Sourdough Baking: Getting Started with Your Starter

Once upon a pandemic I started the most quarantine-cliche of hobbies: Sourdough baking! I detailed some of my journey/process and have spent the last two years honing my craft (and eating a whole lot of carbs). I'm still by no means an expert baker. But I've picked up a few tips and tricks (and a few tools) on my way...enough to actually get in a rhythm so each baking session is less wild experimentation and more delicious execution.

I share (figuratively and literally) a lot of what I make (#bowdenismsbakes, Sourdough stories highlight 1 and 2) , and at the risk of sounding all "SO many people have been asking"...I will say that there have been some requests from people to learn how to bake. There have actually been many MORE requests for me to just drop off carby-goodness on doorsteps- which I do- but a few brave souls also want to try their hand at the process and are looking for an easy on-ramp to do it. 

So I thought it would be helpful to pull together a super quick guide to the tools and recipes I use. This is far from an all-encompassing tutorial...there are millions of people better suited to that than me. Think of this as a shopping list and resource guide to get you started.

Recipes: 

I've tried a lot of things over the years (if you can make it with sourdough...I'll give it a whirl. We're talking brownies, waffles, tortillas...See my full pinboard here.) and they were definitely not all winners. A few Pinterest fails won't keep me from trying new things, but for now, here's the short list of my tried-and-true basics that I go back to frequently.

• Traditional Sourdough Bread: see full recipe below.
• Pretzels: This recipe by Baking Sense is AMAAAAAZING. The only change I make is adding more flour, so it's about 2 cups in total rather than 3.5. Serve with salami and cream cheese,  cut them to use as sandwiches, or make them as nuggets (takes longer, but they're kind of irresistible) and serve with Aldi Sweet Bavarian Mustard.YUM!
• Pizza dough: Little Spoon Farm is a sourdough expert and this pizza dough is so easy and delicious. Cooking in a skillet + broiling is a game-changer!
  
• Pasta dough: via The Gingered Whisk. I'm not sure sourdough is a necessity in noodles (ok...it definitely isn't) but it's fun!
  
• Bagels: Another Little Spoon Farm winner. These are a bit time consuming, but worth it! 

Tools:  
And now that you know what you're going to make, here's what you'll need to make it. Well actually- you really don't need any of this to make sourdough things. In the beginning, I didn't have any specific tools- just my regular mixer and some measuring spoons- so I improvised with bowls, pots, cookie sheets etc. There's no shame in that game, but if you're looking to level-up, or want some ideas on what to get the aspiring bakers in your life, here's a basic lists of my go-to tools:

 

• Bannetons- These are fancy bowls to bake your bread in. I have two 9" rounds to make "boules" but you can get them in loaf pan shapes too. 
• Dutch Oven- You could get a beautiful (and expensive) Le Creuset...but this basic version is working just fine. Mine is 6qt, and fits my 9" round loaf perfectly. (plus it's really pretty in grey!)
  
• Pastry scraper- this tool, above all else makes me feel like a real professional. Just seems like you really know what you're doing, ya know?
  
• Bread Lame (razor)- crucial for making those fancy little designs that make your bread look (even more) gorgeous
  
• Flour Sacks- Helpful lightweight towels used for covering dough, cleaning up, and honestly, literally any other task in the kitchen.
  
• Silicon Baking Mats- Full disclosure- I REALLY struggled to find mats that would fit my baking sheets, and these still aren't perfect, but I use the larger sizes quite a bit, and the circle works great in the dutch oven. Came with a tiny spatula and a silicon brush which I use constantly, so that's a good bonus.
• Silicon pastry mat- My husband bought me this, thinking it was a mat to bake on, but it's actually a huge work surface...and I ADORE IT. I roll out all my pretzels on this, and it helps keep the sticky mess contained. The measurements printed on it are helpful too!
  
• Spatula Set- Such a solid assortment and range of sizes. I have a lot of spatulas junking up my counter, but these are my favorite.
  
• Measuring cups- not revolutionary, but these are just so perfect. Easy to clean, tons of sizes.
  
