When I was a kid, I loved when my grandma would make a pie. Not so much because of the pie itself (unless it was apple), but because of what she would do with the leftover crust. She’d sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar, then bake until it was golden brown.

If you’re a pastry fan, like me, the crust can be the best part. And when sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar, it’s the perfect afternoon treat. These days, I enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee, but back then, milk did the trick.

Pie Crust with Cinnamon and Sugar

pie crust scraps
ground cinnamon
granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Arrange pie crust on parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle first with cinnamon, then with sugar (do the cinnamon first so it doesn’t burn). Spread pieces out to allow even baking, then bake until golden-brown, about 11-15 minutes.

Cool completely before eating.

Remember when “vegetable oil spreads” threatened to take over the home bakers’ kitchen? At the time, so many of us (meaning me) thought we were improving our health by shunning margarine and butter, and choosing the “healthy” spread, but a not-so-funny-result occurred: our (my) baked goods were terrible.

It took awhile before the collective “we” figured out what the issue was, but eventually, cookbooks started to warn against using those spreads in baked goods because all they did was produce flop after flop. My mom thought something happened to her trusty bakeware, and frankly, I was still too young to really understand the chemistry of baking.

However, back in those days, I was still a little baker at heart, and it was not uncommon for me to sort through my mom’s recipe box, looking for a new recipe to try. Though this recipe for chocolate crinkles isn’t the one I tried back then, I did have a massive chocolate crinkle failure that I’m guessing was due to a spread. The cookie tasted delicious – like a giant brownie coated with confectioners’ sugar. Yum.

But 20 little balls of dough ended up as one very large cookie.

When I decided to try these cookies again, and I found a recipe using oil instead of butter (which I had none of and was quite pricey), it seemed fate was stepping in to help me out. The cookies are great – chewy, full of chocolate flavor, a lot like brownies with a touch of holiday flair. I know it seems odd that in a post about vegetable oil spreads, I finally use a recipe that uses oil, but whatever. Butter is rather pricey these days, and if I can save someone a little money by using canola oil in some cookies, so be it.

Chocolate Crinkles
adapted from Betty Crocker

1/2 cup (118 mL) canola oil
4 ounces (113 grams) unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
2 cups (550 grams) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon prepared strong coffee (breakfast leftovers are fine)
4 large eggs (room temperature)
2 cups (220 grams) unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup (60 grams) confectioners’ sugar

In large bowl, combine oil, chocolate, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition with a wooden spoon.

Add flour, baking powder, and salt; stir until just combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350F/176C. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or grease with cooking spray. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into confectioners’ sugar and roll into balls. Place balls on sheet, evenly spaced, about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Bake 10-12 minutes or until slightly firm to the touch (the white sugar should form cracks). Cool on pan for 10 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Earlier this week, I posted a Thanksgiving-leftovers-transformation recipe, and now I have another. Last year, after the Thanksgiving meal at my parents’, I tossed the Turkey carcass and some veggies in a pot to make stock. That stock ended up in pot pies I made from our leftovers.

In my family, we tend to prefer the white meat, but the dark meat is wonderful recooked in another meal. Because of its slightly higher fat content, it’s more difficult to dry it out when reheating. The result is bites of succulent turkey with vegetables, gravy, and pastry. Do leftovers get any better than that?

Turkey Pot Pies (adjust recipe as needed for number of servings desired)
Pie Crust or Puff Pastry

I did something rather silly last week. On Halloween, I took a full turkey breast out of the freezer to thaw. It takes a few days to thaw in the fridge, and it wasn’t until later in the week that it occured to me that Thanksgiving was fast approaching. Yes, I know Thanksgiving is in November, but it just didn’t seem like it should be Thanksgiving yet.

It was too late to put the turkey back in the freezer, so on Friday night, B and I had a nice turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, courtesy of my favorite easy recipe. Now, two people can’t really put that much of a dent in a turkey breast, so I had lots of leftovers.

I generally don’t like leftover mashed potatoes but thought I could make a variation of a cottage pie with turkey, and simply use my basic pot pie recipe for the filling, substituting about a cup of shredded turkey for the chicken breast. With this version, rather than go out to buy a bag of frozen vegetables (I generally use a mix of broccoli/cauliflower/carrots for my pot pies – not traditional, but I feel better when I don’t include heavy, starchy vegetables), I used what I had in my fridge.

