Our friends are bakers, too!

Here at Broccoli is for Lovers the thing we love second to showcasing our own kitchen creations, is showcasing those of our friends. For the second year in a row, Maureen has decorated an adorable Yo Gabba Gabba cake for her now two-year-old (holy cow, is he two already? I can't believe it!!) son Fitz. What a lucky kid, his mom makes the best birthday cakes around. Happy Birthday, Fitzo!

And over at quasify, Nanio has finally baked up some Gooseberry goodness. In his own words:

my gooseberry tart thing recipe (hashed out with help of my mom & internet strangers)

1) Mix a can of gooseberries, two thirds cup sugar and three tablespoons of flour together, bring a gentle boil. Let that cool. It will set up into a liquidy gel.
2) Make a top/bottom pie crust recipe. Instead of balling in two, make 8 to 12 smaller balls.
3) Mix an 8oz cream cheese (softened) w/ three tablespoons of sugar.
4) Flatten small balls (optionally, with your newly purchased and totally bitchin’ rolling pin), smush a tablespoon or two of cream cheese in the center and cover with a similar amount of the cooled gooseberries.
5) Crimp those bad boys shut and trim excess. We’ll have to pretend like I did this part of the recipe correctly.

6) Bake at 400 for 10-14 minutes.

My not-very-objective opinion is these tasted pretty decent but didn’t turn out to be terribly attractive. I think had I baked them in a mini-cupcake cooking sheet instead of on a flat pan it might have kept the three dimensionality I imagined when I started the project. Next time.

Looks delicious, Nanio!

YJPumpkin YJPie

I spent New Years' in Boston this year, and after ringing in the new decade in the most perfect way I could have imagined, I began a whole list (in my head) of things I wanted to accomplish in twenty-ten. Unbeknownst to me at the time, a mere two days later, I would have made my very first pumpkin pie. A fine accomplishment if you ask me!

Yep, I've never made a pumpkin pie.

I didn't grow up being a pumpkin lover, it wasn't until college that I was introduced to pumpkin bread (thanks to my boyfriends mom and her AMAZING recipe), which quickly became an all time favorite of mine. I've since enjoyed many pumpkin baked goods, muffins, pancakes, ice cream, the list goes on. Still - pumpkin pie is not my thing. It's the texture I think. I don't know. But I've never really loved it, and I've never made one. Until now.

It was a total last minute idea, and started about 45 minutes too late probably, but with the help of Nanio and his newly organized kitchen, we successfully threw together a pumpkin pie! We simply followed the recipe on the back of the Libby's Pumpkin Pie filling can, which included evaporated milk, some eggs, cinnamon, ginger, sugar, and probably a few other things. We used a graham cracker crust, because as I said we were extremely pressed for time.

I think I would have liked to have left it in the oven a little bit longer, but as it was we were leaving at the time we were supposed to be arriving at our friend's house for dinner - extra baking time was not an option.

All in all, I think the little guy turned out quite nicely. Everyone had a piece, and no one seemed to complain!