Brunch

Acorn Squash Muffins with Sweet Walnut Topping {Recipe}

by Diana on April 10, 2012

in Breakfast,Brunch,Recipe,Vegan,Vegetarian

One of my favorite things about having this blog is when people make my recipes. Sometimes people leave me comments telling me about their experience, including who they made the recipe for and why (like this one yesterday). Sometimes I see people make notes about my recipe on Pinterest. And sometimes, my family makes one of my recipes and then serves the finished product to me. But, no matter who you are or why you decided to try out a TCL recipe, know this – I really think that’s one of the coolest things ever. It’s always an honor to me when anyone takes the time to try out one of my recipes.

I know this may seem weird since I post recipes all the time, but I don’t ever really expect people to make any of the recipes I post. I hope for them to, but unless I see a comment about it, I just assume no one did. But here’s the thing, if I can share a recipe and even one person finds some sort of happiness or any ounce of helpfulness from it, I consider that a win. In fact, reading comments with success stories about my recipes makes me so happy. It’s like blog fuel – it keeps me going.

My sister actually did something cool recently – she adapted one of my recipes into something new. It actually happened somewhat by accident. She said she was trying to make my Green Monster Muffins, when she went to get the spinach out of the refrigerator and discovered that there was none. Doh! Apparently, my parents almost always have spinach in the house, so she assumed it would be there. When she realized it wasn’t there, she found a quick back-up – acorn squash. Not sure how the acorn squash was selected, but apparently, it worked!The result was apparently a big hit with my family, and she made them again for me to try when I was in town this past weekend.

In addition to subbing out the spinach with acorn squash, she made a couple other adjustments in types and amounts of ingredients. Plus, she changed the nut topping to slightly more streusel-like mixture. The adapted muffin was definitely a winner.

Acorn Squash Muffins with Sweet Walnut Topping {Recipe}
(by my sister, adapted from my Green Monster Muffins)

When my sister was midway through making a batch of my Green Monster muffins and realized there was no spinach in the house, she made a substitution using acorn squash instead. These delicious muffins are the result, and they offer another way to sneak a little bit of veggies into anyone’s breakfast or snack.

PS: The ingredient list looks long, but these are really easy to make. I think the most difficult part is processing the acorn squash to get it grated!

Yields: 12 muffins

*Vegan options below*

Muffin Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose (unbleached) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg (or use vegan substitute, like a flaxseed egg – 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons water – let sit for about 10 minutes)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 single serving applesauce (or 1/2 cup), preferably no-sugar added
1 cup finely grated acorn squash, no skin (about 1/2 an acorn squash processed in food processor)
1/4 cup milk (we used skim) (or use vegan substitute, like soy, rice, hemp milk, etc.)
3 tablespoons canola oil (or other oil of choice)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 – 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Sweet Walnut Topping Ingredients (optional):

1 tablespoon melted butter (or use vegan substitute, like Earth Balance)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a 12 cup muffin tin with non-stick spray.
Add whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk together.
Whisk to beat egg and sugar together till light (I did this by hand for just a couple minutes).
Whisk in applesauce, acorn squash, milk, canola oil, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
Pour dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredient mixture, and stir gently just to combine – careful to not over-mix.
Pour muffin batter into muffin tin cups – about 3/4 full each. If using walnuts topping, mix butter, brown sugar and walnuts together and evenly sprinkle walnut mixture on top of each muffin.
Bake for 18-22 minutes until centers set or a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Cool at least 10-15 minutes, or until safe to eat, before serving.

Tropical {Vitamin} C Blast Green Monster Smoothie

by Diana on January 9, 2012

in Breakfast,Brunch,Recipe,Vegan,Vegetarian

I realize in this chilly weather that an ice-cold smoothie probably isn’t the first thing to come to mind, but since we’re still in cold & flu season, this one may…

I was feeling a little run down the other day and in need of a big blast of Vitamin C to ward off any approaching sickness. So, I blended up this little concoction to help the cause.

I call it Tropical {Vitamin} C Blast Green Monster Smoothie.

I picked fruits {and some other goodies} that I had in my freezer and kitchen that I thought were good sources of vitamin C: pineapple, mango, orange juice, bananas, spinach, and…wait for it…parsley.

We’ve talked about the health benefits of spinach before, but did you know parsley is a good source of vitamin C? Yup, it’s not just a pretty face…er…garnish.

