Pumpkin strudel with pecan streusel

Recently, my ex-friend coffee and I got back together. It wasn't a painful break-up since coffee tends to have a negative impact on my life, but I did miss him when I was eating pastries. Sometimes the flavor of tea just isn't right.

When a friend shared this recipe with me, I was excited to try it for one simple reason - COFFEE. It's called a "streusel", but my Googling tells me that streusel is a topping, and strudel is a pastry. So I guess this is pumpkin strudel with pecan streusel. As is my custom, I followed few of the instructions.

The finished product

I skipped the maple brown sugar glaze and drizzled honey over the finished product instead. I wasn't looking for super-sweet cake - just something to go along with my friend coffee.

The braid in the background, the pecans on the left, and the leftover filling is center

The next thing I changed was the streusel - it's a topping. I didn't like that it went inside the braid, so I sprinkled it over the top before baking (this was a mistake. more on that below)

Close-up of the baked braid - the pecans burned a bit

As you can see, the streusel burned. I should have baked the braid for a bit before adding the topping.

There are lengthy instructions at the source, which you should follow if you decide to make this. My spices are different, and I doubled the butter for the streusel topping, but I made the dough to the letter. Maybe I rolled it too thick, or maybe I just don't like it, but I think it's the wrong type of dough for this type of pastry. It's too pie crust-y for me. The filling was okay, but the pecan streusel was delicious.

Close-up of the finished product

What I appreciated most about the recipe were the details for making the braid. It was remarkably easy and fun, and I want to try something similar again with my own, improvised ingredients and toppings. I definitely think it was a mistake to have the pecans on the outside of the braid. I would try a different pastry, roll it thinner, add more filling, and make the glaze.

The bottom line is that you should try the original recipe - I'm sure it's great! Don't be like me or else you'll end up with an enjoyable-but-disappointing, pastry/pumpkin/nut thing.

Pumpkin bacon-and-apple pasta (with cheese)

A friend recently shared this recipe for Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with me, and a note of disbelief that anyone could like it. I said I thought it sounded delicious, and took her disgusted tone as a challenge. Game on.

When I heard the title of the recipe, I pictured apple, bacon, and cheese together. Yum! Then I pictured pasta and some pumpkiny goodness together. Yum! Then I read the recipe in full. Ew. Yes, it does sound like the proportions are all wrong to really be called "mac and cheese", and I decided my friend was absolutely right - who in their right mind would call a bowl full of squash puree "mac and cheese"?

Never mind that though, because remember? GAME ON. I must make this pasta, and I must make it taste good.

First, the recipe has some issues. In the last step - surprise! Put bacon on things. Well, where the hell does the bacon come from? Am I supposed to just have cooked bacon on hand? How can a half cup of cheese added at the end really give the dish any cheesy flavor? Here's what I came up with:

Pumpkin bacon-and-apple pasta (with cheese)

Ingredients

6 slices bacon

1 thinly sliced yellow onion

8 ounces pasta (I used fusilli)

1 cup pumpkin puree

scant 1/2 cup chicken broth (heated)

1/4 cup milk (heated)

1 ounce Pumpkin Spice Cream cheese

1 tart apple, chopped

1 generous cup freshly-shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp)

1/4 cup freshly-shredded Parmesan cheese

Saigon cinnamon

Freshly-grated nutmeg

Paprika

Salt

Pepper

Method

-While the pasta water is coming to a boil, add the bacon to a (separate) cold pan. Turn frequently until thoroughly cooked. Crumble the bacon.

-Add thin onion slices to leftover bacon grease (about 1T, drain anything additional). Lightly season with cinnamon and salt. Stir frequently until browned. Cook pasta during this time.

-Add chicken broth, milk, pumpkin puree, cream cheese, and shredded cheeses (reserving a few bits for garnish) to pan. Stir until incorporated.

-Add cooked pasta, and mix.

-Season to taste with salt, pepper, paprika, a little cinnamon, nutmeg, then add apple and bacon.

-Warm through, then serve, garnishing with additional cheese, apple, and bacon.

Mr. O'Lantern and I both liked this dish - it's a warming Autumn meal that isn't heavy. I like the salty flavor of the bacon mixed with the juicy bits of apple in the mishmash of pumpkin flavor. It does have notes of cheese, but mostly from the Parmesan and not from the cheddar. The cheddar works primarily to add saltiness and to give the sauce some texture beyond the graininess of the pumpkin. It would definitely be smoother with butternut squash.

It's NOT macaroni and cheese - like I said before it is pumpkin bacon-and-apple pasta (with cheese). My punctuation does not exaggerate. If you want a cheesy dish, this is not for you.

