Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Just wrote a story on making a Thanksgiving feast, made up of tips from chefs, bakers, cooking school instructors, and food bloggers. There was so much great content that we couldn’t fit all of it into the piece, but I wanted to share this amazing Pumpkin Whoopie Pie recipe (and photo) from the famed vegan baker (and owner of Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats in Columbia Heights) Doron Petersan.

 

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

(Makes 12 large or 24 small whoopie pies)

 

Ingredients

• 3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 2 cups (14 ounces) brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups canned pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon egg replacer (recommended: Ener-G)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and allspice.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together brown sugar and oil with the paddle attachment until well combined.
5. Add pumpkin puree and mix until combined.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg replacer and water.
7. Add egg replacer and vanilla to the pumpkin mixture and mix until well combined.
8. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, about a cup at a time, and mix until fully incorporated.
9. Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.
10. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting

 

Ingredients

• ½ cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening (recommended: Earth Balance)
• 6 ounces non-hydrogenated vegan cream cheese (recommended: Go Veggie!), softened
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ tsp lemon zest

Directions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the shortening until smooth.
2. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined.
3. Add confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon oil and beat just until smooth.

Frosting can be made in advance. Cover and refrigerate, but let stand at room temperature to soften before using.

 

Directions to assemble the Whoopie Pies:

 

Transfer filling to a pastry bag. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of

filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies, pressing down

slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies.

Don’t waste it! Extra frosting can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 weeks

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The Best Nerdy Eyeglasses Ever

 

Thank you, Bonlook, for taking nerdy glasses to a whole new level – big enough to cover my entire field of peripheral vision and cheap enough to buy them without trying them on first (and great no-risk return policy that I did take full advantage of on a few occasions). Normally, I reserve my glasses for weeknight evenings after 8 PM and associate them with retinol eye treatments, fuzzy slippers, pinot noir and my couch. But these frames have made it into my accessory rotation for work and out at night. They go as perfectly with a suit or sequin skirt as they do with my pajamas.

 

In addition to being economically friendly and protecting my blind spots, these frames also make a great conversation piece. Some people (such as yours truly) see oversize frames as nerdy chic, but there are many that truly believe that large plastic glasses are just for grandpas and Halloween – those are the first ones to strike up a conversation to direct you to Lenscrafters.

 

Bonnie and Clyde glasses, $99 (for frames and prescription!!!!), Bonlook.com.

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Sausage and Lentil Soup

Turns out, I am a terrible wife. For example, I have used the vacuum exactly twice and have a stack of unopened mail from July topped with FedEx ‘signature required’ Post It notes that I keep forgetting to sign. Wes has been keeping us alive on takeout, but finally cracked and had an intervention with me that began with “Tostitos do not count as dinner (even though they do, obviously) and ended with me making a trip to the grocery store to make the most fool-proof recipe I have ever encountered (and it makes enough for at least three dinners-for-two).

One of Wes’s main contributions to my greater life happiness has been his steadfast stance on the value of chain restaurants – that “they have a great concept, otherwise they wouldn’t be a chain” and the whole people-vote-with-dollars argument. Anyway, he got me to Carrabba’s where I fell in love with this soup, scouted out the recipe, and have been stunning friends and family ever since with my ability to throw carrots into a pot and come out with this delicious feast. Below is my winter food staple, Carrabba’s Sausage and Lentil Soup.

Ingredients:

• An onion
• A zucchini
• Three large carrots
• A few stalks of celery
• A can of tomatoes
• Three cloves of garlic
• A tablespoon each of parsley, oregano, thyme and basil
• Salt and pepper
• A package of spicy Italian sausage
• 6 cups of chicken broth (I use water to keep it healthier)
• 2 cups of dry lentils
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Chop up all of the vegetables into bite size pieces, mince the garlic, and combine into a large stock pot with the lentils, spices, tomatoes, chicken broth or water, and add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, and then simmer until the lentils become tender.

Meanwhile, cut the sausages out of their skins (ew, I know) and break them apart into bite size pieces, then sauté until they are light brown. Add to the pot with the rest of the ingredients (and if you used water instead of broth, add the oil too).

Top with Parmesan cheese, and enjoy the compliments. Tastes even better the next day.

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The Nate Berkus Bar Cart Just Made My Week

You know how they say it’s impossible to get out Target without spending $100? I fell victim to the stereotype today when I meant to pick up contact solution on my way home from work and instead walked out with a perfect classic-yet-modern bar cart made of solid wood and gold metal (and conveniently $500 cheaper than the Crate and Barrel number I’ve been talking myself out of buying for months).

I’m not even really a fan of liquor but just love how it looks! Thank you Nate Berkus for the bar cart and providing endless hours of entertainment – and that’s not even counting using it for it’s intended purpose. Also thank you for giving a new use for the bulk bag of limes that I bought last week only to use… one lime. Now make that seven.

 

 

 

 

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Meet my living room

I was living among boxes, bubble wrap, and shoes for a few months. It looked like we had just moved in, but in reality it was just the bad habits of my inner procrastinator. The living room was the worst: we had my little cream loveseat from my D.C. studio, a little dresser holding the TV, and a too-small coffee table that was covered in magazines. The only thing holding the place together was my calfskin rug. There were tangles of cords in corners, piles of shoes, and end tables that just didn’t fit the space. Pictures and paintings were leaning against the walls, collecting dust.

So, I decided to motivate myself to get the place pretty and organized in the best way possible: by throwing a party. It’s still a work-in-progress, but after no less than five rounds of hanging disappointing drapes and rearranging couches, I am finally done with my formerly embarrassing living room and am the proud owner of a real, man-sized couch and feet-friendly coffee table. Below are pictures and sources.

 

Sources

• Sofa, Crate and Barrel Verano Sofa in oatmeal linen
• Coffee table, $20 Craigslist find
• Cream loveseat. Macy’s Home 
• Brass and glass end table, $60 Craigslist find
• Turquoise ceramic end table, Homegoods
• Captain’s chairs, from Wes’s parents
• Assorted letters, from Michaels and spraypainted
• Drapes that finally made the cut, Martha Stewart Living from Home Depot – the color is a perfect olive-gray
• Sisal rug, Homegoods
• Crate shelf with hooks, Homegoods

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