This recipe solves a pesky little kitchen problem that I will bet anything you have run across. It goes like this: You find a great recipe for some pumpkin muffins, or maybe pumpkin doughnuts. You open a typical grocery store can of pumpkin puree, measure out the one cup needed for the recipe - and don't they all just need that ONE cup - and then thriftily scrape out all of the remaining pumpkin into a refrigerator dish and pop in in the fridge. "I'll make some thing out of that later in the ... Read More about Skillet Pumpkin Fudge Brownies
Fruit
Blueberry Ginger Buttermilk Cake
A lovely late summer cake! Alas, this will be the final blueberry post for the summer of '14. Not the last blueberry thing we'll eat, for sure. We freeze blueberries to use in the wintertime. They are equally good as the fresh ones in a cake like this. If you run across this recipe for Blueberry Ginger Buttermilk Cake later on in the year, don't hesitate to use frozen berries in it. But fresh ones are what we have today. A final picking that Larry did with his Mom the other day. Blueberry ... Read More about Blueberry Ginger Buttermilk Cake
Blueberry Cheesecake Mousse
Sometimes, I have grand plans for a new recipe, and it all falls apart somewhere, leaving me wondering why I ever thought that was going to work in the first place. That happened with a quick bread a few weeks ago, that morphed into a cake, that ultimately ended up being a completely failure. Then we have recipes like this one. This began life as an idea for a no-bake cheesecake. I did a few trials of the filling, and we agree it was one of the best things ever, so one day I set out to get the ... Read More about Blueberry Cheesecake Mousse
Greens & Nectarines Protein Smoothie
Breakfast has always been kind of a problem for me. As is the case with all good Moms, mine wanted us to all have a nutritious breakfast before going off to school. Sometimes that meant eggs, which I liked, but often it meant oatmeal which I didn't like at all. To my way of thinking, Mom giving us oatmeal was a terrible injustice, since she wouldn't touch it herself. My aversion to breakfast, which persists to this day, was not Mom's fault though. It just comes too early for me - I really only ... Read More about Greens & Nectarines Protein Smoothie
Strawberry Cheese Coffee Cake
I started work on this recipe last year, and didn't get it quite where I wanted it. Then, along came cherries, and I got distracted. I came back to it this year though, because it is definitely worth getting right, and now I am very happy with this final version. Local strawberries are just now coming into season here - we will have them for about a month or so, but no longer than that. Pick-your-own strawberry places are big around here, and I think you can find them just about anywhere. ... Read More about Strawberry Cheese Coffee Cake
Brown Butter Rhubarb Cake
Rhubarb is definitely one of my favorite things in all the world, and this Brown Butter Rhubarb Cake is not the only reason. There are few things that are more rewarding to grow. Once established, it will continue to produce pretty much for the rest of your life. It is a big plant, but not unattractive, so it's not hard to find a spot for it, even in an urban setting. You have to give a couple years after first planting before picking very much, but after that, so long as you keep the flower ... Read More about Brown Butter Rhubarb Cake
Applesauce Whoopie Pies
Sitting here, writing this post today, I am enjoying a sight out the window that is dear to the heart of any Upstate New Yorker - there is a male robin enjoying the fermented chokecherries and crab apples from the trees in our yard. A robin! Did you know that the male robins always migrate ahead of the females? It's true - they usually show up a few weeks before their wives get here. They are supposed to be scouting for nesting sites I guess, but my friend Karen always said they just told that ... Read More about Applesauce Whoopie Pies
Upside Down Ginger Pear Cake
This post isn't just a recipe. It's also an ode to my favorite cast iron skillet. Larry and Ellyn gave it to me for my birthday in 1981, before Lauren was even born. He got it at the local hardware store, and I think he paid something like 8 dollars for it. I can still remember how excited Ellyn was when I was ripping off the wrapping paper. As do most kids, she loved giving presents and being part of the surprise. Though, only a few months earlier, she had over the course of a couple days, told ... Read More about Upside Down Ginger Pear Cake
Apple Crisp Bars
There is no big back story here - I love apple crisp, and I wanted to turn it into something a little more portable, like a bar. Apples have done very well around here this year, which has brought the prices way down, and it is really difficult for me to pass up a deal, so we've ended up with quite a supply of all my favorites - Northern Spies, Cortlands, Jonagold, Macintosh and Macouns. Later in the season, some of these varieties get a little softer, and they aren't so great for baking, but ... Read More about Apple Crisp Bars
Poached Apples with Caramel & Greek Yogurt
It's apple time here in Upstate NY - as it is in most parts of the country I would imagine. There are a lot of orchards in NY, and in fact it's the second largest apple producing state in the country. That's a bit of shock to some people who think NY consists of crowded, crime-ridden city streets, rather than the reality of acres of tree covered rolling hills. Lots of those trees have apples on them and we are happy to take full advantage of that. Ourselves, we just have a small hill with a few ... Read More about Poached Apples with Caramel & Greek Yogurt
Blueberry Preserves {no pectin recipe}
It seems to be another amazing year for blueberries here in the northeast. The bushes are packed with berries, and they are sweet and juicy. Even if you aren't blessed to live next door to the family farm where 20 gargantuan blueberry bushes reside, you are still going to find great prices at the U-pick places, as well as at Farmer's Markets. We eat a LOT of blueberries when they are ripening, and we get a considerable number of them into the freezer for use in baking through the winter ... Read More about Blueberry Preserves {no pectin recipe}
Double Blueberry Ice Cream
Double Blueberry ice Cream? Isn’t just the regular kind good enough for most people? Why do you need to have double blueberries? Because I am fiendishly clever, that is why, and once you give this a try, you will be thanking me for my fiendish ways. I tried a couple of different recipes last year, and ended up not posting them, because I just wasn’t getting the flavor I was looking for. It's an insider secret to the incredibly interesting world of a food blogger that when you have to test each ... Read More about Double Blueberry Ice Cream