Side note: Original recipe writer, I'm so sorry. I appreciate your efforts, obviously. But you lied about it being macaroni and cheese, so...you know. If you want to take shots at my work, here's a good start: my worst, only-I-like-it recipe.

Pumpkin spice treats

It seems that pumpkin treats have been growing in popularity the last few years. I'm always happy to taste anything that calls itself pumpkin (even when it's horrible). These are the pumpkin foodstuffs I've tasted lately.

See's Candies Pumpkin Spice Lollypops

This is the second year I've purchased the little gift box of lollypops, and I don't know why I keep doing it to myself. They're not good. It's a mouth full of that slightly off-tasting cinnamon flavor, with zero pumpkin flavor (hence the name pumpkin spice). But I want to like them, so I keep purchasing them. 2/5

See's Pumpkin Pie Truffles

I like the soft interior of these truffles, though they also have that strange spice taste. (What is it? Too much Cardamom? Artificial cinnamon? I hope someone with a better palate can tell me.) The chocolate outside and creaminess from the filling offset the sharp flavor and make these good overall. 3.5/5

Pumpkin Pie Fudge from my trip to Knott's Scary Farm.

This fudge pretty enjoyable. The pumpkin spice flavor is nice, but all I really taste is powdered sugar. It does have a smooth, soft texture, and the nutmeg on top is very fragrant. 3.5/5

These items are from my Foodzie delivery service.

The Avenue Sweets Pumpkin Spice Caramels are just okay. They taste somewhat like spice, but a few pieces I've eaten also taste like burned sugar. Yes, I understand that caramel is burned sugar, but this is a bitter flavor that I'm sure can't be right. The texture is wonderful though, and I'm fairly sure that I just got a few bad pieces. 2.5/5

The pumpkin seeds are from the humorously named CB's Nuts. I can't say if they're good or not because I haven't tried them yet. I anticipate that they'll taste like pumpkin seeds with a bit of sea salt.

Breakfast obsession: pumpkin yogurt parfait

Yogurt parfait is an easy and pretty breakfast. This parfait gets pumpkin from two sources: pumpkin butter and pumpkin seed granola.

The pumpkin butter is the best I've had - I brought it back from a trip to Apple Works in Indiana. It is so pumpkiny, spicy, and sweet I could easily eat it with a spoon. My only regret is leaving any jars on the shelves. A dollop is enough to sweeten and pumpkin-up my favorite plain yogurt from Mountain High. The Nature's Path granola has a healthy dose of broad, smooth, shelled pumpkin seeds that add texture to the already-crunchy granola.

It only looks pretty for a minute, because I like to stir it up into a big orange-tinted mess.

You could use vanilla yogurt if that's your thing, but for my taste that would be too sweet. I like the full-fat creaminess mixed with the natural tartness.

PSST...can't make it to Indiana? Try this Dickinson's Pumpkin Butter. I haven't tried it with yogurt yet, but I remember it being really good. Dickinson's is available in most grocery stores.

Pumpkin Juice

Recently, juicing has been my favorite thing. It's fun to throw a bunch of fruits and veg into the machine and taste what comes out. Apple seems to be the best fruit to use with nearly every vegetable, so I thought I'd try juicing some fresh pumpkin with apple.

Very little prep is required for fruit and veg juice - wash and go!

Washed and roughly cut gala apples and half a pie pumpkin.

The results.

I thought it was pretty awful. My husband and I each took a few sips and looked at each other with this face:

It tasted BAD. Perhaps it needed to be heated or strained further, but it really just tasted like a mouthful of bitty garden trimmings.

Yeeeeach. I don't know if I'll try it again. I suppose I could have looked up a recipe for going at it, but where's the adventure in that? Harry Potter fans have tried their hand at Pumpkin Juice - maybe I'll give it another shot in the future. MAYBE.

Handmade Halloween decor

The last few weeks I've been busily cutting, hole punching, and generally giving myself a pretty wicked case of carpal tunnel. The Paper Source Owl Wreath was the inspiration for all of this. I love the fluffy black and purple flowers matched with Mr. Angry Owl. Their other Halloween offerings were cute but not quite what I wanted so I set off to make my own. I'm happy with how it all turned out.

Mr. Angry Owl, bat garland, and skull garland

The bats are light purple, dark purple, and black, with one bat hanging on a big orange harvest moon.

The skulls are all the same style, but cut on orange, white, and silver paper.

Command Mini Hooks were the best solution I could think of because I don't want to punch 12 holes in my walls for seasonal decor. Since my walls aren't white, they don't quite blend in as much as I'd like, but it's still better than patching and painting in November.

I love the ruffly texture of the flowers - this was from the Paper Source kit.

