Pumpkin Bread Puddin'

So obviously there is a bit of a trend here with the pumpkin posts. I love me some canned pumpkin. It's true. Collin Murray loves the canned pumpkin too and so when I came across a recipe for pumpkin bread pudding, I figured, what the heck, it must be delicious.

Baking puddin'

The recipe was easy enough. Cut stale bread. Melt butter. Mix some things with a whisk. Combine. Bake. Easy, yes: tasty, uhh, sort of. It wasn't that it was bad. It's just that is was not fantastic. I would call it mediocre and not even Collin Murray could muster a greater compliment then that. Nevertheless, here is the recipe, enjoy?

Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk (any percentage will do)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 large eggs plus 1 extra yolk
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
5 cups cubed stale bread (I used Really old sourdough)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F. Place the butter in a 8x8 inch square baking dish and then toss it in the oven to melt while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients. Using a bread knife, cut the stale bread into 1-inch (or so, don't get out your ruler) pieces and place in a large bowl. Mix the cream, milk, sugar, pumpkin, eggs, salt, and spice together in a medium mixing bowl until smooth. Carefully remove the baking dish with the melted butter from the oven and pour the butter over the bread cubes, tossing gently to ensure they are all coated with a large spoon or tongs. Place the bread back into the baking dish and pour the pumpkin liquid over it. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the custard is set in the middle of the dish.

Ready to eat puddin'

Pumpkin Pie is All About Compromise

I always like to celebrate American Thanksgiving because well, I'm half American. I mean, I probably would celebrate it even if I wasn't American because I love Thanksgiving but I suppose my citizenship is just an easy excuse. The only problem with Thanksgiving in my opinion is that one is expected to make pie. I'm going to apologize in advance and say I really hate pie. I don't mind eating it but really, I sort of hate, despise, dare I say loathe, making pie. The problem is, Collin Murray loves pie. He could eat it morning, noon and night. Enter this recipe, my compromise, a graham cracker crust and a no-bake pumpkin cream cheese filling, topped with deliciously slightly sweetened whipped cream. 

I found this recipe on this delightful site called Joy the Baker and it was the perfect end to a delicious Thanksgiving meal. And though it may seem that one could only make this recipe for Thanksgiving, I think it would be the perfect end to any fall meal.

Yum.

Almost No-Bake Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream
adapted just a touch from Joy the Baker

For the Crust:
1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon molasses
2 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree

For the Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

To make the crust, in a medium bowl, combine graham crackers with sugar, salt and melted butter and using your hands, coat all the crumbs in the melted butter. Press the crust into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom -- you will have to be careful, it's quite crumbly. I like to use a measuring cup to evenly press the crust into the sides of the tart pan, it's easier then using your hands when a crust is crumbly). Bake at 400F for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely before adding the filling.

To make the filling, beat the softened cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar to the mixture and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin puree and beat until combined. Spoon the filling into the tart shell slowly because there will be more filling then there will be room for in the tart pan (at least there was for me). Let tart chill in the fridge overnight so that everything can get all happy and tasty.
To make the whipped cream, beat together the heavy cream and confectioner's sugar until soft peaks form. Spoon over the tart and enjoy!

I even enjoyed some for breakfast...

Operation Wedding Cake: Meet Mr. and Mrs. Penguin

I know, I know, I said I was done with the wedding cake stuff but I promise that this really is the last of it now. And no, thanks to my experience with making my wedding cake in New York, I will not be making my wedding cupcakes for our wedding reception -- not happening, just ask Collin Murray. However, I did manage to finish Mr. and Mrs. Penguin for the reception. They will be set atop a cake which will be set atop a tower of chocolate and red velvet cupcakes...I think they make a damn cute couple.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Penguin

Goodbye New York

This past week has been a big one for Collin Murray and I as we had to say goodbye to New York. In between packing up a household and shipping it to another country, carting cats on the plane, and being sad that we had to leave and say goodbye not just to a great city but also to the wonderful friends that we met while there, it was a tough week that leaves us asking, what's next?

Collin Murray is all set, he begins a new job tomorrow and is sure to be excellent at it -- I say this not just because he is my hubby but because he's good a being a chef-y and I hope he knows it. As for me, there are too many possibilities right now. The next couple weeks will be spent getting our apartment here in Canada in a suitable living condition (like, wouldn't it be nice to see the stove and to easily open the fridge door? -- so many boxes, so much stuff!), and preparing for our wedding reception, after that, when life is in order, I'm not sure what is in my future. Of course, I will definitely be writing on this blog because my faithful followers are so lovely, but I will also writing for a couple of other projects that I'm working on and will be telling y'all about quite soon... And I will also surely be baking and cooking up tasty savory things too so there will be lots of recipes and pictures and fun times in the kitchen to look forward to. Y'all will have to be patient as The Tiffany Blue Chef figures out its new identity now that it no longer takes place in 'the city that never sleeps': really, we all have to get used to life not lived in New York.

