It was a few weeks ago – we had our dinner group here at my house. I selected a menu of “fall favorites,” and asked everyone to bring a part of the meal. This is about the delicious pumpkin dessert Dianne brought.

I was going through recipes online, following all the blogs I read, and ran across this one and thought, hmmm, that sounds so good. Dianne loves to make desserts . . .. maybe she’d like to try this. So I sent her the link and suggested it as a dessert for our group. As she explained that night of our dinner, she follows directions well. If I ask, she assumes I’m telling her she has to make this, so she did. She wasn’t all that enamored with it, but everyone else at the table thought it was wonderful. She said it was kind of fussy. We said oh, but it’s really tasty. She said it’s actually kind of healthy. We said, really? We couldn’t tell. It was rich and decadent. The angel food cake cubes gave it a kind of light texture. Good texture. Dianne likes bread pudding, but had never made one with angel food cake cubes, so she doomed it to failure because of it. We all thought it was really great, and if it was a bit lower in calorie than some desserts, all the better. We made up for it with the whipped cream we put on top, probably.

The recipe came from pastrychefonline – a Jenni Field recipe. And I’d definitely make this – it satisfied my hankering for pumpkin, and I liked the fluffy texture. You mix up a pumpkin and egg mixture (a custard) and then toss it with toasted angel food cake cubes, then bake in a water bath. The recipe suggested serving it warm, but we had it at room temp and thought it was just fine. Loved the candied pecans on top – use your own simple recipe, just add a bit of pumpkin pie spice to the mixture if you can – it gives the pecans a totally different taste and a good match with this dessert. Thanks, Dianne, for making this, even if you weren’t all that crazy about it – we thought it was great!

What’s GOOD: the pumpkin flavor, of course – it’s nice to have it in something other than pumpkin pie; the texture – we all liked the lightness of it – it’s nothing like the texture of a pie – more like a light pudding, and nothing like a bread pudding either (which is heavy and dense). This was light and almost fluffy, but not quite. The crunch of the candied pecans added a nice touch. And then, well, whipped cream. That cut the richness of it.

What’s NOT: Dianne thought the recipe was more work than she liked – you do have to toast the angel food cake cubes, and using a water bath isn’t exactly every cook’s idea of  fun. But the pumpkin custard part is easy to mix up. Then you do want to make some toasted pecans – that’s another step. So, yes, I guess there are several steps to this and perhaps a big pile of dirty dishes too. But worth it.

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When I got home from my trip to Africa, this was the first thing I made. A recipe from one of the safari camps in Botswana. The ginger adds just a slight kick and the lime juice gives a hint of citrus and tart. Wonderful soup.

Nearly every night on the 2 weeks of safari trips, we were served hot soup as a first course at dinnertime. It seemed kind of incongruous to me – I almost never make or eat hot soup in hot weather. But we all enjoyed it and savored the varieties we were served. This one was the standout – so much so that I asked for the recipe, as did many others who went on the trip with me. It tasted just as good as it did in Botswana.

First of all, DO start with good carrots. Don’t use a bunch that’s been sitting in your crisper for a week or so. You want flavorful carrots, otherwise this soup will be ho-hum. I generally buy organic carrots, and these were fresh carrots I’d purchased a day before I made this. If you have more carrots than you need, taste them and see if they’re good and use the best ones. Use the others for snacking or something else. You want flavor here.

You sweat some veggies, add the raw, chunked carrots and cook them through in vegetable or chicken stock. It’s pureed in the blender until it’s super-smooth. It’s like silk it’s so smooth. Half a cup of cream is added, some fresh ginger and serve it with a paper-thin slice of lime floating on top. Done. Easy. The recipe said it could be served hot or cold. I’d choose hot.

What’s GOOD: silky, smooth texture, lovely bright carrot flavor, enhanced by the lime juice and the ginger. Altogether delicious soup. A keeper.

What’s NOT: nothing that I can think of.