A close-up of my bats - I cut three sizes and styles.

This one is my favorite - spiders! They're always my favorite spooky theme.

They're black widows - the large spiders have red eyes, while the smaller spiders have the familiar red hourglass shape on their backs.

You can see the eyes better in this one - they're the red brads from Paper Source.

All the shapes were cut out of paper. I hope they'll last because it was a lot of work, and I'd like to be able to enjoy them for a few years to come.

Halloween season begins

Starting with bad news: The manager of a grocery store told me that he heard there would be a shortage of Monster Cereals this year. I hope he's wrong - fingers crossed!

Good news: Disneyland's Halloween Time started last week. I visited the Haunted Mansion and I LOVE the gingerbread house this year. The gingerbread house actually opens and closes his mouth like a hungry monster - he even has a colorful tongue inside.

Pumpkin Donald welcomes you into the park

The French Market restaurant (across the plaza from the Haunted Mansion) has a special seasonal entree right now - a muffaletta sandwich served in a Jack Skellington coffin! It was tasty and it comes with a side of chips. I like this better than the trinket/ornament giveaways that require 13 visits to the park to collect the set. I'd rather just have a coffin lunchbox! We skipped dessert, though they looked very nice this year.

The coffin has a twisted vine handle, and a little surprise built into the bottom. You have to take the sandwich and paper out to see it.

No, I won't tell you what it is!

Target had some good Halloween stuff out - I got a silver skull candle that claims it will bleed red wax out the eye sockets. Exciting!

As far as home entertainment, I've already scared the crap out of myself with The Exorcist 3 and Fire in the Sky. I downloaded the entire works of Edgar Allen Poe to my e-reader. Yes, I have it in book form, but it's so heavy and cumbersome to read from. E-readers FTW.

Next up: Haunts at Universal Studios and Knott's both open soon. There's a new haunt this year in Newport Harbor - Ghost Ship. My favorite theater The Maverick is adding Frankenstein Has No Legs to its weird repertoire (puppets and Frankenstein? GET OUT OF MY DREAMS AND INTO MY CAR). Stages OC is touting DRAGULA - drag queens and Dracula (yes, please). And the beautiful El Capitan theater is showing the Nightmare Before Christmas in 4D meaning they'll have weather effects to go along with the plot of the movie. I think of NBC as a Christmas movie and not a Halloween movie, but I hope I'll find time to go see it.

First day of Autumn

I'm still looking for Eggo's seasonal Pumpkin Spice Waffles. Even though I just got a fancy-shmancy waffle "baker", I can't resist immediate waffle gratification.

My local grocery store has both pie pumpkins and carving pumpkins out for display as of this afternoon, as well as discounts on pie-making accessories like jars of pumpkin spice and frozen pie crusts.

Here's my first pumpkin baking of the season - mini tiered Halloween cake! It's just a doctored-up box mix with lots of spices, pumpkin puree, and a package of vanilla pudding.

COST PLUS!!!

Tonight, the Mister and I went to Cost Plus for our quarterly Cost Plus snackie run, and to see if I could find Pumpkin Spice syrup. Disappointed by the lack of Pumpkin Torani syrups, I consoled myself with an entire cart filled to the brim with foreign/gourmet soda, chocolate, cookies, sauces, noodles, and general food stuffs.

On the way to pay, I spotted the Autumn display. Because I knew I already had $100+ in my cart, I had to be very selective about my pumpkin purchasing, so I didn't get the gourmet frosted cookies, pumpkin bark, or ceramic pumpkin shaped soup tureen, but I did get my precious when it comes to pumpkin snacks:

I bought two bags of Pumpkin Crunch. No, I won't share.

PUMPKIN CRUNCH POPCORN and Pumpkin Pie Torani Syrup (sugar free).

I am a little disappointed that the Pumpkin Pie syrup is made with Splenda and not cane sugar like the other syrups, but I couldn't leave without it.

As for the Pumpkin Crunch, if you've never had it, you have to try it despite the $7 price tag (seems high for a bag of popcorn; it's worth it). It's spiced caramel corn with chocolate covered almonds, and then there are orange-colored white chocolate-covered popcorn. The orange pieces have a strong pumpkin spice flavor to them.

The point, lone reader, is that I wanted the Pumpkin Pie syrup to make soda with my new SodaStream. I don't have a picture of it because it's an ugly drink. I can live with the Splenda taste, but I feel that if they're going to use an artificial sweetener they might as well throw some orange coloring in to make it prettier. It's a very light honey color, so mixed with milk and soda, it's a fug drink.

