Pumpkin Muffins

You'd think that after a day of cooking and hosting, I wouldn't want to be in the kitchen at all the next day. However, on Sunday I woke up craving a hot breakfast that did not involve eggs or hot cereal of any kind. I wanted a hot bread, and we happened to have a can of pumpkin in our cupboard! I found a recipe for pumpkin bread, but when I saw that we were one egg short and I didn't want to wait for the bread to cook for 80 minutes, I decided to search for a pumpkin muffing recipe instead. I found one quickly that was ideal for my conditions and got to work. In just over a half an hour, we were enjoying these pumpkin muffins and coffee on a cold and rainy Sunday morning. Perfection! These muffins are probably going to be my go-to muffin recipe whenever I need one. They are quick and easy to make; the pumpkin keeps them moist; the spices give them a kick, and the cinnamon streusel on top gives them the perfect amount of sweetness. And now I get to have one for breakfast every day this week!

Pumpkin Muffins
From Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can)
1/3 cup vegetable oil*
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar**
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Friendsgiving

This is a belated post for sure!! However, it’s about time for an update on the ol’ blog. Our lives have continued to be so crazy that I barely have time to sort out my daily activities let alone think about blogging!

With all the traveling we’d been doing in November, Bryan and I decided to stay in Chicago for Thanksgiving. We really needed the extra days to recuperate. Since we were away from family, we decided to host a Friendsgiving at our condo! Many of our friends have family in the area and were doing traditional Thanksgivings on Thursday, so we hosted them on Saturday! On Thursday we were productive and took care of school work, studying, cleaning and somehow managed to have time for a date night movie. Friday consisted of a little shopping and mostly prepping and cleaning for Saturday. We were planning the traditional Thanksgiving feast and we provided the turkey, stuffing, and two kinds of potatoes. We used recipes that I grew up with because they are so near and dear to my heart, but it was our first time making the turkey and stuffing and we were both a bit intimidated and didn’t want to mess up!  Our friends supplemented the feast by bringing sides and desserts!


Thanks to those of you who helped document the afternoon!! I was too busy to take pictures!

Bryan carving the turkey

You can barely see, but the famous stuffing is behind the turkey plate! Thanks to our friends who brought sides and desserts - we loved them all!

The table and centerpiece

This was the first time I actually received these recipes from my dad as well, so I will try to document them as best as I can. Keep in mind these recipes have been handed down through generations by word of mouth and by watching, so I’m taking the multi-paragraph email from my dad and trying to format it into a recipe. It's not in the typical ingredients and directions format, but more in the form of instructions as you go. If you plan on using these recipes, I suggest reading them through so that you don't miss an ingredient. I do like this way of explaining a recipe because once you do it one time, it's easy to remember.

Preparation Day

Turkey

My dad’s famous turkey recipe follows. He makes his own brine that is injected into the turkey and marinated overnight. The next day, the turkey is grilled for a few hours to perfection.

Start thawing the turkey two days ahead of time in the fridge. You can alternate between placing it in the kitchen sink and the fridge to make sure it thaws completely.

One day before, unpackage the turkey and start cleaning it out. There will be a paper packet with the giblets (liver, heart and gizzard) in the cavity of the turkey. Remove the packet and set the giblets aside. Cut off the neck and tail and set aside with the giblets.

Clean the turkey. Remove any loose skin and excess fat and rinse with cold water. Place the turkey on to a large durable pan (preferably lined with a plastic bag already so that all of the extra brine doesn’t spill all over).

Prepare the brine. Ingredients: one quart of cold water, 3 heaping tablespoons of Morton Tender Quick (curing salt), and 2 table spoons Liquid Smoke. Hardware needed: brine injector. Inject the brine into the meat of the turkey until it is all used up. Some of it will leak out into the bottom of the pan.

Tie the turkey with 18 gauge wire (we actually used twine) around the legs, across the wings and breast and one more in the middle. Cover the turkey with the plastic bag (we used a new unscented trash liner for our plastic bag), tie it shut and place it in the fridge over night.

Stuffing

Place the giblets, tail, and neck that you set aside while cleaning the turkey in a large kettle with about a quart of water (or more if you like). Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer for about an hour.

                *My dad prefers to add a ¾ pound package of extra giblets to give more flavors, so I did as well.

Remove contents from the broth so that they can cool. Save the broth in the kettle and place it in the fridge. Once you are able to handle the giblets, dice them into small pieces. Peel off any meat from the neck and dice it too. Discard the tail. Place the diced meats into a container and store in the fridge overnight.

