Baked pumpkin “fondue” is as easy as pie.

+

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+ some other ingredients

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then it’s time for

and… ta-da

So, where have I been lately?

I have been filling forms with personal information at different locations at different times. You know how it goes…

One of the questions is “Occupation” and I’ve been trying different answers like Homemaker, CEO of Remodeling, and , more recently, I’ve been using “Keeps Changing”. So, this is what I’ve been up to lately.

Yes, also, during summer–we only had 1 month of summer this year, yikes!–I’ve been focused more on home, and family, and outdoor activities. I was on the go, go , go not to waste a moment of sunshine indoors. It was quite breathtaking.

Anywhoo……….. we got to fall-soon-to-be-winter time which is, you know, the perfect time to snuggle indoors and to make baked pumpkin stuffed with somethin’.

I love Melissa Clark’s (NY Times food writer) recipe in her cookbook “In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite “ because it’s vegetarian and it has wine and cream (Although I used less bread and only 1/2 the liquid “filling”, baked at lower temperature and…). I liked Tea & Cookies idea to add something green and so i have added kale since I figured the kids are not going to eat this stuffed, sweet, savory, creamy pumpkin anyway–leafy greens included or not–and this is what I have done:

Baked Pumpkin “Fondue”
Serves 4 to 6

2 thick slices of crusty, stale bread (any that you like with sauce-soaking abilities)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine (anything you like to drink ‘cause the flavor will come through)
1/8 cup milk
1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed
3 fresh sage leaves, if you have it, or thyme (if you have it)
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus additional for the outside
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (3-4 pound) sugar pumpkin, washed and cleaned from the outside
a few kale leaves, washed, dried and sliced (without the “ribs”)
5 ounces grated Gruyère cheese (1¼ cups)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°F and toast the bread until golden brown 5 to 7 (or do this in a toaster) then tear the bread to pieces.

In a medium saucepan. bring the cream, wine, milk, garlic, and sage to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Take the mixture off the heat and discard
the garlic and sage. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt, nutmeg, and pepper.
Cut the top off the pumpkin and scoop out the pulp and seeds like you do for Halloween. Set the pumpkin inside a baking dish/sheet/pan.

In a bowl, mix the bread, kale, and gruyere. Fill the pumpkin with this bread mix. Pour the cream mixture on top. Cover with the pumpkin lid.

With your hands, rub oil all over the outside of the pumpkin (don’t forget the bottom) and sprinkle on some salt.
Bake until the pumpkin’s skin blisters and the flesh is tender (test with a small pairing knife) about 1 hour to 1 ¼ hours. Allow to cool in the pan slightly. Slice to serve.

***

I have said so many times before, I’m a cake person, not a cookie lday, and certainly not a pie woman. Or, at least I thought so… I’m sure there is a deep meaning to all of this. I never really put much thought into this matter but it feels like there’s a profound philosophical significance behind it. I’m quite sure of it. Someday, when I have the time, I will definitely sit down and analyze this to pieces. But no matter why or what, I can tell you this for sure – every home needs a cookie jar! I’m positive about that. Do you have a cookie jar at home? If you don’t have a cookie jar, you must get one. Get to it ASAP (as soon as possible). It’s truly extremely important. And there must be a cookie in there too, of course. At least one. But more than one is even better, right?

To get you started, here’s a basic sugar cookie dough recipe I found in Real Simple magazine that you can easily turn into 10 different kinds of cookies in a blink of an eye.

The variation I made is the cherry-almond jumbles which I changed according to what was in my pantry. It’s a no fuss recipe and if using a cookie scoop your job will be even easier. You know what? I’ll give one cookie scoop away. Yes! Let’s start the new year with gift giving. What do you think about that? Because… I really really want you to bake cookies.

The giveaway:

I will give a medium size Oxo cookie scoop (such asthe one in the photo above), my favorite, to one lucky reader who will write a comment. What do you have to do?

Leave a comment and tell me about your favorite cake, cookie, or pie and why do you love it so much.

I really want to hear *your* voice, so a minimum of 40 comments (from all readers alltogether, on any post within the time frame) is needed for the giveaway to take place.

Time frame: starting today and ending on Sunday, January 10th, 2010. Shipping is limited to U.S. and Canada.

Good luck!

Dried cranberries and almond jumbles

Adapted from Real Simple magazine

Makes 28 cookies using a 1 1/2 – inch cookie scoop

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher/sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries or cherries
1 cup sliced almond, lightly toasted* and roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat.

With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Add the dried fruit and almonds and mix well.

Make cookies by either dropping a walnut size mounds of dough using a tablespoon/s or a 1.5-inch cookie scoop (as shown in the picture above).

Bake until just beginning to brown, 20-24 minutes.

