My New Toy!

Ok so it's not really a toy because it's ceramic, but I've been eyeing this baby since the end of last semester at the bookstore.




I was at the bookstore today, and it was the last one. I decided to break down and spend the $10. However, I noticed a slight chip on the base, so I figured might as well ask for a discount. I know when I worked at the mall in a clothing store, we would give 10% off for damages with no return or exchange. When I asked, she said they didn't sell damaged merchandise. I was like, no I'll still buy it because I thought she meant she couldn't sell it to me at all.



Really she just meant she couldn't sell it and gave it to me as a gift. !!! I asked her probably about three times are you sure? and thanked her another twenty times. So here's my new toy! I have yet to decide what to put in it. And I am still cursing the person who designed our apartment. The lighting is absolutely horrible. Who puts the main light on the side wall instead of the ceiling anyway? I brought my lamp over and did the best I could, hence the horrible shadow.

My Favorite Vegetable

One reason I love fall is the abundance of winter squash. Butternut squash is my favorite, although since I recently began cooking with spaghetti squash, it may have a tough time staying number one.

I've been sick since Sunday, so here's a soup I made. People are surprised I still have the energy to cook. I enjoy it so much, it's more fun than work. Plus I have nobody to take care of me, so if I want to eat, I have to suck it up and cook.

Even if I wasn't sick, I still would've made this soup because I had to use up my squash. I'm entering this in Weekend Cookbook Challenge 33 - Fall Vegetables. This soup made six servings, so I froze the leftovers for later.

Curried Winter Squash Bisque



2 lb. butternut squash
2 Tbsp butter
1 whole scallion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small green pepper, chopped (I didn't have any)
1 tsp dried parsley or basil (or both??)
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
Pinch of nutmeg
2 tsp curry powder
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cut squash in half. If you are having trouble, put it in boiling water for a few minutes to soften the skin. Remove seeds and save them for later. Place cut side down onto a cookie sheet and bake for about 45 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, peel and cut into cubes.

2. Melt butter over medium-low heat. Saute scallion, garlic, and green pepper for 5 minutes. Add squash cubes, tomatoes, broth, and spices. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat for a few minutes.

3. In small batches (because hot liquid will expand and cause the lid to blow off), puree in a blender. Have another saucepan ready so you can pour the pureed soup into it. Once completely done, stir in curry powder. Heat to boiling again, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes six bowls.

Source: Greene on Greens 1984, p. 334-335

Tuesdays With Dorie - Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

This week's recipe was cleverly chosen by Clara of I Heart Food 4 Thought. She suggested we could decorate these cupcakes for Halloween, so I did.

However, these weren't made without...complications. Roommate E decided she was going to take the electric hand mixer to her boyfriend's place to make sugar cookies. I didn't realize this until after measuring the dry ingredients, so I couldn't just pack up and wait another day. Fortunately, and I have no clue why, we had a hand-crank mixer. Thank you, Roommate B1! It is hard to use while creaming the butter, mainly because the bowl wouldn't stay still. Roommate B2 wanted to help, but we both agreed she wasn't allowed in the kitchen until her test results for mono came back (they came back yesterday, and she does not have mono. Good because I caught whatever she had, fortunately the day after baking).


Then when I went to prepare the buttermilk, I discovered my lemon went bad. I only have red wine vinegar, so I decided to use regular milk. A lot of TwDers complained their cupcakes were rather dry. Mine were very moist. I even baked them at the max amount of time.

As for the ganache on top, it was good. Visually, I didn't like the chocolate-on-chocolate because I like color contrast. The orange sprinkles did help a bit. Tastewise, my roommates ate about half, and I gave the rest to whoever was in the computer lab when I was working. My friend demanded I make him just one of these cupcakes for his birthday in two weeks. I'll probably just cut the recipe in half and make him six. I'm sure he can give the other five away no problem.

Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes



You can check out the recipe in Baking: From My Home To Yours on pages 215-217 or on Clara's blog. Thanks for picking this week's recipe!

