The pacific northwest in autumn is my favorite place to be. All the trees are changing colors, the heirloom apple varieties are in flush with every kind of golden freckle and ruby blush, and there’s hazelnuts aplenty. There’s little to complain about here—I guess you could mope about the rain, but honestly after the long hot summer we had, the rain feels like a breath of fresh air. Plus there’s nothing that makes you feel cozier than snuggling up inside with the sound of the rain drizzling against the window pane, with a warm apple pie on your kitchen counter.

This past year has gone by so quickly and I’ve been going nonstop for most of it, so I’m really enjoying the chance to turn inwards, nest, and hibernate that the cold weather months offer. It really is the time of year to reflect on what we’re doing, what we want, and to try to take care of ourselves and those closest to us. It’s time to go back to the comfort of routines and regularity, and the friendly warmth of the familiar. After all the trips and planes and train rides this year, I’m so relieved that I get to be grounded for a few months and stay home with my family and friends (and sleep in my very own bed). And since the weather is cold and wet, I don’t feel guilty about staying cozy inside all day, either.

When I was a kid, I was still short then as I am today, and so my pants were always a little long. Since it rains all autumn, the bottom half of my pant legs would always be soaked by the time I walked from the bus top to my house, because they always dragged on the ground a little. I’d change into a fresh pair of pants, hang the wet pair by the fireplace where my mom had made a roaring fire, and grab an apple to snack on. It was my little cold-weather routine, and when Jeremy started up the first fire in our fireplace this season yesterday, it reminded me of it.

With the comfort of home in mind, I decided to make what I think is the most comforting autumn sweet of them all, a simple apple pie. I wanted to use some of the delicious local Oregon hazelnuts in it, too, so I ground some up in the blender and incorporated them into the crust for an extra-nutty kick. Fresh local ingredients make for the best food, and this apple pie was no exception. The apple filling cooked into soft, spiced perfection, and the hazelnut crust turned golden, toasty, and aromatic, and together they made the perfect cozy marriage of my favorite parts of fall, and filled my house with the best possible smell. A wonderful welcome home, indeed. So here’s to routines (the old and the new), and the comfort of home. I hope you enjoy these months of nesting as much as I do, and that this pie helps you soak up some more flavor of the season!

I’m going to revisit one of my favorite cookie recipes today. Made using 100% whole wheat flour and hand-chopped chocolate chips, this is a skillet-baked twist on Kim Boyce’s celebrated chocolate chip cookies. It’s also a fantastic recipe to make with kids. We had a house guest this weekend, and this was the recipe he wanted to make. Instead of shaping individual cookies, you spread cookie dough across an oven-proof pan or skillet, and bake it. You can cut the finished cookies into wedges or squares, or whatever shape you like.

Variations

You can also bake individual versions in tiny skillets or these tiny cast-iron Staubs. Served warm with a little dollop of vanilla ice cream – you get the idea. They’re fun, fast, and couldn’t be simpler. You can see how it all comes together, and meet my favorite kitchen helper, in the video below 😉 Enjoy!

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Today is the most fall day of all fall days. The fall colors are at their peak here in Nashville, the air smells like wet leaves, it’s a little overcast and spooky looking, and it’s HALLOWEEN! So of course I had to go all in and make this Chipotle Pumpkin Pasta. This pasta is a little smoky, a little spicy, a little creamy, and lots of delicious. This easy tomato-free pasta sauce is a great way to shake up your pasta routine!

Chipotle Pumpkin Pasta

Make it a Meal

This recipe makes four small-ish servings, so I’d probably serve this with a big green side salad to make it a meal. If you need a little meat to make your meal feel complete, I think some browned Italian sausage or chorizo would be awesome in this pasta. You can brown the sausage in the skillet with the onion and garlic, then continue with the recipe as usual.

Step by Step Photos

Dice on yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Sauté both in a skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil, over medium heat, until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add 1/2 tsp chipotle powder and sauté for just a minute more…

Add one 15oz. can of pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling, which is sweated and spiced). 

Add 1.5 cups chicken broth, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir until everything is combined and the sauce is smooth. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let the sauce simmer for 15 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, cook 1/2 lb. pasta according to the package directions, then drain it in a colander.

Once the sauce has simmered down, turn the heat down to low, add 1/4 cup heavy cream, and stir to combine.

Add the cooked and drained pasta back to the sauce and stir to combine. Let the pasta heat in the sauce for 2-3 minutes.

Add 1/4 cup grated Parmesan…

Stir the Parmesan into the Chipotle Pumpkin Pasta, top with a little more cracked pepper, and serve!

The post Chipotle Pumpkin Pasta appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Happy Hump Day, you crazy baking fools. I hope you’re crushing this week, so much so that you’ve earned yourself a slice (or three) of this brown sugar apple bundt cake.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may know that last week I made a wedding cake. It wasn’t my first time preparing a wedding cake, but because this was the biggest one I’ve made to date I was also pretty nervous. Like any cautious amateur would do, I prepared the layers a week in advance, froze them in plastic wrap, and traveled with the unassembled cakes in a sub-zero temperature car to Atlanta where the wedding was being held. 

