Saturday Night

 

This week, I’m finding myself experiencing a Saturday night that is much like most of my Friday nights used to be. Since I was off work today, however, I’m less exhausted (somewhat), and have accomplished a few things (laundry, purchasing toilet paper and toothpaste), so I’m feeling a bit less like I’m stuck to the sofa while being too guilty about my domestic unproductivity to enjoy it. So. Hooray!

But have you ever plowed through a period of your life truly believing you weren’t really experiencing stress, because, well, you just aren’t the kind of person who does that, and then realized that the weight gain and the insomnia and the not severe but nagging headaches and the sore neck and teeth from jaw clenching and the near lack of meaningful human relationships had to be caused by something? Gah! And then there’s the messed-up world of current events looming just outside the door. What the actual capital H capital E double hockey sticks is going on here?!

Deep breath....Gentle thoughts...

 

I seriously need to reevaluate. I need an escape. I need a project. I need a fandom. I need to borrow from Lucy Van Pelt when she gives advice to Charlie Brown as he is struggling to grasp the meaning of Christmas. I need involvement.

By that, I think I mean that I need to sink in to the things I really enjoy. Sometimes I don’t even know what that is, but before I start self-diagnosing my psycho-social problems, here are some things I’m getting involved in lately.

Reading…

**Clearing the slate. There are so many, many books that I’ve started reading in the last four months or so that I never finished. Upon serious reflection, I realized that this was a metaphor for everything else in my life! All the unfocused dabbling, confused forgetfulness, incomplete projects, unmade decisions. I just brought back a library book that I was hanging onto that I had no interest in finishing. I didn’t care what happened to that guy in the bottom of the well. I let it go. Now, it is no longer my problem. What a relief! (Baby steps!)

**Seriously, though. I just finished The Organized Mind by Daniel J. Levitin. This is a fascinating book about managing the information overload in our modern lives. It combines neuroscience, statistics, and many kinds of other astute observations to pull together strategies for making sense of 21^st century first-world problems. It’s a really interesting book with no hocus-pocus, just solid, reasonable writing that I loved. (And techniques I plan to use!)

**Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. I read this book cover to cover a long time ago, and picked it up recently to re-read a few chapters. I got way more inspired to try some things this time, especially using the ratios for custard, pound cake, and caramel sauce.

Cooking…

**Sensible prep. I’m finally getting smarter about cooking when I have a bit of time, and using the results for meals all week. I’ve always loved the idea of cooking up batches of beans, grains, and roasted vegetables and making tacos, salads, soups, pastas, casseroles, and pilafs out of them all week long. This week I roasted some homegrown butternut squash with potatoes (in this style) for a meal and roasted extra squash alongside. I also cooked pots of wheat berries and chickpeas.

I used some wheat berries and squash in Wheat Berry and Squash Salad with Seeds and Sage, and used the chickpeas in a salad for sandwiches like this one. 

 

I have both chickpeas and wheat berries left, and may make a pilaf out of them with dried cranberries and apricots. I also could have used the leftover roasted vegetables in another wheat berry salad like this one, or in a frittata similar to this one.

I also made a batch of granola for breakfasts all week. Tomorrow, I hope to make either Pumpkin Waffles, or Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal, both of which will create some leftovers for next week’s breakfasts.

**Desserts. Here’s where I’m in trouble. I’m going to put this out there for all to read: I really need to lose some weight. You wouldn’t be able tell from the last three recipes I posted that I’m fully aware that I need to get serious about this. Oh, I’m not in danger of not being able to get out the door or anything like that. My health is fine. My waistbands are getting tight, however, and the trickiest season is upon me. I’ve struggled with my weight my whole life, and I’ve been reasonably successful for many of my adult years.

But, there are so many desserts…I could make pumpkin cookies and add cranberries to them. This sugar cookie dough can be rolled out and cut into pumpkin shapes then baked and frosted with this frosting colored orange with food coloring. These cookies can be made with fall-colored M&M’s. Pumpkin and apples and pears and cranberries all make such lovely cakes and pies. I’m not sure I know how to stop.

Maybe I should just make this celery salad instead…

Anyway, thanks for listening. I know I kind of tricked you into being my therapist for the night. I hope I didn’t freak you out too much.

Pumpkin Chocolate Torte

I never seem to get around to making Halloween desserts. It could be that this is a really busy time of year in The Real World and at The Day Job. It’s more likely, however, that all those Halloween candies fill the sweet-loving niche in my life. If I’m smart, I save some fall-colored M&M’s to make these cookies, use some mini peanut butter cups to make these cookies, or avoid eating all of the candy bars so I can make these blondies.

