Pumpkin Bread

So today, I decided to use up my leftovers from that big can of pumpkin. I guestimated that I had about 15oz of it left and went looking for a recipe. This is the one I landed on:

Cream 1 cup of butter with 3 cups of sugar. Add 3 eggs and mix together. Combine 3 cups of flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1.5 tsp baking soda, and spices (1.5 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cloves, 1.5 tsp nutmeg). Stir into the rest of the batter until moistened. Stir in pumpkin. Then, pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake for an hour at 350 F.

What I didn't realize was that my big bowl I normally cook with was too small! I ended up having to dump all of it into my biggest cooking pan for mixing! XD I did half white sugar and half brown sugar, which would have been fine except the brown sugar is old and dried out. It's created these hard-as-rock lumps that didn't all break up when I was had mixing it into the butter. The uh-oh that I didn't realize at the time was that one of them chipped into my wooden stirring spoon! So.....somewhere in my bread, or the muffin/cupcakes I made.....there is a chip of wood...>.<; (On a side note--what is the difference between a cupcake and a muffin. Is there, besides the frosting??) The only other deviation was that I added in a tsp of ginger and a tsp of vanilla.

For something that I just made on a whim, I sure had a lot of difficulties! On top of the mixing bowl/pan switch-up, I also almost didn't have enough butter. Maybe I should ask my mother for a couple of her bread pans....as it is, I used one square pan and then my 6x muffin tin.....

So, I just took the bread out of the oven. I don't know how long it was in for, I just kept checking it every so often. I did need to cover it with foil so that the top wouldn't burn. I sprinkled the top of the muffins with confectioner's sugar and ate one of theme. NOM! It is very good; a little too sweet for my tastes, though very spiceful. I wonder what butter would do on it. Less sugar next time, I think, and more white than brown.

Is it a fruit? A vegetable? Part II

I had the hardest time eating this thing! And not anything to do with it, but my carbon monoxide alarm kept going off! SO OBNOXIOUS! I kept pushing the button to make it stop and it would......for 2 minutes before blaring off again. It was louder and shriller than my smoke alarms! I opened both windows, turned the fan off, double and triple-checked that everything to do with my stove was off, I even tried unplugging the thing! Note to others: The reason they wrote "DO NOT UNPLUG" across the side is because unplugging it will make it go off. Yes, it will stop just long enough to make you relax, but then it will rein death upon your ears! Also, when you plug it back in, make sure it is actually plugged in. It is heavy and awkwardly balanced so that it pulls itself out of the socket and goes off forever until you realize its because it has fallen half out of the socket. Grrr.

Anyways. Back to this:

This is called a cherimoya! And it is DELICIOUS! It tastes like a mango-flavored pina colada. It looks like a vegetable, but it's actually and equatorial-type fruit they've gotten to grow in California. As it ripens, the green turns black and bruised-looking. You know it's ripe when it feels like a ripe avocado. Don't know what that feels like? Apparently that means it gives slightly when pressed. *shrug* Anyhows, the flesh is wonderful-tasting. It would be good with sticky rice, or in smoothies. It would make an amazing ice cream flavor! I know there has to be an easier way to eat it, though. It has big black seeds riddled through it you have to spit out like a watermelon.  I don't know if they're edible. Maybe I didn't let mine get ripe enough and the seeds and the flesh separate easier then.....hmmmn... I will definitely pay the exorbitant amount for this fruit again.

Is it a fruit? A vegetable?

I was at the Safeway and I found two things! I will eat the other one tomorrow. *nodnod* But today, I tried this one:

It was very strange. It is called a cuke-saurus, or Kiwano (Cause it's from New Zealand), but it also goes by "African Horned Cucumber" and "Jelly Melon." I brought it home all excited. Most online references said that it basically tastes no good, like a cucumber dipped in lemon. So, I wasn't expecting much but bitter and yuck. I thought perhaps I could make a drink out of it, maybe an alcoholic one. But no such luck. Perhaps because the season is off, but it really didn't taste like anything to me. It was slightly bitter, but not enough to really even make a taste. However, the texture was amazing! Not good, but interesting. It's very much like I would imagine Waterlollies being like. Kind of like the inside sacs of an orange, but unpopable. Twas very odd.

I might try buying one again if it's in season, but I wont jump to buy it again. An interesting experience I don't regret trying, but it leaves me unexcited to try it again. I agree with the people who say it's better off used as a decorative piece, much like the mini gourds that come out in the fall. 

Chicken Noodle Soup

I can't believe I haven't made this in forever! I got the idea because Kitchen Boy wasn't feeling good and I was starting to get the cooking bug. (It was a good idea, too, because I got sick the day after!)

So, after finally deciding to make it, I had to figure out a way around problem number one: I don't have any pots big enough to cook a whole chicken in! I finally settled on buying a rotisserie chicken. However, to still get that delicious soup flavor, I removed all the good meat parts and boiled the bones and skin and such in water. I added in some celery, onion, and garlic. This makes a wonderful broth. Generally, you boil that until the meat is cooked enough to easily come off the bone. Since I didn't have that step, I just let it boil while I made the noodles (beat 2 eggs, add 2 half shellfulls of water and salt, mix in flour until stiff, roll out and cut in strips, let dry) . I tore up the chicken so that it was bite-sized and cut up some carrots and potatoes. When the noodles were dry (I got tired of waiting and threw them in the oven for a bit), I took out all the bones and unedibles and added everything else in along with thyme, parsley, a little basil and maybe some other spice. Simmer until the noodles are soft, then serve!

Since it's really wet here this time of year, the noodles would not dry! I finally turned the oven onto a low heat temperature and dried them in there. However, waiting so long, I did boil off a lot of my water that I should have added back in. After two full bowls of soup, I was left with a lot of soup parts and not a lot of liquid. To remedy that, I just heat it up with an extra cup of water and a bouillon cube to simulate extra broth. Though, it's flavorful enough, I may be able to just add some more water and have it be fine.






Delicious soup! Kitchen Boy loved it. And it was amusing how excited he was to make his own noodles. :)

Stirstirstir