Here’s a snippet from whfoods.com:

“In addition to its volatile oils and flavonoids, parsley is an excellent source of two vital nutrients that are also important for the prevention of many diseases: vitamin C and vitamin A (notably through its concentration of the pro-vitamin A carotenoid, beta-carotene).”

Tropical {Vitamin C} Blast Green Monster Smoothie

This smoothie takes me to the tropics flavor-wise, but it’s good for you, too. The smoothie contains a few ingredients that are good sources of vitamin C to help fight off colds and the flu: pineapple, mango, bananas orange juice, spinach, and parsley. Yes – parsley! Just a wee bit. I will warn you – parsley has a strong flavor. If you don’t really like it, you may be better off leaving it out. If you want to add some, err on the side of less-is-more. And if you’re a regular juicer, then, you’ll probably think lots of parsley is delicious.

Total Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1 1/2 – 2 cups loosely packed spinach (or sub 1/4 cup frozen spinach)
1 small sprig parsley (about 3 leaves) – see note above for suggestions, optional
1 banana (a frozen banana will give you a thicker consistency, but non-frozen works, too)
5 small pieces of frozen mango, about 1/4-1/3 cup
handful of frozen pineapple pieces, about 1/4-1/3 cup
1/4 cup orange juice
soy milk (or milk of choice, but dairy may curdle with the acidic fruits), as needed to reach desired texture
sweetener of choice, to taste, optional (but you probably won’t need it – the pineapple and bananas are very sweet naturally)

Directions:

In order: place spinach, parsley (if using), banana, mango, pineapple, and orange juice in the blender.
Cover and blend until ingredients are processed and smooth, about 1-2 minutes (if you need, stop and add milk and blend again until smoothie starts blending and/or reaches desired texture). Taste test and if desired, blend in sweetener of choice to taste.
Enjoy!

***

How’s everyone doing with Eat in Month? Things are going pretty well on my end, especially since hubby is really into the challenge this year. With my work hours being pretty insane right now, he’s really been helping out with cooking and cleaning. Bless him!

I’ve updated the Eat in Month Challenge post (click) with links to blogs for those who left comments on the challenge page saying they were participating. I added names (sans links) for those who are playing but do not have blogs/web sites. I noticed a couple other people playing who left comments on other posts here on TCL, so once I find them, I’ll get you added.

If you haven’t commented yet, but you’re playing and you want to see your name in the EIM Challenge participant list, just leave me a comment, and I’ll add it!

Ooh, and fun news on the food front…I saw a neat feature in Real Simple where they did 5 take-out style meals you can easily re-create at home, and I’m working on some of my own so help you EIM-ers curb your take-out cravings.

What are your favorite things to order for take-out?

{ 6 comments }

Recipe: Quick Cinnamon Rolls {Without Yeast}

by Diana on January 7, 2012

in Breakfast,Brunch,Recipe,Vegetarian

Put some frozen pastry dough in your fridge tonight, because you’re going to want to make these tomorrow…

Quick Cinnamon Rolls – no yeast or kneading required! It’s true…read on for details – see the end of the post for the recipe.

Frozen puff pastry dough is the key to this easy recipe. You can defrost it however you want, but I found placing a sheet in the fridge the night before was easiest and didn’t really leave me waiting like the “quick” method does. The dough was waiting for me in the morning when I was ready to bake.

You don’t really have to roll the dough out, but I opted to.

Brush the whole sheet with melted butter.

And spread with brown sugar…

…and cinnamon. I thought about adding nuts, too, but I didn’t want the crunchy texture today. If you want, you could add them easily with the brown sugar and cinnamon.

You’ll want about 1/2 inch border on 3 sides and 1 inch on another.

But, it doesn’t have to be exact.

Start on the end with the 1/2 inch border and begin tightly rolling the dough up.

When it’s all rolled up, pinch the end of the dough to the roll to help seal it.

Trim off the uneven parts from the ends.

Cut the dough in half.

Cut each half into thirds.

Just look at all the cinnamon-sugar goodness!

Spray a standard-sized muffin/cupcake tin with non-stick spray.

And here it is after baking only about 30 minutes. Golden deliciousness!

While the rolls cool, you can make the icing. I kept it simple with just powdered sugar and milk, but there are fancier versions out there (just a google search away!) with mascarpone and cream cheese.

Top your rolls with a bit of icing.

