Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins

Goin’ Out of My Gourd
Maybe it’s the weather. Maybe it’s the fact that Fall is officially here. Then again maybe I’m just impatient since it’s not even October yet, but I have done gone pumpkin crazy.

I’ve noticed recently that any time I am in a position to be choosing a flavor for something, like a latte or a cookie, I find myself choosing the pumpkin option without fail or forethought.

This past weekend, I was overcome with the need to make pumpkin bread. Yes, the temperature was in the low 90s but I needed a pumpkin fix and it was worth a hot kitchen to get it.

Fall is my favorite time of the year so some version of my fall food mania is an annual occurrence. Of course, similar mania happens in the Spring with its fresh peas, and Summer with the arrival of stone fruit. I guess it’s fair to say that I’m just a year-round lunatic.

The intensity of my pumpkin craving is turned up a notch this year, and I am laying the blame at the feet of my flock. Thanks to the girls, there are no more squash plants of any kind. I am feeling a bit desperate.

The good news? There are many possibilities out there to satisfy my need for pumpkin. This recipe for Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins is from my King Arthur Flour newsletter and is a perfect way to soothe any pumpkin addiction as well as a craving of equal intensity… Read more…

Cock-A-Leekie Soup

Rooster In The Hen House

We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first eggs from our chickens since they are now of age. It has been fun to watch them grow from chicks to hens, and to get to know their personalities…and they do have personalities. Some of the biggest characters have been given names.

There’s Trouble, who got her name because if the chickens are found doing anything naughty, chances are she’s at the head of the pack egging the others on. She is also the one who likes to come and peck at our back door to see what we are doing.

Then there’s Turtle and Seagull. They were the easiest to name because Seagull looks like one and Turtle is short for Turtleneck. She has a ruff of feathers around her neck that makes her look like a Shakespearean reject.

The kids named one of the Rhode Island Reds Huevo—short for Huevos Rancheros. Apparently, sarcasm and irony are genetic.

And then, there’s Sparkle who got her name because she’s just not that bright. Now, I realize it’s relative. They are chickens after all, but she is exceptionally tragic. I watched her continuously run into the wire fence the other day, because she couldn’t figure out that she needed to fly back over it, which is the way she got out in the first place. I took pity on her and picked her up to give her a hand. Sigh.

We missed the mark on one of the chickens. As we watched the chicks grow bigger and bigger we noticed that one of the Rhode Island Reds was really tall. We figured she was part of the blessed 1% of poultry who could be referred to as Super Model Chickens. We named her Cindy for Cindy Crawford. The problem is Cindy is actually a rooster. So we changed his name to RuPaul.

Ru has become a problem, as you can imagine any adolescent rooster would. The girls want nothing to do with him, and unfortunately he’s the guy at the bar who just won’t take the hint. Therefore, we were compelled to find him a new home. This weekend he will be going to a nice farm where he can speed date with other chickens who might be more accepting of his nature. It’s a way better fate than the soup pot.

Crab and Corn Pies with Corn Crab Sauce

Kickin’ It Up A Notch
I have been a fan of Cajun food from the first time I tried it. I was introduced to Cajun cuisine during the 80s when it was considered something new and exciting—though, the food and flavors had been around for quite some time. Cajun cuisine soon became wildly popular, and it seemed like everyone had a blackened version of something.

I distinctly remember watching Paul Prudhomme and The Great Chefs of New Orleans repeatedly on PBS, while my mouth watered at the liberal use of butter, sausage, and cayenne. It was during this time (at least in my mind. It could have been earlier.) that my mother started making dinners that had a decidedly “Nawlins” flavor to them like her Barbequed Shrimp.

I was dying to eat the foods that I saw being created on the TV screen in their native habitat and had visions of eating my way through the lauded restaurants and cafes of New Orleans. Still do. Alas, that one remains an entry on my bucket list. It will happen.

In those days, Paul Prudhomme was “The Man”. He made a name for himself while cooking at Commander’s Palace. But it was his series of cookbooks and TV shows that introduced signature dishes like blackened redfish and turtle soup to people outside Louisiana and started a craving for all things Cajun. As popular as Prudhomme was, the undisputed champion of Cajun cuisine has to be Emeril Legasse.

Before “kicking it up a notch” and throwing a little “Bam” into things on the Food Network, Emeril was making some really great food at Commander’s Palace and eventually moved on to his own restaurant, Emeril’s. His first cookbook The New New Orleans Cooking introduced cooks to a contemporary version of classic Cajun cuisine and launched an empire.

This weekend my cookbook club is having our cookbook dinner and we’ve been cooking from The New New Orleans. The food in the book is great but for me, it has been more fun to go back and see, taste, and remember the recipes that I wanted to try as a kid.

Mixed Vegetable Coconut Curry

Houston, we have a problem.
Lately, I have been feeling rather out of sorts. Something just didn’t seem right, and for the longest time I couldn’t figure out what it was. But the other day it came to me…I haven’t been canning.

Normally at this time of year, I would have made or would be in the process of making, gallons of pickles, jams, salsas and tomato sauces. I would have been putting up peaches, peppers, beans, and tomatoes for use later in the year. Not this year.

This year’s crop was a ghost crop caused by a number of factors. The first factor? Varmints ate the fruit from my trees. It was looking like we were actually going to have a legitimate crop of nectarines, peaches, and cherries until the four-legged bandits came through.

The second factor? Water. I felt guilty about using the water so I was perhaps less vigilant than normal about keeping things well hydrated.

The third and by far the most destructive: Chickens. They ate everything. Well, almost everything. I was able to save the butternut squash but had to harvest it all at once instead of keeping some on the vines. Needless to say, I have a glut of butternut squash, so I am trying to use it any way I can.

The really good news is that the chickens should start laying eggs soon, and we will have a glut of eggs. It may not make up for the lack of canned summer tomatoes come January, but it does lessen the sting a little. Read more…