Vanilla Bean Pudding

Generally, I'm not much for puddings. I mean, I have some recipes for trifles and whatnots that call for instant pudding - and I oblige...it's just so quick and easy! But in my eyes, pudding is never the star of the dessert. The brownies or strawberries or sweetened whipped cream factor is always the star. Pudding is creamy and it's nice that it's there, but in 97% of situations, if there were a bowl of vanilla pudding sitting in the fridge, I could resist it, no problem. (The other 3% would involve NO chocolate OF ANY KIND being available in the house. And you will notice that 3% is a very, very tiny percentage. Our house always has chocolate.)

That's why the recipe I'm about to share with you is a game-changer. I am sitting here at the computer, composing this post, la la la - but I'd really much rather standing at our refrigerator door, sneaking a few spoonfuls of Smitten Kitchen's vanilla bean pudding. Oh, dear, yes.

I've made only a few custards in my day, but each time I have to psych myself up to do it. There's no telling what could go wrong - there's been limited success - and sometimes I've had to remake them. Which stinks. I just don't feel competent in that area. I know, I know...practice makes perfect. Well, all I know is that I'll be saving this vanilla bean pudding recipe and substituting it in every other situation that calls for pudding or custard or such. Banana pudding? Yes. Peanut Butter Pie (that they don't make any more...sad!) from The Olde Pink House in Savannah? Definitely. And can you freeze your own pudding cups? Because, man! That is seeming like an excellent idea!

If you get right down to it, though...this pudding needs nothing else. It can stand alone, exactly as is. I felt true bliss while we ate some last night. Still warm because we couldn't wait until ten o'clock at night at eat dessert. It was very delicious already - and Jeremy actually heated his back up in the microwave when its temperature dropped. (He was eating it and studying for a presentation for work at the same time). "It got cold!" he said.

All of this is truly amazing to me. Because you know how I feel about pudding. Yes, yes, I know it's because there's such a difference between instant and the real stuff, but it's still amazing.

So, I need to tell you that Smitten Kitchen is the cat's meow. The proof is in the pudding. (How do you spell that drum/cymbal crash after a bad joke?) Anyway, Deb is the Big Time, cooking from her tiny kitchen in NYC, and is now working on a Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. (Yea!) I'm terribly excited about that because I adore her writing and I think she's super smart in the kitchen. As evidenced by several testings/tastings of her recipes that I myself have held in my own kitchen. If you meander on over to her site, be sure to also click on any links embedded in her text - she's got the cutest little curly-headed toddler that shows up at least once in every post. =)

Back to foodstuffs...if you're trying to decide whether you can master the following recipe or not, remember that a pudding novice had great success with it, so I feel sure that you, too, can make this happen in your kitchen. I do have a few notes, though...

First of all, you may already have guessed this by reading the very name of the recipe, but it does call for a vanilla bean, which is exactly what inspired me to make it - because I already had some. BUT. If you don't, you may still use vanilla extract, but please use the good stuff. (A side, side note: vanilla is quite expensive in all of its variations, but do you know why? I did a little research while I was purchasing them awhile back and was very interested to see how fussy a vanilla bean vine is to grow and harvest. One has to hand-pollinate each flower! If I were growing them, I'd be charging quite a bit, too. Fortunately, a little goes a long way. That being said, I did use one whole vanilla bean instead of the half that Deb called for. Don't skimp - it's scrumptious!)

Also. Milk. Deb's recipe calls for whole milk, which I don't ever have. What I do have on a regular basis is a fridge door full of skim milk (for drinking) and half & half (for coffee/tea) - and often, heavy cream (for making scones/desserts), which was the case last night, as I had recently made scones. I used a mixture of all of these, to good effect. I would not have attempted this with only skim milk. Word to the wise.

Now, let's get started. While it's good to have your ingredients and measuring apparatuses lined up before beginning any recipe, I encourage a somewhat heightened kind of preparation in this recipe - along with studying it for just a few minutes before putting the milk on to start heating. Don't freak out...it's really not difficult, but for pudding novices, it's just going to be easier (and more fun) to be ready than to not-be-ready.

