Butternut Squash Pizza

Last week, we went to this beautiful farm right outside of Yellow Springs, OH. I don't remember the name of this farm, but we did get some beautiful produce. We picked raspberries, got some jonathan apples, heirloom tomatoes and butternut squash.

I made a meal with the butternut squash the day we bought the squash, but had all this leftover squash and decided to make a pizza with it.

First, I made a pizza crust using Fleischmann's Pizza Crust Yeast. It's an easy recipe and has no wait to rise time, as it rises while it cooks. I highly suggest it for those who don't want to spend the day waiting for their pizza dough to be ready.

Half-way through the caramelizing process

Next, I caramelized a yellow onion. For those of you who don't cook a lot, or even those who do caramelizing onions is different from cooking them down, as I learned last night. It takes about 25-30 minutes of cooking the onions really well to really pull out all the sweetness from the onions. It's worth taking the time to do this because it was delicious.

I had already sauteed the butternut squash for the meal I'd made earlier in the week, so I just cubed what I had remaining.

It was then time to assemble the pizza, first I spread out the pizza dough onto a pizza stone and brushed it with some olive oil.

Then I put the butternut squash on the pizza.

Then came the caramelized onions.

Then I crumbled on the goat cheese. The final step was to put some salt, pepper and oregano  on the pizza for seasoning. I baked this at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

And this was the final product. It was super yummy. While this crust is delicious, I think these toppings are better for a flat bread pizza, so with the left over toppings, I'm going to try that tomorrow. Does anyone want to hear the results of that?

Enjoy!

Vanilla & Whipped Cream

Vanilla and whipped cream are two things that can be really pricey at the grocery, but are also super easy to make. I made vanilla for the first time recently and finally used it to make whipped cream yesterday. It was easily the best whipped cream I have ever made. I'm attributing it to the homemade vanilla and thought since it was so good, I would have to share with all of you.

Making Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup 100 proof vodka
vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Glass jar with Lid

You can make as much as you'd like, but keep the ratio 3/4 cup of vodka to one split vanilla bean. Place the split vanilla bean in the jar and pour the vodka over it. Be sure the entire vanilla bean is covered in vodka. You screw the lid on tight and let it sit for one month. That's it. It will turn a very nice caramel color. You remove the beans, strain the vanilla (if any of the seeds are sitting at the bottom) and have some great vanilla.

If you dry out the vanilla beans they can still be used to make vanilla sugar. I haven't done that yet, but know that it can be done.

This picture is about two hours after I put it up, it gets a much deeper color before it's ready.

Making Whipped Cream
1 cup whipping cream
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pour the whipping cream, sugar and vanilla into a bowl and mix together. Once everything is combined, place the bowl and what you're going to use to whisk it in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This is not necessary, but I find that it helps it become whipped cream a bit faster. After that 30 minutes (or immediately if you'd like) you need to whisk it, whether by hand, handheld beaters or a kitchen aid, until it forms soft peaks.

If you're like I was when I first made whipped cream, you'll wonder what does that mean. Imagine what any whipped cream or even cool whip has looked and felt like when you've put your finger in it to taste some. It forms a soft peak when you pull your finger out.

Also, I can't tell you how long to whip it because it depends on the speed you use and how much you're making. However, I can warn you not to whip it too long. If you pass the point it will start to get thicker, almost like an icing and if you go past that it will turn into butter. And not yummy butter, but sweet vanilla butter - which I can tell you from experience is not very good.

So, that's how to make vanilla & whipped cream. Two easy things that everyone is impressed by when they hear you've made it at home. Enjoy!

Apple Crisp

While at my aunt's house for Sunday night dinner, I noticed she had an apple tree with tons of small green apples on it. They are either crab apples or granny smith, but I'm not 100% sure. So I picked a few dozen apples and brought them home.  I knew I had to find something to do with these fresh apples, especially since I knew I'd go back for more.

The first thing to come to mind was this amazing apple crisp a friend had brought over for dessert not too long ago. It had oatmeal in it and she served it with vanilla ice cream, so I had to figure out how to repeat this. And after looking at dozens of apple crisp recipes, this is what I came up with.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup melted butter
4 - 5 cups chopped apples (peeled)
1/2 cup white sugar
2-3 tbs of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350F. In one bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, oatmeal and melted butter. In another bowl, mix together the chopped apples, white sugar and cinnamon. 

Layer half of the oatmeal mixture on the bottom of an 8" pan. Layer the apple mixture over that and finally, top with the remainder of the oatmeal mixture. Bake this for 45 minutes. The top should get golden brown.

It's a really simple recipe, but is really delicious. I suggest you serve this warm and with ice cream. Or do what I do and eat what's left over for breakfast. :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

I offered to make a dessert of my friend's choosing and she requested peanut butter, chocolate or strawberry. I decided two out of three was good and found a great recipe for a chocolate peanut butter cake.

I made a boxed chocolate cake, triple chocolate fudge. I found a great recipe for peanut butter cream cheese icing and a chocolate peanut butter ganache on the Smitten Kitchen from August of 2008. A friend of mine referred me to this blog and it has some mouth watering recipes, although these are the first ones I've tried.

The author doesn't encourage natural peanut butter because the oil separates from the peanut butter so much, however when you make it fresh, like I did today, that problem doesn't exist. Plus, I've fallen in love with home made peanut butter and don't think I could make myself buy some.



I did two 8" round cakes and decided to cut both cakes, which I usually don't do. I put a layer of peanut butter icing between the two layers of cake and then iced the entire thing.

Then, following the suggestion of Smitten Kitchen, I made the chocolate peanut butter ganache, which I love because it sounds so fancy. Then I poured it over the top of the iced cake.








The final product turned out super pretty and very yummy. We had our friends over to share it with us and I think they enjoyed it.