A Pumpkin Cheese Ball!

As I mentioned a few days ago, I have gotten into the fall/halloween spirit and as such went with the theme when preparing snacks for church last week!  Here is a pumpkin cheese ball!  No, there is no actual pumpkin in the cheese ball, it just looks one!  When looking for a pumpkin cheese ball, I found many recipes that used crushed nacho chips on the outside.  While I am sure that could be quite good, when I found this one I knew it was a keeper.  The recipe is based on a Cook's Country cheddar cheese ball.  All that is added is a bit of paprika around the outside to make it a bit more orange in color! 

Pumpkin Cheddar Cheese Ball
adapted from Cooks Country

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 TB mayonnaise
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
paprika
1/4-1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
greens to set the cheese ball upon
crackers, chips,veggies for serving
stem of a bell pepper

Instructions:
Mix the cheddar, cream cheese, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and cayenne in a food processor until smooth.

Transfer the mixture to the center of a large piece of plastic wrap and shape into a mound with a spatula.  Bring up the four corners of the plastic wrap  and twist tightly to form a round ball shape. Set the plastic-wrapped ball in a small bowl if you have one, to help maintain the round shape on the bottom, and place in he refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 2 days. 

Remove the cheese ball from the refrigerator and reshape as needed while still wrapped in plastic.  Unwrap, leaving the ball on the plastic wrap.  Gently sprinkle paprika all over the outside of the cheese ball an then roll in the toasted almonds.  Press the bell pepper stem into the top of the cheese ball, making a pumpkin stem.  Set on some greens in the center of a platter.  Let it sit out a bit before servings so it is not too firm.  Serve with crackers, chips, carrot sticks, red pepper slices, etc.
Printable Recipe

Obviously, you do not need to make this cheese ball look like a pumpkin.  It is a delicious cheese ball for whatever event you might plan/attend that needs a great appetizer.  Why purchase a cheese ball from the store when this one is so easy and so delicious? 

From Ballerina to Cinderella - A Costume Transformation!

The clever girl was in a dance recital this summer, and had THREE, yes THREE different costumes.  I decided then and there that one of those costumes would have to be re-purposed for Halloween in some way!  So, when the clever girl said she wanted to be Cinderella for Halloween, I thought, "PERFECT"!  I knew that her blue ballerina costume would be just right.

So I lugged that tutu to the fabric store to pick out some matching fabric, and found a satin and some sort of shimmery organza-ish fabric for an overlay.  I also picked up some white satin with some silver sparkles for those weird hip things Cinderella has on her dresses.  What are those things, anyway?  What woman in their right mind wants some sort of accent to their hips??

I was so intent on getting this costume created that I neglected to take any photos along the way.  However, hopefully I can explain what I did in case anyone else out there wants to create a Cinderella costume someday! 

For the skirt, I knew I would put it on elastic and it would be worn OVER the tutu part of the ballerina costume.  The tutu would give it the ball-gown body.  And the skirt had to be very twirly, of course.  The clever girl is 25 inches from waist to foot.  I needed enough length to hem the bottom and to encase a 1 inch elastic for her waist.  I used about 1 1/2 yards of the blue fabrics for the skirt, and cut those fabrics into two pieces of 3/4 yard each.  Thus, there were two pieces of the blue satin that were 3/4 yard and two pieces of the blue sparkly fabric that were 3/4 yard.  I sewed the selvages together to make a gigantic tube of each, separately. 

For the bizarre hip things, I used 1 yard of the white fabric, and cut it in half to make two pieces, 1/2 yard each.  I rounded the corners of those rectangles so they looked like two big half moons.  I did an overlock (serge type stitch) over the curved edge, turned it under, and sewed it flat.  Hem done!

Then I stacked up my blue skirt fabrics:  blue satin on the bottom and blue sparkly on top.  I pinned the white pieces on top of the skirt, so that the middle of each moon met the seam of the blue pieces.  This way, the seams would be on the sides, not on the front and back.  Get it?  And I did an overlock stitch all the way around, catching all those crazy wisps of these fabrics.  I folded this edge down 1 1/4 inches and sewed near the edge, leaving an opening for the elastic.  String in the elastic, close the opening, done!  The blue skirts got a simple "sort-of" 1/4 inch rolled hem.  I say "sort-of" because I didn't measure one darned thing, I just folded the fabric over twice as I sewed it all the way around.  It is probably terribly uneven, but hey, it is a Halloween costume!  Skirt, done.

