Apple Crumble

Have you ever had one of those spur-of-the-moment baking urges? Whether you were watching a cooking show or reading a recipe and realize you have all of the ingredients in your kitchen to make this dish and it sounds amazing RIGHT NOW. Well,  I had one of those moments last night. I was watching the food network Melissa D'Arabian's 10 Dollar Dinners and she made an apple crumble. It was cold outside, I was hungry, and I realized I have apples, cinnamon, sugar, flour, and butter.. I can totally make this right now! So that is what I did.

This crumble made my house smell amazing, exactly what "the holidays" should smell like. The best part about this crumble (and, well any crumble) is the topping! What isn't great about butter, sugar, and flour? I would have been satisfied just eating the entire bowl of crumble topping by itself.

Crab & Leek Quiche

I remember when I was younger my mom would always buy those frozen pre-made quiches from the grocery store. I would scoop out all of the filling and go straight for the pie crust. Makes sense, since I love pie crust and basically still do this with fruit pies.

Quiches are so simple and although they have a fancy french name, they are basically an omelet with a crust. You can put any type of filling you like in them, the possibilities are endless. I had some lump crab meat and a few leeks from school which pair together nicely.

This dish is so warm and comforting, especially during the colder months.

Macarons, yum!

 I've been so busy with culinary school lately I haven't had time to bake anything, but I thought I would post about these lovely french macarons my boyfriend Josh bought for me. These delicate little cookies have become one of my favorites. In the past, the closest I could get to the real ones from Paris were the frozen ones at Trader Joe's. I stumbled upon Payard Patisserie which makes authentic french macarons, and Josh was so sweet and ordered me a box. I have attempted to make macarons once before, and they were so fragile many of them broke before I could even sandwich them together. I think I might attempt a second batch sometime in the near future however.

The flavors included: vanilla, strawberry, coffee, chocolate, and coca-cola.

My favorite had to be the vanilla, strawberry and coffee. The coca-cola was very interesting and actually had a slight carbonation to it.

The strawberry ones were so good I ate them before I could even get pictures

rainbow!

these little hamburger cookies are so cute

YUM!

"baked potato" soup

I absolutely love potato soup, and my mom loves baked potatoes so it only seemed natural to combine the two and create one dish for dinner. I am really happy with the way this recipe turned out, and as I said before I created it myself.

Its very easy to make and will warm up even the coldest nights! Its just very comforting, yummy, and the variety of endless toppings to use makes it really fun too.

Pumpkin-y goodness

One of my favorite things about fall has always been the pumpkin scones from Starbucks. I am addicted to them, always have been. I used to get one almost everyday for a while, they are just my favorite. I was trying to think of something to make with a can of pumpkin puree today and I stumbled upon a recipe of these scones. Immediately I made them, however I added my own little touches such the addition of fresh ginger (rather than powdered) and a maple icing because I think pumpkin and maple are a match made in heaven.

When it was time to roll the dough out, it was just so light, soft, and pillow-y, I knew these would be good. They baked up double their original size and were as light as clouds. Oh, and not to mention my house smelled amazing.

I also made a baked potato soup for dinner and I am proud to say this is completely my own recipe, and it turned out really well. Really good for a cold night! I will post the recipe for it in my next post.

Happy Halloweenie!

Halloween weekend just passed and Roxy threw a little party, so of course I was in charge of baking goodies for everyone. I decided to keep it simple and make classic chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.  Chocolate and vanilla can be pretty plain and boring sometimes, but if you follow a really great recipe they can be quite scrumptious.

Halloween was never my favorite holiday, but instead it always marked that time of year directly following it that makes me so happy. I love "the holidays", and in my life they include Thanksgiving and Hannukah, and New Years Eve. Halloween is always a fun holiday, especially because it lends so much creativity to numerous baked goods. I played it safe, but it was really my first time baking for a halloween party so I didn't want to stray too far out of my comfort zone.

I am super excited however for the next couple months and all the warm sugary treats I will be baking, not just at home but also in culinary school. I start the Le Cordon Bleu Patisserie and Baking Program this coming Monday!!

Recipes and pictures, after the jump!
Enjoy<3