Risotto Stuffed Pumpkin

So I've been meaning to make risotto for a while, but after reading this post, I finally went out and bought ingredients! I used a basic vegetable and brown rice risotto recipe, and baked the pumpkins with some olive oil, salt & pepper. It was my first time eating fresh pumpkin and I was actually pretty surprised at how well the pumpkin and risotto went together.

Pumpkin Chocolate Brownies

I've been wanting to make something with pumpkin ever since fall started. After reading about these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, I decided to give it a go! Well, everything was going well until I realized that I forgot to add in honey after it had been in the oven for about 10 minutes. .
First of all, they were already in a cake tin because I was already using the muffin tin for the spider cupcakes :), and when I pulled it out of the oven to mix in the honey as an attempt to save the "cake", the chocolate chips were already melting, so these turned into brownies. . .
I thought these tasted a LOT better after they cooled down. They stay pretty moist, and make a good topping for oatmeal too.

Spider Cupcakes

It's almost Halloween! These cupcakes were made for a friend's birthday, and while they were baked from cake mix, the cute candy decorations should make up for that!

Baklava: Not as Hard As You Think

As a student, I usually shy away from seemingly time-consuming desserts. Baklava being one of them. However, during a 3 day weekend I decided to take the dive and was pleasantly surprised. It was not at all difficult. The only tip I offer is to make sure to keep the phylo sheets damp at all times.

The recipe is as follows:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/baklava/Detail.aspx

You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream for Nutella Ice Cream

As an ice cream fanatic, I heard a rumor that you can combine ice cream and Nutella. Naturally I thought: How cool to the power of awesome is that? Trust me, if there was ever an ice cream flavor to try and make, this is the one! My ultimate favorite, that I will always keep stocked in my freezer.

This following recipe makes about a quart: (remember to freeze your ice cream bowl the night before)

1) Heat together- 2 cups whole milk, 1 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup of sugar
2) while sugar dissolves, beat (4 minutes) 4 egg yolks and 1/4 cup of sugar
3) pour eggs+sugar into milk+heavy cream+sugar and continue to heat on low setting (9 minutes)
4) strain and mix in 1/2 cup Nutella, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract until they dissolve
5) chill completely
6) pour into ice cream maker

Popcorn Time

We all love the "buttered to your heart's content" movie-style popcorn. But one day I decide I want something even more delectable, something sweet, salty, and spicy. BEHOLD....the ULTIMATE POPCORN.

1) cook your popcorn; remember to follow the instructions on the side of the popcorn jar, don't listen to other recipes when it comes to this step since all popcorn does not cook the same
2) add in dash of cinnamon, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and melted butter
3) stir well
4) add ribbons of maple syrup
5) drizzle melted chocolate on top
6) enjoy

Seeded Crackers

ground up seeds

taste test with hummus :)

After reading about these on KERF, I had to try them. The recipe is very simple/straightfoward and the dough was very easy to work with. The crackers came out a bit more bland than I had expected, but I guess that makes them good to eat with dips. Overall, a success!

Banana Bread

Time for something a little healthier! This recipe is pretty simple:
3 c flour
1.5 c sugar
3 eggs
1 c oil
3 c mashed up bananas
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Add the dry ingredients to wet, mix in the bananas, and bake at 350 for about an hour, or until the bread is golden brown.

I substituted in applesauce for 3/4 c of the oil to make them healthier, but either way is fine. This is pretty quick to whip up, the baking time is just a bit long. It is completely worth the wait though!