Easier-Than-Pie Creamy Pumpkin Pie

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For Christmas, there are always a million dishes to make.  Usually, Christmas dinner is essentially a repeat of Thanksgiving.  But this year we decided to branch out, so this is our menu:

Usually, my sister and I share cooking duties.  This year, she is very pregnant and swollen.  The last thing we need is labor intensive desserts (even though I ordinarily love those).  But easy doesn’t mean it’s not tasty.

So if you’re in a similar situation (not necessarily pregnant, but just with a lot of cooking to do).  Here’s an easy and amazingly delicious dessert that’s perfect for any holiday celebration.

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Now, I’ll have to warn you. This is not your average pumpkin pie.  It’s not as dense as regular pumpkin pie, not to mention it’s in a graham cracker crust, which is unlike most pumpkin pies.  It’s creamy, almost like a light cheesecake but without the cheese.

If that sounds great to you, then give it a whirl.  If you’re apprehensive… give it a whirl.  I think you’ll love it.

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Easier-Than-Pie Creamy Pumpkin Pie

1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 stick of butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp mace (or nutmeg?)
1 cup sour cream
1-2 tsp molasses
1/4 cup sugar
Candied ginger (optional, for garnish)

Melt butter and combine with graham cracker crumbs and 1/4 cup sugar.  Press into a 9-inch pie dish.  Place in the fridge/freezer until ready to use.

Pre-heat oven to 325F.

In a bowl, beat the yolks a few mins until slightly thick.  Beat in pumpkin puree.  Add spices and then beat in sweetened condensed milk.  Pour filling into prepared pie dish.

Bake 45 mins or until pie is no longer jiggly (this is clearly a scientific method, dating a biochemist will do that to you).   Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

In a separate bowl combine sour cream, molasses and sugar.  Spread over the pie and garnish with sliced candied ginger or any other cute looking topping.  Chill for a few hours in the fridge then serve.

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Well friend, off to my pre-holiday celebration with just me and the boyfriend.   You better believe I have this pie sitting in the fridge for dessert.

Merry Christmas!!

Guide: Holiday Season 2012

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‘Tis the season of ugly sweater parties, white elephant gift exchanges and other ridiculous holiday traditions.  It can be a little bit overwhelming.  I don’t know about you but sometimes I’m racking my brain to prepare for all these gatherings.

I’ve been to 4 parties in the last week.  So let me share a thing or two with you before the holiday season is over.

1.  How to Conquer the Ugly Sweater Party.

I heard on the news that there’s a guy who sells ugly sweaters online for $50 bucks a pop.  That’s just plain nuts (but super smart of him).  In real life, you shouldn’t spend more than $2 on an ugly sweater.  After all, it’s an ugly sweater.  If I’m going to spend $50 on a sweater it better be amazing (in a good way). So don’t do that.  Instead… The first idea is to go to a thrift store (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc).

That’s one option:

Can yield a good sweater, especially if you live in Central NY.  If you live in Southern California, life’s more complicated…

So your other option is to make your own.  That’s what I went with this year.

Find a sweater you have at home (why yes my mother likes to give me sparkly sweaters.  Perfect. ).  Go to Michael’s and spend $2 on Christmas foam stickers and put them all over your sweater.

It works.

You’ll also want to take an ugly dessert to your ugly sweater party.  That’s where Avocado Pie comes in.

Done deal, and you’ll probably only spend about $5 total.

2.  How to Conquer the White Elephant Gift Exchange

1 route is to find something old laying around the house.  A fine option.  If you want to have a more coveted gift, go with food.

Yesterday, I received a box of 48 moon pies.  Amazing.

My contribution was Pies in Jars

Decorated with the same foam stickers from the ugly sweater party (…recycle, reduce, reuse?)

Throw them in a bag with some tissue paper and ta-da! I put some chopsticks from China in the bag, just for good measure.

I (and I think most people in the world) hate getting pieces of crap at white elephant gift exchanges.  I figure with this gift at least they can eat it and when they’re done they have a great receptacle for salad dressing.

Just saying.

3.  How to Conquer the Daunting Task of Choosing What to Wear

Make it simple.  Pick two outfits.  1 casual and 1 fancy.   Rinse and repeat 🙂  (or in my case, steam and repeat… is that gross?)

Obviously be sure to take crappy pictures of yourself in front of the mirror and get them approved by your friends via text message.

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Casual Outfit

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Fancy Outfit

After all, these will be the outfits of Holiday Season 2012.

