What happened on Thanksgiving.

So I was all prepared to write a cutesy, heartwarming post about Thanksgiving and how even though we would be spending it in the hospital, we'd be together. I was going to talk about how stuffing is the superior Thanksgiving food and maybe even share a recipe. My mom was bringing a ton of food and we were going to feed all the young and hungry nurses and people waiting for heart transplants delicious, low salt food. OXO, my favorite company in the entire universe (yup, universe. I travel a lot) even sent me a ton of amazing cleaning supplies to clean up the inevitable, massive mess we were going to make in the hospital's patient lounge. Seriously though, I adore this thing and use it everyday. Go buy one. 

The call came at 3 am, Thanksgiving Day. After five long months, it was finally coming. The heart we had all been waiting for.  We hastily packed our bags and all the food we had prepared to make the four hour drive out to the Mayo Clinic. At 10 am, the nurses wheeled my him down to surgery, making an arch out of their arms for him to pass through, as I walked behind, Chariots of Fire blaring out of my phone. That image about sums up my father. 

It's been a long and stressful journey, but we can finally move on to the stages of recovery. And I can't think of a more appropriate time for this to happen than Thanksgiving. Thank you to all of you who have been so supportive through this whole process. We couldn't have done it without you. 

Hedgehog Cookies

My sister made me this beautiful cake for my birthday. It looks like Mike Wazowski, does it not?

 

Anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, or if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the American sense, just a nice, happy day. It's definitely not an American thing (or something limited to a certain holiday) to get together with your loved ones and share a meal. And I'm a big proponent of letting other people know how much you appreciate them. Go ahead, make someone's day. You never know how much they might need it. 

So we had extraordinary amounts of pine nuts in the house for some reason, and since I don't like pumpkin pie (I know, I know...it's a texture issue, okay?) I decided to make some pignoli cookies. I added a bit of black cocoa to the mix, and just rolled these suckers in pine nuts (which is probably not necessary, seeing as pine nuts are rather expensive). They're awesome! But, according to my mother, not exactly the correct texture for pignoli cookies. They turned out softer and not as chewy or crackly. But, they remind me of hedgehogs. So hedgehog cookies they are!

Hedgehog Cookies

1 (8 oz) Can Almond Paste

1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

2 Tbsp All-purpose Flour

2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

2 Medium Egg Whites, Lightly Beaten

8 Ounces Pine Nuts

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper, or use silicone linings. Place the pine nuts in a bowl.

In a food processor, break up the almond paste into small pieces, and pulse with the two sugars, cocoa, and the flour. Once the mixture is finely ground, begin to add the egg whites a little at a time, just until the dough comes together. Depending on the humidity, or the size of your egg whites, sometimes you may need all of the egg whites, while other times you won't.

Using a spoon and slightly wet hands, scoop a small spoonful of the dough, and place this into the bowl of pignoli. Roll the cookie arround until it is lightly coated, and then place it on the prepared baking sheet. Continue forming the cookies in this manner, placing them 2 inches apart on the baking pan. Bake the cookies 20 to 25 minutes, and then cool. Dust lightly with powdered sugar before serving.

But then I felt like we didn't have enough dessert...

Cause my cupcakes turned out to be more like muffins. So I thought to myself, 'Self, there isn't enough dessert here.' I glance around halfheartedly and noticing a loaf of Italian bread that was just sitting around taking up space. 

It sorta looked like this.

Hm. I've never made bread pudding. That might be fun. So bread pudding it was. It's pretty much like baked french toast. Great way to use up leftover bread and eggs. Lots and lots of eggs. This bread pudding pudding was of the chocolate persuasion, and it smelled amazing. Seriously. 

Kahlua is nice. But I can't exactly haul a bottle of it around at college.

Here's the thing about bread pudding. It's really hideous. Especially this one. Brown mush, appealing! I honestly avoided bread pudding for the majority of my life because it looks really unappealing. I wish I hadn't. Don't judge a food by its appearance...I seem to be trending towards creating ugly desserts lately haven't I? 

It's good, I swear!

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Recipe from Paula Deen 

• 1 (1-pound) loaf French or Italian bread, cubed
• 3 cups milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup coffee flavored liqueur
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons almond extract (You probably only need one. Almond extract is powerful. But it's your call)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten (!!! Six! I know!) 
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated (use chocolate chips. Who wants to waste time grating chocolate?) 
• Whipped cream (optional)
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish and place the bread in the dish. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, and liqueur. Using another bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder and mix well. Add the sugar mixture to the milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla and almond extract, and cinnamon to the beaten eggs. Combine the egg mixture to the milk mixture and mix well.
  Stir the grated chocolate into the mixture. Pour the mixture over the cubed bread in the pan. Let the mixture stand, stirring occasionally for approximately 20 minutes or until bread absorbs most of the milk mixture. Bake pudding for 1 hour or until set. Check pudding by inserting a knife through the middle and it should come out clean.
  Serve the pudding warm, or refrigerate and serve chilled with whipped cream if desired.

Delicious Pumpkin-ness

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Or just a really nice Thursday if you're not American. It feels great to be home, and I've been going on a baking spree. First, I helped my sister and her man make an apple pie.

Isn't she lovely? 

Then...I needed some pumpkin. But no one in my family likes pumpkin pie except my mom. 

Sorry Mom. I'll make you a pie someday. 

So instead I made these awesome pumpkin-y muffin thingies. Mm. So delicious and moist. Does anyone else think moist is a gross word? Anyway. These cakes are filled with spices...and sugar...and brown butter...sigh. 

I dunno why the burner looks so awesome.

Brown butter is really flavorful, it adds a lot to baked goods. If you've never worked with brown butter, fear not, it's easy. Just melt some butter, stir, and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn. It almost has a nutty taste. Annnnd....these were supposed to be cupcakes. With brown butter icing. But they tasted really good without them. In fact, I just ate one. While typing.

Yes, they're ugly. But they make up for it with taste and charming personality. 

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes

from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin tins with paper
liners. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and continue
to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown, Skim
foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the
cooking, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs,
and brown-butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just
combined.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.
Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in
centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks
to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Makes about 15 cupcakes.