Welcome to Fall!

Yes!!!!!  Fall is officially here.  Althought the weather occasionally thinks otherwise, we are definitely headed in the right direction.  

One of my favorite parts of the season is the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks.  In fact, I even became a fan of Starbucks on Facebook just so I could get the early alert that the "PSL" was available again in a Starbucks near me.  I kid you not...I need help people.  And now I have another little problem as well.  A friend recently introduced me to the pumpkin loaf and I am now addicted to yet another non-health food.  Thus I HAD to figure out how to make it myself right?  I mean why limit myself to enjoying it once a week or so.  That would be the healthy approach...


This recipe was the result of my search for copy cat Starbucks pumpkin loaf recipes.  It's not exactly the same, but it is equally good, I promise.
  

These are Pumpkin seeds, also known as Pepitas

Autumn Pumpkin Loaf
Ingredients:


1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water 
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon  Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 


Directions: 


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease three 7x3 inch loaf pans or a bundt pan and set aside.


In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended.  In a seperate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamom, nutmeg and ginger.  Stir the dry ingredients into the the pumpkin mixture until just blended.  Pour into prepared pans.


Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven.  Loaves are done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.


Optional: I like to sprinkle the top with roasted salted pepitas before baking.  These can be found in healthfood stores and occasionally in the mexican section of your grocery.


enJoy! 

I'm Lazy!

Sorry y'all, I've been slacking :-(

I love Saturdays!  I don't typically have plans, and my sister and nieces usually come over and spend a good portion of the day with me.  Since I'm single, cooking for one is often challenging.  More often than not, I cook enough for 4 or 5 and then end up getting so sick of the food by the 4th or 5th round of leftovers that I never make the dish again.  Saturday's and Sundays are days when I can really dedicate time to cooking, and get serious about the food I'm making since I have enough company to help me "test and consume".  Thank goodness for a sister and nieces that are willing to try my plethora of random and crazy recipes.

This Saturday I decided to make several things and once they're done, I'll post if they're good enough :-)  However, this recipe I already know is good enough.  Pretzels!!!!!  They consistently fulfill my desire for fresh, warm, yeasty, salty bread.  I have tried dozens of recipes for pretzels and am usually disappointed.  Until I met Alton Brown... OK, I met his TV persona, but that persona really gives some great lessons and recipes to back up his culinary genius.  He is amazing, and if you really want  to learn how to do something like making puff pastry, or pickles, I encourage you to seek out an Alton lessons via the food network or YouTube.  He always explains why and how certain recipes work, and why he does and does not do things certain ways.  His lessons are always ones that you can apply to your everyday cooking and his recipes are sure to become favorites.  I also appreciate that he usually tells you how to make a basic thing, like French Toast that is excellent on it's own, but that is equally suitable for additions to your taste.  Like Orange juice or coconut milk (I think I may have just had a genius thought of my own right there, french toast made with coconut milk?... I'll let you know later).

Anyhow, I'm a little A.D.D. today.  here goes the recipe for Pretzels!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt

Directions

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrapand sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flatspatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.