Fall Weather Food

I have been so excited for the coming cool weather. I love cooking comfort food. Unfortunately, I live in Texas. Up until this past Saturday, it's still been well above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. So I have been waiting, as patiently as I can manage, to make a meal like the one I made last night. Here's what I made:

Above you see Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes, Mashed Potatoes (with optional shredded Fontina), and Mixed Veggies. I started getting really excited when my mom started e-mailing me Fall themed recipes (thanks mom for the first one :) ). Most of the recipes she sends me sound pretty good, but this one just looked great. I had to give it a shot. After showing a few pictures of what it should look like to my roommates, they all agreed to present and hungry for dinner.

My roommates began the evening working out. Naturally, I decided I should start making dinner instead. They told me afterward that I was never allowed to cook while they were working out again. It smelled too good. A few tips that I have for making this dish: 1) the croissant dough can be tough to work with. I couldn't find the sheets that the recipe called for, so I just used regular cans of Pillsbury original croissants and pinched the perforations together. Using this method, the perforations still wanted to split when I rolled the sheets up. I made two batches so for the second I placed the croissants in the freezer for a few minutes while I prepared the filling. This made a huge difference. It was much easier to roll and cut the cupcakes, so try leaving the croissant dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before you roll them up. 2) The thyme in the recipe was a little overwhelming. I have the cutest little measuring spoons, just for 1/8, 1/16, and 1/32 of a teaspoon. I would try using 1/8 of a teaspoon for this recipe. It's just a little bit less overwhelming, and anyone with a sensitive tummy will thank you.

It blows my mind how many people use boxed mashed potatoes. Using real potatoes is just as easy and so much more delicious. I started by putting water on to boil while I peeled the potatoes. Once I had them all in the pot, I let them cook until I got the chicken pot pie cupcakes in the oven. The timing could not have been more perfect. As soon as I got the oven closed, the potatoes were ready to drain. I like my potatoes to mash pretty easily since my arms aren't too strong, but I also like a few lumps left so you occasionally get a bite of pure potato. After I got them all mashed I added some heavy cream, salt, pepper and butter. One of my roommates is lactose intolerant :( so I kept the shredded Fontina on the side. The potatoes were still plenty warm by the time we were eating, so the Fontina just melted right into the potatoes when stirred in. 

Sadly, everyone in my apartment is trying to lose weight. I can't really blame them. The food I enjoy making most is usually pretty unhealthy. It doesn't help that it's so good that it's hard to stop eating. Anyway, since everyone is trying to lose weight I decided to skip on making dessert and just make a batch of Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate. The recipe makes a little over two cups, which is perfect for four people in these cute little mugs that we have (got a set of six from World Market; they stack up and look so cute on our counter), and leaves just a little room for marshmallows or whipped cream. Last night was definitely a success. Of the 24 pot pies that I made, four are left. I think it was also nice how well they were portioned. Each person felt perfectly full (not hungry, but not too full) after dinner. Since having 'just one more bite' would mean eating another whole pot pie, no one over-ate.

This evening I ate left-overs but I decided to add a little appetizer to my meal. While in San Marcos this past weekend visiting my mom and sister (Go Bobcats!) we found the most delicious cheese. It reminded me of a cheese I tried at Mi Piaci in Dallas during restaurant week about three years ago. My friends and I had gotten a cheese tray with our meal, and I have been searching for that cheese ever since. 

Now that I have finally found it, I chose a similar mixture of flavors as I had originally tasted. The cheese tray was served with berries, honey, and pecans. Sadly, we don't have any pecans or fresh berries. I stuck with honey and water crackers. I placed some water crackers on a piece of foil with a dab of honey. Then, I shredded some of this cheese over the top of each cracker. Finally, I set my toaster oven to broil and let them bake for just under 5 minutes. I have to say that I was very pleased with the result :). The flavor from the water crackers was a little stronger than I had anticipated so I think next time I may try shredding the cheese, mixing it with honey and chopped pecans and then heating the mixture. Hopefully, then I can serve this as a dip with cinnamon sugar pita chips. 

Sometime this week or next I will be making a family specialty, Chicken Noodle Soup. My best friend and I have know each other since we were five years old. Over the years our mothers have become very close friends, too. As a result, a few of our family recipes have been altered and mixed a little bit. We like to call these recipes "Williams-Rochelle Family Recipes". More pictures and stories to come :)