Pumpkin galore – Pumpkin cream cheese pie bars

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Pumpkin cream cheese pie bars

I know that posting a thanksgiving-y recipe on the very same day isn’t nice. But I’ve got a good excuse: I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving! Because in Mexico we have turkey for Christmas, as is proper. With pears and potatoes and lasagna. As is right. And of course by that I mean as we’ve always done chez moi. : )
But back to the thanksgiving issue. I actually made this for a themed dinner, and since it’s pumpkin season regardless of the holiday and the puree was homemade, I was left with about 1 lt. extra of the stuff. And the stuff is so yummy! You can make all sorts of pumpkin dishes, apparently something  I’d never been aware of because we just don’t have that tradition. But now I am, and the inevitable pinterest search for pumpkin recipes did not disappoint. (Which probably means that I will disappoint and keep posting pumpkin truffles and pumpkin bread and pumpkin soup way past the appropriate date. I’m not even sorry). So, to begin with! Pumpkin cream cheese pie bars. This recipe, which I found originally at Taste of Home, is actually a bit complicated. But definitely worth it…pumpkin meringue over creamy cheesecake? Definitely worth it. And besides, the layers are so decorative you might want to make them just because of that. And you can cut them into decent-sized bars, or just make one large cheesecake! Sounds good right? Read more for the recipe. Continue reading →

Quick Treats – Baked cinnamon donuts

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cinnamondonuts

If you’re a foodie like me you might relate to the both terrible and awesome experience that is visiting a cooking/gourmet store. Endless shelves of stuff that you dream of having in endless supply, molds to bake any cookie or cake imaginable, all sorts of decorations, appliances that keep you from crying as you dice onions (Ok that one doesn’t exist, but what are you waiting for inventors??) shiny new knives, bowls of every size, and every kind of spice under the sun. It’s sheer torture. The truth is you’d need a kitchen the size of a soccer stadium and a wallet the size of Bill Gates’ to be fully satisfied at such a place… but still, every time I walk out of there with even just a little bag, I feel like a kid with a brand new toy. And that’s exactly what I got, a brand new toy for making baked donuts, which are way better than regular donuts….only because they’re not fried. Its strange, but I’ve never been a fan of donuts. I think they’re just too oily, or maybe too thick…or something else entirely which I can’t exactly pinpoint. But what’s great about my new toy is that it makes medium sized donuts that don’t require tons of oil… and baked donut recipes abound in the blog-pinterest-foodgawkersphere! So the very next day from getting my toy, I found this awesome recipe at The Chic life, which will give you freshly baked donuts in under half an hour. Yup, that’s right. You can bake them pre-breakfast! Because nothing compares to having a just baked, quick, easy delicious treat to accompany your morning coffee. Read more for the recipe! Continue reading →

Easily satisfied – Artichoke and spinach grilled cheese sandwich

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Artichoke and spinach grilled cheese sandwich

Lately I’ve been sick every other week. I’m used to having a rough winter when it comes to the flu, but this year I started in October! And I’m sick of being sick. But you know what else gets old after your third round of stay in bed the whole weekend? Chicken soup. In spite of all its glorious, warming, nutritious, homey goodness, you can actually find yourself not wanting to see another bowl of the stuff for quite a while. But that doesn’t mean you’re over comfort food. Oh no. That only means that it’s time to up the comfort food. So as soon as I felt strong enough this weekend to get my butt out of the house I went grocery shopping (because that’s what normal people do, trust me) and I ran into some delicious artichoke hearts. All ready and cut up and tasty. Screaming “please turn me into grilled cheese! please!”. And because artichoke heart screams are really hard to ignore, that’s exactly what I did. And because the spinach, jocoque (labneh), olive oil and garlic powder in my house were surely going to protest, I bought a big loaf of garlic bread to put them all together over butter and grill.
Talk about comfort food! Interested? Read more for the recipe. Continue reading →

Your cup of tea – Pear-cinnamon muffins

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pearmuffins1

It’s rainy season (or hurricane season if you count the last three days) around here. Which means it’s tea time with a book season. Which in turn means it’s muffin, pound cake, cookies, crumpets and any other pastry you like to have with your tea season. (I’m actually lying. Cookie season is year round) And when you add to the weather tons of gifts of fruit because your friends who own fruit trees have way too much of it, you end up with muffins everyday. Assorted, too. Apple, banana, figs, or in this case, pears. This recipe will give you a simple, homey, spice-y and full of pear little cake. Made all the better by a creamy vanilla glaze, which has become my favorite when glazing fluffy baked goods. (like here) So, if you’re feeling like a quick treat to accompany you rainy afternoon, go and read more for the recipe!

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Crispy rounds of deliciousness – Nutella thins

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crispy nutella thin cookies

So I know it hasn’t been that long since I rambled about nutella. And I know that the last time I didn’t just use nutella once in the same recipe, nor twice. It was three times (Yes, because how else would you get nutella cupcakes stuffed with ferreros and nutella frosting?). And yet here I am with another recipe. Our love for each other isn’t special, I know a lot of people out there share the same passion for chocolate-y spread. Our love isn’t secret, I’ve been known to eat spoonfuls of the stuff in front of small crowds. It isn’t fleeting either, I have always loved it and always will. It isn’t moderate…and I don’t need to explain that bit. The one thing our love is, is delicious. Because yes. That’s what nutella is and there’s no amount of elaborate words I or anyone else could say to explain it better. So why not channel that delicious love into a thin, crispy cookie? The kind you put on a scoop of vanilla (or chocolate) ice cream. The kind you store in a tin and when you open it you say “only one” but they’re so thin and crispy that you end up having three (or four). Yes, that kind of cookie. Because apart from being delicious, nutella is so incredibly versatile. From creamy to crispy and all the colors in the rainbow in between. So here’s another recipe for all you nutella nuts (no pun intended) out there. Read more to find it. Continue reading →