Pumpkin Waffles in Clouds of Cream Cheese and Fruit

Oooooh this was soooo gooood!

While doing my thing on Pinterest this past Sunday morning, a search turned up this recipe for pumpkin roll pancakes on Holiday Cottage.  My current favorite dessert recipe for the holidays is a pumpkin roll and I was hooked.  I was intrigued by a brief glimpse of chef Anne Burell on the Today show doing up a recipe using pumpkin and ricotta cheese and I had been drooling ever since.  Thing about it is this:  I wanted to make a recipe for waffles instead of pancakes.  I much prefer the crispness and bite of a waffle over a mushy pancake.  Knowing changes would have to be made to the basic recipe, I found this link which was very helpful.

As a rule, I am trying to cut sugar out of the diet.  For years I have been trying to loose a few pounds, and they just haven't gone anywhere.   Recently I was VERY pleased to discover that not having my usual honey in tea or coffee or a sweet snack made all the difference.  Pounds began shedding as if by magic.  After dumping six, I have sort of plateaued, but I guess I might have to work at it to get more off.  Anyway, I did not want to use more sugar for a crispier crust, so I actually reduced that in the recipe.  After all, there is plenty of sweetness in the topping and you could always drizzle this with maple syrup if you have a sweet tooth.  Ricotta didn't make it into the batter, but I did use buttermilk.

Pumpkin Waffles in the Clouds

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup all purpose flour
2. 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3. 2 teaspoons baking powder
4. 1 teaspoon baking soda
5. 1/2 teaspoon table salt
6. 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
7. 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8. 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
9. 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
10. 2 Tbsp brown sugar
11. about 1 cup buttermilk
12. 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
13. 2 tablespoons  melted butter or safflower oil
14. 1 egg, separated
15. 1/2 cup pumpkin puree 

1. Pancakes. Mix together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Make sure to break up any clumps of brown sugar. In a separate bowl, whip the egg white into the soft peak stage.  And in yet another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, vanilla, oil, egg yolk and pumpkin. Combine wet ingredients with dry and gently combine until mixed. Now, gently fold in the egg white mixture.  Do not over-mix.  The batter will be quite thick, but still easily pourable.
2. Heat your waffle iron to medium-high heat. When hot, use a nonstick spray to coat the grill. Drop 1/3 cup batter onto the grill and cook until the steaming stops and waffles are nicely browned and slightly crispy.
3. Serve with a dollop of cream cheese topping and a sprinkle of chopped pecans and perhaps a drizzle of maple syrup.
4. Makes about 6 waffles.

Sauteed Fruit

1. 2 Green apples diced
2. Handful of raisins
3. Handful of dried apricots, chopped
4. 2 Tbsp butter
5. 2 Tbsp brown sugar
6. 1-2 tsp of Cinnamon

Melt butter in frypan over low heat and add apples.  Saute a few minutes until apples begin to soften and then add raisins and apricots and cinnamon. Add sugar and enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and allow it to simmer over low heat and it develops a syrup.  Don't let it get too dry!  This can be used alone for topping waffles of pancakes as a healthier alternative to syrup.

 Cream Cheese Clouds

1. 4 ounces cream cheese
2. 2 Tbsp butter
3. 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (or as needed for consistency)
4. 2 Tbsp pumpkin puree
5. 1/2 cup of cold sauteed fruit

 Prepare whipped cream by beating cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.  Fold in the fruit. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Count down!

Here we are with just one more day to go before the first day of our Stay-cation! Yay! I am not exactly ready to go, ...or shall I say "stay," but tomorrow will have to be a day to set it all up. Even as hurricane Irene is looming this way, I am making plans. Food in plenty is in the frig and pantry, and one of the things I have planned for the week is munchies. One special favorite is a spicy and crunchy recipe I was gifted years ago by a good friend who is a caterer. Because I promised never to give it away without forfeiting my life, I offer an alternative from popcorn.org which shares similarities.

Cajun Corn

Yield: 2 1/2 quarts

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 quarts popped popcorn
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper

Directions

1. Pour butter over warm popcorn.
2. Combine remaining seasonings and sprinkle over popcorn; toss to mix.
3. Bake in 300-degree Fahrenheit oven for crispy popcorn.

*Throw in some nuts or other munchie snacks to add interest.

Spicy Coffee

Something that has been on my frequent list of beverages to enjoy is now Spicy Coffee. I am not a big coffee drinker, and my daily beverage of choice is tea. However, this year for Valentine's Day (which I can't believe I didn't blog about!), I made a recipe I found for Café Brulot (coffee with cinnamon and a jigger of brandy). "Brulot," …Now this means flaming! I had never done this before. "...warm the brandy in a warm soup ladle and then ignite and pour over the coffee." After looking at a few videos, it looked tricky. I have seen everything form the desired success, to people setting fires that they had not intended, to complete dudly failures. Mine fell into the latter category. However, the coffee was delicious. Since then, I have enjoyed Spicy Coffee a few times a week, saving the brandy for special occasions!

