Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Alright look, Thanksgiving isn't my favorite holiday. If you're into eating yourself into a coma, I can definitely see why you'd love Thanksgiving. I like it because I enjoy cooking and there's good food but I don't know, it's just pretty boring. You eat and then what? Watch football? YEAH RIGHT! Football blows. But do you know what's awesome about Thanksgiving? It's a gateway holiday to WAY COOLER holidays, i.e. Christmas and my birthday!! That I can totally get on board with.

Thanksgiving food does rule pretty hard, though. It's so warm and comforting and you can definitely taste when a Thanksgiving dinner is prepared with love. It tastes like pure love, for crying out loud! So I'm bringing you some love, via pumpkin cranberry bread.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cups dried cranberries

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease 2 9x5 loaf pans.
2. Sift together your dry ingredients and your spices. Set aside.
   
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, oil, water, sugar, vanilla and eggs until smooth. Stir in your dry ingredients. Once the dry ingredients are all incorporated with the wet, fold in your cranberries until they're distributed all throughout. Divide the batter between your prepared pans. Sprinkle the tops of each with an equal amount of your walnut topping.
   
4. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until your a knife comes out clean. Let your loaves cool completely before you attempt to cut them! Serve slices with cream cheese frosting. Thin out some frosting and swirl it on top if you're feeling adventurous~.
   

Topping

• 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons cold butter

1. Toss your walnuts together with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Chop your cold butter up into small pieces and add it into your bowl. Using your (clean!) fingers, work the butter into the brown sugar and walnuts. Try to get everything pretty crumbly and coated nicely. Store in the fridge until you're ready to sprinkle.
   

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon heavy cream (if needed)

1. Cream together your butter and cream cheese in a bowl until they've both gotten to know each other. Add your powdered sugar slowly and continue to blend it all together. Add your vanilla and blend some more. If it's too thick for you, add your cream and see how it looks then! Spread some on your cooled bread and enjoy.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'll be sure to make a post with pictures about mine :D

Baby, don't act like that, I'm sorry

Hi.... :( Are you mad at me? I'M SORRY! I really am. If it makes you feel any better, it's not like I've been burning the kitchen up with homerun recipes. I'VE BEEN SO...UGH. I've been doing less than nothing in the kitchen. Every time I'm in there and I make something, I don't think it's good enough and then I lose all desire to do anything else out there. I'm in a slump! I expect to get out of it soon, especially since THE HOLIDAYS ARE HEEEEEEERRRRRRREEEEE!!! Only 37 days til CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!1 But yes, I'm really sorry and I will post something soon, I promise :( I love you.....

Crockpot Chicken

Easy one today. Seriously, this one is really easy.

Crockpots rule, right? Right. They totally rule. You can make anything in them! Plus, you're not a slave to the crock pot. You throw the stuff in, press a couple buttons and you walk away. If you think you don't know how to cook, get a crock pot.

Anywho, this chicken is delicious and awesome and really convenient. It looks all together in the crockpot over there but once you try to get it out, the meat falls off all the bones. Seriously! Oh and leftovers can always get put to good use.. on pizza, in soups, etc etc forever and ever.

Crock Pot Chicken
adapted from OurBestBites

• 1 whole chicken small enough to fit nicely into your crockpot
• Salt based seasoning (I use poultry seasoning and add a bit extra kosher salt)
• Minced garlic (amount depends on the size of your chicken)
• Herbs (I use rosemary and thyme and again, the amount depends on the size of your chicken)

1. Clean out your bird! Or be smart like me and get someone that loves you to clean out your bird while you relax.
   
2. Make some aluminum foil balls and place them in the bottom of your crockpot. Make them large enough so that your chicken will sit on top of them and not touch the bottom. This will ensure even cooking and it'll make sure that your chicken won't sit in the juices it cooks off.
3. In a small bowl, combine your minced garlic and herbs. Mix 'em all together. Gently massage the top of your chicken so the skin separates from the breast. Take a small spoon and spoon some garlic-herb mixture and carefully spoon some of the mixture under the skin. Now lose the spoon and get your hand up in there to make sure you get it all spread out. Continue doing this until it's all spread out under the skin.
   