Vanilla Bean Pudding

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Serves six, one-half cup portions

2 2/3 c. whole milk, divided

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. cornstarch (yes, cup)

1/4 tsp. salt

Seeds (caviar as it's called) from one vanilla bean - or two teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter (optional)

Begin heating 2 cups of the milk in a medium saucepan over medium low heat, stirring frequently. Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla bean seeds in a separate heat-safe bowl. (Hint: I used my KitchenAid with the whisk attachment for this step.) Toss the empty vanilla bean pod in the saucepan to steep as the milk continues to heat. 

Slowly add the remaining 2/3 cup of milk to the sugar mixture, whisking well during the process. Also add the egg and whisk again to combine.

Bump up the heat a tad and stir until the milk in the saucepan just begins to boil. Retrieve and discard the vanilla bean pod. Slowly pour just a tad of the hot milk into the sugar/cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly. (Important: this will temper the egg so that you won't end up with scrambled eggs. It can happen.) Slowly add the rest of the heated milk and continue whisking until things are thoroughly combined.

Pour entire mixture back into saucepan, making sure all of the sugar and vanilla bean seeds go with it (some may tend to hang out on the bottom of the mixing bowl) and heat again on medium low. Stir constantly with a silicone spatula with a wide, flat edge (my choice) or a wooden spoon. As it heats, you will notice that the spatula or spoon will start gathering thickened pudding from the bottom of the saucepan. Proceed to stir somewhat quickly as it cooks about one minute longer and thickens up considerably - but don't worry about any lumps that begin to appear. You can whisk those out. After doing so, stir in the tablespoon of butter if you choose to. I chose to - and it was outstanding.

Pour one-half cup of the pudding into six small ramekins. (I think I got my heart-shaped ones in the dollar aisle at Target a few years ago.) To avoid pudding skin, press plastic wrap gently onto the surface of the pudding before chilling in the refrigerator. Chill at least two hours. Or eat it warm, like we did, if you just can't wait.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

And, yes, after this pudding photoshoot, there was pudding for lunch. What? It's Friday.

P.S. This post is part of a "linky party" over at Sweet As Sugar Cookies. There's lots of other fun stuff to look at on this blog, so head on over!

How to Say "No"

Have you ever thought, "I need to learn how to say 'No'"? (Don't freak out - that was entirely grammatically correct.) I've said that myself a time or two. If you've made that one of your New Year's resolutions, well, you're in luck. I've got some help for you.

Not only is this an adorably hilarious video, I'm practically related to this kid. O.K., not really. But my cousins are related to this kid on the other side of their family. I can claim only a little connection. This video is featured on The Huffington Post website and has gotten a ton of hits in the last few days. Hope you enjoy!

And really - see how easy (and fun) it is to say "No"? We should all take a few lessons from little Charlotte.

Chocolate Fudge Pomegranate Cookies

When I first happened upon this recipe, I was alternately afraid of the bizarre-sounding coupling and also very intrigued. Curiosity won out, though, as I really couldn't get the recipe out of my mind. And, as luck would have it, I had recently popped a pomegranate into my grocery basket in hopes of finding just the right way to use it.

Jeremy was very, very concerned about the inclusion of pomegranate seeds (called "arils" - and I like that so much better, don't you?) INTO a COOKIE. He knew for a fact that I was about to ruin that chocolately cookie dough by adding in something so...strange. But I knew for a fact (or O.K., I very, very strongly suspected) that this would be one of those recipes that would make a believer out of him.

And it DID. Our friends Jen, Sasha, and Jared all loved them, too. The little pop of tartness every so often kept us entertained. It will make a believer out of you, too. But you've gotta get past your fear of the unknown...