Now for the accessories:  In my online perusal of Cinderella costumes, I saw that Ashley of Make It & Love It made gloves, a choker, and a headband for her little Cinderella.  I would have probably forgotten these very crucial elements if not for her!  I didn't actually look at her blog when I made the accessories, but we pretty much did them the same way.

For the gloves, I measured the clever girl's arms in three places:  length from bottom of middle finger to upper arm, circumference of upper arm, circumference of wrist.  Then I just made a pattern that took those measurements into consideration - I knew I would cut the fabric on the fold and one end should have a point to attach to her middle finger.  Thus the length of the pattern was the same as the length of her arm from finger to upper arm, and the widths were about an inch (total) bigger than her wrist/upper arm measurements.  It looked something like this: 

I cut two each from both blue fabrics, placing the longest side (with the finger point) on the fold.  I overlocked the point end and the upper arm end, sewing a blue satin fabric to the blue sparkly fabric.  Then I folded the glove right sides together and overlocked the edges together.  I sewed a small loop of elastic at the point to go around the clever girl's finger.  Done.

The choker is a rectangle of both blue fabrics made into a tube that is a couple inches longer than the clever girl's neck circumference.  I sewed velcro to the ends to put it on/take it off.

Finally, the headband is another tube, though this one is angled down at the ends a little bit. 

Something like that.  I attached a piece of elastic to each end to keep it snug on the clever girl's head. 

And, her costume was done.

And, she LOVED it!

She spent lots of time looking in the mirror!  

 And then she turned right into a princess!

 But pretty much, she couldn't stop TWIRLING!

 and DANCING!

 and SPINNING!

 She loves her Halloween costume!

Oh, and in case your are wondering, of course the clever baby had to get in on the action as well.  You can't have a Cinderella without a Prince Charming, can you?  And who (in my world anyway) is more charming than the clever baby? 

 Yes, indeed, I did do that to my little guy. 

But seriously, is he handsome, or what?

His easy, peasy costume consists of some red knit pants and a grey/silver jacket that I found at a consignment shop.  I bought some gold braid, some gold fringe, and some gold rope and went to town.  I sewed the gold braid down each side of his pants.  Then I made little epaulettes with dark red felt and glued the fringe around three sides underneath and the gold braid around the four sides on top.  I sewed these to the shoulders of his little jacket, looping a piece of gold rope from one shoulder to the other, and another loop around his arm.  You can't see that too well on the photos, but it is under the arm closest to Cinderella. 

And here you go, Cinderella and Prince Charming.

So cute, I could eat them up!

Happy Halloween!

TWD: Baking with Julia - Raspberry-Fig Crostata

This month has 5 Tuesdays, so we have an extra week for our Tuesday's with Dorie posts!  It is sort of a catch-up week for those of us who might have missed a recipe, or maybe a re-do week if there was something we wanted to try again.  For me, it is a catch-up week.  Back in August, we had a week where we could do a choose-your-own-adventure recipe, in that there were two recipes suggested and we could pick which one we might want to make.  Personally, this was stressful as I don't want to miss any recipe and I knew that I wouldn't be able to make both recipes that week!  Ack!  So I actually made this Raspberry-Fig Crostata a week later and set the photos aside to post at a later date.  And that date has finally come!

By the way, as a side note, do you recall the choose-your-own-adventure books from when you were a kid?  I LOVED those things.  I would read them again and again, trying to figure out every permutation of choices to get to the different endings.  I will have to find some of those books for the clever girl... Don't you wish life could be more like a choose-your-own-adventure book sometimes?  In that if you start down one path and you don't like the consequences, you could say "re-do", jump back a few pages/days/months and make a different choice?  Sometimes we actually can to that, but many times, once a choice is made we just have to deal with the developments that come.  Sort of like that movie "Sliding Doors" with Gwyneth Paltrow from the late 1990s.  Have you seen it?  I loved that movie.  Still do, when it comes down to it! 