4. Rub your seasoning all over this bad boy. Do it pretty liberally. Place the chicken breast side up on the aluminum foil balls. Pop the top on, set it on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 5-6 hours. Setting it depends on the size of your chicken and the size of your crockpot. Look, you know your pot and bird way better than I know your pot and bird! And I use a meat thermometer to put my questioning mind to rest. I suggest this if you're wary about how long to cook chicken and stuff. Okay now you can eat and enjoy!

Million Dollar Chocolate Cake

If you don't like chocolate, you should probably stop reading 'cause it's chocked full of it. This cake wound satisfy any chocolate craving a few times over. And then some, to be honest. This cake is a serious cake. So rich and delicious.

This cake was a lot of fun to make. I started it at 3:00am (seriously!) and let it hang out overnight so I could get some sleep. I wrapped up the layers in plastic wrap, stuck 'em in the fridge and made the filling and ganache the next day. Easy peasy.

I decided to call this a Million Dollar Chocolate Cake because it tastes way more expensive and complicated than it actually is. It tastes rich and decadent, despite only using cocoa powder (Hershey's) in the cake itself and the filling. I did use chocolate to make the ganache, though!


Million Dollar Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 and 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 2 cups hot coffee
  
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Add your shortening into a bowl and pour hot coffee on top of the shortening. Let it sit for a minute to melt the shortening. Whisk it together until it is completely melted. Set aside.
3. Sift together the following ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Turn your face away from the bowl while you're doing this. I know it sounds silly but seriously, there's a lot of chocolatey dust that flies around when you're sifting everything together.
4. Add your dry ingredients into your coffee mixture and whisk everything together. Add in your eggs and vanilla and whisk the batter until it is nice and smooth and velvety!
5. Pour your batter into well greased round pans. I had enough batter left over to make 6 cupcakes. You could also probably squeeze out a third layer if you wanted instead!
6. Bake in your preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before you assemble.

Chocolate Filling

• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  
• 1/3 cup milk

1. Add the butter, vanilla and cocoa powder to a large bowl. Use a hand mixer and blend it together into a smooth paste. Add 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar and beat. Alternatively add the milk and the rest of the sugar until it desires the consistency you're looking for. I prefer the filling to be smooth and creamy.

Chocolate Ganache

• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips
  
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

1. Place the chocolate into a bowl and set aside. Add heavy cream to a small saucepan over medium heat and heat to just before boiling. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes and then whisk the mixture together until it is smooth and shiny. Refrigerate for a few minutes to thicken it up. Whisk again and spoon a bit in the middle of the cake. Spread it from the middle to the outsides of the cake, letting it drip down.

Cupcakes from leftover batter

Oh, also, don't worry about the coffee. The cake doesn't actually taste like coffee. It just brings out the flavor of the chocolate and gives the entire cake a much deeper flavor. If you really don't want to use coffee, you can just use boiling water. But seriously, give the coffee a try.

Best Cinnamon Buns Ever

Have I mentioned how much I love making yeast breads? Seriously, I freaking love making yeast breads. They take a bit of time but that's a part that I like. I'm a pretty patient person so waiting it out to let dough rise isn't any skin off of my nose. And the smell of yeast breads being made is so warm and comforting and aaahhhh. It's like being in your own personal bakery. How could you not love that?

I'm lucky enough to have a knack for working with yeast. Well, now that I say that, none of my breads will ever rise from now on. But anyway, I've yet to have a yeast problem. Even last night, despite breaking my thermometer a few weeks ago, everything turned out perfectly.

I'm going to take you through the process quickly because using yeast in cooking can be kind of intimidating.

Okay, so first, you're going to want to add your warm water to a large bowl. I use a metal bowl because it keeps the water nice and warm - a perfect environment for yeast to do it's thing.

So, add your warm water (100-115 degrees) to a large bowl and add the sugar. Use a whisk to make sure it gets nice and dissolved. Once your sugar is dissolved, sprinkle in your yeast and whisk it up a bit. Let it sit for 10 minutes or until it gets nice and foamy...

This is what it should look like after 10 minutes! I usually let it sit over a hot water bath to make sure the water stays nice and warm and toasty.

Next, add in your oil and salt. Give it all a good whisk. Now add your flour, one cup at a time, stirring in between cups...

Cups 1-3 can be whisked, cups 4 and 5 usually need a wooden spoon and by cup 6, you better wash up because you're going to need to get a bit hand-sy with it.

