Once upon a time, I got a text from my friend Charlotte. She suggested that I occasionally write posts about cooking disasters. I liked the idea, but didn’t think about it too much, because how often do I really ruin something so bad it burns to death, explodes, or sets off the fire alarm? No all the often. But then I made this gingerbread house and my meaning of disaster shifted.

I decided I want to make a gingerbread house from scratch back in October. I thought to myself, “it’ll be fun,” and also “you’ve been baking for awhile now, you can totally do this, and it will totally look great.” So, my confidence was strong that I could make something delicious (it was) and decent looking (it wasn’t). I chose a Mary Berry recipe, because I love her on the Great British Bake Off and I trust her recipes. This recipe makes a lot of cookie dough since the house is fairly tall. My first roadblock was that I started mixing the dry ingredients and realized I didn’t have enough ginger. Stupid rookie mistake. But then I went to the store, I made sure I had everything else and I started baking.

Foolishly, I decided to make this after work one day. Because it totally makes sense that after a long day on my feet talking to children, I really want to make an elaborate gingerbread house. Anyway, the cookie dough mixed together well enough and I divided it as the recipe suggested. The first ball of dough rolled out nicely and I cut out some shapes from the house’s template. It was hard to get it up and onto the parchment paper, but I managed. However, the subsequent balls of dough had started to dry out. The dough was getting flaky and crumbling off as I rolled it out with my rolling pin. I was getting so frustrated I started using my hands to flatten the dough and stick pieces together. You can see that this method led to lumps and wrinkles in the finished cookies (which I think also led to structural integrity issues later).

Finally I had the pieces cut out and they were baking in the oven. While they were baking I smashed apart some hard candies which were going to go in the windows of the house. It was like 8:30pm and I’m making a serious racket and the candies are barely breaking up. Ryan is looking at me like, “what are you murdering over there?” So I stopped smashing and just used whatever small bits I had. I pulled the cookies out of the oven, sprinkled the candies in the openings, and baked it some more. When they came out, the cookies looked nicely browned and the stars and windows had a lovely stained glass appearance.

However, I made yet another mistake. In taking out the tray I got the thumb of my oven mitt in one of the cookies and made a noticeable divot. Sigh . I was disappointed, but at this point my hope wasn’t lost that this house could still look amazing. I decided to let the cookies cool and I’d assemble them the next day. I was feeling frustrated and I knew I wouldn’t have a beautiful house if I was decorating with rage.

The arrow points to my thumb print of shame.

The next day, I removed the cookies from parchment paper. Some pieces came off easily. But the ones with the candies seemed to have fused with the parchment paper and I couldn’t get them off without breaking the candy. So instead of beautiful stained glass, I had broken windows. My house was going to look like a Christmas village that had been abandoned in the woods. I started to pout. And then a bottom corner under the window broke off. Pouting turned to melt down.

“The house is ruined!” I shouted.

“No,” said Ryan, “It’s just the back, it’ll be fine.”

Always the voice of reason, I decided to listen to Ryan and trudge on. I made the frosting and it was thick and fluffy and tasty. I iced the cake board and then started to assemble the walls of the house. I was following the instructions to the letter and I was feeling like it was coming together. I had 3 walls up, and was about to put on the back wall when one side wall fell over. UGH! The wall fell into the frosting on the cake board and now the house looked like it had snow up to the windows. I propped that wall back up, and then the other side wall fell over. Well at least it would be symmetrically messed up.

I started yelling at my house, about how it was hideous and ruined and terrible and wasn’t going to look nice at all. Now that I had put my thumb in the cookie, broken a wall, broken the windows, and had icing all over 50% of the the house I gave up hope. This was not going to be a beautiful magazine worthy gingerbread house. Now all I could do was cover it in sweets. I decided not to use a piping bag to decorate (why bother!) and I just used a knife, my fingers and some candies.

I also chose to give up on waiting. “Hey Ryan, it says I should let it dry over night and then put on the roof. Should I just put on the roof now anyway?” I asked.

And, I think, sensing my frustrating at this project that had already taken me two evenings, he said “yeah put the roof on.”  It all ready looked like an abandoned shack and waiting over night wasn’t going to fix that. So I used chopsticks as support beams – and Ryan said “real houses have support beams,” – and I placed the roof on top.

It actually looked kind of nice (from some angles). It is clearly homemade. It is not beautiful and won’t win any awards. It won’t get re-pinned on Pinterest or get picked up on BuzzFeed. But, I actually still felt proud of myself. I had made a gingerbread house entirely from scratch. So I took pictures of the house, warts and all, so I could share it. I took all the pictures I wanted, I put my camera down, then sat on the couch.

