Pumpkin Pasties

A-la-Harry Potter! The book below is a MUST for all Harry Potter fans.  I have only gotten through a few recipes (and there are a few in the book I would NEVER try-like blood pudding) but they all fuel my love for the books...and that is just the best.  The only thing it is missing that I wish it had is Butterbeer...maybe I'll make my own recipe for that some day. 

The dish at hand though: Pumpkin Pasties. 
So easy to make, takes like ten minutes.  I had made extra pie crust yesterday thinking I would just make two pumpkin pies, but pulling out this cookbook I remembered the Pumpkin Pasty recipe.  So I chopped my pie dough in half and went for it.  I also had some left over pumpkin from making the Pumpkin Fudge earlier in the week, so was able to use that instead of having to open up a whole new can! I love it when I can save stuff and find uses for it later. 

In the book the author has her own recipe for the crust.  You can use that or use my recipe on the previous post or just buy some from the store (no one is judging!) If you buy it from the store make sure to buy the kind you roll out and put in your own pan, not the kind already in the aluminum pan. 

Ingredients:
Pie Crust
1 cup pumpkin puree (not the pie mix)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice





1) Preheat the oven to 400
2) Lay out the pie crust and use a rolling pin to roll out until thin (I even like to roll out the store bought kind just so it's a little thinner) 

3) Use a 6'' diameter cup, bowl, cookie cutter, whatever to cut out circles of the pie crust.  (In the book it says it makes about 6 Pasties, I'm thinking that is with two store bought crusts). With whatever crust you have left, reroll and make some more circles.
4) In a bowl mix together the pumpkin, sugar, and spices. 

5) Put about two or three Tbs. of the pumpkin mixture on the crust circles. 
6) Fold in half and pinch down the edges using a fork. 

7) Cut slits in the top to vent.
8) Place on cookie sheet and put into the oven until the crusts are golden brown.  (15 minutes or so)
9) Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve. 

*I use a cookie cutter that is about 2 or 3 inches in diameter, so mine are much smaller then the ones in the book.  I made mine with one homemade 9'' pie crust and came out with 16 or so pasties.  I also had some extra dough that I didn't roll out again and just a little extra pumpkin mix (I thought I might try some pumpkin oatmeal in the morning with brown sugar and cinnamon!) You can make them any size you want, just make sure to vary the cooking time.*

They are great warm or cold.  Add some ice cream or whipped cream for a real treat!  These are nice because they are like mini pumpkin pies you can walk around with, but they are not quite as sweet. 

My husband absolutely loves them.  The first batch I made he ate them all...so I had to make two more to take to work with me the next day! They were gone pretty fast as well.

Pie Crust

So a few years ago (yes that is how tramatic an experience it was) I tried to make a Pumpkin Pie COMPLETELY from scratch.  The best compliment I can give it...it was edible.  So after this tramatic experience I am going to try again!

Still being pregnant my tolerence for work is slim.  So today all I did was make the crust. 

I love making my own crust (and I only have a small food processor...that cannot hold all the ingredients for pie crust).  There I said it.  I find it relaxing.  I just gather up all my ingredients sit back and crumble in the butter.  It is messy, but fun.

The recipe I use is from Vegitarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.  It is a completely amazing cook book.  Eventhough I am not a vegitarian, any more, there are so many awesome recipes that I use it quite often.  I have adapted the recipe slightly for my needs. 

Ingredients:
(makes ONE 9'' pie crust)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 lb. butter (1 stick)-very cold
4-6 Tbs. ice water
salt or sugar to taste (about 1 Tbs. sugar or 1 tsp. salt)

Measure out flour and sugar or salt.

1) Measure out flour and put in a medium bowl. Add the sugar or salt. 
2) Cut butter (straight from the fridge or even freezer) into small squares and dump into flour. 

Cut butter into small squares.

3) Crumble with your fingers the butter into the flour.  I just dig in and squeeze the butter into the flour. 
4) When all the butter is incorporated the mixture should be flaky and powdery.  Start adding the water (a little at a time)

After butter is added it should hold together like this, but still be crumbly.

5) After adding some water, kneed the dough.  Keep adding and kneeding until the mixture comes together.
6) Press into a disk shape (for easier rolling) and wrap tightly.  Put in the fridge for at least an hour. 

Finished dough in disk shape, ready for the fridge.

*This is the way to make the pie crust if you do not have a food processor.  If you do, it is a lot simpler: just cut up the butter, add it, the flour and sugar or salt to the food processor, pulse until crumbly, slowly add water while pulsing.  It is ready when almost all of the ingredients are incorporated.  You still have to dump it out and hand kneed it until it all comes together.*

Sugar or salt? It just depends on your taste.  I used sugar because I knew I was going to use the pie crust for a sweet treat.  If I'm making quiche or a savory tart, I'll use salt.  (I've also been known to use salted butter just to cut out the step of measuring the salt...but doing that takes away the control you have of how much salt to add). 

I doubled the above recipe because I figured if I'm going through enough trouble of making my own crust, I might as well make two of them.  You should also double if you are making any pie that uses a crust for the top, like apple or blueberry.

Pumpkin Fudge

Had a relaxing day yesterday so I made some Pumpkin Fudge.  Just another stop on the Pumpkin train.  I just can't seem to get enough of this stuff when Autumn rolls around. 

I must admit that I had never made fudge before and was a little intimidated by the recipe.  (Exact boiling times and temperatures...not for me) As much as I love baking, I have a tendency to measure however I feel like measuring.  A dash of this and a pinch of that, instead of exactly one tablespoon.  This is not always the best strategy for baking where very precise measurements are a must. 

So lately I've been trying my hardest to measure everything exactly how the recipe says, and it's been going well so far. 

From what I've gathered on other blogs and recipe sites is that fudge can go very wrong, very easily.  So just follow the recipe and you'll be ok...I think!

Ingredients:
2 Cups sugar
1 Cup brown sugar (packed)
3/4 Cup butter (MUST be real butter)
2/3 Cup evaporated milk
1/2 Cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
12 oz. (one package) white chocolate chips
7 oz. (one small jar) Marshmallow Creme
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Cup nuts (pecans or macadamia) - optional

Special equipment: candy thermometer

1) Butter a 9x13 baking dish or line with wax paper and butter.
2) In a heavy saucepan combine the first 6 ingredients.  Cook over MEDIUM heat until boiling. Stir constantly.  
3) Place the thermometer in the sugar mixture and boil until the 234-243 degrees F (the soft-ball stage). Note: be patient, this can take up to 30 minutes...don't rush it or the fudge can get grainy or very crumbly. 
4) Remove from heat and stir in the white chocolate until they are all melted and mixture is smooth.
5) Add remaining ingredients and mix well. 
6) Pour into the prepared pan and let cool to room temperature. 
7) Cut into squares and store in an air tight container. 

As you can see by my first picture, the fudge is not very orange.  I was expecting it to come out a little brighter.  It also would have been nice because people wouldn't have to ask what kind of fudge it is. 

To counter this, I figure you can just add some orange gel food coloring when you are adding the marshmallow fluff until it reaches the desired orange color.

Other than that, I had no problems with making the fudge...it turned out great!

The Beginning with Chex Mix

So a little introduction goes a long way. 

My name is Erin and I am going to attempt to keep a blog of my amazing cooking adventures.  They are not really amazing or adventures...but I can dream. 

I love cooking (baking more than anything else).  My family is not big on cooking, my dad did all of the real cooking growing up, my mom heated up the Stouffers.  So I'm not really sure where the baking gene comes from. 

The problem...I am nine months pregnant with my first baby(I'm due on Sunday!!).  Not that this is really a problem but I have been wanting to start a cooking blog and now that I'm actually going to do it, I'm not going to have any time to cook. 

Hopefully this will not be the first and final post!

Today I made Chex Mix.  Not the most exciting thing but Homecoming for WVWC is this weekend and I thought we needed something in the house for people who were stopping by to hang out for a while and wanted something to munch on.  Disclaimer: My husband and I live on the third floor of my Grandparents home.  (They have a full apartment up there) So when I say people are stopping by it's usually to see my Grandparents and my Aunts, not me but I don't mind letting all the guests be my baking guinea pigs. 

I made one recipe of the original Chex mix and then in the October spirit made a double batch of Pumpkin Pie Chex Mix. 

It only took about half an hour all told...which seems to be my threshold of work these days (this baby thing really drains the energy out of me). 

I don't have the pictures with me right now, but I will post them soon.  For now you will have to deal with just the recipe:

(this is the single recipe initially pulled from the Chex website but modified to fit me)

2 Cups Honey Chex

2 Cups Cinnamon Chex

2 Cups whatever Chex you have left over from other stuff (I used a mix of Wheat, Corn and Rice that I had left over from the original Chex recipe)

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1 Tbs. Pumpkin Pie spice

1/4 Cup butter (unsalted)

1 Tsp. vanilla

1 Cup chopped pecans (optional)

1 Cup butterscotch chips (optional)

1 Cup roasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

 1) In a small bowl mix together brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice.  Set aside. 

2) Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl (takes about 45 seconds). 

3) While butter is melting in a very large microwavable bowl measure out your Chex, pecans and pumpkin seeds, mix well. 

4) Once butter is melted add in vanilla and stir.  Then pour over Chex mixture and mix until evenly distributed. 

5) Then add the brown sugar mixture and mix well. 

6) Microwave on high for about 5 minutes (mine only had to be in there for 4) stirring VERY well every minute.  (If you don't stir, the Chex will burn.)

7) Once done, spread on paper towels or wax paper and let cool.  After it has cooled, mix in the butterscotch chips.  Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. 

Chex mixes are so easy to make and are awesome for snacks just to have around the house.  They are also super convenient because you can modify them to whatever you have on hand.  Don't have pecans just add peanuts, don't have pumpkin seeds, just add some pretzels.

This recipe was even better since I haven't been able to get enough pumpkin stuff lately.