Last week we had summer. This week we are back to chilly winter. Who knows what next week will bring?

Did you see this month’s Bon Appetit? The entire thing is devoted to comfort foods. You have to admit, when you are cold and hungry, comfort foods seem to reach right in and fix you up.
And what is more comforting that soup? Nothing except maybe chocolate.

This soup is every bit as good as it looks.  Hubbard squash, granny smith apple, Texas sweet onions, and garlic cloves are roasted to bring out the flavors.  Once the soup is finished a swirl of chipotle and cinnamon puree is added.  The flavors are complex, bouncing between spicy, sweet, smoky and tart; all wrapped up in silky smooth texture.

You can certainly cut down the richness of this soup by using milk, skim milk, or chicken broth.  Just be sure to get enough liquid in it to keep it from being a puree exactly but not so much that it is thin.

I recommend the Texas Sweet Onions for thisl.  They have a milder flavor that becomes very complex during roasting.

My menu was:

• Roast Hubbard Squash and Apple Soup
• Artisan Raisin-Pecan  Bread with organic butter
• Salad of Baby Herbs with homemade balsamic vinaigrette
• Red Grapes

It went together well, and the flavors complimented each other.  The addition of bleu cheese to the salad would have been amazing, but my family does not like bleu cheese.

Roasted Hubbard Squash and Apple Soup with Cinnamon Chipotle Swirl

• 2 small hubbard squash, peeled and cut in 1 inch chunks
• 2 large Texas Sweet onions, peeled and cut in 1 inch chunks
• 2 Granny Smith apples (or other tart style apple), cut in chunks but not peeled
• 1 head of garlic, peeled
• Olive oil
• 2 cup cream
• 3 cups half and half
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• salt to taste
• Agave to taste

1. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and toss lightly to coat.  Bake at 450 until cooked and slightly caramelized.  Stir often.
2. Puree with a little of the half and half in a blender until smooth.  Depending on the size and strength of your blender you may need to do it in batches.
3. Add the puree back into the pan and whisk in the heavy cream and the rest of the half and half.  Add butter.
4. Warm slowly. The soup should be thick and silky, about the texture of heavy cream.
5. Check the seasoning and add salt and Agave as needed.

Chipotle Cinnamon Swirl

• Take about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the soup and add 1/2 tsp. chipotle granules, or to taste.
• Stir in 1 tablespoon of Vietnamese Cinnamon.
• Stir in 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• Heat until the chipotle softens, but do not boil.  Taste and adjust seasoning.
• Puree until smooth.  Thin with some of the cream if necessary.

Ladle the hot soup into bowls and drizzle the chipotle cinnamon swirl over the top, use a knife to swirl it into the soup.  Drizzle a few drops of olive oil or cream randomly over the top and serve hot.

Serves 6

Images: c) marye audet 2009

I love artichokes. The family isn’t keen on them when they are sliced on a pizza, or tossed in a salad (yum) but in an easy casserole they become magical.

We have finally hit chilly weather here in Texas. The leaves on Marc’s maple tree out front are changing to crimson, allowing us to pretend we are in New England. We build fires in the dining room fireplace nearly every night now, giving us a cozy ambiance as we eat dinner and relax to the crackling sounds, the flicker of the  fire, and the warmth it emits. It is one of the things I love about this house, the fireplace in the kitchen/dining room.

Couple that ambiance with a steaming casserole, a loaf of french bread, a crisp salad, and maybe a pear crisp …add an after dinner espresso with a perfect chocolate truffle on the side..Well couldn’t you at least imagine you were in the French countryside? I could!

Try this casserole in that menu and see what you think. You can assemble it ahead and refrigerate for up to 12 hours. You can also use it as a side dish to roast chicken or pork.