I don't really want this post to be a goodbye to New York because I know I will be back but the reality is that on Thursday, we did have to say goodbye to New York and the wonderful experiences that Collin Murray and I both had while we were there. We didn't love every minute of it, there were some pretty tough times, some times that were pretty low and the city really did try to break us both -- it's not always glamorous let me tell you. However, there were some amazing times too, and lucky for us, there were more of these times than there were low ones. Plus, we met people in New York that we will never forget and never lose touch with; good friends, true friends and friends that we are truly grateful for. On that note about gratitude, I think that I can speak for both Collin Murray and I when I say that we were truly grateful for the experience of getting to live in New York. To be able to go to school there, to work there, to experience the city for as long as we did, it was a true blessing, there is no other word for it.

Food Styling and Photography Class Round Up

So all weekend long I've been at a Food Styling and Photography class and I have to say that my head is rather full. Who knew? Seriously. I could go on and on and on about all the stuff that we learned (like did you know that usually when frosted cakes are photographed for magazines that they are filled with mashed potatoes and have icing piped in between the layers, over the potatoes -- nothing is real people!) but honestly, it would be way too tedious. However, the biggest take-aways for me from the class were to use a tri-pod, to learn how to use my manual settings, to use calibrate my white balance (...see it is too confusing to go into too much detail), and that using natural light makes food photography so much easier.

Here are a few of the other shots from the weekend (to see them better, try clicking the pictures to make them bigger -- it makes a difference in the look of the photo, ask Rod...).

Sunny Raspberries

Seckel Pear

Lovely Eggs

Food stylist trick -- wax to make round things stay upright!

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Market Cabbage

Seckel Pears

Bar Suzette -- The French Onion Remix

I've gushed about Bar Suzette, the crepe stall in Chelsea Market before, but my friends, it is time to gush again. Until October 23, there is food market of sorts set up in near Madison Square Park and Bar Suzette is there churning out the most delicious crepes I've ever tasted. Really, all I have are these four words: French Onion Soup CREPE. Yes. It's true and it's scrumptious and you should not miss out.

Bar Suzette's Stall at the EAT Food Square in Madison Park

The basic premise of the crepe is this, onions are caramelized and then reduced in a broth that contains mushroom and beef stock, among other things to be sure, for SIX whole hours. When Bar Suzette crafts the actual crepe, a savory crepe is topped with fontina cheese, the onion mixture a sprinkling of truffle salt and few leaves of fresh thyme. Since the crepe is left on the hot crepe griddle for a minute or so after being topped with the cheese, when you bite into it, the cheese is nice and melt-y and tastes just like that fantastic first bite of French Onion Soup -- it's amazing.


Crepe folded, cheesed and getting a healthy dose of onions



Finished crepe being folded -- crepe maker's hands are lightening fast!

 Since Bar Suzette makes its crepes to order, sometimes there can be a little wait to taste your delicious crepe but hey, what's a couple minutes when the end result is a delicious crepe?!

Melt-y cheese + onion-y deliciousness = yum, yum good.

Bar Suzette's original location in Chelsea Market is still pumping out the crepes as always but their temporary stall in the Madison Square EAT Market will only be up till October 23. Stop by, say hi, and have a crepe -- Collin Murray and I promise you won't be sorry!

A Class on Food Styling and Photography

So as if I didn't have enough going on in life, I'm taking a food styling and photography class this weekend and all I have to say so for is that I thought I knew about taking photos but really, I had no idea. At all. None.

We started the class going over how a camera works and then talking about the different settings that you "should" be manually adjusting. I had never heard about white balance and aperture and all that jazz -- I turned my camera on, set it to automatic and then macro and just started shooting. Not anymore though. One of the instructors (there are three, two pretty famous food photographers and one food stylist) took me through my camera and taught me how to work it and what I need to do to improve my photos -- which was awesome. Then, we broke up into groups and "styled" our own shots. Though the instructors had their cameras set up, all the other students had brought their cameras to class too and so we all got to shoot a lot of great stuff today.

Here are a couple of shots that I took and styled today:

My group, shooting with our own cameras

Artichoke detail

Fig, cheese, and grape plate

Baby Artichoke

Our slightly melting oyster plate

Oyster Detail (I styled that!)

Tomorrow we are meeting at the Greenmarket and going to buy product to shoot in the class and then they are going to lecture more about tricks to help you when food styling...like using Windex and saline solution...and learn how to use photo shop. Yee-Haw!