Happy Halloween :)

I’ve had a fun, busy, sugar-filled Halloween so far, and there’s still a lot left to my day!  Right now I have a batch of Double Chocolate Pomegranate Brownies in the oven.  If they’re any good, you’ll see the recipe here tomorrow!  Unfortunately I once again don’t have a recipe to offer today, but I did take a lot of pictures of all the fun foods I’ve come across today!

What a pretty box!

First up is this week’s cupcake by Carrie at the Little Dog Coffee Shop.  I had mentioned previously that the cupcake I tried from her last week seemed a little old, and she was sweet enough to meet up with me at the shop today when she dropped off her latest batch.  My cupcake came in this cute little box!

Hey, there's something tasty in there!

I brought along a couple of my pumpkin cupcakes, which were definitely not as prettily packaged.  Note to self: invest in nicer cupcake transportation devices.

It's so sprinkly!

If I remember correctly, this yummy little guy was white chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling and bits of orange gumdrops (in the filling), topped with an orange…buttercream?  With a vanilla swirl…and sprinkles…AND chocolate-covered Pop Rocks!

...And that was the last time anyone saw Ol' Cupcake.

That’s not really a ton of glare on the frosting – it’s the vanilla swirl!  I know what you want to know: did it taste as yummy as it looks?  ABSOLUTELY.  The cake was nice and soft and light, the filling was creamy and the frosting…oh man the frosting.  It was like getting punched in the mouth with tangy orange flavor, only in a good way.  The pop rocks weren’t too poppy, I think because of the chocolate coating, but the popping that did occur made the cupcake all the more fun to eat.  Thanks to Carrie for providing such fun, creative treats!

I like bees.

Since the farmer’s market was open today, I wandered over and checked out the goodies.  Lots of weird winter squashes…I don’t want to get too sick of those yet so I left them alone, but I did pick up a nice big 3 pound jar of honey, some of which will be used for a recipe soon.

Mmm, honey.

While I was browsing the honey, one of the vendors ran over to me and gave me a free witch cookie because she liked my orange-and-black striped tights!

It looks like a sugar cookie...we haven't eaten it yet.

I went over to browse her other goodies and was intrigued by some rosemary merlot biscuits.

They look like little donuts!

They ended up being like little rosemary-scented spicy shortbread cookies, and were delicious with some Irish Breakfast tea.

I’m going to try to end each month with a favorite recipe, and for this month it’s going to have to be my very favorite Pumpkin Cupcakes with Easy Fluffy Double Chocolate Ganache.  Make them!  They’re great!

Unsolicited Chocolate Reviews

I have SO been slacking on the cooking lately…for no reason really, I guess.  I was obsessed with perfecting the pumpkin cupcakes until very recently and I just didn’t try much else.  I do have something planned for tomorrow evening, though, which will feature both one of my favorite fall/winter fruits and a bar of 100% cacao.  After that, I’m going to (finally!) try out my brand new shiny red Kitchenaid mixer (that I reeeally wanted for my VERY OWN KITCHEN I was going to have, and then I didn’t have the kitchen…and I still don’t have the kitchen, and the Kitchenaid has sat unopened and lonely since I got it…sad, I know) to make what will hopefully be a bunch of delicious “small smackerels.”  I may also cook some non-dessert foods – who knows!  Probably not much, though – I bought a really basic cake decorating kit today (just an icing bag and a few tips) so I’m excited to make fancier goodies!

Because I don’t have much else to share today, I’m going to write about some chocolate!  Hooray!  I’m not much of a chocolate fan, really…I mean, I like it, but I’m rarely all “OMG CHOCOLATE” or anything, and if given a choice of candy, will generally choose something chewy and fruity (Jelly Bellies?  Yes please!) over something smooth and chocolatey.  However, I am pretty particular about the chocolate that I do eat.  I’m a big fan of very dark chocolate, and I’ve tried a few different kinds.  Usually the chocolate I have on hand will vary from week to week based on what I find on sale in whatever store(s) I’ve visited lately.  As far as I know, these are the highest cacao content bars for their brands.

