Cranberry and Pecan Praline Ice Cream

I know, I know, we're practically on the biggest foodie day of the whole entire year (it's the day after tomorrow and I STILL don't know what I'm baking up), and here I am, bringing you ice cream.  Some parts of the country are buried in snow, and other parts are getting ready for the snow that's on its way, yet somehow, I find sharing an ice cream recipe to be perfectly reasonable. I mean, this particular frozen treat is studded with ruby red cranberries and sweet and crunchy pecan praline, which to me, seems to be the perfect blend of cool ice cream and warm fall flavors.  It's an ice cream treat that's Thanksgiving-worthy. 

I really think that ice cream is my favorite treat, ever.  As much as I love cake and cookies, ice cream is just a whole different thing. I find ice cream so comforting, and it's an indulgence that I don't think I'll ever be able to say no to. Regardless of the temperature outside, ice cream is the one pick me up that will always bring a smile to my face, and it's one of my favorite ways to end a big meal (or any meal, really). I don't know about you, but as much as I love pie and cake, sometimes the thought of eating a thick wedge seems less than ideal after I've eaten a huge meal.  Ice cream somehow seems lighter to me, and is a sweet treat that I'll look forward to more for dessert.  Serving ice cream for dessert on Thanksgiving doesn't need to be reserved to plain vanilla on the side of a slice of pie (not that there's anything wrong with that: see here).  The ice cream itself can be the star of the dessert spread!

Dutch Baby with Cranberry Syrup

Hi guys!  Here I am again posting a not-super-healthy recipe in January, despite the fact that it's resolution frenzy/detox/back-to-normal season.  I know, I get it. I'm working on it too.  I ate too many cookies in December, and decided that "that extra day off from the gym would be ok" too many times.  Too many mugs of hot cocoa were enjoyed as a form of relief from cold December days, and too many drinks were had on New Year's Eve. Even though we're coming out of this season of food excess, I can't seem to stop myself from wondering...when can I make post that cake recipe idea that just popped into my head?  When will it be appropriate to go back to consistently posting delicious buttery goodies?  Will people hate me if all I want to bake and photograph is frosting swirled cake in January?  What about ice cream?  Surely people will be ok with an ice cream post...maybe.  I hope I'm not the only one who's been having these thoughts.  By no means am I saying that we should all give up on our resolutions of having a better, fitter, healthier 2014, but we should be realistic.  I for one, cannot give up dessert or chocolate, no matter how hard I may try.  I can't and I won't.  The occasional treat is always helpful, both for our bellies and our sanity.  So, let's promise each other that we will simply take things in moderation, and not deprive ourselves of a little indulgence here and there, so long as we make good choices the rest of the time!  I'm already back to my healthy eating habits and lifting lots of heavy things at the gym, but right now, it's the weekend.  Time to celebrate!  

Since it's the weekend, let's celebrate at breakfast time.  Breakfast is one of my favorite meal times, although I guess I should be more specific.  I love brunch.  Brunch is great because it happens later in the morning, meaning that I have more time to sleep in, which is always a good thing.  I do like regular weekday breakfasts though, and I'll usually have an egg white omelet or a big bowl of PB+J oats.  Weekend breakfasts are the best though, because I have more time to get creative and whip up something special, usually in the form of pancakes or French toast.  Every now and then, however, I get into this weird mood where all I could want in this world is a stack of beautiful, fluffy pancakes with syrup dripping down the sides of them, but I just feel like I can't bring myself to stand over a griddle and flip pancakes.  And the stirring that comes before that.  And the bowls that need to be washed after that.  I don't know why my laziness sometimes gets the better of me (and inconveniently when I'm craving a stack of pancakes), but when this situation comes up, I have a simple solution.  Dutch. Baby.

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Crumb Muffins

November has always felt like the shortest month for me.  Time really just seems to fly once we hit November, and I can't explain why.  It's crazy to think that Thanksgiving is just two weeks away!  I always begin the month planning out an array of perfectly schemed Thanksgiving desserts, but somehow, every single year, without fail, the time just seems to disappear right before my eyes, and all of the sudden, we're just two weeks away from my favorite holiday.  Maybe this means I need to spend a little more time in the scheduling portion of my Thanksgiving scheming, rather than spending the overwhelming majority of it with my head buried in cookbooks and food magazines.  I just can't help myself, though.  I want to try so many recipes, that I am always getting a bit over my head and completely overestimate how much I can actually accomplish in the time that I have. Sadly, I've gotten used to this mild disappointment that seems to inevitably strike with the coming of every holiday season.  Sigh.  That's what I get for having so many foodie magazine subscriptions...

Today's recipe is not a Thanksgiving dessert recipe, despite the frustrations I just described about running out of time to try all the things I want to try.  While not a Thanksgiving dessert, these little cranberry chip muffins with a buttery crumb topping are something that I had put on my list of things to make a long time ago, so at least it's a sign that I was able to actually make one of the things that had caught my eye accomplished!  As for Thanksgiving desserts, don't worry.  Pies are coming.  Trust me.  I may even throw in some extra desserts. I've got the end of your Thanksgiving feast covered, so fear not!

Orange, Cranberry & Chocolate Chip Muffins

What a crazy past couple of days it's been!  There's been good and bad, and a lot of just plain craziness. Hurricane Sandy caused much more devastation than I think anyone had been expecting.  Thankfully, my family was relatively unaffected.  Sure, they had neither power nor heat for 8 days, but when you look at the bigger picture and think about how much damage the storm caused, and how many lives it changed, it puts everything into perspective.  Eight days of no power really isn't all that bad.  I went home on Monday so I could be at home to vote on Tuesday, and I couldn't believe what I saw.  A lot of the streets had been cleaned up by my house, but even still, there were enormous heaps of garbage bags in front of almost everyone's houses, along with ruined furniture and appliances, and every now and then, you'd come across giant branches on the street that hadn't yet been cleared off.  The Trader Joe's by my house, literally a ten minute drive, was completely destroyed, with only its four outer walls remaining.  The majority of the traffic lights in my neighborhood were still not working, and the lines to get just a couple of gallons of gas went on for blocks.  I was actually at home when the power finally came back, and the reaction was incredible.  There was a brief flash of power, and my parents and I just looked at each other, and we ran to the front door.  Everyone else on my block must have done the same, because then the power came back for real, and all you could hear were people shouting, "Power! Power!  Power!!!"

More shouting filled the streets last night, but for completely different reasons.  Rather than shouts of relief, celebratory singing, cheering, and screaming could be heard all around campus.  Columbia was pretty happy with Obama's re-election!  I had been looking forward to this day for so long.  I remember I was really bummed out that I couldn't vote in the 2008 election because I was only 17, and I knew there was no way I was going to miss voting this time around!  To be honest though, I found the actual voting experience rather underwhelming. I'm not sure what I was expecting, because filling out those little bubbles on the scantron couldn't actually be that exciting, but I don't know...I may have been underwhelmed, but I still got to vote!  That was the good part of the past couple of days.  The crazy part?  This nor'easter!  We went from having a hurricane one week, to a crazy winter storm only a week later.  Mother nature, give us a break plz.  My hair can't take too many winter storms like this (seriously, not-so-pretty things start happening when there's a ton of winter precipitation...)! Hopefully this storm won't be too bad!  Given that the past couple of days have been a little hectic, I knew I needed something a little stable, something that'll always be good no matter what the circumstances are. Chocolate chip muffins are perfect for this sort of predicament.