I sat down, and the house collapsed. I couldn’t help but laugh, and laugh hysterically, like Tom Hanks in the Money Pit (minute 2:18). This was not an ideal attempt at a gingerbread house. Stil, disaster might be a bit harsh as the cookies did taste really good. And it was house shaped for about 5 minutes. But, I learned that I like to bake so it tastes good and makes people happy. I’m not a baker who can make things beautiful, and that’s ok. So next time you feel bad that what you made doesn’t look like the picture, think of my gingerbread house and know you’re in good company.

If you’re still feeling brave and want to make your own gingerbread house I used this recipe from Mary Berry. It has a template which is nice. For other recipes, I’m really impressed by this recipe from Cavoletto. This recipe is for tiny houses that can hang on the edge of your mug of cocoa! I like it because it’s showing off a bit, but I also think smaller pieces might be easy to cut out and work with. I also like this recipe from Oh Sweet Day. Her decorations are lovely, but simple, and feel like I could actually replicate it. Finally, this haunted gingerbread house from Curry and Comfort is amazing and should just be looked at for enjoyment purposes.

Final point, is that this was SUPER messy. I mean 10 spoon messy and my scale only goes to 5 spoons. It was maximum messiness both days. I had mountains of dough flakes on the floor. I had icing on my face and hair. It was overwhelming and sort of impressive how big the mess was.

And if you are making a gingerbread house this year I want to hear about it and see it. Post about it in the comment below or send me pictures of your creations at cookingismessy@gmail.com. Good luck and happy holiday baking!

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But England does not celebrate pumpkin everything like the U.S. I can’t find pumpkin spice in the grocery store so I make my own instead. A few weeks ago I had a craving for a pumpkin spice latte. Ryan and I decided to trek over to Starbucks to find out if it had arrived. Mind you, in the U.S. you’d never have to guess because every Starbucks window would be plastered with orange writing and pumpkin pictures. On the way to Starbucks we passed at least four proper coffee shops and a few other places that also sold coffee, but my heart was set on a PSL. We got there, and we were nervous, but they had it! It was advertised with only one small picture and a line item on the menu. How are the people of England supposed to know about pumpkin mania with such little advertising?

To get my true pumpkin fix, I hit the kitchen. I found this recipe for a pumpkin swiss roll on Pinterest and I was excited, but nervous to try it out. To make the beautiful swirl you have to bake then roll up a cake. Roll up a cake?! What if I break it? The key is, as soon as it comes out of the oven, you roll up the cake (without the filling) while it is hot. The cake won’t be so hot as to burn you, but I recommend using gloves or an oven mitt to make it easier. Then, wait for the cake to  be completely cool. It’s hard to be patient (and Ryan and I weren’t entirely patient), but if the cake is hot it will melt your filling and you don’t want that.

This cake is a great treat for any old day, but I also think it can be pretty enough to bring to a party or to your Thanksgiving feasts. The swirl of cream cheese looks just beautiful when cut. And you might not believe me, but this is actually easy to make. Any level of baker can make this recipe, I know it. Most importantly, this roll is incredible delicious. Ryan and I ate this whole roll in about two and a half days and have been talking about making another one ever since. As you can see, we still haven’t gotten our pumpkin fix yet.

I hope you enjoy the new recipe format below. I like this a lot because it looks more streamlined and easy to read. If you like to print recipes, you can finally do that. If you bring your computer into the kitchen, like I do, then you don’t have to scroll as much and won’t get dirty fingers on the keyboard. The only drawback is that I can’t post pictures alongside the steps, but for difficult or strange techniques I’ll still post those pictures above the recipe.

Now enough talk. Get your pumpkin on! Recipe by Sweet Anna’s.

Messy level: This is a three spoon recipe, but just barely. I’m giving it three spoons because you need two bowls for the cake, one for the frosting, and then you still have to sprinkle powdered sugar everywhere. Also, if you over fill the inside you’ll have a cream cheese burst (like I did) at the end of the cake.