Notes:
To toast the almonds, place them on a baking sheet in a 350 F oven and toast for about 8 minutes, stirring a few times, until they begin to brown and smell good.
The dough can be refrigerated, wrapped, for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

This is becoming a yearly family tradition. Something fun to do during the holidays, adults or kids, is going to see the Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton Hotel in Seattle where local architects and chefs from the Sheraton team up to design, bake, and build gingerbread houses.

This is the Sheraton Seattle’s 17th annual Gingerbread Village and the theme this year is “A Reel Christmas,” shows scenes from popular Christmas movies.

Who can guess which movies are featured?

The event benefits the Northwest Chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Time: Starting Tuesday, November 24, 2009 through Sunday, January 3, 2010.

Cost: free, with a suggested donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Location: Sheraton Seattle Hotel, 1400 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101

More photos from behind the scene, how they built it, here.

More info in The Seattle Times here.

Recipes for the holidays, here.

To subscribe to the blog, here. Thanks!

So, which movies did you recognize?

Originally, I had nothing to say about it. Too easy to create, too quick to make, there was no opportunity to blurt a word out before it was done. But it’s beauty too astounding to ignore, I had to share. Its expected tart sweet gorgeous tang, I could not wait until Thanksgiving.

Yes, I’m talking about cranberry sauce/relish/chutney/?/whatever you call, it seems to be a side effect of Thanksgiving(?) A third player (?) to the turkey and line of multiple traditional side dishes?

Well well well, life can be unfair sometime if you’re a teeny tiny cranberry. So here I come to the rescue, bringing it closer to the center of attention.

Now, doesn’t this look better?!

You can:

Eat it for breakfast (with yogurt)

Add it to a sandwich (forget about the butter, the mayo)

Lick it as is from a spoon

Add it to ice cream

Or cake…

But by all means, don’t wait for Thanksgiving!

And above all, don’t forget about it afterwards!

Isn’t it dreamy?!

Making this relish is really an act of gathering and simmering. Simple goodness.

Now, go on, get to it. Hurry hurry. Don’t wait.

* * *

In case you missed them, check out the recipes for Pumpkin banana cream pie and Pumpkin banana creamy dreamy dessert!

More recipes for the holiday/s from one year ago: Apple, Cinnamon and Walnuts Cake, Thanksgiving-y Chicken Dinner, Holiday Food – Appetizers, Cranberry Cake, Warm Winter Herbal Tea

* * *

Cranberry-apple relish

Based on a recipe from “Wolfgang Puck Makes it Easy”
Makes about 2 cups

2 cups fresh cranberries, picked through, washed and drained
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped small
2/3 cup sugar (use as much as you like, more/less)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons (from 1  whole) lemon juice

Put all the ingredients in a (non-aluminum*) small saucepan. Mix and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, or until the mixture thickens, stirring from time to time. The relish will thicken a bit more when it cools.

Transfer to a non-metal container, cover, and refrigerate.

Note #1, aluminium interacts with acidic food and makes it taste yucky.

Note #2, you can add the traditional spices if you like.

Dinner tonight was inspired by a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks “Nightly Specials” by Michael Lomonaco. I cook from this book very often for the reason that it has many wonderful recipes like: Philly cheese steak; Roasted corn chowder with shrimp and tarragon; Beef and porter stew; Moroccan lamb stew; Alpine baked pasta; Coconut-scented basmati rice; Paella with chicken and sausage; Toasted barley and butternut squash; Pan-roasted halibut with asparagus, fava beans, and thyme broth; Floribbean-style tilefish pan-fried with limes, chiles, tomatoes, and avocado; Steamed bass with lemongrass and chile-coconut broth; Bitter greens and honey almonds… The list goes on and on, you got the picture.

There is a recipe in the book for “Braised chicken with butternut squash, walnuts and sage” that I wanted to make. But I made so many changes in it that I think I can call it my own by now. I decreased the amount of spices to give the chicken a milder flavor than the usual Thanksgiving-y robust cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg combination so typical to recipes for the holiday season. And of course, like always, I made a few shortcuts, and added more vegetables. The result was terrific.

Thanksgiving-y chicken
Makes 4-6 servings

1 onion, medium diced
4 carrots, peeled and cut to large pieces
½ butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced large
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced large
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Salt and ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 whole chicken legs, divided to thighs and drumsticks
2 tablespoon butter, cut to small pieces
Sage for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a big pan, toss the vegetables with salt, pepper, the spices, and olive oil.
Generously sprinkle chicken on both sides with salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Add to the pan with veggies and mix so chicken gets some of the spices on it. Arrange nicely in the pan, chicken skin side up. Spread butter on top.

Have a wonderful dinner.
Nurit