Artichoke, Portabella, and Potato Gratin
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 large artichokes (or 2 cans of marinated artichoke hearts)
2 pounds Yukon Gold, red skinned, or other thin skinned potatoes, thinly sliced
4 large portabella mushroom caps, thinly sliced
8 ozs cream cheese or mascarpone cheese cut in small chunks
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cream (or half and half..but I like cream better)
1 white onion, sliced in rings and sweated in butter until transparent.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Brush 13×9x2-inch glass baking dish. To trim artichoke, add the juice from half a lemon to a large bowl of cold water. Cut off the artichoke’s stem; rub cut surface with the other lemon half. Peel off all the leaves. Cut off top one inch of artichoke. Using a spoon with a serrated edge, scrape out the fibrous choke from the center. Rub the artichoke all over with lemon and drop it into lemon water. Drain before using.

Or….Use the canned marinated ones.

Slice artichoke hearts. Arrange half of potatoes in dish, covering bottom completely. Top with half of artichoke hearts and half of mushrooms. Sprinkle half of cream cheese over. Sprinkle with half of garlic, salt, and pepper, then 1 tablespoon Parmesan. Cover with remaining mushrooms, then artichokes, cream cheese, garlic, 1 tablespoon Parmesan. Top with remaining potatoes. Pour cream over; arrange onions over top. Cover dish with foil. Bake 40 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400°F. Sprinkle top with remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake uncovered until potatoes are tender and top is brown, about 25 minutes. Cool slightly and serve.
Serves 6-8

A few days ago I was asked about recipes for kids. And then a day or so after that I was asked by someone else. After this had happened about fifty million several times I thought maybe I was seeing a pattern.

Ya think?

My kids all cook, even 4 year old Kyrie. It is just something we do. My mom was not a person that liked to cook and she did not like messes, so as a result I did not really step foot in a kitchen until I was married. There were a couple of months when I was 13 that my parents were separated and I learned to bake bread in my dad’s apartment kitchen, but that was the extent of it. I was determined that my kids would be exposed to cooking and baking from the time that they could hold a spoon and they have. As a result all eight of them are accomplished cooks at their own level and our kitchen is a perpetual mess.

Anyway, from now until Christmas I will post recipes that kids can make without much help( and an age range). Supervision is always important. Making memories in the kitchen is part of a strong, healthy family and you will be amazed at how much kids open up and talk about their deep feelings (”Mom, do you know my Sunday school teacher picks his nose during class? It’s gross. Do you think his mom didn’t teach him any better?”) and emotions as they stir, pour, and toss flour around the kitchen.

So, just like the Thanksgiving make-ahead recipes, and the Christmas Countdown, you can check this out every week to see what is new. Look for the graphic. And let me know what you think. If you want more recipes for kids after the holidays we can make it a weekly thing.

This recipe is easy and fun. I don’t usually like cake mixes, but the use of one makes this simple enough for a 5 or 6 year old to do.

Pumpkin Crisp

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
4 large eggs
2 cans (15 ounces each) solid pack pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 stick unsalted butter, chilled
1 cup chopped pecans
Sweetened whipped cream for topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13″x 9″ baking pan & dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.

Measure out 1 cup of the cake mix and set aside for the topping.

For the Base:
Place the remaining cake mix, the butter, and 1 egg in a large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until well combined, about one minute. Using your fingertips, press the batter over the bottom of the prepared pan all the way to the edges. Set the pan aside.

For the Filling:
Place the pumpkin, evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar, remaining 3 eggs, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend on low speed until combined about 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. Pour the filling over the crust in the pan, spreading to the sides of the pan with a rubber spatula. Set the pan aside.

For the Topping:
Place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the chilled butter, and the reserved cake mix in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined and crumbly, 1 minute. Stop the machine and stir in the pecans. Use your fingers to thoroughly knead the pecans into the topping mixture. Distribute the topping evenly over the filling mixture. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until the center no longer jiggles when you shake the pan and the pecans on top have browned, about 1 hour. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes. Top with whipped cream or ice cream.
12 servings

Here it is, part 2 of falling creatively. Or failing creatively, which ever. The cupcakes did indeed crumble as they were removed from the silicone liners. That’s o.k…bread pudding works for me.

I didn’t used to like bread pudding until I had it one time, eons ago, at a smallish restaurant at North Park Center in Dallas, Texas. The restaurant was called Churchills and why it went out of business is anyone’s guess. It was there I was introduced to quiche and infatuatingly edible bread pudding.