Pumpkin Rolls with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling

 

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Ingredients

• for the cake:
• ¼ cup powdered sugar (for dusting the towel)
• ¾ cup flour
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ⅔ cup pumpkin purée
• for the filling:
• 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 tbsp butter, softened (if you don't let it soften you will have butter chunks in your filling)
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 375º/190º.
2. Line a 10x15" jelly roll pan with parchment paper. (a pan with edges all around, you have to have this pan) Then grease the parchment paper.
3. Somewhere on your counter, spread out a clean kitchen towel or piece of parchment paper, and sprinkle that with powdered sugar.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice & salt.
5. In a large bowl, beat eggs, vanilla & sugar until thick & creamy.
6. Add in the pumpkin and mix to combine.
7. Stir in the flour mixture.
8. Pour the batter onto the prepared pan. Spread the batter evenly.
9. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Stay on the side of slightly under cooked, if you over cook it then cake will be too dry and won't roll.
10. Immediately loosen the edges of the cake and turn it out onto the sugared towel/parchment. Peel off the parchment paper.
11. Roll up the cake & towel together fairly tightly, starting with a narrow end.
12. Cool completely on a wire rack.
13. Now start on the filling. In another medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter & vanilla until smooth.
14. Carefully unroll the cooled cake (removing the towel) and spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the cake, coming to about 1″ away from the edges. If you go all the way to the edge, you will have filling oozing out the end.
15. Carefully reroll the cake, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
16. Before serving cut a little slice off of each end so the roll has a smooth look. Then dust the top with powdered sugar.

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But I’m getting ahead of myself. Last week I flew back to London, back to our cute little flat, and back to Ryan. It was wonderful to be back. Done with the move and done with long distance. Now, on to be an expat. The only draw back of my arrival was that the airline lost my luggage for just over 24 hours. I was grumpy about it, but at least I eventually got it back.

On the Thursday after I got back, Ryan took the day off and we went to the zoo. After living in DC, I was a little spoiled on free zoos, but the London Zoo is totally worth the money. It was awesome. We saw so many animals and they weren’t just lounging around they were walking and doing stuff. Exciting, right? We saw a komodo dragon, a tiger, giant tortoises, and a okapi – which I didn’t even know existed and has a butt like a zebra.

Then on Friday, my parents and my brother Eric arrived in London. We took one of those double-decker bus tours and it was really fun seeing so much of the city and learning random facts. Then, Monday, less than week back in London, and we were off to Greece.

My family! L to R, Papa, Eric, Ryan, Mama

We are lucky enough to have this family vacation in Greece because my mom was invited by a colleague to his wedding in Crete. Incredible, I know! But before the wedding, and before  Crete, we spent a few days in Athens. I have been wanting to go to Athens for about seven years – since I studied abroad in Rome, and fell in love with Classical art, architecture, history, and mythology.

Athens was AMAZING. First, to blow your minds, our hotel had a view of the acropolis. When Ryan pointed it out I was in disbelief. It was there? I was finally seeing it?! Later we went to the hotel’s roof bar and the view was even more breath taking at night (although my pictures didn’t come out well).

Anyway, day 1 in Athens and the five us make the sweaty hot trip up to the acropolis. I can’t explain how amazing the experience was. I loved seeing things I learned about over ten years ago in an art history lecture hall at the University of Maryland. I loved walking among stone and sculptures that have witnessed history. It was incredible to look out over a vast and built up city with this ancient history in the middle of it. And the Parthenon – wow. I was in awe of it. In awe of the building, the history, the city. It was great to imagine what it was like when people actually came to worship Athena. I can’t say anymore, just look at these sweet pictures.

I also insisted on seeing every single thing at the National Archaeological Museum. I was really impressed by that museum. Some of you might be reading this thinking, “archaeological museum, snooze-fest.” But I loved it. I know this blog is my platform for talking about food  (and I’ll get there I promise) but my training is in museums so let me chat on that for sec. Pieces of pottery and faded carvings can be a snooze-fest, I’ll admit. But this museum put the pieces together with reconstructed pieces to give a full picture of what the object was. I liked seeing real pieces put together with a reconstruction to create a full vase. And for faded carvings, they had color reproductions next to the original. It helped provide context and let me imagine a little better. And there were awesome maps and info graphics to put these objects into a historical context. Ok, I’ll stop. I know I’m dorking out on museums.

Ryan and I also went to the Agora to check out some more ruins. In case you don’t want to Google Agora, it was a commercial center in Athens. It was a place where people went for religion, shopping, art, and what have you. It was amazing to walk around among foundations of buildings and temples. The Agora museum had more pottery pieces and sculptures – but it also had 6th-4th century cooking equipment. See, I told you I’d get back to food. It’s cool that some of these objects look so similar. Below are pictures of a cheese grater, grill, casserole, oven, and spit.