It all came together rather quickly, which was nice. I immediately started thinking that it could be a useful recipe post-Thanksgiving, when you simply can’t face another turkey sandwich.

Turkey Cottage Pie

Print Recipe

1 cup cooked turkey breast, shredded
salt & pepper
1 cup chicken/turkey stock
1 chicken bouillon cube
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon half and half
1/2 cup chopped green beans or asparagus
1/2 cup diced carrots
generous sprinkle poultry seasoning or herbs de provence
leftover mashed potatoes
paprika and freshly ground black pepper for garnish

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken/turkey stock over medium-high heat. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and sweat the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the carrots and sauté until soft. Add beans/asparagus and cook until bright green.

Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes until the flour scent is gone, but the color hasn’t yet turned dark. Slowly add the hot stock to the flour mixture, whisking constantly. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, whisking, until thick. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir in half and half. Add the turkey and a sprinkle of poultry seasoning, if using. Taste for seasoning, adjust as needed.

If using leftover, cold mashed potatoes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 2 oven- and broiler-proof bowls and top with mashed potatoes*. Sprinkle potatoes with paprika and freshly ground black pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes if potatoes are leftover and cold. (If potatoes are warm, proceed to next step.)

Broil cottage pies 6-8 inches from the broiler until the potatoes start to brown. Remove from oven and enjoy (but remember the dishes are HOT!)

Print my mashed potato recipe

Ok, let me just get this out there. As evidenced by these pictures, I am not an artist. Not even close. It would have been easier to simply use candy for the eyes, and probably the nose, too. But my real cat has these beautiful green eyes, and I wanted to at least attempt to somewhat replicate them, especially since it was, er, her birthday party. (Yes, we had a little family party for my cat’s 10th birthday. If you have a pet, or a kitty-obsessed toddler in your family, I’m sure you understand.)

I used a cake pattern from McCormick, figuring this would be easy enough to follow. I picked up black food coloring and some cake boards from the craft store, baked the cakes a few days ahead (I individually wrapped the layers and froze them), and made the frosting in my kitchen a couple days ahead of time, as well, and refrigerated that. To transport it all a couple of hours away to my parents, I just piled the frozen cakes on top of the bowl with the frosting – it pays to pick a bowl with a matching lid the same size as the cakes.

The morning of the party, I thawed the cakes and brought the frosting to room temperature. A warm water bath (nestling the smaller bowl in a larger bowl filled partway with warm water) helped speed up the softening time for the frosting.

And then it was time to get to work!

First, I had to cut a circle within a circle – about an inch (2.5 cm) inside the border, but slightly off center, then cut the outer ring into thirds. I needed the inner circle slightly off center because two of those pieces would form the tail, which is slightly tapered at the end.

Out of the third piece of the ring I cut two triangles for ears and two rectangles to represent paws. Don’t worry – the bit of extra cake didn’t go to waste – I sampled it to make sure it tasted good enough to serve to my family. If the cake had dried out at all, I would have thrown together a quick sugar syrup (equal parts sugar and water) to brush on top. Luckily, the cake tasted great. As in, this recipe is my new go-to recipe for vanilla cake.

Not sure if I could fit the entire cake onto a single board, I lined the board with parchment, just in case I needed to slide the work-in-progress from one board to two boards I had taped together.

Then, it was time to start arranging the pieces in the shape of a cat…

and add blobs of frosting to spread for the crumb coat.

My mom left to run errands while I assembled and frosted the cake, just in case I got frustrated and needed to swear like a sailor. What can I say? I try not to swear in front of my mom, and she knows it.

But for the record, I did not utter a single curse word during that time…

and I could have, maybe should have, as spreading frosting over cut cake isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. Those ears did not want to stay put, but a little extra frosting helped seal everything together.

For the eyes I had purchased a tube of green decorator icing very close to the color I wanted for the eyes. I also picked up a tube of black gel icing (the proximity to Halloween meant all stores were sold out of standard black decorator icing), thinking perhaps I could use it for the nose, whiskers, and mouth, but the consistency was simply too runny for detail work.

