I love winter—for about thirty days. During this time, winter is magical and full of my favorite traditions that capture every sense. Winter is for hot cocoa and fuzzy blankets. It’s for taking fun treks in the snow that turn your nose red and your toes cold, so when you come home all you want to do is get warm and toasty in front of a fire. Winter smells like pine needles, old Christmas ornaments, and sugar cookies baking in the oven.

This is why it’s one of my favorite times of the year. For thirty days. After this, the cold gets really old and I’m ready for sunshine and warmth again. One of my favorite ways to warm up on these chilly days is a hot cup of deliciousness. Like this Pumpkin Spice Hot Apple Cider recipe from Erin. 

When you can settle into your sofa, with your fingers curled around a mug of something like this, your day just seems to get better. The tangy cider is paired with a spice-filled pumpkin syrup (adapted from Julie at Savvy Eats), and it is so good!

You’ll need: pumpkin puree, sugar, vanilla, water, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, apple cider.

To make the pumpkin spice syrup, add the pumpkin puree to a medium-sized pot.

 
 
 

 
Add the sugar.

And the water. 

Add the vanilla, cinnamon, allspice and ginger and bring everything to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

You want the mixture to become thick and syrupy.
 
 
 
 

Pour the syrup into a container and store in the fridge until ready to use.

To make the hot apple cider, in a large mug heat 3 tablespoons of pumpkin spice syrup.

Mix in hot apple cider. 

Top with whipped cream, and drizzle with additional syrup.

This holiday drink will definitely stay in my regular rotation! The syrup, the cider, the cream—it’s a trifecta of sippable perfection. Thanks so much Erin for sharing the recipe with us. Don’t forget to head over to Erin’s blog Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts for more tasty recipes!

Printable Recipe

Pumpkin Spice Hot Apple Cider

by Erin on October 6, 2011 in Drinks, Non-Alcoholic October 6, 2011 DrinksNon-Alcoholic

See post on Erin’s site!

4.75 Mitt(s) 4 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 8

Share f a e

8

• Print
• Leave a comment
• write a review

x

Print Options

Page size

Letter 3x5 4x6

Text Size

Small Medium Large

Content

Include description
Include prep time, etc.
Show image

Print

Description

Hot apple cider with pumpkin spice syrup topped with whipped cream.

Ingredients

• FOR THE PUMPKIN SPICE SYRUP:
• ½ cups Pumpkin Puree
• ½ cups Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Vanilla
• 1-¼ cup Water
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons All Spice
• ½ teaspoons Ginger
• FOR THE HOT APPLE CIDER:
• 3 Tablespoons Pumpkin Spice Syrup, Plus More To Drizzle On Top
• 8 ounces, fluid Apple Cider, Or As Needed To Fill Your Mug
• Whipped Cream, For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

To make the pumpkin spice syrup, combine everything (minus apple cider and whipped cream) in a pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the mixture to become thick and syrupy.

Store in the fridge until ready to use.

To make the hot apple cider, in a large mug heat 3 tablespoons of pumpkin spice syrup. Mix in hot apple cider. Top with whipped cream, and drizzle with additional syrup. Enjoy!

Recipe for Pumpkin Spice Syrup adapted from Savvy Eats, via Steph’s Bite by Bite.

 
 
_______________________________________

Amber is a stay at home mom who lives in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks. It’s a long way from where she grew up, in Wales (yes, way over in the U.K.). The recipes in her blog Sprinkled with Flour include her original creations as well as her family recipes. Go check them out!

 
Friends, this may be the most beautiful soup I’ve ever made. Or photographed. Or eaten. The lovely TK member Julia at The Roasted Root definitely has an eye for color and a wonderful sense for taste. This soup was one of those recipes that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. 

Luckily, it’s fall. I’d have had a hard time finding a butternut squash in April.

Speaking of butternut squash, if you’ve got one, (carefully) chop it in half. You’ll need a very sharp knife for this. Butternuts don’t give in easily.

Scrape out all of the seeds and slimy stuff.

Drizzle some oil on the insides, and sprinkle it with salt.

Place them face-down in a baking dish and place them in the oven for 40-60 minutes, depending on the size of your squash.

Meanwhile, peel the beets and carrots, cut them into chunks and put them in your food processor.

Buzz them up until the pieces are small and slightly smaller than peas. Transfer to large mixing bowl.

