We had a great relaxing weekend. Saturday was pretty uneventful, the girls played outside most of the day, and then went on a walk with daddy to a pond that had ducks and they found wood that had been chewed on by beavers! Anika loved it:D
Today we went to our first Hanukkah party of the season, the girls did crafts and had their faces painted, and we ate lots of latkes...and yes they were super yummy!
I don't have pictures of anything, we were lazy!
Since I don't have photos, and I just happen to baking while blogging(is that dangerous?). I will put up a couple recipes I have been promising some of you.
Heidi's Perfect Pumpkin Pie(I didn't give it this title my grandma did and I didn't make the recipe but it just so happens that lady that did is also named Heidi) you can find more of her recipes at 101cookbooks.com ***You can also easily make this pumpkin pie egg free by replacing the eggs with egg substitute or adding some soy milk mixed with tapoica flour(about 4 TBS soy milk and a TBS of tapoica flour) another option would be using about 5TBS of silken tofu. Depending of the method used to make it egg free you may need to let it sit longer to get the texture set.
1 pie crust (of your choice)
2 cups hazelnuts (divided) , toasted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice blend*
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1 1/2 cups of roasted pumpkin puree*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 extra large eggs PLUS one for glaze, lightly beaten
1 cup coconut milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the middle.
Puree 1 1/2 cups of the toasted hazelnuts in a food processor until they turn into a hazelnut paste, past the 'crumble' stage. Set aside. Chop the remaining 1/2 cup of hazelnuts and set aside seperately, these will be sprinkled on top after the pie is baked.
To make the pumpkin pie filling, whisk together the brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice blend, salt, and arrowroot. Stir in the pumpkin puree, and vanilla. Now stir in the eggs and coconut milk until just combined. Set aside.
Before filling the pie crust, crumble the hazelnut paste on top of the pie dough into the pie plate, quickly and gently press it into a thin layer across the bottom creating a layer of hazlenuts that will sit between the dough and the filling. Using the last egg gently brush the decorative edges of the pie dough. Use a fork to prick the pie dough a few times to prevent air bubbles. Fill the pie crust with the filling and bake for about 50 minutes - the center of the pie should just barely jiggle when you move the pie - the edges should be set.
Let the pie cool a bit, this makes slicing less messy. Serve straight or with a dollop of bourbon-spiked, sweetenend whipped cream or creme fraiche, and a sprinkling of chopped hazelnuts.
Makes one 9 or 10-inch pie.
*Pumpkin Spice Blend
1 tablespoon freshly ground cassia cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground allspice
scant 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger (pre ground)
Use a coffee grinder to separately grind each of the following: cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Smash the cinnamon a bit before grinding it. The spices should be powder-fine, and sifted into a bowl together. Stir in the ground ginger, and use in any recipe calling for a pumpkin pie spice blend.
*Roasted Pumpkin Puree
1 3 lb. sugar pie pumpkin
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully cut the pumpkin into four big wedges - get rid of the stem. Scoop out the seeds and pulp (you can toast the seeds if you like), drizzle then rub the pumpkin wedges with olive oil, sprinkle generously with salt, and then bake on a baking sheet (middle rack) until tender throughout - about an hour. Scoop flesh out of the skins and puree with a hand blender or mash well by hand.
Semi Healthier Banana MuffinsOkay so this two recipes I put together to come up with the flavor I wanted in a banana muffin. These have a lot of banana flavor and I say semi healthier because they do have quite a bit of sugar in them. But they have no oil or butter, and have flax seed in them. And I promise they are still yummy!
3 ripened bananas mashed
3 TBS soy milk, rice milk, or milk
1 TBS whole ground flax seed meal
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup white sugar
Preheat oven to 350 and spray or grease muffin tin or line with paper.
Whisk the soy milk with the flax seed. Add the mashed bananas. In a separate bowl mix/sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar. Then add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and stir with large spoon until blended.
Put the mixture into prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
*These also work great in mini muffin pans just reduce time by half. And that is how I am making them right now the girls love taking them for snacks to school!
Chocolate Chip Cookie, Dough!!Why dough in the title... because you can eat the dough and eat it with kiddos without worrying about salmonella! This is about 3 recipes combined to make my favorite style of chocolate chip cookies, ones that have oatmeal and that I can eat the dough! And if you are needing Vegan Cookies these are the best:D The dough also stores well. I usually bake about half of them and then refrigerate the other half to bake later. But I must give a warning if you put these in the fridge with plans to bake later they may never make it to the oven!
**If you are making these cookies Vegan make sure you use all vegan ingredients.
3/4 cup shortening (you can use non hydrated shortening but make sure the dough stays chilled or the cookies flatten out a little too much)
1/4 cup margarine
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 TBS flax seed
6 TBS soymilk
1 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups rolled oats
1-2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl cream shortening, margarine, brown sugar and white sugar. In a small bowl whisk the soymilk and flax seed well. Add the flax seed mixture to the sugar mixture and mix well(I use a hand mixer).
In another bowl mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and then stir into the creamed mixture.
Stir in the oatmeal and chocolate chips until mixed well.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.
Okay those of you who had asked for recipes let me know if I forgot something:D
This baby turns 3 tomorrow! I can't believe it... time goes by way to fast. Happy Birthday Neela!
