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Posts with tag cinnamon

Butternut squash and carrot soup

butternut squash and carrot soup
I haven't been posting many recipes lately, mostly because I've been in something of dry spell when it comes to cooking. However, I haven't been staying totally out of the kitchen. Last weekend I made a pot of butternut and carrot soup that ended up being really tasty and the perfect thing to eat for lunch all week long (one of the wonderful things about this new job of mine is that it's only a block and a half from my apartment, so I can run home for lunch).

I admit that when it comes to this soup, I "cheat" a little bit. What I mean by that is that I use a pack of pre-peeled and chopped butternut squash from Trader Joe's (I've also seen it at Whole Foods). Then all I have to do is roughly chop an onion, saute it quickly in a little olive oil, toss in three or four chunks carrots, pile in the prepared squash and cover it with water or stock (I typically use one box of stock and then make up the difference with water). Then it just gently simmers until the veggies are tender. I recently acquired a far more powerful immersion blender, and it has made my blended soup far smoother than they used to be.

You might be wondering about seasoning with this soup. I actually change it up each time I make it. Sometimes I'll grate a little ginger in, or go with a spoonful of curry. This last time I used a bit of fresh thyme and a sprinkle of cinnamon. It might sound a little untraditional, but it was delicious. I also happened to have about a quarter cup of cream in my fridge and I added that in as well for a little extra smoothness. But you should feel free to make this soup your own.

Baked Grapefruit

grapefruit

In the mood for grapefruit today? Turn on your toaster oven.

I got this recipe from the really cool book Munchies by Kevin Telles Roberts. He suggests you try it as a snack at 1:30 in the morning, but I don't see any reason why you can't have it as an ordinary breakfast treat.

Set your toaster oven to 450 degrees. Cut and section a grapefruit. Put a pat of butter in the center of each half and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and sugar. Bake for about 10 minutes, until cinnamon/sugar is melted.

We've all had grapefruit sprinkled with sugar, of course, but I wonder how the baking changes the taste. I've been wanting to eat more grapefruit anyway, so I'm going to try it this Sunday morning.

Brandied grapes

grapesOnce in a while you come across the type of recipe that you never would have thought of before. That's how I feel about this recipe for Brandied Grapes, from one of my favorite food blogs, Noshtalgia.

I'm not a big fan of brandy as a drink, but the marinating of grapes overnight in brandy (and also cinnamon and nutmeg) certainly intrigues me. Oh, and did I mention you serve it with sour cream on the side? I can't even begin to image what this tastes like. Full recipe after the jump.

Continue reading Brandied grapes

Simple, crusty bread transformed into sticky buns

cheater sticky bunsDespite my success with the famed No-Knead Bread, I am something of a beginner when it comes to yeasted breads (quick breads have always been my friend, however). That is why I've been sort of intrigued by the Simple, Crusty Bread recipe that ran in the New York Times back in November. I like simple!

I'm even more convinced that I have to try out this recipe now that I see that Jess over at Hogwash has taken that recipe and turned it into cinnamon rolls. She calls the sin rolls or cheater sticky buns, and while they look sinful, I don't think that there's anything about them that cheats. They simply reinvent an old classic in a way that makes it even easier. My pants don't thank Jess, but my tastebuds sure do!

Fall Flavors: Fried Apples

Granny Smith applesMmmm...apples. They remind me so much of fall (even though they're available year-round). It hasn't been very fall-like this week in my neck of the woods - it was almost 90 yesterday! - but any recipe that gets me in the mind-set for autumn is something I have to post about.

It's from the Cooking For 2 blog and it's a recipe for Fried Apples. Pretty easy, actually. I'm not really a fan of hot apple pie (I prefer ice cold apple pie), but I'm willing to give this a shot. Full recipe after the jump.

Continue reading Fall Flavors: Fried Apples

I think I'll make some brownies

browniesYou know what I haven't made in a while? Yes, you can guess it from the title of the post. Brownies! I've been making my brownies the same way for years, but I think it's time to shake things up a little bit.