Smash it around for a bit in the bowl, but once it all comes together, dump it onto a well floured surface and pound on it for a few minutes. Seriously, give it hell. Beat it up, knock it's lights out. It thinks that outfit makes you look fat. Make that dough PAY.

Once you've released a good amount of rage on the dough, grab another bowl (or clean out the one you started with) and spray it with a good amount of cooking spray. Plop the dough ball inside, and smoosh it around so it gets lightly coated. Tuck it in for a nap with a towel for a little resting time...

Now leave it alone! In an hour, you should have something like this...

Oh my...

Give it a few good punches to knock it back down to size. Continue kneading it on a lightly floured surface until you feel it's paid it's dues. Then divide the dough in half!

Form each half into a similar size rectangle-y log. Use a pizza cutter and cut 6 pieces out of each log. Try to keep them relatively the same size. One at a time, roll them out as long as you can get them and brush them with melted butter. Sprinkle some cinnamon mixture on top of the butter and then roll those suckers up..

Once you roll it up, cut it in half and place each half cut side up in a well greased baking pan...

Oh, did I mention that this recipe makes a crapload of cinnamon buns? Or rolls, whatever! Yeah well it does! That up there is only one half of the dough. So if you like, aren't having company or aren't looking to give these out as delicious gifts, cut this recipe in half. OR before you cut one half into six, just throw it in a loaf pan and bake it up as a loaf of bread. Mmm carbs!

Now let these little suckers sleep under the towel for another 30 minutes. They're growing buns...they need their rest, okay? And if you're saying to yourself, "I thought they were going to be full-sized buns...these look mini!" Well slow your roll (see what I did there) 'cause look what they turn into when they wake up...

Throw these puppies into a preheated 350 degree oven and bask in the smell of deliciousness for 30-40 minutes or until they're golden brown. I under cooked them by 10 minutes and then when we were ready for them the next day, I stuck them back in for 10 minutes. Perfect!

My pans runeth over..

Now, because I'm not one to let my buns go naked...

Oh god...

Have fun eating yourself into a delicious sugary coma!

Best Cinnamon Buns Ever

• 2 cups warm water at 100-115 degrees F
  
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 cups flour (I use white, works out fine for me)
• 1/4 cup cinnamon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
  

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water. Use a thermometer to make sure the water isn't too hot or too cold. Once the sugar is dissolved, stir in yeast. Let it sit for 10 minutes or until the yeast creates a tan foam on top. Check out the picture if you're not sure what it should look like. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Add 1 cup of flour in at a time. You may need to get your hands in there at the end.
   
2. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface. Take some pent up aggression out on it! Clean out the bowl you just used and spray it with cooking spray (or use another bowl). Cover the bowl with a warm, damp cloth or towel. Allow to rise the dough to rise for one hour. It should double in size.
   
3. After an hour, punch the dough back down and transfer it to the floured surface again. Knead it for a few more minutes and divide it in half. Shape into similar shaped logs and cut each log into 6 pieces with a pizza cutter.
   
4. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the microwave and mix together the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. Roll out each cut piece of dough. It should be about 1- 1 1/2 inches thick and as long as you can get it. The longer you roll it, the more delicious, cinnamony layers there will be! Brush each piece with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Roll the piece up completely and cut in half with a pizza cutter. Place each piece cut side up in a greased cooking pan. Once all of your pieces are rolled, cut and in the pan, cover the pans with the towel again and let it rise for another 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes, reheat any leftover butter and lightly brush the tops of the buns with it. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 30-40 minutes.
   

Cinnamon Bun Icing

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
• 2-3 tablespoons cream, half and half or milk

1. Sift the sugar into a large bowl and add the vanilla extract. Add 2 tablespoons of cream or milk and whisk. Continue adding cream, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, until it becomes spreadable. It'll get thinner when you spread it on top of your buns so don't thin it out too much!
   
2. Spread on top of warm cinnamon buns and pray for forgiveness.
   

Southwestern Quesadillas

Just a quick update and recipe today.

I used to get southwestern egg rolls as an appetizer at Chili's all the time when we went. Rather than recreating them in egg roll form, I just went ahead and made them into quesadillas because the chopping and stuff can be time consuming and well, I was too hungry to wait for them to bake (the ones at the restaurant are fried, though). These are delicious and once you chop and prep everything, they're a breeze to put together and cook.

