Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't love pumpkin this time of year? I've already baked up pancakes, muffins, and cookies to showcase one of my favorite seasonal flavors. These cookies are a recipe we make a least once or twice each fall, and then Joe ends up talking about them for the other 9 months of the year when I don't use much pumpkin! I brought some to our condo board meeting last night, and when I suggested people take another cookie at the end of the meeting, just about everyone did! That's a sign these are a popular treat, right?


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
from an unknown online source (aka scrawled down years ago and stuck in my recipe book)

Combine:
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

In a separate bowl, combine:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, dissolve:
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp milk


Mix all parts, then add:
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until light brown and firm.

Now that it's almost October, and getting chilly outside, I figured it was
time to pull out some cute fall decorations for around the house.

A Lovely Cake in a Dark Kitchen

Last week there was a one day sale on organic strawberries, and I ended up bringing home THREE pounds of strawberries for less than $5. It was such a deal, and it wasn't until I got home that I started to wonder what exactly I was going to do with 48 ounces of lovely red berries. For the first few days we sliced those babies up and enjoyed them with breakfast or lunch, mixed with mango and pineapple at one point. Fresh and tasty, and still two pounds were left in the fridge.  I knew I needed to get serious, which usually means it's time to make dessert.


May I introduce you to the French yogurt cake, courtesy of Chocolate and Zucchini.

A bit spongy, slightly sweet, and scented with citrus from the lemon and tangerine zest I mixed into the batter. The perfect vehicle for sweetened strawberries. Whipped cream would have been perfect, but since I was already living large and eating dessert on a Tuesday, I decided a little yogurt would be more appropriate. Whipped cream on Tuesday is a slippery slope, leading to cookies on Monday and brownies on Thursday. While I love a good dessert, this girlish figure doesn't come without a bit of discipline. That being said, I would love to make this again for a dinner party, and in that case I would top with a mix of fresh berries and a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.

You can find the recipe here.

I was so focused on eating the cake that I didn't look at the pictures very closely.
Turns out it was darker in my kitchen than I realized!



Beer Bread

When I got the idea for this blog, I knew right away that I would want to share some ideas for cooking with beer. One of the first ideas that came to mind was beer bread, which I've seen numerous references to online. I love baking bread, especially quick breads that don't need time to rise. The idea behind beer bread is that both beer and bread are created with yeast, so using beer to make bread takes a step out of the process (and adds great flavor!).


For Christmas, one of the many beer related gifts Joe received was the Brewpub Cookbook, by Daria Labinsky and Stan Hieronymus. I would refer you to the link on Amazon, but it looks like this book is no longer being published. It is a really fun book, though, especially for brewpub junkies like Joe and me! The book includes recipes from Wynkoop, my family's favorite place in Denver, and Goose Island, which I've already told you all about. There are also recipes from 75th Street Brewery in Kansas City, Schlafly Tap Room in St Louis, and from plenty of other breweries we have yet to visit.


This beer bread recipe is from Walnut Brewery in Boulder, CO. It is the original location for the Rock Bottom chain of brew pubs, which can be found around the country. The bread is dense and chewy, with a slightly sweet flavor. The cheese and scallions scattered throughout the dough are a tasty treat, especially when the bread is made into a turkey sandwich. Waaaay better than the 100 calorie sandwich rounds we usually make our sandwiches on! I made this loaf with some of our home brewed wheat beer, but love that the bread will change character depending on the type of beer you use. A spiced ale or dark stout beer would give this bread a totally different flavor, and I intend to play around with different combinations.

Walnut Brewery Beer Bread
from The Brewpub Cookbook, by D. Labinsky and S. Hieronymus

yield: 2 loaves (but if you only have one loaf pan, like me, halving the recipe works just fine)

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup sliced green onions
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp salt
4 cups beer
8 cups flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
oil as needed


Preheat your oven to 350. Spray 2 loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray (or butter them with a paper towel).

Mix cheese, green onions, sugar, and salt together. In a separate bowl, mix flour and baking powder together. Add beer to cheese mixture, then add the flour mixture into the cheese mixture until thoroughly combined.

Place into loaf pans, and brush with oil. Bake for 1o to 15 minutes. Rotate bread and finish baking for 40 to 45 minutes.