Pumpkin Pie Adventures

This weekend the Oafs baked pumpkin pie!  We slaved over the pumpkin, scooping and mashing the pulp.  It was quite the experience, but we are hard workers and managed to get through it with our superior cooking skills.  Oaf #2's family ate the pie for Thanksgiving, due to the fact that Oaf #1 already had an assortment of pies for their Turkey Day meal!  It was delicious and the Oafs were very proud.  If you are looking for a great recipe for your next pumpkin pie, stay tuned!  We used a recipe from the back of Libby's canned pumpkin (BUT WE DID NOT USE THE CONTENTS OF THE CAN.  We didn't.)  We tweaked the recipe a bit based off of family recipes, and the final product
turned out wonderfully.

Filling:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 large eggs
• The pulp from 1 big pumpkin (See pic of our pumpkin)
• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
• Crust:
• 1 3/4 sticks of butter
• Pinch of salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour 
• 5-6 tsp ice water 

Procedure:
Crust: 
1. Cut unsalted butter into cubes
2. Mash butter and flour together leaving chunks of butter 
3. Add ice water tsp by tsp mashing after each
4. Once it is able to make a crumby ball put onto the counter and gather stray bits
5. One in dough form separate into two balls, wrap in wax paper and chill for an hour.
6. Roll dough 

Filling:

1. Mix all ingredients together
The oafs live wildly, and so we decided to combine everything together at once.  (Why not)

Make the pie:

1. Pour into a pie crust 

2. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce to 350 and cook for another 44 minutes, or until the filling is set

Enjoy the pie: 
1. Cut 
2. Eat

The oafs had slight technical difficulties with the lovely pictures that captured this experience of pie making. 
Hoping to fix these problems,
The oafs

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Smoothies

If I could live on one food for the rest of my life, it would be smoothies.  They are so versatile and wonderful and satisfying.  If you have never made a homemade smoothie, you have a very deprived life.  I enjoy at least 3 smoothies a day, sometimes 7 if the mood strikes.  I wake up and have a green smoothie that I make by blending an assortment of greens, almond milk, frozen bananas, almond butter, and avocado.  It tastes strangely delicious, and I feel very healthy as I sip it on my way to school in the mornings.  Throughout the day I will make berry smoothies, fruit smoothies, almond smoothies, and the occasional chocolate peanut butter smoothie.  I live for smoothies, and the possibilities are endless.  There is nothing that ruins my day more than when my morning smoothie turns out badly.  Three mistakes can happen:  too much liquid, too many greens, or not enough liquid.  I am about to show you how to make a delicious, personalized smoothie that will always turn out.  

Step 1:

Choose your fruit.  This is the most important step, as the taste of your entire smoothie depends on the bulk of the ingredients--The fruit.  Depending on whether you like icy smoothies or juicy ones, you can freeze your fruit or use fresh fruit.  A few of my favorites are bananas, raspberries, fresh strawberries, and blackberries.  Apples taste good if they are honey crisp!

Step 2: 

Choose your liquid.  If you are craving a tropical smoothie, choose a juice such as orange or pineapple juice!  Other liquids that work include almond milk, milk, coconut milk, water, or pomegranate juice.  Always combine 1 part fruit to 2 parts liquid.  For example, if you use 1/2 cup of fruit, use a cup of liquid.  

Step 3:

Choose your greens.  This is optional.  However, if you want a little boost and a way to get in some vegetables in a delicious way, I highly suggest adding some veggies!  You can add a small handful of kale or spinach if you wish.

Step 4: 

Choose your spread.  This step is also optional.  It adds more protein to the smoothie to keep you full longer.  I usually add almond butter, but peanut butter and cashew butter taste equally delicious.  Add 1-2 tablespoons.  Other optional additions include yogurt and flax or chia seeds for extra health benefits.  Nutella and vanilla syrup make sweeter smoothies.

Step 5:

If it is a hot day or you are craving something icy, add 3-4 cubes of ice to make the smoothie extra cold.

Step 6: 

BLEND

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Nutella, Peanut Butter, Ice, Frozen bananas, milk (Tastes like ice cream)

2. Frozen Peaches, Cashew Butter, Almond Milk, Spinach

3. Pineapple Coconut Juice, Fresh Pineapple, Ice, Coconut Syrup (Tastes like a virgin piña colada)

4. Blackberries, Milk, Peanut Butter, Kale (Tastes like pie)

I hope these steps are helpful, but the only way to get a truly perfect smoothie is to test out different flavor combinations to see what tastes good to you!  

Happy blending <3

Grace the smoothie-aholic

Anticipation

The seconds before the steaming bite of soup reaches my mouth.
The drive from my house to the coffee shop.
The hazy view of baking bread through the window in the oven door.
The small taste of turkey my Grandpa feeds me stealthily every year, before anyone has sat down at the table.

My favorite thing about food is the anticipation.  I adore the preparation, and Thanksgiving is no exception.  I research complicated recipes and dream up intricate presentations, much to my mom's disapproval.  I try the strangest recipes I can find, from pumpkin pie made from fully raw ingredients to a unique blend between cheesecake and pumpkin tart.  Cooking isn't fun if
I know how a recipe is going to turn out.  Food should be a wild adventure, but unfortunately it's a hard life for an adventurous oaf in high school.