Hershey’s Cacao Reserve 65%

Tastes…like Hershey’s.  I like their dark chips for baking but not so much for slow savoring; even as a bar it’s too sweet and too gooey.  Fine if you chop it up and put it in cookies, but then, why not just buy the chips?

Green & Black Organic 70%

Definitely my favorite, but (of course) the most expensive.  I think from now on I’m going to just spring for it, because it lasts the longest.  How is that possible?  Well, most bars like this tend to have very large squares, but Green & Black’s are teensy tiny, and melt so slowly and evenly that even a little shred of a nibble will last for a while in your mouth, completely coating your tongue.  Not too dark and not too sweet, and very worthy of being used as “chocolate therapy.”

Lindt Excellence Extra Dark 85%

I’m not terribly familiar with Lindt aside from their truffles, which are ok (I, of course, prefer the super dark ones in the black wrappers).  This was…um…chalky.  I don’t even know if I’ll finish it.  Maybe it was old?  The flavor was ok, but the texture was pretty gross.  I definitely won’t buy it again.

Ghirardelli Intense Dark Midnight Reverie 86%

I buy this one the most often, since it’s at least a dollar cheaper than the Green & Black.  I almost didn’t like it at first, but it grew on me by about the third bite.  It’s fun to eat because it’s so un-chocolatey in taste.  It tastes more like smoky berries and cherries and melts nicely.  I like Ghirardelli in general – their products are always tasty and relatively high-quality for the price.  I just wish it broke into smaller squares, as it’s hard to gauge how much you’ve eaten with giant squares!

I wish I had pictures of all four, or a ratings system, but this was kind of a spur-of-the-moment idea I had, wanting to get in a post today before I try another idea I had for a post tomorrow (which could potentially become a regular end-of-the-month feature, if I like it enough).

I’m still not sure if I’m doing anything Halloweenish tomorrow.  I rarely end up doing anything, which is sad since I really love this holiday!  I haven’t worn a costume in years, aside from the ones I wore daily in October when I worked for Spencer’s (and I definitely miss that part of the job).  My day, as far as I know, is going to involve getting up early, watching Martha’s sure-to-be-awesome Halloween special, and then heading into town on a cupcake-related errand.

Since I have no new pictures to share, here’s one of Bowser.

Mmm, breakfast!

He likes to start most days with a big pile of fresh lettuce and a sprinkling of healthy tortoise vitamins, to keep his little shell nie and strong!…I prefer an apple and a cup of tea first thing in the morning.

Odds & Ends & Gingerbreads

Aside from the frosting, I didn’t cook anything new and exciting yesterday (and a teriyaki stir fry, no matter how tasty, doesn’t merit a “recipe”…not until I learn how to make my own teriyaki sauce, anyway!) but I did take the cupcakes I’d made into town and drop them off for a few of my favorite retail crews. I also shamelessly flaunted my books. It looks like I’ll be able to make more sales as it gets closer to Christmas, so I’m going to work on a minor advertising campaign for my silly projects for now.

Z and I also stopped by the Little Dog, a coffee shop in my hometown that sells super fancy cupcakes made by local super fancy cakesmith Carrie of Fields of Cake! They only had one cupcake sitting among the other, less pretty baked goodies in the case, so we took it along with us. It turned out to be one of the Spicy Gingerbread Cupcakes Filled with Chevre Cheesecake and Buttery Caramel and Topped with Dark Chocolate Ganache and Chevre and Cream Cheese Buttercream that she had made for the latest Iron Cupcake Challenge (cheese!)…Yes, it’s a long name. There was a lot to that cupcake; maybe too much for me. I think the cake was a little dry from sitting out in that case (and since it was a pretty thin layer around the copious fillings, it crumbled really easily), but I did really like the peppery zing it had – there was a kind of bite to the aftertaste of the cupcake, and I think I would have LOVED the cake if it were fresher. The caramel part of the filling was good and unexpected, and there was nothing bad about the cheesecake, though perhaps having it on top and inside was a little excessive. I’ll still probably make a habit of checking out the selection over there, and maybe see what days I should stop by to get the cupcakes as fresh as possible. I’m also sad that none of the pictures I took before we “tasted” the cupcake away to nothing came out, but that’s what I get for trying to photograph a baked good outside at twilight…on my lap. There are lovely pictures in the link, though!

