Filling the Freezer

Some women nest. Apparently I cook.

In preparation for the baby I've been making some dishes to throw in the freezer that can easily be reheated in the coming weeks when I may not have a handle on being able to whip something up for dinner.

Among what I've prepared for the freezer so far are tomato sauce with chicken sausage, lentil soup, and -- last night's addition -- turkey chili.

Along side the chili, I made a batch of skillet corn bread. Although I generally like the skillet corn bread recipe that I've posted before, I am still tweaking it. This version is sweeter and more crumbly then my previous version.

Here's what I did yesterday:

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup honey
1 large eggs
1/2 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. At the same time, place skillet in oven to preheat.

Whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt together in one bowl. Whisk buttermilk, honey, and egg together in another bowl.

Remove hot skillet from the oven. Melt butter in the skillet, allowing it to coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Pour the extra butter into the wet ingredients. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ones and quickly mix to incorporate.

Pour batter into the hot skillet and return to the oven. Bake for 22 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool slightly, then cut and enjoy.

Banana Bread

I almost always have bananas in the house. And even though Kevin will eat them way past the point of ripeness that I can stand, it's not that unusual for two or three to turn brown and bruised beyond the standards of acceptable snack.

Instead of getting frustrated by this waste, I relish it. It means that I have to make a batch of banana bread. And since my in-laws arrive with the world's biggest bag of chocolate chips (72 ounces to be exact) I added them to my last batch along with some toasted walnuts.

The loaf was consumed within a couple of days, with Kevin and I having heavy slices for breakfast as well as dessert.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup raw sugar
2 large eggs
3 medium-sized bananas, mashed (approximately 1 1/2 cups)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x3x5 inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, blend butter and sugar together until completely combine. Mix in eggs. Mix in banana and vinegar.

Pour half of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Stir until thoroughly incorporated. Add the remaining flour and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Add chocolate chips and walnuts. Mix to combine.

Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake until the top splits and a toothpick inserted into the center of comes out clean.

Allow the loaf to cool slightly before removing from the pan.

Pumpkin Bread

Even though Halloween isn't a big deal in Germany -- last year I saw only a few trick or treaters -- there is still plenty of festive harvest time flair. There are corn mazes built at local farms, colored leaves and gourds adorn front doors and store windows, and the farmer’s market and local stores are overflowing with many different types of pumpkins and squash.
One that keeps catching my eye is a smallish, bright orange variety known as an ambercup. Not really a pumpkin, but a type of squash, the squash glossary on What's Cooking America, praises the ambercup fir its dry sweet tastes and extra long shelf life.

I wouldn't know anything about how long it lasts though. Whenever these little guys make it into my house they don't sit around very long. A few weeks ago I made a very yummy pumpkin soup. Most recently I used one to make a delicious batch of pumpkin bread. One average-sized, roasted ambercup yielded eight ounces of flesh, exactly what I needed for the following recipe.

2-pound pumpkin or winter squash
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt


Preheat over to 375 degrees. Cut pumpkin or squash in half, remove seeds, and rub with oil. Place flesh-side on a baking sheet and roast until the flesh can be easily pierce with a fork, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven. When it is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and place flesh in a bowl.*

Reduce the oven's heat to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, blend together oil, sugar, and eggs. Once thoroughly combine, mix in the roasted pumpkin. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking flour, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring to combine.

Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, approximately 1 hour. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan.

* The pumpkin or squash can be cooked up to three days in advance.

Buttermilk Corn Bread

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tbs honey
1/4 cup melted butter
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly oil a cast iron skillet and line bottom with parchment paper.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, mix buttermilk, honey, butter and eggs. Pour the dry ingredient into the wet ingredients and combine.

Pour batter into skillet and bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Test cornbread by sticking a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, it's done.