Would you rather… never read another pumpkin recipe again OR overdose on everything pumpkin so that you can barely choke down a piece of pumpkin pie come Thanksgiving? Well, tis the time of year for pumpkin recipes and I have jumped on the bandwagon. Last year, I tried these pumpkin bars. This year, I stayed in the dessert category and followed my buttermilk love with this moist, bundt cake.

Of all the pumpkin clamor in food blog world, I am most excited about these ravioli from a blog I just discovered. Check it out.

Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

To make glaze, heat butter until melted. Stir in sifted powdered sugar. Mix in cream or milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake while it is on a wire rack so excess falls through.

Recently, I had some feedback from a reader who was making my Best Chocolate Cake Recipe. In an email exchange with her, I realized that I was perhaps not always giving as many instructions as I could or should for baked goods. There are some things that I have come to take for granted after many episodes of trial and error, a few small kitchen fires, some ruined cakes and a shed tear or two. Although I am no expert and recognize I still have a lot to learn, below are a few things that will help beginning bakers make the best of each recipe. BAKERS - please add your own tips and tricks in the comments!

1. Baking is more like chemistry than regular cooking. A little extra pinch of this and a little less of that is much more dangerous. Substitute ingredients at your own risk.

2. Measure very carefully. It DOES make a difference if you take the time to pack the brown sugar and level off the flour with the back edge of a knife.

3. Maybe I am just suspicious but I truly think that eggs and other ingredients at room temperature make better cakes and cookies than cold ones.

4. Changing cake pan sizes will definitely result in different cooking times. The smaller and less deep, the faster they will cook.

5. Cutting circles of parchment paper and putting them on the bottom of your round cake pans will always make for easy and clean removal from the pans.

6. Wax paper does NOT replace parchment paper. When put in the oven, it may result in smoke or fire. (I wish I did not speak from experience.)

7. Invest in a good oven thermometer. Many ovens are not consistent with the dial. Proper cooking temperature is important.

8. When a recipe requires that you mix dry ingredients together separately, it usually refers to flour, baking soda/powder and salt. Sugar is most often mixed in with the butter or oil.

9. Let cakes cool in their pans for at least 5 minutes before turning them out.

10. Let baked goods cool completely before covering or wrapping. The trapped steam will make the outside sticky.

Happy Baking!

This is my mid-stride down my hallway on the way to the dinner table photo while thinking, “hmm, this actually looks pretty good. Perhaps I should take a photo for Whipped and share my first experience with spaghetti squash.”

Once again, my weekly organic produce delivery provided me with a new, healthy experience. One of the recipes provided with the fresh produce was for Spaghetti Squash with Pomodoro Sauce. I asjusted the recipe slightly based on what I had in the pantry and tossed in some chicken sausauge for added protein.

Was it good? you may be wondering. Well, to the tell the truth, I would take carb-filled regular pasta any day. But, as a healthy alternative and a way to eat more veggies, this was pretty satisfying. And, the delightful experience of removing the squash once cooked was more fun than eating the dish. This stuff is like a shape-shifter in squash form. It looks like other squash… until you run your fork over the cooked flesh and the delicate strings of squash fall out. I don’t have any kids but I feel like if you let them “harvest” this squash out of the cooked shell, they may be so delighted they would be more likely to eat their veggies.

Spaghetti Squash with Pomodoro Sauce
1 spaghetti squash (about 1 1/2lbs)
Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 can diced plum tomatoes
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Fresh Basil
Parmesan or Asiago Cheese
A few links of sausage (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Halve squash lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Lay halves, flesh side down, on the sheet and bake for 35 minutes or until you can easily pierce shell. While squash bakes, saute garlic and onion in oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except fresh basil and cook, stirring occaisionally for 30 minutes. Lower heat if sauce is boiling. Remove squash from oven and scrape crosswise to pull strands from shell. Place on plates and cover with sauce. Garnish with basil and shredded cheese.
Meat Option: Slice italian or chicken sausage and saute in pan to heat. Top each dish with meat as well.

This past weekend, we made the short trek from Chicago to my home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Knowing I would make my annual trip to Robinette’s Apple Haus, a fifth generation, family run apple orchard and winery, I became fixated for days, dreaming of hot cider and hot pumpkin-spiced donuts.

Autumn is indeed my favorite time of year and being at an orchard intoxicates your senses with all things Fall…. the crunch of crispy leaves under foot, brisk air on your cheeks, mounds of bright orange pumpkins, flannel shirts, hay rides and the smells…. oh those autumn smells… cinnamon, fresh-pressed cider, fresh baked goods, leaves changing, kettle corn popping, fresh hay, pumpkins and earthy goodness.

If you can’t get yourself to an orchard, bring some apples home and make something appleiscious to get you in the mood. Try this apple crunch cake, or this amazing looking chai-spiced apple oatmeal bread, or perhaps apples in pajamas. (I know you are all going to click on that last one… like I was saying last week, some recipes just draw you in by name alone!)

Happy Autumn!