Since I didn’t make anything else yesterday, here’s something I made a month or so ago that is the closest thing I’ve made to gingerbread. Sometimes you just have to use up the bananas.

Spicy Baby Banana Bread

That...is a LOT of cinnamon.

6 slightly overripe baby bananas, peeled

1/3 cup vegetable oil, melted unsalted butter or unsweetened applesauce (depending on how healthy you want the bread to be)

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

Cinnamon sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 4×8 inch loaf pan. Place the bananas in a medium mixing bowl and smash them up with a wooden spoon. Mix in the oil/butter/applesauce, then incorporate the sugar. Crack the egg into the bowl and lightly beat it before mixing it into everything else.* Stir in the vanilla, then pour flour, baking soda, salt and spices into the bowl. Mix everything together, then pour into the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (if you use a lot you’ll get a crystallized spicy-sweet “crust” on top) and bake 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick or fork inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least half an hour, while you enjoy the gingerbread-like smell. Make some tea and enjoy a slice while it’s still a little warm, with some butter or cream cheese.

The bananas make this a very moist, dense bread that is delicious for breakfast or as a snack, or even dessert. It could be dressed up with whipped cream or maybe even ice cream. I actually used a few tablespoons of applesauce and rounded out the rest of the 1/3 cup with oil, since we had one of those little single-serving cups of unsweetened applesauce hanging out in the fridge.

*The recipe I based this off of said to beat the egg before adding it to the main mixing bowl, but in the interest of having one less dish to do I did it this way.

Frosting Adventures

Frosting is something that I’ve been meaning to master.  I had been buying frosting until recently (I KNOW!) and the main reason I had been topping my beloved pumpkin cupcakes with a chocolate candy coating was because I just wasn’t very good at making frosting.  I’m aiming to change that, and have added both ganache and buttercream to my list of foods to make (there’s a lot of stuff on there, some of which I’ve never tried, like polenta, risotto and falafel).  My friend and I had limited success with our chocolate soymilk ganache the other day, but I needed to come up with something to top another batch of normal pumpkin cupcakes that I’ll be taking with me shortly as I try to convince people to buy my books.  I used a very basic chocolate ganache recipe, but had to substitute whole milk for heavy cream.  I don’t know if this is why it wouldn’t thicken even after over half an hour in the fridge and some vigorous whisking, but I was very disappointed with the resulting milky chocolate mess.  It wasn’t even remotely spreadable, so I had to think up something fast.  What do you do when something’s too runny?  Add flour or powdered sugar or something.  Well, I didn’t have any powdered sugar (though I will later, since I have more cupcake and frosting adventures planned for this week) and flour sounded like a terrible idea.  I did, however, have lots of cocoa powder.  I added it bit by bit, whisking it in until I ended up with a very fluffy, very chocolatey mass of frosting.  I wished I had something better than more mellocreme pumpkins for the tops, like some nice Halloween sprinkles or something, but they still look cute!

Easy Fluffy Double Chocolate Ganache

1 cup whole milk

9 oz. dark chocolate (I used Hershey’s Special Dark chips; anything dark and sweetened will work)

1 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Tired of pumpkin cupcakes yet?

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl.  Pour the milk into a saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally with a whisk, until it just starts to boil.  Remove from heat immediately and pour over chocolate.  Whisk until the chocolate is completely melted.  Place the bowl in the fridge until cool, then add the cocoa powder gradually, whipping with the whisk until the powder is fully incorporated and the frosting is fluffy.  Will frost up to about 30 cupcakes.