• Bread Bags- Want to get a little "extra"? Yeah ya do! I gift all of my breads in these bags. So profesh! 
• KitchenAid Mixer- You probably already have this, right? How did I go my entire life without one? It's actually not used to make traditional bread, but I use it for many other sourdough recipes and consider it a kitchen staple now.  
• Pasta Maker Attachment- sort of a sidenote- but I didn't want to shell out the $$ for a KitchenAid brand version and have been very happy with this version.
  
• Baking set- Ok, I don't actually have this set, so I can't personally vouch for the quality- but it has a lot of the basics you'll need, and is a great price, so could be an excellent starter pack while you figure out if this whole yeasty adventure is for you.
• Pretzel jammies- You know what? Forget the rest of the list. These are all you need. 

Sourdough Bread Recipe
This is the same process from my original blog post, but condensed down (without pictures) for quicker reference.

Day 1:

• Hour 0: (8am) Feed the starter: Mix ½ cup warm water and ½ cup flour together and add to the starter. Let it sit at room temperature (covered is fine) for around 5 hours.
• Hour 5: (1pm) “Autolyse”: Mix 8 cups of flour and 3 ¼ cups water. Let sit together for 30 minutes (Cover with a damp cloth and let sit at room temperature).
• Hour 5.5: (1:30pm) Add ½ cup starter and 1 tablespoon salt. Mix together. Cover for 30 minutes
  
• Hour 6-7.5: (2pm, 2:30pm, 3pm, 3:30pm) Begin stretch and fold. Pull the dough up from one side, stretch it out, pull it across the bowl, and fold it back onto itself. Quarter turn the bowl, and do it again 4 times (one on each side). I like to scrape the sides after to keep the bowl clean. Do this once every half hour, 4 times, covering in between stretch and folds.
• Hour 7.5: (3:30pm) Cover for the bulk rise. Let it sit at room temperature for about 6 or 7 hours.
• Hour 14: (10pm) Shape your loafs: Sprinkle your work surface with a little flour. Cut the dough in equal size halves. Separate them. Pull them delicately into rectangles. Pull small sections alternating from each side, folding into the middle to make a log, then roll it on top of itself to create a ball. Push the outsides underneath to hide the seams. Cover and let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes.
• Hour 14.5: (10:30pm) Repeat this last step, but skip the resting. Place each loaf into a banneton  Cover and let proof in the refrigerator overnight.

Day 2: (Morning)

• Remove the dough from the refrigerator
• Place dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. 
• When preheated- place the dough in the dutch over (place a silicon baking mat or piece of parchment paper in the bottom first) 
• Use a bread lame to cut the top of the loaf (a simple semi-circular cut works, or you can do a more elaborate design) to allow for growth while baking. 
• Brush with an egg wash (1 egg or 1 egg white mixed with a little bit of water). 
• Bake, covered for 25 minutes. 
• Remove the lid. Bake for an additional 10 minutes
• Let rest for 30 minutes before cutting/eating

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How Whole 30 Changed My Life Forever (and Why I'll Never Do it Again)

Whole 30…have you heard of it? Well, it’s a diet plan that is all the rage with the Fitness/Trendy/Healthy Lifestyle communities. Now, don't get confused...I'm not actually a participating member of any of those groups...but that doesn't mean I didn't want to still at least attempt to jump on the bandwagon. If only for the cliché Instagram pictures of my food.

A post shared by Courtney Bowden (@bowdenisms) on Aug 2, 2016 at 5:53am PDT

Kidding. Mostly.

It's been almost two years since Dustin and I attempted (and completed!) our first Whole 30, so while this isn’t the most timely post I've ever written, Whole 30 was a total game-changer for me, so I feel it's worth it to document my experience.

So I present, a post two years in the making:

How Whole 30 Changed My Life Forever and Why I'll Never Do it Again
First of all, if you've made it this far already and don't know what Whole 30 is, let's fix that right-quick. We can get in super deep, but the gist is it's an eating program designed to be followed for 30 days. It's "clean eating" incorporating basically just "whole" foods. The main rules are:

• no grain
• no dairy
• no alcohol
• no sugar (or artificial sweeteners)
• no legumes (including peanuts)
• no fun (unofficial rule)

Outside of that restricted list you can pretty much eat anything you want, whenever you want, however much you want. (That's right! Unlimited carrot sticks!! Binge on raw almonds! One time I ate an entire cucumber like I was on some sort of wild vegetable bender!)