Just As Good As Spaghetti Without The Carbs

My favorite vegetable would probably have to be squash - yellow squash, zucchini, pumpkin, butternut, and spaghetti squash. I'm not so crazy about acorn squash, but it might have been the way I prepared it. Anyway, since I'm in college, I tend to eat a lot of pasta and rice. Although I'm not carb conscious, I do realize eating too much is bad. One solution is to pretend you are eating pasta when really it's just spaghetti squash. I never understood this vegetable until I cooked it for the first time. For some reason, I thought the strands would be too hard to scrape. Honestly, it's probably the easiest thing to do. Much easier than cutting the raw vegetable in half haha

Tip: If you are having difficulty cutting winter squash in half, boil it for three minutes to slightly soften the skin. Your knife and arm will thank you!

Also don't throw away those seeds! You can easily roast them for a tasty snack. If you are skeptical, think pumpkin seeds. After all, pumpkin is a squash.

Spaghetti Squash




Preheat oven to 375F. Cut squash in half. Scrape out seeds; reserve. Place each half cut-side down on a cookie sheet. Bake for about an hour or until tender. Let cool until touchable. Using a fork, scrape out the fibers into thin strands and place in a bowl. Toss with your favorite pasta sauce. I used butter, garlic, onions, mushrooms, and parmesan cheese.

Roasted Seeds



Preheat oven to 350F. Separate seeds from any squash remains as best as you can. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry. Toss with a bit of oil and seasoning (I used garlic salt). Spread the seeds onto a cookie sheet. For every five minutes in the oven, check on seeds and move them around with a spoon to prevent burning. Keep doing this until brown, about 20-30 minutes. Remove and let cool before snacking.

Random Seven Facts

Adam of Baking With Dynamite tagged me to list seven facts about me, so here goes.

The rules of the tag are:
(a) List these rules on your blog.
(b) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
(c) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

1. I eat way too much pasta because I'm in college.

2. I love heights, especially when I'm taking pictures.

3. I have a low sense of smell, so when my roommates complain about the trash smelling, I honestly cannot smell it.

4. I am, and always will be, homesick for Ireland. (Note: I studied abroad there Spring 2007).

5. If it wasn't so late in my college education, I might have considered geology because they travel a lot.

6. I hate fully-cooked egg yolks. That means no scrambled eggs, no yolks from hard-boiled eggs. I only like runny yolks, like over-easy or sunny-side up eggs. Poached eggs are iffy because sometimes the yolk gets a little too cooked.

7. Communication majors are hard-working students too! Just because we don't have a million lab reports, research papers, huge exams, etc. doesn't mean our major is "easy." We spend most of our time working on projects rather than papers. When we do have papers, it is hardcore. I can't tell you how much time I've spent last week working on communication law or last year on research methods. If you got rid of our major, you wouldn't have a tv station, radio station, or a newspaper.

Ok, so now I am tagging the following people:

Megan from Megan's Cookin
Michele from Alwayz Bakin
Steph from Obsessed With Baking
Reeni from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
Linda from Cooking in Cleveland
Anj from Gulf Coast Gram
Lauren from I'll Eat You

Tuesdays With Dorie - Pumpkin Muffins

I'm so glad I did this week's recipe when I was home for fall break a few weeks ago. I have been running around last week studying for my communication law midterm, writing comm. law essays, taping Homecoming events, and preparing for my presentation at a conference this past weekend. That's just the life of a student, no? So this week's recipe was Dorie's Pumpkin Muffins. Last week I mentioned buying fresh whole wheat flour. I decided to sub half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat. You don't want to sub all of the flour because the muffins would become too dense unless you adjusted the liquid ingredients as well. I thought they turned out ok. I didn't top them with sunflower seeds because I didn't have any, so I just threw raisins in the batter.

Pumpkin Muffins




Thanks Kelly from Sounding My Barbaric Gulp for picking this week's recipe! They make a great breakfast snack. You can find the recipe on page 13 of Baking: From My Home To Yours or on Kelly's blog.

Please Go Visit

Please go visit my adopted blogger Lauren at I'll Eat You. Not only is she awesome, she is giving away Martha Stewart's Cookies book for her 100th post celebration.