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You can’t mess around with that.

With these tips, you should be able to make it through the new year.

Happy Holidays from Foodologie!!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

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These should probably be called Chocolate Crack Cookies.

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They’re that good. If I were Santa Claus, I would totally want these waiting for me with a huge glass of milk. I don’t even like milk, but I’d take it with these cookies.

The first time I made these was in grad school in 2009 with my friend Rhoda. We made a bunch of different cookies to give to people for the holidays. This was one of them and I remember it being amazing.

So do Santa, your neighbor, your boyfriend, your mom, whoever a favor and make them these cookies.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

adapted from Blue Ribbon Cookies

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
About 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Melt chocolate in the microwave (30 seconds at a time, stirring in between blast session until completely melted). Drizzle oil into chocolate while stirring. Once combined, add sugar and mix in. Beat in 2 eggs. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt until just combined. Don’t over-mix. Chill dough in the freezer for about an hour or in the fridge for a few hours.

Once your dough has chilled, pre-heat oven to 350F. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and place powdered sugar in a bowl.

prep cookies

Form dough into walnut sized balls (I made mine a little bigger that than because I’m terrible at calculating size). Roll in powdered sugar and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. This should make about 24-30 cookies (the recipe says 40, but obviously I have a heavy hand in my cookie forming…)choc crinkle cookies2

Bake 10 minutes. They might look undercooked but that’s okay. Remember my rule about undercooked chocolate things… they’re delicious. Trust me.

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Allow to cool complete and serve with a glass of milk… and a side of carrots and celery for the reindeer… or to balance out the sugar, whatever you want to believe.

Vacation: The China Recap

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I’ve been MIA the past few days.  Sorry.  I got back from China a day late (flight canceled), meaning we got in the day before Thanksgiving.  Then of course my stomach decided to explode an hour after landing and I got horribly sick for 3 days.  I’ll spare you the details on that one.

Instead let’s concentrate on happier times: a nearly two week trip to China.  I’ll give you the lightning recap then get back to the recipes as soon as possible.

The trip started in Shanghai with the tastiest dumplings I’ve ever had in my life filled with soup and pork.

Delicious.  Then we headed to Guilin, where we saw tons of natural beauty

Climbed lots of hills and mountains

and ate delicious things, like meat on a stick and rice noodles.

After some days in Guilin, we headed to Xi’an (the old capital and end of the Silk Road).  We ate tasty crepe/egg things on the street (that they give you in a plastic bag to eat).

Rode bikes on the city wall (you have no idea how big a feat this is for me.  I hate bicycles.)

Saw Pagodas

And the Terracotta Warriors.  Pretty Amazing.

After Xi’an, we headed to Beijing.

Beijing was cold.

We’re smiling not just because we’re happy to be in Tian’an men Square, but it was freezing.  Then we saw the usual sites, like The Forbidden City

and The Great Wall of China (which was wayyyy bigger and longer and steeper than I expected)

After Beijing, we headed back to Shanghai to see some sites and catch a plane back to the Los Angeles.  Shanghai was a huge city.  I didn’t expect it to be so big and NYC-like, even though there were traditional Chinese things, like the Yuyuan Garden:

After a flight cancellation and an arrival a day late, we made it back.  I think we were both exhausted from the trip.  We packed a lot into 12 days.

Here are a few things we found

Weirdest things about China: People asking to take pictures with us.

Tastiest thing about China:  Dumplings (see first pic)

Skill Learned: maybe 2 words of Mandarin but we got really good at taking pics of ourselves

That’s it for the recap.  Obviously we saw tons of things in the 12 days were there, and I have more pictures but these are just some of the highlights.  You can see some on Instagram (check out my online page in case you don’t follow me on Instagram)… like Pies from McDonald’s!  Check it out!

Overall, we had a great trip.  My post-vacation-illness was totally worth it.

What was your last vacation?  Tell me about it!

Chocolate Pudding with Peanut Butter Mousse and Maple Candied Bacon

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People have a weird obsession with bacon.  I’ll be honest.  I don’t fully understand it.  I mean sure bacon is tasty, but I would much rather eat a chocolate/pb combo over a piece of bacon pretty much any day.

But on top of my affinity for chocolate and peanut butter, I also have a crazy desire to recreate things I eat at restaurants.

So a few weekends ago, Jesse (boyfriend, in case you’re a new reader! Hi!) and I went to the Manhattan Beach Post for our anniversary.  We ate some pretty tasty things (some cheddar bacon biscuits I also attempted to recreate, recipe to come), but we were too full for dessert.