The Recipe:

• Coffee
• Orange peel, just a few slices
• Whole cloves to taste
• Cinnamon stick, broken up
• Brandy, just a jigger ...optional!

I placed the goodies into the pot of my 2-cup coffee maker, and then brewed the coffee. Then, allow the coffee to steep for several minutes to infuse it with the orange peel, cinnamon and cloves. Pour into mugs, add brandy and give a stir. Yummmm.

Green Glop

I have been making green glops for years. ...Since my kids were little and I couldn't get them to eat spinach. So what can a mother do? Disguise it! With a little help from Doctor Seuss and the blender, my green eggs became a green glop. Actually a fritatta, which is something like a pancake with spinach and cheese, it has became a favorite that my grown sons eat even today with gusto!

Now, however, the blender is no longer a necessity, and this glop just has green "stuff' in it. Add a little salsa on top, and you've got a yummy, fast, and nutritious breakfast!

IT'S PIZZA DAY...

It’s Saturday, and this is pizza day at our house. All these years in a second marriage, and my hubby and I never started any traditions that stuck. However, we recently discovered that we didn’t want pizza any day except Saturday, because that is when we usually made it. Go figure! It just happened that way. It needed a day that I knew when the DH would be home from work, and knew what time we would eat. Every other day is “iffy.” Making good pizza takes time, and it tells you when it is ready.

With a husband from NYC, making pizza is a risky business. His mouth is programmed for something he grew up on, and New York is famous for it’s pizza.

For years, we would trek to Black Mountain, NC. …A small town nestled into the mountains not far form Asheville. Besides being a wonderful get-a-way because it’s an artsy-crafty little village, it also boasts one of the best restaurants I have ever had the pleasure of eating at: My Father’s Pizza. They make the best Italian food. A few years back, our waitress told us the dough was the secret of their delicious pizza. The owner would come in late at night, after everyone had gone home, and make the dough after a long held family tradition. No one else knew the recipe, or how it was made.

Once gas prices started to rise, we cut back on our trips. So, I dusted off the bread machine, and tried a few recipes. After several adjustments, we came out with a decent pizza dough and crust. What really accelerated our success, however, was the new convection oven when my stove died last year! Oh, how glorious to watch the crust rising in magnificent golden-ness, as the cheese bubbles. …And it’s so fast! In just 10 minutes I am slicing and serving. Yumm…

Now, it isn’t necessary to have a bread machine to make good pizza dough. I have often made it the “other way.” It takes about the same amount of time, just less labor on my part. I like the eating part best!

A Family Cookbook

Last night, the family came over for dinner. ...Three grown sons, with families of their own now. Dinner was simple, but it was literally devoured! Two of my daughters-in-law openly admit that they can’t cook unless it comes straight out of a can or box. The other is said to be a very good cook. My sons, who were raised on home cooking, have taken up the slack. One of their good friends, who adopted our family and often sat at our table, has also become “The Chef” in his own home.

When my oldest son married, I wanted to send something of my self along, and slowly and carefully put together a collection of our favorite recipes. We have lived all over the United States, and have experienced a culturally rich diet. Our favorite meals have come from our Mexican American friends, after living for many years in California, and Arizona. The first cookbook took months to put together, because it wasn’t easy to find color photos in magazines, for each recipe. Now, with the computer and internet, it only takes a few clicks of the mouse.

Here is what I have done, as anyone can to put together a cherished collection of family recipes:

1. Write up your recipes in Word.…It’s the most widely available format, and saving them is a necessity!As computers advance, you will be able to keep the recipes current.Make it fun and you can even include a story about where it came from, whose favorite it is, etc.Try to keep each recipe on one page.
2. Scrounge the Internet with Google searches for images of your recipe. You can find one perfect image that appeals to your taste buds and fits your personality. If not, get out the digital camera, and take your own photos. You can even have the family eating! Add a photo to your recipe. I use the text box a lot to save space.
3. Keep a separate file folder for each grouping of recipes (i.e.: appetizers, beverages, meats, salads, soups, etc.). I learned the hard way, and mine were all hodge-podge in one cumbersome folder.
4. Scrounge the Internet for fun clipart to use for a page image for your food sections, and add a WordArt title. For instance, I have a funny childish pictures of stick figures, one offering the other a cupcake. I have this as the section page for desserts. There are wonderful cartoons to use too.
5. I print out and place pages in sheet protectors, back to back. This keeps them safe from spills, and keeps them from tearing out.
6. Arrange all your pages into a 3-ring folder that has the pockets for photos on the front. Create a cover of your own with a family photo, or you in an apron, or, …get back on Google and find an image that feels good to you. I chose one that is an art poster and expresses the personality of my recipe book as I see it: a gift, a blessing, a loving and nurturing extension of a mother’s love. My “adopted son” (you know, the neighborhood kid who just slips into the family one day) told me his eyes glazed over when he got his, and my bio-sons tell me he raves about how great it is.
7. I add to these books each year at Christmas. I continually discover old recipes that were someone’s favorite, and new ones that will be.