There is a zero tolerance policy for concessions, cheats, substitutions, or "slip-ups". The basic philosophy is that if you want to change your life, you have to put in the effort. No compromises.

So why in the world did I want to do this?

Simple: I was getting plushy.

And by that I mean, I am vain, didn't like the way my Summer body was looking, and wanted to do something semi-drastic to change that (but not as drastic as like...exercise...I'll leave that to Dustin). I've never been great with the whole willpower thing, and tend to do better under strict rules, with copious accountability. So Whole 30's high bar, and tough love sounded nearly impossible, and likely just what I needed. I figured I'd do a month of clean eating, lose a few pounds and enjoy the ease and luxury of buttoning my shorts without having to lay down on the bed first.

I expected it to be hard, and annoying, and another thing to chalk up in my long list of Stuff Courtney Doesn’t Think Through All the Way, but Ropes Dustin in Anyway and Then Refuses To Back Down Thereby Ruining Both of Our Lives…And I was pretty much right about all that.

But also- I really did come away from this challenge feeling changed. And not just my dress size (because…here’s the bummer…I’m not sure that actually changed at all). I know that sounds a little bit ridiculous, but I was truly surprised at what I learned. Like most things, the value wasn’t in the results, it was in the act of going through the process. Unfortunately, I can’t transfer all the enlightenment I found directly to you…but I can at least share what I uncovered about myself through a month of whole eating.

A post shared by Show Your Real (@show_your_real) on Apr 10, 2017 at 5:22pm PDT

My main takeaways:

1: I Might Have a Problem
Now, I don’t want to make light of addiction, so I am saying this in all seriousness... Whole 30 shed some light on some unhealthy relationships I have with eating and drinking. Want to know if you have a drinking problem? Try to stop drinking. You'll see really quickly the role it does (or doesn't) play in your life, and how easily (or not) you're able to cut it out. I don't consider myself a heavy drinker by any means...honestly I didn't even consider myself a frequent drinker, but all of a sudden when the option was off the table (literally), I realized how much I liked it. And looked forward to it. Maybe not needed it? But a liiiiiitle too close.

And honestly for me this even extended to (just) Coke Zero. I had a very steady 1-a-day habit with it. Harmless, maybe (or maybe not...I'm aware the chemical cocktail that is diet soda probably isn't the best choice) but it had become nearly mandatory for me each day. Without that shot of caffeine in the afternoon, my head hurt and I struggled to make it through the rest of the day. It had also become synonymous with "me time". It was something I could treat myself to, a little break, a ritual and something I strangely felt I deserved. Again, not the worst thing I could be "indulging" in, but also just not necessary. (and not at all helpful in regulating my sleep patterns, or fighting off sweet-cravings).

And there were a lot of these messy correlations with emotions and food too. This new way of eating and forced me to examine the ways I had been relating to and relying on food without even realizing it. TV watching was always paired with a snack. Spending time with friends centered around food. Rewarding my kids meant having a treat. Food was wrapped up in my social and emotional life. And while I don't think it's bad at all to share good conversations over good food, or to celebrate your kids' achievements with ice cream, it crosses over into shady territory when someone suggests going out with friends, or having a party, or taking the kids somewhere, and you think: Why bother if I can't even have _______? At that point, you might just have a problem.

2: Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
AND/OR
Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Poor Performance
(Somebody put that on a letterboard)

You can't just do Whole 30 on a whim. Well, actually you can start Whole 30 on a whim; I totally did. But you won't finish a Whole 30 unless you get your act together real quick. I don't know what your life/pantry is like, but I'm not typically just overrun with hordes of vegetables, non-dairy ranch dressing and sugar-free nut-alternative butters. Eating "clean" required me to think about things. And plan them. And buy them. And prep them. And cook them. And store them. And pack them. And do it all again about 50 times a day oh my gosh how is it time to eat again already I'm so hungry and so tired this so much work when are we done herrrrrrrrrrre...??

