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How To: Pumpkin Puree

4 Oct

Alright ladies and gents. It’s that time of year again, the time when most Americans begin to experience uncomfortably desperate pumpkin cravings. You know who you are. You’re the one in the corner mainlining pumpkin spice lattes. Don’t try to hide! YOU’VE BEEN SPOTTED.

Ahem.

Sugar pie pumpkins and all manner of squash are currently on sale at Whole Foods for 99 cents a pound, which is what made me want to buy one. That and “sugar pie” pumpkin is such a cute name. Don’t you want to go buy one now? Sure you do. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

I’ve never actually been a fan of pumpkin pie (one of the only pumpkin incarnations I am aware of, I’ll admit) and I’ve recently decided that this might be because my grandma uses canned pumpkin. I know, I know, apparently there are really awesome and good quality canned pumpkin products out there, but this is just my THEORY. I really want to like pumpkin pie. I feel like I might be missing out on something.  In any case, making your own puree is really easy, and if you get the pumpkin on sale it is SO CHEAP. My pumpkin cost me about $1.50. You’re welcome.

The first step is to grab your pumpkin. Hello pumpkin! He is a sugar pie pumpkin, one of the smaller, sweeter varieties best for dessert making, and he weighs approximately 1.5 pounds. Aww.

Now, wash him. Cut off his stem and then cut him into quarters. This is his better half.

Use a spoon to scoop out all of his insides-seeds and stringy pulpy bits. Put it all aside because you can use the seeds for roasting, or making pumpkin brittle.

Put the quarters on a baking sheet, cover with foil, and roast in a 400˚ oven for 35-40 minutes.

My pumpkin has battle scars.

When it’s done, the pumpkin should be soft enough for you to scrape the shell off with a spoon. I left mine for 35 minutes and it was perfect.

Allow the pumpkin to cool for 10-20 minutes, then take a spoon and scrape the shell off.

Using some sort of mixing or mashing device, puree your pumpkin! I used my very favorite immersion blender that I use for everything. You might prefer a cuisinart, or a fork. I just don’t know.

The puree will keep for a few days in the fridge. I am still trying to decide what to so with mine. Right now, I’m thinking either pumpkin cheesecake or pumpkin pavlovas. I’ll decide in the next few days and post the results next Monday. In the meantime, happy pumpkin making!

❤ stef

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Drumroll, please…

27 Apr

As a general rule, I try to keep this blog recipe-based, meaning no silly little musings in between recipe posts and definitely nothing non-food related. I figure waxing poetic (or moderately snarktastic and psychotic, as the case may be!) is ok as long as it’s over a recipe I’m showing you. I try to keep things simple.

I know I haven’t been keeping up with my promised once a week schedule. I suck. I’m trying, but my next two weeks are going to be totally insane.

The real point to this post is that on Saturday my boyfriend proposed via a video game that he made and named after this blog! The game is called Dinner Love and the Quest for Soup. I had to play through the game as a little avatar of myself, as I tromped through the streets of San Francisco and collected foods. At the end of the game was the proposal!!

If you want to see the proposal video (and you know you do!) it’s on YouTube here:

If you are interested in playing the game, there is a link in the video description.

So, anyway, I’m engaged! Squee!!

❤ Stef

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The Cheese Kit Cometh!

6 Feb

Yeah. You heard me.

A few months ago I found this amazing Etsy shop called Urban Cheesecraft. They sell, yup, cheese making kits. I sent the link to Anders with a mention that a cheese kit would make an awesome gifty for muah, and lo and behold! He remembered!

The kit comes with everything you need to make 30 batches of cheese. Each batch makes between 1 and 1.5 lbs of cheese, so I have enough to make 30-45 POUNDS of cheese. CHEESE.

Also included are cheese molds, thermometer, vegetable rennet, citric acid, cheese salt, instruction booklets (you can make mozzarella, ricotta, chevre, queso blanco and paneer), and ultra-fine muslin.

I haven’t decided which cheese I am going to make first, but I am currently leaning towards chevre, which means I need to buy some goat milk. I’ve never purchased goat milk before. This should be awesome.

So wait with bated breath my friends! Coming soon – DinnerLove, homemade cheese edition.

❤ Stef

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I haven’t abandoned you.

13 Oct

I just don’t have a kitchen to cook in. For serious.