You can dollop it or drizzle it. You can even make more icing if you want it extra-sugary. Whatever you do, consider enjoying your “hard” work while it’s still warm (but not too hot – don’t burn yourself!). Mmm…now go sprinkle some flour on your face so people think you worked hard at this and stuff and serve them some breakfast all Martha-Stewart-like.

Quick Cinnamon Rolls {Without Yeast}

While I prefer a yeasty cinnamon roll, with its tender-swirled layers, I don’t always prefer all the waiting and kneading and what not involved. These are the lazy-gal version of the classic cinnamon roll, and frozen puff pastry dough is they key. You’ll have to let the dough defrost, but if you plan ahead, you can put it in the fridge the night before, and it will be ready for you in the morning. Or, you can do the quick defrost recommended by the package instructions if you forget. Do note that the rolls are a little on the small side. I thought they’d be a little larger for some reason, but they were only about 2 inches in diameter. They were small in size but plenty delicious.

Adapted from Ina Garten’s Easy Sticky Buns

*Vegetarian*

Prep Time: 10 minutes (not including time to defrost the dough)
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 6 rolls (but you can easily double the recipe); serves about 2-3 people

Ingredients:

non-stick spray
flour, to prevent puff pastry from sticking
1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted (follow package instructions)
1 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon milk, plus additional, as needed

Directions (see photos above for tips):

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray a standard size muffin/cupcake tin with non-stick spray.
Lightly flour a large flat surface (I used a cutting board), and place puff pastry on top with folds/seams running horizontally. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough out a bit so it’s stretched horizontally by about 1 inch…unless you’re feeling particularly lazy and then just skip the rolling out step.
Leaving a 1/2 inch border on the top, bottom, and one side and a 1 inch border on the other, evenly distribute the brown sugar and cinnamon. Working toward the 1 inch border side, tightly roll the dough up, pinching the seam to seal.
Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces – I like to cut the dough in half and then cut each half into thirds.
Place each dough piece, swirl side up, into one of the muffin/cupcake cups and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is nice and golden brown.
While the rolls cool, make the icing – in a medium bowl combine powdered sugar and milk and whisk to combine. If needed, add additional milk (just a wee bit!) and whisk till the icing is the consistency you want.
When cinnamon rolls are safe to touch, move them to a plate and top with icing – add a dollop or drizzle the icing over top.
Enjoy!

These rolls don’t get the same doughy texture you get with the yeast version, but considering the time savings, they are a great quick-fix replacement.

We had ours with eggs and bacon…yum!

Happy baking!

{ 2 comments }

Foodbuzz 2011 Gala Dinner & Farewell Brunch

by Diana on November 11, 2011

in Brunch,Dessert,Dinner,Restaurant,Travel

After leaving the Tasting Pavilion, we decided that we had enough time to make a quick trip to Tartine Bakery before the Gala dinner.

We cabbed it over and got in line. Even around 3pm-ish (forgot what time it was exactly), the place had a wait.

Everyone huddled around the display case as they made their way through the line.

And you may be able to tell why from these photos – look at those sweets!

Want.

We were there for chocolate croissants primarily, but they were sold out! So, we picked up a couple things instead.

I’ll have to come early enough to get a table sometime so I can enjoy a piece of this yummy-looking quiche.

Mara and I split a gougere.

And I had a plain croissant. So buttery. So flakey. So right.

***

Soon enough, it was time to get ready for the gala dinner. I was sad it wasn’t going to be at the Ferry Building like it was last year, because that was so stunningly gorgeous with all the lights and high ceilings. But, I was happy that this year’s gala was in our hotel since it meant not having to walk very far in heels and rain.

{me, Lori, Christin, Karen, Maissa}

The gala started with french fry appetizers by Alexia, the sponsor for the evening. The fries were actually created using several blogger-created recipes by fellow Foodbuzzers.

{Teri & Me}

We had a special treat for the evening – a cooking demo by Tyler Florence.

Appetizers

Salad – bibb lettuce, honey-roasted pears, glazed pecans, blue cheese vinaigrette

Main course – Brandt Beef Farms Filet Mignon and Meyer Lemon Roasted Prawns – heirloom carrots, celery root puree and peppercorn demi glace.

I thought everything was cooked nicely and the steak was super tender. I really liked the prawns, as well.

We got not one, but 3 desserts! The San Francisco Trio – Sourdough Bread Pudding, Cowgirl Creamery Cheesecake, Scharffen Berger Chocolate Mousse. They were all nice. I would have preferred the bread pudding warm, but the flavor was nice. I thought the chocolate was rich and light all at the same time, but the cheesecake was my favorite.

