Breakfast for Dinner

It's autumn! And therefore socially acceptable to go pumpkin-crazy! Between the rushed school-day mornings, the chilly air and the fact that the sun seems to set a little earlier each day, it's also the perfect time of year to have breakfast for dinner. So... why not combine the two? Make pumpkin waffles... for dinner!

I found this recipe on a website the other day and practically wet my pants. I love pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin everything! So I really don't know why this had never occurred to me before, but now I feel it is my duty to the world to share the discovery:

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 C flour
3 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon (or more)
1 t nutmeg (or more)
1 t ground ginger (or more)
1 pinch salt
2 eggs
1/4 C brown sugar
1 T vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (Boo! No canned pumpkin, I will explain the better option)
1 2/3 cups milk
2 t melted butter

So, as expected, I changed the recipe a bit... The first thing you want to do is avoid using canned pumpkin if you can help it. Instead, cut up your pumpkin into medium-size cubes and boil them in water (about half-way up the pot) for a while (about ten minutes) until you can easily pierce through the cubes with a fork. Strain the water out and mush up the pumpkin with a fork. My mom was kind enough to do this for me the night before and then we jut kept it in the fridge.
























Make sure the pumpkin has cooled before you use it. Once this is ready, mix all the dry ingredients together, adding other spices if you want or messing with the quantities to see what suits you.


















Set this mixture aside and beat the rest of the ingredients together in a different bowl.

















Next, mix the two together, making sure that you don't over-beat the mixture.
























Make waffles! Or you can make pancakes if you prefer. You can serve them with bacon or sausages if you want a more substantial dinner or just eat them by themselves! I put some butter and maple syrup on my first waffle but decided with the second that they're quite nice on their own too so it's really up to you to experiment.
























The recipe I found claimed to only make five small waffles so I decided to double the recipe. The result? I have about 21 waffles. This is fine though, you can keep some batter in the fridge or freeze the waffles for another occasion.

Enjoy!

Frozen Lemon Pie

Some of you may not remember, as it is now cold and overcast in good old Paris, but a few weeks ago Paris was hot and muggy and, since I was going over to Derk's house for dinner, this seemed like the perfect desert to make for the occasion.

Almost every single time we had a dinner party when I was little my mom would make frozen lemon pie for desert. It is an all-time favorite in my family and guests never seem to be able to leave without asking for the recipe.

Frozen lemon pie is to my sister Violeta as carrot cake is to me: she loves it. My sister's birthday is in the summer whereas mine is in the winter which is the only explanation as to why it isn't my favorite birthday choice too as, after all, the cake is frozen. Another great thing about this recipe is that its super easy to make! So here it goes:

CRUST
1 1/2 C crushed "digestive" cookies (you can also use ginger snaps, mix in some cereal or granola, some cinnamon or anything that sounds good. The amount also depends on the size of the pan you are using but essentially you just need enough to evenly cover the bottom of the pan)
3 T melted butter (you may need a bit more or less depending on the cookies but you want to have it keep the crumbs together, not drench them.)

A good way to crush the cookies is to put them in a zip lock bag and mush them with a rolling pin. You can also just use a fork, you hands or if you're super fancy you can use a food processor.

Next all you want to do is mix in enough butter for the crumbs to stick together but not be completely saturated. Once you're done mixing it up just push the crust into the bottom of the pan (we use a springform pan but a normal pie pan will do just fine).























I also discovered that it's probably a good idea to put a layer of wax paper between the pan and the crust as it is nearly impossible to gracefully serve the pie since it tends to get stuck. Once you're done with the crust just stick the pan (and crust) in the freezer while you make the filling.

FILLING:
4 eggs
3/4 C of lemon juice (around 4 lemons)
the zest from the lemons
1 can of condensed milk
1 C of cream

The first thing you want to do is separate the eggs.

Next wash and grate the lemons to collect the lemon zest and then juice them (make sure no seeds get in the juice although pulp is ok).
























Beat together the egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest and condensed milk and set aside.
























Whip up the cream and set it aside. Then beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.



















Fold the lemon mixture and egg whites into the whipped cream so as to mix it together but keep the light fluffy texture of the cream and the egg whites.

















Spoon the mixture into the pan and freeze overnight.

When i was little my mom would always make me a mini version of the pie in a ramekin so that i could have some for dinner before the guests came which is exactly what i did for her this time as she wasn't joining us for dinner. It's a nice idea to make some small ones no matter what your motive is.


















Regardless of whether you make a big pie, small pies, or a combination of the two, enjoy the recipe! And trust me... you will.