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Yes, it IS a different kind of chocolate chip cookie – maybe you wouldn’t know the difference if you’re not a collector of variations of the chocolate chip cookie theme. I was standing in front of the light, so that’s why some look different in the photo.

Last month I made a quick trip up to Northern California to visit my daughter and her family who live there. While staying there I did do some cooking, rather than go out to eat for most meals. Dana made a spaghetti dinner one night, and I made those lemony chicken thighs I posted about a week or so ago. My daughter doesn’t cook much, and she never eats breakfast. Period. While there, I got the following message from my best friend Cherrie:

Okay you need to hurry home, read about this chocolate chip cookie and make them immediately.  I figure we could have some with coffee by Wednesday if you don’t get distracted.

I laughed when I read it – Cherrie almost never says something like that – but you see, she’s not much of a baker. She does bake Christmas cookies, and as I write this (in late November) we have a date scheduled for last week, actually, just before this recipe will post, when we’ll get together in my kitchen and bake up a whole bunch of cookies and divide them between 3 of us, Cherrie, Jackie and me. But Cherrie knows I’m a sucker when it comes to chocolate chip cookies. They are, hands down, my favorite cookie. Period.

If you read Food52, you may have already read about this cookie and tried it. If not, then you may want to read about it here. There are several major differences with this cookie – (1) there is no egg in the dough; (2) it uses vegetable oil instead of butter; (3) you absolutely MUST let the dough rest overnight in the refrigerator; (4) it’s vegan, in case you are interested in that aspect. With that in mind, I bought the ingredients while I was up in Placerville, and made them there, leaving most of them for Dana’s family to enjoy. I brought home 3, ate 2 and froze one for Cherrie. She got it last week, and I have forgotten to ask her what she thought of it. It wasn’t by Wednesday – it may have been 10 days later that I saw her, it was near dinnertime, and she surely would not have wanted to eat it then.

The cookies look and feel different – because they chill overnight, the dough is kind of hard to work with (I thought) and the cookies stood up – they weren’t flat at all like the cookies shown on Food52’s website. I used dark chocolate chips (which are specified in the recipe), but you could use anything you prefer – use the regular ones, which might be easier to manipulate in the chilled dough since they’re smaller than Ghiradelli’s. The baking part was about the same. The texture of the cookie was not quite as tender as regular ones (using butter and egg). And I thought the dough was less interesting – less flavorful because of the oil. Part of the joy of chocolate chip cookies, to me, is the cookie part, not just the chocolate chips.

What’s GOOD: well, they’re different. They’d probably keep longer since they have no egg in them. Most people at Food52 just raved about them. I’m not quite so enamored with them, but perhaps I should give them another try in my own kitchen. And I’d use regular chocolate chips next time. Will these become my go-to recipe? Nope, probably not. You’ll find my favorites listed on my Carolyn’s Favs with three chocolate chip cookies recipes listed as favorites.

What’s NOT: only that you must let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight. For a die-hard chocolate chip cookie lover, that was hard to do! I did taste the dough (which you’d have no health problem doing in this recipe since you won’t be ingesting any raw egg), which seemed about the same as usual. Dough was a bit harder to work with when cold. A cookie scoop would help with that – my daughter didn’t have one, so I used an ice cream scoop instead.

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One of my readers, Donna, left a comment for me about the new grading system for maple syrup.

If you haven’t shopped for maple syrup lately, you might not have been aware that sure enough, the powers that be have come up with a new set of names for the same set of maple syrup types. I never did particularly like the way they graded maple syrup because it seems to me that Grade B implied a lesser quality than Grade A – when, in fact, Grade B was actually a stronger flavor. I guess some other people must have thought the same thing. So now, all maple syrup is Grade A, but they just have gradations of color and descriptors.

The photo above came from epicurious and most of the information contained here comes from an article on epicurious about the new grading system.

