Spiced Orange Popovers
Ready for my David Letterman impression? I'll do it if you stop staring at my gap teeth!
TOP 10 REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE THESE SPICED ORANGE POPOVERS:
- They taste like donuts, yet they're not fried!
- They're ridiculously easy.
- Your house will smell like a high-end Christmas candle.
- It's the holidays & you're looking for something festive for breakfast.
- Clove, cinnamon & orange are your best friends this time of year.
- You need an excuse to dust off your popover pan.
- They're light and fluffy. Means no calories, right?
- They're a perfect breakfast, snack or dessert. You could make dinner out of them. (I totally did)
- Your coffee is lonely. It needs company.
- Because I said so!
I should also note that I ate 5 popovers within an hour after I made them....I blame the delicious clove cinnamon orange sugar. Well...that and they were WARM.
It's not like I have to wear a bathing suit anytime soon...
OH WAIT. I do. CRAP!
Cardamom Pear Butter
Sometimes when I'm daydreaming I like to imagine what the Tracy Shutterbean of 5 years ago would think if she saw the Tracy Shutterbean of today. If you told me 5 years ago that people would refer to me as Tracy Shutterbean I'd be like, "Whaaat?" If you told me I'd learn how to can, have a canning party and make Cardamom Pear Butter I would have responded, "Schyeah right!"
What I've learned about canning (and there's so much more I have to learn!) is that not super hard; it just takes practice. Canning is about accepting the good & the bad. Sometimes a jar (or two) will break, lids might not seal, or a lid (or four) will drop on the floor while you're sealing the jars (always sterilize lids more than you need!). You're learning EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. The key is to stay organized!
What I learned while executing this recipe is that to call something a butter, you have to cook the mixture until it's SUPER thick. Even though I cooked this butter for the extra 20 minutes suggested by the recipe, it still hovered in the between pear sauce & pear butter realm. Perhaps I had more than 6 lbs. of pears? Maybe that's it. What I do know is that my "butter" tasted amazing and all of my jars sealed just fine. So far, so good.
The reward for hard work is opening up a jar and spooning spiced pear butter on your morning yogurt with a little bit of granola. I can see why some people have a hard time giving away their canned goods. Don't be surprised to find me on an episode of Hoarders!
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Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
The idea of waking up to a batch of homemade gooey cinnamon rolls baking in the oven is extremely novel isn't it? It's straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting! The reality is that it takes time for dough to rise and cinnamon rolls to bake. Since I'm the chief baker in my house, this fantasy isn't going to happen unless I take the bull by the horns and make my own cream cheese cinnamon rolls. Amidst a busy weekend I carved out a nice chunk of time for this doughy adventure. I let the dough rise, spread cream cheese on it, folded the dough and slathered it with filling then rolled it up and made legit cinnamon rolls. I then put those rolls in the fridge overnight with plans to bake them the moment the sun came up. Let me tell you; it was a true test of patience.
Early the next morning I could hear a few small little Cooper yawns coming through the baby monitor. It's time! It was as if I was pregnant and my water broke and I was getting to ready to rush to the hospital. In reality I ran into the kitchen, turned on the oven and took the cinnamon rolls out of the fridge to sit on the counter and rise. Within a half hour I had the cinnamon rolls in the oven. I made my coffee and waited for Casey to wake up to the delicious smell of cinnamon rolls baking away. I waited and waited and then it dawned on me. This wasn't his fantasy. It was mine. After I glazed the cinnamon rolls, I brought him a bite in bed and within minutes he was up and eating cinnamon rolls with us in the kitchen. If I can get him out of bed on a weekend morning before 8am with one bite of a cinnamon roll, it's a true testament to how good they are. Now let's ignore the fact that I ate three of them that morning. OK?
Oh! We can cross off something else from my 31 comes before 32 list! #9. Make cinnamon rolls from scratch= DONE!
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Blueberry Zucchini Bread
During the car ride home from my parent's house yesterday, I listed all the recipes I need to post on this here website to Casey and he had no recollection of me making Blueberry Zucchini Bread! When I described it as "that tasty/moist/lemony bread studded with juicy blueberries...you know the one you ate a LOT of?" the memory of eating the bread finally came back. Apparently he was just thrown off by the word zucchini because he had no idea there was zucchini in that bread! Cooper had no clue too. I'm guilty of vegetable hiding.
Blueberries & Zucchini! They're both in season right now, so why not combine the two and make a scrumptious bread? This recipe makes TWO loaves. If you're scared that you'll eat BOTH loaves (which is easy to do and I don't blame you), wrap one up and give it to your neighbor/friend/coworker and earn brownie points. If you're feeling greedy, wrap up the second loaf and stash it in your freezer. Blueberry zucchini bread will be a great start to your week, next week!
