Lasagna Soup

Sorry for the lack of posts again lately. I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month, and trying to write 50,000 words in 30 days is surprisingly time-consuming. With Thanksgiving coming up, too, I wouldn't expect too many posts in the next couple weeks if I were you. That being said, let's get on with it.

I'd like to introduce you to one of my new favorite soups. It's really easy to make, and it tastes delicious. I expected to enjoy this recipe, but I didn't expect to love it quite as much as I do. Justin decided as we were eating the leftovers that it kind of tastes like the adult version of spaghetti-o's, which is probably why I'm in love with it. Spaghetti-o's are one of my inner child's ultimate favorite foods--yes they're terrible for you, I know, but I really don't care. If you're not a fan of canned pasta, however, don't be scared into not trying this recipe. It's really nothing like spaghetti-o's; Justin just thought that the sauce in particular reminded him of it a bit, but in a good way, I swear. Give it a try, and see what you think!

Chopped Challenge #7: Apple Cobbler with Peanut Butter-Cinnamon Ice Cream

For our seventh Chopped challenge, Justin decided to give me cinnamon, pancake mix, half-and-half, and Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. Taking the obvious route, I chose to make a dessert. (We had salads for dinner, in case you're curious.) Cinnamon and peanut butter both made me think of apples, so I settled on making an apple pie. I used green apples because I like the bit of sourness paired with all that sugar, but you can use your favorite apples instead.

Initially I wanted to grind the Peanut Butter Captain Crunch in my food processor to use it in a graham cracker-like crust, but I wasn't sure how well that would work out when baking with a bit of a runny filling in it. Graham cracker crusts are usually used for thicker fillings like pudding or cheesecake, and so I wasn't sure if the crust would get soggy from the apple filling. Instead, I decided to combine the pancake mix and the ground cereal in a streusel-style topping.

Sausage and Tortellini Soup

It's getting colder outside, so you can expect to start seeing a lot more soup recipes on here. I love soup because it warms you up but also because it tends to be fairly low in calories, as long as you're not making anything that's heavy on the cream. This soup has a wonderful combination of Italian flavors, so it makes a nice alternative to a heavy, pasta dinner. Try it out next time you're craving spaghetti. For an even lighter version, use Italian-style chicken or turkey sausage instead of pork.

Bourbon Pumpkin Seeds

Every year when Justin carves pumpkins for Halloween, he saves all the seeds to make some sort of snack for himself. The past few times, he's been disappointed with the result, so this year he tried 4 different options to come up with one he really liked. This one was his favorite, which I could have predicted since it has bourbon in the recipe.

Halloween Buttercream Fudge

Before I get to the recipe, I just want to apologize for the lack of updates in the past couple weeks. Justin and I were kind of busy for a bit there. Our first wedding anniversary was also earlier this month, and so we were out and about some, including a day trip to Williamsburg to go ziplining. (It was great fun, by the way--sometimes terrifying, but great fun.) Then I had a few recipes that I tried out and intended to post. However, they just didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, and I didn't want to post anything that I thought was subpar. A lot of things combined to cause my lack of posts. Either way, I'm back now, and hopefully I should be back to posting with semi-regularity.

My first post back is this lovely, simple fudge. It tastes like buttercream frosting, and just for Halloween, I made it in layers that look like candy corn. I've made fudge from scratch before, and I even have a specific pot that I refer to as my fudge pot. It was given to me by my mom, and it's the only pot she ever used to make fudge. (It's a Club aluminium pot with a super thick bottom that makes it a lot more difficult to accidentally burn whatever anything delicate that you make in it.) Still, fudge can be somewhat of a hassle to make from scratch. You have to make sure it gets to the exact right temperature, or it won't set properly. It can't be too humid out, or it won't set properly. You can't look at it wrong, or it won't set properly. You get the idea. This fudge involves none of that. Honestly, the most difficult and time-consuming part of this process was cutting it into triangles. This is seriously the easiest dessert you will ever make. You have no excuse not to make a batch or three.

Red Pepper & Gouda Soup

I'm going to start by letting you know that this soup is dangerous. I know, you think I'm going to say, "It's dangerously good." While that is true, that's not what I was going to say. I actually injured myself making this soup. It starts out with eight red bell peppers, and by the time that I finished dicing up all of them, I had a blister on my hand. I told you, it's dangerous. Be warned.