For a month, our entire lives became about what we were going to eat. We spent our evenings choosing recipes, and prepping yet another pan of chicken + sweet potatoes + brussels sprouts. We had to plan ahead before we went to a friends' house, or out to eat...what would our options be? How would we compensate? How much longer can I really survive on a Larabar and a LaCroix?

The truth is I hated this part. It was just so much dang work. Some of it was kind of fun (making zoodles! I still love my spiralizer big time!) some of it was daunting (how do you go to the fair all day without cheating?) but most of it was just the tedious repetition of adulting, day in, day out.

But...surprise...that was good for me. Being forced into meal planning helped us avoid the lazy/unhealthy/expensive habits of eating out constantly, and created a rhythm where we put more effort into what we put into our bodies. It was mandated discipline, and it showed me that a little (/lot) more effort now, really does pay off later.

A post shared by Courtney Bowden (@bowdenisms) on Jul 21, 2016 at 5:04am PDT

3: Public Accountability is My Friend
I already said I’m not really a willpower person. But I am a stubborn person. And someone who thrives on achievement. And a person who very much cares about what other people think. So making a promise to myself is probably not going to stick. But if I make a promise out loud, involving other people, I’m going to be much more hesitant to break it. Not because I don’t want to let them down...it’s more that I will do almost anything to avoid being wrong or looking dumb. It’s a pride thing, and while that’s probably not my best character trait, I figure I might as well harness it for good if I can.

I told basically everyone I know that I was doing Whole 30 (like veganism, or Crossfit, oversharing to hordes of uninterested people is practically a program requirement), and while I am sure that no one cared, the idea that if I cheated, everyone would know was super helpful in keeping me in line. I didn’t want have to admit my weakness, or explain my inadequacy, so I stayed super strict. There were no real consequences at play, (after all, it was a self-imposed challenge) but my aversion to failure provided the extra motivation I needed whenever I was questioning the whole dumb thing.

4: I Can Do It

This is a biggie. 

There are a lot of areas in which I believe in myself. I’m good at a fair number of things, and as a general rule, I tend towards the self-confident (or at least blissfully naïve about my own limitations) end of the “Can I Do This?” spectrum. But for some reason, I don’t think that about wellness. I tend to think of health and fitness as “other peoples’ thing”. Isn't that so dumb? Like everyone else has the market cornered on making good choices? But that’s what’s in my head.

Exercise isn’t really my thing.
I could never diet, I just love food too much.
The healthy food world is too hippie-ish and complicated.
I'd never make it through the entire month, what's the point?

Before I even tried Whole 30 my brain was filling in blanks in a thousand self-defeating ways:

I could never...
give up caffeine/stop eating ice cream/go to bed earlier/cut out alcohol
because I...
have an 11 month old/love it so much/have so much to do/love it so much
But the truth is I CAN. I COULD. AND I DID.
I stuck to the plan for all 30 ding-dang-days. I made my own mayonaise, declined fried-cheese-on-a-stick, managed to hold down a job + raise children without even a drop of the sweet nectar of the (soda) gods...and did a zillion other things that I didn't know I could do.

It may not seem like a big deal. It's just food, after all. But setting a goal in an area that you don't think you can succeed at and then ACTUALLY DOING IT is powerful. I don't want to get too dramatically self-congratulatory and "I can do hard things" about it...but this meant something to me. It meant that all of the reasons I couldn't do it, all the ways I thought I would fail, all the inadequacies I saw in myself were wrong. 

------------------------------ 

So I learned, and I grew, and I changed. But not just that month. It has stuck with me.

No, I don't still eat clean, or paleo, or whatever. Well, sometimes I do. Lots of times I do-ish. And most times I don't. Since we completed that Whole 30, we've done another month of a modified (aka loosey-goosey) plan dubbed WholeIsh 30, and then more recently I came up with completely original (and utterly random) month-long healthy eating challenge. I loved Whole 30, I learned from Whole 30, and I frankly, don't need to do it again.