And while we’re talking about food, let’s just say I AM IN HEAVEN. First, I love Greek salads. Greek salad is what I eat when Ryan is away for dinner, and that’s because he doesn’t like olives or feta cheese. I have been indulging to the utmost.  Also we have had delicious lamb and beef, bread, olive oil, tomatoes. In the pictures below there is mousaka, something like a falafel, tzatziki, stuffed lamb, Greek salad, potatoes, and other things I don’t know the name of. This was all from Xenois Zeus, a restaurant in Athens with a great roof-top view dining room.  And while less widely lauded, I’ve also had tons of Fanta Lemon, which is my favorite soda of all time. I’m hoping to find a cookbook and maybe sneak in few Greek recipes in after vacation. I’ll write more about Crete when I’m back in London!

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I’ll be honest with you, I got this idea and name from Pinterest about 3 years ago and I’ve loved it ever since. It’s my favorite thing to make during the holidays. This time of year, I want to give presents and contribute to parties but it can get really time consuming and expensive. I love this recipe because it’s quick, inexpensive, and always a crowd-pleaser. In grad school I used to make huge batches of these for my doormen and after the holidays they were always asking for more. The recipe is also great for parties because they are crunchy-sweet-salty bite that you just pop in your mouth. It’s easy to make and eat a ton.

I also love this recipe because there is so much room for variety. You need three ingredients: pretzels, Hershey’s kisses, and m&m’s. But, you can use whatever kiss you like as long as there isn’t something solid in the middle. I’ve only used dark or milk chocolate kisses, but I think you could use hugs, or even the caramel kisses. And the best place for variety is the m&m. I’ve used regular, dark chocolate, coconut, and mint (which is what I used this time). You could also forgo the m&m and use a nut or a candy corn. So simple, yet so many options.

As for choosing pretzels, a circle shapes look the best and gives you the “nose” part of reindeer nose. However, I have only found circle pretzels once. If you find them, that’s awesome. If not, don’t worry this shape is  just not worth the quest. The second best option is the square pretzels, which you’ll see here. And of course, if you can’t find anything else, use the mini regular shaped pretzels. In the end, it’s mostly about taste and less about looks.

Anyway, as you prepare for all your parties and and presents, definitely consider this recipe. Or just make it as a snack for yourself. It’s that yummy and quick.

Ingredients

1 lb bag of pretzels (you won’t use all of it)

1 12 oz bag of Hershey kisses (or get the bigger family bag if you want more)

1 10 oz bag of m&m’s (you want the large bag, not the regular or king size snack bags)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to the lowest setting. On my oven that’s 200°.

2. Dump a bunch of pretzels on a large cookie sheet. Arrange them all so they are in a single layer.

3. Unwrap as many Hershey’s kisses as you have pretzels on your cookie sheet. Look at your huge pile of candy wraps and feel a little guilty about packaging waste.

4. Place the Hershey kisses on top of the pretzels.

5. Place the cookie sheet in the oven for 4-6 minutes. The chocolate should glisten when you take it out.

6. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, press the m&m on top of the chocolate. The chocolate is perfectly melted if the m&m meets no resistance and gets nestled in a bed of chocolate. The Hershey kisses needs to be melted more if the m&m can’t press all the way down and your chocolate looks kind of wonky. Look at the picture below. The one on the left (green) isn’t melted enough and the one on the right (white) is perfectly done.

7. Cool in the fridge until the chocolate is hardened. It’s about 30 minutes. You can also eat them while they are a little gooey and warm.

8. Serve and snack!

Messy level: Just one spoon! The only mess I ever make is if I accidentally stick my finger in a melted kiss. The other mess which always makes me feel guilty is the Hershey kiss wrappers. It just looks like a big mess all piled up on the counter.

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Eric, Abraham, and me circa 2010

It’s the holiday season, and that often means cookies out the wazoo. Growing up, one of my favorite things about preparing for the holidays was making cookies with my brother, Eric, and my cousin, Abraham. As we got older, I often had to bully them away from their video games to come decorate cookies with me, but once we were there, we always had a blast together.

For us, and I suspect for most people, gingerbread and sugar cookies are holiday staples. So, this recipe is a new take on two cookies you might already be making. If you already have go-to cookie recipes then all you’ll need is a set of nesting cookie cutters. I have circle cutters, but I’ve seen snowflake ones too, which would be really cute. Basically, you make the dough for both cookies then use the cutters to alternate layers and you’ll get an awesome bullseye look. As another option, you could just make sugar cookie dough and then divide it in thirds. Dye one-third red, one-third green, and leave one third plain. You can then make the same bullseye using Christmas colors. Go crazy.

