SK week 48 | Apple Cranberry Crisp

Happy Black Friday! Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful! My Thanksgiving included this crisp, and I have mixed feelings about it. But we'll get there. ;) I needed to bring a gluten-free dessert, and I had been wanting to make this anyway, so it worked out.

(Here's the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:
Topping:
1 teaspoon aniseed (I couldn't find this and skipped it--I'll also skip it in the directions, so make sure you click on her post if you want to include it)
1 1/2 cups pastry flour (I used gluten free flour, and this may have been a problem with the final product...you'll see)
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into cubes
1 egg, beaten
Filling:
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 pounds granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For topping:
Place flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor. Pulse to combine.

Add butter and pulse until it's a sandy consistency.

Pour into a bowl and mix in the beaten egg.

Set aside.

For filling:
Preheat oven to 375. Combine cranberries, white sugar, brown sugar, lemon peel, orange peel, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a bowl.

Toss to combine.

Add apples and lemon juice.

Stir.

Pour into baking dish.

Top with crumble topping.

Bake at 375 for about an hour.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Verdict: It was fine. I was bummed that it wasn't better than fine. The topping threw me off BIG time. For comparison's sake, here is what Deb's finished product looks like:

Not even close to how mine looked. My topping was super dry, and I could tell that when it went in the oven, but I (wrongly) assumed it would all work itself out while it baked. It did not. The topping was still pretty dry and also really thick. In Deb's, I can see her apples and cranberries through the topping. I could not on mine (except for the edges where it bubbled up).

The main difference was the flour--she called for pastry, but I needed to make it gluten free. I maybe should have used less. Maybe another egg would have added enough moisture. Or more butter. I don't know.

I did really like the apple cranberry filling, so I think next time I would just do a classic topping with a little flour, oats, brown sugar, and butter. In fact, I still have apples and cranberries, and I may just have to redeem this experience sometime this weekend. ;)

Also, I have no one else's opinion because I was the only one who ate it. I was the only one gluten free (my GF kids were at home with strep throat), and there were literally five other desserts. :)

So this was a bit of a fail, but there haven't been too many of those, which is saying a lot for week 48!

SK week 47 | Pumpkin Muffins

I've made Deb's pumpkin bread and I mostly love it (especially because it uses a whole can of pumpkin), but I always end up with an undone spot throughout--no matter how long I bake without letting it burn. I don't know if it's the loaf pan size, or the fact that I use gluten-free flour, or what. But it's annoying. So I wanted to try her pumpkin muffin recipe, and I was QUITE happy with the result. :)

(Here's the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, pinch allspice, and pinch ground cloves)
1 heaping cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon sugar + 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

In another bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, and sugar.

Dump dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture.

Stir until well combined.

Divide into a lined or greased muffin tin. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

These are so pretty when they come out! Perfect dome! AND they were beautiful done the whole way through and baked in less than half the time of a loaf. :)

Serve with egg bake for breakfast-for-dinner. Or in the morning for breakfast-for-breakfast. Or whenever you darn well want a perfect pumpkin muffin!

Verdict: This will be my go-to recipe when I feel like pumpkin bread. They were SO good and exactly what I was looking for. :)

SK week 46 | Winter Squash Soup

You guys, WEEK 46! We are in the home stretch of this #AYearOfSmittenKitchen. :) This week is one that I've been eyeing for a couple of months. I have a butternut squash soup that I really like, but this one looked different and intriguing. I'm the only person in my house that likes squash, so I kept pushing it off. But I finally bit the bullet and did it. And I'm bringing some to a fellow squash lover today. ;)

(Here's the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:
1/4 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
42 ounces chicken broth (she calls for 3 14 1/2 ounce cans)
4 cups chopped butternut squash
4 cups chopped acorn squash
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 cup whipping cream

Chop and measure so things are ready to go. (I realized as I was chopping squash that I was just shy of 4 cups after one whole acorn squash, so rather than cut into a second one, I just did a little more butternut squash since it yielded more than 4 cups).

Melt butter in a pot and saute onion and garlic for about 10 minutes.

Add broth, squash, and herbs.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Puree in batches and return to pot. Stir in the cream and serve!

Her recipe includes one for some little gruyere toasts, which look amazing, but I just popped some GF rolls in the oven and called it a day. :)

Verdict: Well, it was only me weighing in, but I really liked it! It's VERY different from my other recipe (which is sweeter with an apple and apple cider), but I really liked the herbs and spices in this one. :) It's a perfect soup for this "Hey, guess what, it's winter now!" weather we've been having!

SK week 45 | Jacked-up Banana Bread

Yes, this is the third Smitten Kitchen banana bread recipe in #AYearOfSmittenKitchen. What can I say? We're fans. ;) And I had a VERY willing helper this time around!

(Here's the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:
3 to 4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon, optional (I skipped it)
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
up to 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
1 1/2 cups flour

Find a young child to mash the bananas for you. ;)

Mix in the melted butter.

