Hello, Autumn!

Farewell, summer: today is the Autumnal Equinox!

Summer may be the season all kids (and teachers) love, but as an adult I personally love Fall. Hell, even as a kid I loved fall!

Autumn is when the leaves change to shades of pure warmth.

Summer may be s’mores season, but Autumn is Mallomars season!

Some of my favorite holidays are in the Fall season: Rosh Hashannah/Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, and [topping the list…] Halloween!

Every Sunday (and sometimes Monday) in the Autumn season involves me yelling at the TV, with the assumption that my beloved Giants can hear my cheers.

Autumnal fashions of fingerless gloves, skinny jeans, and Toms Botas.

The best day of Autumn is November 1st, of course *ahem*mybirthday*ahem*

Fall treats truly are the best: pumpkin spice lattes, candy corn, caramel apples… oh my!

Or, if you’re up for the true Autumn experience, picking your own pumpkins and apples from your local farm!

Speaking of which, I came upon some local apples that are about the size of a softball. I had just one left earlier this week and decided to use it to make something for my coworkers.

I bake something to bring to work about once a month, at most. I used to do this more often, but I definitely spoiled them to the point that they’d get upset if I didn’t bring something in every Monday morning! I’ve got to pace myself…!

So, what to do with a huge apple? I like the nontraditional. I like blowing people’s minds (especially with food). I like trying new things… obviously… so I decided to bake something I’d never attempted before: whoopie pies.

I’d never heard of whoopie pies until I moved to Boston for college. Apparently New England claims they created whoopie pies first (though Pennsylvanians disagree), so many families, supermarkets, and bakeries have their own secret recipes for this awesome treat. The first one I had was traditional: marshmallow cream in between two chocolate cakes, made by my college friend’s older brother. Ahhhhmazing!

But, how do I go about making these with a humongous apple? When in doubt, ask Google. Using the cookies from this recipe and a modified version of the cream from this recipe, my problem was solved!

Apple-Cinnamon Whoopie Pies
Yields about 13 sandwich cookies + some leftover icing.

For the cookies:

• 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup grated apple, peeled first (one huge apple was enough!)

For the filling:

• 3/4 block of cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil

In a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, cream the softened butter and brown sugar. Add vanilla and egg. When combined, add all remaining ingredients except the apple. Once dough is thoroughly mixed, reduce speed, add the mixing attachment, and add apple. Cover dough and refrigerate for about 45-60 minutes. (I refrigerated mine for about 50 minutes.)

During your wait, make the frosting. In a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, combine cream cheese, coconut oil, and vanilla. When completely smooth, begin adding powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments. Add nutmeg and cinnamon, whisking until combined. Refrigerate until use.

When your dough is done in the fridge, preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Drop balls of dough onto your lined cookie sheet using a heaping teaspoon or a cookie scoop. Flatten each ball slightly using the back of a spoon, trying to keep each round about the same size.

Bake for 12-15 minutes (mine were done at 12 minutes exactly) or until golden around the edges. Keep cookies on the cookie sheet for at least 2 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

Once completely cooled (I recommend letting them cool in your refrigerator), put a heaping tablespoon of filling in between two sort-of-equally-sized cookies.

Needless to say, these disappeared in record time when I brought them to the office. Nobody knew what a whoopie pie was, so I had to actually draw an illustration explaining what each component was! Regardless, they were enjoyed by all and definitely a great way to welcome Autumn into our lives.

Yeah, I’m the best coworker ever. 🙂

WIAW #2

Breakfast was yet another soy pumpkin spice latte with some oatmeal made with water, lots of Saigon cinnamon, some stevia, and a dash of sea salt.

I had some dehydrated apples for a morning snack, but I ate them too quickly to photograph!

I went out to lunch with coworkers and got some tofu pad thai. Not authentic pad thai, but pretty good. I only ate half of the plate because it was so much food, but afterwards I had a scoop of ice cream (not pictured) so I was totally stuffed!

When I got home from work I had an apple. I was surprised that after my huge lunch I was hungry after all!