Anyway, on to the recipe!  This crostata, aka TART or PIE has a sesame-almond dough for the crust.  It is sort of like a shortbread cookie in texture, thus is a bit more crunchy than I am used to for a crust.  It was also quite sticky and kind of a pain, however at the same time it was very forgiving, for when it broke (which it did often) I could just press it back together and keep on moving!  I did not make a true lattice top for my crostata, as that was just too much work with such a tricky dough.  I just criss-crossed the strips and decided it looked wonderful as it was!

The filling is what really speaks for this crostata.  It is made of fresh figs, fresh raspberries, sugar, lemon zest, flour and butter.  Can you go wrong with that?  I think not.  It was delicious! I served the crostata with a dallop of almond whipped cream.  YUM. 

So here is to those days where you really can choose-your-own-adventure and have re-dos if you want, and to those other days when you have to go with the flow and follow where your choices might lead.  I hope the choices you make this week end with some successful baking and a tasty dessert!  You deserve it!


The recipe for the Raspberry-Fig Crostata can be found here, and the Sesame-Almond Dough can be found here. 

Mummy Dip

I love getting into a theme for food, and what better one than Halloween?  I provided the snacks at our church this past Saturday so I decided to get a little into the spirit, without getting too scary or potentially offensive.  I made a Mummy bread bowl filled with yummy green dip.  Easy peasy, you can do this!

Shaped pizza dough

I found the idea at the Kraft website, though I didn't actually use the dip they suggested.  It was a spinach dip and sounded fine, but this yummy green dip was recently sampled at my grocery store and it hit my two criteria for dips:  (1) easy and (2) the kind you can't stop eating!    Sold!  Now since my green dip recipe is from my grocery store, it calls for their particular products.  If you do not live in Texas and thus cannot get to an HEB, the "Relish that Corn" is a relish made of corn, pepper, vinegar and spices, and "That Green Sauce" is a creamy salsa containing jalapenos, poblano peppers, green tomatoes and sour cream.  If you can come up with some similar products in your area, you are good to go!


Mummy Dip
adapted from Kraft and HEB grocery stores

Ingredients:
1 package frozen pizza dough, thawed (mine was 14 oz.)
1 egg, beaten
2 sticks mozzarella string cheese
1 12 ounce container whipped cream cheese
1 jar "Relish that Corn", juices drained
1 jar "That Green Sauce"
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:
Pat the dough into an oval of approximately 6-in by 12-in.  Indent the dough about 3 inches down from one end to form the mummy's head.  Let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes or until doubled in volume.

Heat oven to 375F.  Brush dough with the beaten egg and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.  Pull apart the string cheese to make thin strips and arrange the strips on the mummy's head an body for the wrappings.  Put back into the oven for 1-2 minutes, just until the cheese is melted.  Allow to cool.

Make the dip:  Combine the cream cheese, corn relish, green sauce and cheddar cheese in a medium bowl.

Use a sharp knife to remove an oval from the top of the mummy's body/stomach.  Scoop out the bread from the center, leaving a thin shell of crust on the bottom and sides.  Reserve the bread top but discard the bread crumbs.  Fill the bread with dip just before serving and cover with the top of the bread/belly.  Serve with crackers/chips/veggies.

Note:  For mummy's eyes, I cut small circles out of a red bell pepper, and then also cut small circles out of the mummy's face and set the pepper into the eye sockets.  You could also use an olive slice, in which case you could simply press the olive to the mummy's face while the bread is still warm from the oven, no need to cut out holes.  Or use whatever you desire to make an eye!
Printable Recipe

You could put any sort of dip inside your mummy.  If you wanted to get a bit more creepy, you could use some sort of red pepper hummus or some other red colored dip so that the guts are more "festive" looking.  Just an idea...

If you do live in Texas, I suggest trying this dip.  Super easy and I can't stop eating it!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday, Dorie!

