Anyone out there still?? {echoes, echoes, echoes}

I’ve been seriously slacking in the kitchen. My main contributions have been opening the bag of frozen Alexia sweet potato fries or opening up a box of Trader Joe’s pizza, palak paneer or tikka masala.

C’est la vie.

Though, don’t get me wrong – all of those frozen goodies are delicious…but the whole “motivation” thing has been lacking.

Today I decided to get off my butt and get moving in the kitchen (and…the real catch… actually blog about it). Candice Kumai’s “Pretty Delicious” has pretty much become a staple in my kitchen since I bought it a year ago. FYI – her soups kick bootaay.

As I flipped through the book, I was looking for something that I hadn’t really tackled before… in came her Pineapple-Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. Plus, I’m a sucker for frosting…I was definitely that kid that licked the frosting off of cake/cupcakes…left the cake behind and went back for seconds.

After a quick inventory of the kitchen, I had everything absolutely necessary – and dove right in.

I made ‘em mini…if only for the opportunity to get more frosting into my mouth.

15 minutes later, they came out fluffy and golden brown.

I made the frosting (minus the orange juice/zest… didn’t have one!)…I just amped up the vanilla.

After they cooled (and I’ll be honest, I dunked one into the frosting … you know, you have to taste!), I experimented with the frosting… and ultimately ended up with this photogenic beauty.

Flufffay! These ended up being really delicious. The cake itself isn’t too sweet, which leaves lots and lots of room for frosting.

My only thoughts for the future would be to play around with the nutmeg. I like the stuff (though, I think it’s one of those polarizing things – where you either like it or you absolutely hate it), but I think I would reduce the amount next time, just for my own personal taste…maybe 1/4 tsp.

Now, I’m off to go enjoy some frosting…err, I mean…cupcakes.

However, it’s a brand new year. While, I don’t think I’ll be that 3x a day blogger any time soon (or ever)…one of my resolutions is to keep up with my little corner of the Internet.

Nonono…this isn’t a post about resolutions. Been there. Done that..along with an inspiration board – which is now safely tucked away somewhere in the basement due to my current “in limbo” lifestyle. Essentially, my resolutions are still the same (and probably pretty cliché)…

One new addition though is to “keep it simple.” Whether it be in my relationships with others, my relationship with myself, dealing with stress and struggles…or just organizing my crazy, crazy life…I think the mantra of “keep it simple” will go a long way.

Luckily…it applies perfectly to food, too…and today when I wanted something comforting and simple… my mom’s recipe for beer bread came to mind.

Beer + Bread = Win, Win.

The recipe is super easy…I mean who says that bread has to be difficult?

All you need is beer, flour, baking soda, salt and some sugar…and you’re in bread heaven.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar (whatever your personal preference, I like a little sweetness)
• 4.5 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 bottle of the beer of your choice (I love dark beer for this)

Directions:

• Mix the dry ingredients together
• Stir in the beer (it will get sticky!)
• Transfer into a greased/floured bread ban
• Bake at 350°F for 40-50 minutes.

The results?…a bread that had a super crunchy crust and is amazingly soft and pillowy inside.

How do I like it? Served warm and with a little bit of butter.

A perfect comfort food.

While I might not be blogging as often – the blogosphere is not far from my mind…and food is – most definitely – not far from my mouth.

I had been resisting the urge to get into the *holiday* spirit…I always feel bad for Thanksgiving…it’s that middle child – and between Halloween and Christmas, the kings of the “gimme, gimme” holidays, it often gets overlooked.

Not by me. I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving! Dare I say it is my favorite one?

• One. Any holiday based on consuming copious amounts of comfort food is A-okay in my book.
• Two. I love spending time with my family – catching up, watching football and just been bums.
• …and Three. It’s just great to be with family – solely for the reason that you want to be together…no gift giving/receiving…it’s based on being selfless..not selfish.

My tree and decorations won’t be up until December – but I don’t think that Thanksgiving would mind if I love on some holiday flavors…like eggnog…and gingerbread.

Speaking of gingerbread…. I’ve had my eye on Mama Pea’s Pumpkin Molasses Cookie Dough Balls …. Basically, all of her little cookie concoctions have been on my “to make ASAP” list…and the gingerbread-y flavors of the pumpkin molasses cookies finally got me baking.

Pumpkin Molasses Cookie Dough Balls

adapted from Mama Pea

Makes 24  30 dough balls — I used a Tablespoon to scoop & got 30 cookies out of this batch

• 1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 c. unbleached organic flour  – I used regular all-purpose
• 1 T. ginger
• 2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/3 c. vegan margarine (i.e. Earth Balance) — I used margarine…but it wasn’t vegan
• 2/3 c. canned pumpkin
• 2/3 c. organic sugar + additional 1/4 c. for rolling – I used what I had left of natural sugar and then the rest – just plain ole granulated sugar
• 1/4 c. molasses

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, combine flour, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
• Using an electric or stand mixer, cream together margarine, pumpkin, 2/3 c. sugar and molasses.
• Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients, mixing until a dough comes together.
• Chill dough for 30 minutes or more. When dough is chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees and pour remaining sugar into a shallow bowl.
• Scoop dough into balls and roll until smooth.
• Roll each ball sugar until completely covered.
• Transfer dough to a cookie sheet and continue until sheet is filled.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies should be set, but still a bit doughy. (I needed the full 10)
• Allow cookies to cool on the pan for several minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Loved these. 

My favorite part of these lil’ beauties is definitely the texture…doughy but still light and fluffy.

I might play with the amount of molasses in these the next time I make them…they’re great as is – but I’m a huge fan of that molasses/gingerbread flavor and wouldn’t mind punching it up maybe a notch or two.

However – if you’re craving gingerbread…

go.

make these.

now. 

Bring on the pumpkin.

I know, I know.

The blog world has been inundated with pumpkin recipes as of late.

…but I’m still adding one more to it.

Tis the season, right?

This past weekend was probably the perfect example of New England in the fall.

It was cool – but not cold. Most of the leaves had turned their autumn shades of gold, red and yellow – and there was a persistant breeze that swirled the fallen leaves all over the yard.

Oh, and it brought down a tree at 11:45 at night…fun.

I digress…

Needless to say, I was inspired to break out the mix(er) and make something pumpkin-y.

In came a lovely little mix that has been residing in my pantry for far too long:

Now – I know I’ve discussed this in the past…I love from-scratch baking…but I have absolutely nothing against a good mix. People don’t necessarily enjoy something more just because you slaved over a million and one ingredients, and spent an entire day in the kitchen (no matter how much you enjoy it).

Plus, like I was saying to Meg from A Dash of Meg on Twitter…a mix just shortens the time between whipping it together and being able to shove it into my face.

Pumpkin puree and eggs were added to the mix – and I added walnuts and dark chocolate chips. Dark Chocolate & Pumpkin are inseparable in my kitchen.

While this mix is actually a cake mix – I baked it like I would a banana bread…and it came out deeelicious. The ends were chewy and the bread itself was really moist and studded with all of those walnuts and chocolate chips.

Dessert bread perfection.

• What are some of your favorite fake-outs and mixes??

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful, crisp day. I truly love Fall in New England.

To fully appreciate the crisp morning…I broke out pumpkin in the best way I knew how….

Oats.

Specifically – Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Oats.

Oats – I’ve missed you!

• What’re your Fall faves?? I love pumpkin oatmeal (though not too much pumpkin..) and pumpkin coffee. Oh…and apple picking!!