Author: Dragonfly Home Recipes (Page 8 of 32)

Pumpkin Spice Quick Bread

November 8, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 6 Comments

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” –Henry David Thoreau

There is something so beautiful, yet so humble about pumpkins. They are all unique in size and shape, and their deep orange color is energizing and appealing. They are inexpensive and at least around here, they are overflowingly plentiful. I drive by a big field full of ripe pumpkins almost every day. As the grass and trees fade to shades of browns and grays, the pumpkins glow bright orange in comparison. I know there are a lot of pumpkin recipes floating around right now, but it’s pumpkin season. So I am going to add this pumpkin bread recipe to the pumpkin conversation. What makes this recipe stand out to me is there is no oil or butter in it. The bread is incredibly moist, but the moistness comes from the applesauce and pumpkin puree. I am always on the lookout for appealing cookbooks to explore and new recipes to try. I checked out a really great book from our tiny but wonderful local library, called Beyond the Mediterranean Diet: European Secrets of the Super-Healthy by Layne Lieberman. This book was published in 2013 and is full of inspiring advice on living a high-quality lifestyle, and it has recipes to try as well (and pretty photos–I really like a book about food to have appealing photos). The recipe for pumpkin bread below comes from this book. I found this bread to be truly both enjoyable and healthy, with the pumpkin seeds on top being a fun addition. My sweet son and his good friend came home ravenous from school yesterday, and they pounced on this pumpkin bread immediately. They both gave it a thumbs-up, and decided it tasted like pumpkin pie without the crust. A pretty sweet way to sneak in a vegetable and a fruit.

Pumpkin Spice Quick Bread

Servings: 12
Time: about 20 minutes preparation, plus about 40 minutes baking time
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Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 ounces (1/2 cup) unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups pumpkin puree (canned or fresh–I used a 14 ounce can)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and spices. In a separate large bowl, whisk together applesauce, eggs, pumpkin puree and vanilla. Slowly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones; combine, but don’t over mix.

Lightly grease a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan (or a shallow 8-inch baking pan) with cooking spray. Pour the batter into the baking dish and sprinkle with optional pumpkin seeds if desired. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, checking for doneness. (Bread is done when the top begins to crack and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.) Let cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Inspiration and Louisa May Alcott’s Recipe for Apple Slump

November 3, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 10 Comments

In anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday, my mind has been filling up with visions of warm, wonderful homemade food shared with family and friends. For me, baking is a way to stretch across space and time and connect with people from the past and the present. One book that I like to pull out for inspiration around Thanksgiving time is An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by James Bernardin. I have been a fan of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women since I was an adolescent. That novel made a huge impact on me as a girl growing into a young woman and aspiring writer. When I became a mother and my children were young, my mother gave me the above-mentioned adaptation of Alcott’s An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving. It is a book geared for young children, full of scenic illustrations and a simple, heart-warming story of a New England family in the 1800s. I was so excited to read a book by one of my favorite authors to my children, and they have enjoyed it too. Along with the story there are descriptions of the food the family ate for their Thanksgiving meal. One of those dishes was apple slump. With a name like that, I was really curious what it would taste like. Luckily, at the back of the book, there is Louisa May Alcott’s recipe for apple slump, so my daughter and I made it a few years ago. I have been making it around Thanksgiving time ever since. The spiced, baked apples are topped with a slightly sweet, rich cake-like batter. The recipe suggests we serve it with whipped cream, and I also think vanilla ice cream is lovely with it. Today, I served it on its own, and my family ate it gladly for dessert. I personally like to eat any baked apple dish with thick slice of cheddar cheese. My grandma always said apple pie was best that way. I have posted Louisa May Alcott’s recipe for apple slump below, as it appeared in the book An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving. This is a delicious dessert, and a very fun baking project to do with children in conjunction with reading the book, if you are so inclined.

Louisa May Alcott's Apple Slump

Servings: 6
Time: about 15 minutes preparation, plus about 50 minutes for baking
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Ingredients:

4 to 6 tart apples (3 cups sliced)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg (well beaten)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pare, core, and slice the apples. Lightly grease the inside of a 1 1/2-quart baking dish (I used a 9 in. x 9 in. square baking dish) with butter. Put the sliced apples into the dish. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle the mixture over the apples and stir to mix. Bake apples uncovered until they are soft, about 20 minutes.

While the apples are baking, stir together into a bowl the flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and sugar. Mix into this the beaten egg, milk, and melted butter. Stir gently. Spread this mixture over the apples and continue baking until the top is brown and crusty (about 25 to 30 minutes). Serve with whipped cream. Enjoy!

Hearty Vegetable and Beef Soup after a Walk in the Woods

October 30, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 5 Comments

A few days ago, my husband and I took our dog for a walk in the woods near our house. It was a cloudy day, but the clouds allowed the vivid colors of the trees to shine. It was an enchanting walk through a grassy field and then into the deep, bright woods. I am posting this recipe for vegetable and beef soup because I think it is a perfect soup to have waiting when one returns from a walk in the chilly fall air. It would also taste good on a Halloween evening. The beauty of this soup is that you can put it together in a slow cooker in the morning, and it will be ready and waiting when you come in from whatever activities you have going on. Whatever glamour slow cookers lack, they make up for it in allowing us to go out and do luxurious things like tromping through the gorgeous woods when we would normally be scrambling to get a dinner together. I love my slow cooker. As I have mentioned before, if I am cooking with beef, I much prefer to use organic, grass-fed beef because it tastes better and is better for the planet. It is more expensive to do this, but as we don’t eat meat every day, it doesn’t break our budget. And the colorful vegetables make this soup a delight to eat after a long day.

Hearty Vegetable and Beef Soup

Servings: 6-8
Time: 20 minutes prep. time, about 8 hours cook time
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Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, diced
4 small red potatoes, diced
1 large clove of garlic, minced
14 ounces tomatoes, with their juices
3 cups water
3 teaspoons Better than Bouillon reduced sodium beef base, or the equivalent
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons of salt

Directions:

Wash and chop the vegetables, and mince the garlic. Brown the beef and onion in a skillet. Place the vegetables in a slow cooker. With a slotted spoon, spoon the beef and onion mixture into the slow cooker. Add the water, Better than Bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and salt. Stir gently to combine, and cook in a slow cooker on low heat for about 8 hours. If you are in a pinch, cook on high heat for about 4 hours. Adjust salt to taste. Serve with rustic bread and slices of cheese. Enjoy!