So, I went back to my remaining black chocolate frosting (I kept a little aside for an emergency such as this), and added a fair amount of black food color to darken it even more. What’s the point of piping on facial features if no one can see them? (Even if my 3 year old niece likely could have done a better job with the piping.)

To try to replicate the shape of my cat’s eyes as closely as possible, I made her pose for me. If you’re familiar with cats, you probably won’t be shocked to learn that she had absolutely no interest in posing any longer than…about half a second.

Can I just blame her for my elementary-looking kitty facial features???

A couple of notes about supplies:

And finally, the cake boards also came from JoAnn.

On Halloween, my cat turned 10 years old. My 3 year old niece thought throwing a birthday party for “the kitty,” as she likes to call Eleanor, was a great idea. Since we had the idea, I’d been trying to figure out how exactly you throw a party for a cat. I mean, the cat can’t exactly eat cake, though she can eat her favorite meat & gravy cat food.

We could still have fun with the cake though, right?

My cat also happens to be black. Perfect for Halloween, no? At first, I wanted to just make a rectangular cake, and trace an image of a cat in the frosting. Then I thought, hmm, maybe I can cut cake in the shape of a cat, and frost it all with black frosting. So I looked for a pattern, which you’ll see in my post for Black Cat Cake.

I’m getting ahead of myself, though. First, I needed a cake recipe to use! Wanting to use as little black food coloring as possible, I decided I would use chocolate frosting, with a little black color added as needed. I’m not really a fan of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting…yellow cake with chocolate frosting is a different story.

After looking through recipes, I decided on this cake and frosting duo. I’ve already made cakes from Sky High, with excellent results, so I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. Turns out I was right. The crumb is tender, the cake incredibly moist. The fudge frosting? Oh. My. God. After frosting the cat cake, I didn’t have any frosting left over, so my mom whipped up some vanilla frosting for the cupcakes.

A big part of the fun of this party was watching my niece decorate, shoving candy corn and sprinkles into the frosting with both hands.

Vanilla Buttermik Cake with Instant Fudge Frosting
adapted from Sky High via Sweetapolita

Print Recipe

for the cake

4 large eggs (room temperature)
2 egg yolks (room temperature)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (296 mL) buttermilk, divided
3 cups (285 grams) cake flour
2 cups (450 grams) granulated sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter (room temperature)

Preheat oven to 350F/177C. (For kitty cake, grease two 9×2 inch round pans then line with parchment rounds. Line a muffin pan with cupcake papers for remaining batter.) For triple layer cake, grease three 8 or 9-by 2 inch round baking pans, then line with parchment rounds. Grease the parchment.

Whisk eggs and yolks in medium bowl. Add vanilla and 1/4 cup (59 mL) buttermilk, whisk. If desired, transfer to large liquid measuring cup for easier pouring.

In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to blend. Add butter and remaining buttermilk. Turn mixer on lowest speed and pulse (turn on and off quickly) to mix the dry ingredients in. Increase speed to medium until fluffy, 2 minutes.

Add the eggs in 3 additions, scraping down bowl each time, and mix only until incorporated. Divide the batter among the pans. A kitchen scale helps ensure the batter is evenly divided.

Bake layers until a tester comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the pan, about 22 minutes for 9 inch layers, 30 minutes for 8 inch layers, 24 minutes for cupcakes. As oven temperatures vary, keep an eye on the cakes and don’t touch the pans until the top is set, else you risk the cakes deflating.

Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn layers out onto wire racks to cool completely. If not frosting immediately, wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. Defrost in fridge. Cupcakes can be frozen in a well-sealed container.

To assemble layer cake, place first layer flat-side-up on serving plate or cake stand. Spread 3/4 cup frosting to the edge of cake, repeating with the next layer. Top with the third layer and use all but 3/4 cup frosting to cover the top and sides. Place reserved frosting in pastry bag fitted with star tip and pipe a border around base of cake and top layer.

To assemble kitty cake, please refer to Kitty Cake post.