Mix in the brown sugar, egg, vanilla, bourbon, spices, baking soda, and salt.

Mix in the flour.

Spread in a loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes to 1 hour. I did 50 minutes, but I should have left it in for the extra ten minutes. I had some doughy spots. Oops.

I mean, it looked done! ;)

Slice and enjoy. :)

Verdict: It was fine. It certainly didn't change my life or anything. And while all three Smitten Kitchen banana bread recipes were good, my favorite thing to do with overripe bananas remains the King Arthur Flour gluten-free banana muffins. (Sorry, Deb!) But you really can't go wrong with any banana bread, right? And this loaf is already gone 24 hours later. :)

Eight

Our dear Hannah should be turning eight years old today.

Sometimes I forget that she and Leah were only a couple years apart. I remember the baby Hannah. I can't quite imagine the little girl Hannah.

Leah came with me to take the above photo. She can never pass up a trip to the Angel of Hope. :) She brought two stuffed animals she has for Hannah and Charlie.

She wanted a picture of them with their bricks. I love my daughter's heart for her siblings. A sister and brother that she never got to know. And I love that these aren't siblings who will only live in the past. Leah will continue to honor their memory for as long as she lives!

Our church's Novembering service was on Sunday, and they always display a scrolling list of names of loved ones our congregation has lost in the last year. I was struck during this year's list by just how many people are in that stage of fresh grief. People who have lost parents. Spouses. Siblings. Children.

I'm reminded of our fresh grief. Of what it felt like to hear that Hannah had died. Of what it felt like to deliver and hold her lifeless body. Of what it felt like to venture into the days after her birth--into the unknown of exactly grief would look like.

Grief feels different now. It's not debilitating. But it's still there. And it still hurts. I still long for a world where our babies are here with us. But I'm grateful for the promise of heaven--that this isn't the end of the story.

RIP, DST

Sometime early this morning, we were thrust back into Standard Time, bidding farewell to the much more reasonable and preferred Daylight Saving Time. Now our current sunset time is 4:59. That's just depressing. (Not to mention, it will continue to get earlier and earlier until winter begins on December 21st).

The lack of sunlight is definitely the hardest part of winter for me. Not the cold. Not the snow. The darkness.

And so, now begins our time of hygge. And being really intentional about embracing the warmth, comfort, and coziness where we can. Fuzzy slippers, flannel jammies, hot tea, scented candles, fires in the fireplace, and comfort food like soup and pasta.

I figure, we as Minnesotans have a choice to make. We can white knuckle the winter and just try to survive until next May. Or we can learn to enjoy the things we can in this cold, dark season.

(I've written more about hygge here)

So adios, Central Daylight Time. You'll be missed. See you again in March. And Central Standard Time? I'm not your biggest fan, but I'm learning to cope. ;)

SK week 44 | Baked Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Never one to say no to a new pasta recipe, I knew I wanted to give this one a try from day one. For some reason, the broccoli rabe part of it made me keep pushing it off. Which is ironic because I couldn't find broccoli rabe and ended up just using broccoli. :) I greatly underestimated how much time everything would take, but it was all so worth it!

(Here's the Smitten Kitchen post)

You'll need:
1 pound chunky pasta of your choice (I love the one Deb used--unfortunately GF pasta is a little more limited in its shapes)
1 bunch broccoli rabe (or broccolini or broccoli), chopped
1 pound Italian sausage (casings removed if you're using links)
2/3 cup parmesan cheese
6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes
2 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook your pasta. Deb doesn't mention this, but I did cook it pretty al dente since I knew it would cook more when it baked. For the last few minutes, throw the broccoli in too. (All together, I cooked my pasta for 8 minutes and broccoli for 3). When it's (almost) done, drain and put in a bowl.

While the pasta and broccoli are cooking, brown the sausage. When it's cooked, remove with a slotted spoon and drain while you make the sauce.

Add the butter to the sausage drippings. Once it's melted, sprinkle in the flour and mix. It will bubble for a little bit--you want to cook the flour taste out. Just keep stirring.

Slowly whisk in the milk so that there are no lumps. Continue whisking until all milk has been added. Add the salt, pepper, and garlic and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.

Mix together the pasta, broccoli, sausage, mozzarella, half the parmesan, and sauce.

Spoon into a baking dish and top with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes. The top will get all toasty and crunchy.  :)

I took a picture of Jack's because he had a good bit of the crusty top. Don't worry, he got seconds and possibly thirds. ;)

Verdict: Definitely a winner. I will say, Deb mentions that it's a pretty dry recipe and if you want it more saucy to 1 1/2 the recipe for the bechamel. I'm SO glad I did. It was the perfect amount of gooey and delicious and it definitely would have been too dry (for us) as written. Anyway, this will definitely end up in our pasta rotation!