Last year, I got this unique chocolate and pumpkin and spice treat on the table, but didn’t manage to get it posted. (I have some vague memories of last fall being a dark, dark time!) Here it is! It’s dense and fudgy, mostly chocolatey in flavor, moistened and sweetened with pumpkin, and somewhat exotically flavored with Pumpkin Pie Spice. Warm spices are delicious with chocolate (like in this cake), and we all know they’re good with pumpkin, so I suppose it is no surprise that all of these flavors work well together. 

This torte, which is flourless and free of any leavenings, comes out quite thin. When adapting the original recipe, I put in a little more chocolate and changed two egg whites into a whole egg. This probably made the torte denser than it absolutely had to be. I’m okay with that, since the texture is creamy rather than leaden.

If you have a stand mixer, this dessert is rather quick and easy to put together. Most of the ingredients are mixed together in one bowl. While the mixture is beaten for 5 minutes, which is a fairly long time for such things, in order to give the eggs a chance to add at least some fluffiness to the torte, no special skills or techniques are required.

 

While just about any occasion throughout the fall and winter could benefit from the inclusion of this dessert, you certainly can make it just right for Halloween with a bit of simple decorating. I liked the drizzled white chocolate I put on it last year, which gave it a spider web appearance. Melted semi-sweet chocolate is great, too, as are a few seasonal sprinkles. This torte is a little plain without some kind of decoration or garnish, so I would probably at least dollop it with whipped cream. Whatever you do with this potentially Halloween treat, have fun with it!

Pumpkin Chocolate Torte

Based on a recipe from Eating Well magazine

You can replace ¼ cup chocolate chips with white chocolate chips for drizzling on the torte, or decorate or garnish as you like.

1 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, divided

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon canola oil

4 large eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

½ cup sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

¼ teaspoon fine salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan very well with cooking spray or butter or oil it as desired. Set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, combine ¾ cup chocolate chips, butter, and canola oil. Heat over low heat until melted, stirring until very smooth. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, cocoa, vanilla, Pumpkin Pie Spice and salt. Using the paddle attachment, beat the mixture on medium speed for 5 minutes.

4. Add the melted chocolate mixture. Beat until completely combined.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Smooth out the batter. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until the middle of the torte is just set and barely wiggles when shaken.

6. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Carefully remove the outside ring from the springform pan. Melt the remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips. Drizzle over the cooled torte. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Keep leftover torte refrigerated. (I put the ring back on the springform pan and cover the whole thing with plastic wrap to store the torte.)

Makes about 10 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Grandmama’s Pumpkin Pie, Bourbon Vanilla Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Pear Apple Crisp

 

Untold years ago, I went through as many recipe clippings for fruit crisps that I could find. I made up a big chart to compare them, then consolidated them into a sort of grand unified fruit crisp formula. I used that formula to generate the recipe for this Apple and Cranberry Crisp. I was so happy with that recipe, I didn’t really feel the need to try much else for a long time.

That’s silly, though, since there are so many other flavors that need to be celebrated. And so, this weekend, I made a pear and apple crisp. I had done this before, but never really quantified things to publish. I love the flavor of apples and pears together, which is influenced heavily by the pears. The apples provide a little more structure, however, both in texture and, somehow, in flavor. They bring an almost neutral fruitiness and keep the pears from getting too cloying.

I had to add cardamom to both the topping mixture and the fruit mixture for this version of fall fruit crisp. I adore it with pears, and its slightly peppery warmth makes a cold night’s dessert special. I kept some cinnamon in there, too, and I think it mellows the cardamom while still allowing it to enhance the pears.

 

You could certainly do many other things with this basic fruit crisp formula. I really like walnuts in the topping, but you could use pecans, almonds or pistachios, or leave the nuts out entirely. I like the extra nuttiness of the whole wheat flour, but all-purpose flour would work just as well. You could also add berries (including cranberries!) or dried fruit to your fruit mixture. Cardamom doesn’t have to be there. You could enhance your pears with ginger or vanilla.

There’s plenty of room for personal taste in adapting this delicious fall fruit dessert. There’s also room for ice cream, which I highly recommend dolloped on top of a serving of warm Pear Apple Crisp with Cardamom.

Pear Apple Crisp with Cardamom

Topping

½ cup rolled oats

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup walnuts

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

3 cups pears, peeled and thinly sliced

3 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced

1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch

½ cup brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray or grease it with oil or butter. Set aside.

2. In a medium size bowl, combine the oats, whole wheat flour, ½ cup brown sugar, walnuts, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon cardamom. Toss together to combine. Pour the melted butter over the oat mixture and toss together to coat all of the dry ingredients with the butter. Set aside.

3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Gently toss all together to coat the fruit.

4. Transfer the fruit mixture to the prepared baking pan. Evenly distribute the topping mixture over the fruit filling.

5. Bake at 375 F for about 50 minutes, or until the top is well browned, the apples and pears are tender, and the filling is bubbling. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Makes about 6 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Apple Cranberry Crisp, Pear Apple Crumble Pie

One year ago: Kale and Wild Rice Casserole