Yesterday was Dorie Greenspan's birthday.  Happy Birthday to one of my most favorite cookbook authors of all time!  Seriously, if you do not have one of her cookbooks, I highly recommend buying one.  I personally LOVE Baking from My Home to Yours.  Every recipe in there is great.  I did not know about the Tuesdays with Dorie group when they baked through this cookbook, which I MAJORLY regret.  Once we finish Baking with Julia, I may have to just bake through Baking from My Home to Yours on my own, unless there are others out there who want to join me??  If you are someone thinking of trying a bit more baking, this is the cookbook I recommend.  Dorie is awesome.  AND, she had a birthday yesterday.  Yes, it was yesterday and not today.  I know I am a day late.  However that seems to be how I roll lately with birthdays...  I have an IDEA on time, but the execution and completion may not happen in the most timely manner.  That way you can celebrate your birthday even longer, right? 

Above pictured are Dorie's World Peace Cookies.  This is essentially a chocolate shortbread cookie, with more chocolate inside plus some sea salt to give you a nice salty kick.  Yum.  The clever girl called them "brownie cookies" and she is on to something there.  They have the flavors of a good chocolate brownie plus that awesome salt kick, but have the shape and texture of a shortbread cookie.  Best of both worlds, I would say.  According to Dorie, the cookie got it's name from a friend who said that eating these cookies daily would ensure world peace and happiness.

World Peace Cookies
adapted from Dorie Greenspan
makes about 36 cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 TB unsalted butter (11 TB total), at room temperature
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped, OR a generous 3/4 cup mini-chocolate chips

Instructions:
Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda together and set aside.

Beat the butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until soft and creamy.  Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 additional minutes.  Turn off the mixer and add the flour mixture all at once.  Drape a tea-towel over the mixer so you don't cover your entire kitchen with powder, and pulse the mixer on low speed 5-6 times.  Check the bowl - you want the flour to be starting to get mixed in - no longer on the surface of batter.  If your batter is at this point, remove the towel and continue to mix on low speed for about 30 more seconds, just so the flour has disappeared.  Do not overmix the dough - if it looks crumbly that is okay.  Add the chocolate pieces and gently mix only to incorporate the pieces.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap on your counter and turn the batter out onto the plastic.  Gently gather it together and divide in half.  Put one half back in the bowl for a moment.  Gently shape the other half into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Wrap with the plastic wrap and repeat with the second half of the dough.  Refrigerate the logs for at least 3 hours.  The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.  If the dough is frozen, do not defrost before baking, just slice into cookies and bake for one additional minute.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment.  Using a sharp, thin knife, slice the logs into rounds 1/2 inch thick.  If the rounds crack while you slice them, just squeeze the bits back together.  Arrange the rounds on a prepared cookie sheet, leaving 1 inch between them.

Bake one sheet at a time for 12 minutes.  The cookies will not look done and they will not be firm, but this is perfect.  Stick the entire cookie sheet on a cooling rack and allow the cookies to rest until they are just warm, then serve them or let them come to room temperature.
Printable Recipe

If there is even a chance that these cookies could bring world peace and happiness, someone in the DC area needs to bake up some batches and get them to Congress.  Maybe these will help them figure out how to make good (dare I say better?) decisions. 

Again, happy birthday to Dorie.  What an amazing, brilliant cook. 

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

Ahhh, fall-ish weather has been gracing us here in Houston, which always inspires me to make all sorts of fall-ish recipes.  Being that I love all things pumpkin, I thought pumpkin pancakes were in order!  By the way, did you know you can now get organic canned pumpkin at Costco?  Bring it on!

Anyway, I did some googling and found a delicious recipe at My Baking Addiction.  Perfect! Now, she calls for lowfat buttermilk, which is WAY easier to find than high-test buttermilk.  However in my pancake experience, the high test stuff is superior and gives you puffier yummier pancakes.  So I used the high-test stuff here, and subbed skim milk for the whole milk that she suggested.  Surely that evens things out, right? 

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes
adapted from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lowfat buttermilk (I used high test!)
1/2 cup whole mlk (I used skim)
1 1/3 cups pumpkin puree
1 lare egg
2 TB vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
 2 teaspoons baking powder
 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped toasted pecans

Instructions:
Whisk the buttermilk, milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vanilla together in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking sod, pumpkin pie spice and salt.  Stir dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just combined.  Fold in the toasted pecans. 

