Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Pumpkin addiction is a very serious and tasty affliction. I don't know what comes over me, but when I see canned pumpkin in the store I feel the need to immediately buy 3 cans and put them in the cupboard for safekeeping. I think it has something to do with all the NPR reports that there was going to be a pumpkin shortage this year due to some sort of crop failure in New England. Or I might be off my rocker. Either way, I've been doing lots of pumpkin baking lately!

This recipe was incredibly easy and remarkably delicious. It was one of those "scrounge around the pantry to see what I find" Sunday afternoons. I had a can of pumpkin in one hand and a box of white cake mix in the other and was on a mission. A quick ingredient search on Allrecipes (love this feature!) brought me to this recipe for Pumpkin Crumb Cake.

I made a few minor modifications (egg beaters instead of eggs, white cake mix instead of yellow, pecans for the nuts, and always, always more spice) and it turned out beautifully, even at 7,500 ft -- a badge of honor for any recipe in my opinion. The middle layer is a wonderfully rich pumpkin, so it's not cake-y through and through --- and it keeps for a while in the fridge. I cut it up and served it to the Board of Directors at business meeting about 5 days later... the plate was almost licked clean.

There's a pumpkin gingerbread recipe coming up next... you'd better run to the store now and stock up on canned pumpkin. It's endangered, you know.

Daydreaming About... Bulk Food Stores

 

I have a dream - a dream to own my own bulk food store one day. Yes, it's a little bit quirky, a little bit strange, but it also has been on my brain for the last 6 years. I'm pretty sure it stems from two things: 

(1) A love of buying in bulk - how I miss the Bulk Store (Canada only?), Tara Natural Foods in Kingston, ON and First Alternative in Corvallis, OR. It's so very practical, thrifty, and seems less wasteful (especially when you just need a cup or two of something - like flour - for a new recipe). 

(2) My experience packing food for my canoe trips from "The Commissary" at the Boy Scout base - pretty much a huge room of bins, buckets and shelves with pastas, rice, baking mixes, trail mixes, spices, dehydrated fruits & veggies, granolas, etc. How wonderfully simple!

And so it came to me that my love of both buying in bulk and the outdoors & outdoor cooking could be combined into a wonderfully earthy, wholesome, and satisfying retail experience! Even though this isn't the right time (both for me and the economy) to undertake such a venture, it is simmering on the back burner and smelling better and better as time goes on and the daydreams become more vivid. 

Check out my bulk store inspiration - gleaned off the net - below. I might be crazy, but I can picture rows of flours, baking mixes, cereals, sugars, dried eggs and dairy and meats (perfect for camping!), dressing & sauce mixes, nuts, spices, seasonings, drink mixes, syrups and honey and nut butters, and even pre-packaged meals for backpacking or other treks... I can almost taste it - and it tastes like a dream come true.

Compliments of the Season: Cookie Dough Tubes

I came across this idea from Design Dazzle last month and knew it would be perfect for holiday gifts for neighbors, the Board of Directors at the nonprofit I work at, and other last minute gifts. They would also be great for teachers, nurses, and those that give a lot of their time in special ways.

I made 2 different cookie doughs - peanut butter oatmeal and chocolate chip (exotic, I know) - and packaged one of each in a tube for a little variety. Luckily, the diameter of the tubes I purchased were 3.5 inches across, so there was still quite a bit of dough for each type. If you have a smaller tube, you might stick to just one variety so that your recipient has enough for a good-sized bath of cookies!

I ended up making 3 double batches of the peanut butter oatmeal and chocolate chip and this was enough to make the 12 tubes. The tricky part is wrapping the dough in such a way that it will fit easily in the tube - practice makes good enough! I wrapped the tubes in old wall paper samples from a friend's interior design store and printed out a simple paper label with instructions for baking each dough.

In addition to the instructions, my label also read: "Thank you! Because you give so much of your time, here's a tasty way to save some in the kitchen this holiday season."

When you're ready, put all of the dough in the freezer (to be honest, I stuck mine in a box and put it outside overnight since it's been -20 degrees here!) and take out as needed for gifting. At a cost of around $4/tube, it's a simple and well-appreciated gift!

Couldn't Be More Cheesy

From the depths of my fridge comes....

my next project. Yum! 

Heating Up a Holiday Garland

As I posted earlier, I had a wonderful time making cinnamon applesauce (leaves and trees)  & dried orange slice ornaments for the decoration of our little tree. Feeling a little over-zealous, I made some extras and crafted a festive garland that is now draped in our cozy living room. With a little twine, a few pushpins, and not-so-much spare time, I am completely satisfied with the results-- and might not ever take it down!

Check out the project below --- and yes, we do have a slight cribbage board collection as you can see above the door frames...

 

 

Thanksgiving - Revisited

Hooray! Today I was able to upload photos from the last month or so. While it might seem a little strange to recap my Thanksgiving at this late hour, I have to say that I was so proud of our cooking an entire dinner for myself that I am going to ignore the strangeness!

Here's a recap of my part of the meal:

 

 

 

Hard Cider Making (Part 1)

Ever since enjoying my first hard ciders from Prince Edward County in Ontario, I have been fascinated with cider making. I was fortunate to have the foresight to take Geography at Queen's University as an undergraduate --- not only for the good folks there, but also because of the proximity to orchards and wineries in the region! I distinctly remember one "field trip" on local foods where we hopped on a bus for a day of wine & cheese tastings and tours.

Yes, you can get credit for that.

But I digress... Unfortunately, I didn't take proper advantage of the abundance of produce in Oregon... which is kind of key when you want to make ciders from scratch. As you might imagine, we're lucky to get produce from within 3,000 miles in Wyoming (excluding Idaho potatoes, of course). Hence, the battle of cider making... where were we going to get THAT MANY APPLES?! On top of that, there's the issue of building a press... and then the idea became completely defeating.

My interest was peaked again recently when I stumbled upon an article on hard cider making the Mother Earth News website (so many great projects! Check out the modern homesteading section!). After a quick YouTube search, I also uncovered great, basic hard cider instructions from EattheWeeds... using juice without preservatives! Hooray! The obstacles are slowing shrinking into the past. 

After a little more research and feeling daring, I ordered 4, 1-gallon glass jugs from Sun Burst Bottle for a mere $20- almost solely due to the fact that they don't charge a small order fee. I'll spend a little more time today looking at different yeasts (you can use regular store-bought), but I'm super excited for this latest venture. We'll start saving up plastics for bottling and soon enough we'll be enjoying our own hard apple cider... the easy way for now :)

Hold tight - Part 2 will be served up when all supplies are in.