Posts Tagged ‘high altitude’

Happy Halloween, everyone! This is my favorite day of the year and despite being in a near diabetic coma based on the amount of caramel apple suckers I’ve eaten lately, I’m still managing to chow down on these amazing confections I made yesterday for work.

I was going back and forth all week about what to make, debating between silly bat-shaped cookies and spiders with black licorice legs, or just going with some really good fall flavors and adding my own dark sense of humor. Thankfully I chose the latter because in the end, you can make these cupcakes any time and they’re still amazing, with or without Halloween frills.

The recipe for the cake is actually from my college’s cafeteria (yes, really!). One of the most beloved things in our caf were these pumpkin bars with this incredible cream cheese frosting and when I was a senior I got the recipe so I could recreate them even after graduating. Super moist and pumpkin-y without being overwhelming with the most perfect whipped cream cheese frosting… gah. I just love them. So here they are, and I send a warm thanks and Happy Halloween to the cafeteria ladies of Cornell, who happily gave me this recipe ages ago and I just now get to share on this All Hallow’s Eve.

As for the frosting, I wanted to combine my two favorite flavors with these cupcakes, so it was either pumpkin cake with apple cider frosting, or vice versa.  Since the Cornell pumpkin cake called to me, apple cider cream cheese frosting it was.  It’s super easy and quite possibly the tastiest frosting I’ve ever had. Just reduce some apple cider (get the best you can find) and pour the syrupy, reduced goodness into some cream cheese frosting.  Voila, Halloween perfection!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me.

Before you read any further, put your scale in the closet. Get out some elastic-waist pants.  And get ready to indulge.  Because my favorite indulgent treat is exactly that — indulgent.  And you can’t enjoy it if you’re thinking about the calories, fat, and amazingness contained within.

Back? Alright then!

Peanut butter is truly my biggest indulgence.  I allow myself a tablespoon a day to satiate my love of it, so naturally, my favorite treat has peanut butter. And chocolate.  Of course.

And when those two things come in cupcake form… well… does it get better?  My birthday is today but I made these Thursday evening to bring in Friday for work.  I know it sounds ridiculous and elementary school class-like to bring in treats on your own birthday, but luckily I share my birthday with my co-worker Dave, so it didn’t look too odd.  Not that anyone even noticed because, well, did I mention they’re chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting? And I even brought milk in for everyone to enjoy them with?  It’s the only way to do it.

So please excuse myself while I go celebrate my 24th year with more chocolate and peanut butter than I normally eat in a 3 month span.  Happy Birthday to me, indeed!

To me, the order of importance for a pizza goes crust, sauce, toppings/cheese.  I’m one of those people who doesn’t want a pizza drowning in cheese, but rather nice and saucy.  So for me, the sauce means a lot.  I’m also not a huge fan of tons of toppings.  A perfect margherita pizza is heaven to me, and it’s even better if you use your own vegetables and herbs from your garden (which I can do half of right now since my tomatoes have yet to ripen).

I once again go to Lidia Bastianich’s recipe from Lidia’s Italian-American cookbook for her Neapolitan pizza sauce.  It’s so simple it’s ridiculous, and it’s also incredibly tasty and season-friendly since it uses canned tomatoes and dried herbs.  Like everything in most Italian cooking, it’s about really simple food with quality ingredients, so now is the time to buy those expensive organic tomatoes, the quality dried herbs, etc, if you don’t already.  It’ll be worth it, trust me.

For toppings, I go with straight up fresh mozzarella I shred and a few basil leaves.  I love red onions like crazy so I throw a few shaved slices on half.  Toss on a drizzle of really good extra virgin olive oil and you’re set.  I don’t like a salad or meat tray on my pizza, I just want to taste the crust, sauce and cheese because I put so much effort into making them I damn well better taste them!

That said, let’s go!

Everyone has comfort foods.  My list is long – crazy long.   Mac n cheese, Reuben sandwiches, chocolate milkshakes… it goes on and on.  Hovering in the top however, will always be pizza.  Whether it’s fond memories of my mom and I picking up our usual order from the slummy, but amazing Original Pizza at our local mall or making Totinos frozen shamepies (as I affectionately call them) in college, I have nothing but fond memories of pizza.  During my time studying abroad in Russia, one of my strongest memories is the day I broke down and went to Sbarro to nurse my homesickness with two slices of cheese NY-style pizza on Nevsky Prospect.

I still love frozen pizza and happily eat it probably once a week for dinner (my fav being the Kashi roasted veggie pizza nowadays), but nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to homemade pizza.  The best part about it is how few ingredients you really need, it’s just the time and elbow grease that makes it work, and oh boy is it worth the effort.

I use Lidia Bastianich’s recipe from Lidia’s Italian-American cookbook, one of my favorite Italian resources next to The Silver Spoon.  I also use a variation on her sauce recipe from the same book, and both are total winners.  The big “ugh” a lot of people will give this recipe is you have to let the dough raise overnight or up to 24 hours.  I actually like this because I can prepare it the night before, and my dough is ready and waiting for me when I get home from work the next day.

So let’s get started..

Dough mis en place.

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