
1 box of frozen potato and onion pierogi (I used Mrs. T's)
3 cups broccoli
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Ground pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook the pierogi and broccoli in boiling water for 5 minutes (until pierogi floats). Drain.Heat oil in skillet, add onions and cover until softened. Stir in walnuts and pepper flakes, add the pierogi and broccoli and cook for another 5 minutes. Season to taste.
The recipe is super easy to make, and I enjoyed trying pierogi for the first time. I might try making my own pierogi in the future but using frozen ones definitely made the recipe fast. The broccoli and walnuts worked well with the potato and onion flavors, and the red pepper flakes added a nice heat to the meal. I will definitely make this again.

Anything with nutella is delicious

The 2nd cookie recipe I made last week was for a more traditional cookie, although this one was with Nutella! If you haven't had Nutella before you should try it; you can even just spread it on crackers if you want.

Hazelnut Cocoa Cookies
courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 cup Nutella
1/2 cup white sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, 1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
Beat butter, Nutella, and sugars in a large bowl until smooth. Blend in the whole egg, then the egg yolk and vanilla.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and slowly mix into the butter mixture (put some muscle into mixing this - it takes awhile to get all of the ingredients incorporated). Press the dough into a ball (the dough will seem a little dry), wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll the dough into large balls and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake until cookie is slightly firm. I tried 8 minutes at first and didn't think they were done, but they were - my next batch was slightly hard so I will be sticking with 8 minutes from now on. Cool on wire racks.
These cookies were incredible. My husband raved about them, and they will definitely be going on my cookie rotation list!