The other reason I like this recipe a lot is because it looks like art (to me, maybe not to you). I’m a fan of the blog Modern Art Desserts, which is basically about a kitchen in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the desserts they make that either look like or are inspired by the art in the museum. They’re stuff is really awesome, and now I can be awesome too because my cookies are art-inspired. Anyway as I was arranging my finished cookies it hit me that these cookies reminded me of a Wassily Kandinsky painting called Squares with Concentric Circles. What do you think? If you dyed the sugar cookie dough, these cookies could totally look like this art.

So there you have it, not only are these cookies holiday staples, they are also inspired by high-art. The people who you share these cookies with will be impressed… maybe.

Anyway, for real these cookies are worth the effort. The balance of butter-sugar and ginger spice is perfect. It’s literally two cookies in one. What’s better than that? Anyway, enjoy the holiday season. With this recipe, I know you’ll be ready to own that office-cookie-swap or holiday-bake-off.

The sugar cookie recipe I’ve already shared over the summer, but I’ll write again below. The sugar cookie recipe, gingerbread recipe, and bullseye idea are all adapted from my favorite cookie book, The Art of the Cookie. You’ll make about 2 dozen cookies. 

Ingredients:

Nesting cookie cutters

Sugar Cookies-

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp milk

Gingerbread Cookies-

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground all spice

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg

2 tsbp molasses

1 tbsp ground fresh ginger

Directions for Sugar Cookies

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a large bowl mix together the sugar and butter, using an electric mixer.  Beat for 2-3 minutes, until it’s light and fluffy.

3. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat on low until completely mixed.

4. Still on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture. Beat until mostly mixed in.

5. Add the milk and mix until totally incorporated.

6. Scrape down the bowl, press the dough into a rough ball. Then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Put in the fridge for one hour, or as long as over night.

Directions for Gingerbread Cookies

1. In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, and all spice.

2. In a large bowl mix together the sugar and butter, using an electric mixer.  Beat for 2-3 minutes, until it’s light and fluffy.

3. Add the egg, molasses, and fresh ginger and continue to beat on low speed.

4. Still on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture. Beat until mixed.

5. Scrape down the bowl, press the dough into a rough ball. Then wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Put in the fridge for one hour, or as long as over night.

Directions for Cookie Assembly

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Flour your work surface and rolling pin.

3. Roll out a portion of the sugar cookie dough, and a portion of the gingerbread dough, until each is about 1/4 inch thick.

4. Using your largest cookie cutter, cut out a circle from one dough. (In the picture, gingerbread)

5. Using your second largest cookie cutter, cut out a circle from the second dough. Using the same cutter, cut out a hole from your first circle. Fit the second circle inside the first circle. (So here, put the sugar cookie circle, inside the hollowed out gingerbread circle)

6. Continue cutting out concentric circles. I used a straw for the smallest whole.

7. Bake on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 12-15 minutes. You want the cookies to be a little bit browner.

8. Serve and impress everyone who takes a bite!

Messy Level- This is definitely worthy of three spoons. You have to make two doughs, and so you use a lot of bowls and measuring spoons. Also, you have to use many cookie cutters and cookie sheets. It takes a lot of detail work and flour (as usual) gets everywhere.

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But I thought about it and said, why not?! Let’s lean into the holiday season of hearty foods, decadent meals, and rich desserts. Now, don’t get crazy and give up your exercise routine, but let’s wait until January 2nd to worry about our meals. So here’s a great meal that will make you feel cozy on a cold day, that’s great to serve to holiday house guests, and will provide you with workday lunches you’ll eagerly gobble up.

The way I make this recipe, I make the sauce using Marcella Hazan’s recipe, which I first mentioned in my pici post. If you do the whole recipe the way I do, it should take you about an hour. If you’re going to use jar sauce, I think this should take you about 30 minutes.

Now, I know most of the time a recipe like this is called baked ziti. I’m calling it baked rigatoni because it’s my favorite noodle to use. Rigatoni’s large and textured shape makes it perfect for sticking to cheese, sauce, and meat. In my opinion, rigatoni allows you to have the perfect bite. But, if you’re interested in other pasta, I’ve used penne and ziti before and I also think you could use macaroni or fusilli.

Last but not least, I don’t usually measure when I make this. I like a lot of cheese and sauce. Feel free to find your perfect balance of ingredients. I hope you enjoy and can find space in your belly for this great meal.

Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce recipe and the Amateur Gourmet’s baked ziti recipe.

Baked Rigatoni

 

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Ingredients

Tomato Sauce

• 1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion

Meat

• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• salt
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb ground beef
• ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
• ½ tsp smoked paprika (optional)
• salt

Everything Else

• 1 lb box of rigatoni
• 8-10 oz ricotta cheese (so a bit more than 1 cup)
• 8 oz ball of mozzarella (or larger!)
• ¼ cup grated parmesan

Instructions

1. We're starting with the tomato sauce. Put the can of tomatoes in a medium sauce pan. Take a knife and roughly cut up the tomatoes in halves or quarters. This isn't the serious, it just helps everything break down.
2. Cut (and peel) the onion. Cut the onion in half from end to end, not across the equator. Put the onion halves and butter in the tomato sauce.
3. Heat the sauce on medium high until it's simmering. Then turn the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes. Set your kitchen timer! Over the 45 minutes, stir occasionally and use your spoon to smash and cut up the tomatoes.
4. Preheat your oven to 450°.
5. When the timer says 25 minutes left, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet on medium-high heat. Add the minced onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is soft but not yet brown (about 7 minutes).
6. Once the onions and garlic are ready, add the ground beef. Add the crushed red pepper, salt and paprika, if using. Cook until brown. Break up with your spoon as you cook it.
7. When the meat is finished pour out any excess fat and grease from the pan. Then set the meat side, it will wait until everything else is ready.
8. When the timer says 15 minutes left, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
9. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta. Cook until it is al dente (about 6-8 minutes). This means, when it still has a chew to it. Cook it about 2 minutes less than you usually would, when it's just on the cusp of being ready but is still a bit tough. The pasta will cook more in the oven.
10. Drain the pasta using a colander.
11. The sauce should be done by now. Remove the onion and throw it away. Add the cooked ground beef and the pasta to the pot of sauce. Mix it thoroughly.
12. Add the ricotta to the pot. Mix a little, but try to leave some chunks of ricotta showing.
13. Pour half of the pasta-beef-sauce mix into a 9"x13" pan. On top of that half, add half of the Parmesan and half of the mozzarella.
14. Pour the other half of the pasta mix and then top that with the rest of the cheese.
15. Cook in the oven for 15. The sauce will be bubbling and the cheese will be a bit brown.

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Messy Level  I’m giving this three spoons only because the pasta, meat, and sauce, and final product are all cooked in different pans, so that means there’s a lot of dishes. Also, pouring the rigatoni mix can be a little hard and sauce can splatter. I don’t really find this that messy, but my dishwasher might disagree.

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[Note: some photos and recipe formatting updated in October 2016]

This apple pie is my favorite dish during the holidays. I will eat this pie for dessert, breakfast the next day, and then again for lunch if there’s any left. I want to make sure I get as much of it as possible so that when the slices run out, I have no regrets. I am jealously possessive of this pie in a way that goes against the holiday spirit.

When I was a kid, my mom would make an apple pie for me and a pumpkin pie for my brother. Dessert time would come around and she would ask, “what do you want?” Sometimes, Eric said apple and I would boil with rage. That was my pie and he was doing this on purpose to infuriate me because he knew I wasn’t going to eat his pumpkin pie. I have no evidence to prove this is true, but it’s how I felt at the time.

I love this pie so much, that in college my mom would make one pie for the holiday meal and one pie for me to take back to my dorm.

Last year, we hosted Thanksgiving for Ryan’s family and I just had to make this pie. It would not be Thanksgiving otherwise. I had helped my mom make this pie before, but usually I just mixed the apples and sugar. Then, I’d eat the apple slices until she told me to stop. Last year was my first year doing it by myself. So the week before, my mom helped me make the crust. The day before, Ryan and I had an apple coring-peeling, slicing sweatshop where we produced a giant mountain of apple slices. All was going well…until it wasn’t.

2012 Thanksgiving pie that I burnt (this is before I tried to fix it)

I made the rookie mistake of not checking on the pie. When I finally took it out of the oven, the crust was a little bit burnt. I was hysterical and inconsolable.

“I’ve ruined dessert!” I cried to Ryan.

No he assured me, I hadn’t. The pie would still be good (and it was). And even if it wasn’t, Ryan’s mom brought a pumpkin pie and I had made cupcakes, so there was still plenty for dessert. But even so, I was disappointed that I’d burnt my pie. So I called my mom to whine some more.

“Mom! I’ve ruined dessert!” I moaned, while Ryan stood nearby shaking his head.

She was sympathetic and then came up with the brilliant idea of scraping off the burnt part, adding new crumbs, and then when I reheated it the new crumbs would cook to the perfect brown. I wasn’t able to remove all of the dark spots, but her scrape and re-apply method really worked out (so keep that in mind if yours gets too dark).

My mom’s well loved, ripped, and beat-up cookbook

Anyway, Thanksgiving arrived and the pie was devoured. I felt pleased with myself not only for making the pie, but being adult enough to share it with others.

This year, I’ll be eating my mom’s pie. But I made my own a few days early so I could be sure get enough (and so not have to share too much).

This recipe is adapted from my mom’s recipe, which is adapted from the oldest and most beat-up Betty Crocker cookbook. That book is so old, I have no recollection of the cover ever being attached to it.

[Update: Hi all! I’ve added the easier to read and print format of the recipe below. Keep scrolling if you want to see the original writing with step by step photos.]

Apple Pie with a Crumb Top

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Author: Cooking is Messy

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients

Pie crust

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup+ 1 tablespoon shortening (or butter, or ⅓ cup lard)
• cup of cold water (you won’t need it all)

Apple filling

• 8 medium sized apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (Gala or McIntosh are recommended)
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Crumb topping

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 stick cold butter

Instructions

1. Put a small cup of water in the freezer.
2. Start with the pie crust! In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt.
3. Cut the shortening into the flour until you have what looks like pieces the size of small peas. To do this, use 2 butter knives and cut through using an "x" motion or use a dough blender.
4. Take the water out of the freezer. Add 1 tablespoon to the flour. Mix it into the flour with a fork. Keep adding 1 tablespoon and mixing with a fork until a dough forms and it isn’t sticking to the side of the bowl. For me this can sometimes be up to 5 tablespoons.
5. Gather the dough into a ball and put it on a well-floured counter. Roll out the dough until it’s about 2″ larger than the size of a 9" pie plate.
6. To get the crust in the pan, I find it easiest to fold the dough into quarters and place it into your pie plate. Gently unfold the crust and press it into place on the pie pan.
7. Gently pull off dough that is overhanging the edge of the pie pan. If you’re feeling fancy, roll the excess crust into snakes, put it on the crust on the rim of the pie plate, and them crimp it to make a pretty edge.
8. Put the crust in the fridge while you work on your filling.
9. Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C.
10. If you haven't already peel, core, and cut your apples into thin half-moon sized slices.
11. In a large bowl mix the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Pour the cut apples into this mix and stir it all together. Snack on a few apples, it's worth it.
12. Take the pie crust out of the fridge, put in the apple filling that you just made.
13. Now for the crumb topping! In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup of flour and ½ cup of brown sugar. Cut in 1 stick of cold butter (just like you did earlier with the shortening). You should have some big peas and some little pea sizes. Sprinkle this generously over the top of your pie filling.
14. Put the pie plate on a cookie sheet. This is important for two reasons. 1. It makes it easier to take in and out of the oven. And 2, it will catch any juices that drip out of the pie and so your oven won't fill with burning sugar smoke.
15. Put the pie in the oven for about 30-35 minutes.
16. Cover the pie with tin foil. This is to keep the exterior color golden brown while the interior continues to bake.
17. Cook for 15-20 more minutes (so a total of 45-50 minutes). The pie is done when you can easily stick a knife through the pie and it meets little resistance from the apples.
18. Let cool then serve!

3.5.3208

Pie Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup+ 1 tbsp shortening (or butter, or 1/3 cup lard)

cup of cold water (you won’t need it all)

Filling:

8 medium sized apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (I used a mix of Gala, Fuji and Cameo)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

Crumb topping:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 stick cold butter

Directions:

1. Put a small cup of water in the freezer.

2. We’re making the pie crust first. In a large bowl, mix the 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp salt.

3. Cut the shortening into the flour until you have what looks like pieces the size of small peas. (Cut the shortening/lard/butter using 2 butter knives or with a dough blender)

4. Take the water out of the freezer. Add 1 tbsp to the flour. Mix it into the flour with a fork. Keep adding 1 tbsp and mixing with a fork until a dough forms and it isn’t sticking to the side of the bowl. For me this was almost 5 tbsp, but the recipe book says it should be 2-3 tbsp.

5. Gather the dough into a ball and put it on a well-floured counter. Roll out the dough until it’s about 2″ larger than the size of your pie plate.