Foodbuzz Publisher Community Launches

As you know, I am a featured publisher over at Foodbuzz. I'm helping to announce the official launch of the Foodbuzz Publisher Community. There is one paragraph from the press release that will help sum up what Foodbuzz is all about:

"Foodbuzz is the only online community with content created exclusively by food bloggers and rated by foodies. The site offers more than 20,000 pieces of new food and dining content weekly, including recipes, photos, blog posts, videos and restaurant reviews. Members decide the “tastiness” of each piece of content by voting and “buzz” the most popular posts to the top of the daily menu of submissions. Foodbuzz currently logs over 13 million monthly page views and over three million monthly unique visitors."

Foodbuzz has been so kind to me, helping me earn a little extra cash and giving away free goodies. Thank you for the apron and spatula I received a few weeks ago! They have also given me a cool tote bag and business cards.

If you are interested in becoming a featured publisher, please email me at mooseymoosecc(at)hotmail(dot)com. I will send you more information (plus I get a little bonus for referring people).

Tuesdays With Dorie - Lenox Biscotti

This week's recipe is Dorie's Lenox Biscotti. I have never made biscotti before, even though I am mainly Italian (gasp!). This recipe differs from other biscotti recipes because it calls for cornmeal. Whenever I went to the apple festival two weekends ago, I got really excited when I saw freshly-made cornmeal and flour for $1 each bag. I bought cornmeal and whole wheat flour, which is weird because I'm not a fan of wheat bread. They also had bran and flax seed, but I had no idea what I would do with them. I'm such a dork because only I would get excited over fresh flour. The farm has been doing this every year for how many years now, and this time I actually noticed. Probably because I haven't been observant of ingredients before.

A tip I never knew. You want to freeze flour to kill off any bugs. Also, flour tends to go rancid quickly, so freezing slows that process down by a few months. You could use the refrigerator too. Most families don't freeze flour because they go through all-purpose flour rather quickly. Just make sure you use air-tight bags or containers to keep moisture out.

Anyway, back to the biscotti. Dorie says to make the logs 12 x 1.5 inches, which make seem really skinny, but trust me. I didn't understand the dimensions either until after they were done baking because they spread ridiculously. Then she said to stand them up like a marching band after cutting for the second baking. Several TwDers were confused, and some of theirs wouldn't even stand up. Mine stood up just fine. If you are confused, Dorie means to stand them up so the cut sides are exposed. Mine came out fine, softer than the average biscotti, which my dad loved. He hates the really crunchy kind, but biscotti stands for twice baked and is meant to dip in a hot beverage. Some TwDers were saying they had to bake theirs longer, so maybe that's why mine came out soft. Some of them did fall apart but for the most part they held together. Try to bake only one tray at a time because I baked two trays, and the bottom tray cookies got burnt while the top tray was fine.

I made the lemon almond version. Since I only had one lemon and Dorie calls for two, the lemon taste was more of a backdrop while the almond, particularly the almond extract, was in your face. I highly recommend using two lemons.

I can now scratch this off of my challenge list.

Lenox Biscotti




Thanks Gretchen from Canela & Comino for picking this week's recipe! You can find the recipe on page 141-143 in Baking: From My Home To Yours or on Gretchen's blog.

Moosey Tip #2

This tip applies more towards living with roommates than with your family. For any groceries and/or bathroom supplies you and your roommate(s) share, put a shopping list on the fridge. If you are like my roommates and I and have a cabinet for personal food, tape a piece of paper on the inside of your door so when you run out of something, you have one easy place to keep track.

Tuesdays With Dorie - Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake

I was really excited when this week's recipe was Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake because that was one of the recipes where the picture was making me drool. Unfortunately, I wasn't too crazy about it while eating. My family liked it, so I think it was my tastebuds rather than the actual baking.