You could dip these guys in whatever you want. I had a bowl of salsa and a bowl of ranch dressing that I put some chili powder in. I preferred the dressing over the salsa times a thousand! I also made boxed Spanish rice, which is a gift from god. So good and so quick and easy.



Southwestern Quesadillas

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halfs
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, minced
• 1/4 cup green onion, minced
• 2/3 cup corn
• 1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 1/4 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/4 cup diced jalapeno peppers
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1-1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 10 tortillas, 6 inch

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Season one side of each chicken breast with salt and pepper and place the chicken season side down in the hot skillet. Season the other side. Cook for 5-7 minutes and then flip, Cook another 5-7 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear. Remove from heat and let the chicken rest and cool.
2. While the chicken cooks, this is the time you should prep all of your ingredients if you haven't already. Mince, shred, drain, rinse, etc! Keep an eye on the chicken, though.
   
3. In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add in your red peppers and green onions and cook until tender. About 5 minutes. While that's getting soft, shred your chicken. Add the shredded chicken, corn, beans, corn, peppers, spinach, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Mix everything together and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring almost constantly. Remove from the heat and stir the cheese in.
4. So, your filling is all finished now. It's assembly time! Clean out the skillet you used to make your chicken in. Heat it on medium and spray some cooking spray onto it. Place a tortilla in the skillet and spoon some of the filling onto the tortilla. use your spoon to smoosh it out a bit. Top it with another tortilla. Cook for about 5 minutes on that side. Use a spatula to life it and check it's browness. When ready to flip, spray the top tortilla with cooking spray and flip it over. Give it another 5 minutes for that side. Turn up the heat if you want them to brown faster, but watch them closely!
5. Cool for about a minute and then cut into 4 triangles. Now dip and eat!

Okay, so my contest kind of failed horribly. That's okay, I won't give up on them just yet. I have a feeling next months will be better. So whatever! But I do have a winner! Thank you, random.org.

Nicole from Pittsburgh, PA!
via twitter!

I'll get in touch with you asap to send out your prize. I've got a cute set of oven mitts and kitchen towels to give out next month. Hopefully I can scrounge up some more entries!

Hoagie Spread and a Giveaway!

My entire family originates from Philadelphia so I am no stranger to Philadelphia or it's foods. Does pork roll or scrapple ring a bell with anyone? They both ring several delicious bells for me. And if you're curious and decide to look up what scrapple is, don't judge me. People that have grown up with it love it, okay?!

I've talked about hoagies with a friend from a different state before, and he said to them, hoagies are always hot. That's soooo weird to me. When someone says hoagie, I immediately think of lunch meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, raw onions, vinegar and mayo. THAT is a hoagie (sorry, Paden).

My mom used to make hoagie dip years ago but when I talked to her about it, she used salad dressing, too. I wanted to keep this as hoagie-like as possible so I decided against any salad dressing. I kind of had to sacrifice the "dip" part because of it, but spread works out just fine for me.

What you need!

Hoagie Spread

• 1/2 pound genoa salami, sliced thin
• 1/2 pound cooked ham, sliced thin
• 1 pound american cheese, sliced
  
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 onion, chopped (half is using a large onion)
  
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 1 tomato, diced
• several hoagie rolls torn into pieces

1. Chop salami, ham and cheese into small pieces. This can be kind of tedious if you don't like chopping, but keep going! Chop it all up. Combine the meat and cheese together in a large bowl. Chop your onion into small pieces and add it to your bowl o' meat.
   
2. In a medium bowl, add mayo, vinegar and oregano. Whisk until smooth. Add half of the mayo mixture into the large bowl and using a spatula, mix the mayo and chopped meat and onion together. Add the rest of the mayo and continue mixing until it's all incorporated.
3. Top with shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes before serving. Spread it onto torn pieces of soft hoagie rolls. Mmm, tastes just like something from a Philly deli.
   

Oh hey, do you know what time it is? It's time for a...

Hooray!! Here's what you can win this month..

Hooray!! An apron!! Let one tough cupcake help you stay clean in the kitchen!

There are 2 ways to enter. You can do either one or both!

1. Comment this entry telling me your favorite kind of sandwich (and your email address!)
   
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet this from yours: I'm entering for a chance to win an apron from a @onetoughcupcake giveaway!

Giveaway ends September 3rd!