First of all, don't be scared of pomegranates. Yes, they can be messy and yes, it might take a while to release the arils from their pithy prison...BUT. Here's an easy (and less messy!) way to do it. After washing the fruit, slice off the pomegranate's "crown." (I'm not going to lie - I got some satisfaction out of noting that it does, indeed, resemble a crown.) Next you realize that you might need to put an apron on and move some things out of the way that might get splashed with the ruby red spurts of juice. Gently cut the fruit into quarters and then drop them into a bowl of water. I would recommend lukewarm water so that your fingers won't get too cold during the next step. Again, gently (which is the key word here) start separating the arils from the inside casing. This will take a few minutes, but really, is quite relaxing if you're not in a hurry. This is also a good time to ponder God's creativity in designing such an interesting fruit. =)

Now it's time for the actual cookie recipe. I found it on How Sweet It Is, another favorite food blog that I completely enjoy. She absolutely cracks me up. Hilarious! And I've tried quite a few of her recipes, all ending up being filed under "Would Definitely Make Again."

Chocolate Fudge Pomegranate Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies
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1 c. butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. pomegranate juice (or pomegranate/blueberry juice, which was all I could find. Delicious, but EXPENSIVE)
1 c. milk chocolate chips
1/2 c. pomegranate arils

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt - combine dry mixture and wet mixture. Add pomegranate juice and mix once more. Fold in chocolate chips; fold in pomegranate arils last. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours - but the longer, the better.

When dough is ready to be baked, gently scoop dough out and onto a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Some arils will burst in the process, but it all ends up O.K. =) Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool a bit before eating.

These cookies are best eaten right after baking. After about a day, the pomegranate arils start to shrink and aren't juicy anymore.

Pretty and Sweet

This afternoon I'll be a vendor at something called Holiday House. No, I don't usually sell things throughout the year, but I've always toyed with the idea of different projects here and there, so here's what I came up with for today's event. After much trial and error (and changing the whole way I did the first one) I finally loved how they turned out!

A mini wreath, which would be great for a small centerpiece also.

I had to fuss with the coloring on this one - this is as close
as I could get it to the true color. 

It's very, very PINK. Completely girly and so cute! 

I got the notion to make these from Melissa Lester's blog A Little Loveliness. She spoke at our Henderson Ladies' Day a year or so ago and I've followed her blog ever since. It's so beautiful, it's like reading a magazine. Gorgeous stuff! She has the cutest children and she throws the best birthday parties for them. This adorable slumber party one is my favorite, but every one of them is SO creative. I'm glad she has four children so that we don't have to wait so long for her new birthday ideas. ;) Melissa also loves tea parties, which are near and dear to my heart. I've also tried a few of her recipes and they've been sub-par. No, just kidding! Wanted to see if you were paying attention. Her recipes have been great - I make her chicken salad found in this post quite often. =)

Back to the wreaths...I have extra materials if anyone wants to order a silver wreath or a green one or another gold/brown/aqua one. I'm also planning to make a larger red and green wreath. If no one buys them, which would be kinda sad, I might secretly be happy that they might make their home right here, in my house. ;)

So, that's the "pretty" portion of the merchandise. "Sweet" will be there, too, in the forms of cranberry pecan pies (with homemade crust, mind you!) and cream scones. Maybe some other stuff if I can get it made! I had great reviews on these from last year, so I thought I'd include them again. And if people want to order a pie later, I'm going to give them an option to do so. Both the pies and the scones are great fresh, but also perfect to have on standby in the freezer during this holiday season.

Better go and get busy! Wish me luck!

Autumnal Cheer: The Recipes

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I know it's "officially" O.K. to start celebrating Christmas, but here I am with a straggler. One more Autumnal Cheer post. To be fair, I had it almost ready to go the day before Thanksgiving, but Blogger was acting all crazy and throwing up an error message over and over again, so I finally had to quit. By the way, that's why this post may have a different font or funky spacing. Copying and pasting from a Word document seems to do that and won't ever let me fix it properly. Anyone know how to keep this from being such an annoying problem?? Also, one more thing - I alllmost had this post ready to publish yesterday and Blogger started giving me an error message again. It didn't save my last few changes and it wouldn't let me even log in anymore until this morning! Are any others of you having the same problem? Help!

