too. much. food.

this weekend was a lazy one.

with only 3 weeks of school left, boy drama (isn't it amazing how draining it can be? i'm soooo done...) and an almost insatiable urge to cook, i feel quite pooped.

i think a vacation is in order!

anyone care to join me?

i'm thinkin cabo...

or somewhere warm. isreal anyone? (haha too bad suckas!)

which reminds me! only one month left!!!

this is going to be a very foodie blog. i'm just warnin ya.

cuz i'm hungry!

to start the weekend off, we made these little pieces of heaven.

pumpkin cream cheese muffins

yield: 24 muffins

ingredients:

for the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

for the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

for the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

directions:
to prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

to make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. line muffin pans with paper liners. in a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. in the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. mix on medium-low speed until blended. with the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

to make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

to assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

bake for 20-25 minutes. transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (tt may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!)

being the lazy cook i am, i made a few alterations... i more closely followed this recipe here.

they are all gone now. (but it is a good thing because i don't have to look at them and be tempted anymore!)

next, we made these.

oatmeal cream cheese butterscotch bars

ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pea-sized pieces, plus more for pan

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (11-ounce) bag butterscotch chips

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

directions

preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. drape a 9 by 13-inch pan with overlapping pieces of aluminum foil, creating handles for easy removal. butter the paper, and reserve.

in a food processor add the flour, oats and brown sugar and pulse to combine. add the 2 sticks of butter, the cinnamon and the butterscotch chips. pulse, pulse, pulse until the mixture forms clumps when pressed between your fingers. transfer the mixture to a large bowl. press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer, reserve the other half. bake in the preheated oven just until slightly golden and set, about 12 to 15 minutes. remove from the oven and cool completely.

beat together the cream cheese, condensed milk, lemon zest and juice and vanilla in an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle, or with an electric hand mxier until no lumps of cream cheese remain. spread evenly over the baked and cooled oatmeal mixture. sprinkle the remaining half of the oatmeal mixture over the cream cheese. bake until the top is golden, about 40 minutes.

cool and chill before cutting. run a knife around the edge of the pan, and using the foil handles, transfer the bars to a cutting board. cut into 2-inch squares with a sharp knife and serve.

call yourself a superstar!!!

cook's Note: for a delicious and healthy variation of this recipe, try replacing the butterscotch chips with tasty dried cranberries.

or, if you are like us poor college students... you add whatever you have to the concoction! this includes white chocolate chips, health toffee chunks, slivered almonds, and coconut. i sat in the kitchen while i watched my roommates slyly try and pretend that this was not the 10th piece that they were taking...

finally... we made an asparagus soup.

oh my gosh i love vegetables!

probably even more than i love baking... it's kinda sad.

i'm too lazy to write the post, because the recipe is just so easy. (i actually just boiled the asparagus and stuck it in a blender with cottage cheese and bouillon...) but i still want to try this one!

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i just can't say HOW MUCH i love food.

:)

please don't think i cook like this.