Pumpkin Bread Pudding

I went to Juneau over Thanksgiving!

Some things happened...

Family yoga

Glacier time

Friends 4 EVA!

I also broke tradition and didn't make a pumpkin pie. 

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Candied Walnuts (Hannah's own creation)

Bread Pudding

1 loaf of Raisin Bread from Wild Oven (or another loaf that's not as awesome)- cut into 1 inch cubes, sort of stale. 

1 c heavy cream

1/2 c whole milk

1 15 oz can pumpkin

1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

pinch of ground cloves

2 TBSP bourbon (optional) (but not really)

Candied Walnuts (see below)

-Preheat oven to 350. Put the rack in the middle. 

-Melt butter in an 8 in pan while the oven is preheating. Once it's melted, take out the pan and toss the bread in the butter, take out a handful of cubes.

-Whisk all the rest of the ingredients (except the walnuts). Pour over the bread cubes, sprinkle with the candied walnuts and the left over bread cubes (to make it crunchy)

-Bake until the custard is set, about 25-30 mins.

-Try to convince everyone that it's better than pumpkin pie. 

Candied Walnuts

1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 c raw walnut halves

1/8 tsp sea salt

-Toast the walnuts (350 oven for about 5 mins).

-Put the sugar in a medium sized sauce pan with a thick bottom. Cook the sugar on medium high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until all the sugar has melted and turned an amber color (this will take much longer than you think it should. You didn't mess it up, I promise). 

-Once the sugar is ready, throw in the walnuts and toss until covered. Pour out onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. WORK QUICKLY! Use 2 forks to separate the walnuts from each other, sprinkle with salt and let cool. 

Did I tell you that I saw ANDREW BIRD at Riverside Chapel! 

'Cause I did. 

I also discovered a few blog posts he did for the NYT back in 2008 and fell in love for the 8th time. 

This is the winter of hard pickin', soul wrenchin', vocal cord blastin' bluegrass/blues/country and I have to pay tribute to the song that started it all. 

It all started back in the Allen Marine summers and I haven't gotten sick of it yet. I actually just sang this today to a kid I'm nannying.

Plus, Old Crow Medicine Show, Mumford and Sons (ugh) and Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zero's were all in a film called "Big Easy Express" where they rode the rails between San Francisco and New Orleans, playing concerts along the way. Hipster is now taking us back to the 1890s and I couldn't be more stoked. 

WAR ON CHRISTMAS

Happy Holiday's KDP fans (Mom, did I send you a card?)
I'm having a war on Christmas this year.
I'm working a lot and taking latkes (and drinking driedel) to an Orphan Christmas Party and avoiding all work parties like the plague. I believe that this is an acceptable response to not going home or being with family this year.
I'll see a movie (let's be honest, I'm seeing Les Miz ("The Mopes" in English), eat some Chinese food and sleep until January 2nd.

Only someone who either loved or eternally hated Christmas could do what Sufjan Steven's has done with his SECOND epic 5 volume Christmas box set.

And it is a fine line between love and hate. A very very fine line.

My latest cooking devotion has been to this book, An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler, who believes that the ends of meals inspire and feed the next one and that we don't make mistakes in the kitchen, we create an experiment. The book is about cooking with grace, trust and economically. Below are some of the pictures I've taken while following this principal.

The basic premise is that you should be using everything when cooking- the ends of bread, the rinds of cheese, the stems of kale and in a mixture of life advice and recipes, Tamar Adler seeks a world where people pay attention to what they eat, why they are eating and how their food is prepared.

I did this for like a week.

It was a good week though, a very full fridge week. 

The idea is that you buy all of your greens and fruit at the farmers market and cook it the day of, so that you have things to play with throughout the week that are already prepared. You spend a few hours slaving over a hot stove and in return, can take beet sandwiches to work! It's a fantastic idea and I wish I had more time to do this.

I came away from that week with stem/core pesto, roasted beets, the best omelet I've ever made, bean soup stock, roasted pine nuts, an appreciation for red wine vinegar and more awareness around how to love and care for the food we use to fuel ourselves. 

Plus, An Everlasting Meal has entire chapters devoted to how to treat your eggs (the ones from chickens), how to boil water, how to set a table, ideas for sauces, vinegars and the trust that you'll be okay, no matter what you do. 

Also, I made Hot Sauce!

Take 1 lb of stemmed fresh chilies and 2 Tbsp kosher salt. 

Mix in a food processor until it's a puree. 

Put in a glass jar and let ferment for about 12 hours at room temp. Make sure that the top of the jar isn't tightly screwed on. 

Add in 1 1/2 c distilled white vinegar, loosely screw on the top. 

Let sit for at least 1 day and at most 2 weeks. Try it along the way to see if it's to your liking. 

Put the mixture in the food processor and blend until smooth. 

Strain it through a sieve and store in the fridge for up to 4 months. 

Well Spotify, you've done it again. You know more about the music that I'll like than I do. I'm continually in debt to your musical algorithm that introduces me to artists like Justin Townes Earle

The son of Steve Earle, he's embraced the soul in bluegrass and putting blues back in country music. Wrapped up in the sound are heartfelt and wrenching stories. I crave to hear him live,at a dive bar, preferably with a dance partner.
Only goal for the new year is to do just that.

Maybe the holidays away from Juneau makes me just a tad homesick (if you couldn't tell...), but I've been devouring bluegrass/Americana/blues music like it's my job. There are no problems with this, it's perfect Sunday listening.

Plus he kind of sounds like Elvis (if he "kicked a gospel choir in the butt" in this one and that makes me all a-twitter.