EDIT - Ok I just ate a slice from the fridge. A lot better than my first tasting. Plus I think it's the cake part I didn't like, not the topping. I'm eating the topping alone and yummy! Maybe it's the chocolate I used. I did use cheap chocolate because I can't afford better haha

A few words of caution. One, this cake rises like no other, so be careful if you are making smaller portions like cupcakes. I used a 9-inch round cake pan, and it was as full as you can get. Two, making caramel sauce is dangerous and tricky. I burnt my finger about a year ago, and the mark was there for about a month. The temperature of the syrup is hotter than boiling water, and it sticks to your finger, so that few seconds from contact to wiping it off really makes it hurt worse than boiling water. Also, caramel sauce burns fast if you aren't watchful. Dorie suggests 5-10 minutes. A lot of TwDers, including myself, found it to be 15 minutes. You want the color to be a few shades lighter than a deep amber when you turn the heat down because it continues cooking and will go from deep amber to burnt in about 30 seconds. Trust me. I had to make the sauce twice because it burnt the first time. And burnt caramel smells.

This past weekend plus yesterday and today is my school's fall break. I've been baking almost non-stop plus I went to an apple festival Saturday afternoon. This cake is one of the many items I baked and also gave away to my best friend's grandparents (since I don't have grandparents of my own).

Caramel Topped Peanut Brownie Cake




Thanks Tammy from Wee Treats by Tammy for choosing this week's recipe! You can find it on pages 264-265 of Baking: From My Home To Yours or visit Tammy's blog.

Weekend Cookbook Challenge Garlic Round-Up

Ok seriously, as I write this entry, my cat Murray is biting my butt. I guess the snap on my back pocket is very shiny. So please bear with me as I post the round-up because this isn't very comfortable haha

Acting like he did nothing by taking a bath
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Weekend Cookbook Challenge this month! I'm sure everyone's kitchen kept the vampires away. Let's see what's on the menu.


Cynthia from Diary of a Glad Housewife recommends making your kid do the mashing while making Garlic Chived Mashed Potatoes.

The creator of WCC, Sara from I Like To Cook, made garlic dressing in a handy little tool she found at the grocery store.


Judy from Judy's Gross Eats lives near Gilroy, CA, the garlic capital of the world, so she just had to enter her Creamy Garlic Soup.

This one cracks me up. Megan from Megan's Cookin stunk up the house so much with her garlic jelly that her and her husband couldn't sleep the first night!


Clara from I Heart Food 4 Thought baked delicious buttery garlic knots. I, too, love the smell of garlic on my finger tips.

Michelle from Je Mange la Ville contributed her Shrimp de Jonghe recipe. Smelling like garlic the next day? I'm in!


Ruth from Once Upon A Feast's entry may look like an ordinary steak, but the buttery garlic flavor kicks through with every bite. Check it out!

Lisa from Confessions of an Apron Queen spices up her favorite salad with homemade garlic croutons.


My mentee Lauren from I'll Eat You used pan roasting to highlight her garlic with Pollo All'Aglio.

Reeni from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice recommends making Garlic and Lemon Pasta for Halloween so you can keep the vampires away!


Virginia from Living the Local Life made her lasagna extra special by adding slices of roasted garlic bread.

Mike from Mel's Diner made aioli, even though he couldn't find his intended cookbook.


Lisa from Lady Concierge was the only one to enter Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic because everyone else assumed that would have been the most popular recipe to enter.

Mrs. L from Pages, Pucks, and Pantry combined my favorite ingredient garlic with another favorite ingredient - mushrooms!

Thanks to everyone who participated! Hopefully your social life wasn't impacted too greatly by this wonderful ingredient. You can check out my entry for Steak with Roasted Garlic and Chili Rub. Thanks Sara for creating Weekend Cookbook Challenge! I'll be sure to host again in the future :)

My WCC Entry

Ok so I haven't gotten a chance to post about my Weekend Cookbook Challenge entry or the round-up. I'm working on the round-up this weekend, so hopefully that will be up tomorrow or Tuesday.

I was having the toughest time figuring how what I wanted to make. My dad gave me a small piece of steak to take back to school, so I decided to make a garlic spice rub. The recipe isn't perfect because the mashed garlic didn't want to stay on when I flipped the meat. Plus I think it needed more than two cloves, but that's just me. I got the recipe online, but I cut it in half since I clearly didn't have 1 lb. of steak. Maybe next time I will cut the spices in half but keep the garlic at four cloves.

Steak With Roasted Garlic and Chili Rub




Recipe from Recipe Zaar