Pumpkin Gingersnaps

Wow. These cookies are such a good idea. I love traditional gingersnaps. I have a go-to recipe for gingersnaps that has never failed me. But today I also had a couple of cups of pumpkin left over from making pumpkin muffins and I wasn't in the mood for pumpkin bread or pumpkin scones or pumpkin soup. These are not things I can sell around my house. But cookies....cookies always sell. So. Pumpkin Gingersnap cookies. So simple yet so effective!

Black Label Chicken Parmesan

This past Saturday I was gifted with a big bag of PC Black Label food products. Which came in very handy Sunday night when I was faced with deciding on dinner. I had my eye on the big box of Fiorelli pasta that was in my bag but wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, since I wasn't on grocery duty this weekend and wasn't sure what I had to work with. Then I spied a jar of Black Label Marinara sauce in the pantry that David happened to pick up, having been inspired by our gift bag bounty. Rustling through the fridge I found some chicken breasts while the freezer yielded up some grated mozzarella cheese. A quick Google search later and I decided on Baked Chicken Parmesan, using my bottled marinara and Fiorelli pasta.

Two-Bite Brownies

Two-bite brownies are still a pretty popular party offering despite their two-bite market dominance being tested by cake pops. The other day I saw that pie pops are also trying to become a thing. Ugh. Really? Mini pies or hand-held pies (turnovers?) I can get behind but pie on a stick just seems odd.

I love making homemade two-bite brownies even though when I bring them places I think people assume I bought them then arranged them on my own platter to pass off as homemade. So I overcompensate and find myself saying to anyone who will listen: "I made these. I know they look like store bought but honestly, I made these. Really." Once you taste them I think it's clear these are not a store-bought brownie. I whipped up a batch Friday night when Daniel was having a sleep over and they disappeared pronto, along with large glasses of frothy white milk.

Speaking of milk, we seem to buy an awful lot of milk these days. We buy our milk in bags and last week at one point we had nine bags of milk in our fridge. And I thought we were never going to need to buy milk again. Two days later - no milk. How is that possible? I shudder to think how much milk we're going to need to get through adolescence. Or how many of these two-bite beauties will be consumed.

I started making this recipe years ago after being gifted a wonderful cookbook called Grazing from our friends James and Lisa. I've made other treats out of this cookbook and never been disappointed.

Two Bite Brownies

At only 2 grams fat per pop, these will satisfy your need for chewy brownies. Be careful not to overbake them – they should be slightly puffed but still soft to the touch. Freeze leftovers and serve them frozen or warmed in the microwave with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. (If you don’t have mini muffin cups, the batter can be baked in an 8”x8” pan at 350°F for 25-30 minutes.)

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. instant espresso or coffee, dissolved in 1 tsp. water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs, vanilla and coffee and stir until well blended and smooth.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and stir by hand just until combined.

Spoon the batter mini muffin cups that have been sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until puffed but still soft to the touch. Do not overbake! Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Makes 24 brownies.

Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange

This is one of those great recipes that requires minimum effort but delivers maximum results. I made it because last week I made caramel sauce which required some cream. What does one do when one only needs half a cup of cream but one has a whole litre? One figures out how to use it up. Which lead me to Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange. All I had to do was slice some prosciutto into strips and sauté it in butter for a few minutes. Then I added the juice of one orange, some cream and reserved pasta water. To which I added my cooked pasta and a half cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Are you kidding me? I could have eaten the whole batch but I'd already tipped off my family that I was making dinner. So I shared. This time.

Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange from Epicurious

12 ounces egg tagliatelle or fettuccine (preferably fresh)

• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into 1" pieces
• Zest and juice of 1 orange
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until 1 minute before al dente, about 2 minutes for fresh pasta, longer for dried. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto; sauté until browned, about 3 minutes.

Add reserved pasta water, orange juice, half of zest, and cream; bring to a boil. Add pasta; cook, stirring, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cheese and divide among warm bowls.

Blueberry Pie

Turns out, I'm obsessed with pie this Summer. It started with pecan pie, which was wonderful (but I should have made my own pastry). Then I moved on to chocolate cream pie. Which again, was wonderful. Not better than the pecan pie, but a different kind of wonderful. This time I made my own (graham cracker) crust, the best I've ever made thanks to my new food processor. This past weekend I couldn't shake another pie craving. I wanted blueberry pie. Made with fresh blueberries. And homemade pastry, my food processor triumph with graham cracker crust suddenly giving me confidence to attempt the real deal. So I came, I saw and I think I conquered. Likely in large part due to these recipes from Cook's Illustrated which I found in my ever-reliable New Best Recipe Cookbook.

Grilled Shrimp Salad with Corn and Avocado

I wasn't actually expecting much from this salad. So I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be amazing. Obviously I wouldn't have made it if I didn't think it would be good, but honestly, I tried it out of guilt. I've made quite a few good meals this Summer but not a lot have featured vegetables. So before I ran out to buy groceries Saturday morning I went on to Epicurious looking for a good Summer salad. I found one.

Sunday Morning Breakfast Hash

This weekend featured so many of my favourite things. First, unplanned time. Nowhere to be and nothing to do (besides the usual weekend running around) which was wonderful after a hectic week. Second, a pile of fresh new books waiting to be read. (I just started Beautiful Ruins and I have The Prisoner of Heaven waiting patiently on my bedside table.) Third, lots of time in the kitchen. Spent churning out pancakes with Daniel, making banana cake with caramel sauce for Patrick and discovering the wonders of breakfast hash courtesy of some amazing chorizo sausage.