Fall cooking

 I don't particularly like cooking. However, I did finally clean out my small chest freezer so I determined to actually cook the stuff I got and get some meals prepped.

Leeks from the farmer's market

Misc. vegetables and stuff

First batch of soup
Vegetable/chicken broth
Chicken
Wild rice/brown rice
Small red potatoes
Carrots
Green beans
Leeks

Chicken enchiladas

I made a second batch of soup with barley instead of rice. I still have a third batch to make to use up the last of the stuff. I freeze the soup in chunks and then when I thaw it to eat I add some more vegetable broth and frozen peas.

Chocolate-peanut-caramel clusters

This time I am going to keep track of how I do it with notes for next time, if there is a next time.

Supplies

• 5 lb brick of Peter's caramel from Amazon
• 4.5 lbs of milk chocolate, dipping chocolate
• 1 big container of cocktail peanuts
• freezer paper
• all the pans I could collect
• double boiler
• butter

Heat up the double boiler, melt slices of caramel with frequent stirring. Dumped in peanuts and poured it out on freezer paper on a pan. Filled two big pans and let cool.

Then I cut the caramel into squares, melted the chocolate, and dipped them, putting them back on the freezer paper to cool in front of an open window. I didn't have quite enough chocolate and I also got tired of the fiddly work at the end, arranged a bunch of the squares, and poured chocolate over them. When it cooled, I cut them up again.

I think I could do this and space them farther apart, letting the chocolate go around the squares. If I get up the energy to do this again, I'll consider it. Now I just hope they don't melt before we can sell them.

Fruit and cheese pie

 I used a frozen pie crust, leftover cream cheese filling from the cheese pie recipe, nectarines, strawberries, then baked for 40-50 minutes at 350. Then I added leftover sour cream topping (again from the cheese pie) and baked for 10 minutes at 425. Basically I made cheese pie on a regular pie crust with a layer of fruit in between.

Hmm. Interesting. I mean, it tasted ok, but I think it would have worked better if I put the fruit either on top or on the bottom, not in the middle.

Baking for work part 2

Still baking. A lot was left that I didn't have time to bake, plus the mess.

Leftover chunks of dipping chocolate

 Leftover bits of white chocolate and pretzel bits

Chopped pecans and leftover bits of... everything. Chocolate, marshmallows, bits of peanuts, etc.

Baking for work

I've had a ton of baking stuff collected that I kept meaning to do something with, probably for the January bake sale. Well, that didn't happen. Then it was summer, and my a/c went out and anyways I finally got to the Friday of the summer book and bake sale. Then, of course, I decided to make stuff.

I melted the rest of the white chocolate (dipping) that I had gotten and dipped pretzel sticks in it then shook toffee bits over them. Then I discovered that the chocolate was getting thicker. The internet was not helpful in suggestions and I tried butter, which turned it into a kind of frosting. So I frosted the rest of the sticks and added mini chocolate chips. Finally, I just dumped the rest with the pretzels in a big lump intended to chop it up for cookies later. I put all of them in front of my a/c to cool, since it's the only cool place in the house (note - even turned down to 60, which is as cold as it goes, it's still 75 in the kitchen...)

Then I used the basic Nestle chocolate chip cookie recipe. I threw in the rest of the mini chocolate chips and toffee bits (probably some white chocolate in there as well.)

That was all I had time for, which left a huge mess in my kitchen a ton of stuff still to bake.

Peach, strawberry, and blueberry baked stuff

Pie

• peaches, strawberries
• sugar, flour (about 2/3 a cup each)
• two frozen pie crusts

I mixed all the fruit up, spooned it into the crusts, and baked it for an hour and 10 minutes at 350.

Cobbler

• peaches, strawberries
• blueberries, nectarines
• sugar

I used the crust recipe from Smitten Kitchen's Crispy Peach Cobbler

I did several different mixes of fruit - strawberry and peaches, nectarines and blueberries, and all the fruit left together in a big dish. Some I sprinkled sugar on, some I forgot. You're supposed to drizzle hot water on the crust and sprinkle sugar, but I just wanted it done with. Did I mention my a/c has died and it's now 83 degrees in here?

