Pumpkin Pie

My grandmother makes the most delicious pumpkin pies every Thanksgiving.  I love pumpkin pie and I’m kind of sad that I only eat it for a few days out of the year.  This is assuming there are leftovers!

I offered to help make pumpkin pies for this year’s Thanksgiving.  I figured pie-making would be extremely complicated but when I arrived to help, Granny told me how easy it was.  The “secret” family recipe was really a variation of the recipe on the back of Libby’s canned pumpkin.  Also, she had bought pie crusts because every time she tried to make crusts from scratch, they didn’t turn out very well.  I was happy to help unroll the refrigerated crusts and begin!

Thankful for Desserts

I think I am still full from my Thanksgiving meal and that was 3 days ago!  The entire meal was amazing, but I always save room for dessert.  Here is the smorgasbord of desserts that my family had at Thanksgiving.   My grandmother always makes many different treats.  This year she made chocolate pie, banana cream pie, pumpkin pie*, angel food cake with strawberry frosting, and pumpkin bread.  Everything (yes, I tried a little bite of everything!) was delicious.

What does your family usually eat for dessert on Thanksgiving?  Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving treat?  Does anyone out there seriously dislike pumpkin pie?  Please discuss!

*Please notice the pumpkin pies that my grandmother taught me how to make–I will blog about my first pie-making experience very soon!

I don’t think my cupcakes need feet…

I saw this cupcake today on the  Cupcakes Take the Cake blog.

Photo from Covetthycupcake’s Flickr

They are silicone baking cups made by Wilton and they come in four different colors.  In my opinion, they are a little strange, but I could picture them being cute if you were making animal cupcakes.   Hmm, these could be great for cupcakes that look like turkeys (in the spirit of Thanksgiving!).

You can purchase them online here.

Michigan’s best chocolate chip cookies?!

I love a good chocolate chip cookie.  A few months ago, I had the best chocolate chip cookie of my life, courtesy of  Colleen Ronayne, my friend Molly’s mom.  I recently talked to Molly about these cookies that have garnered critical acclaim around the state of Michigan.

Me: So what’s so special about these cookies?!

Molly: That’ s very subjective but I like my cookies really soft and chewy.  I love it when they’re still really soft in the middle.  I really don’t like crunchy cookies.   These cookies are different because the actual dough is so good that I prefer bites without too many chocolate chips.  They’re also really small and don’t spread out very much when they bake, making them even more chewy.  Also, this is strange but they are the BEST when refrigerated because they revert back to a dough-like state.

Me: Can I ask if there are any special ingredients that make these different than an ordinary chocolate chip cookie?

Molly: Yes, there is, but it’s a guarded family secret!

Another year, another Zingerman’s birthday cake!

Ever since freshman year, my parents have sent me a Zingerman’s cake on my birthday.  The cakes are delicious and are decorated beautifully to look like wrapped gifts.

Thanks Mom & Dad!

Now that I’ve worked with fondant I am much more impressed with this decorating job. The fondant was rolled out perfectly to a thin layer.  I love how they made the bow!  The cake tasted amazing as well–it was chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.  DELISH!

Here I am, looking happy about turning 22 because I have thoughtful parents, a delicious birthday cake, and incredible friends who came all the way from Iowa City to celebrate my birthday with me.  Thanks to everyone who helped make my birthday so great!

Now that’s a piece of coffeecake

A couple of friends and I ate at Hobee’s for brunch last weekend in Sunnyvale, California.  The blueberry coffeecake was described on the menu as “Our Famous Blueberry Coffeecake.”  Believe it or not, I did not order it!  For some strange reason (perhaps it was all the Sprinkles cupcakes I had…blog post in the works) I was not feeling like cake for brunch that day.  Luckily, one of my dining companions ordered it and let me have a bite.  It was quite delicious but I don’t know if it’s the best coffeecake I’ve ever had.  The sheer size of it is what’s so amazing.  Not to mention the enormous glob of butter on top!

Here in all it’s glory, Hobee’s famous blueberry coffeecake:

GDesserts!

Yes, the above picture is pretty much my dream come true.   Me inside a giant donut.  If only it were edible…

Over the weekend I toured the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.  These statues were one of the highlights of my visit!  Why does Google have statues of giant desserts at their headquarters?  Aside from the fact that they’re awesome, they help promote the Android, Google’s new smart phone operating system.

Here is more info about the Android, from someone who knows/cares more than I do (Thanks, Sean!):

Android operating system releases are named after pastries with alphabetically sequential names. So far we have Cupcake, Donut, and Eclair, which have all earned statues next to the original, green Android at Google’s headquarters. Rumor has it that the next releases will be Flan and Gingerbread, but beyond that your guess is as good as mine.

If you’re ever in the Mountain View area, go check out these statues!  They are tons of fun.   I’ll let you know if new statues are added!

Pear & Apple Crisp

I love fall.  The leaves, pumpkins, college football…what could be better?

I especially love fall foods.  I went to the Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market a few weeks ago (which I HIGHLY recommend you check out if you live in A2)  and got the last of the pears for the season.  Turns out when you don’t go to the Farmers’ Market a few weekends in a row you miss out on the very short pear season. Luckily I got just enough pears to make a pear and apple crisp for an event at my sorority house last week.

Why a crisp?  Well, this summer I went through a peach crisp phase.  I was OBSESSED with peach crisp, and numerous variations of it: peach and raspberry, peach and nectarine, peach and rhubarb…I could go on and on.  While I am regarded in many circles as an exclusive chocoholic, there’s something about a fruit crisp (cobbler/crumble/whatever name you prefer) served warm that makes my mouth water.

I am still a huge fan of the crisp genre and decided to take advantage of the last of the pear season.  I adapted Ina Garten’s recipe and it turned out very well.   The recipe is very simple.  The most time-consuming part is peeling and cutting the apples and pears.  It’s a great fall dessert and is best served warm.  I like mine with a little ice cream as well!  Best of all, I left my sorority house with an empty dish, SUCCESS!

Cupcakes Go Green

I saw these cupcakes on Cupcakes Take the Cake today.  Who says cupcakes can’t (pretend to) be healthy?

Photo from Treat’s Flickr Account