In a nutshell, here’s what’s new – just look for the descriptive name and you’ll figure it out:

GRADE A: Golden Color & Delicate Taste – The far left one, that used to be called Grade A, is still Grade A, but it’s the mildest form, more like honey. It’s the early season syrup.

GRADE A: Amber Color & Rich Flavor – The second from the left is also still Grade A, but it’s like the old Grade B, both “Medium Amber” and “Dark Amber.” This one is more mid-season syrup.

GRADE A: Dark Color & Robust Flavor – the 3rd from the left is a Dark Amber also, but has the deeper flavor and is harvested later in the season.

GRADE A: Very Dark & Strong Flavor – the far right one and has the most maple flavor. It was a type that wasn’t sold commercially, but sold to factories and candy producers and can be substituted for molasses. I’m guessing it’s not something we’d ever see in a store. And obviously, this one is the last of the maple syrup to be harvested.

Thanks, Donna, for informing me about this change – I’ll know now, and so will you as you shop for maple syrup.

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We still have some fairly nice tomatoes at our farmer’s markets, and even in the grocery stores. Do make this if you still have some with bright, fresh available produce.

Last month one of my book clubs chose to read Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage , the memoir written by Molly Wizenberg, of Orangette fame (her blog that I’ve been reading for years). It’s a very cute book – about Molly’s journey from single woman, to meeting the man of her dreams and then the rocky road of opening a pizza restaurant in Seattle. The rocky road was about pouring all their hard earned savings into it, even when Molly wasn’t so sure it was a good idea, but she wanted to support her hubby in fulfilling HIS dream of making pizza like he remembered from a Brooklyn restaurant that makes, to this day, some amazing pizza (so we read in the book, anyway). Delancey was almost an overnight success (fortunately) but it was almost Molly’s undoing. She tells it all, sharing her innermost fears almost from day one.

Our book club doesn’t usually read food related books, or restaurant memoirs, so I was surprised when Peggy suggested it. Not that I didn’t want to read the book – I did – but wasn’t sure the other gals in the group, who aren’t all foodies necessarily, would. But yet, the book isn’t all about food – it’s about Molly’s journey. And interspersed in the book are recipes. This one you won’t find on her blog, Orangette. That’s kind of a cardinal rule in blogging – if you’re one of the fortunates, who has become a published author, you don’t write up the book recipes on the blog – why would people buy the book then?

Peggy & her husband Gary came to one of our gourmet group dinners recently, and she brought the salad – the one we’d read about in the book. And gosh, was it ever good. It’s a sterling recipe for showcasing good tomatoes. Don’t even think about making this if you can’t find good tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. These days we seem to be able to get corn on the cob year ‘round, so that’s not a problem. And basil is ever present too. It’s just the tomatoes you’ll have to be careful about.

The shallot vinaigrette is shaken in a glass jar – nothing difficult about it, and any left overs will keep for a few days. I was delighted to use the dressing on a salad a few days later. And actually the tomatoes themselves, the ones left over from the dinner, were still glorious 2 days later since they’d marinated in the dressing. Peggy said she added a little more salt and sugar to the dressing, so I’ve included that change in the recipe below. Taste the dressing to make sure it meets your approval – and add more sugar if it tastes too tart. Molly suggested having fresh bread to mop up the good juices – we didn’t do that, and I wished we’d had some, but we had a full meal without having any bread. This might make a lovely lunch salad with some bread.

What’s GOOD: it’s an easy recipe to make – it’s all about the tomatoes. But yet, the corn adds a very nice texture to the salad. There isn’t all that much of the corn, but it’s a lovely addition. And then, the shallot vinaigrette is really, really good. Nothing all that unusual about it, but I thought it was perfect for the tomatoes. It will keep a day or so, although I wouldn’t serve it to guests after the first time probably. Definitely a keeper.

What’s NOT: only if you can’t get good tomatoes – don’t even try making this if that’s the case.

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Truly, I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, but I don’t frequent bars, liquor stores, big box liquor stores, and rarely even go down the aisle of wine and liquor at Costco – except to stock up on some Bailey’s now and then.