Dice about one and a half cups of celery and two cups of white onion. Place them in a container and store in the fridge overnight.

You will also need a bag or two (depending on how big they are) of unseasoned croutons for the stuffing the next day.

Day of feast

Turkey

Take your turkey out of the fridge in the morning and remove it from the plastic bag. Wrap it in tin foil, leaving two inch holes on both ends so that heat can get through the cavity. Use one side of the grill for the direct heat and grill the turkey for about four hours, moving it back and forth between the direct and indirect heat until the thickest meat measures 170 degrees with a meat thermometer (our 19 pound turkey took about four hours). You can remove the tin foil for the last 20 minutes or so to let the skin brown up a little bit. Once the turkey is done on the grill, place it on a plate for about ten minutes and then start carving!

Stuffing

While the turkey is on the grill, make the stuffing.

Heat up the broth that was saved the day before. Add the diced celery and onion to it once it is warm. Season it to taste with salt, pepper, garlic powder, poultry seasoning (more than you think you need) and butter (optional). It should taste like strong chicken soup. Remember you will be adding it to a lot of dried bread, so you want to the flavor to be strong.

*At this point, I realized I didn’t have enough liquid for the amount of croutons I had, so I added four more cups of water and two vegetable bullions to the broth, which worked perfectly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray one or two glass baking pans (depending on how much you’re going to make) with non-stick spray.

Place the croutons in a large bowl, with room to spare. Slowly add the broth and vegetable mixture to the croutons to let them soak up the broth (I just used a ladle). Add the diced giblets from the day before. Continue adding broth until the croutons turn into a thick paste. If it is too liquidy, add more croutons. If it is too dry, add more broth. If you run out of broth, add water.

Place the mixture into your baking pan(s) about 3-4 inches thick. Cover with tin foil and bake for about an hour and a half. You can take the tin foil off for the last 20 minutes to brown the top if you like.

11 things

Our lives are insanely busy these days, so here are eleven noteworthy things going on in our lives right now.

1. I’ve been given the time to blog because my flight is delayed right now.

2. Today’s date is pretty cool, 11/11/11, but not as cool as 01/02/2010, the full numeric palindrome and day that Bryan and I got married!

3. Boston trip was great!

4. Looking forward to a quick trek up to MN this weekend!

5. Looking forward to Philly next weekend!

6. Planning to prepare our very first Thanksgiving feast for friends in Chicago!

7. Looking forward to more interview trips.

8. I’ve been so frustrated and stressed about my applications that I’ve wanted to tear my hair out. I think I will survive though.

9. My foot is healing quickly with the awesome help of Dave, my physical therapist!

10. I get to see Dimitri today after a couple of days away! I miss the little fur ball!

11. I’m SO PROUD of my husband!

Slow Cooker White Bean and Ham Soup and a Massive Update!

Wow! I can't believe how fast October flew by! We spent two weekends in Minnesota, one for the marathon weekend and the other at great friends' wedding. We also went to Kansas City for another wedding of one of my college friends! Let's see if I can give a more detailed recap of our lives!

Where has the time gone?

During the weeks, our time seemed just as busy! I've been putting a great deal of time into the nutrition class that I'm taking in addition to working full time. Another thing that has been taking up my time is physical therapy for my injured foot! I've been going to PT sessions twice a week for the past 3 weeks and I can really tell that there has been major improvement! When I took the boot off, I felt pretty uneasy with little balance. Since then I have made major strides in balance, strength and function! Today I got to hop on the elliptical for my warm up and I was pleasantly surprised that I had no pain! It's so crazy that when you are doing physical therapy, the most elementary activities/actions turn into enormous hurdles and can be very painful. It's nice when I can see actual improvement with my ability to do the excercises and a decrease in pain after the sessions!

Slow Cooker White Bean and Ham Soup
Find recipe here.

With all that is going on, there has been little time for anything else during the week! I honestly can't remember the last time I went to the grocery store or made anything from a new recipe. I guess that means we've been eating our favorite go-to recipes that we just know! Luckily, Bryan had a little bit of down time a couple of weeks ago, before his life got crazier than mine, and was able to really help out! I had a huge craving for ham and bean soup one day a couple of weeks ago, so I found this recipe online and he got it going in the crock pot just hours later! It totally hit the spot and we had awesome left overs for days!! We have extra ham in the freezer and I think I'm going to have to whip this up again this weekend!

Big Things are Happenin'!