I TRULY believe that everything happens for a reason. Last week while visiting one of my favorite, creative and inspiring people, mav, I totally spaced out and missed my flight home to Chicago on Saturday evening! I have never missed a flight in my life and often scoff at how someone could be so irresponsible to do so! ha. Well, now that someone was me. And, I secretly kind of liked it.

Lately, it has been freeing to just give in to circumstance and as my Dad always coached, “Just go with the flow.” Well, that extra evening in Portland, ME brought us an additional meal together and these delicious quesadillas.

It has been ages since I used goat cheese in anything and now I can’t figure out how I lived without it. This simple combo in whole wheat tortillas was a recipe I will make again and again. I miss you already mav!

(The above photo is courtesy of mav who is an amazing photographer as you can see here, here or here. And, although I have never properly given her credit on this site, the header image of Whipped is also one of hers. She got me started on the right foot and I aspire to take photos just a fraction as beautiful as hers.)

Black Bean, Goat Cheese and Mushroom Quesadillas
serves 4

Warm a frying pan. On low, heat each quesadilla on each side until warm inside and golden brown on outside. Cut in triangles and serve with fresh salsa and/or avocado.

It is really quite amazing what you can do with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and an extremely hot oven. Recently, I stopped in at my neighbor’s house to pick something up. I followed her in the kitchen as she said, “I just need to quickly throw dinner in the oven.” In minutes, she had tossed carrots, potatoes and a whole chicken in a roasting pan and dinner was prepped.

I love it when someone else’s quick, mindless dinner becomes your exciting discovery. It has been ages since I roasted a chicken! My talented, designerofficemate gave me a simple recipe for Lemon, Thyme and Garlic chicken, I rustled up the both the red potatoes and kale from my new organic,weekly delivery box, clipped a few fresh herbs and, “Voila!” … one of the fanciest, tastiest Tuesday night dinners I had served in ages.

p.s. I have always really wanted to like kale but only try to eat it for the health benefits. However, this is the first time I have tried it roasted and both my husband and I really, truly liked it! It becomes crunchy and breaks apart in your mouth. Fun texture, yummy and uber healthy.

Lemon, Thyme and Garlic Chicken
Whole Chicken
Bunch of fresh thyme
6-8 garlic cloves or crushed garlic
1 lemon
olive oil
salt and pepper

Remove anything that may have come inside your chicken. Cut lemon in a few large slices and put it inside the chicken. If you have whole garlic, peel and sprinkle the whole cloves around the pan. (these will taste great spread on bread after roasting) Otherwise, rub crushed garlic on the chicken. Sneak the thyme under the skin of the chicken. Rub whole chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 450 degrees with the lid of the roasting pan on for 30-40 minutes or until meat is cooked through. Remove lid for 10 minutes or so until skin is crispy.

Roasted Rosemary Red Potatoes
Red Potatoes
Olive Oil
Fresh chopped rosemary
salt and pepper

Cut potatoes in cubes. Put in a pan for roasting. Sprinkle with olive oil, rosemary and salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast in oven with chicken until browned on the outside and soft inside.

Roasted Kale
Kale
Olive Oil
Sea salt
Wash leaves and discard stems. Fold leaves in half to remove the tough stem all the way up the leaf. Spray or sprinkle with olive oil and toss to lightly coat. Lay on baking sheet and put in 450 degree oven. Roast for 5-7 minutes then remove and turn all the leaves. Roast for another 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle with salt right as you remove the leaves from the oven. Kale will be crispy.

This past weekend, a most exciting thing happened in my life. I received my first organic produce weekly delivery box. I have been counting down the days like a 6 year-old waiting for Christmas. Even though I was out of town, I made my husband call me immediately upon its arrival and list its contents which were varied and plentiful.

One of the offerings was a dozen beautiful plums. (Detailed viewers - yes, two of them popped into our mouths before the above photo was taken.) I have never been much of a plum girl but ever since reading Luisa’s post about the Dimply Plum Cake, I have been aching to use my new tart pan and whip up something plumelicious. It was as if the organic produce delivery people had read my mind!

Based mostly on my desire not to leave the house and make a trip to the store on Sunday, I found the easiest recipe I could, adjusted it a touch and baked up my first ever plum dessert.

Half of the reason that I was jealous of Luisa’s cake was the name. Who doesn’t want to make something with such a cute name as Dimply Plum Cake? So, I decided that I would start making up my own more fun recipe names when I feel so inclined.

The Peekaboo Plum Cake is so easy it can be whipped up in minutes. And, I can speak from experience that it tastes good in the evening with a little ice cream or in the morning with your cup of tea.

Peekaboo Plum Cake
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch or two of salt
10-12 plums, halved and pitted
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Grease and flour a 10 inch tart pan or spring form pan. Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Sift together flour and baking powder (or as a shortcut, whisk them together in a bowl) and then mix them into the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Taste the batter and add a bit of salt as needed. Spread the batter in the pan. Place the plum halves skin side up around the pan. Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Sprink around the top of the tart. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Tart should be slightly brown on top and toothpick should come out clean.

Find a list of baking tips here.