Don’t wash the food processor. (I like how Julia thinks.)

Zest a whole orange.

If you don’t have a Microplane zester, stop what you’re doing and go get one. (Make sure someone is home to watch your roasting squash.) I love mine, and use it all the time!

Add the zest to the beet-carrot mixture.

Cut the apples into large chunks.

Add them to the dirty food processor. (Don’t worry, it’ll all work out in the end.) Also, juice the orange you just zested, right over the apples.

Good grief, I need a manicure. Maybe if I hold out long enough I’ll have pink French tips.

Buzz up the apples an orange juice, and dump it into the bowl with the beets and carrots.

Nope, not time to wash the food processor. Hang tight.

Peel and slice the ginger, and throw the ginger pieces into the food processor with the walnuts.

Process them until you have a chunky, finely chopped mixture.

And … you guessed it. Transfer the mixture into the other bowl, along with some unsweetened coconut.

Over that, add some extra-virgin olive oil, a few pinches of salt, and some toasted sesame seeds.

Mix it all together and you have this incredibly flavorful and vibrant garnish for the soup! I love all of the flavors in this salad.

I think my favorite color is beet, too.

Check on that squash now. You’ll know it’s done when you can easily stick a butter knife into it and the skin starts to turn golden brown.

Scrape out all of that soft, butternutty goodness …

And toss it into your blender. Add some of the chicken stock to help it blend.

Give it a whirl until it’s silky smooth.

Pour it into your favorite soup pot along with a can of coconut milk.

Grate some ginger into the pot. If you still don’t have a Microplane, it’s not too late to get one!

Add the cinnamon and salt. (I think next time I’d halve the cinnamon and double the ginger, but that’s just my taste.)

Add more chicken stock until the soup reaches your desired consistency.

Stir it well and heat it to a low boil.

Ladle this gorgeous soup into some bowls, top with a couple spoonfuls of the salad and a drizzle of coconut milk. (Don’t be like me and photo bomb yourself. Unless you really want to.)

I LOVED this soup. It has such a unique flavor, combined with the salad. Please don’t make this without the salad! I think it really takes the soup to a whole new level. (The recipe for the Beet Slaw can be found in Julia’s site. She credits her friend Jason for finding it on a paleo website.)

Thanks again, Julia (and Jason), for a great cleansing-between-rich-meals recipe for the holidays!

Be sure to check out Julia’s Tasty Kitchen Recipe Box as well as her blog, The Roasted Root, for more tasty, nourishing recipes!

Printable Recipe

Gingered Butternut Squash Soup

by Julia {The Roasted Root} on October 5, 2012 in Soups October 5, 2012 Soups

See post on Julia {The Roasted Root}’s site!

0.00 Mitt(s) 0 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 6

Share f a e

6

• Print
• Leave a comment
• write a review

x

Print Options

Page size

Letter 3x5 4x6

Text Size

Small Medium Large

Content

Include description
Include prep time, etc.
Show image

Print

Description

Simple roasted butternut squash soup with coconut milk, chicken stock ginger, and cinnamon. Easy, nutritious and dairy-free!

Ingredients

• 1 whole Butternut Squash, Medium-sized
• Olive Oil, To Drizzle On Seeds
• ½ teaspoons Salt, Or To Taste
• 3 teaspoons Fresh Ginger, Grated
• ½ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• 2 cups Chicken Or Vegetable Broth
• 1-½ cup Coconut Milk (full-fat Recommended) Or Almond Milk

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and lightly drizzle the flesh with olive oil and salt. Place squash in a casserole dish cut-side down and bake for 50 to 60 minutes until flesh is very soft and juices are seeping out.

Allow squash to cool and once cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh out and place it in a blender (discard the skin). Add the remaining ingredients to the blender and blend until completely smooth.

Pour the soup into a pot and heat to a low boil.

 
 
_______________________________________

Be sure to check out Natalie’s own beautiful food blog, Perrys’ Plate, where you can see her growing collection of lovely recipes. There’s always something new to see there. Go visit now!

Please join us in welcoming our newest Tasty Kitchen Blog contributor, Faith Gorsky of An Edible Mosaic. She’s been sharing her wonderful and often exotic recipes with us for some time now (almost 100 recipes and counting!), and we’re so proud to have her here. As you can see from her pick for her first guest post, she just fits right in perfectly. Glad to have you, Faith!

_______________________________________

 
 
Growing up in a suburb of Buffalo and working in a pizzeria during high school means I’m a wing-lover from way back. This is why when I saw Tasty Kitchen member Shelbi Keith’s recipe for Cauliflower Buffalo Wings, I knew they were happening in my kitchen ASAP.

Now, if you’re skeptical about whether a vegetable can really have Buffalo wing flavor, have no fear. I’m going to let you in on a little secret: it’s all in the sauce! Frank’s Hot Sauce is the sauce of choice for balanced heat and flavor, and a little bit of butter rounds it out. That’s it, straight-up. Shelbi nailed it. (Of course, for a milder sauce, you can increase the amount of butter and decrease the amount of hot sauce to taste.) I won’t be surprised if this recipe makes another appearance in my kitchen very soon.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this: cauliflower, butter, hot sauce, flour, garlic powder, milk, and blue cheese dressing (for serving).

Take note, I only used half of a cauliflower because I picked up what had to be the largest head of cauliflower I’ve ever seen in my life at the farmers market. I got it home and it weighed in at five pounds! If your cauliflower is a more normal size, use the whole head.

Chop it up into pretty florets.

Mix up the batter (just milk, flour, and garlic powder).

Dip each cauli floret into the batter, letting the excess drip off. Arrange them up all nice and purty on a baking sheet that you sprayed with cooking spray (or lined with a Silpat liner and sprayed lightly with cooking spray).

Give the tops a little spritz with cooking spray, and into the oven they go. Shelbi cooked hers at 450ºF for 18 minutes, but noted that, before the 18-minute mark, they burned a little on the bottom before they had a chance to cook through. So I cooked mine at 425ºF until tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. That worked pretty well and the cauli didn’t burn!

While the cauliflower cooks, you can whip up the sauce. Melt the butter …

And mix the melted butter with the hot sauce. Done and done.

When your cauliflower is out of the oven, toss it gently with the sauce. Mmm … love that spicy smell!

Plate it up! I like to pile my Cauliflower Buffalo Wings high and deep, like how an order of normal Buffalo Wings would be served at a restaurant, but they are also so pretty plated elegantly the way Shelbi did. Don’t forget to serve them with blue cheese dressing and carrot and celery sticks if you want. Try not to dive face-first into that beautiful plate.

Thanks to Shelbi for sharing this delicious take on Buffalo wings! For more good eats, you can check out her site Look Who’s Cookin’ Now.

Printable Recipe

Cauliflower Buffalo Wings

by Shelbi Keith on October 6, 2012 in Appetizers, Vegetable October 6, 2012 AppetizersVegetable

See post on Shelbi Keith’s site!

4.14 Mitt(s) 7 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 18 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4

Share f a e

4

• Print
• Leave a comment
• write a review

x

Print Options

Page size

Letter 3x5 4x6

Text Size

Small Medium Large

Content

Include description
Include prep time, etc.
Show image

Print

Description

Vegetarian buffalo wings! A perfect appetizer or side dish for your football party.

Ingredients

• 1 head Cauliflower
• 1 cup Milk
• ¾ cups Flour
• 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
• ½ cups Blue Cheese Dressing

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Trim the heat of cauliflower into appetizer-sized pieces. (I bought the pre-chopped kind.) Set it aside.

In a shallow bowl stir together milk, flour and garlic powder.

Dip each piece of cauliflower into the batter and allow the extra batter to dip off. Place on a greased baking sheet. Spray the tops of the florets with cooking oil. Bake for 18 minutes.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Mix together melted butter and Frank’s hot sauce.

Toss cooked cauliflower pieces with sauce. Serve with a side of blue cheese dressing.

Note: The bottom of my cauliflower pieces burned a little. The burned crust easily pulled off. I tried cooking it for less time and it didn’t cook through.

 
 
_______________________________________

Faith Gorsky is the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind the blog An Edible Mosaic. She lives in Upstate New York and loves to travel, especially to places steeped in rich culture and history. She also enjoys reading, vintage shopping, watching movies, and is enamored with ancient cultures. She just released her first cookbook, “An Edible Mosaic: Middle Eastern Fare with Extraordinary Flair” (Tuttle Publishing), a collection of authentic Middle Eastern recipes handed down to her from her husband’s family.