Author Archives: stacey

Lovely Pumpkin Ice Cream

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My gorgeous Pumpkin Ice Cream

2 eggs, beaten
1 C canned pumpkin puree (or pumpkin pie filling)
1 C packed brown sugar (if not using pie filling)
2 tsp pumpkin spices (if not using pie filling)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C evaporated milk
2 C heavy cream (at least 18%, 35% if you can score it)

In mixer, lightly beat eggs before adding pie filling or puree, sugar, spices, salt and milk. Mix thoroughly in mixer.

Transfer to sauce pan and heat to a gentle boil. Remove from heat and sit sauce pan in bowl filled with cold water or ice to cool down for ten minutes. Stir in heavy cream when mixture isn’t hot anymore. If you don’t wait, the cream will curdle.

Put cooled mixture in fridge to chill for at least an hour. When ready, set up ice cream maker and turn it on. Pour the mixture into the machine according to instructions and let it freeze from 20 to 40 minutes (depending upon how heavy the cream you use is).

Transfer the mix into a freezer safe container with lid and freeze at least a half hour before serving for softer serve ice cream all the way up to 2 hours to let it set and get that nice hard yet creamy texture shown in this photo.

Enjoy!

Pasta Carbonara

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Using the rule of five, you too can dive into a bowl of silky, luscious bacon pasta.

Pasta Carbonara:
5 oz Spaghetti
5 Bacon Strips
5 Egg Yolks
5 Cracks Black Pepper
.05 oz Parmesan Grate (the good stuff only)

As your water boils, pan fry the bacon and separate the yolks. Reserve the egg whites for something else, like adding a bit to oatmeal to up your protein intake, or use them to make some meringue cookies.

Add two teaspoons of salt to the boiling water and dump your pasta in. Immediately start to stir it around so it falls under the water line and it doesn’t stick together.

When the bacon is to your liking, remove to rest on paper towels for chopping when you can touch the strips without burning your fingerprints off. Keep stirring the spaghetti so it doesn’t clump up.

When the pasta is close to el dente, add a tablespoon or two to the yolks in a large bowl and whisk into the yolks quickly so the eggs don’t scramble. What you should have is a silky, shiny liquid egg custard. Add the cooked pasta in the bowl, top with the cheese, pepper, and bacon chops.

Toss it all together and add a bit more pasta water to loosen up the noodles as needed. As you twirl the spaghetti when you eat it, the strands should glide apart from each other because the sauce coats all of the noodles evenly and properly, not stick together like they were crazy glued together by all the cheese. Test it before you plate the noodles.

Serve with more cracks of fresh black pepper and a bit more parm on the side.

2-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies

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I really love a great cookie that isn’t too heavy or too sweet. Bonus points if it doesn’t take too much work in the process. I have started to gravitate towards recipes that don’t use butter, flour, leavening agents, or sugars. This is a cookie I baked last year for Secret Santa at work. I gave it to Lucia, a lovely older Italian lady at my workplace. She loved these! They were right up her alley, too. Give it a try if you’re struggling to find a nice Christmas gift for neighbours, bosses, or co-workers.

2-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies:
1 C Almond Flour/Meal, superfine powder consistency
2 1/2 tbsp Maple Syrup (the good stuff, not that table crap)

Add the syrup to the almond flour 1 tbsp at a time until the dough becomes clumpy but doesn’t form a ball. Adjustments: If it forms a ball, add a teaspoon more almond flour. If the dough isn’t clumping enough, add a teaspoon more syrup.

Roll the dough out between two sheets of wax paper to 1/8″ – 1/4″ thickness. Cut into shapes from here. Lay on parchment paper on sheet trays for baking.

Bake at 250 degrees for 25-30 minutes. The cookie tops should not feel soft when fully baked up.

Alt: I used Amaretto liquor in Lucia’s batch. I simply subbed out 1 tbsp of syrup for the booze. It was just a lovely little kiss for her, and it wasn’t overpowering. She could taste it easily without it being overpowering.

DIY Oat Milk

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If you ask me, oat milk is the way to go with cold blender drinks. (I’m not a fan of it in hot coffee or hot chocolate – yuck!) I use a little bit in all of my smoothies if I have it on hand.

So, if you want to learn how to make your own, have a spare five minutes, have a high-speed blender, or have some oats about to go off, why not make your own oat milk to save yourself a lot of money?

DIY Oat Milk:
1 C Old Fashion Oats (fully unprocessed or milled oat flakes)
4 C Cold Water
1/8 or less Salt (as a preservative)
Tight Meshed Strainer
Bowl (to strain into)
Container (to chill your milk in)

That’s it, that’s all.

TIP: If you blend longer than 20 seconds, the oats gum up the milk liquid, making it harder to strain it all out.

Blend the three ingredients for 20 seconds (tops!). Time it with your phone app if you need to. Pour into strainer over a bowl. Push the oat mush around to allow the liquid milk to strain into the bowl with a spoon. When the mush has released everything it’s going to release, dump it into your recycle bin. I’m sure someone has a use for that ball of mush so nothing goes to waste, but I don’t. *shrugs*

What’s left in the bowl is your oat milk. At this point, pour it into a lidded container vessel so you can keep it in the fridge up to one week (or a bit more). You will notice when you pull it out for use the water and oat liquid has separated. Don’t worry. Shake it up and use it would as you’d use any other milk.

Enjoy!

Build A Tomato Soup

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How to build a good tomato soup. It’s amazing that so many don’t know the basics of this iconic soup. I guess it’s because soup out of can is so readily available. But sometimes you have what you need in your fridge and pantry, and you have the time to make your own. In those times, this is your template. Go forth and fortify yourself.

Beef Stew

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It’s getting to be that time of the year again. Oh, you know which one I’m talking about. Yup, the stewing season. I love this season so much, and yet I didn’t make a single stew last year for whatever reason (I can’t recall why right now), but I’m into it this year. Yee-haw.

Let me know what you think of this if you try it, and if you made any noticable changes that improves it. I’m always look for new ways to make old favourites.

Easy Café Pumpkin Muffins

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I like making café muffins with big, fat dome tops. The secret to achieve this effect is a 3-prong attack:
1. Overfill the muffin tin wells. Trust me!
2. Resist, at all costs, the urge to drop the muffin pan on the counter to burp the batter because you are conditioned to stop filling 2/3rds of the way up. Trust me!
3. Bake the muffins at 425 degrees for the first 5-8 mins, and them drop the temp to 350 degrees for the next 22-25 mins. Trust me!

Bring them out when the tops are no longer soft and gooey to the touch. Let them cool for at least 30 mins before diving in, lest you burn your mouth off. Ask my husband why I put this disclaimer in. He will tell you allllll about the singed skin in his mouth. 🙂

Easy Café Pumpkin Muffins:
1/2 Bag of Oatmeal Muffin mix (of choice, measuring at least 450 grams)
1 Egg
2 tbsp Veg Oil
1 tbsp Maple Syrup (the good kind, not the table version)
1/3 C each: Water / Pumpkin Puree
1 tea Pumpkin Spices, heaping
Pepita Seeds

Mix the batter until all the ingredients are happy with each other. Using a 4oz disher (cookie or ice cream scoop with trigger), place two portions on top of each other per muffin tin well.

Top each muffin batter with a big pinch of pepita seeds in the middle of each top (fear not, the seeds will spread out as the muffin grows in size to distribute them nicely).

Bake at 425 for the first 8 minutes, and at 350 for the next 20-22 minutes. Yield: 6-7.