Pumpkin Walnut Cranberry Bread
For some unknown reason, my face has decided to relive my youthful teenage years this week, which is a nice way of saying pimples of gargantuous proportions and intense redness have unapologetically assumed residence on my face. Not quite sure why my face has decided to punish me; it could be the stress, it could be the junk food, or it could be that my face is now predicting snow storms in the Northeast (by size and intensity of color)- in which case the one right between my eyebrows represents the 12 inches last week, the one to the right of my nose was the 6 inches this week… and the one next to that predicts a few inches next week!
The pimples have nothing to do with this quickbread, though “pimples” and “pumpkin” both start with the same letter, so I could say that this post is brought to you by the Letter P. I could also remark how the fresh red cranberries that stud each slice of bread are very reminiscent of the recent unwanted topological additions to my face. But seriously, enough about my face already- let’s talk pumpkin, cranberries, and walnuts with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg! This bread is very moist and flavorful, from to the pumpkin goodness and spices and unexpected addition of orange zest. I really enjoyed the tart cranberries, and from another cranberry quickbread, learned the benefits of using both fresh cranberries and sweeter dried cranberries. The flavors are deliciously Fall, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it for breakfast almost every day of this very wintery week- toasted, with a little pat of butter, and a smile on my face.
Over a Year Tumblrversary and Pumpkin Scones
Wow, November totally flew by, didn’t it?
It began deceivingly leisurely: I was enjoying the warmer-than-usual Boston November weather and lab had slowed to a more bearable pace as we prepared for and moved our entire lab to a brand spanking new building. Then suddenly I was on a California-bound plane to visit family and friends for Thanksgiving where I stuffed my face for a week straight (which is quite amazing considering I didn’t cook/bake ONE THING that I ate that week). We also managed to squeeze in a beautiful day in Napa, enjoying the crisp fall air and the colors, sampling wines, and AMAZING food.
last grapes in Napa…
Dear oversized pistachio macaron from Bouchon Bakery… will you marry me?
And now I feel as if I’ve been hurtled into the heart of December: bitingly cold weather that makes your eyes tear (it may be in part because I’m mourning the loss of the ability to wear tank tops and flats without socks for the next 6 months) and forecasts of snow (though have yet to see a snowflake), the unrelenting barrage of Christmas-mania (Christmas songs on the radio, the onslaught of online and in-store sales which only tempt me to buy more for myself instead of gifts for others, and Christmas decorations ad nauseum- which, I actually kind of love), and the inter-holiday slump where you are still slightly food comatose from Thanksgiving and can’t get yourself motivated to be productive at work because your brain is already on vacation, celebrating a birthday and Christmas. WHEW.
It’s no Rockefeller Center, but I am sort of proud of this slightly ghetto yet extremely fitting demonstration of Central Square Christmas spirit.
Christmas spirit is alive and well in lab as well. And that’s not a reflection of the tree, WE HAVE TWO. Heck yeah.
I am still a bit sad about how quickly November passed; it is one of my favorite months, mostly because it seems (to me anyway) that the whole point of the month is the anticipation of and preparation for the greatest holiday ever- a holiday who’s singular objective is to EAT. Where the quantity ingested is directly proportional to the amount of THANKS given. And I don’t want to seem ungrateful for the hardships endured by the Pilgrims and Native Americans, so yes, I will have some more turkey and pie! I LOVE spending the first weeks of November poring over delectable recipes for appetizers, turkeys, stuffing, and pumpkin-based desserts in magazines and online, while watching Thanksgiving-themed episodes on the Food Network, and finally picking a handful of recipes to test in the kitchen to share with friends in Boston who are also avoiding the hectic holiday travel, or, like last year, an intimate dinner for two. But because this year we spent Thanksgiving in California, eating TWO amazing Thanksgiving meals (late lunch and dinner), and because I didn’t have the wherewithal to prepare a pre-Thanksgiving meal for ourselves here in Boston before we left, I feel like I missed out a special part of November!
Another momentous occasion that passed without much fanfare here was my tumblr’s first-versary! I started this little space to document my triumphs (and failures) in the kitchen so I could easily go back to recipes that worked and that we loved. It enabled me to learn how to (kind of) use a SLR camera, gave me an outlet to express myself and my randomness, and, most importantly, has provided a constant reminder that I DO have a life outside of graduate school that I love and enjoy, and no matter what goes on in lab, I will always have this.
I had always envisioned baking up something complicated and decadent to celebrate my first year in keeping up a blog, something that required a few pounds of expensive chocolate or a multi-step endeavor like home-made croissants or macarons. However, seeing as November was on fast forward and the tumblrversary date was almost 2 weeks and counting ago, I decided to just make something simple, something that I love to eat, and in a flavor that epitomizes the November and Thanksgiving that had passed me by all too quickly.
Pumpkin Scones. With Maple glaze.
Kaddo Bourani
i love the willow trees along the Charles River. these are among the last trees to hang on stubbornly to their leaves in late November… i totally respect that.
I really thought that I would be elbow-deep in pumpkin recipes and posts by now… I certainly have enough pumpkin recipes bookmarked and 2 cans of pumpkin puree patiently awaiting their use in my kitchen. Perhaps what’s even more surprising is that my first pumpkin recipe of 2011 is a savory dish, rather than baked sweet!
The Helmand is an acclaimed Afghani restaurant in Cambridge that I’ve luckily had the opportunity to dine at several times- and lucky for me, almost every time was for free as it is a favorite of my department for recruitment dinners! I’d never cooked anything remotely resembling Afghani food before, and due to the complexity of spices that entice my tastebuds every time I eat at the Helmand, I was very intimidated to even try. Luckily, a good friend and a frequently visited blog paved the way into the unknown for me, and I decided to give it a go.
This dish epitomizes sweet and savory. Pumpkin slices are baked with a not-so-insignificant amount of sugar until they are candied and almost too sweet, with a silkily soft and yielding texture. Ground beef is cooked with tomatoes, turmeric, and coriander to make a flavorful and savory sort-of stew. And to round out the warm, sweet and savory components of the dish is a cooling tangy garlic-mint yogurt sauce. The dish on the whole, especially on a chilly fall day, is utterly fantastic, it’s comforting and filling, and so flavorful, just the thing I am sure I will continue to crave throughout the winter!
