Apple Oatmeal for a "cold" summer morning

In case you don't live around the lovely middle east coast, we had a bit of a heat wave last week. And the week before. My car thermometer broke 100 for the first time in a few years.

So this morning when I woke up and saw this:

I was all, yeeeeaaaaaah, time to make that oatmeal recipe I pinned.

We had the apple all ready for it - the burrito actually picked it out at the orchard market, and it had some nice brown marks from where he repeatedly picked it up and "put it back" in his red basket. Sweet, thanks kid.

This is an Annie recipe, and it's fantastic. I added the parts I changed, either from lack or time or hatred of a certain humiliated fruit.

Steel Cut Oats with Apples
(originally from Annie's Eats)

ingredients: 

3 cups water
1 cup (2% or 1%) milk
1 tbsp. unsalted butter (omitted, as I did not toast the oats beforehand)
1 cup steel-cut oats
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 apple, peeled, cored and grated
1/3 cup raisins (omitted, as I hate them)
¼ cup maple syrup

directions:

Combine the water and milk in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a simmer.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add the oats and toast, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. I didn't toast the oats because I only had a little time before we had to get to story time.

Stir the toasted oats into the simmering liquid.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the mixture is very thick, about 20 minutes.  Stir in the salt, cinnamon, apple, raisins and maple syrup.  Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the oatmeal is creamy, about 10 minutes more.  Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
I diced the apple, because I like it with definitive pieces - they cooked very well, not mushy at all, but not too crunchy - just right!

This recipe turned out perfectly, of course, as it's an Annie recipe; I'm just glad my changes didn't screw it up! The taste of the maple syrup adds that special something. I'm so glad I got the chance to try this one. Definitely adding this to our rotation for cold mornings and fall. 

four teapots!

Pumpkin cookies!

yay for baking again!

now, let's see...for what did I make this glorious recipe...??? I think it may have been just for fun.
oh wait - bake sale!

I bought a Taste of Home fall baking catalog/book/wasteofmoney last month at the store and bookmarked recipes that looked good. I failed to realize that the pumpkin cookies I marked were full of *gasp* raisins. And as you all know, they are just humiliated grapes.

So, I looked for a new one. And I found...these babies! They did the trick. Next time, however, I may look for something that features the pumpkin flavor more prominently. And I totally did not make them as cute as the spirally frosting picture.



but they still get...

Food. Finally.

I made something today! Granted, I've been making things for a little while now, but they're all old and tired. And some are from a box.

But today, I made...something new! From scratch! I found some apples at Weaver's Orchard which I had not tried before, and I was tired of the regular old Granny Smith. However, don't remember what they were called, so all you get is "green not granny smith apples," internets. Sorry.

I'd been craving baked goods lately, and the only apple recipe in my arsenal for which I had all ingredients was this one. There was an apple crisp from Emeril as well, which I may make with the remaining two apples. I got four altogether.

It's in the oven right now, so I'll be back later to update you all with how it tastes!

Apple Walnut Bread

found at MyRecipes.com, by Mary Ostyn

Ingredients
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups apples - peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


Directions
In a bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In large mixing bowl, place oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, applesauce and apples. Stir together. Add flour mixture and stir until combined. Add walnuts and mix again. Divided mixture between two greased 8-in. x 4-in. bread pans. Sprinkle tops of loaves with a little bit of granulated sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack before removing from pan. Serve warm or cooled.

Paula's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

We had a going-away party for two coworkers last week, and I volunteered (as usual) to bring dessert. It is, after all, the most important meal of the day. I'm sure the people who make that food pyramid thingy will come to realize this in time.

I decided to pick a new recipe, one that I hadn't tried before, and my cans of pumpkin were calling my name (and maybe gathering dust), so I chose Paula Deen's pumpkin gooey butter cake. My mom made this last year for T-day, and I only remembered that it was good, so I figured it would be a nice addition to the work spread.

Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Recipe courtesy pauladeen.com

Ingredients & Directions:

Cake:
1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Prepare Filling

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ease of preparation: easy

Oh gosh, was this good. I got somewhat cautious about the center not being done, because each time I jiggled the oven rack, it still looked watery, so I may have overcooked it just a bit. Instead of "gooey," the center was sort of just moist. But oh my word, the sugar. The pumpkin. The cream cheese.

Confession: I used a can of pumpkin pie mix, I think it was the only thing I had left, so I didn't add the spices - it may have been better or worse for this, but I really can't say until I make it again, hehe. Served this with two kinds of whipped cream, the CoolWhipfrozen stuff, and the CoolWhipbrand-in-a-can style, just for comparison. I'm sure you know which turned out better - coolwhipinacan lost miserably to the favorite of pumpkin pie aficionados the world over. Didn't stop me from trying both. And squirting the canned version directly into my mouth (after everyone else was done, of course).

Sorry for the bad picture, I was in a hurry again and didn't get to take a pic with my real camera! This was almost the last piece of the cake, it went fast:



Verdict:

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I told one of my coworkers I made this and she said "you ruined perfectly good zucchini bread by putting chocolate in it?" - my husband said the opposite; "you put zucchini in there? with chocolate?" It didn't matter when I told him the zucchini magically disappeared, he was already biased. That's ok; more for me!

(pictures to come, when I get a free second and ok lighting!)

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
from JoyofBaking.com
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups shredded raw zucchini (about 1/2 pound or 227 grams)
1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (45 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (not Dutch-processed)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup (120 ml) safflower or canola oil
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 cup (105 grams) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (125 grams) semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Grease (or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray) a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Set aside.

Grate the zucchini, using a medium sized grater. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground allspice. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the oil, sugars, eggs, and vanilla extract until well blended (about 2 minutes). Fold in the grated zucchini. Add the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Then fold in the chocolate chips. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan and cool completely.

Makes one - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

This bread turned out fantastically, with a somewhat crispy crust and a moist inside. I didn't have ground allspice, so I took a whole one and attacked it with my microplaner - it smelled soooo good. However, there is a little discord with something in my recipe - it tastes a little, maybe, salty? Almost like there wasn't enough sugar. I did sub 3/4 of the flour with whole-wheat flour, so maybe it's just an adjustment to that.





Verdict: