0 Gratitude (and a Recipe Sharing Friend)

This time of year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, breeds thankfulness. Unfortunately, I am easily overwhelmed in my life, and it sometimes feels paralyzing, and this time of year is so full that it is especially overwhelming.  I am engulfed with the messes in my house, the responsibilities that I carry, the individual and enormous needs of each of my children, things I need to do and things I want to do.  During this season, even the fun things (like holiday gift buying, baking, card sending, and decorating) can feel overwhelming. 

I have to stop and breathe and focus on GRATITUDE.

Gratitude is a powerful force.  It is more than a fluffy idea.  There is science behind it!

The research that has emerged recently on gratitude is incredible. 

Here are a couple of interesting pieces on the power of gratitude.

This short piece, by my hero Brene Brown, is about the link between Gratitude and Joy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IjSHUc7TXM

And this fun experiment measuring the link between Gratitude and Happiness, from SoulPancake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHv6vTKD6lg

So, I am stopping for a moment and making a list of 10 things for which I am grateful TODAY. 

Some things I am grateful for are:

1.     The health of our family

2.     Wonderful schools with great faculty and administration that are impacting my kids everyday

3.     Good coffee

4.     Meaningful work with incredible students

5.     Laughter

6.     Neighbors with whom we can loan ingredients and tools, and lend a hand and feel so not alone in this life.

7.     God’s faithfulness- His mercies that are new every morning!

8.     The seasons

9.     A good night’s sleep under a fluffy comforter

10. Friends- old and new, near and far

#10- friends old and new, is the inspiration for this post.  I have a new friend, Sandi.  She is a very talented, wise and generous woman that I have gotten to know this fall.  She and her husband are in our small group at church and one of the unexpected blessings of this new friendship are the food and recipes that have come from her kitchen.  Because we share a meal together each week at group, we have the chance to eat each other’s food weekly!  (That is not a typical opportunity in many friendships).

She is a great cook and has so many recipes that are NEW to me.  It has been a boon for me and my kitchen! Through the years of my food blogging, one of the things that has kept me at it (when I wonder why in the world am I doing this in the vast number of food blogs on the internet) is knowing that some friend or some unknown friend, is finding inspiration and help with what to make for dinner.

Sandi’s gift of new, delicious, do-able recipes has been so great.  I couldn’t decide which recipe to share with you that I have tried of Sandi’s lately, so I decided to share both!  At the rate I am posting lately, I might should double-up when I do sneak the time to create a blog post!  

Recipe #1 is her Apple Cole Slaw.

I love it!

It is sweet and tangy and healthy!  It is good as a side with just about anything!

I have made it twice and I approached it differently each time, and it produced different results.  I liked them both.  I made it once in my food processor and it yielded a much finer, juicer slaw (think Chick fil a slaw texture) and the second time I chopped with a knife and it yielded more of a loose, crunchy salad.

Apple Cole Slaw

Salad

1 apple, chopped

4 slices pineapple, chopped

2 cups cabbage, chopped

Dressing

2 Tbsp. mayo

2 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. sugar

¼ tsp. salt

Mix together the dressing in a small bowl or measuring cup.

Toss together the apples, pineapple and cabbage.

Pour dressing over. Stir to completely coat.

Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before eating.

Recipe #2 is Nani’s Cake

It's called Nani's cake because the lady who gave her the recipe got it from her Nani.   

My mom tasted it and said she thinks she has this recipe from somewhere in her past and called it Butter Pecan Cake.  I'd call it Sticky Coconut Bundt Cake.  It is a simple- throw it in a bowl, stir and bake cake.  It has a can of coconut pecan sticky frosting stirred into the batter- so it needs no frosting on top.  It gets even stickier and moister after a couple of days, so it is a great make-ahead dessert.  The coconut and nuts are not dominant, so even people who don’t love those ingredients would like it, I think.

Nani’s Cake

1 box yellow butter cake mix

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 cup milk

1 can (Pillsbury)- coconut pecan frosting*

1 tsp almond extract

Beat all together (including frosting).

