PW's corn chowder

When it comes to cold weather I'm a wimp. If the temperature gets below 70 degrees I'm bundled up form head to toe and whining. There are some things I love about the cold though it gives me and excuse to break out my fuzzy blankets and knit sweaters, its perfect weather for curling up with a hot cup of coffee and a book, and its perfect comfort food weather. I love things like chicken pot pie, biscuits and gravy, and chili. So I guess the cold isn't all bad. I decided to kick off soup season with a recipe I had just seen on The Pioneer Woman's website. This corn chowder is creamy, spicy, and oh so comforting, perfect for a chilly day.

Spicy Corn Chowder

Ingredients
2 slices Bacon, Cut Into 1/2-inch Pieces (or Smaller)
2 Tablespoons Butter
1-½ whole Yellow Onion, Diced
5 ears Corn, Shucked (about 4 Cups of canned corn)
2 whole Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce, Finely Diced
1 whole 4-ounce Can Diced Green Chilies
32 ounces, fluid Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1-½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
½ teaspoons Kosher Salt (more To Taste)
3 Tablespoons Corn Meal OR Masa
¼ cups Water

slice the corn kernels off the cob or you can just use canned corn.
Add bacon to a or dutch oven over medium heat. Cook until golden and crispy. Throw in diced onion and stir, cooking the onion for 3 to 4 minutes until translucent. Add butter and melt. Add corn. Stir and cook for one minute. Add both kinds of chilies and stir.
Add in chicken broth and cream. Add salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.
Combine cornmeal (or masa) with water. Stir to combine, then pour into the chowder. Cover and cook for 15 minutes over low heat. If chowder needs more thickening, add another tablespoon of cornmeal mixed with water. Cook for another ten minutes.

Homemade Halloween Funfetti

I love Halloween, I always have. When I was little it was because my mom would make me an awesome costume and I would get to gorge myself on candy. Now that I'm older its because I really enjoy seasonal baking, especially fall baking. When I went into walmart a few weeks ago I saw that they had Halloween funfetti cake mix and frosting. I picked up a container of each and I was on my way to the check out line when I thought to myself "hmmm I could probabbly make this myself really easily" so I put down the box of easy way out and backed slowly into my kitchen and these were the results.
Funfetti cake
I chose to bake mine as a sheet cake because thats the way I always had it as a kid but it would work as cup cakes too.

recipe
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
12 tbsp butter, room temperature
2 large eggs + 2 egg whites, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract (for a splurge, use vanilla bean paste!)
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup milk
4 tbsp rainbow sprinkles
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Add butter and sugar to another bowl and beat until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and egg whites one at a time, beating on low. Add extracts, beat another minute. Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the 1 cup milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Stir in the sprinkles.
Bake for 17-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.
Vanilla Buttercream
1 stick butter
3 1/2 -4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat the butter until creamy. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat a few more minutes. For stiffer frosting, add more powdered sugar. For thinner frosting, add more milk.

honey mustard pork roast

Sorry about the lack of an update last week, it's mid term season. Luckily it's fall break, so I've got lots of time to bake and stock up on posts for you guys. I was really excited to get home Wednesday being at home is a lot more comfortable and relaxing than being in a dorm. Plus the food is a lot better. About twenty minutes after I got home dad turns to me and says "Mom took a pork loin out of the freezer for dinner what do you wanna do with it." So I was officially in charge of dinner. I've already admitted to being a fan of the pioneer woman and now its time to reveal my other foodie favorite. I love For the Love of Cooking and when dad said pork loin my brain instantly went to this recipe that I had just recently come across. Boy am I glad it did.

Pork Tenderloin with a Honey Mustard Sauce:
1 tsp olive oil
1 pork tenderloin
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp grainy mustard
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp apple juice
1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Mix together the Dijon mustard, grainy mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, apple juice, 1 tsp of olive oil, and minced garlic together in a bowl. Cover and set aside for a few hours.

Remove the silver skin from the pork tenderloin then season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the pork tenderloin and cook until brown on all sides. Place the skillet into the oven, and bake for 15 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 155-160 degrees (medium) or desired degree of doneness. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

Heat the sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until warmed. Pour sauce over sliced pork.