thanksgiving 2009!

oh my goodness. what a week. i spent all of last week baking for thanksgiving, and then spent about 20 minutes eating it all up. isn't it funny/annoying/sad that so much time goes into planning for thanksgiving dinner, and then you're so excited to eat that you inhale everything and it's over in a flash... at least i can look back on it and think how delicious everything was (oh and ps i totally ate too much this year, had to excuse myself from the table because i thought i was going to puke. that's not normal, right? i have a problem).

anyway, here come the photos.

first, i made an apple crumble pie. you can't have thanksgiving without apple pie. i love making lattice crust tops - people are always so impressed with lattice tops, and they're really not that hard to make. after you've done it once, you'll be able to do it really quickly on all your pies. this pie was good, it gelled really nicely and wasn't runny at all. secret? apple sauce!


next, i had the pecan pie tarts. these are so so so good. and they are so easy to make. the crust is basically just butter and cream cheese, and the pecan filling is nuts, sugar, egg and butter. good, simple ingredients=delicious food. these were the perfect size and a big hit, especially with my brother.


i decided to spice things up by adding a cake to the list of thanksgiving desserts. i found this recipe for a pumpkin sandwich cake on the better homes and gardens website, and i love pumpkin and i love cream cheese frosting, and this recipe combined the two, and then added chocolate (drools). when making the cream cheese frosting, i think it was a little too tart for my taste. but when inside the cake and with the chocolate ganache, the tanginess complimented the rest of the cake (which was all really sweet). cakes are fun to make, but you really have to have the patience.


and of course we can't forget the pumpkin pie. i made a brandy pumpkin pie, and it was some of the best pumpkin pie i've had. there was just enough brandy in the recipe where you couldn't really taste the alcohol, but you knew there was something a little special in there. the custard was so smooth and silky, not too thick like some pumpkin pies. and the crust came out really nice and crispy. this recipe is a keeper!


i also made a vegan pumpkin pie for scott. according to him, it's delicious. i didn't try it - by the time he got to eating it i was done with pie and just looking at sweets made me sick. but he said it was good, so i'm happy about that.


i hope you all had a great and tasty thanksgiving, and didn't eat to the point of nausea (like me). i really enjoyed baking this year, i'll probably tone it down a bit next year, though. four desserts? yeah, a little crazy.

bring on the christmas cookies!

acorn squash

i bought an acorn squash last week at the hollywood farmer's market. that brown sugar/cinnamon/maple syrup flavor was calling my name. and if there's a way to make a vegetable (is squash indeed a vegetable?) into dessert, i'm in. plus the flavors are so fall-y, it's a really good seasonal treat.

ingredients:
1 acorn squash
sugary butter mixture:
- 1 1/2 tbsp melted butter
- 2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- splash of orange juice
- dash of pumpkin pie spice (if you don't have this, you can play with cinnamon, clove, allspice, etc)

1. take your acorn squash and cut in half lengthwise. remove the center of the squash (seeds and goopy stuff. save those seeds! see below...)
2. place your squash halves, cut side down, into a baking dish. roast these at 350 for about 45 minutes (i know that sounds like a long time, but it goes by quickly).
3. after 45 min, take the squash out of oven and flip over. pour your butter mixture in center (you may want to spread it around the cut sides, or poke some holes with your fork in the bottom of the squash well, let the juices get around!)
4. put this back in the oven and bake again for 25-30 min, or until the squash is tender.
5. drizzle your finished squash half with some maple syrup. yum!

before baking with butter mixture
out of the oven!
why yes, i WILL eat you!


i told you to save those seeds - don't forget to roast them!

1. separate your seeds from the squash goop. rinse them off so they're not so sticky (or else they'll all clump together when you cook them). place clean seeds on a baking pan.
2. sprinkle with your preferred seasoning (i used chili powder, garlic powder and seasoned salt)
3. roast in a low temperature oven (300-325 degrees) for at least 25 minutes (longer or shorter depending on how crispy you want them)



these are great on a salad or just grab a handful and shove them in your mouth. they're such a good little snack!

holiday pies

hi! i'm back. i had to take a week off because of the swine flu, and then i wasn't too keen on baking and getting my germs into cupcakes and such. but i am better now, and more than making up for it with pies.

on sunday night scott asked if i would make him an apple pie. i ran out to store and bought some apples and soy milk, then came home stoked to make my first pie of the season. so i get home, make the crust, put it in the fridge to chill, then get out my vegetable peeler to start the apples. on my first apple, on the third stroke, i nicked my ring finger. i don't cut myself when cooking, i'm usually really careful. so of course i saw blood and FREAKED. i ran screaming to the bathroom, luckily scott was there to dress my wound. i almost passed out...

scott was nice enough to finish peeling and slicing the apples, and once my finger stopped throbbing i continued to make the pie. i used the pie crust recipe from veganomicon (love that pie crust, its so easy and always turns out amazing) and then adapted the apple pie recipe from my better homes and gardens special edition new cook book. it was easy to veganize, apple pie is pretty standard..

it came out pretty darn nice, i was pleased.
i couldn't wait for it to cool, we had to eat it within a few hours of coming out of the oven. probably should have let it sit so the liquid could gel up a bit. oh well. it was still delicious.
soy vanilla ice cream for scott

tonight i decided to make a pumpkin pie for my boss who just moved into a new house. pie is her favorite baked good, so what better way to say "welcome to your new home" than with pie! my boss is not vegan, so i just did a plain ol' pumpkin pie. i used my better homes and gardens cookbook again, only because this recipe seemed so easy (pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, sugar, egg, half and half).
yumyum
i'm proud of my crust. i'm a fan of crust.

i know i said i wanted to test drive some of the recipes i chose for thanksgiving dessert, but instead i've been making these. oh well! i guess it will be a surprise on thanksgiving.

holiday baking

the holidays are upon us and that means it's time to head to the kitchen and bake up some pies and cakes and cookies! i've already "scheduled" my thanksgiving baking - yes, i've marked on my calendars the days on which i should be baking...

so far this is what i'm planning on taking to my parent's thanksgiving dinner:

- brandy pumpkin pie
- apple pie with crumble topping
- pumpkin sandwich cake
- pecan pie tarts

is this too much? i don't think so.. it might be a bit ambitious, but i'm determined to make enough dessert to please everyone's palate.

also, i know scott will probably be having some sort of "thanksvegan" dinner, so i'll make a vegan pumpkin pie and apple fry pies for that.

yeah, this does sound like a lot of stuff. i better stock up on sugar and flour..

vegan apple pie

vegan apple pie before putting in the oven:



vegan apple pie after spending some time in the oven:



it was good, a little too juicy though. i used the Veganomicon recipe for the pie crust (which is a great recipe, easy and the dough is so easy to work with), and then i found a non-vegan apple pie recipe online that i made vegan.

pie is fun!

pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin

i felt like i had to fully emerge myself in pumpkin this past weekend - its still 90 degrees outside, that fall smell isn't in the air, and we haven't changed the time yet. therefore, i obsessed with pumpkin in order to make it feel more like fall. i think it sort of worked.

first, i made vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. i'll link the recipe later.




then scott and i carved pumpkins.


then of course we had to toast the seeds (with salt, garlic, onion and cumin) mmm.



and that was my pumpkin weekend!