A Stack of Dishes

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dessert

Before the Rush- Healthy Pumpkin Cookies for Thanksgiving Breakfast

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Earlier this year I resolutely put my foot down about not preparing Thanksgiving dinner. I have since had to pick that foot right back up. My initial reaction was to groan- but it did not take long for me to get excited about pulling together a meal for my dear ones.

The challenge really is to host 8 adults in my teeny NYC apartment with my teeny NYC apartment kitchen. It will work. I’ll borrow chairs, rearrange my office and use my desk (which is a dining table), and have a “barn raising” of a holiday table. There is space in my living room/dining room/kitchen to set up the table in advance- but then there would be a literal elephant in the room which we can do without for the entire evening.

Nah, we’ll hang around my coffee table, the kitchen is open to the entire place (thankfully) and we can commune and visit and cook together. When the bird is ready, I’ll enlist everyone’s help to pull in the table, set china and linens and start the feast.  I’m sure the Indians kept house in just this way when the Pilgrims arrived. The family huddled around the fire, while the women bustled about- something like that… Anyway, it’s what I’ve got. I’m lucky, my family all likes each other.

I know that the internet is groaning with cranberry sauce recipes, pumpkin pie, turkey etc- Nothing wrong with any of that. It’s just that breakfast that morning tends to get lost in the sauce. It’s tricky right? You’re hungry and all, but you know you’ve got some serious eats heading your way soon- and you don’t want to get in trouble for opening the fridge too many times…

Enter my healthy pumpkin oat cookies. At the ready for all lazy wakers. Just get that coffee going, set out the plate and there you go. All holiday like with it’s pumpkin and spice, and hearty and healthy to get the day off to a good start. You can make them in advance too. They freeze nicely so you don’t need to be mixing and baking first thing.

Happy Thanksgiving all. Much to be grateful for these days- and still so many that need grace and support.

Keep those home fires burning.

Healthy Pumpkin Oat Breakfast Cookies
You can add into this an array of different things. Switch the nuts for raisins or dried cranberries etc.
 
Makes 12-14 cookies
 
.5c canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 large egg
1t vanilla
3T vegetable oil
2T molasses
.5c white sugar
.75c white flour
1.5c rolled oats
.25t baking powder
1.5t baking soda
.5t salt
1.5t ground cinnamon
.25t ground nutmeg
1c toasted walnuts
 
 
 
Preheat oven to 350˚ and prepare 2 cookie sheets.
 
In a medium sized bowl combine the pumpkin, egg, vanilla, oil, molasses and sugar. Stir to combine.
 
In a larger bowl sift together the flour, bp, bs, salt and spices. Add the oats and stir.
 
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well. It will make a stiff batter. Gently add the nuts.
 
Drop large spoonfuls of the batter onto the baking sheet and spread into a flat-ish disk. 
 
I had some leftover pumpkin seeds that I put on top, but you can omit these.
 
Bake in the center of the oven for approximately 12 minutes. Test by gently pressing on the cookies. They should feel firm to the touch.
 
Allow to cool before diving in.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SAVEUR Magazine’s Birthday Present to Me & the BEST Chocolate Cake EVER

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Dark chocolate birthday cake

If’s official, I am over the hill- and I will be honest, I am loving the view from up here! Last week heralded a demi-century of loops around the sun. Of course this is mind boggling for a woman who still has conviction that she is 25 years old- but now that I’ve passed the mark- I think it’s pretty awesome.

This past year has been especially wonderful and all indications are that this trend will continue. Thank you to everyone who has supported this blog. It has given back to me in ways that I never have imagined and that just tickles me to no end. I really love writing and cooking, and I promise I will be around for awhile.
The big announcement that I alluded to in my last post is that the very day before my birthday SAVEUR magazine chose me as one of their “Sites We Love” (!!!!)
Nov 8, 2012

Sites We Love: A Stack of Dishes

Gorgeous photos? Check. Engaging writing? Check. Seriously inspiring recipes, tips, and culinary curiosity? Check, check, and check. The best food blogs all seem to have a lot in common—but what separates them out are the strong personalities behind them. In our Sites We Love series, we sit down with some of our favorite bloggers to find out how they do it—and why it’s as much fun for them as it is for us.

Needless to say I am overjoyed and over the moon!!!! I am humbled to be in such astute and talented company as well. I did not see this coming, and it will certainly go down in history as one of the dandiest birthday presents ever!