Heat a griddle over medium heat.  Lightly butter the griddle and then wipe with a paper towel to remove any excess.  Pour or scoop the pancake batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/3 cup for each pancake.  When the surface of the pancakes have some bubbles, carefully flip the pancakes and resume cooking on the other side until lightly browned.  Transfer cooked pancakes to a cooling rack place on a baking sheet in the oven to stay warm.  Continue with the remaining batter.   Top with additional pecans (if desired) and some good maple syrup.
Printable Recipe

What a perfect start to a fall morning!

Sausage-Kale Strata

We recently had a garage sale.  Lord, help us.  Garage sales are really something else.  I had thought (back when I must have been totally crazy) that we would have a garage sale before we moved into our new house.  However the timing of that was plain ridiculous, since I had a newborn baby at that time.  I certainly wasn't going to be having a sale with a newborn while we are trying to get ready to move.  That was crazy talk.  So we actually made a large donation of stuff before we moved, knowing we would have even more stuff afterwards.

It so happens that our new next door neighbor was building the same time we were, and moved in around the same time as well.  They mentioned that they were going to have a garage sale and wondered if we had anything we'd like them to put in the sale, so I decided to bite the bullet and go for it.  And it worked out well.  I had two boxes marked "garage sale" that we ended up moving to the new house, and had done lots of purging when we moved in, so we had plenty to sell.  And it was a success, though I must admit I don't plan to ever have another one.  They are a lot of work!  This is a long long way to introduce Sausage-Kale Strata, I admit.  I knew that on the morning of the garage sale I would not have the time (or energy) to make my typical Saturday morning breakfast.  I like a good breakfast on Saturday mornings - no cold cereal for me!  Thus a breakfast strata is the thing!  And then I found this amazing strata from the Pioneer Woman and thought I really needed to try it. 

Lordy.  I may never make another strata.  This is one DELICIOUS strata.  In fact, my neighbor (with whom we shared in the garage sale madness) said "this should be illegal".  And she might be right.  It is THAT good.  If you don't care for one of the ingredients, you could just use something else, however you really do just have to try this thing.  I halved the recipe from the Pioneer Woman site, and afterwards wished I hadn't.  I mean, it is probably good - I didn't really NEED seconds, but with something that delicious, you just want some seconds anyway!  And I have no idea how this thing would re-heat - though it would be worth trying.  Throwing leftovers away would be a sin. 

Here is the recipe.  Save it somewhere RIGHT NOW, put the ingredients on your grocery list, and plan on making this baby.  You will thank me.  I promise.

Sausage-Kale Strata
adapted from the Pioneer Woman
serves 12 - can easily be halved

Ingredients:
12 whole eggs
2-1/2 cups half and half (I used milk)
salt and pepper, to taste
4 TB fresh oregano, minced (or parsley, basil, etc.)
1 loaf crusty French or Italian bread, cut into cubes
2 pounds breakfast sausage
1 bunch (large) regular kale, torn into pieces
olive oil, for frying
16 ounces (weight) white mushrooms, halved
2-1/2 cups grated Monterey jack cheese


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425F.

Mix together the eggs, half and half (or milk), salt and pepper, and minced oregano.  Set aside.

Place mushrooms in a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until they are golden brown.  Set these aside.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat  Throw in the kale and cook for 2 minutes, until slightly wilted.  Remove from the heat and set aside. Put the the sausage in the frying pan and cut it into crumbles with a wooden spoon as it cooks.  When browned, remove the sausage from the skillet and place in a bowl or plate lined with some paper towels to get rid of any excess oil. 

Layer half of each of the bread, sausage, kale, mushrooms and cheese in a large buttered lasagna pan.  For half of the recipe, I used and 8x8-inch square glass dish.  Repeat the layers, ending with the cheese.  Slowly pour the egg mixture over the top.  Press the mixture down with your hands, and cover with plastic wrap.  Set the pan in the refrigerator overnight.  It helps if you have something to press down over the plastic wrap in the refrigerator, so all of the bread is evenly soaked.  I used a second 8x8-inch dish and placed some water bottles inside for weight.  

In the morning, preheat the oven to 350F.  Take the strata out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.  Remove the plastic wrap and cover the strata with aluminum foil.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, remove the foil and continue to bake until the top is golden and slightly crisp.

Serve, and get ready to reap the praises of your friends and family!

Printable Recipe

You tell me.  Should this strata be illegal?  Should you have a license to make such amazing yumminess?  Maybe so!