The cool food blog Andrea's Recipes has a recipe for Michael's Favorite Brownies, and it sounds perfect. I particularly like the desciption: "chewy, fudgy, with that slightly crackly top." I might even add some cayenne pepper to see what that does to them (though I'll skip the walnuts). Full recipe after the jump.

Continue reading I think I'll make some brownies

Food Porn: Cinnamon Butterfly

A hot cup of coffee and a rich, buttery, cinnamon-sugar pastry is a wonderful way to start off a Sunday morning - especially when, because of Daylight Savings Time, we had to "leap forward" a hour last night and are all a touch sleep-deprived. For once, I'm not talking about a cinnamon bun with this sweet pastry, although it is not too far off the mark. Cinnamon Butterflies, also called Cinnamon Ears, are similar to cinnamon buns in that they begin with a buttery dough that is rolled out and wrapped into a cinnamon-sugar-filled spiral. The difference is that the Butterflies are set on their side and pressed in the center so that the ends of the roll are pushed out into "wings" (or ears). The pastry is Scandinavian, and as is traditional with so many recipes from the region, each one is topped with sprinkles of a very large-grain sugar, or lightly crushed sugar cubes, for additional sweetness and crunch. Gattina, from Kitchen Unplugged, made this batch, as you can read the full post for the recipe.

Dark Chocolate Dipped Altoids - now with cinnamon

Dark Chocolate Dipped Altoids sounded so good after reading Joe's initial review that I decided to keep an eye out for them while shopping. Target seems to be a veritable gold mine of new and limited edition candies, so it didn't surprise me when I saw a box near the checkout and picked them up.

At least, I thought I saw a box of the candies I was looking for. I didn't discover that I picked up a tin of Dark Chocolate Dipped Cinnamon Altoids instead until I took a closer look at the package later that day. I'm not a big fan of cinnamon candies in general, but I have to admit that the chocolate-coated cinnamon Altoids were pretty addictive. The chocolate was not too sweet and melted fairly easily in my mouth, cutting the normally sharp cinnamon flavor substantially and leaving behind an almost Mexican chocolate-type flavor.

I still haven't had a chance to sample the regular chocolate covered Altoids, but I think I'll be satisfied with my accidental purchase for a while yet.

Update: New tea found!

Good Earth TeaA lot of you gave me some tips for trying to find great-tasting teas that would help me cut down on my daily sugar intake. Thanks again. I took everyone's advice and went on a little tea shopping spree this weekend, and here's what I bought and how they taste.

I went with reader advice and bought two different kinds of Good Earth: Original and Vanilla Chai. Both are nice. The original has a strong cinnamon taste, and while the chai has a strong vanilla flavor and aroma to it, it also has a lot of cinnamon and other spices. But they both taste good. I've had some cinnamon-flavored teas that, well, just tasted like someone took 30 or 40 sticks of Big Red gum and boiled them. These taste really great. I also bought a variety pack of Celestial Seasonings. I've had some flavors of this brand in that past I wasn't too thrilled with, but it's a good tea to keep on hand. I'm going to buy some other brands too and see how they are.

And the best news? With these teas I've cut down from 4-5 packets of sugar to only 1 or 2! Most excellent.

Friday Happy Hour: Hot Toddy for one, Hot Cider Punch for thirty

I'm not sure how cold it is where you are, but here tonight it's supposed to be around 9 degrees (and with the wind, etc, etc it's even colder). So we need something to keep us warm. You could try tea, you could try soup, maybe sitting in front of a fireplace. You could even try cutting open the carcass of a large dead animal and crawling inside, like in one of the Star Wars movies.

Or, you could make a hot alcoholic drink. If you're alone, you can make a Hot Toddy. If you're having a party with thirty of more people, you could make a Hot Cider Punch. Either way, you'll warm up quick. To paraphrase the Campbell's commercial: "Warm up to alcohol, booze is good food."

