TJ Hirst

Pumpkin is plentiful this time of year, but I don’t think I’ve ever served traditional pumpkin pie. My favorite alternatives—pumpkin cheesecake with a praline sauce or frozen pumpkin pie, which is essentially pumpkin ice cream in a graham cracker crust. When the cans of pumpkin come out for those desserts, I’m bound to also make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but did you ever think to make them with butterscotch chips? Neither did I. Our personal pumpkin favorite may be Pumpkin Cake Roll, which is the ultimate “cream cheese-frosting delivery device.”

Pumpkin Cake Roll

3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon lemon juice

¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon salt

I cup nuts (optional)

1 cup powdered sugar
6-8 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Beat the eggs on high speed for five minutes in an electric mixer. Gradually beat in 1 cup of sugar, a tablespoon at a time over the five minutes. When finished, fold in canned pumpkin and lemon juice with a rubber scraper.

Mix flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Sift and fold into egg and pumpkin mixture, a little at a time.

Prepare a large jelly roll pan. Grease and flour the bottom, line with waxed paper, and lightly grease the top of the waxed paper. Spread the cake batter carefully and evenly over the wax paper-lined jelly roll pan. Top with chopped nuts, if desired. Bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle a clean flour sack towel with powdered sugar. Turn out the still warm cake out onto the towel. Roll the towel and the cake together, starting from the short end. Allow the cake to cool at least 20 minutes in the towel but no longer than 30-40 minutes.

Beat the butter and the cream cheese in a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined, then beat on medium speed until smooth.

Unroll the towel and cake. Spread the cream cheese filling over the whole cake, leaving a 1/4 to 1/2 inch edge. Roll the cake without the towel, carefully lifting the cake off the towel as you go.

Transfer the cake roll to a serving dish and chill for at least one hour. Slice in 1-1 1/2 inch slices and serve.

At this time of year, my husband especially wants the nostalgic food from his Finnish family traditions. Paul’s mom taught me to make her Cabbage Rolls one fall Saturday standing together at her kitchen counter. Last Saturday when my son sat on our kitchen stool watching and photographing me making them, I promised I would teach his wife someday, too.

Cabbage rolls are essentially an oblong meatball wrapped in a cabbage leaf and baked in the oven. Maple syrup, added to the bottom of the baking pan, gives the distinctive flavor that makes them different from most other cabbage roll recipes. This recipe makes quite a few, so we often roll and bake them on Saturday and invite company to share them for Sunday dinner. I turn this into a not-so-modern meat and potatoes meal with a big pile of real mashed potatoes on the side.

Finnish Cabbage Rolls

2 heads cabbage
3 lbs. ground beef
1 finely chopped onion
2 eggs
1 cup cooked rice
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. salt
maple syrup (imitation is fine)

First, boil the cabbages in one or two large pots of water for about 30 minutes, until the leaves are tender. When the cabbage is cooked, drain most of the water from the pot, saving at least 1 or 2 cups of cabbage water in the bottom. Lift the cabbage heads out of the pot with a couple of big spoons and set onto a towel or clean counter. Allow to cool while you mix the other ingredients.

Second, mix the eggs, onion, salt and pepper, ground beef and cooked rice in a bowl, and set aside.

Third, turn the cabbage heads bottom up.

Carefully peel back each cabbage leaf. The first few leaves will be softer and more difficult; you can discard these if they tear apart. The next leaves will be firmer and not as soft and will retain their shape.

Cut it from the base of the stem with a small knife. Going around the base of the cabbage, cut off about 2/3 of the leaves on each cabbage, one-by-one.

Trim the hard ribbed edge off the back, and then set in a pile to the side. You may leave the harder, smaller leaves toward the center attached and use them for something else.

Fourth, when you have a good pile of cabbage leaves for rolling, prepare your baking pan. We use a large rectangular jelly-roll baking sheet with about 1-inch sides. Pour at least 1 cup of the cabbage water in the pan. Pour 3-4 tablespoons of maple syrup and a few dashes of salt over the water.

Fifth, take one cabbage leaf and lay curled side up on the counter.

Put a large spoonful of the meat mixture on the top of the cabbage leaf, near where you cut it from the stem.

Fold in the sides and roll to the end. Place seam side down in the jelly roll pan. Repeat with the rest of the meat mixture and cabbage leaves.

Sixth. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Baste with juice after 30 minutes. You may either serve them at this point or use this double-cook method for a softer and more tender cabbage roll: transfer them to a large pot, along with the juice from the baking sheet, refrigerate and reheat the nest day in the same pot by boiling on the stove for thirty minutes for 30 minutes. Save the juice from the pot, and served it alongside the cabbage rolls and mashed potatoes.

When I was a young cook, a young wife and a young mother, I never strayed from a recipe. For years, I followed every step precisely. My husband, on the other hand, could put in a little of this or a little of that. I surmised that he was more experienced, more creative or that he just didn’t care. I have since learned that he had more confidence to try it out.

A leader in my church gave an inspiring talk last week to women about finding happiness through creativity and compassion. He said.

The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.

Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.

Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Happiness, Your Heritage

He shared a funny example of the difference between how he and his wife cook, which reminded me that my husband is not like most men, or at least most men of a certain generation. He cooks. But not only that, he cooks with confidence and creativity. After watching him for the past 18 years, I can now set aside a recipe and create one of my own, like this cherry almond bread. Overcoming my fear of failure and trusting myself in the kitchen was just what I needed to uncover my hidden creativity out of the kitchen, too.

I’ve discovered creativity follows a need. A few weeks ago, I wanted to make a special breakfast for Saturday morning on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, I ran out of time making three other things that day. (My cooking limits is usually three items. Otherwise I become overwhelmed in the kitchen.)

Sometimes a particular ingredient sparks my creativity, like the dried cherries I had left over from making the Wheat Berry Salad last month. Those are great. Have you ever tried them?

I considered making the bread dough I had already prepared into cherry almond sweet rolls. That would have been tasty, but an even faster alternative would be to roll out the dough, add the dried cherries, almonds and a butter/sugar filling, roll it into a loaf and cook it whole. I slathered cream cheese frosting on top and YUM!

My Cherry Almond Bread is a variation on my mom’s Cinnamon Raisin Bread. Here’s how I did it, step-by-step:

1. Make bread dough. I used this recipe and reduced the whole wheat flour by a cup to two cups and added an extra cup of white flour. Allow to rise for one hour.

2. After the dough doubles, cut into two pieces. Shape one loaf according to the recipe and set aside in a loaf pan to rise. Roll out the second piece of dough into a rectangle.

3.  Partially melt ¼ cup butter in a glass measuring cup in the microwave (about 30 seconds, depending on your power setting and softness of butter). Add ½ cup granulated sugar to the butter and ½ teaspoon almond extract. While I didn’t do this, I would recommend adding a drop or two of red food coloring to make the sugar mixture pink for a more visible swirl in the bread. Stir to combine.

4. Spread the sugar mixture on top of the rolled-out dough, leaving about 1 inch all around for an edge.

5. Sprinkle ½ cup to 1 cup dried cherries over the sugar mixture. Sprinkle ½ cup slivered almonds over the cherries.

6. Fold up the edges on the short ends and roll up the dough, beginning from the long end of the rectangle. Place seam side down on a large greased baking sheet, and allow to rise for about 20-30 minutes.

7. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and make cream cheese glaze.

8. Soften 3 oz. of cream cheese. Stir in enough powdered sugar to make a spreading consistency. Optional - add ¼ teaspoon almond extract to the glaze. Frost the loaf when still warm but not hot, about 30 minutes after baking. Store in refrigerator to set glaze. Slice to serve.

In a follow-up to yesterday’s little accident in the kitchen, the dinner was salvaged—despite the fire—and very tasty. Last week I posted a picture and link to a healthy recipe I tried, but this week I am sharing this rich and filling pasta dish that my mom often served. The season for comfort food is starting, and Bow Tie Pasta satisfies in a number of different ways.

Bow Tie Pasta

1 lb. bulk sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon leaf basil, crumbled
1 teaspoon leaf oregano, crumbled
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 (8 oz) pkg farafelli pasta (shaped like bow ties)
½ cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Flatten sausage into patty. Brown on both sides and remove to a paper towel. (AND SET AWAY FROM THE STOVE!!)

Saute onion and garlic. Drain tomatoes, reserving liquid. Brown tomatoes for five minutes in skillet. Return meat to skillet with tomato juice and seasonings. Simmer 30 minutes on low. Cook pasta and spoon sauce over pasta. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Personal Notes: Play with the seasonings and adjust to personal preference and try fresh herbs if you have them. You also might want to add more tomatoes if you like a juicier sauce, even double the amount, but be sure you brown them. That step gives the tomatoes a characteristic flavor.

My neighbor and I took a walk just before dinner this week, and we compared what we’ve been feeding our families. I coveted her dinners-for-two menu of salmon and rice and wondered if we would ever be able to eat adult food again.

I had been to the grocery store and once again stocked our pantry with cold cereal, snacks, and fun foods to take for school lunch. “I probably spend 90% of my food budget on filler foods and maybe just 10% for the real food,” I said.

That’s not really true, but those fillers do seem to take up more space, not only in the pantry but also in our diet—and ultimately fill up other places.

In this month’s issue of Real Simple different families share how they balance the dinner hour in their home. For me, the question is not so much balancing schedules but balancing expectations, nutritional needs and taste preference in our family.

I took a chance on the Wheat Berry Salad with Bacon, hoping to find the balance between fiber, flavor and fun. The recipe was easy, made good use of the wheat in my pantry and wasn’t sneered at by the commentators in my house. I made it my own by replacing the flat-leaf parsley with fresh thyme from my garden and adding a chopped fresh pear.

Everyone ate it, but it tasted the best when I lunched on the leftovers on the screen porch by myself. With the sun shining on me for one of the last of our warm summer days, I imagined that this would be the way I would eat if I just cooked for myself. Fruits, vegetables, grains, a little meat for flavor. I would be satisfied.

Somehow, though, the meal just didn’t seem complete without sneaking that Little Debbie Fudge Round from the stash of lunch desserts.

How do you balance the varying nutritional needs and taste preferences of your family?