Candy Corn

Happy Halloween Eve! If you're like me, you've been gnawing on candy corn for the past few weeks. There's a bowl in the office that I just can't stop sneaking into, I keep some in my foyer for visitors (ha, or me), and people just keep handing the stuff out!

Do I like candy corn? That's a good question. The answer would probably be no. Do I eat it anyway? Yes. Definitely, yes. Do I know what it is? No, definitely not. Candy corn is so mysterious. Is there anything real in that little colored triangle??

Maybe not in the ones we buy at CVS, but click here to learn how to make your own!

(Nope, didn't try it. Secretly excited to go on an 11 month candy corn diet.)

Snacking

Do you ever get home from work excited to make a nice dinner, but totally starving? And it'll be an hour before your dinner is ready? Plus there are nine other things you have to do before you can even start on dinner? And so you end up lurching for that leftover blondie or giving up on making dinner all together or snacking so heavily that by the time dinner is actually ready, you're not even hungry any more?

This is a chronic problem for me. I get home from work and am always, always hungry. It's an issue because I really love to take the time to cook dinner, and hate to spoil it because I'm hungry an hour too early.

Alas, I've been experimenting with snacks that are satisfying, easy to make/have around, and won't intrude on my dinners. My favorite so far is hummus. I whipped up a big batch earlier this week and have loved having it around. It's surprisingly easy to make, and definitely has a nice fresh taste when made at home. I love getting home from work, pulling out the tub of it and some pita chips, and snacking away as I organize myself and get ready to cook dinner.

Fresh Homemade Hummus
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

1 14 oz. can of chickpeas
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika*
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg*
1/3 cup water
juice of one lemon
5 tablespoons tahini (usually found in the peanut butter section of your grocery)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Rinse and drain the chickpeas.
2. In a food processor, mix the chickpeas and spices until almost entirely broken down/smooth. This will take a few minutes and sum pushing down of the sides with a spatula.
3. Combine lemon juice and water. While the processor is running, drizzle in lemon water.
4. Whisk together tahini and olive oil. While the processor is running, drizzle in tahini/oil mixture.
5. Pulse a few times until hummus is at desired consistency, and taste for seasoning. I added an extra squeeze of lemon and some more salt, but that can all be done to taste.

*N.B. The recipe called for cumin, a standard in hummus, but not having any, I substituted paprika and nutmeg. Worked out just fine!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

What is the difference between a cupcake and a muffin? There's probably some technical divider having to do with the process of making them or the moisture or the crumb. In the case of these pumpkin cupcakes, however, I've decided that the only difference is the frosting. So this morning, I had a lovely pumpkin muffin for breakfast.

With Halloween approaching, it is clearly time to dust off the pumpkin recipes. If you read any food blogs, you've no doubt been subjected to many, many mouthwatering pictures of pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin cake, pumpkin whoopie pies, you name it! And hey, no complaints here, I love pumpkins. I jumped on the bandwagon this weekend and made these delicious pumpkin muffins (cupcakes), straight from a real pumpkin.

This was my first time making my own pumpkin puree. Most recipes that use pumpkins call for pumpkin puree, which can either be purchased in a can or made at home with a pumpkin. I thought I'd try the latter, and I am so glad I did! It was really easy and well worth it - I have plenty of puree left over to use in future recipes. The Pioneer Woman (whose cookbook comes out today!) has a great guide to making your own puree, if you're interested. High recommendation.

Don't forget to save the seeds. I toasted them in a little olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon and paprika. Yum! Yes, this pumpkin recipe is like a gift that keeps on giving. And we haven't even gotten to the cupcakes yet!

Okay, on to the cupcakes (muffins). I had a little bit of trouble finding a recipe. I was using my mom's kitchen, so I had a lot of ingredients on hand, but I was surprised to find myself short for many of the recipes. Self-rising flour? Nope, sorry, Martha. Buttermilk? Nope, sorry Deb. Guess old-fashioned pumpkin cupcakes (muffins) aren't that common?!

Well, I was determined to come up with something. I finally found a recipe to work with and was very happy with the results. They were delicious frosted as cupcakes, and also un-frosted as muffins. Wright decided to make his even more delicious with a little extra decorating...

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
Adapted from Thoroughly Modern Housewife, on Tastykitchen.com
Makes 18-20 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 cup pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line muffin pan with paper cups.
2. Sift together flour, spices, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and set aside.
3. Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Stir in the milk and pumpkin puree. Mine didn't look very pretty; it's okay.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients, mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula until just incorporated.
5. Pour batter into muffin cups and bake about 25 minutes.

For the frosting, I followed the recipe's advice and beat 8 oz. of cream cheese with 1/3 stick of butter, then slowly added 3 cups of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. First of all, this is WAY too much frosting. Unless you are piping it on Magnolia's style, half that recipe. Also, only frost what you will eat at that time, because, well, you might want to try and pull these off as muffins.

Colors are changing...

As I mentioned earlier, we were up in the suburbs this weekend. Though I hadn't noticed any trees changing colors in the city yet (possibly because, well, trees are hard to come by), Autumn was in full swing just thirty minutes north! It was a beautiful weekend, right at that moment where the leaves are brightly colored but haven't started to fall off. Wishing this would last just a few more weeks, but I know it'll start getting cold soon!

Game Night Dinner

Wright and I were out in Rye this weekend. With a rainy day and a large kitchen on our hands, we decided to make a special Game Night dinner on Saturday, to eat while watching the Yankees game that evening. Ruling out hotdogs, we ended up deciding to make cheese steak sandwiches. (Not Philly cheese steak, as we were not going to be celebrating the team that the Yankees would potentially play in the World Series were they to win on Saturday.)

We learned from the meat man at the grocery that rib eye was the proper steak to use in sandwiches, so we asked him to kindly cut us some thin pieces. To further thin the steak, Wright pounded it before it was cooked.

We used a large yellow onion and sautéed it with peppers from the garden. Instead of the "classic" cheese whiz (apparently this is the classic? News to me!), we decided to just get some sliced provolone to top them.

Being a fan of Maine lobster rolls, I suggested we do a "top-loader" sandwich, rather than "side-loader," which ended up making these a lot easier to eat! We baked sweet potato fries to go along side and picked up some Oktoberfest-ish beer to drink.

Of course, after all of this excitement, the game was postponed until Sunday night, and Game Night quickly became No Game Night! What a disappointment! Still, the steak sandwiches were delicious, and the best part of all, the Yankees ended up with a victory last night.

The only problem is, we now have more game nights coming up with the World Series this week! And, let's be honest, one does not skimp on game night meals during the World Series. Big week ahead!!