Continue reading Friday Happy Hour: Hot Toddy for one, Hot Cider Punch for thirty

An easy way to make latte art

Instead of fussing with steamed milk and trying to perfect the very difficult skill of making good latte art, which is very tricky to practice unless you have access to a good espresso machine and work in a coffee shop or drink a lot of coffee, a good way to decorate your drinks is with a stencil. Aerolatte sells a Cappuccino Art Set. The art set comes with a collection of stencils that can be placed on top of your drink and dusted with cocoa powder or cinnamon using a fine duster, similar to the type used for sprinkling powdered sugar. The six stencils are made of sturdy plastic, are dishwasher safe and come with a small storage tin. There is only one downside and that is the fact that you are limited to the designs that are provided. As elegant as the premade stencils are, if you want to make your own, you can use the exact same technique (perhaps even the same stencils) that we used for making cupcake stencils a few weeks ago.

Food Porn: Cinnamon Bun Bread

The Cinnamon Bun Bread that Alison, from The Flour Room, recently made is the perfect recipe for anyone who loves cinnamon buns but doesn't have the time or the inclination to make a whole batch of yeasted rolls. The recipe is from Fin Arthur Flour and does use yeast in the recipe, but it is no more difficult than a quickbread. The batter is mixed up, stands at room temperature for about an hour while the yeast works and gives the bread some lightness, opening up the crumb of the bread to prevent it from becoming too dense, and is then poured into a loaf pan for baking. A bit of baking powder helps the bread rise even more, making this a pretty foolproof option, even for the yeast-phobic bakers out there.

This loaf has a cinnamon sugar topping and cinnamon chips swirled throughout. Cinnamon chips are available at many grocery stores, but alternative options for this loaf include adding in chocolate chips or doubling (or tripling) the topping recipe, dividing the batter in half, and adding a layer of cinnamon sugar mixture to the center of the loaf.

Luxe chocolate chips

Instead of limiting yourself to semisweet, dark and white chocolate chips the next time you set out to make a batch of cookies, consider getting some more unusually flavored chips. Vosges Chocolate has a line of three flavors of Exotic Chocolate Chips. Black Pearl Exotic Chocolate Chips are dark chocolate flavored with ginger, wasabi and black sesame seeds. Naga Exotic Chocolate Chips have a milk chocolate base that is spiked with sweet Indian curry powder and coconut flakes. Finally, the chocolatier also makes Red Fire Exotic Chocolate Chips, dark chocolate with Mexican ancho and chipotle chili peppers and Ceylon cinnamon. Each 4-oz. bag of chips sells for $8.50.

Vosges doesn't leave you on your own to come up with recipes that the chocolate chips can be included in, either. With each of the three types of chocolate chips, they list several recipes that will work perfectly with them. For example the Red Fire Martini and Love Goddess Cake work well with the Red Fire Chips and the Black Pearl Chips are the star in Full Moon Brownies.

Orange and Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes

I was looking for something to spice up my pancakes this morning and I couldn't stop thinking about the Cranberry, Orange & Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies I made earlier this week. Chocolate chips are for "special occasion" pancakes and I'm not a fan of dried fruit in them, but I thought that orange would be a very welcome flavor in my breakfast. I ended up adding in the zest of one orange and a splash of cinnamon. The resulting pancakes, when topped with maple syrup as well, virtually screamed fall. The tender pancakes were addictive and there was just enough flavor from the orange and cinnamon to make them interesting, without becoming overwhelming. What a great way to start of a Sunday!

Continue reading Orange and Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes

Gingerbread Caramel Corn

Rockefeller Center treeHere's a Christmas twist on a classic snack, caramel corn.

I got it from a the Busy Cooks section of About.com, where they have a bunch of recipes for food you can serve at your tree trimming party. Does anyone have tree trimming parties anymore? That sounds like a great thing to do, though I haven't had a bunch of people help me set up a tree in years. I'm not quite sure (except for the Gingerbread Caramel Corn) what makes these recipes - including Beer Cheese Soup, Asparagus Tarts, and Crockpot Artichoke Spinach Dip - tree trimming-ish, but they sound good nonetheless.

Continue reading Gingerbread Caramel Corn

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Tip of the Day

Plain sugar-coated glass rims are so last century. Add excitement to your glass rims with interesting colors and flavors!

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