There is so much going on this fall, it's hard to put it into few words. Bryan is traveling all around the country full time going on residency interviews for urology, and I am trying to join him on as many that I can! With my job and class, my time is more limited, but I am able to make it on the important ones. I thought my life was busy already but add on traveling a couple times a week and it's hard to keep everything straight! This hectic time will continue to consume our lives up until Christmas, when we will submit his residency rank list! In January, we will know where he is placed! It's very exciting, and I will try to update on this topic when I can!

One Last Note

Oh, one last thing. This little guy keeps me company when Bryan is gone, and we miss him like crazy when we are away! He's such a funny little kitty! He's my study buddy, cuddle bear, comic relief and provides love and entertainment like no other!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies have been all the rage on food blogs and Pinterest, and I decided that it was time for me to make them because I finally got my hands on some pumpkin! Can you believe that multiple grocery stores near us in downtown Chicago actually run out of canned pumpkin (filling and puree) regularly throughout the fall?! I should really just stock up in the summer before everyone decides that they have to put pumpkin in everything!

Anyway, sorry about the rant, but I'm so glad pumpkin is back in my baking life and that I'm actually able to be up on my feet a little more so that I can bake! These cookies were definitely worth the wait on both accounts :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla and chocolate chips and mix well.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Rice Krispies Treats

I've been able to be on my foot just a little more now that it's been healing for three weeks, but it is still a little sore and I'm still stuck in the boot. I try not to be up on my feet too much at home, but I figured some quick baking like Rice Krispies Treats would be harmless. And these babies sure are worth me being on my feet for a short time! Everyone loves peanut butter and chocolate, and these treats give a nice change with white chocolate, which I happen to love! These rice krispie treats are sweeter and chewier than regular rice krispies, and I absolutely loved them. It's a quick and delicious fall treat that everyone will enjoy!

Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:


4 tablespoons butter
1 bag (10.5 ounces) miniature marshmallows
½ cup peanut butter 
5 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup white chocolate chips
½ cup peanut butter chips

Directions:

1. Butter (or spray with non-stick cooking spray) an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan; set aside.

2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter until melted.

3. Add the Rice Krispies cereal, white chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Stir until well coated.

4. Using a greased spatula or spoon or a piece of wax paper, evenly press the mixture into the pan. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, or until set. Cut into squares and serve.

Injury Update

Since I've been injured the past couple of weeks, I've really been taking it easy in all aspects of life. No working out, very little cooking since I'm not supposed to be on my feet (Bryan has been helping so much!), and consequently, no blogging about workouts or food!

We had a fabulous weekend in Minnesota a couple of weekends ago! We got to hang out with friends most of the weekend and watched the marathon that I was supposed to run. It was really sad and I teared up a couple of times, but I knew that had I run, I would have permanently injured myself. I knew that I was making the smart decision to not run, but it was hard to watch. Now I'm trying to figure out if I'll ever have time to train for another marathon! At least I know that there will many more half marathons in my future :)

My days consist of going to work every day, and then coming home and putting my feet up! My foot is still quite sore. I had to get an MRI today because the doctor said that since I still have a significant amount of pain, he needs to know where it is coming from so that he can figure out a proper treatment plan. He'll be able to tell how bad the stress fracture is and if there is any tendon involvement.

I've been using my time to study a lot for the nutrition class that I'm currently taking. So, I guess it's not all bad that I am not able to do much right now!

And luckily, Dimitri makes great blog material. He's so freaking cute! He's been my consistent study buddy, or lack there of... Let's just say he keeps life interesting in the Hinck Household :)

Dr.'s Orders

After 18 weeks of  training, I am no longer able to run the Twin Cities Marathon :( Over the last 6 weeks, roughly, I have developed a stress fracture in my left foot. Despite my proper tapering, it was still getting worse in the last few weeks, which prompted me to go see an orthopedic physician. The stress fracture is located in my navicular bone seen here:

(source)

While I'm very disappointed because I was very excited to run the race. However, I am also very proud of myself. I fully completed my training for my first marathon ever, and I really enjoyed it! I know that my legs could carry me through the race no problem (if my foot wasn't injured) and I'm very proud of my thorough training. I was running very well and consistently and could have predicted a good finish time, give or take 5 minutes. It is not a good idea to run, especially a race, if you have a stress fracture. It can get much worse and even cause permanent damage if it is not caught early enough and allowed to heal completely. For my foot to heal, I have to wear a walking boot/cast for a few weeks and there's no running allowed. I was very surprised to find no pain while walking with the boot on! I guess I'd really been doing a good job of walking and running through the pain these past few weeks.