I realized I love cheese more than I'll ever love being thin, so for me, living my best life is going to include dairy.

I confirmed that trace amounts of sugar in my balsamic salad dressing are not the reason I'm not meeting my fitness goals, so there's no reason to be a label-Nazi.

I know that clear, non-negotiable rules work for me- they take the constant decision-making (and cop-out compromises) out of things and simplify my process. BUT- I don't have to do so many rules at once. It's not all or nothing. And giving myself grace doesn't mean allowing myself to fail.
 

A post shared by Courtney Bowden (@bowdenisms) on Jan 2, 2017 at 11:46am PST

So I'm not going to be doing another Whole 30 diet any time soon. But doing the diet again doesn't even matter, because food isn't really even the point. These four lessons impacted in ways that have nothing to do with eating.

I have learned that as I approach any significant challenge:

1. I need to be honest with myself
2. I have to have a plan
3. I will need help
4. I can do it (even when it's really stinkin' hard)

Probably a lot of "no duh" in that list at first glance, but knowing something in your head, and knowing something from experience are two very different things. These lessons became truths for me that I embedded in my heart. And now when I embark on a challenge, I sub-consciously reference them.

- Do I want to stop looking at my phone so much? Well first I probably need to face the fact that I've got a problem, and it might go deeper than just a mindless habit. Am I avoiding something? Seeking validation somehow? How would it feel to give up my phone? What does that mean?

- Am I trying to get in shape? Let's figure out a specific exercise regimen and think through how I'll manage the inevitable obstacles. Where will I look for motivation? What "hacks" can I employ to make consistency easier? Is there a way to make it more fun? 
- If I'm thinking about trying a 100 Day Project... I better commit to it, tell people about it, and post publicly along the way if I want to go the distance.

And most important:
Is what I'm going through right now (whatever, and whenever that may be) hard? Yes.
Can I do it? Also yes.

I am sure of that...and sure of myself...with my Whole heart.

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Costume Week: Cow Appreciation Day

Ok, so we're three days into #costumeweekspooktacular so I don't need to profess my love of dressing up. You get it.

But do you also know about my intense love of Chick-fil-A? Oh yes. It's partly about the delicious chicken, but also may have something to do with my intense desire to be southern. And the extreme patience they show to my sauce-loving, havoc-wreaking kids doesn't hurt either (plus: indoor playground!) In any case, it's a popular choice for us Bowdens, especially in our Pittsburgh days when we had a few of them nearby our house AND our office. Convenient, church-y, chicken. My pleasure.

However...even if Chick-fil-A hadn't already solidified its place in my heart (more specifically: my arteries) they would have won me over with their annual July 14th festivities. What's that? You weren't aware that July 14th is an official holiday? Oh yes, my friends. For it is:

Cow Appreciation Day

...also known as the very, very best kind of holiday, in that it involves- nay- demands costumes, and rewards the wardrobe effort with FREE chicken. It's like Halloween in the Summer, but without all the terrible spooky stuff (and swapping the candy for waffle fries).

It's a pretty simple deal- dress like a cow, and get a free meal. I'm never mad at a free meal, but I truly can't resist the urge to get my entire family in on some matching outfit action. So last year, Piper and I worked on some cow costume crafts, and convinced Dustin to humor me (again...some more).

Piper was wary for sure, but poor little 4 week old Fin didn't know the dairy dynasty she was born into.

She's suspicious of the giant cow, but should really be more wary of her parents. #cowappreciationday #moo

A photo posted by Courtney Bowden (@bowdenisms) on Jul 7, 2013 at 4:26pm PDT

So this year, we had to continue the tradition...and luckily we had saved pieces of our outfits  (what...you don't all use your spare bedroom as a costume closet?) so we updated them slightly and were ready to roll. (a little electrical tape over some devil horns...voila: cow horns!)

Mooing all the way...

Seriously...she liked the costume, but loved the mooing.

This is Fin's attempt at a moo:

We managed to get some family shots. The clean before...

And the slightly messy after:

I'm already looking forward to next year.
Moo.

Ice Cream Fridays

A couple years ago, Dustin and I started a tradition known as Ice Cream Sundays.

It's a pretty complicated system:

1. you wait for Sunday to roll around
2. you eat ice cream.

(Step one is optional.)

And now that Summer is almost upon us...it was time to initiate Piper. So last Sunday she had her first ice cream cone. She's had ice cream before, but always from a spoon....and let's just say there's a small learning curve on the whole licking thing. (every bite had to be preceded by one of us reminding her "...tongue...")

I give you: thirty seconds of chubby legged, skeptical faced, sugary goodness.
(Note- at the 19 second mark, she sees a dog...and the afternoon almost couldn't go on...)
 
Happy Friday, sundae lovers!
 
Piper's First Ice Cream Cone from Courtney Bowden on Vimeo.

Little Days: Big Appetite

Recently, my mom got the the chance to watch Piper for a bit, giving us a much needed break from the kiddo. And during Piper's stay, G'mi learned some first hand lessons about our girl: She's got a wild mane, a suspicious stare, and a ferocious appetite.

For real. This girl will eat you out of house and home. (where does she get it?!)

While Piper was away, my mom sent updates, along with some pictures, so we'd know everyone was doing ok. She also sent some pictures...apologizing: "Here are some of my favs! So many involve food ...just noticed!" But it was fine by me! I know that a well fed girl is a happy girl...and boy did our girl seem happy. Some highlights from her smorgasbord:

"Went to Wendy's for lunch. Piper ate a Jr cheeseburger but I forgot she doesn't like American cheese. (learned that with a grilled cheese). We peeled it off and she ate the meat and then the bun. Hmmm. Wasn't keen on the fries much until I bought a vanilla frosty and she dipped the SAME fry in over and over and sucked it until it was a mushy mess. Wouldn't let me give her a new fry!"

"I thought she would eat my dinner as she eats Chipotle, but no go. It had corn and beans and chicken etc but we went back to the meatloaf from last night. So here is my question- do you ever cut her off? She ate more meatloaf than Vern and I put together. She just keeps asking for more!"

 

"At the store we picked out frozen mini pancakes and she HAD to hold them and would not let me scan them~ no no no~ I finally did and she then had to hold them the whole way home!"

"She "cooked" in the kitchen while I made dinner which was so cute. 

Vern came home and she wanted papa to taste it. He is just smitten!" 

And from the last email:

"Piper just stood on the scale by herself! 22.4 lb Should I cut out the midnight buffet?"

And deny us that cute that little buddah belly she's working on? No way. Seconds for everyone!


::today i'm linking up with the scribble pad for her little days series::

6 Recipes You Need to Know About

If you're anything like me, you've pinned about a hundred recipes, tried about a dozen, and actualy liked a handful. Pinterest is a great source for inspiration, but it’s not always reliable when it comes to the likelihood of success implementing all that inspiration. Just because something was repinned 800 times doesn’t mean it’s good; it just means the cover photo looks good. The constant “liking” and “repinning” doesn’t hold much weight when it comes down to what that craft will actually look like, or what the recipe truly tastes like. Sometimes (and maybe more often than not) those bright and shiny pins can be pretty unrealistic (check out Pinterest Fail for proof that everything’s isn’t always as easy or delicious as it seems) And I’d like to say that you could rely on the descriptions for real information, but does anyone ever update those? I know I don’t! Unless it says something really crazy, I pretty much just let the “mmmmmmm, sooo gooooood!/this sauce is totally addicting!!/pinner says “I made this for my boyfriend’s parents and now we’re engaged!!!” tagline roll.

My friend Rachel is a genius (for lots of reasons), and actually has a Pinterest board dedicated to ideas she has Tried/Attempted/Printed/Used (yes, that’s the official board name. She’s thorough, and literal). When she tries things from Pinterest, she moves them over to this board and updates the description with details on how it really went. It's like the #showyourreal of pinning!

I’d love to be that organized, or diligent, but.....well....I’m just not. BUT- I do have a mental list of things I’ve tried, and a few of them are what I consider to be “must shares”. And so I must share them with you:

6 Recipes You Have to Know About...
(5 because they’re that awesome, and 1 because it’s that bad)

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Bell Peppers

This is one of the easiest recipes ever...I was able to make them before work, and just pop them in the oven that night. Changes I made: 

• I used 8oz of mushrooms- they came pre-sliced and packaged...not going to argue with that!
• We didn’t have butter, so I just used olive oil for saute-ing.
• I only used half and onion, because I’m a baby about onions and always think recipes have too much.
• Dustin said he thought the cheese was a little overpowering (I don’t even understand that as a concept) so next time he’d skip the piece of provolone on the bottom (and probably add it on top of mine!)

Butternut Bacon Spinach Feta Pizza

Pizza crust- we often buy the giant eagle brand, and have been pretty happy with it. But we also recently tried the whole wheat pillsbury (comes in the exploding cardboard tube) and were surprisingly impressed with it. We’ve only made this in the winter, so we’ve made it in the oven, but grilling it would be delicious too! Oh- and you know I didn’t use the entire red onion. You do you.

Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad

This is one of those things where you don’t even really need the recipe (and you definitely don’t have to follow it exactly)...it’s more of an inspiration, and a reminder that “Yes. Taco salads are delicious! We should eat that tomorrow!” We make this all the time now, changing up what exactly is in it depending on what exactly we have. I’ve never made the dressing...Typically I either put a little bit of sour cream on the top, or a dash of Southwestern Ranch dressing. There’s so much going on with the ingredients it really doesn’t need much dressing.

Chesecake Brownies with Raspberries 

Cheesecake swirl brownies have been a staple of mine since long before the pinterest era. But for my birthday I wanted to do something special, so I searched for a new recipe and found this pretty picture:

Trouble is...the website is in Polish, and the measurements are in grams. SO- I improvised. 

I made a box of ghirardelli dark chocolate brownies, and then whipped up some cheesecake topping using my old tried and true recipe from Food.com (I found this back when they were RecipeZaar. Does anyone- besides Sarah, my college roommate- remember that?) It’s from 2001 and has 6 reviews...so I’m sure it’s not taking the pinterest world by storm, but it’s so easy, and so good (heavenly, in fact). 

Typically I swirl the two together, but for this I just let it go. Then I threw on some raspberries, and put it in the oven. Done!

Tip: Make sure your cream cheese is all the way softened or it will be lumpy. I microwave it on about 20% power for a minute or two to speed it up.

Bonus tip: Eat them for breakfast. Heavenly!

Winter Sangria

I’ve made this twice now, and I love it, but it needs some adjustments. The amount of fruit they call for is completely overwhelming (It’s like a fruit cup with a dash of liquid) so I cut that in half, and I double the rosemary to give it a boost of flavor. Also- I don’t bother rolling the rosemary in sugar...It looks pretty, but comes off the minute you mix it, so it’s not worth it. And I had enough on hand to double the liquid ingredients, which still worked with the original amount of fruit. It’s easy to freshen it up after people have been serving it for a while. 

Adapted recipe: 

• 1 apple
• 1/2c cranberries (I buy it in a small bag...and still don’t use the whole thing.)
• 1/2c white grape juice
• 12oz club soda
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 1/4c sugar (go a little light on this if you’re using non-alcoholic wine, which is much sweeter to start with)
• 1 bottle Pinot Grigio (you can sub sparkling juice- white grape or apple...still delish)

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

In life, there are a few sure things. Things I’ve come to trust in. The sun will rise every morning (kind of a technicality in Pittsburgh because we can’t always see it...but it does rise!) If I forget my umbrella, it will definitely rain. And pumpkin + cream cheese is always awesome.

AND THEN!? Something like this recipe comes around and shakes the foundation of everything I hold dear. I’m choosing not to link to pinterest here, because there about a hundred similar pins, that all point to the same thing: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Failure. How to recognize if you’re headed down the dark path of lies: the description mentions weight watchers points (ok...I should have maybe seen this coming), and the ingredients include angel food cake mix. If you see either of those things....just turn the other way.  It was practically foaming......

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Pied Piper

So you have the decorations, the presents, the fancy little dress....but we all know a first birthday party is about one thing: The Cake!

But I apparently have an aversion to all things conventional (really just cake) so I insisted upon making Piper's "smash-cake" a pie instead. And again, by "making" I obviously mean buying a fruit tart from giant eagle, mashing up the insides for her and covering it all with canned whipped cream. Because she's worth it.

People worried about the decision (for real...multiple people told me there would be disappointed guests. The people want icing on the baby's face. Give the people what they want!!) But I was undeterred. I insisted pie was the way to go...and let's just say, mama knows.

 So cute right? 

She sat patiently while we sang, which we hustled through a bit so we didn't end up with melted wax all over her mini-pie (or burned mini-fingers as she kept trying to grab it.) And when it was time to dig in, she gave us this face:

Where does she come up with this stuff?

She approached the dessert cautiously at first, just dipping her fingers into the tippy-top of the whipped cream...

 But soon enough she dug in, and made it a two-fist ordeal. 

A baby eating cake pie is pretty much an irresistible sight, so the flashbulbs were going like crazy, as she went to town on her tart. if she had bothered to look up, this would have been her view:

 Hilarious, right? The people...the people got what they wanted.

And as much as she loved it, she was still willing to share...

Aaaaaaand then right back to chowing.

We eventually called the ball when she was about half way through, but seventy-five percent covered. (I'm happy to say the dress recovered nicely after an evening in oxi-clean). All in all...smashing success.

P.s. If you still can't get enough Piper Party Pics, check out the other Piper's Premier Party posts...including what I might deem the best photobooth ever,

{Recipe Fave} Pumpkin Soup

Oh pumpkin. I could eat it all day, everyday forever and ever. I'm like the pumpkin version of Bubba Blue-

You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There's pumpkin pie, pumpkin pasta, pumpkin latte, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried. There's pumpkin soup, pumpkin stew, pumpkin salad, pumpkin gobs, pumpkin beer, pumpkin pancakes... That's, that's about it.

(No joke, I just typed that whole thing, just to find out that I basically made the same joke in a post three years ago. I knew I was predictable, but this is a whole new level of unoriginal).

(p.s. I'm too lazy to think of a new shtick, so I kept it....Moving on...)

So if you're anything like me, today is your lucky day. Otherwise known as Pumpkin Soup Day. Otherwise known in this house as Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday (I went on a soup spree...and I'm not the least bit sorry!)

I've had this recipe for years, and it's so easy, (+delicious!) that I have to share. It says it's from Heritage Farms, but I can't seem to find a link anywhere...I copied it down though, so while my notes aren't perfect, they're all I've got. (there's no actual measurement listed for the pumpkin, I spelled potatoes wrong, and the last step refers to "sour creamy". I think my hands got going faster than my brain.)

The whole thing takes about 20 minutes. Could not be simpler. I think it's supposed to be 4 servings, but the original author may not know what constitutes a "serving" in my house, so I recommend doubling it (at least). Make a whole vat. Freeze some. You won't be sorry.

Here's what you need:

2T grated onion (we chopped it up in the Ninja)
2T butter
1  small carton chicken broth
1 can evaporated milk
1/4 c instant mashed potatoes
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 can pumpkin (mine is the huge can- for one batch you only need the regular size can. But who makes one batch?!)
Sour Cream (optional)

And the So-Simple-Even-I-Can't-Screw-it-Up steps:

1. Saute the butter and onion.

2. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil

3. Beat in potatoes, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
(For the record, here's where my crazy notes fail me a bit...They say "remove from heat" which doesn't make much sense to me, because the next step is to heat again. So I say skip that. Just keep cooking. It also says to mix "until creamy", but I tried, and I'm not sure that was ever going to happen. So again, skip it. Just mix them in there and move along.)

4. Beat in milk and pumpkin.

 5. Simmer, stirring often for 15 minutes.

6. Garnish with "sour creamy".

And you're done! Grab a hunk of bread, whip of a salad, and sit down to a nice meal with your butter rhino. Enjoy that warm pumkin-y goodness!