6. To get the crust in the pan, I find it easiest to fold the dough into quarters and place it into your pie plate. Gently unfold the crust and press it into place on the pie pan.

7. Gently pull off dough that is overhanging the edge of the pie pan. If you’re feeling fancy, roll the excess crust into snakes, put it on the crust on the rim of the pie plate, and them crimp it to make a pretty edge. I used a spoon and pinched a little point to make it look pretty.

8. Put the crust in the fridge while you work on your filling. Now preheat the oven to 425°.

9. Peel, core, and cut your apples. This year instead of an apple-prep sweat shop, I used what I call an “apple crank.” It does all three jobs in one, all you have to do is turn the handle and it pushes the apple through the corer, peeler, and slicer. I think it’s awesome, and I felt like it made good slices. After cranking, I cut the apple in half so I had half-moon slices. This is a divergence from my mom, who likes her slices even thinner, so she cuts the apples by hand.

10. In a large bowl mix the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix that with your cut apples. Mix until everything is coated. This is MY FAVORITE PART. I love eating the apple slices, so be sure to save yourself a few to snack on.

11. Take the pie crust out of the fridge, put in the apple filling that you just made.

12. Now for the crumb topping! In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Cut in 1 stick of cold butter. You should have some big peas and some little pea sizes. Sprinkle this generously over the top of your pie filling.

13. Put the pie plate on a cookie sheet. It makes it easier to take in and out of the oven. Then, put the pie in the oven for about 30-35 minutes. If at this point it is your desired golden brown, put a tin foil cover gently over your pie.

14. Cook for 15-20 more minutes (so a total of 45-50 minutes). The pie is done when you can easily stick a knife through the pie and it meets little resistance from the apples.

15. Serve with vanilla ice cream!

Messy level: This is pretty messy because there are so many steps. The crust can stick to the counter and tear which can be mess number one. I feel like the apple-crank really keeps the mess down when making the filling because it makes preparing the apples most efficient. Still, the sink was filled with ribbons of apple peel. And finally, a crumb top is just asking for me to drop things everywhere. However, it’s worth it. It makes the kitchen smell and feel festive.

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Rice crispy treats seemed like the perfect treat to make. They are ooey-gooey, pure sugar, and remind me of being in elementary school. But, I wanted to step them up a notch and include candy corn. I’m not a huge fan of candy corn; I want to eat about twelve pieces and then I’m done with it. Other people must feel the same because I had to go to two different CVS locations to find candy corn. When I finally did find it, I was directed to a tiny bag in the regular candy section, not with the Halloween section.

Candy corn might be waning in popularity, but it’s still a Halloween staple for me. I knew they’d add a nice color and different crunch to my rice crispy treats. With marshmallow, butter, and candy corn, there’s no better quick and yummy Halloween treat. So now I’m sugared up and ready! Happy Halloween!!

Adapted from the Rice Krispies website

Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter

1 10oz bag of regular or mini marshmallows

6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup of candy corns

2 tsp Halloween sprinkles

Recommended: A silicone spoon or spatula. It will get coated with butter and so nothing sticks to it. 

Directions

1. Using a large pot, met the butter on low heat.

2. Add the marshmallows. Stir occasionally until melted. This takes less than 10 minutes (though I didn’t time exactly).

3. Remove from heat. Add the cereal and candy corn and stir. Do this on a flat surface because the cereal will try to shoot out! Stir until everything is coated in a web of marshmallow.

4. Press the mixture into a 9×13 pan. Press it in using your silicone spoon.

5. Sprinkle the sprinkles on top of the mixture. Press them down using your spoon.

6. Let sit until cool, then cut and serve.

Messy: Seriously a one pot dish. Ordinarily, melted marshmallow gets all over everything – but it doesn’t! It’s so coated with butter and cereal that the pot was almost spotless. I had NOTHING on my spoon, shirt, hands, or hair. It was awesome. I think this is one of the easiest and cleanest desserts  you could make.

The post Halloween Themed Rice Crispy Treats appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

However, since grilling is such a big part of this holiday I wanted to share with you some hilarious pictures my mom sent me. As you might know, I have a great love for pig-themed kitchen gear. Last week, she and my brother were shopping and found this pig shaped grill. Yes, that’s right, it’s a pig shaped grill. I like the picture on the right, where you can see my brother looking “under the hood” as if maybe he’d really consider buying such a grill.

Anyway, regardless of what kind of grill you have, or where you cook your food, I wish you and yours a very happy Independence Day.

The post Happy 4th of July! appeared first on Cooking is Messy.