Well, I ended up making myself some awesome mashed cauliflower to go with leftover basmati rice, spinach, and sweet potatoes… but the photos I took of my dish got erased from my phone when it shut down on its own. Lame.

Well, this is WMBFA [what my boyfriend ate] for dinner:

No dessert because I was so full!

I swear I’ll get better at this WIAW stuff!

Learning to Run: Part Three

Here’s a quick re-cap before we begin part three: In Part One I was a blob who started (but never finished) the Couch to 5K running program to get my butt off the couch and, in the end, lost about 12 pounds in a matter of 2 months. I then moved to the Cincinnati area, which is where Part Two begins. After 3 months of laziness, beer-drinking, and socializing, I finally moved to California where the sunshine, lack of snow, and healthier feel of the state motivated me to get back on track (even if it did take 6 months to do so)! Unfortunately it’s time for me to move back to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area and bid farewell to the lovely, lovely state of California.

Plentiful Polenta

Earlier this week I did my first WIAW, which featured some nice, creamy polenta I had with garlic spinach for dinner that night.

Polenta is something that was completely unknown to me until about 3 years ago while I was living in California. I had purchased a log of polenta from Trader Joe’s one day after hearing rave reviews about the stuff online.

When I said it was a log, I wasn't kidding!

I would slice it into disks, sear it in a hot pan, and top it with sliced chicken, cheese, veggies… whatever I had on hand and was in the mood to eat. Though I definitely loved it, I never really considered making my own until I saw someone do so on a TV cooking show.

I learned a lot about polenta after seeing it being made from scratch on TV! First, it’s made from cornmeal – the stuff that corn bread is made from! Go figure! Secondly, it is not too different from grits (which I always thought I hated, but apparently if I like polenta, I like grits!) other than the texture of the meal and how it is presented. Thirdly, it can be served/prepared in two very distinct ways: soft/creamy or solid.

Soft polenta is similar to how grits are served in the south: hot and creamy. The basic polenta recipe I’ve gotten down to memory is so simple and, depending on your dietary needs, can be easily go from omnivorous to vegan with just a few easy substitutions!

Basic Creamy Polenta
Serves four.

• 1 cup of corn meal
• 4 cups of water
• a dash of salt
• 3 tablespoons butter (or vegan substitute, such as Earth Balance)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast)

Bring water to a boil. Add salt and slowly add polenta while whisking simultaneously. Lower heat to medium-low and whisk for about 3-5 minutes or until there are no clumps. Lower heat to low and leave covered for 20-30 minutes or until thickened. Uncover and add butter and nutritional yeast, whisking until combined. Serve while hot.

Add herbs or other spices of your own liking if you want to get creative!

On Wednesday I simply added some chopped fresh basil and a generous helping of Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning. (Seriously, buy this. Now!)

Because the above recipe makes 4 very large servings, and I’d only eaten about 3/4 of one serving on Wednesday, I had enough to try something new: making solid polenta, similar to the aforementioned TJ’s roll o’ polenta. It’s ridiculously easy to go from soft polenta to solid polenta; best of all, it requires no additional cooking or ingredients! *gasp!*

Four Steps from Soft Polenta to Solid Polenta
Again, serves four.

1. Make polenta following the Basic Polenta recipe above.
2. Pour polenta into a lightly greased or parchment paper lined 9×9 pan.
3. Put in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, but overnight is best.
4. Once completely chilled, the polenta is solid… and you’re done!

So, after I was done eating my soft polenta, I poured the rest into a 9×9 pan, following the steps above. When dinner time rolled around on Thursday, I simply sliced it into quarters and pan-seared two of the quarters in a lightly [sesame-]oiled pan until golden on each side.

Getting my polenta nice and crispy!

Note: I was impatient with the square on the right and tried flipping it after a mere 3 minutes of searing. Well, it wasn’t even close to being solid at that point, so it nearly ended up stuck to my wooden spatula. From my trial-and-error-and-error-again method, here are some tips.