Instant Fudge Frosting

6 ounces 85% cacao chocolate, melted and cooled (I used Lindt)*
4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (room temperature)
6 tablespoons half and half
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon brewed coffee (breakfast leftovers are fine)
*if making Kitty Cake, you may wish to further darken the frosting with black food coloring

equipment: large food processor**, double boiler

Fill bottom of double boiler (I use a small saucepan and a heat-proof glass bowl for my double boiler) with about 1/2 inch (1 cm) of water. Chop chocolate into small pieces and place in top of double boiler. Heat water over medium heat to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Stir chocolate frequently until melted, remove from heat. Cool to room temperature, about 72F/22C.

Fit food processor bowl with S blade. Add confectioners’ sugar, butter, half and half, and vanilla. Pulse to combine, then drizzle in cooled chocolate and process until well blended. If not using immedidately, transfer to bowl, press plastic wrap directly on surface of frosting, and cover bowl with lid. Refrigerate until ready to use, then bring to room temperature and mix briefly on low speed with electric mixer before icing the cake.

**If you don’t have a food processor, beat the butter and sifted confectioners’ sugar in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment on low for 1 minute, then increase speed to medium-high for 1 minute. Add half and half, vanilla, and cooled chocolate, then beat on low to combine, then medium-high for 2 minutes.

I have to say, this recipe caught my eye, though I had just gotten Chinese takeout. The original recipe used leftover pork tenderloin, but I’m more of a chicken girl.

It was a great weeknight meal, as it came together very quickly. Like any stirfry, having your ingredients ready before you start cooking is a must. I took even more of a shortcut, shredding my chicken before it even went in the fridge the day before, and buying presliced mushrooms.

You can speed things up even more by stirfrying the vegetables while the noodles cook, as long as you have everything ready to go and at your fingertips when you start cooking…I even had the soy sauce measured out in a small dish I kept next to the stove.

Chicken Lo Mein
adapted from Everyday Food, November 2011

Print Recipe

1/2 pound (227 grams) whole wheat spaghetti or lo mein noodles
4 teaspoons peanut oil
9 cloves garlic, minced
3 inch (7.5 cm) piece ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 pound (227 grams) button mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 stalk broccoli (peel and julienne the stalk, cut off florets)
1/2 chicken, cooked, meat shredded*
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Generously salt and cook according to package instructions. Drain.

In a large frying pan, heat 3 teaspoons oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and ginger, stirring frequently, until lightly browned. Add a teaspoon of oil and the mushrooms, stirring constantly until the mushrooms are soft. Add broccoli, stirring, until bright green, then add sliced peppers and cook until softened.

Add the cooked noodles, soy sauce, and chicken. Toss to coat chicken and noodles with sauce. When chicken has warmed through, remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil.

*Leftover roasted or rotisserie chicken works great.

If you visit this blog regularly, you may have noticed the change in oven tops a few months back. You may also have noticed in the picture above that it’s my old oven.

This dish happens to be the very last baked in my old oven. The next time I tried to use it, it simply never heated up. Somehow, I forgot all about posting this recipe, even though it was very tasty.

In fact, I’m now planning on making it next week for dinner one night.

I happened to be looking through a folder of pictures I had, because I am that person who takes pictures pretty much every time she cooks or bakes something, just in case I decide to blog about it later. With the drama surrounding the new oven this summer, I forgot all about this intended post.

But here it is. And just a little tip: if you’ve got leftover chicken to use up or are in a hurry, substitute your leftovers for the chicken called for in the recipe (or use a shredded rotisserie chicken); simply mix the cooked chicken in with the cooked onions and garlic before assembling the casserole.

Green Chicken Enchiladas

Print Recipe

20 ounces (567 grams) boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3 breasts)
2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch ground cayenne (adjust more or less to your liking)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1- 15 ounce can (425 grams) green enchilada sauce (medium heat)
4-6 tortillas (corn or flour)
6 ounces shredded Mexican cheese
canned green chile sauce (optional)
sour cream (optional)

Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and toss with salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne.

Heat olive oil in large frying pan set on medium-high heat. Saute the onion until it’s soft. Add the garlic and cook, stirring continuously, until fragrant. Add chicken and cook until opaque. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 325F/165C. (If baking at a later time, skip this step for now and proceed to assemble the enchiladas.)

