Sour Cream Cornbread

I made a lot of chili on Super Bowl Sunday (about 10 quarts.) I froze most of it, but I made this delicious Sour Cream Cornbread to go with the few bowls we ate that night. Sure, I could have just bought a box of Jiffy and called it a day, but I thought I'd try to find a recipe that would be moist but still have a good crumb. The bread had a great texture and did not dry out for a few days. I will definitely make more as I defrost and eat the chili.

Thanksgiving Treats

I've fallen a bit behind on my posts. Hey! Remember Thanksgiving? It's my favorite holiday and not just because of the four desserts we served this year. The goodies are pictured below.

From left to right: apple pie with a crumb topping, pumpkin roll, cheesecake topped with pomegranate arils, and pumpkin pie. I made the apple pie and the cheesecake.

We have a "family" recipe for cheesecake, but I wanted to try a recipe that used a springform pan since I bought one ages ago but have never used it. After reading a few recipes, I chose the Classic Cheesecake recipe because I liked the inclusion of sour cream in both the main cheesecake and the topping. It produced a silky smooth texture in the dense dessert and gave the topping the right amount of tang for a nice contrast. I believe I followed the recipe, but I might have omitted the orange zest (sorry, it's been a while.)

The apple pie recipe came from my King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. I'm not sure I'm satisfied with the crumb or streusel topping so I might try a different version next time.

Ten More Listens

Another list of 10 audio-books completed. I've actually listened to more books than those listed, but I decided not to include audio-books if I've read the printed edition. By the way, I'm open to suggestions if there is a book I should read.

1: Naked
  David Sedaris

2: Lean In
  Sheryl Sandberg

3: Zealot
  Reza Aslan

4: Salt Sugar Fat
  Michael Moss

5: Mother, Wife, Sister, Human, Warrior, Falcon, Yardstick, Turban, Cabbage.
  Rob Delaney

6: Fortunately, the Milk
  Neil Gaiman

7: Life As We Knew It
  Susan Beth Pfeffer

8: Becoming Mr. October
  Reggie Jackson

9: David and Goliath
  Malcolm Gladwell

10: Founding Mothers
  Cokie Roberts

Birthday Cupcakes

I went a little nontraditional for my birthday this year since I made cupcakes instead of cake. Even though I'm constantly making cupcakes, I prefer a whole cake. No one should be surprised by the flavor profile, however.

Yellow cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream frosting. Expertly topped by my littlest nephew with fresh raspberries.

Close up of the decadence.

Chicago

It felt like we took a bunch of pictures in the Windy City for a milestone birthday celebration, but it turns out there aren't a lot. Here's some of what we saw.

Looking up into "The Bean." Or "Cloud Gate" if you want to call it by it's real name.

Full view of the sculpture.

Mexican bakery. 

Pan Dolce.

Aye yay yay.

Sugar skulls for el Día de Muertos 

La Virgen de Guadalupe at Madonna Della Strada Chapel

2013 Fall Television Schedule

I'm late in posting this, but here's what I'm watching this fall. I tried not to add too many shows since I know I watch too much TV. I tried.

Weekdays
7:30 PM
Jeopardy! (CBS)

11:00 PM
The Daily Show (Comedy)

Monday
7:00 PM
Adventure Time (Cartoon)

8:00 PM
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Bones (FOX)

8:30 PM
2 Broke Girls (CBS)

9:00 PM
Mike & Molly (CBS)

Tuesday
8:00 PM
Marvel's Agents of Shield (ABC)

8:30 PM
Brooklyn 99 (FOX)

9:00 PM
New Girl (FOX)

10:00 PM
Person of Interest (CBS)
Chopped (Food)

Wednesday
8:00 PM
Arrow (CW)

9:00 PM
Modern Family (ABC)
The Tomorrow People (CW)

10:00 PM
South Park (Comedy)
The Soup (E!)

Thursday
8:00 PM
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC)

9:00 PM
Degrassi (Teen Nick)
White Collar (USA)

10:00 PM
Elementary (CBS)

Friday
9:00 PM
Grimm (NBC)

10:00 PM
Dracula (NBC)

Saturday
9:00 PM
Masterpiece Mystery (PBS)

Sunday
12:00 AM
Austin City Limits (PBS)

8:00 PM
Once Upon a Time (ABC)

9:00 PM
Masterpiece (PBS)

Scones

I find it really hard to believe that I've never done a post on scones. I've made them several times before -- maybe more often than pie. My usual recipe is written on post-it note that I wrote down while watching some local morning program a million years ago. It is a drop scone recipe that calls for berries to be added at the end. 

My favorite type of scones to make are white chocolate chip/apricot. A coffee cart in the building of my former job made that flavor and it was always a treat to buy one. Maybe that long-ago scone is why I prefer drop scones to the kind I made here, which I'll call "wedges."

The well-worn post-it recipe is good, but I was inspired to find a new one because I have too much self-rising flour on hand. I found this recipe, which I adapted by omitting the orange peel and cranberries and adding chocolate chips (on the left) and white chocolate chips and apricots (on the right.)

I have to apologize for this picture, which was taken at work under fluorescent lighting and while the scones were in a box. I completely forgot to take a picture before I packed them up and headed out the door!