Now it's 85

I think my biggest problem is not cooking it long enough - the fruit gets cooked through, but it's still a little watery (which I don't mind) and the crust is doughy in spots. But since it's basically a sweet biscuit crust - butter, sugar, flour, and milk - it's not like it's gonna kill anyone. I think I need to cook them longer and in shallower pans. I suppose I could use my actual pie pans, but then I'd have to clean them out... or maybe I have foil pie pans. Also wrap the edges in foil but with the heat like it is I simply couldn't handle having the oven open that long.

Definitely going to have some to freeze after this....

Raspberry ricotta Dutch baby

I tried this recipe from Half-Baked Harvest. I don't have the right kind of pan for Dutch baby, but it usually works fine in my casserole dish. But this time it didn't rise - maybe b/c of the raspberries or ricotta. I also made some of the cream. However, it turns out that I really dislike the texture of ricotta. So that was no good. I did eat the crusty edges, tasted like popovers.

Peanut turtles and stuff

I went back to the old way of doing it, with one slight change. I buttered all the pans, melted the caramel and mixed in peanuts, then dumped the whole thing in a buttered pan. Then I melted the chocolate. I divided up the caramel (burning my fingers a little b/c it was still hot and not very workable) then I used a slotted spoon and spatula to dip them in the chocolate. Worked much better! The remaining chocolate I mixed with the leftover salted pecans and dumped in a pan.

Then I had to wash butter off of everything.

Pecan turtles

I melted caramel, mixed in salted pecan pieces, then dumped it in spoonfuls into a buttered foil pan. Then I melted two bars of dipping chocolate. I squished the caramel/pecan mixture into chunks and dipped it in the chocolate. Then I got bored and pour a layer of chocolate into a buttered pan, then squished flat the rest of the caramel mixture and added another layer of chocolate on top. Once it's cooled and hardened (and I've cleaned my cutting board) I'll turn it out and slice it up.

Well, that didn't work. I ended up with a giant slab but when I cut it up it kind of... disintegrated. I guess I'll stick to the slow way.

Rocky Road candy

I meant to make this candy back in December. And then in January. Now it's March. I bought dipping chocolate in bulk - the big chunks - melted it in my double boiler, and stirred in peanuts. For the first batch I also stirred in marshmallows, for the second I layered the pan and poured the chocolate/peanut mixture on top. I put them in aluminum pans that I greased with butter. The staff liked them, but I think there were to many marshmallows in the first batch.

Baked apples

German apple cake

I bought a spring form pan just to bake this. It was ok - pretty easy to make, rather like a pound cake with apple on top. It's even better with tons of whipped cream dumped on it. Otherwise it's a bit dry for my tastes.

Peach cobbler

This was a recipe for crispy peach cobbler. I think it would have gone better if I'd had a broader pan. However, it was easy and the staff liked it.

Overnight blueberry french toast

I used this recipe (cut in half). Sort of. I didn't do the sauce (seriously? I'm not making a compote or whatever it is!) and I used frozen blueberries. I think I possibly had too much bread and didn't distribute the egg mixture evenly enough over it. and it could have used more blueberries. I just put a little butter on top in the last few minutes. It was actually quite edible though. I think I might use this again but tweak it a little more next time.

Chicken

I made this buttermilk chicken recipe from TND. It tasted ok. It was easy. But I realized I...don't think I've ever actually roasted chicken before, so I have nothing to compare it to.

Apple cake take 2

I tried again, this time with all the ingredients, and it's really, really good. Moist and appley. Sort of like apple pie filling with a little moist cake. Not remotely healthy, except for the apples, but yummy.

Apple cake

It was good, but not as moist as I'd expected. This was explained by me finding the melted butter that I thought I'd added in the microwave the following morning... I guess I'll have to try it again, with all the ingredients this time!

I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I have an old tube pan, which is small and deep, so mine doesn't look quite the same. It certainly smells good though. I probably cooked it about an hour and 30-40 minutes. When I dumped it out it split in half - I maybe should have used more grease on the pan. I used melted butter instead of oil. Because, you know, butter. 

Popovers with berries

Make popover batter (I use the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook)

Drop in berries

Cook

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