Spray bundt pan generously.

Bake 350 for 40 minutes.

It gets better with each day so try not to eat it all the first day.

 * we used Betty Crocker frosting because they didn't have Pillsbury

Another gift from Sandi was the book, Not By Sight by John Bloom (President of Desiring God ministries). Click the link to read more about it.  It has been a refreshing morning read this fall.  I highly recommend it. 

So, thank you, Sandi, for sharing your kindness, and generous gifts.  What a blessing.

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I hope in the midst of these busy December days we can all purpose to spell our days with gratitude.

But be forewarned, it is sometimes vulnerable to do so!

PERSONAL CONFESSION: Surprisingly the act of writing the gratitude list in this post felt challenging- though in a good way.  I had to dig deep, and be still for a few moments to really think about the things for which I am grateful today. 

And the act of sharing the list feels/felt vulnerable and somehow risky, and I wonder if that may be part of what holds us back from practicing and expressing gratitude more! 

Detail: Gratitude (and a Recipe Sharing Friend)

0 Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

We just had our fall Social Work department dinner last weekend. As we were signing up for what we would bring, I pleased to see that Debbie signed up for her Pumpkin Cake.  It wouldn't be the fall supper without it.  It is a tradition.  It is so delicious.  It's the most moist, perfectly pumpkin, slightly cinnamon-y cake with lick-your-fork cream cheese frosting.  I anticipate it every time.  I had never tried to make it myself…until this week. What was I thinking?

When I asked her for the recipe to the cake she recited the ingredients and proportions.  I was impressed.  When I asked her for specific directions for making the cake she replied, "You make it like you make a cake! You know: cream the first few ingredients, add the dry, just make a cake."   Debbie is a no-nonsense woman.  She is practical, intentional, and wise.

She always brings the unfrosted cake, along with a container of cream cheese frosting already prepared and frosts it on location.  How smart is that? No worrying about the frosting getting messed up, or the cake getting smashed in transit. (This cake doesn't require the "melding" time of having the frosting on for a day or so because this cake is so moist.)

After frosting the cake she handed the bowl to my husband for licking clean,  knowing his intense love for cream cheese frosting.  She just knows.  I'm telling you, the woman is wise. (This post was another day she spoke wisdom in my life that I wrote about.)

After eating a slice on Friday night, and wishing for another slice, I decided to make it as soon as I could buy a can of pumpkin at the store this week.  Lucy and I made it together and I told her my plan was to send a slice to each of the kids' teachers.  That way I could bless the teachers and restrict my eating of it to a couple of slices!  I knew I would whittle away with a slice here, and a bite there, and a fork-full here all week if I didn't ship it off.  

Lucy and I made the cake.  It is really fast to put together.  Yesterday I sliced pieces and put a "Happy Fall! We are thankful for you! love, The Hunts" post it notes on the containers.  My kids took them to their teachers.  Hopefully they felt the love and gratitude we tried to channel into the cake!

This recipe is so simple, it's hard to believe.  It is so good.  

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

from Debbie Simpler

1 cup canola oil

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 can pureed pumpkin

2 cups flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350˚.

Place oil, eggs, and sugar in mixing bowl.  Blend well.  Add pumpkin.  Blend well.  Add dry ingredients.  Mix thoroughly. 

Grease and flour Bundt pan (or use my favorite- Baker’s Joy)

Pour batter into pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes depending on your oven.

Test for doneness with toothpick.  It should come out clean.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Using a table knife shimmy around the edges.

Turn cake out onto cooling rack. 

Cool well.

In the meantime make the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. block cream cheese, softened

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

4 cups of powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix together the cream cheese and butter until thoroughly blended. 

Add powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth.  Add vanilla. 

When cake is cooled frost cake.

 

 If you are excited about Pumpkin season, check out these Pumpkin Muffins, or this Pumpkin Syrup for Coffee, or these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies that I wrote about in years past.  And if you have a Trader Joe's in your city, just walk in the door and you will be inspired- pumpkin butter, and breakfast  bars, pumpkin bread mix, herbal tea, and pumpkin cranberry scone mix. Of course I couldn't resist buying several of these items.  

I hope you can find a reason to make a Pumpkin Cake (or two) this season! 

 

Detail: Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

0 Raspberry Almond Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

I love how children shed light on things by questioning what we adults sometimes don't think to question.  

Like why is a hamburger called a "hamburger" instead of a "beefburger"?

Or why is  a "step parent" called a "step" parent?

Or is he a 2nd cousin, or a cousin-in-law, or a cousin twice-removed,  and why?

Or why is coffee cake called "coffee cake" if it's not coffee-flavored?

I made this yummy coffee cake recently, that my friend, Haley introduced me to at church. 

When I made it I asked the kids if they wanted to try it, and Lainey said, “No, thanks, I don’t like coffee.”  

I said, “Oh no, there’s no coffee in it, it’s almond raspberry cream cheese! You love all of those things!”

To which she replied, “Then why is it called coffee cake?” 

I said, “Well, you eat it with coffee.”

"But I don't drink coffee."

"True, but you don't have to drink coffee with it, you just could."

“Why?”, she asked. 

“Because it’s like breakfast cake, kinda, I guess, or afternoon cake with coffee…you know, I am not sure.  It’s kinda confusing, huh?”

So I did what any good mom would do.  I googled:  “Origin of Coffee Cake”.

And here’s what I discovered:

According to Wikipedia: (bold my addition)

Coffee cake is a common cake or sweetbread available in many countries.  The term “coffee cake” can refer to any of the following: 

A class of cakes intended to be eaten alongside coffee (for example, as part of a breakfast meal) or that may be eaten during a “coffee break” or offered to guests as a gesture of hospitality on or around a coffee table.  Under this definition, a coffee cake does not necessarily contain coffee.  They are typically single layer cakes that may be square or rectangular like a Stollen or loaf shaped rectangular cakes, or they may be ring shaped.   Coffee cakes may be flavored with cinnamon or other spices, seeds, nuts and fruits.  These cakes sometimes have a crumbly or crumb topping called streusel and/or light glaze drizzle.

Since I love coffee, and would choose to drink it morning, mid day and evening.  I could, by this definition, eat this cake 3 times a day! Fabulous! 

And since this definition doesn’t narrow down things very much, my suggestion is that we come up with a definition of what’s NOT a coffee cake. 

A coffee cake is a cake that is NOT covered with thick frosting, served at a wedding or with candles on top for a birthday. Pretty much, that’s what’s I surmise is not a coffee cake.  Most everything else could potentialy qualify.  

This coffee cake is one of the yummiest I have ever had.  The day Haley brought it to church,  I tasted a sliver, and proceeded to walk around the crowd, asking people if they knew who made this cake!? I found out it was Haley and in the next few minutes, people started asking me about the cake – if I knew who made it!  By the end of the morning, 3 or 4 of us had requested the recipe.  She said she got it from a Cookbook from her daughter's school.  My mom has a theory that church cookbooks/school/neighborhood cookbooks, etc. where people submit their favorite and best recipes, you find winning dishes.  Individuals have taken their best, tried and true recipes, and put their name beside it and put them in the cookbook.  This qualifies.

 It’s like an almond crumble cake– meets a raspberry cream cheese danish.

Raspberry Almond CreamCheese Coffee Cake

 

2 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter, cold and diced into pieces

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp almond extract

1 egg

8 oz softened cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

 

1/2 cup raspberry preserves (I prefer a little more than this)

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat 350. Grease and flour 10" spring form pan.

Combine flour and ¾ cup sugar; cut in butter to make coarse crumb. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture. To remaining crumbs add baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, almond extract and egg. Blend well. Spread over bottom and 2 inches up sides of pan.

Combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg. Blend well. Pour into batter prepared pan. Carefully spoon preserves over batter. Combine reserved crumbs and almonds and sprinkle over preserves. Bake 45-55 minutes; or until cream cheese is set and crust is golden.

So if you have a need for a sweet treat for breakfast with coffee, or for "coffee break" (if your workplace has those), or to serve at your coffee table, I highly recommend this one.  

(Oh, and this almond shortbread,  and almond poundcake, or this gorilla bread, or plum cake,  or apple cake,  or lemon berry poundcake , and my go-to-sour cream poundcake.  I think these all might qualify for coffee cake! )

Detail: Raspberry Almond Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

0 Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

In the last post I wrote about our love for pumpkin spice everything. Since then, I have been working on making pumpkin spice whoopie pies in my kitchen.  My new friend, Hannah, from church, made them for an event in September and we were all wowed by them.  Have you ever made Whoopie Pies? I hadn't. She told me they were simple– a Rachael Ray recipe from online.  I added it to the top of my "to make list".

Then, I was in Anthropologie a week or so after that, looking for a birthday gift and saw a big table stacked with the YUMMIEST CANDLES I HAVE EVER TASTED  SMELLED, a huge bowl of adorable turquoise and red kitchen timers, and piles of cookbooks. I smelled every candle (and resisted eating them):  Angel Food Cake, Apple Brown Sugar, Pumpkin Souffle, Whipped Cream and Pear...

And pulled a few cookbooks to peruse, plopped into a nearby gazillion dollar arm chair and thumbed through the cookbooks.  One was a cookbook from an American bakery in London with an entire chapter devoted to Whoopie Pies. It was inspiring and beautiful and seemed so very practical. A Whoopie Pie--what a fun treat.   It’s a hand-held individual cake. It’s like a cup cake, but easier to frost and less messy to handle.

So after this experience, I was all-the-more motivated to make the pumpkin whoopie pies. Hannah was right.  They were simple to make and REALLY yummy! After my first batch, I had a few things I wanted to see if I could tweak, so I made them again and I am not sure that my alterations accomplished much. (Except that I got to take this batch #2 to my Monday class and offer some homemade goodness to my students).

The first time I made them, I felt that they were too puffy, which I thought could have been about scooping them too small.  In my research of the significance of Whoopie Pies, I kept reading that one of the novelties of them is their largeness – of which mine didn’t qualify. I tried in batch #2 to make them larger, which made them a smidge flatter, and certainly more “traditional” but also much harder to eat, as they were too big for single servings.  I also found the first batch to be sticky. I don’t remember Hannah’s being sticky at all. So I thought I would brilliantly dust them with powdered sugar. Which looked lovely and made them not stick… for about an hour until all of the powdered sugar melted into the cake.  Sigh.

I am still learning about these little treasures and want to make a whole variety of different flavors. I don’t quite yet know which cake recipes can transfer well into Whoopie Pieness, but I would love to find out.  I suspect it needs to be a firm enough cake to be picked up and handled.

Speaking of learning…I read that Whoopie Pies originated in New England and are the official treat of Maine.  I love that.  I want an official treat of my state.  Do you know your state's "official treat"? Rumor has it that they were called whoopies because when men would open their lunch pail, and see that their wife had put one in it, they would exclaim, “WHOOPIE!”.  There is also a belief that they were made from leftover cake batter (I guess when there was too much to fit in the pan) and they would just make a couple of little "pies" out of it.  [When I told Dave this, he asked, "why would you EVER have any extra cake batter".  He thinks if there wasn't a pan big enough, he would have gladly eaten the batter].

Here they are:

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
adapted from Rachael Ray

1 1/2 sticks  (6 ounces) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree

1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

¾ tsp plus 2 pinches salt

1 2/3 cups flour

Cream Cheese Filling: (this is double of her recipe on the frosting.  I'd rather have extra than skimp)

8 ounces cream cheese, chilled

2 cups confectioners' sugar

(Add a little orange zest for some extra pizazz.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.

Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away!  I'm looking forward to eating pumpkin goodies, of some form.

Lucy and I gathered our branches and made our Thankful Tree today (an annual tradition). We'll continue to add our paper leaves in the coming days, with a record of things for which we are grateful.  I am so glad to have a visible reminder of GRATITUDE in this season. 

Detail: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies