King Bob's Birthday 2013

I was so happy to be invited to the 2nd Annual King Bob's Birthday party on the beach!  Bob's wife, Sally, puts on a great party...which included beach-front umbrellas and lounge chairs in front of Wanna-Wanna, ice chests filled with icy libations, yummy snack trays. Sand Castle Queen of the Island, Sandy Feet, her very entertaining "sand slaves", and a bunch of interesting people to talk to!  I really enjoy meeting new friends.  I also love talking to people who have moved to the area and find out where they come from.  There's always a story...I just love hearing the tales!

I enjoyed using some of my stencils on the minis!  These
came from Designer Stencils

My offering was a set of cookies made for King Bob (Bob's 71st birthday and his 1st anniversary of retirement makes him King of the Day!).  The cookie set included a large layered cake-shaped cookie, some crowns for the king, and a few minis to fill in the set.  He was kind enough to share the cookies and it seems the Acorn Squash Sugar Cookies were a success.  Even my trial with a new royal icing recipe seemed to work out okay (I didn't have time to taste a dry cookie before leaving for the beach so I wasn't sure how taste and texture would be after drying...risky on my part but...whew...it apparently worked).  Nothing makes me more happy than people enjoying my treats!

These were drying to the very last minute!

Photo by Sally Scaman
I was having a big hair humidity day...the
curls were blowing wildly as Sally snapped
a photo of me and Bob and the box of cookies

While a lot of the United States is enjoying Fall weather, folks on South Padre Island are enjoying one of our favorite times of year.  The beautiful days of September and October are PERFECT beach weather.  So, it being a perfect day on the beach, I'll just end the post with a slew of photos featuring Sandy Feet, Dennis,and Ken working hard (did you know, it's important to place your beer higher than the sandcastle...else you fill your can with sand???) Enjoy!

This stuff is hard work!

Things are shaping up as the creative genius kicks in!

Hot work when you are working on the side where there is no wind!

Sandy Feet carving the King's Sculpture

Dennis (L) and Ken (R) carving supporting castles on each side
of the King Bob sculpture 
(yep, they are a lot more than just sand slaves - 
they are talented sculptors themselves).  
This is the status when I had to leave.


Following Photos from Sally Scaman

The King and his Pampered Princess
The Sand Sculptors (behind)

Bob and Sally...beach royalty.  Great party and Fabulous Sand Sculpture!

Bon Appetit, Y'all...and May Your Day be Filled with Sunshine!!!

Squash Sugar Cookies, Take Two!

Undecorated allows you to see how nicely they
are rolled and cut as well as the bits of squash and
spices in this wonderful Fall-ish cookie!

In early August, Ian asked for a spice cheesecake for his birthday.  I didn't recall having a recipe for a spice cheesecake but we looked back at the blog because he remembered I had made one before.  We found a 2010 recipe for Squash Chocolate Cheesecake.  He said "yes, that's the one"!  I was so surprised!  Squash? I asked of the "vegetable-hater"... Yes, he confirmed...that's the one.  Fortunately, I've got a couple of cups of roasted and peeled acorn squash in the freezer - it's a wonderful staple to have on hand for sweets (I use it often in lieu of pumpkin) and as a wonderful addition to soups.  The recipe only called for a cup of the squash, so I decided to re-make the Squash Sugar Cookie recipe, I had also done in 2010, with the remaining squash.

I noticed, when reviewing that recipe, that it didn't include any egg.  Huh?  Was that a mistake?  I tried to find the source recipe and it is no longer posted on the B&B Recipe web site.  Hmmmm.  I set out some butter and followed the recipe and I have to say "this MUST be a mistake"...the dough was way too crumbly.

After 2 1/2 more years of baking experience since I developed that recipe, I knew of a couple of tweaks that would make a much nicer cookie...still keeping the sweet flavor of the squash silently in the background.  So, here's the recipe I ended up with.  The texture is now perfect for rolling and I can only apologize if anyone tried to make the one I posted in 2010!!!  I try to be very careful...but sometimes mistakes happen...and I think that may have been one of those times.

Printable Recipe

Squash Sugar Cookies, Take Two!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup drained, dry, roasted acorn squash (I squeezed the squash in a cotton kitchen towel, twisting until quite dry - then I pulsed it in the food processor...I remember the previous cookies having some long strands of squash - the food processor didn't truly puree the squash, but it did cut the long strands)
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Method:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until combined.  Add squash and mix until combined.  Add egg and vanilla bean paste and mix until well incorporated.

In a 4-cup measuring cup, mix all of the dry ingredients with a whisk and add to the wet mixture in the mixer bowl.  Mix just until blended.

Divide dough in two parts.  Form a disk and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour - preferably 2 or 3 hours for a nice rolled cookie.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove dough 5 minutes prior to being ready to roll the dough.  Roll either on a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of parchment paper.
Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut various shapes.  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet or on a baking mat lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on thickness (some thick cookies that were cut with a large cutter took 13-14 minutes to bake...light brown along the bottom edge is the indicator).  Allow to cool on rack before decorating with a glaze or buttercream frosting....or royal icing if you want to decorate nicely!

These are a great Fall flavored spice cookie with an unusual cookie ingredient.  However, they are great any time of the year.  They are an awesome cookie!  The photos I took were of the naked cookies...the next post will include some of these that I baked recently and decorated for an on-the-beach birthday party.  Keep an eye out for that!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!




 

Squash Chocolate Cheese Cake - oh yes indeed!

Another chapter in the "using the acorn squash gift" saga.

Slice and Bake Squash Cookies

Today I was sitting around making some homemade Chex Mix for my hubby and baking off the last few cookies from the squash sugar cookie dough I made last week-end.  I saved the pieces I didn't want to re-roll and formed a log - froze them - and today did slice and bake.  They are still yummy!  Anyway - on to the cheese cake...

For the past 20 years, my husband has requested a cheese cake baked from scratch for his birthday cake.  It's what he loves.  He wasn't home on his birthday this year so I wanted to bake a cheese cake for him for this week-end's "make up for missing it" birthday dinner.  I laughingly told him the other night that I might make him an acorn squash cheese cake.  "Ha ha", I said, "I was just joking".  He said, "well, I like pumpkin cheese cake...go for it".  So I thought and thought and decided, okay, let's see what I can do!

I saw a recipe for some pumpkin bars earlier this week but didn't have, nor could I find, all the ingredients, so I mish-mashed a couple of recipes together and I think it will work.  I just threw it together and it is in the oven now.  It surely does smell good!  I'll let you know after the birthday dinner Saturday night.  (I tasted the batter - so I have no doubt it will taste as good as it smells)

Into the oven it goes!

So, here's the recipe I came up with....

ACORN SQUASH CHOCOLATE CHEESE CAKE

Crust:

14 Oreo Cookies

Filling:

2 – 8 ounce packages cream cheese

1 cup white granulated sugar

1 cup roasted acorn squash, squished (that's a technical term) and dried*

3 Tbsp. unbleached flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground allspice

½ tsp. sea salt (fine grind)

1 tsp good vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 cup Milk Chocolate morsels

DIRECTIONS:

Set out eggs and cream cheese to reach room temperature

Squeeze (or mash) roasted acorn squash until pureed consistency and drain until as dry as possible using strainer and paper towels – or a clean cotton cloth.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Prepare bottom and lower sides of a 9 inch spring form pan with cooking spray.

Set aside

In a food processor, pulse Oreo cookies until finely ground.

Transfer crumb mixture to the prepared pan and press gently into bottom – use a measuring cup bottom to firm the crust to ensure it bakes firmly together.

Bake crust for no more than 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Place cream cheese in clean food processor bowl (wipe out the cookie crumbs) and pulse until smooth.  Add sugar, acorn squash puree, flour, spices, vanilla, and salt.  Pulse until thoroughly smooth.  Scrape down sides of processor as needed (I had to scrape down 3 times until everything was fully incorporated).

Add eggs one at a time (break into measuring cup and pour through shoot while processor is on – blending each egg before adding the next).

Set aside.

In a 1 quart microwave safe bowl, place chocolate in microwave and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each until melted smooth - let cool for a few minutes but not to the point it is firming back up.  Add 1 cup of cream cheese mixture from food processor to chocolate and mix thoroughly.  This is what you will use to swirl into the cheese cake.

Use a paper towel to wipe down the sides of the cooled spring form pan to remove any crumbs.  Spray sides of pan with cooking spray (two times around for thorough coverage).

Pour remaining cheese cake mixture from processor bowl into prepared pan on top of baked crust.

Drop dollops of chocolate cheese cake mixture on top of squash cheese cake mixture.  Swirl with a butter knife or the handle of a spoon – taking care not to hit the crust on the bottom.  Don’t over-mix – just make swirly patterns.

Bake until cheese cake is set but jiggles a little bit when gently shaken.  Should take 45 to 50 minutes. (I just checked mine at 45 minutes and I'm going to let it go 3-4 more minutes)

After removed from oven allow to cool on counter until it can be safely placed in fridge.  Chill for at least 4 hours in pan (in refrigerator) but overnight is even better.  Run a warm sharp knife around edge of pan* and carefully release spring form.  Carefully remove side of pan.  It is quite challenging to remove the cheese cake from the bottom of the spring form pan.  I generally cut slices and serve on individual plates straight from the spring form bottom.  However, if you need to present the entire cheesecake – VERY carefully, use the same hot water and thin knife technique (see below) to release the cake from the bottom of the pan…very slowly.  Once totally released, you can nudge it onto a serving round.  I’ve never successfully done this without losing a hunk of crust because a spring form pan has a little lip on it.  There are special cheesecake pans – but I don’t have one.  I think I may order one from Amazon.

*Hot water and thin knife procedure for removing cheese cake from spring form pan...

Prepare a tall vessel of hot water and put your thinnest knife (a filet knife is great) into the water  – wipe it with a cloth and run it around the sides of the pan to release the cake (make sure the knife side is touching the pan so you don’t gouge the cake).  You may need to dip and dry it 2 or 3 times as you release the cake.

Oh, I hear the timer - gotta go - Bon Appetit Y'all!

(UPDATE - See comments for a slight tweak to improve the recipe)

2013 UPDATE:
Ian selected this cheese cake for his 20th birthday (he's no longer a teen!)  Here are a couple of photos of the finished product.

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Squash Sugar Cookies...Really!

My friend KM brought back some ginormous acorn squash from her Fall wanderings to the hinterland (OK, maybe not hinterland - up in Minnesota or Wisconsin or one of those chilly states)...she described them as Dolly Parton boob-sized squash.  She wasn't joking!  These are no b-cup size squash. 

So, I have never used squash this big - I'm used to little acorn squash...and I knew the teen wouldn't eat any and my hubby won't be back home for a bit - so I decided I would roast them and use my handy dandy Food Saver to package smaller packets of squash for baking and soup and other yummy things.  I washed them and vented them by stabbing them with a sharp knife and roasted them at 350 for 90 minutes...whole, on a cookie sheet with a silpat on it.  My house smelled like Thanksgiving.  That's a really happy smell!  After they cooled down I sliced the top off and cut them lengthwise, scooped the seeds and stringy stuff out, then scooped the good stuff out, mashed it and packaged in 1 and 2 cup sizes.  I got about 8 cups.  Popped it in the freezer - ready for future goodness.

I started Googling some recipes for pumpkin and squash and found lots of ideas - but I found one that sounded particularly perfect because I was in the mood to make some Halloween themed cookies.  The Recipe is Pumpkin Sugar Cookie presented by The Washington School Inn - and I found it on a bed and breakfast online recipe sharing site.  B&B food is generally pretty yummy so I hoped, substituting the squash would work...and yum, it did!

Here's a link to the original recipe and below is my version.

Acorn Squash Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup softened butter (1 1/2 sticks)

1 cup white granulated sugar

1/2 cup roasted acorn squash pulp - squeezed very dry*
1 egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

3 cups unbleached flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

Cream butter and sugar in stand mixer until light and fluffy.

Add squeezed-dry squash (*I let mine drain over paper towels in a colander - then replaced the paper towels and squished them until it was as dry as possible) and egg.
Add vanilla, and spices.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt together, then add gradually to mixer bowl to form a stiff dough.

Chill for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out dough with some bench flour mixed with a bit of sifted confectioner's sugar (a great trick for not making your cut sugar cookies taste floury - they taste sweet inside and out) and cut with your favorite shaped cookie cutters (or just do round if you want to make it easy on yourself).

Bake on a silpat covered cookie sheet 7-8 minutes.  Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.

Unbaked Ghosts

Baked Pumpkins (not much color change)

I decorated with a stiff cream cheese frosting so I could pipe the designs I wanted on the pumpkins and sprinkle some sprinkles on them for the eyes, nose, and mouth (sprinkle quickly - the frosting dried faster than I expected)... and I just wanted to frost the ghosts and make eyes with a couple of those "currants", I brought home from Central Market in Austin, and a little piece of chocolate that I cut out with the bottom of a metal decorating tip and pushed out with a toothpick for a woooooo mouth.  You could easily make a basic powdered sugar and milk frosting (as the original recipe called for).  I would also love to use a nice royal icing if I wanted the icing to harden and hold the design.  Royal icing is challenging down here at the coast - royal icing and humidity are not friends :-)  I found that out the hard way last Christmas!

Frankly, the teen and I tasted a cookie unfrosted after a brief cool down.  They were great with NOTHING on them.  They are a delicious cookie (can they count as a vegetable???) and I would recommend them highly for an addition to your Fall cookie repertoire!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #15