Pumpkin Galore

Before leaving for fall break and heading to New Orleans for my cousins wedding, I mixed up a batch of pumpkin cookies. I was skeptical, because of the beloved pumpkin bread recipe, that it would not measure up, or that they would not be the right consistency or pumpkin-y enough. I got the recipe from Joy the Baker, who I pretty much trust with all baking endeavors. With only two cans of pumpkin to lose I started this risky endeavor. Mixing the ingredients, I was worried that the batter was too thin to make eatable cookies. But behold, they puffed up and looked just liked cookies, but didn't taste like them. Don't get me wrong, they were delicious, (as is anything with pumpkin pretty much), but they had the consistency of a muffin, and looked liked the top of a muffin.

Making these definitely reminded of the Seinfeld episode about muffin tops. I spent so much time watching all the Seinfeld's and that episode was one of my favorites. But these pumpkin cookies are absolutely something I will make again. Yummy! more to come soon :)

Punkin Bread: Life is Good

So, even though I had some unfortunate setbacks on my quest for canned pumpkin, my lovely room mate happened to spot some at Aldi, a discount grocery store here in Chicago. MMMMMMmmmmmm. So good. So, my first order of business was to make the perpetually outstanding and magnificent pumpkin bread. Yummy yummy.

I could, if I'm being honest, eat two loaves of this in a day. I have a confession. Well not quite a confession but I am just reinstating a fact I have probably brought up before. I like the batter more than the actual dessert. And this batter is no exception. My mom would catch me eating spoonfuls of batter before slipping the pans into the oven... So I may or may not have done the same with this batch. But As good as pumpkin bread is, I had a few difficulties. We don't have bread pans so I had to resort to this brownie/casserole type dish. I do not recommend using a dish like this. The center took forever to cook (and I like my bread gooey) and the sides were slightly chewy. So next time I will have to try some other pans. I was thinking of using cake pans and cutting pieces like pie. We'll see. Don't fear though, we (mainly me) managed to almost finish this batch in a day and a half. Also please ignore my grotesque pictures, we don't get any good lighting in the kitchen. It's a little restricting.

Anyways, I have been eating the pumpkin bread like I'm never going to eat again. It's a little ridiculous. Then, when am I not?

On another note I am taking Painting I semester and our first project, or homework is a series of three still life paintings, that in each one are a little bit different than the first. SO, of course I made my focus on food. In my first painting is a scene of my baking dishes and utensils, which is in black and white. My second painting is a batch of cupcakes in which I have incorporated some burnt umber into my palette. And the third one will be of a cupcake half eaten, with a fork and other objects to fill the canvas, in full color. Heres a pick at the beginning of my first two paintings:

more later :)