• Use at least 1 tbsp of oil. Polenta is sticky and unforgiving.
• Don’t be scared to put your pan on medium-high heat. I had it on medium at first, and all that did was start to “melt” the polenta into the soft, near-liquid form it was on Wednesday. If you want to get a good sear, you need to use higher temps.
• Be patient. Wait at least 5 minutes (it took 7 for me) before your first attempt at flipping the polenta.
• Use the thinnest spatula you have. My wooden spatula basically jabbed at the sear on the bottom of one of the polenta squares, removing the cripsy portion and spilling soft polenta in globs all over my pan. When I switched to a thinner plastic spatula, it worked much better.

Nicely crisped polenta topped with vegan "cheez" sauce, black beans, and salsa.

Not bad for supper, eh?

I definitely need to work on my mad polenta skillz, yo, but I think my first attempt was a success in that it was edible for not one day, but two!

Learning to Run: Part Two

I left off at the point in my life when I was moving 1000 miles from my home state of New York to start my new job in the uncharted world that is Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati. I’d made a futile attempt to continue the Couch to 5K running program upon arriving in my new home-away-from-home… but that just didn’t happen.

What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW)

I follow a lot of awesome food blogs, health/wellness blogs, and other web sites and enjoy when they do “What I Ate Wednesday” posts. So, here’s my first!

On Wednesday 9/14/11 I enjoyed…

Starbucks soy pumpkin spice latte + “Two Moms in the Raw” blueberry granola bar (not pictured because I forgot!).

Lunch was cold soba noodles that I cooked last night and let marinate in the fridge all night and all morning in tamari soy sauce, minced garlic, and sesame oil. I topped it with some fresh basil.

Raw almonds for my afternoon snack, alongside a cup of coffee (not pictured because, again, I forgot!).

Creamy polenta with fresh basil (served with sautéed garlic spinach, not shown).

From-scratch vegan hot chocolate… check out this recipe I randomly thought of (because we are out of both dairy milk and non-dairy milk… whoops)!

Vegan Hot Chocolate
Serves two.

• 1-1/4 cups water
• 1/2 cup reduced fat coconut milk
• 1/4 cup raw or turbinado sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ounces semisweet chocolate (Ghirardelli semisweet bars are vegan)

Combine water, coconut milk, and vanilla in a small saucepan and heat on high until boiling. Add sugar and whisk until dissolved. Lower heat to medium-low and add chocolate, whisking until completely melted.

Pour in two mugs of your choosing, but beware: this stuff is molten hot and we needed to let ours cool for about 8 minutes before it was drinkable!

Bike + Dine

One of the most fabulous things I’ve done in my 2 years of Cincinnati/Northern KY living was the “Queen City Bike + Dine” back in June.

Now, I’m not a cyclist by any means, but I have a certain friend who is such an enthusiast that not only does he race, but he is the co-founder of a local bike team. It was a lazy Saturday when all I had planned was to do laundry and lounge on the sofa. It was too hot for me to go for a run (or so I told myself) so staying in my shady, yet AC-free, apartment was definitely on my agenda…

…until said friend IMed me on Google asking if I was going to the Bike + Dine. “I’m not a good rider,” I told him; however, he reminded me how his girlfriend (who is also a friend of mine) isn’t a very strong cyclist either. Well, there went my excuse!

The guy behind me in the teal race gear is my aforementioned friend.

Next thing I knew, I was on my bike heading to downtown Cincy to meet up with the gang.

You’ll notice how the event is called Bike + Dine — it’s that last part that was the goal I had throughout the ride. Knowing that I’d be stopping for free food four times throughout the multi-hour ride and that there would be alcohol at the end (!!) kept my motivation going.

And I needed that motivation! The hills… oh, the hills! Much like my running skills, my cycling suffers when going uphill is part of the route. But, there was food!

Burrito from Lime Taqueria in Covington, KY

Thai from Siam Orchid in Bellevue, KY

Indian from Dusmesh Indian in Cincinnati.

Cupcake and alcoholic beverage when we finished!

Yes, my ass was hurting and my quads and glutes were worn out. Yes, I was exhausted. Yes, it was still too hot to run (just as I thought!), as well as too hot to bike.

But I did it, and I (might) do it again sometime! Trying new things can hurt sometimes, but it’s totally worth it… especially with foodie rewards.