Pumpkin Love

Slowly but surely, I am turning my husband and daughter into pumpkin lovers. They "oohed" and "aahed" when they tasted my pumpkin muffins and I pretty much got the same reaction after they had a slice of my latest pumpkiny treat- a warmly spiced pumpkin loaf with tiny chips of pure chocolate! I made this one last Friday and froze it so that we could enjoy it for Sunday brunch together with my mother- in- law who was visiting for Thanksgiving. Just before serving it, I quickly popped it into the oven along with some rolls I had also baked for that purpose. It smelled pretty darn good when I set it on the table, but before they asked me to cut them a slice, they questioned what it was made of. My answer was simple, "first taste it". Well, it went down pretty well because even my pumpkin hating husband declared it "really good"!
And it was good! So good that I'm already looking forward to making another loaf.

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Loaf with Chocolate Chips

*125g butter, softened
*125g unrefined brown cane sugar
*2 eggs
*225g flour
*1 ½ tsps baking powder
*½ tsp baking soda
*¼ tsp salt
*1 ½ tsp cinnamon
*1 tsp ginger
*200g pumpkin puree
*2 tsps rum extract
*100g pure chocolate chips
*50 ml milk

Preheat oven to 180C and line a loaf pan with baking paper. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger over the eggs, butter and sugar. Fold this in and then add the pumpkin puree, the rum extract, the milk and the chocolate chips. Incorporate well. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Makes about 10 slices

Giving Thanks

It's on days like today that I really miss being back in Jersey. I remember what a typical Thanksgiving day would look like and I can't help but get a little nostalgic. My dad would wake up early, really early, so that we could go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We saw it live almost every year and even though it was always a long, cold wait, it was wonderful. Not so much the parade, but the festive mood, the crowds and of course the feeling of family and warmth.

Even though I moved to The Netherlands, I never gave up my traditions. We celebrate the 4th of July and Thanksgiving, and Kirstie believes in Santa Claus. I think it's important for her to grow up knowing about my culture and the things I grew up with. So today, although I'm not celebrating (that will be on Saturday), I've entertained myself with some baking. I've baked some bread, some cornbread and some breakfast rolls. But let me tell you about that cornbread though.

I've never been such a fan of cornbread. Mainly because I find it too dry and pretty tasteless. Usually it's the butter that sort of makes it edible for me. Perhaps a slice of cheese on top of that as well. I did a little experimenting in the kitchen today though and finally came up with a recipe I loved. I spiced the bread with a little dried thyme and also added a bit of evaporated milk. The results were really moist and flavorful. It was such a treat to pick up Kirstie for lunch and come back to a house filled with wonderful smells. In a way, it even felt a little festive. Even though I baked it to use in the stuffing, we had some for lunch with a pat of lightly salted butter.

Tomorrow I'm baking a pumpkin pie and making my cranberry sauce. The festivities are not the same as I remember but that doesn't really matter in the end. I'm creating my own traditions and passing them on to Kirstie. And for that I'm very grateful.

Here's the recipe for the bread:

Cornbread with Thyme
*100g white four
*1 tsp salt
*1 tbsp baking powder
*150g fine cornmeal
*2 tsps dried thyme
*3 tbsps unrefined cane sugar
*2 eggs
*175ml milk
*50ml evaporated milk
*70g melted butter, cooled

Preheat oven to 200C and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Add the cornmeal, the thyme and the sugar. Stir well and make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients. In a jug beat the eggs with the milk, the evaporated milk and the melted butter. Carefully incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry making sure not to stir too roughly. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and cool slightly before serving. Makes about 10-12 slices.

Incredibly Moist and Lightly Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

My list of favorite foods definitely includes pumpkin. It's a versatile ingredient, has loads of taste, a velvety smooth texture and it's high in beta- caroteen. What's not to love? Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd serve something with pumpkin at least once a week, but because I pretty much stand alone as a pumpkin fan in this family, I have to restrain myself. Therefore, I'm constantly on the look- out for pumpkin recipes that look promising, or in other words, recipes which I think (ok, maybe hope) my family will like. Last weekend for example, I tried a creamy casserole with potatoes, pumpkin and fresh corn. Went down ok, but I didn't get any applause.