This frosting turned out very chocolatey and not too sweet, which is pretty much exactly what I was looking for to go with cupcakes that are so flavorful.  The texture is nice and frostingish…I don’t know if it still qualifies as a ganache, but I’m glad I came up with something easy and yummy that would work with lots of different cakes.

I also made us another giant mojito (to share) last night.

It's so green!

I put some torn mint leaves and sugar in the bottom of the jar, muddled it up a little, added ice cubes, rum, carbonated sweetened lime-flavored water (it sounds unappetizing when I say it like that, but it’s yummy and refreshing) and a little fresh lime juice.  I cut off a long piece of lime peel and added a fresh spring of mint for garnish.  It was delicious…and we ended up eating the rest of the lime we used with a little sugar, because it was a very tasty lime.  It made my tongue hurt a little, though…like Sour Patch Kids do.

Time to go distribute cupcakes and try to sell some books!

So Many Pictures

I had a very busy last couple of days!  I’m looking at another one today…and tomorrow!  I have lots of cooking planned for today.  It’s hard to tear myself away from the TV, though – Sci Fi is showing Stephen King movies and The Stand just started.  I love that book and haven’t seen the movie yet, though I guess I’d better leave most of it for another time or I’ll be sitting here for several hours!  Before that I watched the remake of Carrie, which I liked.  Carrie is another one of my favorite books by King and I never liked the original movie, but I adore Angela Bettis and think she made the perfect Carrie.

I spent a couple of hours of quality time with the printer on Saturday and some time yesterday with the nice people at the local Staples copy counter!  Can you guess why?

That's the cover - I colored a copy of page one and scanned it so it looks crayon-y.

I’ve been working on this coloring book since last winter, and it’s finally “published!”  It will be up for sale on Etsy once I get the shop started (maybe tonight if Z and I have the time and energy).  I’ve sold a handful already, mostly to family and close friends.  It’s 24 pages of silly, fat little animals doing things that silly, fat little animals would do, like playing tennis, reading, riding mopeds, having parties…

I also spent some time with my best friend yesterday since she was up visiting for the weekend.  We made more pumpkin cupcakes, this time with spelt flour and margarine since my friend has food allergies.

One had some weird sugar caramelization on top, and in the background you can see MONSTER CUPCAKE.

They turned out just as moist and tasty as a normal batch, and, like the regular cupcakes, get better after a little time in the fridge.  Instead of plain melted chocolate on top, I decided to start my journey into frosting-making with a simple ganache.  We used soy milk and some melted dark chocolate (I think they were Ghirardelli 60% cacao bars…it was determined that there weren’t enough allergens in it to matter).

It tried to intimidate the other cupcakes with its size, but ultimately was the first to be devoured.

I definitely need some more practice with the ganache.  It was nice and shiny once it had cooled and thickened, but quickly got too thick and had to be reheated.  However, it wouldn’t return to its previous shiny consistency.  I realize that 8 oz. of dark chocolate and a cup of soy milk barely make a ganache, but it was just a first try.  It did taste pretty good with the cupcakes, though.  I’ll be trying again either today or tomorrow with regular milk and some dark chocolate chips I have.

You can see which ones got frosted first, they're the shiniest!

I’ve got a lot to do so I’m not sure if I’ll update with a recipe later or not, but if I do it will most likely be for a spicy banana bread I made with baby bananas a while ago, since I probably won’t get to the new recipes until tomorrow.  I do have a couple of giant pomegranates and a bar of 100% cacao that are screeeaming my name, and I also picked up some adorable cupcake wrappers last night that very badly want me to make “hunny” cupcakes in them.  Up first, though: MORE pumpkin cupcakes, a teriyaki stir fry, homemade mojitos (maybe I’ll remember to put my camera on the right setting this time so I can get a picture that doesn’t look like I’ve already HAD a few mojitos)!

And Now for the Food Part

Sometimes, a recipe is so tasty that you don’t get a decent picture of it before it’s gone.  This is one of those recipes.  There aren’t any leftovers, either, so I have to make it again to make it look more appetizing (and I will, and eventually I’ll also drag my Very Photogenic black& white dishes out of storage and they’ll do all the work for me).