One of the things that looked amazing was the “Elvis,” which the menu describes as “a wonderful mess of chocolate pudding, peanut butter mousse, bacon brittle.”

A wonderful mess.

I like that.

And I bet I would have loved it there (because pretty much everything I ate was delicious. White Oak Grilled Sword Squid with marinated gigande beans and lemon curd.  Bomb.  Try it you’re around there).

So of course I had to recreate it, even though I didn’t really try it.

Here’s my rendition.

I say you should give it a try too.

Chocolate Pudding with Peanut Butter Mousse and Maple Candied Bacon

pudding adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Pudding:

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
3 cup whole milk
6. 5 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Peanut Butter Mousse:

1/4 cup peanut butter, smooth
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup heavy cream

Maple Candied Bacon:

4-6 slices of bacon
2 tbsp maple syrup

Place milk, sugar and salt in a sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom until warm.  In a bowl, whisk together cornstarch and some of the warm milk.  Make sure there are no clumps, then add mixture to the rest of the milk.  Continue to stir until it starts to thicken and coats the back of the spoon (about 10 minutes).  Stir in chocolate chips.  Combine to stir until well combined and think (maybe another 5 mins).  Transfer to small bowls.  Refrigerate until cool.

In a bowl, beat heavy cream until firm.  Set aside.  In another bowl, beat together peanut butter and condensed milk until smooth.  Fold in whipped cream.  Refrigerate half an hour.

Next make bacon.  Place bacon in a bowl with maple syrup, toss to coat.  Heat a frying pan to medium heat.  Add bacon, cook until crisp.  Lay cooked bacon on paper towels.  Allow to cool completely and chop.

Next assemble.  Using a piping bag or a Ziploc back, pipe some peanut butter mousse over the chocolate pudding.  Sprinkle with pieces of bacon.  Serve immediately.  Makes 6 servings (or many more in tiny shot glasses).  If you’re not ready to serve it yet, pipe the peanut butter mousse over the pudding and refrigerate.  About 15 minutes before serving remove from the fridge then sprinkle with bacon when ready to serve.

It’s a bit of a process to make but definitely worth it.

Bonus: bacon makes it a man-pleaser.

Go ahead recreate this.  Then tell me how it is.  I’ll be in China while you do that.  No really, I’ll be in China.  I leave on Thursday.  I hope I get to eat ridiculously tasty things and see some awesome sites.  I’ll tell you all about it.

Any China trip tip or recommendations?

Anyone else want chocolate pudding with peanut butter mousse and maple bacon?

Yeah, we all do.  Go make it!

Pumpkin Pecan Bundt Cake

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It’s National Pumpkin Day.  Woo let’s celebrate!

Ok, I’m really not that excited, but all of a sudden I’m all about food holidays.  What could it be?

So as a result of pumpkin day, I re-examined some of my old pumpkin-y recipes.

I used to be all about the previous pumpkin-y things I’ve made…

Like these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Pumpkin Pizza

Pumpkin Biscuits

And of course who can forget the Fall Cake with a layer of gingerbread cake and another of pumpkin cheese

But I think I found a new pumpkin love… or maybe just the flavor of the minute since it’s the first pumpkin-y thing I’ve eaten all year?  Regardless, this bundt cake is pretty tasty.

I wish I had a cute little pumpkin or plant to stick in the middle of it, but I’m not that festive.  This cake is about as festive as it’s gonna get, let’s concentrate on the taste.

Moist, pumpkin-y and spicy.  What more could you want?

Pumpkin Pecan Bundt Cake

adapted from Cooks Illustrated’s Pumpkin Bread with Ginger

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mace
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 can pumpkin puree
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp dark molasses
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp heavy cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease and flour a bundt pan, set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

In another large bowl, mix together sugar and vegetable oil.  Beat in egg 1 at a time.  Then beat in sour cream, heavy cream, molasses and pumpkin puree.  Beat in flour mixture until just combined.  Fold in pecans and crystallized ginger.

Pour mixture into prepared bundt pan, bake 50-70 minutes (depending on your oven) or until you insert a knife into it and it comes out clean.

Serve and celebrate pumpkin day!

Bourbon Caramel Apple Pie

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So today I realized it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post.  I blame it on one thing: The Walking Dead.

I’m about 859395 minutes late to the party, so I spent the last week watching the first two seasons.  It was an enormous race to watch all the episodes before the new episode on Sunday.  Good news: I’m all caught up.

Now I freak out when my lights flicker, but that’s okay.  If fictional tv shows freak you out (like they do me), just think of pie.

Then head into the kitchen to make this…

Bourbon Caramel Apple Pie

Single Pie Crust:

175g All Purpose Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
pinch of Salt
1 stick of Butter, cold
2 tbsp (maybe more) Ice Water

Filling:
6 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 tbsp bourbon/whiskey

Caramel:

1 cup sugar
3 tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp Bourbon
few pinches of salt

Topping:

1/2 cup Flour
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tbsp White Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
pinch of Salt
3 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp bourbon

Prepare pie crust by combing flour, sugar and salt.  Using your fingers, break the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles very coarse crumbs (even pea sized is fine).  Add ice water and bring it all together into a ball using your hands.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate a few hours.  You can make this up to two days in advance.

Once your dough has rested sufficiently, you can start to assemble your pie.  Roll our dough and place into a 9inch pie dish, trim the edges, make them look pretty if you’d like.

Next make the caramel.  In a deep saucepan, melt sugar over medium heat.  Do not stir.  Once it reaches a golden brown color, remove from heat.  Stir in butter (it will bubble a lot, keep stirring), then stream in cream while stirring then stir in bourbon and salt.  If you get some clumps it’s not a big deal.    Set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 350F.   Stick the prepared crust in the freezer while you make the filling and topping.  For the filling, I like to throw all the ingredients into a large ziploc bag, close it and toss it around.  A bowl works too.

Set aside while you make the topping. Next make crumble topping.  Combine dry ingredients.  Add butter and using your fingers work it into the mixture.  Drizzle in bourbon and toss to combine.  The mixture should look sort of like crumbs.

Next assemble the pie.  Pour a bit of the caramel into the pie crust and spread.  Next lay in half the apple mixture, pour some more caramel sauce (maybe 1/3 of it? also note if your caramel cooled too much and hardened just warm it up a bit on the stove).  Add the remaining apples and drizzle with some more caramel.  You should have about 1/4 of the caramel left over.  Sprinkle the crumble topping on the apples, then drizzle remaining caramel on top.  Place pie on a baking sheet and bake 45-60 mins or until golden and the fruit is bubbling in the middle.

Remove from oven, allow to cool completely then serve!

I recommend having this with a glass of bourbon while watching The Walking Dead (or maybe Vampire Diaries is more your supernatural style?).

Oven Not-Fried Pickles

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A few weeks ago, I moved.  I think I told you about this but in case I didn’t… I moved.  Not far.  Just to the unit downstairs.  You’re probably thinking why go through all the trouble to move all your stuff down stairs?

Answer: For a patio.

You know what patios mean in Southern California? Outdoor space for dinner parties pretty much year round.  When you live in a studio, having people over is awkward.  Oh hey friend, why don’t you sit on my bed while I make you a cocktail and serve you a cheese platter?  Borderline creepy.

Now I have outdoor space where I can have people sit without being a creeper.  My most recent dinner venture was Southern themed.   I’ve never been to the South (well I don’t count Florida as the South.  Do you?) but here’s my south-inspired menu: Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Homemade Coleslaw, Baked Beans and Peanut Butter Cream Pie.

But what’s a dinner party without appetizers?

So in keeping with my Southern theme and the fact that my last impulse buy at the grocery store was a huge jar of pickles, I thought fried pickles might be the right choice.  The only issue is I hate frying things.  So crisis averted…

Oven Not-Fried Pickles

adapted from Skinny Taste

1 jar of pickles (I used dill oval cut chips)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 whole wheat flour
1 tsp cajun spice
pinch of salt
1 egg
2 tbsp milk

In a bowl combine breadcrumbs, cornmeal, flour, cajun spice and salt.

In another bowl beat together egg and milk.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 450F.  Pat dry the pickles using a towel/paper towel.  Dip one into the egg mixture then toss in the breadcrumb mixture.  Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Repeat until all pickles are breaded (or you’re tired of doing this).

Bake 8-10 minutes, flip and bake another 5 minutes or until golden.

Serve hot with ketchup for dipping.

These were winners, but trust me on this.  They taste better when they’re hot… and with a cold beer… and preferably on a patio (not your bed… unless you’re into that kind of thing, in which case I’m not judging).

Is your mouth watering yet?  Mine is.