Last year, I wanted to make Pumpkin Eggs--an inside out version of pumpkin pie.  My idea was shot down by my fearful mother, who's idea of adventure is exploring different ratios of peanut butter and bread for her morning toast.

This year my idea is better.  Pumpkin soup baked and served in adorable little pumpkins, garnished with basil and cream.

I will not back down.  This oaf wants an adventure.

Pictures to come,

Grace

        This weekend, the oafs must get to work.  We are very sorry to have left our fans waiting.  We promise not to disappoint.  You will see lots of cooking done by these oafs.  We will begin with chocolate chip cookies. The oafs will then take on pumpkin pie.  We will make it from pumpkins.  Yes, ACTUAL pumpkins.  Not canned pumpkin like the inferior cookers.

The oafs will cut the pumpkins.
The oafs will scoop the pulp.
The oafs will blend the pulp.

And this is just a teaser.  The real fun begins this weekend.
Stay on the edge of your seats, folks, because this pie making is about to get interesting.

Until next time,
Grace the Oaf

The Eating Style of Oaf #2

               My family is the most ecletic mix of eaters you could find.  Being surrounded by such a strange assortments of palates is quite the experience.  Jack is up at three in the morning draping bacon on everything from ham to ice cream.  My baby sister isn't really a baby but only picks at what is put in front of her, and would starve if left to fend for herself.  My dad will eat huge meals and then forget to eat for three days.  My mom eats her way through different cleanses and fads.  She is known for her containers of chia seeds and flax powder, along with the jars of the latest antioxidant filled berry.   She always returns to her staples of survival--coffee and peanut butter.
                These different tastes have each influenced me in their own way.  I love my ribs and chicken, to the approval of my carnivorous brother.  I forget to eat and will sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a hollow feeling in my stomache and realize that I haven't eaten anything since breakfast.  I follow my mother on her food adventures such as cleanses and different lifestyles, but with much less dedication.  I tend to alter the rules--last time I did the cleanse every day until five o'clock when I would give in to every  delicious food that tempted me.  Although I am impacted by my family, I also consider myself more of a social eater.
                Food tastes better in the presence of good company.  My favorite way to eat is out.  Out in the world. Whether walking around downtown with a bubble tea, or sitting at an outdoor table at a waterfront restaurant, food is better when I buy it.  I love the thrill of sliding my credit card in exchange for a delicious snack, or better yet--a drink.
            Drinks are my favorite.  I am obsessed with everything from spicy iced chais, slurped down in under 45 seconds to green tea frappuccinos.  I could live on an entirely liquid diet supplemented by only tapioca balls.  My eating habits get quite expensive, but I don't mind.  I'm young and free with few worries and I have all my life to make and hoard money.  For now I appreciate and enjoy what I have, and if I have only four dollars and a handful of change to my name I am going to spend it on a gingerbread latte.

Xoxo,
Grace

Thanksgiving

             This coming weekend is thanksgiving. The holiday most known for the giant turkeys and pumpkin pie. I for one have never been a big fan of pie, I like cake much better. And I never used to like the food with all the fancy and foreign ingredients my mom uses. Coming from the family that I do, it's hard to get away from gourmet food and on thanksgiving this is especially true. From sautéed brussel sprouts with cheese and cranberries to elaborate potato dishes I can't pronounce, every year I'm surrounded by tables and tables of unknown food.   And I have come to enjoy the adventure a bit. A little mystery in a bite of beans here and some terror before I take a bit of stuffing not even being able to imagine what could be in it, not wanting to, over there. It's almost more of a Halloween experience more than thanksgiving.
             But more than just the food, I have come to adore thanksgiving because of the general feel it has with the dim candle lights and the sound of laughter as the family collectively downs every bite of every dish on the table. I learned to love the food that brings us together even if only once a year because the taste of that turkey and those potatoes that are such mysteries to me is the essence of what family is- from making Christmas cookies in the kitchen with my mom when I was three to watching in horror as a huge pink-skinned bird is shoved into the over when I was five, food has been what brings everyone together and for that I am thankful.
              Me and the other oaf this thanksgiving in addition to the cookies, will be attempting to make a pumpkin pie dispute the deep loathing I have for it. I guess we'll just have those how it turns out, so until Friday, from one oaf to the masses, have a wonderful thanksgiving and enjoy the food and the company because it does only come once a year.

Kisses,
Catherine

Cookies

This weekend, the weekend of thanksgiving, the oafs will yet again be taking on a new baking challenge: the chocolate chip cookie. I recently tried to make eggless cookie dough so I could eat all the dough without cooking it (dangerous endevor I know because I ate almost al of it) It didnt work. The dough which consited of butter, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, flour, salt and chocolate chips just didn't tast the same, and it had the consistensy of damp dirt. I hope that these cookies that will consist of the normal ingredients and will taste better than the eggless stuff.

Wish us luck,
The oafs