What is hospitality?

I have come to realize, that although a byline of my blog's title is "Recovering the Lost Art of Hospitality," I rarely address the subject of hospitality head on. 

My definition, simply put:
Hospitality is using what you have (time, talents, gifts, possessions, etc.) to bless someone else.

To me, hospitality is not about entertaining but rather creating an atmosphere of welcome.  Hospitality is about being present and willing to offer up something you have in the goal of taking care of someone else's needs.

It has nothing to do with having a perfect meal, decorated house or even a lot of space,
it's about making the most of your resources in order to help build a deeper relationship with another person.

It does not even have to be on your "own turf"--you can practice hospitality at the store by offering to let the person behind you with three items in their basket to go ahead of you or allowing another car to take the close parking space (bonus, you'll get to burn some calories if you park further out).  I have to confess that usually when I'm at the store with my screaming, squirming children who are helping themselves to bites out of candy bars off the checkout display, I have been on the receiving end of this hospitality rather than the giving end but I know how much I have appreciated others' kindness in this area!)


Some simple acts of hospitality:

• Putting a simple wrapped chocolate on the pillow of an overnight guest.
• Keep a brownie mix (or the ingredients to whip up a quick dessert) in the pantry and invite someone over for a simple impromptu visit with someone.
• When baking a cake (or said brownies, muffins, bread, etc.), cut off half and run it over to a neighbor 
• Holding the door open for the person behind you
• Recognizing an opportunity to lend someone assistance
• Surprise someone with coffee
• Write a thank you note, just because
• Double a recipe and keep the extra in a disposable container in the freezer to give to a friend or neighbor in need.
• Offer to watch someone's children for an hour or two.

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list.  I am so excited to hear of others' ideas of ways to "recover the lost art of hospitality." 

Non-Recipe Recipes

It's been a loonnngggg week.  Between some serious busyness and lack of motivation on my part, there hasn't been much real cooking round these parts lately.  Here are a few of our "go to's" when there hasn't been much time or inclination for anything elaborate.  What are your favorite Non Recipe Recipes?


Non-Recipe Recipes: Dinner and Lunch Ideas for the Time-Pressed and Creativity-Challenged

Frozen Cheese Ravioli or Tortellini: Top with jarred sauce or browned butter (just melt over medium heat until foamy and golden).  Or...layer cheese ravioli in place of lasagna noodles with meat sauce and shredded mozzarella for a quick lasagna!


Pita Pizzas: Toast 6" size whole pitas (or English muffins), top with sauce, cheese and desired toppings and bake at 400 until golden brown and bubbly.  This is one that's fun for the kids to do themselves. 


Rotisserie Chicken: A desperation dinner powerhouse because it can be used in so many ways.  Can be eaten plain with a salad and a loaf or bread, can also be shredded to use for chicken salad, bbq sandwiches, quesadillas, added to canned chicken broth, noodles and vegetables for a quick soup or thrown into pasta dishes.


Quesadillas: My kids are thrilled with some cheese melted in a tortilla.  My husband and I like to jazz ours up with additions of whatever is on hand--cooked chicken or steak, pico de gallo, crumbled bacon, fajita veggies, green chiles or chopped tomatoes. 


Pasta and Jarred Sauce: fancy it up by throwing in some ground beef or turkey or some chopped spinach or other cooked veggies.


Bean Burritos: As simple as canned refried beans and cheese or slightly more gourmet with a can of black beans mixed together with salsa and cheese wrapped in a tortilla.

Autumn Penne

Ok, the recipe title "Autumn Penne" doesn't begin to give you an idea of how exciting this recipe really is.  That said, I thought that calling it something that would give you a better window into this dish might be a little overwhelming.  You tell me, does "Chicken and Roasted Butternut Squash Penne in a Sage Brown Butter Cream Sauce with Balsamic Reduction Drizzle" sound like a bit much?

One bite, though, and you will agree it's well worth it. 