Cheesy Potato Soup with Broccoli, Mushrooms & Bacon

I was only able to take this picture because it was still too hot for Z to eat.

4 or 5 strips bacon

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 of a medium/large onion (depending on how much onion you like, diced

1 or 2 garlic cloves, finely diced

about 8 small to medium red potatoes, diced

1 small head broccoli, chopped into smallish bits

8 oz. mushrooms (regular white button is fine), sliced

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

salt & pepper, to taste

dash or two cayenne pepper

In a frying pan, cook the bacon until crispy, flipping as needed.  When done, remove the bacon from the pan and pat dry between 2 paper towels.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan or medium soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, cook until soft, then add the garlic.  Cook for no longer than a minute more, then add the chicken broth, potatoes, broccoli and mushrooms.  Turn the heat up to high, bring the mixture to a boil, then cover the pot and lower the heat to medium-low.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until you can easily poke a fork in the potatoes.  Remove from heat briefly and use a large spoon or potato masher to mash up most of the potatoes (mash AWAY from you unless you want broth in your eye…or, you know, just use an immersion blender if you’ve got one).  Stir in the cheese, milk and seasonings.  Bring to a low boil and cook, stirring often, until the soup is thickened, about 5 minutes.  If it’s not thickening, you might have to add a pinch or two of flour; just make sure to mix it well.  Just before serving, crumble up the bacon and mix it into the soup.

I made this adapted from a recipe I’d found a while ago.  I had the exact amount of chicken broth it calls for leftover from the marsala.  I added, subtracted and tweaked and it turned out great – I even cooked the bacon enough this time (not really knowing my way around meat still, I always undercook bacon, but this time I just cooked the HELL out of it and it was allegedly perfect)!  If you REALLY love bacon, you could probably use the bacon grease…maybe even instead of the butter?

New Theme

I was tired of the black and red, it was dreary.  I’ll come up with something more custom later, but I’m enjoying the simplicity of this one.  Also, custom header picture!  It’s of some cross-stitches I designed, stitched and framed, which I’ll be listing on Etsy pretty soon (along with some other projects – I’ve been building up ridiculous craft ideas for years and now I’m actually doing them).  I’ll definitely do custom designs, and I already have another couple more done.

Mmm...pie.

Recipe for a very cheesy soup to follow soon!  I’m watching old horror movies (One Body Too Many followed by White Zombie) in an attempt to feel more Halloweenish, and kicking back to plan the day.

How Many Links Can I Put in an Entry?

I’ve got another apple pie just out of the oven, this time made a little differently from my original recipe: no sugar added aside from a couple generous splashes of maple syrup, a big glug of vanilla extract, and a dusting of ground ginger (not fresh this time – I wanted the bite to be subtle) as the lone spice.  I did keep the lemon juice and zest, though.  The mix of distinct flavors made the apples lots of fun to both smell and taste-test – first all you can sense is the lemon, then the vanilla kicks in, followed by a nice mellow maple flavor, and then BAM, right in the mouth, a little kick of ginger.  I also added a couple shakes each of ground nutmeg and cinnamon to the crust, and generously sprinkled the whole top of the pie with cinnamon and sugar before I popped it into the oven.  I happened to have a little extra crust and found some colored sugar so here’s how the pie looks fresh from the oven!

Yay, apples!

As far as new recipes go, here’s something easy I made for Z’s dinner a couple nights ago and he thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers tonight.  It’s very easily customizable – the bacon can be fried instead of baked, switched out for another meat, or can be left out entirely.  You could also use fresh minced onion, sauteeing it in some olive oil in the same pan you cook the sauce in, but powdered was all we had.  I added the garlic powder since it was right next to the onion and seemed like a good idea.  You can also choose to peel the potatoes, or use a different kind, but red is my favorite and the skins are so beautiful.

One last note: when I made this, I halved the recipe since we only had half a pound of bacon.  You may need to use two pans for the bacon.