Then my friend Cherrie mentioned that one night when they were camping with a group of friends somebody brought out the Fireball. Having never heard of it and having heard her rave about it I bought a bottle. I thought it was something you mixed with something – – something – surely you don’t drink it straight? But yes she does. Over ice.

WHAT IS IT? It’s a Canadian whiskey somehow imbued with cinnamon and sugar, I suppose. It is very smooth. It’s also “hot.” It’s like drinking red hots with whiskey. Does that give you a clue? And it’s VERY smooth. It would have to be, otherwise I couldn’t drink it. Trust me on that! I’ve now discovered Fireball. So far I haven’t tried it with anything else – not with Rumchata, or 7-up, coffee, or Coca-Cola. There are websites about what to do with Fireball – other wild cocktails. I just can’t get past drinking it straight over ice.

Over Thanksgiving I casually mentioned it to my son-in-law, John, and to Sara, my daughter, who doesn’t drink hardly anything without falling asleep, and she sounded mildly intrigued. So John made a stop at a store one night I was there and must have asked where it was in the store . . . and said to the clerk “oh yea, I’ve gotta buy my mother-in-law some whiskey.” Anyone who knows me would know that’s so ludicrous because I drink almost nothing. But this Fireball. Well, I won’t say I’m hooked. I have one drink (an ounce) over ice and I’m done. And I definitely don’t have it every night. If I did that I suspect I’d get bored with it. So far, having one every 3-4 days, it’s still a treat and a taste sensation with the first sip.

John didn’t like it, and Sara didn’t like it either. We introduced it to Sara’s in-laws and no, they didn’t care for it. So now I have my own bottle plus the one John bought. In case you’ve not tried it – and in case you don’t like the taste of straight shots. This is more like a liqueur since it has a sweet tinge to it. It’s golden and is smooth. Now I have a drink I can order out. The drink has been around for a long time, but other than hearing the name of it, I’d certainly not tried it. It’s lovely . . . just so you know.

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Not such an attractive looking dessert, but oh my, is it ever good. Maple syrup heads the line-up of ingredients and its flavor dominates, in a good way.

Not so long ago I was at a Phillis Carey cooking class, and she explained that she’d been on a cruise in Canada and was served this dessert, a French dessert, more than once and when she got home she played around with it, keeping true to the original concept recipe, and created this that’s mostly like a cake, but it has this wonderful maple sauce it makes as it bakes. You’ve had pudding-cakes before, I’m sure. I have a bunch here on my blog, my favorites being a Lemon Sponge Pudding, a Sticky Chocolate Sponge Pudding, and lastly a Warm Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake. If you go to my recipe index page for Desserts, scroll almost to the bottom and you’ll find a listing of the various pudding cakes I’ve made over the years. The Gingerbread one is awfully good too.

This recipe uses darker maple syrup (meaning it has a more intense, darker flavor, the darker always better in my book), plus cream, and mostly other standard baking ingredients, and it goes together quite quickly. This is an intensely flavored pudding cake – the maple flavor predominates, but it’s also very, very sweet. I didn’t make this myself, just ate it at Phillis’ cooking class, but when I make it I’m going to reduce the sugar by about half. There’s not much sugar in it – 1/3 cup – the sweet comes mostly from the maple syrup – but I’d definitely use less and see how it turned out. If you don’t mind the sweet (almost made my teeth ache) by all means use the full 1/3 cup. You need all the maple syrup because it is integral to the sauce portion. And whatever you do, DON’T substitute cheap “breakfast syrup” for the maple syrup. This is a time when you must use the real thing.

The maple syrup mixture (a cream-based concoction) is mixed up and half poured into an 8×8 glass dish. Then the batter is made – it’s  wet batter sort of like pancakes, I suppose – and you use a spoon to scoop big portions or mounds into the dish (six of them), then you pour the remaining maple mixture on top and bake it. Once baked, you do want to let it sit just a bit – that maple syrup would be VERY hot – it would burn your mouth if you ate it immediately. Serve warm with whipped cream or a dollop of crème fraîche on top. Likely you’ll hear raves and mmmm’s around the table.

