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.