Bacon-Broccoli Scalloped Potatoes

Red potatoes make everything look pretty!

Splash of olive oil

2 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Onion & garlic powder, to taste

4 or 5 medium red potatoes, sliced thinly

3 cupped broccoli, chopped roughly

1 pound bacon

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Small handful shredded cheese, for sprinkling on top, if desired (we used sharp cheddar)

Preheat oven to 400.  Lightly grease a large, shallow pan (a cookie sheet with a lip all around the edge works perfectly) and arrange the bacon evenly in it.  Place the pan in the oven and cook until almost all of the fat has cooked off.  Blot as much grease as you can from the cooked bacon.

While the bacon cooks, prepare the sauce.  Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the milk, flour, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powders to the pan.  Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.  This will take between 3 to 5 minutes.  Once thickened, remove from heat.

In a greased 2 quart casserole, layer half of the potato slices evenly, then top with the broccoli and half of the sauce.  Crumble the bacon on top of everything in the casserole, dot it with the Dijon, then cover with the rest of the potatoes and sauce.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake between 30 and 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through and tender.  Remove foil, sprinkle on cheese if desired, then bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.  Serve very hot.

One last thing – I’ve been desperately wanting a pretty, girly apron to protect my nice, mostly-dark clothes from the clouds of flour I encounter constantly on my baking adventures.  I’d (once again) had ENOUGH today and went looking on Etsy, and found some adorable ones at Boojiboo’s shop.  Turns out if I blog about a little contest going on at Sisterly Savings, I have a better chance at winning an apron of my choice.  So, I’ll put off buying the apron for a few more days, juuuuust in case.

Busy Busy Day

No entry yesterday, oops!  I was out and about for a big chunk of the day.  In a couple hours I’ll go out and get my first 10 bound, finished copies of “Coloring Animals,” the coloring book I drew.  I started drawing it early this year in the cold, dead, dry, sadsadsad winter, curled up in the back room (and, when that was too full of junk, the closet behind the counter) at the record store on my all-too-rare evening breaks…also usually just when it was too cold or wet to go outside for a while.  I finally hit my goal of 24 acceptable illustrations in July, just a couple of weeks before I left work.  It’s been a pain in the ass but I know what I’m doing now, for the most part.  Probably when I get to the second pressing (another 10 or 20 copies, I’m limiting it to 50 altogether) I’ll get around to setting up my Etsy.

While I didn’t cook anything recipe-worthy yesterday (I did make some yummy manicotti with mushrooms and fresh spinach and slices from a giant square of soft, gooshy mozzarella on top – plus bits of sweet Italian sausage in most of them for everyone but me…But I used a jarred sauce because I haven’t gotten around to learning to make my own yet…I know, I know!), I did some general food shopping at one of the more interesting sources for non-perishable groceries: Big Lots.  Seriously!  I took a pass through the whole store and had to restrain myself a little at the kitchenware section, but ended up buying only food (ok, and ONE roll of ribbon, but it’s a specific color and width I’ve been needing for a project).  The best finds were a bottle of real vanilla extract for $3 (and his friend, the $1 bottle of almond extract), a bag of really yummy salted dry-roasted edamame for $1.50, a giant canister of Sun Maid raisins for $2 (just when i’ve been wanting oatmeal raisin cookies!), and 3 packages of brown rice noodles for $1 each.  I also found bags of all-vanilla Midgees…those Tootsie Rolls that come in other flavors, vanilla being the best one!  I’ve been instructed to get more of those today (for stockpiling purposes) when I go pick up the books.

I also got something in the mail yesterday that I’m really excited about!

It loves my nice new board!