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Berry Studded Baked Oatmeal
I already have 3 food related posts in my queue, but somehow I feel this great sense of urgency to share with you what I ate for breakfast this morning! Those posts will have to wait because you have breakfast to make this coming weekend and you'lll WANT to make this, no doubt. Let me start by saying that I almost NEVER make oatmeal and I'm not really sure why! My husband, who is a total oatmeal lover, gets the short end of the stick on this one. He's been away for work for the past few days and I thought it would be nice to welcome him back with something warm, sweet & tasty for breakfast this morning. You know...to make him realize how good he's got it at home! And yes...he already KNOWS this! After he finished the big bowl I served him, he said "This was excellent. I really loved it!" And that, my friends is reason enough to make this. Your favorite oatmeal loving person will be happy and that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you make something JUST right for someone special? That's nothing BUT love!
So, what does it taste like? Think rice pudding meets bread pudding meets berry cobbler meets oatmeal mixed with tart berries and sweet gooey bananas. Also, can we say how EASY it is? Line fruit on the bottom of a baking dish, add oats, then milk, top with more fruits & nuts and bake. I think this is going to be one of those recipes that becomes an improvisational staple at my house. Just thinking of the potential flavor combos has me excited! Ooh! What about crystallized ginger, honey & almonds? What about something savory with bacon, maple syrup & bananas?! I told you I was excited...
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Caramelized Banana Loaf Cake
WANTED: A simple banana dessert that could easily pass as a snack or breakfast item. Must have a juicy caramelized layer because I'm looking to impress the internet. Bonus if you're easy to make and require very few ingredients. I'm a working mom so it's gotta be quick. Must be OK with toddler fingers poking at you and multiple chunks taken out of you by the hands of a greedy baker. You must pair well with a dollop of Greek yogurt. Please don't be too ridiculously sweet. If you're up to the task, I'd love to talk to you. No weirdos please! Well...maybe.
FOUND!!!!!!
And oh boy was it good.
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Cranberry Apple Cake
Inside my head there's a tornado of Holiday TO-DO lists whacking into the side of my skull. Christmas cards, Christmas gifts, Christmas candy, CHRISTMAS ANYTHING. AHH!! MAKE IT STOP. The only thing that calms the storm is the sound of Scoop. Measure. Stir. My measuring spoons hit the bowl, my sink is littered with batter smeared bowls and the cake goes off into the oven. I'm standing in the kitchen licking the remains of batter off my wooden spoon and suddenly I smell the heavy scent of cranberries, apples & cinnamon waft in the air. The tornado disappears and I'm temporarily focused on things that don't stress me out. CAKE! Ahhhhhhh.
I'm in love with this cake! The recipe comes from Ina Garten's new book, Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?-- a new addition to my cookbook library, thanks to my INA OBSESSED mom. She knows I love a good/easy recipe and thank goodness for that because this book is chalk full of them! The top of this cake is a splendid union of tangy cranberries & juicy apples rocking a cinnamon sugar citrus vibe. Think pineapple upside down cake meets Christmas. A very light spongy cake (that has no baking powder or soda!) is what it sits upon...and at the very bottom of that is a crispy cinnamon sugar crust. Three layers of deliciousness are all waiting for you to meet them. Go ahead, introduce yourself! I suggest you top off a slice with a scoop of vanilla bean gelato. I'm sure it will silence your holiday tornadoes. I can vouch that temporarily silenced mine!
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Pumpkin Cream Pie
Traditions. My life has been full of them, thanks to my mom. But somehow this year, our Thanksgiving isn't going to be the same. My grandma has moved back to New York, and my brothers will be away so we're having something very small and quaint at my parent's house this year. Guess who WON'T be staying up late to clean fancy dishes all night long with her mom? ME! Honestly, I couldn't be more thrilled. I've been craving a breakup in tradition for awhile now. Ever since a few family members past, it's weird going through the motions, pretending that things are the same.Things aren't. Life changes! People change! And guess what? So do taste buds!
If you are craving a change in your traditional Thanksgiving meal, add this to the mix! It's a pumpkin CREAM pie with a sprinkling of crunchy chopped candied pecans on top. Ever wonder what it would be like to have a pumpkin pie candy bar? This flavor profile totally nails it. The buttery crunch and ginger spice of the crust is TO. DIE. FOR. It's kinda like crunchy toffee! The pumpkin custard is creamy & spicy and the whipped cream with pecan chunks resting in the fluff? OUTRAGEOUS! It's what dreams are made of.
So wake up your guest's taste buds and offer them something different. I don't think they'll miss a slice of the regular ole' pumpkin pie. And if your Great Aunt Sally scoffs at her dessert plate filled with this pie, make sure you put a lump of coal on her plate at the Christmas table. Why does she have to be such a Scrooge??!!
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