My sister, who is in the throws of medical school midterms, gave me a hard time the other night after making one of my recipes, a Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie, because it was a bit more involved than my usual posts.  It's true, usually a deciding factor for me in whether I'll try a recipe is how many dirty dishes it will create.  So, in fair warning to my sister, Elise, and other pinched for time friends, this is not going to be the simplest meal you've ever made. 

That said, it will be worth it and in reassurance, I made it on a weeknight and if a few of your components are done ahead of time, you really could throw it together really pretty quickly.  This really is a restaurant-worthy dish and you will feel so fancy and accomplished after making something like a "sage brown butter cream sauce" (trust me, it really is easy!).  This pasta encapsulates all the warm flavors of Fall in a dish and is one I am really excited to make again.  

Autumn Penne (or Chicken and Roasted Butternut Squash Penne in a Sage Brown Butter Cream Sauce with Balsamic Reduction Drizzle)
serves approximately 6
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (this was about one breast and using a rotisserie chicken is a really nice short cut)

1/2 butternut squash (about 1 pound), diced into 1/2" cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

12 oz dried shaped pasta (I used Ronzoni brand penne)

2-4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced into slivers (about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
8-10 fresh sage leaves, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup cream
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss squash cubes with olive oil and spread in an even layer on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme.  Roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender and starting to turn golden brown.  Remove from oven and set aside until ready to assemble pasta (*This is a step you could do up to a day in advance, storing the cooked squash pieces in the fridge until assembly time).

While squash is roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare pasta "al dente" (or still firm to the bite) according to package directions, drain, return to the cooking pot and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, also heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it foams.  Increase heat to medium. Add the sage and cook until the leaves turn crisp, about 1 ½ minutes.  Butter should be a nice nutty brown color and very fragrant (watch this very closely as the butter can go from browned to burnt pretty quickly).  Remove from heat and pour butter and sage leaves into a small bowl or measuring cup and set aside (I just kept the sage leaves whole in the sauce, but you can either remove them from the butter and cut into smaller pieces or remove them altogether, if you prefer).

Return pan to heat and add garlic pieces.  Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until garlic is fragrant.  Stir in cream, nutmeg, cinnamon and chicken broth.  Bring to a simmer and whisk in sage butter.  Turn heat to low and keep sauce warm, stirring occasionally.

In a small skillet over medium high heat, bring balsamic vinegar to a boil, stirring frequently.  Allow vinegar to boil until the liquid is thickened to maple syrup consistency and is reduced by about half.  Remove from heat and set aside.

To assemble:  In the pasta pot, pour sage brown butter cream sauce over pasta.  Stir in chicken, roasted butternut squash and a handful of freshly shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese.  Warm gently over medium-low heat, if necessary.  Adjust seasonings by adding salt or pepper if needed.  Transfer to a large serving dish (or individual ones) and drizzle balsamic syrup over top.  Garnish with additional fresh sage leaves as desired.  Serve with additional shredded cheese for sprinkling.

p.s. I think this would be good with a sprinkle of chopped toasted walnuts for another added texture and fall flavor as well.  I'll have to try that sometime and let you know how it goes! : )

Lighter Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

For the last couple of weeks, I've had a serious desire for all things pumpkin and had been especially wanting to bake something pumpkin related.  It was driving me crazy that in all the stores I was looking at, the shelves were bare where there was supposed to be cans of the Golden Autumn Goodness.  I was starting to get desperate.  So it was with great enthusiasm that I spied a 3-pack of canned pumpkin from Costco last week.  Snatched those babies up stat. Then the only dilemma was what to make? 

After scouring recipes for pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins, I was really frustrated.  Why is it that every recipe that sounded good called for several cups of sugar and tons of oil?  I just couldn't bring myself to make something that I would feel so guilty about eating.  I set out to make something that tasted great but lighter and I am thrilled with the results. 

By combining aspects of a couple recipes, I think I captured the best of both worlds, warm and spicy and creamy and full of the Fall flavor I was after yet a fraction of the fat and calories.  Very happy indeed. 