Happy Birthday KDP!

Kitchen Dance Party is one year old. 

To celebrate, we made you a present. 

Subtitled: 

Ode to cookie butter;

Trader Joes should come to Juneau; 

We don't know how to use a webcam, or edit videos;

We secretly desire to become Youtube sensations. 

Moral of the story, KDP video blogs are only going to be a special occasion event.
Here are some pics from the day (especially of the camera shy Liz and Mags)

Matzo Brei

Yes, it looks like cat vomit.

(serves 2)

You'll need:
2 sheets of matzo (or 14, depending on how you roll)
2 eggs (or 8, see above)
salt
pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil

-Break the matzo into 1/2 inch pieces. Put in a bowl. Rinse under hot tap water for 30 seconds. Drain.
-Whisk eggs in another bowl. Mix matzo and eggs, season with salt and pepper. -
-heat oil in a skillet. Put batter in skillet, either in one fell swoop or in smaller pancake style discs.
-Fry into golden.

Cookie Butter

Tasty things to make them taste like something:

applesauce
yogurt
cookie butter
peanut butter
pesto
sriracha
fruit
cinnamon
nutmeg
syrup
jam
peanut sauce

Music Land: I just posted about this, but we legit spent the weekend listening to Of Monsters and Men. See my previous post.

Sorry, I had to learn my way around iMovie (let's be honest, Mag's did the majority of it). 

But video blog easter egg- There might be some David Bowie love in KDP's future. 

Blogsgiving Part 1- Toasty, Bourbon-y nuts.

Everyone wants Thanksgiving recipes now... right?

Last year I cooked and controlled the entire Thanksgiving dinner for 8.
It was amazing and crazy stressful.
This year, we went to an Orphan Potluck style.
Only requirements were to bring food and wine.
and more wine.

Toasted Nut Tart (adapted from Bon App) 
A different take on Pecan Pie
You'll need a 9' tart pan with a removable bottom. I have one you can borrow.


Crust:
1 c all purpose flour
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 c butter, room temp.
1/4 c sugar
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 egg

- Mix flour, cornstarch, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl.
- In a food processor, beat butter, sugar and powdered sugar until pale yellow.  Add egg and beat to blend.
- Add dry ingredients to bowl in 3 batches. Mix to blend. Gather into a ball, flatten in a disc. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.
Can be made at least 2 days ahead. Keep chilled
- Preheat oven to 375. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12" round. Transfer to pan, press into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Trim the overhanging dough so it's flush and reserve the extras (to patch the crust). Prick the dough all over with a fork and freeze for 10 mins.
-Cover with foil, fill the foil with pie weights (rice or beans work). Bake until edges of crust are starting to turn golden, about 35 mins. Remove the foil and beans, patch any cracks with the remaining dough, return to the oven and bake until golden all over, about 15 mins. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Can be made 1 day ahead, store airtight in pan at room temp. (Only if you don't have roaches...)

In lieu of rolling pin, use a glass (or wine bottle). 

Filling:
1/2 c unsalted pistachios, chopped
1/2c hazelnuts, skins rubbed off, chopped. (try to buy without skins, getting them off are a bitch)
1/4c pine nuts
1/4c butter
1c packed brown sugar
1c light corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp bourbon
3 large eggs
Powdered sugar

- preheat oven to 350. Spread nuts out on 3 separate baking sheets. Toast nuts until fragrant and brown (5 mins for pistachios, 10 for pine and 15 for hazelnuts). Remember to toss the nuts throughout the baking and check often, they burn quick.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat, Cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. (again, check often, it burns fast (are you noticing a trend here?))
-Stir brown sugar, corn syrup, salt and vanilla in a medium bowl, stir in eggs, browned butter and nuts. Pour into tart shell.
-Bake, rotating halfway through, until filling it set around the edges and jiggles slightly in the center when nudged, about 1 hour. Tent foil over the crust if it gets too brown, cool on a rack.
- Dust with powdered sugar.

Sooooo..........I burned it.
I blame my wonky gas oven.
Seriously, keep an eye on those nuts.

New music obsession:
Phantogram
A indie, electronic/pop duo from Saratoga Springs (I spent a month in Saratoga this summer... I'm not surprised that this band comes from there, it's a weird town), I'm really digging their new EP- Nightlife.

I really want to see them in concert. Apparently they incorporate their visual art into their concerts. That is something I can get behind.

KDP Reunion + Epic Blogsgiving

Connie and Mags visited for Thanksgiving!

And Monagle crashed in the spare bedroom while he looked a place of his own.
It was the reunion to end all reunions.

They'd never been to New York before.
They were scared of the subway.
They are still scared of New Yorkers.
They got lost pretty easily.
I don't know how life happened before Google Maps.

But...
We made a pumpkin pie at 2am.
My kitchen capacity was tested with 3 people. (Monagle doesn't cook... See Fig Newtons)
We cooked a lot.... A LOT.

Keep an eye out for T-day recipes/adventures.

2 am Pumpkin Pie

Roasted Pear and Cranberry Salad

Ninja Bread Men

Cranium + Wine= The reason why Hannah's not allowed to play board games 

There are more photos coming, as soon as I can raid Connie's camera. Look out for sidewalk sushi picnics, sleeping on public transportation, pumpkin hummus, gingerbread whales, waiting in line to see Harry Potter dance and sing and many empty bottles of wine.



This is pretty amazing:
The Recipe Project

If you love me, you'll buy me this book.
It's a band that's put together a book and CD.
They take top chef's recipes and sing them word for word.

There is something that is so right about a world that can create this.