Inspiration in the Bottom of a Pumpkin!

Jared and I were home the weekend before Halloween and had a rare Saturday night at home. We made what I am sure was a fantastic dinner although I can't remember what we had, and carved us some pumpkins. Amid the messy gore that resulted we decided to roast our own pumpkin seeds. Photos happened and all of a sudden I was inspired to start blogging about food again.

It's not that I haven't been cooking in the 5 months that I last posted. I have cooked dinners for friends and brunches for family that were 100% blog worthy! I have even taken photos of some. It's just that on the evenings when I could have been writing about my adventures in the kitchen, I was generally curled up with my Kindle reading away. I have finally found my way out of reading what looks like more than 40 books (according to my Amazon account) and back to my blog.

I am going to boast and tell you how proud I was of our pumpkins. I did the two small ones, and Jared was responsible for the big one. I thought they were all unique and beautiful, however our pumpkin seeds were the perfect combination of crunch and salt and totally out did the pumpkins from which they came.

Making the seeds was easier than I thought. If you can believe it, we actually looked it up online to check. After the slightly painful sorting of the seeds (to remove all the pulpy innards) we boiled them for 10 minutes in some super salty water. I didn't think this was how my Mom used to make them, but the interweb told us to and when has it ever been wrong before?

Once the seeds were boiled, we spread them on a cookie sheet that had been well oiled. They went into the oven at 400 degrees until they started to turn brown. You know that was a nerve wracking 20 minutes. I mean how awful to go through all the pulp sorting to burn the seeds just as you were about to be able to pig out on all their crunchy goodness!!

In any case, we saved them from a burnt ending and then salted to perfection and chowed down. My only warning (besides watching them carefully while they are in the oven) is that pumpkin seeds have more fiber than you would think....

My Biggest Challenge Yet!

Tomorrow night I will face my biggest, toughest culinary challenge yet...

(add dramatic music here for the Food Network effect)

I will be cooking dinner for 25 of my nearest and dearest colleagues!! I am pretty excited and spent the whole day cooking. I brought in the reserves and traded brunch for help from my mom and grandma and we got it all done very quickly.

My fridge is now stuffed with,

• 10 lbs of steak tips marinating in my homemade BBQ sauce (that's what I am holding, pre-marinade in the photo)
• 4 lbs of chicken marinating in my homemade teriyaki sauce
• 3 lbs of mayo-less potato salad
• 1 super large bok choy slaw
• my mother's special copper pennies
• the makings of an amazing fruit salad
• 4 kinds of blue cheese
• 1 homemade black bean salsa

Tomorrow I will head home early, throw together the fruit salad and pick up some beer. (I don't have enough room in the fridge to keep it cold, so I am going to buy it cold and then throw it in the cooler with some ice.)

Jared will start grilling when he gets home, and the crew is supposed to be here around 7. I am sure it will be a great time and for those of you who have been reading this blog for a year (Dan, Dan, Owen, Yoav...) you better bring your appetites!

Dreams Really Do Come True

Last April I wrote about a chocolate cake recipe that I was dreaming about. It looked like the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter with a little twist. I promised myself I would make it at some point, and then came to work at HubSpot, the land of masterful bakers, and gave up baking all together because I am not worthy.

I sent DA the chocolate peanut butter crunch cake recipe 10 months ago as soon as I learned he liked to bake. I then asked him about it once a week for 10 months, until he finally consented to make it for me.

Each month we have a HubSpot Dev Team party to celebrate all the great work we are doing. This month was on Cinco De Mayo and was going to be at JO's house. There was also going to be a bake off between the masterful bakers. As soon as I heard that I laid down the gauntlet and told DA he HAD to make the chocolate peanut butter crunch cake, and he did. Of course, I didn't get to go to the party because that morning I rushed off to Pennsylvania to see the newest addition to our family, (insert AWWW here.)


However, DA did not let me down. Not only did he take photos of his creation, he saved a piece just for me!

The cake was fantastic! It was moist and amazing but the kicker was the frosting. He deviated from the recipes there and it was totally worth it. I don't even like frosting most of the time, but I licked the container clean before I gave it back to him.



Recipe

Cake:
1 box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Mix

Frosting:
1 8oz package Plain Cream Cheese
1 stick Unsalted Butter
1 cup Smooth Peanut Butter
4 cups Confectioners Sugar
1 cup Cocoa Krispies

Bake the cake in two 9" rounds according to box directions. Cool the cakes for a couple of hours and use a long serrated knife to level them.

Combine the Cream Cheese, butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy. Sift sugar and add to frosting one cup at a time. If frosting is too thick add a little water to loosen it.

Put one cake round cut-side up on a serving dish and add about 1/3 of the frosting. Sprinkle a layer of Cocoa Krispies on top. Add second cake layer cut side down on top of frosting. Use the rest of the frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake. Fill your palm with Cocoa Krispies and gently press them onto the side one handful at a time, working your way around the cake.