The way this was different from the usual is that it was made with plenty of eggs and cream. Yep, heavy cream, which doesn’t soak into the bread so much as it cuddles around it as it cooks creating an ambiance of creamy custard with french toast suspended throughout. Warm and creamy on the plate, a buttered whiskey sauce was added, puddling around the base of the pudding invitingly.

I have used a heavy custard with this bread pudding, and the clove and orange cupcake crumbles. You can also use leftover croissants in this with excellent results..which reminds me, I need to post my recipe for lemon bread pudding made with croissants.

In any case, try this as a step up from comfort food. I think you will like it. I have added dried cranberries and decided to enter this in:

The tartness of the cranberries, the spiciness of the cake, the creaminess of the custard really make this dish amazing.

Warm Orange Spice Bread Pudding

Batter from cupcakes made in a jelly roll pan and cubed in 1″ cubes. Toast in a greased 13x 9″ pan in a 325 oven while you prepare the custard. Check on them and stir occasionally.

8 eggs

1 pint heavy cream (not ultra pasturized if possible)

1 c milk

1/2 c sugar

1 tbs vanilla

Beat together until foamy.

Pour over cubed cake, stir in 1 c dried cranberries and bake at 350 for 1 hour, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

About 8 servings

Thanksgiving make-ahead recipes make all the difference for me. I don’t know about you but I really enjoy having relaxed holidays. With my schedule there is no way I could put on the type of dinners that I enjoy doing and doing it all at the last minute. Some people have (probably correctly) labeled me as extreme, weird, and OCD. I will gleefully admit to all of those, and smile at them contentedly over my after dinner espresso Thanksgiving Day, as I sit in a clean dining room, full of awesome food, and enjoying my family…knowing the kitchen mess is only the plates and serving dishes.

So, last week was the turkey. If you missed it the link is here . All of the whys and hows are explained. This week I want to share one of my favorites with you, which also freezes well, and will convert the most dyed in the wool sweet potato hater. Oh, and if you were expecting low fat or healthy…not here. Sorry.

I am giving this recipe in steps because, although it is easy, it takes time. Break it up any way you want.

Bourbon Spiced Sweet Potatoes

serves 12-16 (1/2 cup servings)

Step 1- you can do this the day before you want to make them.
8 lbs sweet potatoes (yams)

wash yams and bake in a 350F oven for 1 1/2 -2 hours until completely done. Be sure to do this on a baking sheet because the sugars will ooze out sometimes and make a mess. Don’t microwave them because the flavor is just not as intense.

Cool

Step 2-

Cut and scoop out the flesh from the yam. Put the skins in your compost pile. Put the flesh into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth.

Step 3-

Processed sweet potatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup good quality bourbon

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper

Put potatoes in bowl of a mixer. Add the spices and sugar. Mix on low. Whisk butter, cream, vanilla and bourbon Turn mixer up to medium and slowly add the liquid ingredients until mixture is fluffy and creamy. Turn it into a greased freezer to oven casserole dish. Cover with waxed paper, then aluminum foil and freeze.

Step 4-

1/2 lb pecans or walnuts (hickory nuts if you have access to them would be awesome)

2 Tablespoon butter melted

2 Tablespoons Brown sugar

Spread nuts on a baking sheet in the oven. Toast at 325 for 10 minutes. Mix butter and brown sugar in a bowl and add pecans. Toss to mix well. Spread on baking sheet again and toast about 10 more minutes, stirring often, and watching carefully they don’t burn. Let cool and store in an airtight container.

Day Before Serving-

Get casserole out of freezer and place in refrigerator to thaw.

Thanksgiving Day -

Bake uncovered at 325 for one hour. Sprinkle with the candied nuts the last 30 minutes of baking.

Some people love summer. To me autumn is the best because the pace slows down, in my mind anyway, and it seems a time to savor the moments spent with loved ones. I always imagine myself and my husband seated in a romantic New England Inn, this time of year. I know that it is unrealistic with our lives to expect it to happen, but the imagining is wonderful. I imagine we have been strolling through crimson woods, talking and at last, when the purple dusk just starts to envelope the world we go in to sit in front of a crackling fire, dining on roast chicken, wild rice pilaf, brioche, baby beets….and this dessert.
Even though we can’t have the actual experience, I can share this fantasy with my family through the magic of the wonderful flavors of fall!

