This year my daughter is going to be a pink lollipop for Halloween. It is a fitting ode to her favorite treat and a nice imaginative costume, I think. For better or worse, this also means that I have to make her costume this year. Some people seemed surprised when they hear I am not a crafty person. But I am not lying when I say I can barely sew a button. All this is to say that on this particular fall day it was especially important I make a simple meal ahead of time so I could dedicate the afternoon while she was at school to making her costume.
This is the latest installment of my Tales from the Trenches Series. An ongoing series where friends and readers share their stories and recipes about the great food they fit into family life. We all have tips and tricks to share with each other: when we cook, what we cook and how we cook the delicious food we love to eat. If you are interested in contributing a story and recipe please feel free to contact me. Today my friend Julie from Dinner with Julie is sharing a delicious Pumpkin Cake recipe with us in honor of the Naptime Chef Pumpkin Challenge Week.
1) How would you describe your approach to food in three sentences or less: I like food that is approachable, delicious, brings people together. It shouldn’t be stressful or put the cook under pressure or induce performance anxiety! Food should be a comfort and pleasurable experience.
2) What is your favorite winter dinner party menu? It always changes – I don’t have one favourite menu! Although I do love roasting a ham for large groups – it’s easy, delicious as it cools down, and makes both kids and grown-ups happy!
3) Sweet or salty? Both! But if I had to choose, sweet.
4) Favorite Cookbook? There are so many! Right now I’m pretty smitten with the Martha Stewart pie book – I also love Richard Sax’s Classic Home Desserts
5) Guilty Pleasure? Ice cream, although I’m fundamentally against the connection between food and guilt!
6) What is your favorite family recipe for making during your down time? My 13 year old niece loves to come over and bake chocolate chip cookies together. Sometimes we roll the dough into balls, freeze it and then dip in melted chocolate to make chocolate chip cookie dough “truffles”
As a kid, I wasn’t a fan of pumpkin. It too closely resembled its winter squash family members, which I despised. I’ve since grown into both – rich and nutrient-dense, pure pumpkin puree is one of my favourite additions to muffins, loaves and cakes. A pumpkin spice cake baking is the best possible potpourri, especially in the fall, when the days turn cold and the house needs warming. (I could still take or leave pumpkin pie – most often it’s left.)
But cake. I recently picked up a slice of divinely moist pumpkin cake from a gourmet take-out place nearby, and fell in love with it. So when my six year old asked if we could bake a cake, we did our best to recreate it. Who needs a birthday to bake a cake? We measured and stirred and licked the beaters, then went outside to play in the leaves as it baked.
Today’s Powernap: Pantry stocking! With pumpkin in the air I want to make a great breakfast treat that captures all of the flavors of fall, but that my daughter will still eat. We’ve been adding lots of pumpkin puree to our pancake mix lately but it is time for a departure from pumpkin pancakes and waffles. How about a pumpkin granola? It is easy to whip up while my daughter is at school, keeps well and can even be used for snacktime!
With my daughter at school and pumpkin in the air it seemed only too appropriate to experiment with a recipe for homemade pumpkin granola. I love making homemade granola, but I couldn’t just throw pumpkin puree in my regular recipe because the puree adds so much moisture. Instead, I based this recipe on my regular one but added in some more sweetener and spices and increased the baking time. This quick powernap recipe took just minutes to mix up and get in the oven. I know I could even getting baking early in the morning if we ever needed it for breakfast right that second!
Welcome to Naptime Chef Pumpkin Week! I am a huge fan of cooking and baking with pumpkin this time of year, and I know I am not the only one. This week I thought it would be fun to challenge everyone to cook or bake at least one awesome pumpkin dish during the week to get you in the mood for pumpkin naptime cooking.
So, consider this your challenge – get out your pumpkin and start cooking! You can make anything you want with any kind of pumpkin you want. Whatever it is, we want to hear how what you make! Of course, like any good challenge, the more you share the more chances you have to win some really cool Halloween prizes.
As part of my collaboration with Costco and the National Pork Board this week I developed a recipe using a Boneless Sirloin Tip Roast I got at Costco. Since we were planning a get together with friends recently I decided to use the meat for a great casual entertaining recipe. I’ve always loved making pulled pork in the slow-cooker so I decided to sweeten it up with some cherry cola and top it with a delicious cherry-mustard sauce.
A few months ago a reader, Kelly M., sent me this recipe after she commented about it on my Facebook fanpage. We are HUGE English muffin eaters around here and the idea of actual English muffin bread intrigued me. Could I actually make a loaf of bread that was just as spongy and holey as my favorite English muffins? Could this be the answer to my breakfast prayers – homemade English muffins for a fraction of the cost?(!) The recipe Kelly sent looked unbelievably simple, perfect for throwing together in a jiffy while my daughter took a short snooze or was at school. I couldn’t wait to try it!
