YAY for post one!

So I am finally making my first post after creating this blog about a month ago lol... I was thinking I needed to put alot of thought into it but then I realize why would I do that? Isn't that what blogging is all about? Just telling how you feel when your thinking it? Anyway I have been doing alot of cooking and baking in the last week and figured I needed to get on the ball writing in my blog. Actually last week I spent 3 out of the 7 days in the kitchen all day! At the end of the day I was exhausted, but it was really fun and it made me happy. I loved seeing a recipe on paper come to life in a beautiful dish. This time of year is my favorite, when it comes to cooking and baking. I am in LOVE with pumpkin and I enjoy the flavors of the fall/winter veggies that are in my local market. So I decided to have my husbands parents over for dinner and wanted to cook a delicious fall meal. Here is the menu:

Harvest Pumpkin Soup, first soup I ever made from scratch and I must say it turned out nicely. I was very pleased with the flavors and I look forward to making it again.

Ingredients

Serves 6 to 8

• 1 small sugar pumpkin, halved, seeds and stringy fibers removed and reserved
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
• 3 cups water
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 small parsnip (about 4 ounces), peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 small Yukon gold potato (about 6 ounces), peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 small turnip (about 4 ounces), peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2 small shallots, minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon packed light-brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place pumpkin halves, cut sides down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until soft, about 50 minutes. Scoop out flesh, and puree in a food processor (you should have 2 cups).
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add reserved seeds and fibers from pumpkin, and cook for 4 minutes. Add stock, water, and thyme, and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 9 to 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, melt remaining 5 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add pumpkin puree, parsnip, potato, and turnip, and cook for 5 minutes. Add shallots, and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add wine, and cook until liquid has reduced by half.
4. Strain pumpkin-seed mixture, reserving broth and discarding solids. Add broth to pumpkin-wine mixture. Bring to a simmer; cook 20 minutes. Let cool.
5. Pass soup through a food mill into a clean saucepan, or puree in a food processor in small batches until smooth. (If soup does not reach desired consistency using a food processor, press it through a fine sieve to remove any remaining lumps.) Heat soup in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in cream, sugar, salt, and pepper, and serve.

Rigatoni with Roasted Tomatoes and Broccoli Rabe, This dish was awesome! I thought with having a soup for starters with pasta as the main dish would be super heavy but it was so light. It was a perfect fit!

Ingredients

3 pounds cherry tomatoes
1 bunch of Broccoli Rabe cleaned and ends chopped off
6 garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes, or more to taste
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
3 sprigs of thyme
1 pound rigatoni
1 cup (3 ounces) finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. On a rimmed baking sheet, combine tomatoes, broccoli, garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil, red-pepper flakes, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the Thyme. Toss to coat completely. Roast until tomatoes and broccoli are softened and garlic is golden, tossing halfway through, 40 to 45 mins.

2. Cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain pasta and return to pot. Toss with the tomatoes/broccoli mixture, cheese, lemon juice, and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and reserved pasta water; season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Molasses-Spice Cake, can I just say that I loved this cake! I think they liked it but it defiantly was different. It had a mix of spices with molasses and cream cheese icing with a brown sugar glaze.

Ingredients

Makes one 9-inch cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
• 3 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 to 2 lemons)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
• 1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9-by-2-inch round cake pan. Line bottom with parchment, and butter the parchment.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream, molasses, ginger, lemon zest, and vanilla.
3. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Beat in flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture.
4. Scrape batter into prepared pan, and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack, remove parchment, and turn right side up. Let cool completely. (Cake can be wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerated for up to 1 day.)
5. Spread frosting over top of cake. Drizzle with glaze. Serve immediately.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

Makes enough for one 9-inch cake

• 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Beat in sour cream, then sugar and salt. Frosting can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 day; bring to room temperature, and stir well before using.

Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients

Makes enough for one 9-inch cake

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Heat butter and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Add cream, vanilla, and salt, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and let cool until thickened. Use glaze immediately.

Do any of these dishes make your mouth water? Yum they make me hungry just thinking about them again. I am trying to think of a fun menu for Halloween night for my hubby and I to enjoy while watching Halloween movies and passing out candy. Hopefully something ghoulishes!