Maple Leaf Cookies:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Grade B maple syrup
1 large egg yolk
teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 c walnuts, finely ground but not paste

cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy and beat in maple syrup and egg yolk until mixture is combined well. Sift together salt and flour over mixture, add walnuts,  and fold in thoroughly. Chill dough overnight.
Let stand at room temp a few minutes to soften. Roll out dough 1/8 inch thick on a floured surface and with a 3-inch floured maple-leaf cookie cutter cut out cookies. Lay on silpat covered baking sheet, sprinkle with red, yellow, and orange sugar crystals or edible glitter, and bake at 350F for 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
Cool. Run “veins” of royal icing in autumn colors decoratively on cookie. Set aside.

Pots de creme

1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup half & half
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
7 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325°F.

Whisk together cream, milk, syrup, and pumpkin in a heavy saucepan and bring just to a simmer over moderate heat.
Whisk together yolks, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl.
Add hot pumpkin mixture to yolks in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup, then divide among custard cups . Bake custards in a bain marie (hot water bath- take a large pan, fill with hot water to come up halfway on the sides of the custard cups), covered tightly with foil, in middle of oven until a knife inserted in center of a custard comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer custards to a rack to cool completely. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 2 hours.

To serve place the pots de creme in the center of a plate, with the maple leaf cookie next to it. If you really want to go all out serve with a pot of hot maple flavored coffee with plenty of cream…if you have access to the maple flavored beans.

I am so excited! It is almost time for fires in the fireplace, bubbling pots of soup, and sweaters!

I love autumn. It is my favorite season. I love the leaves turning rich shades of red, yellow and gold. I love the smells and the sights and the amazing color of the light and the sky. I love crackling fires in fireplaces sending warmth and smoky wood scent all over the room. We are blessed particularly because living in an old home we have a fireplace in the kitchen. I love the ambiance of lighting a fire and sitting and chatting with my family as the skies darken and the fire crackles, the multi-sensory experience of the fire, the laughter, the food.

And, OH! the food. Stews, roasts, my mom’s chili recipe that we crack out on the first chilly night…so many lovely tastes, colors and textures.

This is a fabulous dessert, homey and comforting, yet sophisticated in it’s own way. Serve it with lightly sweetened, softly whipped cream., with a light grating of nutmeg over it. Alternatively, serve with some homemade pecan ice cream. Either way, your family is sure to love it! This is originally from Epicurious..with some changes by yours truly.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

For Cake
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons oil
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (not pie filling, you will have just enough left for the custard)
2 large eggs
1 c chopped pecans

For Custard
3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin(what remains in the can of pumpkin )
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp maple flavoring
8 large egg yolks

Make cake
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Butter 17- by 12-inch rimmed baking sheet.

Line bottom with parchment paper.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer, combine brown and granulated sugars, oil, and pumpkin. Beat at medium speed until fully combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture. Beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer cake to rack and cool completely in pan.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Run knife around pan sides to loosen, then turn cake out onto rack (do not clean pan) and remove parchment paper. Using long, serrated knife, cut cake into 1/2-inch cubes. Return cubes to pan and bake, turning over halfway through baking, until light brown on all sides, about 15 minutes total. Transfer cubes to rack and cool completely in pan.

Make puddings
Preheat oven to 325°F.

Divide toasted cubes among 8 (4-ounce) ramekins. Sprinkle with pecans. In medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, salt, maple syrup, and egg yolks. Pour mixture over cake cubes, filling ramekins to tops and gently pressing on cubes to completely coat with liquid. Cover and refrigerate until liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes.

*Arrange ramekins in roasting pan. Add enough hot water to pan to reach halfway up sides of ramekins. Cover pan tightly with foil and bake until puddings are set and firm to the touch, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove ramekins from pan.

*Or Spread cubes in a 13×9″ pan, pour custard over, set in a roasting pan of water and cover. Bake at 325 for about one hour.
Remove ramekins from pan.