What’s GOOD: the intense maple flavor is the first thing you’ll notice – it’s so good warm – do serve it that way. But I don’t imagine left overs would be bad even at room temp, either. It’s comfort food at it’s French Canadian best!

What’s NOT: nothing really – just read my note about reducing the sugar – it’s very sweet. Not good for anyone who’s averse to sugar!

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Are you ready for December entertaining? If you’d like to make a really tasty, cranberry-seasonal appetizer that’s SUPER EASY, try this cranberry salsa that has a bit of kick from jalapeno. Absolutely super.

For Thanksgiving, every year, I make my cranberry relish. It’s a raw relish, and I remember my mother making something similar one year when I was probably a teenager. I took her recipe (cranberries, oranges, sugar) and made a few additions (ground ginger and apple) and that’s been my go-to cranberry relish ever since. Now when I found THIS appetizer recipe, back in 2008, it sounded so similar to that regular raw cranberry relish, but it’s an appetizer. And it has jalapeno chile in it. And cumin. Oh, and cilantro. It’s such an unlikely combination, but it sure does work.

If you’re having a smaller crowd, make half the recipe below – I used the full 12 ounces of cranberries – and I have quite a lot of this.

What’s the best part – how EASY it is to make. First whiz up a medium jalapeno (more if you like spicy) and a couple of green onions – they need to be finely minced. Then add in the fresh cranberries, sugar, cilantro and ground cumin. Whiz that up for 15+ seconds, pulsing, maybe scraping down the sides at least once, and it’s DONE. Scoop out into a container and refrigerate it for at least a few hours, preferably overnight – which gives the sugar a chance to dissolve and the flavors to come together. If you like spice (heat) add 2 jalapenos. When I tasted it – when I made it – I thought whoa – this is going to be too hot, but when it’s spread on a cracker with cream cheese, it totally mellows out the heat. Next time I will be adding more jalapeno to it.

At least 2 hours before you’re ready to serve this take out the 8-ounce block of cream cheese and let it sit out in its package, to soften. Yes, it will be fine – and it will be soft and spreadable when that time is  up. Put it out on a serving plate and nicely spread the salsa on top and add crackers or tortilla chips and you’re done. I happened to have some of Trader Joe’s pumpkin raisin cracker/toasts which were just super with this.

What’s GOOD: everything about this is good – easy, quick, and extremely tasty. I couple of days after I made this and served it, I had it for lunch. That was my lunch – crackers, cheese (protein) and fruit, albeit with sugar added in. I’ll definitely be making this again and again.

What’s NOT: I can’t think of anything that isn’t great about this appetizer. Make it, okay?

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On Monday, the 3 of us spent nearly all day baking Christmas cookies. What cookies, you ask? Read below.

Looks like I was the only one holding the glass of champagne and cassis we decided to share. Another friend, Sandy, stopped by with a bottle of champagne (thanks, Sandy). Sandy took the picture of us. Cherrie and I both made some of the cookie dough ahead of time so we had a leg up on the long day of baking. Here’s what we made – all recipes you can find here on my blog:

Chocolate Almond Saltine Toffee – seems like this cookie/candy thing made with saltine crackers, caramel, chocolate and almonds has made the rounds for several years now. It’s such a winner of a recipe. I particularly like these because they’re sweet, salty, crunch and chocolate all at the same time. Love the texture. I’m not much of a fan of chocolate or caramel, but this. Oh yes, love it.

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Next on the list of cookies were Cranberry Noels. They’re a slice and bake type – a sugar cookie type with chopped dried cranberries inside, formed into long rolls, then gently rolled in unsweetened shredded coconut. They’re chilled for several hours or overnight, sliced and baked. One of my favorites, and I even make them at other times of the year than Christmas.