Phew – after all that yummy food I was stuffed. Again, some people went out for a night on the town, but I headed back with my roomies to chill in the hotel room and relax. We had one event left, and I’d be heading to the airport before I knew it.

I actually spent some of the night packing my bags, setting aside my honey badger travel outfit, and calling in a reservation for an airport shuttle. I like taking the BART to the hotel and something more direct for the way back. After a pretty productive night, I hit the sack.

***

In the morning, I headed out with my roomies to the last event of Foodbuzz Festival – the farewell brunch.

The brunch was sponsored by Godiva Chocolatier, who gave us some pretty sweet swag in our swag bags – 2 bags of flavored coffee, a travel cup, and chocolate.

They had a coffee station, a cold buffet, hot buffet, as well as speciality Godiva coffee drinks available upon request.

I wasn’t much in the mood for eating since my anxiety was starting to build with the thought of hopping on an airplane in just a couple short hours, but I found a couple tasty things to eat.

And before I knew it…it was time to go.

I bid adieu to my friends – old and new…to my roomies…

…and to the crazy-hilly streets of San Francisco that I love so much…

I walked back to my hotel, got my bags, and waited for the shuttle. The shuttle service was really awesome. It picked me up from the hotel and dropped me right off to gate I needed at the airport. I loved how stress-free it was. For $16 (plus tip), it seemed worth it.

I grabbed a quick lunch at the airport and charged my phone before boarding the plane.

The flight took off at 1:30pm San Fran time and was roughly 4 1/2 hours long. The Foodbuzz swag came in handy as a snack. I really enjoyed this Bunny Bar by 18 Rabbits.

I thought it had a nice mix of oats and dried fruit. The flavor was good, too, and the texture was chewy.

I bought wi-fi for the flight home and caught up on emails and blog stuff. It turned out to be a good distraction from the flight itself. I even helped a football-loving couple next to me keep tabs on their team who was playing while we were in the air. Things were going pretty good until the crew announced that two of the bathrooms weren’t working (when we were about halfway through the flight). Then all by the first class worked. Finally, they announced none of them worked. Yikes! Luckily, by that point, we only had about 45 minutes left in the trip. I was just glad it was the bathrooms not working and not something more serious that could interfere with the flight of the plane, ya know? Anywho, we landed safely and early around 9pm Eastern time. It kind of sucked to lose the whole day to traveling, but I think it was better than doing the red eye like I did last year. I would have liked to squeeze in a couple more restaurant visits on Sunday, but since I’m low on vacation days for the rest of the year, I’m trying to save them for the holidays.

All in all, I had another great trip to Foodbuzz. Thank you to Foodbuzz Festival!

And to all my Foodbuzz friends new and old – it was so much meeting you and hanging out with you. I hope to stay in touch on the blogosphere and see you at another conference soon! I have all the cards I collected gathered, and I can’t wait to check out your blogs!

{ 5 comments }

Parmesan Parsley Mini Frittatas Recipe + More Casual Eats

October 4, 2011

One of my favorite things to do when I have guests over is make them TCL-style eats. My sister is the easiest to please because she always comes prepared with a list of things she wants to try. I decided to make a few of my most popular recipes for my friends Beth and Bri. [...]

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Brunch and Bag Shopping + Fashion Blog Question for You

August 30, 2011

Important question for you guys – remember to check the end of the post! *** My friend Kayte and I made plans to hang out Sunday afternoon. FIrst on the agenda – eats! We hit up The Flying Biscuit. Luckily the wait wasn’t too long. I decided to order something new-ish. I usually get the [...]

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Healthy {Oatlicious} Zucchini Bread and Muffins

August 12, 2011

Please answer yes/no for the following foodie questions: Are you looking to do something with all that summer zucchini around right now? Are you looking for an easy baking project for this weekend? Are you crazy about zucchini bread? Are you still drooling over the zucchini bread/muffin photos I posted on Facebook earlier? If you [...]

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Dim Sum Yum & Vintage Fiestaware Finds

June 5, 2011

So the last couple times hubby and I have been to Durham, something has been missing. I haven’t been getting my occasional dim sum fix! And you guys know how I feel about dim sum. So, this weekend I managed to talk hubby’s family into visiting my Durham-fave – Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant. Have you [...]