Pie High

Tags

baking, butternut squash, fall, NaBloPoMo, pie, pumpkin, Thanksgiving

Usually for holidays, I bake a couple of desserts. I’m not sure if it’s more for variety or to avoid the whole eggs/basket situation, but it’s probably a little of both. This year, I just made one because there is always too much dessert (yes, possible), and it sounded like we’d have less people.

Oddly enough, I decided to make a classic pumpkin pie, which is odd because I don’t really care for it that much. I mean, I’ll eat it, but it would never be near my first pick in a pie line-up. So, why? The recently-posted pumpkin pie recipe on Smitten Kitchen. There’s something so reassuring about Deb that she makes you feel like she’s posting something that’s going to be better than all of the other recipes because she’s done the dirty work and already tried them all for you. But if you’re reading this food blog, then you know this because hers is one of the best and that is partly why.

Um, not that I intended to wax poetic about Deb when I haven’t even talked about this pie. But no surprises here: it was fantastic. I have some truly depressing pie experiences behind me, but this came out pretty perfectly, crust(!) and all.

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Wordless Wednesday: Pie Mode

Tags

baking, butternut, fall, NaBloPoMo, pie, pumpkin, Thanksgiving, Wordless Wednesday

I’ll post about the finished pie tomorrow. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Cheers!

Tags

New Year's Eve, Wordless Wednesday

Zazie, or who I had my arms around at midnight.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Tags

cat, Doctor Who, Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to friends near and far! Hope it was a good one, or at least a good Wednesday.

And now it’s time to say goodbye to Matt Smith and (most likely) bawl my eyes out.

O Christmas Treats!

Tags

baking, candy, Christmas, cookies, dessert, gifts, ideas, round-up, treats

Mocha Meringue Stars

The recipe that I was hoping to post a few days ago didn’t quite work out as planned. I thought about trying again or making something else, but there is currently a giant mound of cookies in the kitchen left over from a party. Sounds like a good time for a round-up post, right?

I always enjoy making and giving gifts of the edible variety, so I perused the internet for some ideas in case anyone else just realized that Christmas was NEXT WEEK. The photos are from here and the links are mostly to blogs of friends and fellow Austinites.

A Thanksgiving Anecdote

Tags

eels, fall, NaBloPoMo, pie, Thanksgiving

I was listening to The Splendid Table while driving to San Antonio this morning. They were having their annual Turkey Confidential show for listeners to call in with Thanksgiving or Hanukkah cooking queries.

There was one caller who I’d really like to be friends with, but I can’t remember her name, just that she was from Portland. Lisa? Let’s call her Lisa. Apparently, eels were served at the first Thanksgiving. (What.) Since Lisa was to bring something to a non-traditional friendsgiving, she decided that eel seemed appropriate. If you guessed that she was calling in about how to prepare eel, and you are correct. Get this: she had a bag of eels and they were ALIVE. Gah.

Thanksgiving Dessert Pondering

Tags

dessert, NaBloPoMo, round-up, Thanksgiving

Pumpkin Mochi Bundt // Caramel Apple Cranberry Crostata
Pumpkin Cream Pie // Pumpkin Stout Gingerbread Bundt with Brown Butter Icing

Apparently it’s a week away from Thanksgiving. I haven’t been thinking ahead very much this month because it’s been like, “What the heck am I going to write about today?” around here.

I think my family is having Thanksgiving at my parents’ house in San Antonio, but I’m not even sure about that. Last year it was at my sister’s house, and she and I made most of the food.

One thing is certain: I’m making dessert (and rolls). Right now, I’m kind of leaning towards making this Pumpkin Cream Pie again. The texture and flavor was way more appealing than traditional pumpkin pie, I thought. Bonus: everything can be made ahead of time and assembled before eating.

I like trying new recipes though, so I spent this evening looking up possibilities.

Here are some great-looking desserts from local bloggers and blog friends:

Three cheers for three years…

Goody Goody Gum Drop Ice Cream: Bubblegum flavoured ice cream bursting with gum drop lollies. (New Zealand, April 2013)

If my blog were human, it would probably want this ice cream cone for its birthday today. Most likely, the ice cream would end up all over its face and then dropped on the ground once the sugar rush kicked in because that’s what three-year-olds do, right?

And if this blog were actually a toddler, Child Protective Services would have taken it long ago due to child neglect. I also wouldn’t be referring it to as an it.

It’s not a person, though. I’ve come to realize that it’s okay to not blog all the time, or, let’s be realistic, even some of the time. I haven’t given up and it will be here whenever the itch to overly document my baking adventures strikes.

Now then, since we’re all grownups here, how about a drink?

With Julie at a BlogHer Food 2013 mango party. Taken by Mary Helen at Swift’s Attic, photobombed by Forgiving Martha.

T-Day Success!

Tags

fall, family, NaBloPoMo, pie, Thanksgiving

This year my sister and brother-in-law hosted Thanksgiving at their house and I helped make a few things! My parents, grandma, and three year-old niece were also in attendance, so it was a pretty small gathering.

The Thanksgiving Day (food) parade:

As a recent recipient of the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, Jill (of the sister variety) was stoked about making Deb’s Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes. They were really creamy and also tangy, thanks to the buttermilk! Aren’t you jealous of her bowl?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tags

NaBloPoMo, Thanksgiving

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, my fellow ‘Mericans!

Tomorrow I’ll post about what my family feasted on, but for now it’s time to sleep it off.