    
Lighter Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins:
(original recipe said it would make 24 muffins, I only got 18)

Cream Cheese Filling:
1 8 ounce brick reduced fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened to room temperature
1/2 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar

Lighter Pumpkin Muffin Batter:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract2 cups canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)


Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces

To prepare filling:
In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.  Spread on a piece of plastic wrap in a long log (about 1 1/2" wide and about 12" long).  Smooth the plastic wrap around the cream cheese and reinforce the roll of cream cheese with a piece of foil.  Place in the freezer and chill at least 2 hours or until firm (this is a good step to do the night before). 

To prepare muffins:
Mix together all the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour through ground cloves) in a large bowl.  You can also put all the dry ingredients into a large ziploc bag and shake to combine--also nice to do the night before! : ).

For streusel, mix together sugar, flour and cinnamon.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare muffin cups by lining with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine sugars and eggs and stir with a whisk until smooth.  Stir in vanilla, milk and vegetable oil.  Stir in pumpkin puree and mix until smooth.  In a large bowl, gently stir wet ingredients into the dry mixture just until combined.  


To assemble:
Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups, filling almost completely full.  Remove cream cheese log from freezer and slice into 24 equal pieces.  Place one piece of frozen cream cheese into each muffin cup, pushing it down slightly into the batter.  You can also smooth a little extra batter over top of the cream cheese if you prefer it to be a surprise.

Sprinkle a tiny amount of the streusel mixture over top of each muffin cup of batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until muffins are lightly browned and tops spring back when lightly touched.  Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. 

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats and The Best of Cooking Light

Vegetarian Black Bean and Quinoa Burritos

The streak is over.  And by streak, I mean a ridiculous string of postings on sweets.  I know, it was getting a little excessive.  To offset all that sugar (and no, I haven't given up sugar yet like I was musing about previously and yes, today I thoroughly enjoyed the pumpkin bar I picked out from the cute little bakery next to my son's hair cutting place--speaking of ridiculous, my 5 year old son has such tricky hair to cut that I take him to a fancy children's salon and spend more on his haircuts than I do), I am featuring these extremely healthy, yet incredibly delicious burritos.

Black beans and the protein-rich seed quinoa are mixed with other Southwestern style ingredients including a quick lime vinaigrette and wrapped in whole grain tortillas.  If you leave the cheese off the top, they're even a vegan recipe! 

I sort of made them up as I went along and wasn't sure what I was going to end up with but I was really happy with the result.  I was also quite relieved since I had made an extra pan of them to bring to a neighbor who just had a baby--I know they always say not to try out new recipes on company and I never listen.  Sometimes I pay the price for that, but thankfully not this round!

I knew it was a good sign when my dear husband told me they were "top notch" and the baby ate thirds (never mind that the floor around his chair was scattered with black beans and corn kernels--those are the days I wish I had a dog...). 

Vegetarian Black Bean and Quinoa Burritos
1 can (about 15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (about 1 small ear), you can also sub frozen or canned or omit
1/2 red bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and cooked according to package directions (can sub cooked brown or white rice)
large handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (about 1/2 cup)
juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 burrito size whole grain tortillas (Santa Fe Tortilla Company found at Costco recommended)
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded colby jack or cheddar cheese, optional
sour cream for serving, optional

In a large bowl, mix together black beans, corn, red bell pepper, onion, zucchini, quinoa and cilantro.  In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, cumin, garlic powder and salt.  Drizzle in olive oil and stir to combine.  Pour over bean mixture and toss together.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9x13" glass baking dish with cooking spray.  Scoop 3/4-1 cup filling onto each tortilla.  Roll tortillas around filling and place seam side down in baking dish.  Pour salsa over top of burritos (I like it poured right down the center so that the edges of the tortillas stay dry and get crispy).  Sprinkle cheese over top, if desired.  Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until top of burritos are lightly browned and salsa is bubbly.

**Double the recipe, assemble half in a disposable baking dish and put it in the freezer to give to someone in need of a pre-made, healthy meal!**

Low Fat Monkey Bread

 So I contemplated going on a fast from sugar for awhile.  That lasted about one day until I decided to make this.  I'm telling you, I think my relationship with sugar is borderline stronghold status.  Someday soon I probably ought to go cold turkey for awhile, but not today.

I'm not really sure why it is called Monkey Bread, it contains absolutely no monkey and no monkeys were harmed in the making of it.  Perhaps, it is because it is so easy maybe even a monkey could make it.

There are certainly a lot of versions of Monkey Bread out there and I think between the various sleepovers I went to as a kid, I've probably tasted a lot of them.  This is my favorite.  It's made with frozen bread dough and instead of using gobs of butter, you make a cinnamon caramel sauce on the stove with just a touch of butter, milk and (I admit, quite a lot of) sugar.

The Monkey Bread pictured is actually a half batch.  I made a full batch of the sauce, though, which meant I had leftovers to experiment with.  My initial research findings: it makes an excellent dip for sliced pears and when stirred into coffee with cream, it makes a darn close imitation of a Starbucks' Cinnamon Dolce Latte (the coffee that tastes like a cinnamon roll--how could you go wrong?). 

Monkey Bread
1 1/4 cup granulated white sugar, divided
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
2 (1-pound) loaves frozen white bread dough, thawed (or 24 unbaked balls of dough for dinner rolls, cut into fourths)
cooking spray

Combine 1 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk, butter and 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cook 1 minutes.  Remove sauce from heat; cool 10 minutes.

Combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a shallow dish, stir well.  Cut each loaf of dough into 24 equal portions.  Roll each portion in sugar mixture; layer dough balls in a 12 cup Bundt pan coated with cooking spray.  Pour sauce over dough; cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts 35 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Uncover dough, bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Immediately loosen edges of bread with knife.  Place a plate upside down on top of pan and invert bread onto a plate.  Drizzle any remaining syrup over bread.  Serve while still warm. 

Recipe Source: The Best of Cooking Light
P.S. I'm linking this recipe to The Frugal Girls Chic & Crafty Party! 

Super-Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies

I tend to avoid making cookies for several reasons.  First, although they seem simple enough for a child to put together, they rely pretty heavily on exact measurements (something I tend to be a bit impatient for) to turn out.  Second, bite-sized desserts can be a bit of a pitfall around these parts.  Finally, if I'm going to eat a cookie, it needs to be soft.

I can maintain strong willpower against Oreos and Chips Ahoy, Nutter Butters and Nilla Wafers, but if you put a chewy cookie in front of me, I'm hard pressed to resist.  I am one to purposely underbake any cookie I make, but oftentimes, those don't even turn out very well.  Intentionally chewy cookie recipes are a bit of a holy grail for me. 

This snickerdoodle recipe not only turned out soft and delicious, but the cookies remained irresistibly chewy for days afterward.  With the faint hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, they hint of the holidays to come but feel very appropriate for Fall.  I'm thankful that half the batch went to a neighbor who just had a baby and another portion of the dough was frozen for later.  Otherwise, there would have been little willpower to keep me in check.

Super Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies
makes about 3 dozen cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3-4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cinnamon sugar:
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat the oven to 425°F. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave and let it cool while you mix the dry ingredients. Stir together the flour, spices, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Whisk the sugar into the cooled butter until smooth.  Stir in the eggs into the butter-sugar mixture and add the vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just until it comes together, adding more flour as necessary until dough is able to be shaped into balls.
In a shallow bowl, mix together the white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Form small 1 1/2-inch balls of dough and roll them in the cinnamon sugar. Place them on an unlined, ungreased baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 7 minutes then remove and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack.
The dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days, well-wrapped. It can also be frozen in logs.

Recipe Source: The Kitchn.com's Super Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies

P.S. After all this sugar, I am looking forward to posting soon about some really delicious and HEALTHY vegetarian burritos...this dessert thing has gotten a bit out of hand lately.  Thinking I need to rekindle my relationship with Jillian Michaels stat!