That being said, it was totally worth it because this soup really is delicious. It doesn't have complicated, multi-layered flavors all working in harmony to produce an excellent overall flavor; the taste is simple and straight forward, and sometimes that's all you really need. You can taste the red peppers. You can taste the gouda. What else do you need?

Chicken & Dumplings

The weather has finally cooled off enough here in Virginia for me to start making soup. I love soup. I could almost eat soup every night and not get tired of it--there are just so many wonderful options!

I have this Paul Prudhomme cookbook (If you don't know Paul Prudhomme, you should check him out; he's one of the quintessential Cajun cooking authorities.) that has a recipe for Creole chicken and dumplings. Justin and I like the idea of it, so we thought we'd make our own version. I started with Prudhomme's recipe which has you begin by frying the chicken, which gives it great flavor and texture. I've never had fried chicken in a soup before, but I really enjoyed it. From there, I adapted my usual chicken and dumpling recipe, and altogether it morphed into what you see here. It was really delicious, and Justin and I are both looking forward to making this again soon.

Ultimate Fall Float

Who doesn't like fall? It's clearly the best season, and if you disagree, I just don't think that we can be friends anymore. The weather here in Virginia can't seem to make up its mind as to whether or not it's fall yet though, which makes this float the perfect dessert right now. Floats are an essential summer treat, but this one gives you all the flavors of fall together in one glass. It's the perfect treat to cool you off from the late summer-like warmth and give you delicious dreams of the weather and wonderfulness fall will bring.

Snickerdoodles

This has never happened before, but for some strange reason, this season I'm somehow associating football with cookies. I'm not sure why that is, but on Sunday we'll make it halfway through whatever one o'clock game we're watching and I'll get the irresistible urge to bake cookies. It's so weird, but who am I to say no to baking cookies?

Football also makes me want true fall weather so badly that I'll do anything I can to emulate that fall feeling. In this case, that means I'm making the quintessential fall cookie--snickerdoodles! Justin, however, insists that snickerdoodles are a winter cookie because that's the only time he ever got them as a kid, but I told him he's crazy. They're coated in cinnamon; they're a fall cookie.

Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

The first time Justin or I ever had Brussels sprouts was in England during our honeymoon. We stayed with a friend in the city of Kenilworth for the first few days we were there, and her roommate made oven-roasted Brussels sprouts one night. Brussels sprouts get a pretty bad rap, so I wasn't particularly excited about it but figured I'd try them anyway. I'm glad I did because they were surprisingly tasty. The key, apparently, is to prepare and cook them properly.

Despite being more of a cold-weather vegetable, Brussels sprouts have appeared on almost every grocery list we've made this summer. Justin has become a bit obsessed with them. It's become his go-to answer every time I ask, "What should we have on the side?" This is the really simple, reltively quick way we've been preparing them lately.

Pumpkin Pudding Cookies

If you like your cookies crisp and crunchy, walk away now; this recipe is not for you. Sometime a few years ago, Justin found something that said that putting pudding mix in cookie dough will make the cookies turn out more cake-like. Doing that resulted in some of my favorite chocolate chip cookies ever. No matter how long you store them, they're still wonderfully soft.

The other night Justin felt like having dessert and settled on cookies, but we were low on supplies. No chocolate chips. No nuts. Nothing fun. We did, however, have 4 boxes of pumpkin pudding mix. (Justin stocks up when it's available in the fall.) Add in some pumpkin pie spice, and voila, pumpkin pudding cookies. He says they have a nice, strong pumpkin flavor, even though the only pumpkin flavor in them comes from the pudding mix. For a little extra goodness, you could shape the dough into balls and roll them in cinnamon before baking to give them a snickerdoodle kind of feel.

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Caramel Sauce and Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Yesterday was Justin's birthday, and it's sort of become tradition for me to bake him a cheesecake. The other day I found a recipe for a what I thought would be a great autumn cheesecake, but when I told Justin about it, his eyes glazed over and he started to drool a bit. I knew then that this would have to be his birthday cheesecake. So much for waiting for fall!

I made very few adaptations to the original recipe, though I added the cinnamon whipped cream. I can't tell you from experience how good this cheesecake is because, well, I don't like pumpkin--even the smell grosses me out--but Justin's had three pieces today, so I think that speaks for itself.