Unfortunately I am having trouble with the code for the badge, so I will have that up soon as we sort out the glitch.

I am making dinner tonight for another Scorpio pal of mine and so we are having my favorite chocolate cake. For those who have tasted my chocolate wedding cake, I regret to inform you that this is not the same recipe (sorry, trade secret), but this version is pretty close and sensational. Rather than icing I whipped up some sweetened whipped cream, which is a fantastic foil to this dark rich cake.

Dark Chocolate Cake
3 tiered 9″ cake, enough for 15 servings
 
2c boiling water
1c unsweetened cocoa powder
2.75 c all purpose flour
2t baking soda
.5t baking powder
.5t salt
1c unsalted butter, room temperature
2.25c sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1.5t vanilla
 
Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease and flour 3 9″ pans and set aside.
 
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat moderately until light and fluffy. Do NOT minimize this step. 
 
Add eggs one and a time on low and stir until incorporated. It will look grainy and mucky. Stir in the vanilla.
 
In large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, bs, bp and salt and stir to combine.
 
Add the egg/butter mixture into the bowl, then add the hot water in 3 stages and stir smooth.
 
Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake until the centers spring back from the touch.
 
The average baking time is 30 mins- but please don’t go by that. The best rule of thumb I can give you, is when you start to smell the cake it’s “getting there”. Alternatively, at 20 minutes check on it every few minutes until it’s done. 
 
Please don’t over bake this yummy cake.
 
Cool completely before frosting with whipped cream.

Road Food- The Energy Bar For A Queen

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Well, whaddyaknow, but I am back on the road again. Took a 2500 mile road trip (solo) last weekend down to Southern Florida and back, this weekend I am flying out to Dallas for my Fiancee’s induction into the Women’s Softball Hall of Fame (YES! she IS amazing!!!), and the weekend after that I drive another 1500 mile loop out to Indianapolis.

I will say that road food has improved in some ways in recent years. It’s now possible to get fresh fruit cut and prepared, salad, and non fried meals on the go. It really is wonderful to see these offerings, and even better to see that people are opting for them.

Yet even with these better options, I do my best to take along a snack bag that I can ice down and bring some of my own things. Not only is it cheaper and removes any mystery, it also saves time. I carry fruit and low fat mozzarella sticks, sometimes yogurt in containers and- of course- these bars.

There are a lot of power bar recipes out there these days- I am certainly not reinventing the wheel here, but I will admit that I like mine the best. First off they are not overly sweet, which I find is a real problem for these bars. Yes, they are meant for energy, but pure honey, agave or syrups are just too much for me. I feel like that starts leading these treats into the direction of candies and I’m not really keen on that.

I use dates as my base. It’s a great option- high in fiber, iron and not overly sweet. Personally I am not a date fan on their own, but when combined with the other ingredients, you can’t tell they’re in there.

So this is one of those recipes that you have some latitude. I will provide you with my recipe, but feel free to tweak to your hearts content.

Here are my combinations:

Date/Oats/Peanut Butter and Dried Cherries
Date/Oats/Pistachio/Cinnamon
Date/Oat/Cocoa Nib/Coconut

I store mine in the fridge in small grab and go bags. They’re great post work out, or just to keep in your bag when you’ve got one of those long days ahead of you.

One note: Though they are healthy and full of nutritious ingredients, they ARE calorie dense- so in the words on Bonquiqui “Don’t go CRAY-ZAY”

The Method is the same for all- place all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz to even consistency. If your mixture is a little dry, add a teaspoon of water one at a time until you get a sticky clay feel. You want to avoid mushiness, but too dry and they crumble. Err to the moister side of things.

Date Oat Peanut Butter and Dried Cherries:

2 C pitted dates
3T fresh ground peanut butter
1c instant oats
1 fist-full of dried cherries
Pinch of salt

Date Oat Pistachio Cinnamon

2c pitted dates
1c instant oats
1c shelled unsalted pistachios
1t ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Date Oat Coca Nib Coconut

2c pitted dates
1c instant oats
.5c cocoa nibs
1c shredded unsweetened coconut

After you’ve made your doughs you can either pat them into a square pan then cut into bars, or pinch and roll into balls. I obviously rolled the CocoNib balls in more coconut- but you can also roll them in finely chopped nuts, or nothing at all.

They store for a real long time in the fridge- if you can get them to last that long.