Some of you are probably thinking that this is not a big deal. Maybe you think that I do this all the time or that I’m a professional cake maker. Maybe you assume that tasks like this come naturally to me or are not even remotely intimidating. I’ll have you know, you are entirely wrong.

I am a giant, sugar-coated ball of anxiety when it comes to baking for weddings. I literally lose sleep over the details and what-ifs and tiny lists of ingredients and supplies that I need to remember to pack. What if the cake is dry? Collapses? Tastes like garbage? What if I drop the entire thing while placing it on the stand? What if someone finds a weird hair or a giant eggshell in it? What if, what if, what if?

I’m getting stressed just reliving it. This all goes to say that until further notice I’m sticking with one-bowl, single layer, easy peasy cakes like this brown sugar apple bundt cake. Aside from the risk of a stray hair or eggshell, there are very few things you could actually do to screw this up.

I was inspired to make this brown sugar apple bundt cake from flipping through some of Brett’s Nana’s old recipes. There were multiple recipes for old fashioned apple bundt cakes, and I knew this was the type of thing you guys would want coming out of your ovens around the holidays. In most of the older recipes I’ve seen, the bundt cake is baked and a warm, syrupy mixture is poured over the cake before removing it from the pan. This yields a super moist cake, but to be honest, it’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. To add extra flavor AND pizzazz, I went with a brown sugar glaze, thick, ultra-sweet, and with just a hint of bourbon because we love ourselves. This brown sugar apple bundt cake is faithful to its Southern roots and festive enough to add to any holiday table. Let’s chat the ins and outs on this treat.

We start by mixing the sugar with all of the wet ingredients. Oil and plenty of eggs keep this cake moist. The dry ingredients which includes cinnamon and apple pie spice get stirred in before finely diced apples and pecans are folded in. Spread the mixture into a bundt pan (I used this one!) and bake in the preheated oven. Be careful not to overbake it! I like to remove it from the oven when just a few large moist clumps remain on a cake tester or toothpick.Allow the cake to cool in the pan for a few minutes before cooling completely on a rack. When it’s room temperature, prepare the glaze and spoon it on top. I test out the glaze on the side of a drinking glass to make sure that it’s the right consistency before it goes on the cake. If it’s too thin it will drip completely off the cake and if it’s too thick it won’t be pourable. Find the consistency that works best for you and pour away.

This brown sugar apple bundt cake is a delightful little autumnal treat to prepare in the coming months. Give it a try and let me know what you think! I promise it’s easier than a wedding cake. 

If you like this brown sugar apple bundt cake you should try:

Maple Apple Cake

Pecan Apple Dutch Baby

Caramel Apple Pie

Apple Crumb Cake

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Carrot Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Glaze

 

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There is a special kale salad in the in the new Food52 Genius Recipes cookbook. A single kale salad that ran the gauntlet, beating out all others, for a slice of limelight in the book. Which is saying something. There is no shortage of kale salad inspiration out there, and I knew this one must be pretty special to make the cut.

The whole premise related to the genius recipe series is highlighting recipes that aren’t just great – they need to be more than that. They need to change, or surprise, or shift the way you think about a recipe – or cooking in general. Kristen Miglore selected 100 recipes for the book, and this was the kale salad – special it is! The details! It is from Northern Spy Food Co. Shredded kale is tossed with olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice, and accented with rough-cut almonds, roasted squash (or, this time of year, asparagus), strong chunks of good cheddar cheese, and whispy shavings of Pecorino. I made it with the last delicata squash in my arsenal, and a second time with roasted asparagus. It’s kale salad well punctuated. Meaning, there you are enjoying a fork full of lacinato kale, and along comes an exclamation of cheddar, or all-caps CRUNCH of almond. It’s really nice, and to my palette it’s the well-accented simplicity that makes this version stand out.

Technique

If you give it a go, I’ll encourage deliberate chopping and slicing. Thoughtful, intentional prep is one of the things that takes this salad from good to great. You want the kale stemmed, and sliced into ribbons not too thick, not too thin. Good cheddar is assertive, so you want crumbles that function as good accents on the fork – too big is overwhelming, but you also don’t want to go too small. The book has beautiful photography accompanying each recipe by James Ransom, and they are illustrative as well as enticing. Meaning, you’re able to see the intended result, and can take cues from not only the recipes, but the visuals as well.

You can prep this a day or two ahead of time. I might wait until you’re relatively close to eating to toss it with the lemon juice and olive oil, but aside from that it’s incredibly simple. And I recommend doing a double recipe while you’re at it. The leftovers were brilliant, wilted for a flash in a hot pan, and then tossed with fresh pasta for a quick one-pan dinner.

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