Pumpkin Pie Italian Cream Soda

1 oz Pumpkin Pie syrup

2-3 oz whole milk or half-and-half

4-6 oz very fizzy soda water

Mix, drink

It's delicious. If you like cream soda, I would describe it as a cream soda with pumpkin spices. Obviously, it's my favorite new thing on earth.

If you build your drink correctly, the milk, syrup, and soda will settle into beautiful layers. With the light color of the Pumpkin Pie syrup, it doesn't matter.

Savory Waffles

Breaking in the new waffle baker with these totally easy/lazy savory waffles.

Savory Waffles with Cheddar Cheese

Adapted from Bisquick waffle recipe
Makes 3 enormous waffles

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup bisquick
3/4 cup milk
1 Tbs sugar
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 ea egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt

2 ea egg whites

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2 Tbs dried onion flakes

1/2 c freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Method

Pre-heat waffle baker

Mix the first six ingredients

Fold in the pepper, onion flakes, and cheese

In separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form

Gently fold egg whites into Bisquick mix

Pour 3/4-1 c mix into hot waffle baker

Cook until steam slows down - about 5 1/2 minutes

Eat

I am not good at plating food.

Here's how I served my savory waffles - with simple herbed and grilled chicken and steamed broccoli.

I slathered a hell of a lot of butter on my waffle half because that's how I like it. These were baked for too long - the outside was too dry and crispy. But the inside was fluffy and flavorful. The onion, pepper, and cheese made for a salty and rich biscuit flavor.

Here's the inside. You can see the yellow spots where the cheese melted into the batter.

General spooky-time update

August - one step closer to Halloween time!



It's still just rumor, but rumor has it that a Munsters re-boot with a dark origin story is being pitched to NBC.







The truth comes out about Frank Darabont's exit from The Walking Dead. They claim it was budget issues what done them in.



The Addams Family musical is coming to SoCal. It'll be at the Pantages June 5-17. Despite my love for all things Addams and musical, I think the show looks like absolute normie dreck. Having said that, I'll probably still go. What can I say, I enjoy punishment.



Thankfully the Maverick Theater will satisfy my need for spooky theater with Frankenstein Has No Legs. I saw Hamlet Has No Legs from the All Puppet Players and it was really funny. They're fundraising if you've got some extra cash.



Lastly, have you given any thought to your Halloween costume this year? I'm strongly considering "murderous bride"...mostly because I know where I can get an unwanted wedding gown for free, and because I looove dumping blood on things. And carrying a weapon sounds fun. As usual, I have no idea where I'll GO on Halloween, but I'm sure it will involve a costume.

Current obsession: spiced watermelon

Last summer, I had regular access to a Mexican fruit cart. On a daily basis, I got an enormous bag of chopped fruit doused in lime juice and chili pepper. My favorite was a combination of watermelon, mango, cantaloupe, pineapple, honeydew, cucumber, and jicama.

I'm missing the fruit cart these days, but I'm too lazy to buy, wash, and chop all that fruit, so I'm making do with the watermelon only.

Laziness alert: mobile phone picture

It's super easy. Wash and cut the watermelon into slices, squeeze lime over the top, and then sprinkle chili powder to taste. Eat. Repeat.

July-aholic

I loooove pumpkins and Halloween, but July and the BBQing festivities are a close second in my heart. Here's what I made for July 4th.

White Sangria

I was only recently introduced to Sangria by a friend of mine, and now I'm hooked! Here was my no-recipe white sangria.

White Sangria

1 bottle white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)

1 each orange, lemon, lime, de-seeded and sliced into rounds

5-6 fresh strawberries washed, hulled, and split

1-2 oz lychee vodka

2 cans Hansen's Mandarin Lime soda

Combine the citrus, vodka, and wine. Let sit overnight. Just before serving, add the soda and strawberries. Serve. Drink.

It was a bit sweet, but I like sweet, so that was okay with me.

My dessert contribution for July 4th was an American staple - Oreos.

Homemade Oreo cookies gussied up to all 'Merican. I didn't change the ingredients one bit, but I did roll the dough in my hands before putting it on the cookie sheet. Observe:

Left: rolled into a ball and set on the sheet Right: dropped and flattened (per the directions)

I like the way the rolled cookies look better - the smooth top seems more Oreo-like.

It was totally gratuitous, but a little melted white chocolate, some blue nonpareils, and a happy red heart - they were all ready for a party!

I hope to post more soon. I got a SodaSteam and it's rocking my flip-flops right now with this heat. I've made a few soda syrups, but nothing worth sharing yet. I'm also gearing up for - what else? - pumpkin dinner! I've got lots of ideas so far. Like pumpkin brownies, pumpkin gelatin (but I already made pumpkin panna cotta once)...basically I never like to repeat myself.