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These are just the best Ginger Cookies – a recipe from my friend Ann N. They’re crispy and crunchy and very easy. They flatten out all by themselves in the oven – all you do is roll them, press them down with a fork and bake. Great with a cup of coffee, I can attest.

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Mexican Wedding Cookies – the picture at left looks like they’re beige. No – I must have taken the photo under ambient light, not under my good lighting. So, they’re traditional and coated in powdered sugar that gets all over you and everything. But, they’re oh-so good. A must every Christmas.

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Viennese Chocolate-Walnut Bars. What can I say – good and chocolatey, but not like fudge. It’s more like a thick cake on top then topped with another thin layer of icing, then chocolate and nuts.  It’s a Maida Heatter recipe if that gives you any clue as to how perfect these are. I hadn’t made these for several years, but I’m glad we did. I’ve had one piece two mornings in a row with my coffee.

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Baked Apricot Rosemary Bars – the filling does have to cook for awhile (dried apricots, white wine, sugar, honey, brandy and salt) then it’s whizzed up in the blender. It is spread on top of the baked shortbread type layer (that contains the fresh chopped rosemary) and topped with crumbs, then baked.

We had a really fun day – Jackie and Cherrie both kept the kitchen sink clean by washing several batches of cookie sheets, mixing bowls and utensils. I almost took a picture of my kitchen floor to show you what it looked like. Not a pretty sight. My cleaning gals came the next day so I just left it all there and they cleaned it up.

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Although this could be a vegetable side dish, I made it as my dinner entrée the other night. It was absolutely delicious. And filling. And relatively good for me (however, there’s some milk in it – just a little – and some cheese – and some butter).

Seems like I’m not as good as I used to be at planning ahead. In this case it was planning for my own dinner. So, I hadn’t defrosted any chicken, or fish, or whatever – and by the time I thought about it, it was after 5 pm. But, I did have some fresh vegetables in the crisper.

This is a riff on an Ina Garten recipe that I’ve posted here on my blog already – zucchini gratin. (That dish was a favorite of my darling DH and I haven’t made this since he passed away last year.) It’s a very simple recipe to make – cooking some onion and zucchini, pouring it into a casserole dish and topping it with panko and grated cheeses. What I had in my refrigerator were yellow crookneck and sugarsnap peas. I always have some corn in the freezer too. And I’d bought some Fontina cheese (a good melting cheese) and I always have some Parmigiano-Reggiano in the refrigerator also. First the onion is chopped up fine, cooked in butter, and while that’s cooking you slice up the squash – very thin actually. I have a small hand-held mandoline with 4 settings on it – I used the thickest, which is still pretty thin. All that’s added in and it gets cooked over low heat for about 8-10 minutes until the squash is just about cooked through. I’d chopped up some sugar snaps and found the corn in the freezer. That was cooked just slightly, then it’s seasoned with salt, pepper and nutmeg (and a little flour), then some milk is added to make a very light creamy sauce. Then it all was poured into a wide gratin pan. Then I grated the cheeses and tossed that with the panko crumbs. That got sprinkled on top and into a 400° oven it went and baked for about 20 minutes until the crumbs were golden brown and the vegetables were bubbling. I got two small casseroles out of the mixture, so I have another dinner of it in the near future. I’ll heat it in the toaster oven and turn it on to broil at the last minute to crisp up the crumbs.

What’s GOOD: a vegetable gratin is always delicious in my book. And since I love summer squash anyway, it’s a given I’d love this. The original recipe called for Gruyere cheese, and I think it probably has a bit more character (flavor) than the Fontina, but it was good anyway. I nearly licked the pan (not really) if that gives you an indication of how good it was. It’s comfort food.

What’s NOT: It does take a bit of work (mincing and slicing stuff) but it all comes together easily enough. From start to finish (out of the oven) took about 45 minutes, I guess.

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