Things might change after dinner tonight when I present them with my latest creation- the most incredibly moist, lightest and spongiest muffins ever! And, they're made with pumpkin! The wonderful texture is mainly due to the sifting of the dry ingredients and to the banana which I threw in for good measure. It not only served to replace some of the fat, but it also made the muffins even airier. Another wonderful addition was two tablespoons of rum- flavored golden syrup- my latest find and secret addiction. I came across this 'limited edition' variety last week and nearly pounced on a few bottles, only to go back a few days later for more. It will add such a festive touch to my pancakes and ice cream this upcoming holiday season. But if you can't find it, I'm sure this recipe will be just fine with the normal stuff.

Incredibly Moist and Lightly Spiced Pumpkin Muffins
*250g flour
*1 tsp baking powder
*1/2 tsp baking soda
*1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
*1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
*1 tsp ginger
*pinch of salt
*1 egg
*100ml milk
*3 tbsps sunflower oil
*3 tbsps blackstrap molasses
*2 tbsps Rum and Festive Spice Golden Syrup
*70g unrefined cane sugar
*220g peeled and seeded pumpkin, cut into small chunks
*1 medium banana, about 130g

Boil the pumpkin chunks 15 minutes or until soft. Drain, mash and set aside to cool. Mash the banana and set aside. Preheat oven to 180C. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt into a bowl. In a jug, whisk the egg, milk, oil, molasses, golden syrup and sugar. First whisk in the banana and then the cooled pumpkin puree. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and carefully fold in until combined. Spoon the mixture into a 12 hole muffin tin and bake for 30 minutes. I can totally picture eating these warm, split down the middle, filled with a scoop of ice cream and drizzled with that delectable golden syrup!

Spice Infused Poached Pears

For dessert tonight, I decided to treat Hans and I to something really exquisite, yet very easy- I poached two peeled Gieser Wildeman pears for about one and a half hours in 200 ml red wine, 50 ml crème de cassis, 300 ml water, 3 bruised cardamom pods, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, one star anise and 2 teaspoons brown sugar. The smell of the pears cooking was extremely aromatic and thoroughly promising. I couldn't stop lifting the lid so that I could get an even better whiff of everything slowly simmering away in that little pan.

After the pears were cooked, I removed them to a plate and reduced the syrup for about 35 minutes. They were then served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a nice drizzle of warm syrup. It was a delicious and very seasonal dessert.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

After Mara's thread about some of her favorite kitchen items, I decided to follow her lead. Here are some of my own favorites.


First off, my baby pink bowl. I use this one for everything. Baby pink is one of my favorite colors. I find it very soothing.Hans gave me this last year for Sinterklaas. Because I'm his "kitchen princess" and because I make "buckets" of tea, so he thought this would come in handy.
My retro kitchen calendar. Yes, that's my friend Remy from Ratatouille who's hanging out there!
I bought this bundt pan at a vintage shop. Personally, I think any cake in this shape is bound to taste good!
Quiche pan in one of my favorite colors...yep, pastel pink!
My red LeCreuset casserole. Along with my Jamie Oliver risotto pan, it's one of my most used kitchen items. I love LeCreuset and have asked Sinterklaas for a red tarte tatin pan from this brand. I hope I've been a good girl.
A beautiful little tea bag holder in the shape of a cupcake. Isn't it cute? It was a present from a lovely gal, Anna.
My gorgeous red cake stand. A present from Hans. I love fire engine red and have a lot of this color in my kitchen.
Such a beautiful colander! Another present from Hans, and also in red.
Cookie tin with a 1930's woman. I love to use this tin to store dainty little cookies. Don't you just love her hat?


Thanks for this idea, Mara. It was a lot of fun!

Baking for the Sint

Tomorrow will be a big day for Kirstie, and yes, I admit, for me as well. Right about now, Sinterklaas is on his way to The Netherlands. He left Spain on Thursday and will be welcomed at the harbor tomorrow by thousands of cheering kiddies. To get into the spirit, Kirstie asked me to help her bake some speculaas from a recipe she found in one of her Sinterklaas books. We read the recipe together, I set out the ingredients and helped her with the oven and that was it! I think she did an excellent job! So, tomorrow we'll be all ready for the big arrival, with a bag full of cookies, to keep us warm of course.

Here's the recipe:

Speculaas (Dutch Spice Cookies)
*200g butter, softened
*250g brown sugar
*2 tsps speculaas spices (these are usually only available in The Netherlands but you can make your own by mixing 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp mace, 3 tsps cinnamon and a pinch of pepper)A1 tsp nutmeg
*2 eggs
*500g flour
*1 tsp baking powder

Put the butter in a bowl and cream it with the sugar. Add the eggs and mix well. Add the spices and sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl. Knead everything with your hands and form into a ball. Refrigerate overnight. Remove dough from fridge 1.5 hours before using it. Preheat oven to 175C. Roll out the dough and cut out shapes. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Colombian Inspirations

A few weeks ago I got an awesome surprise. One of my culinary favorites, Patricia McCausland- Gallo, left a comment on my blog. My very first post was about my Colombian roots and in that post I mentioned her lovely book, The Secrets of Colombian Cooking. Actually, her recipe for arepas was the very first one I posted on my blog. I picked up the book again last week and began reading some more about my birth country, the one I left when I was just a baby. Although I did grow up with staples of Colombian food, I never really had anyone to teach me how to make those traditional dishes. My memories include looking over my mom's shoulder to see how she would make areaps or watching my aunt stirring natilla or frying batch after batch of buñuelos on Christmas eve, but that was about it. Thanks to Patricia's book, all those recipes are no longer a mystery.

Inspired by Patricia's stories and her flair with Colombian food, I decided to get into the kitchen and do a little experimenting of my own. The last time I had an arepa, was almost eight years ago when I visited my parents back in New Jersey. My mom prepared them for breakfast the way she traditionally would- grilled and served with cheese and scrambled eggs. I loved them and licked my plate clean, but Hans, on the other hand, had a bit of a hard time. I never held it against him though. Arepas are little corn cakes which can be a bit on the tasteless side, although there are many variations which have more flavor, like arepas de chocolo which have a delightfully sweet, roast corn flavor. I knew that if I was going to attempt serving Hans and Kirstie arepas, somewhat close to the ones I remembered having for breakfast, they should have a bit more taste. Still, I didn't want to go too far off track (well, maybe I did in the end) so I came up with the following recipe inspired by one I saw in Patricia's book. They were so incredibly good that at the end of the meal, Hans asked why I only made three- after he admitted that he was a bit worried when he saw what I was making!

Here's the recipe (and yes, I know it's not 100% Colombian!)

Arepas My Way

*220g fine yellow cornmeal (used for polenta)
*185ml hot water, but not so hot that you burn your fingers!
*30g soft butter
*1 tsp salt
*100g shredded mozzarella cheese
*1 tbsp butter, for frying

Mix the cornmeal, salt and butter in a bowl. Add the hot water slowly while mixing with your hands. Start kneading the mixture in the bowl and continue until it comes together. Add the cheese and continue to knead. Divide the dough into five balls and form each ball into a disc of about 9cm in diameter. Put the arepas on a plate and refrigerate 30 minutes before frying them. When ready to fry, melt the butter in a pan and fry the arepas on a medium- high heat for 4-5 minutes per side. During the frying, press down on them every so often with the back of a spatula so that they brown nicely. Serve warm, alone or with scrambled eggs. I especially love them with eggs scrambled with spring onions and cherry tomatoes!
Makes 5 arepas.