Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Cupcakes with a gob of cookie dough inside, and cookie dough frosting on top. Need I say more? Amazing but seriously intense. The trick is that the balls of cookie dough have to be frozen before you put them in the batter so they won't cook through and they'll still be dough. And the frosting is basically spreadable cookie dough. There are lots of recipes out there but I used this one, along with her photo because mine looked nothing like these.

Apple Pie

Apple pies are pretty easy to make, even for me. Frozen pie crust, dump in some apples, all you have to make is the crumb topping (essential pie topping if you ask me). But lately a bunch of people have been telling me it's not really that hard to make your own crust. So I decided to challenge myself. Here I am crumbling the frozen butter. An interesting experience. A pastry cutter would have been key here, but I don't have one. If only I had known what I was passing up at all those yard sales! Next time I see one I will certainly grab it. Regardless, the crust came out fine. Mom thought it was better than frozen ones so I'd say it was a success. It did take some work but I would do it again if I wanted a project. And there are so many different recipes to try out there! Butter? Shortening? Baking powder? What's the difference?
Then there's the crumb topping - what really makes the pie. I've made it with nuts and I've made it with oats, but whatever else you add in there, you've got to have the crumble. This is the tried and true recipe from my mom's ancient Joy of Cooking - the most stained page in the book by far. Posted right here for handy reference. Now go make pies!

Pasta with Lentils and Kale

I am not a huge fan of kale, but I got a bunch from my weekly farm share, that I need to use up. I decided to make this really crunchy vegetarian dish from epicurious.

The hardest part of the recipe was getting the timing right. Towards the middle of the process the onions, lentils, and kale are all cooking and it was hard to remember what was ready when.

Also, I think my proportions were way off. I didn't know how much "3/4 pound of kale" or "3/4 pound of pasta" were. I think I only had half the amount of onion needed and way too much pepper.

All in all, I would say this turned out better than I expected. It seems really healthy, but I don't know that it will make it into the regular rotation of meals. Maybe if we get kale again.