I’ve been experiencing some major apartment drama since I moved to Boston (which was a lovely welcome to the east coast) and I might have to move. Because I might have to move I’ve kept all of my stuff in boxes, and am currently operating with a minimal kitchen setup. Surprisingly, it hasn’t affected my cooking all that much but I haven’t been able to get in the mood to create a real blog. I used up all of my picture backlog, too.

I’m thinking about doing something with apples, because it’s fall and apples are everywhere. Maybe some Apple Brown Betty? I think I have a pan I can use for that, somewhere. There was rumor of an apple-picking expedition with some of my classmates but I missed it because I was in California.

Until next time. Don’t give up on me. I would never give up on you.

xo, Stef

In which I explain my absence.

20 Aug

No, I haven’t given up on you, or on my foodie adventures.

I AM in the process of moving across the country, from San Francisco to Boston. I’m starting grad school in about 2.5 weeks, and during that time I also have to pack up my apartment, move, and get settled into the new place. I have a backlog of recipes and photos to post, but I’ve just had so much else going on I haven’t had the time to sit down and post them.

I’m going to have to ask you to bear with me for a bit longer, until I can resume my weekly posting schedule. I might throw something together for tomorrow, but maybe not. I’m not sure of the exact date that I’ll be able to start posting regularly again. Thankfully I don’t have class every day; my Fridays are free. The bad news is that I don’t have anyone to feed in Boston, so I’m going to have to make some friends fast. The good news is that I will have baked goods to entice strangers into coming over to my house.

Yes.

❤ Stef

Ice cream postponed!

10 Jul

I’m making totally delicious ice cream for you all, but it is taking a bit longer to freeze than I thought it would. As a result, I’m running out of daylight and won’t be able to post finished pictures and instructions until tomorrow.

Until then,

❤ Stef

Today I Am Lazy.

12 Jun

I’ll admit it.

Today was an exceptionally lazy day for me, and coupled with recipe-block (yes, I just made that up. I’ve got a mind like a steel trap, I do!) this means that I don’t have a recipe to share with you this evening.  I will definitely have a post by tomorrow afternoon, however. I’m brewing a little something up in my mind, something that involves-

Steak

Tomatoes

Onion

Cheese (blue or gorgonzola, can’t decide)

and possibly Cous cous. Or Quinoa.

I know it will be delicious, I just don’t quite know what “it” is yet.

❤ Stef

No blog today!

15 May

Hello all,
This blog is to inform you that today’s recipe duo (yup, TWO recipes!) will be posted on Monday.
It’s a long story, but I’m going to try to make it quick because I’m currently typing letter-by-letter with a Wii remote (wiimote).
I’m in Arizona visiting my 1.5 year old niece, and I assumed my brother would have a computer at his house. Well, you know what they say about assumptions, and now I’m the ass who spent 4 hours yesterday preparing today’s blog, only to be typing this apology with a videogame controller today.
Internet access, but no computer. Le SIGH.

❤ Stef

Mexican fiesta on hold.

6 May

Hey guys,

I had this amazing Cinco de Mayo enchilada extravaganza planned for yesterday, but the fates conspired against me. I ended up being just to busy to pull something adequate together! Sorry about that.
Never fear, however. I will absolutely, definitely post the Mexican enchilada feast on Thursday, followed on Friday with a Mother’s Day brunch special.

Thanks for being patient!

❤ Stef

Hello, hello!

23 Apr

Hello to anyone who may be here from BrokeAss Gourmet! I am so excited to have won their Good Vibrations Giveaway with my sexy 3 course meal idea.

My blogging schedule is typically Tuesdays and Fridays, but in honor of my victory I am planning on doing a detailed write up of my winning recipes, with a lot more pictures than are posted on the BrokeAss site, later today. I figure I will have everything written and ready by 3pm.

If you would like to see the Molten Chocolate Cake recipe, that recipe was featured on Friday, April 10th. You can get to it by either using the Blog Archives on the right, or just scroll down.

Again, thanks so much to everyone, and I hope you enjoy what you see here! If you have any questions about any of the recipes posted, or about the ones I wrote for the BrokeAss giveaway, please don’t hesitate to email me at sefarros at gmail dot com.
Wooden spoon meditation.

❤ Stef

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