That’s the best picture I got, unfortunately.  It’s too dark in here for photos – I would have taken it downstairs where there are more lights but it was almost time for Fringe and I didn’t want to miss anything!  Anyway, now I can finally stop griping about knowing I SHOULD read but not knowing what I WANTED to read – this thing is huge!  Some of it I’m pretty sure I won’t need, like the stuffed baked heart recipe I came across while flipping through last night.  But I’m excited that there’s a whole section on mixed drinks (which I think is just as fascinating as cooking…Did I mention I’m a certified professional bartender?…But with no actual bartending experience…Also, the certification was four years ago…)!  I decided to track down a copy after talking to my grandmother about how I don’t feel like I know what I’m doing when it comes to cooking meat, since I haven’t really eaten it in ten years and haven’t really cooked it at all until recently.  She said she learned a lot of cooking from Joy, and even though she’s no master chef, I figured I should listen to her for once in my life.  I like having a giant, friendly-looking book that will tell me how to do everything…at least everything they knew how to do before 1975.  I went for that edition since it’s the last one by the original author, and apparently the tone of the books changes considerably after that.  Anything more modern I can just find in newer cookbooks and online, right?

So, no recipe today, but I’ll do one tomorrow.  I was thinking of trying some sort of soup since I have leftover chicken stock from the marsala and some vegetable stock, too, and it’s been kind of dreary and soupy outside lately.  I’ll have to dredge the bookmarks, and if that doesn’t inspire me, I’ll crack open my new pal Joy!…Speaking of which, I think this calls for some googly eyes.

Photography is Hard!

Every time I cook something halfway interesting, I try to take a few shots of it, some for use but mostly for practice.  My camera is nothing incredibly special but it isn’t bad, albeit totally clunky.  It has a sweet flip-screen, though; you can see yourself while you take a self-portrait…Anyway, I find that, much like myself, most of the food I cook isn’t always the most photogenic.  So I was excited to get a nice subject from my parents.  I think it was a find on one of my mom’s many farmer’s market trips.

Cute enough to eat...

It’s a hybrid of an acorn squash and a pumpkin!  I think this was the first shot I took of it, too.  I wish I’d had my nice cutting board at the time, it would look lovely!

The only problem, though, was how was I going to use it?  I wasn’t sure if it was going to be sweet, like a pumpkin, or more savory, like a squash.  I decided to try something with it when I made a chicken marsala one day.  I searched around for a bit and came up with a recipe for baked miniature pumpkins stuffed with fontina or gruyere (I knew we didn’t have anything like that but I looked them up and…oh wait, gruyere is Swiss cheese, and we ALWAYS have Swiss cheese!) that also included sage, which I had bought fresh for the marsala.  Obviously I had to try it.  The recipe here is exactly what I made and how I made it, though I have no idea how common the hybrid I used is.  I couldn’t find anything about it online.  Any sweeter squash will work, but it should be bigger than a mini pumpkin and smaller than an average-sized carving pumpkin.

Swiss & Sage Stuffed Acorn Pumpkin

The camera even loves it when it's half eaten!

1 acorn pumpkin

salt & pepper

1-2 Tbsp whole milk (would be better with something heavier)

1 fresh sage leaf (two if you really dig sage)

1 or 2 slices of Swiss cheese, torn into tiny pieces (or the equivalent grated)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Thoroughly wash the pumpkin.  Pat dry and cut off the very bottom, making sure not to go all the way through the flesh.  Stand on newly-cut end and cut off the top of the pumpkin, slightly more than you would for a jack o’ lantern (enough to get your hand in it).  Hang on to the top; you’ll need it.  Scoop out the seeds and scrape out any excessive stringiness.  Rub the inside of the pumpkin with salt and pepper.  Pour in the milk, then add the sage and cheese.  Replace the top and put the pumpkin in a baking pan until the flesh is tender and can easily be poked with a fork.  This should take between 35 and 45 minutes.

We weren’t able to eat much more than we had when I took the picture above.  It waan’t bad at all, but it wasn’t fantastic.  It needed more filling, being about twice the size of an actual miniature pumpkin, and was also a little too sweet for this particular filling.  Kind of a shame considering it was tasty, but I had no way of knowing where it lay on the sugar scale.  I got to play with more fuzzy, yummy-smelling sage, though!

It looks like a regular pumpkin with the bottom sawed off.