Makes 8 servings.

List of Words
Here’s the list of that you’ll look for during the Home and Dining Fall Scavenger Hunt:

Date in October: Word
1 - Pumpkin
2 - Yellow
3 - Apples
4 - Hot chocolate
5 - Maple
6 - Hay
7 - Gourds
8 - Sweater
9 - Change
10 - Spice
11 - Brown
12 - Rake
13 - Fall
14 - Orange
15 - Chilly
16 - Cornucopia
17 - Colors
18 - Marshmallows
19 - Hayride
20 - Leaves
21 - Acorn
22 - Corn
23 - Holidays
24 - Fireplace
25 - Harvest
26 - Trick or Treat
27 - Rain
28 - Scarecrow
29 - Turkey
30 - Windy
31 - Orchard

You can find the rules here
And the participating blogs are:

• Offbeat Homes
• Simply Thrifty
• Keeping the Castle
• Chocolate Bytes
• The Food Bowl
• Declutter It
• Baking Delights
• Foodie Obsessed
• Mother Earth’s Garden

Now, you can’t take any of the words from this list….you must go hunt them out! Good Luck!

Remember going on scavenger hunts when you were a kid? Sometimes they were the most fun part of a social gathering – wasn’t it fun to be given a list and going off with your teammates to locate feathers, safety pins and purple crayons? b5Media’s Home and Dining Channel also remembers. What better way to reward our loyal readers than with a fun Fall Harvest Scavenger Hunt?

Here’s how it works:

On October 1st, participating Home & Dining blogs will post a list of words and the date that word is to appear in Home and Dining. Each day those words will appear on one of the participating blogs. It could be in a title of a blog post, it could be the post’s particular theme that day, or it could just be a word in a paragraph somewhere.

Contest participants will locate each word and write it down. On October 31st, the last day of your contest, send your words to Deb, from Simply Thrifty, at the email address listed below.

Here’s the rundown:

1. Words and rules will be posted to each participating Home & Dining blog on October 1st.
2. A list of participating blogs will be posted as well.
3. Each day, participants are to check out each participating blog to find which one hosts the day’s word. Sometimes the word will pop out at you, other times it won’t be so obvious.
4. After October 31st, send your lists to Deb at deborah.ng@b5media.com. Each list should list the word, day it appeared, and blog on which it appeared. Those who complete the scavenger hunt, or have the most entrants, will be entered into a drawing to win a gorgeous autumn gift basket. Entry cutoff date is November 7th.

We hope you enjoy participating in the Fall Harvest Scavenger Hunt. We’re having a blast planning it – and blogging it!

Thank you Deb Ng from Simply Thrifty for writing this up for us!

Boobie Bake-off

Well, it is almost October. Most people are just now starting to think about the giant candy holiday coming up and it won’t occur to them that Christmas and Thanksgiving are just around the corner until Nov 5th or 6th. By then they will have to scramble to get done and we will be finishing up!

I suggest that you start picking up flour and sugar as you see it on sale now. You know that you are going to be using more than usual over the next few months so keep it in stock in large quantities. These are delicious little bars with the exotic and buttery taste of pistachio. Beautiful presented on a tray of assorted cookies, or a few wrapped in transparent cellophane and tied with colorful ribbon as gifts.

Pistachio Ribbon Bars
Makes about 36

1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2-2/3 cup raspberry jam
1 cup pistachios, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 F.
Combine butter, sugar and egg; beat until thoroughly blended.
Stir in flour and salt.
Spread one-half of dough into 9 inch square pan.
Bake 10 minutes; remove from oven.
Spread jam to within 1/2 inch of edge.
Add pistachios to remaining dough.
Drop by spoonfuls over jam to cover.
Bake 35 minutes until top is golden brown;
cool.
Drizzle with melted bittersweet chocolate.
Cut into squares.
Makes 2 dozen small squares

You can freeze these two ways. A) after you have baked the first layer add the jam and remaining dough (with pistachios added), cover and freeze. Thaw and bake when needed.
or
B) freeze baked.

Don’t forget!!