Pumpkin Apple Baked Oatmeal

Happy National Oatmeal Day!  Yes, it is a real thing.  If you don't believe me, check this list out.  I made this oatmeal several weeks ago, but wanted to wait for this special occasion to share.

 My brother's mother-in-law attended a trade show where she picked up a cookbook with a recipe for peach blueberry baked oatmeal.  While my mom stayed at their house to babysit this adorable girl, she tried it out.  And she's made it over and over since then.  It quickly become a favorite!
 
With the leaves falling, autumn flavors like apple and pumpkin sounded like a necessary twist on the original.  To make it even healthier I replaced the oil with applesauce and followed the suggestion to use more egg whites than whole eggs (it works just fine with 2 whole eggs also).  This oatmeal has the consistency more of a coffee cake than regular oatmeal.  It reheats really well too, especially with a splash of milk in the bowl before microwaving.
Pumpkin Apple Baked Oatmeal (adapted from Taste of Home)
Serves 8-10

3 cups oatmeal
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 egg whites (the egg yolks were used in the chai cake!)
1 egg
1/3 cup applesauce
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 apples, diced 
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350*
Combine oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, spices, and salt.
Whisk egg, egg whites, apple sauce, pumpkin, and vanilla.
Add milk to wet ingredients.
Mix dry and wet ingredients together.
Add apples.
Pour into a greased 11x7 casserole dish.
Top with pecans.
Sprinkle with a little more cinnamon.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until nuts are toasted and top is golden brown.

Halwa Cupcakes

 This is my last week working with this preceptor in her office.  It has been wonderful observing her interactions with patients and I have been impressed with her close connection to so many of them.  The number of people who have hugged her at the end of an appointment is outstanding.  Seeing one of the main reasons I chose to go into primary care played out everyday has been a blessing.  As a thank you for her and the office staff, I wanted to bake something to share this week.

Because today is Diwali (and my preceptor is Indian), I took the opportunity to create an Indian sweet inspired cupcake.  Enter Halwa Cupcakes.  Halwa is a carrot pudding with warm spices, nuts, and raisins.  I love it!  I also really like carrot cake, so combining the two and topping with a modified ginger cream cheese frosting could only produce delicious results.  And it did!

Halwa Cupcakes with Ginger Chai Frosting (inspired by Cupcake Project, adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 26 cupcakes

Cake Batter
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 eggs
3 cups grated carrots
3/4 cup raisins
1 cup chopped cashews
1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 ounces butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon  grated fresh ginger
2 tea bags (or 3 tablespoons chai concentrate)
1 cardamom pod
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350*
Grate carrots, set aside.
Beat eggs in mixer.
Add sugar and oil.
Beat in spices, baking soda, and salt.
Slowly add flour.
Beat in carrots.
Use spoon to mix in raisins, cashews, and pistachios.
Divide into paper-lined cupcake pans.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Submerge tea bags into small amount of boiling water.
Add seeds from cardamom pod to water.
After 5 minutes, remove tea bags and strain out seeds.
Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
Add ginger and 3 tablespoons of the concentrated tea.
Slowly add powdered sugar.  Feel free to add more to make thicker/ sweeter.
Chill in refrigerator for easier piping.
I used a Wilton 1M tip.

Halloween Countdown

Halloween is one week away.  Usually I don't get too worked up about this holiday.  But this year, I've been anxiously awaiting its arrival all because of a cupcake recipe I found shortly after Halloween last year.  That's going to be a great surprise which I'm giving no hints about now (and hopefully won't gross out you non-medical folks too much).  To distract you a little, here are a few Halloween treat suggestions.  Some I've made; and some just look too fun not to share.

Best Jack-O-Lantern ever.

Desserts
Skull Cupcakes: http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/skull-cakes-94566.aspx
Witch Hat Cupcakes http://www.thecupcakeblog.com/witch-hat-halloween-cupcakes/
Candy Corn Cupcakes http://sugarturntable.com/?p=1401
Pumpkin Cake http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/great-pumpkin-cake-65453.aspx
Witch Finger Cookies http://annies-eats.net/2011/10/24/witches-finger-cookies/

Snacks
Jack-o-Lantern Veggie Tray http://www.livinglocurto.com/2011/09/vegetable-trays/
Mummy Dogs http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/crescent-mummy-dogs/d52a57d7-ab8a-4a1c-8dae-f9f90d03b912/
Apple Mouths http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/halloween-recipes/halloween-snacks/apple-bites-688193/
Mummy Pizza Bites http://myreciperoundup.blogspot.com/2011/10/mummy-pizza-bites.html

Drinks
Swamp Juice http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/holiday-seasonal-recipes/halloween-recipes/halloween-drinks/swamp-juice-784944/
Pumpkin Pie Smoothie http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pumpkin-smoothie/detail.aspx
Bobbing Heads http://www.marthastewart.com/317697/shrunken-heads-in-cider?czone=holiday/halloween-center/halloween-center-desserts

A Little About EWeage

Our friend Mark Anthony created this survey, posted his responses and challenged friends to do the same.  Since its all about food, we thought we'd share here.  And not to worry, KWeage's responses are coming soon.  And if you don't care about the text, at least admire and drool over the pictures.

S'mores

Cooking Background
Heritage... Midwestern home cooking: lots of chicken, potatoes, and fresh produce in the summer
Preferred Genre... Indian/ Thai
Typical Ingredients... Flour, sugar, vanilla

Chocolate Guinness cupcake with Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting, Rachel's birthday

Preferences
Cheese... Brie
Cacao Ratio... <70%
Gelateria... Frozen section at Meijer?
Ice Cream... Haagen Daz Sweet Chai Latte, Coldstone Cakebatter
Shaken Lemonade... Berrien County Youth Fair

Mint Chocolate, St. Patrick's Day

Dishes
Committed to Memory... Mom's white frosting
Signature Dish... Cupcakes, any kind
Go-To Dish... Lemon berry dessert trifle (if I want to impress people, baked pasta casserole if not)
Transport Back to Home... Pancakes served in bed :-)
Special Meaning... Caramel corn, fudge, Chex mix = holidays!
From Scratch... Chocolate chip cookies
Best Dish Cooked to Date... South Indian Coconut Fish Curry (with a little assistance from Chris) in Chennai, India.  The fish were caught fresh that morning.
Experiment Gone Right... Pumpkin apple baked oatmeal (recipe coming soon)
Experience... Sitting on the floor of a small orphanage eating rice and daal with my hands surrounded by Indian children in dirty, torn clothes doing the same.

Peppermint Mocha, New Years

Miscellaneous
Nostalgia... Lasagna (reminds me of home and gatherings with friends during 1st year of medical school)
Weakness... Oreos
Kitchen Gadget... KitchenAid stand mixer (assembled by yours truly)
Song about Food... On Top of Spaghetti
Food-Related Movie... No Reservations
Chef... Rick Bayless
Currently Reading... Inside the Outbreaks, Mark Pendergrast

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Don't Try This at Home

Today is Chocolate Cupcake Day.  Being a dedicated foodie, I wanted to properly observe this holiday by baking (and eating) a chocolate cupcake.  Key word being "a" I didn't want to make a full two dozen.  Individual molten lava cakes came to mind.  Then I remembered KWeage sharing a recipe for cheesecake in a mug.  If cheesecake could be made in a microwave, why couldn't cupcakes?!  So I used my good friend Google and after combining several recipes came up with a tasty (raw) batter.

After 2 minutes in our generally weak microwave, I was left with a rubbery blob of chocolate "cake."  So when I say "don't try this at home," I'm not trying to prevent you from enjoying a delectable dessert, I'm saving you from major disappointment and resorting to peppermint ice cream on a day meant to celebrate cupcakes.

So lesson (re)learned: Taking shortcuts rarely results in the desired outcome.
In baking (life) it isn't about the final product (destination), but the journey you took to get there.

Happy Birthday, Noah!

Last week the son of two of my favorite residents turned one year old.  I was on my third year surgery rotation with Jonathan when Noah was born and made blue cupcakes to celebrate.  This year I needed to step it up a notch because Noah would actually be eating one of the celebratory cupcakes.

And eat it he did!  Every. last. crumb.  Except those that ended up on his shirt and pants.

I did a lot of Google image searching for decorating ideas.  Previously I had seen Sesame Street cupcakes, which seemed like a really cute idea, but I really wanted something that was 100% boy.  My mom suggested dirt cupcakes with gummy worms, which was the front runner until I thought of sports balls.  Baseballs were a given since Jonathan is such a big Tigers fan.  Footballs were the other obvious choice, but since they aren't round I went with basketballs (its almost basketball season, isn't it?).  I even found sports paper cupcake liners at Meijer to complete the look.

Baseball and Basketball Cupcake Decorating

Frosting color: Wilton Christmas Red gel

Frost cupcakes white.

Use piping bag and small round tip (Wilton 4) draw two half circles.

Make several Vs with the point on the already drawn line for the stitching.
Make Vs pointing in the opposite direction on the other half circle.
More acute angles fit better and look more realistic.

Frosting colors: Wilton Christmas Red, Lemon Yellow, and Black gel

Dye large portion of frosting yellow.

Separate a small portion and add a substantial amount of red dye.

Add red frosting to yellow until desired orange is created.

A large amount of black gel dye is required to make black and not grey.

Use small star tip (Wilton 21) to cover the cupcakes in orange frosting.  Leave a little gap where the black lines will go.

Use small round tip (Wilton 4) to draw on black lines.  The black frosting will bleed, so do this at the last minute.

Make a centered plus sign.

Add a half circle on either end of one of the straight lines.

These cupcakes are most enjoyed when eaten like this:

Thanks Jonathan and Libby for letting me be a part of Noah's celebration!

Butternut Squash Soup

My wonderful parents came to visit me this weekend. And they brought fall with them.

Not the season, or the weather, but the flavors of.

Squash.

Pumpkins.

Concord grapes.

Michigan apples.

Mommy's applesauce.

So with my kitchen overflowing with produce, my mind started churning trying to decide what to make. I settled on butternut squash soup, mostly because I could throw it into the crock-pot and return to have the apartment smelling like heaven. If you want to make friends, you should try this recipe. Just saying.  Make a big pot, leave your door cracked open a bit, and invite some peeps over for a party.

Butternut Squash Soup
1 butternut squash (peeled and cut into 1 in squares)
5 carrots (peeled and cut into 1/4 in disks)
6 ribs of celery (peeled and cut into 1/4 in chunks)
1/2 medium onion (diced)
2 Michigan apples (yup. has to be Michigan. something like mac or cortland. peel and dice)
3 cups of chicken broth
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
salt and pepper

Put all of the ingredients into the crock-pot. Turn on high for 4ish hours, or medium/low if you want it to go all day. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to puree the soup. (I like my a little chunky, so I don't puree it too long.) Serve with a dollop of  greek yogurt or sour cream or some heavy whipping cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Enjoy!