Spray a 7×11 inch (18×28 cm) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cover bottom with two tablespoons of enchilada sauce. Spread 2 tortillas over bottom of dish, cover with half the chicken mixture, one-third of the cheese, and 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Add another layer of tortillas, chicken, cheese, and sauce. Cover with two additional tortillas, if desired, then remaining cheese and sauce. If desired, top with some canned green chile sauce.

Bake 25 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. If baking later, cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to one day before baking. Remove plastic and bake in a 325 degree oven for 35-45 minutes.

Let stand 5 minutes before cutting. Top with green chile sauce and sour cream, if desired.

Since I had some cider to use up (courtesy of the apple cider doughnuts), I decided to put some of it to good use in soup. I had a squash sitting around for awhile, earmarked for a new pasta dish I wanted to try out, but when it got cold and windy, all I wanted was a warming soup.

I added some turmeric to the pot for nutritional reasons, and some extra ginger for a bit more of a punch. Turmeric happens to be a powerful natural anti-inflammatory, and I try to add a little extra here or there when the dish warrants it.

This soup is great with fresh bread, such as my favorite homemade baguettes. With fresh bread and a salad, it makes a great autumn lunch or quick dinner.

Curried Squash Soup
somewhat adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties!

Print Recipe

1 large butternut squash
1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 McIntosh apples (could substitute another baking apple)
8 ounces (237 mL) apple cider
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
olive oil
salt
pepper

Position baking sheets in upper and lower thirds of oven. Preheat oven to 425F/220C.

Peel squash, then cut off top and bottom. Carefully cut the squash in half where the neck meets the base. Resting the base on its bottom, cut it down the middle so you can scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Cut the squash into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces and divide between two large baking sheets into two piles. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss with your hands to coat the squash, then arrange on pans so pieces aren’t touching each other.

Roast for 20 minutes, flip pieces over, then return pans to oven (switching them on the racks so the upper pan is now the lower pan) and roast for another 20 minutes.

In a large pot, heat butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft and beginning to brown. Add curry powder, turmeric, and ginger, stirring to coat the onions.

While onions are cooking, peel, core, and cut apples into 8 pieces per apple (large pieces). Add to pot with onions and cook until soft.

Add roasted squash, 2 cups water, and apple cider to pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low for 20 minutes. Use an immersion blender (or blend in batches in full size blender covered with dish towel – not a tight cover or you risk an explosion) to blend. Add water and/or additional cider as desired for consistency and taste. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Serve hot.

(A tip for butternut squash: look for the smallest base and longest neck for fewer seeds and more flesh.)

When my parents and I were in Door County, the breakfast special at the Sister Bay Cafe was scrambled eggs with asparagus and tomatoes. I, having my mind set on something sweet, bypassed the special in favor of the bread pudding the cafe is known for. However, my mom and I shared each other’s meals. I have to say, her breakfast really hit the spot, and provided some much needed protein!

Though it’s fall, when I saw asparagus on sale at the grocery store yesterday, I simply had to pick up a bunch and recreate this breakfast. So I chopped and sauteed all of the asparagus – it’s nice to have it on hand for future meals, then scrambled my eggs and added a couple of chopped cherry tomatoes, along with a generous scoop of asparagus.

What I love best about this meal is it works for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.

Scrambled Eggs with Asparagus and Tomatoes

Print Recipe

2 large eggs
1 bunch asparagus
2-3 cherry tomatoes
butter
salt & pepper

Rinse asparagus and tomatoes. Chop asparagus just above the bottom band, then chop into 1/2 inch/1.5 cm pieces (slightly longer is fine if your spears are very thin).

Heat small frying pan over medium heat. Add a pat of butter; when the foam has subsided, add a generous handful of asparagus and saute until bright green. Remove to a bowl and continue with remaining asparagus, adding butter as needed.

Add another pat of butter, reduce heat to medium-low, and crack eggs into a small bowl; whisk lightly with a fork. When foam from butter has subsided, add eggs to pan. Stir occasionally to scramble.

Meanwhile, dice the tomatoes, separating the seeds and juice from the flesh. When the eggs are almost cooked to your liking, add the tomatoes to the pan. Add a generous scoop of asparagus to the pan, as well.

Season to taste with salt, and pepper if desired.