I do hope to use this time in the next few weeks to start some strength training and weight lifting that I had planned on adding to my workouts after the marathon. I'll start by focusing on my upper body and core, and adding my legs into the workouts if my foot can handle the pressure.

Until then, this is my lifestyle.

I am still able to do day-to-day activities with the boot, but I need to focus on resting my foot as much as I can, and I try to take it easy in the evenings. It is hard for me to sit and relax when there are things to be done! Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who is very helpful and doesn't let me get up if I don't have to. He's even taking care of things in the house and making dinner for me, even though he is very busy studying for Step 2 of his medical school board exams!

We are still planning on going to Minneapolis this weekend for some planned events and festivities, and we'll definitely be cheering on some friends and the other runners running the race!

Girl & the Goat, take 2 - A random act of kindness

(source)

Some of you may remember the first time that Bryan and I had the opportunity to eat at Girl & the Goat, one of the most popular restaurants in Chicago right now. That was definitely a night to remember! Our second date at Girl & the Goat is also a night to remember. I guess we have some major luck when it comes to this place :)

After our first experience, I decided that I should put in reservations to go again in the future. So last March, I was able to make reservations for Monday, September 19th. That's how popular this place is!! When I ended up needing to take the GRE on Tuesday the 20th, I decided to keep the reservation, thinking that it would be a nice little relaxing date night and take the night off before the test. It's definitely a date with a story to tell!

Girl & the Goat has small plates to share that are of three categories: vegetable, fish and meat. We started with their famous bread that is flavored with butter to taste like soup! It was beer bread with beer cheese butter and garlic butter. We ordered two vegetable dishes: the chickpea fritters with eggplant tomatillo caponata and mozzarella, and the infamous sauteed green beans with fish sauce vinaigrette and cashews. For fish, we ordered the seared tuna with lamb sausage, grilled blueberries and pepitas. For our meat dish, we decided to stay away from the multiple tongue options, and ordered grilled pork ribs with tomatillo mushroom slaw and grilled scallion vinaigrette. They were brought out gradually and enjoyed thoroughly! All of the dishes were so incredibly delicious! I can't wait to get back there and try more of the food! I just can't say enough how good it is!!!

Alright, so you thought the food was the best part. Close. Towards the end of our dinner, our waiter informed us that the couple sitting next to us (actually, it was quite a close proximity because the restaurant was packed!) who had just left had paid for our meal! We were so flabbergasted, we didn't even know what to do! The waiter said he'd be back with dessert menus and left the table side. Bryan happened to see a glimpse of the gentleman out of the window and ran outside to thank him and exclaim our awe. The man, who I think would have liked to escape faster, just wished us both the best of luck. We were thinking back over the course of our meal - we did have a few conversations with the couple. We introduced ourselves and explained what we do. We eyed each others dishes when they came out, and when asked, we gave them a suggestion of a location for them to enjoy a drink later. But nothing out of the ordinary!!!

The waiter came back with dessert menus and stated that not only did the gentleman pay for our meal, but he left a sizable cushion and that we needed to order a couple desserts and have a couple more drinks each. We were just stunned! Not only that, but we were so full we didn't even think we could even share one dessert! We just couldn't handle it, and felt bad, so we told the waiter that we'd share one dessert and a desert wine. He came back with two desserts and two different drinks, "because they're good, and we should just enjoy it!" The menu changes so frequently, I can't even look up what we had. One was a chocolatey delight with brown sugar cake and the other was a warm blueberry delicious explosion of goodness. We probably sat there an hour longer than we should have just enjoying ourselves and the fun evening.

Bryan found out that the gentleman's name was Joel and we have him to thank for our wonderful date night. I don't think there is any better way to thank him than to pay it forward in the future... when we can hopefully afford it!

Grilled Shrimp

When Bryan's parents were visiting us a few weeks ago, we cooked a dinner for them of grilled shrimp and steak! It was so delicious that we ate those shrimpies up before I could snap a photo. We just decided that we'd have to make them again very soon! Luckily, shrimp went on sale at a nearby grocery store, so Bryan picked some up over the weekend. We marinated the shrimp in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and cajun seasoning (more than you think you need!) for about 10-15 minutes while we got a salad ready for a quick and light dinner. We skewered the shrimp and grilled them for 2 minutes on each side, and they were cooked perfectly! They were so delicious!

This recipe is so easy, fast, healthy and satisfying! If you have the shrimp on hand, it's a quick meal that can be enjoyed at anytime, whether fancy or casual. You could also un-skewer the shrimp after grilling them and serve them as appetizers!