Enjoy one last hurrah with the autumn flavors, everyone! You can still cook/bake some of these things even when the twinkly lights are up...


(Here's where the post was supposed to start)

When the weather starts turning cooler and the leaves start to fall, I gather up my autumn candles (the three-wick Pumpkin Spice one from Wal-Mart is my favorite. Thanks to my friend Kevin, who introduced us about five years ago) and pull out my scarves...and dream of pumpkin-flavored things. And food spiced with cinnamon and ginger and nutmeg and cloves. Delicious, right? Ahhh...

We've already talked about Chai tea, which definitely falls into this category, but I just can't believe that I've waited until the day before Thanksgiving to pass along some actual recipes! In the future, I will try to do better. I promise.

Since today is the day before Thanksgiving, spare time is especially spare, so if nothing else, I wanted to give you the links to several recipes that I tried and enjoyed this season. 

One of the very first cooking blogs I began to follow was Joy the Baker. I've tried quite a few of her recipes and I've always been pleased with them. The first fallish recipe I made this year was her Chewy Ginger Chocolate Cookies. I had previously been unsure about ginger and chocolate together, but I'd heard of the combination several times recently and was intrigued. Let me say that I'm unsure no longer. Chocolate is an excellent foil for ginger! 

Jeremy and both loooove sweet potato fries - and truly, I make these year-round, no matter the season. But now is a good time to share them with you. The seasoning on these is fantastic and the baked fries are actually crispy (if you don't crowd the pan) since the instructions say to heat up the baking sheet before you put the fries on to cook. Now, I will warn you - we don't do the curry mayo dipping sauce. I like curry, but Jeremy does not. Even I was not a fan of the sauce, though, so we drizzle honey on the top of the baked fries instead. Or do honey mustard dipping sauce. Completely yummy!


Speaking of yummy, you'll find lots of that on Tasty Kitchen in general. I totally enjoy dropping by to see what's new. The Pioneer Woman strikes again! ;)

There's a little Amish grocery store not far down the road from us and they have wonderful pumpkin whoopie pies with cream cheese frosting. Dare I say that the recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies from Sweet Pea's Kitchen is even better than theirs?? I think the maple cinnamon cream cheese filling puts it over the top. You heard me. It's fantastic! I made this for an event not long ago and got three or four requests for the recipe. 

I first found Sweet Pea's Kitchen when I was searching for a sweet potato pancake recipe. I'd had sweet potato pancakes at the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg last year and thought they were the best pancakes EVER. Try them - they are light and fluffy and quite delicious!

And while I'm here, let me put a plug in for Sweet Pea's Kitchen. This girl is a prolific poster of delicious recipes! And pretty, pretty food photography. I don't know how she does it. And she's super nice - she's come to visit my blog after I posted on hers and left sweet comments here, too. The next recipe of hers that I'm planning to try is Pumpkin Cornbread because it sounds completely amazing. =)

Let me finish up with a crazy good recipe that I discovered at my mom's cousin Andrea's house last Thanksgiving. She served it as a side dish, but you could totally use as a dessert also. I'm planning to make it tomorrow. =) (Note: I did - and it was fantastic! Got several requests for this recipe, which - besides the report from my own tastebuds - it totally how I gauge a recipe's success.)

Cranberry Apple Crumble

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2 c. whole fresh cranberries, rinsed and patted dry

3 c. chopped golden delicious apples

2 Tbsp. flour

1 c. sugar

3 pkg. cinnamon spice instant oatmeal

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. melted butter

Combine apples and cranberries. Toss fruit in 2 Tbsp. flour; add sugar and stir. Pour fruit mixture into a 9x13 pan. Mix up topping and sprinkle onto fruit mixture. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. If serving as dessert, this is wonderful topped with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.