Too many noodles said noone

Sometimes you just need to gather up what you have and make a soup out of it. Ok, I had the recipe but also the ingredients in the fridge/freezer/pantry so it was easy to toss together. I did buy mini egg noodles and probably used too many of them, but no one argued or said they were too many. Frozen chicken breasts from the freezer were the perfect add to this since they cooked all day and got chopped by Andy since we were passing here there with doctor appointment and kids with piano lessons, a kid concert as well. Somehow our busy nights just keep getting busier so crockpot meals I can prep ahead and make work for eating in shifts (which we rarely do but it happens), are nice.

Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 cups chicken broth
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups egg noodles
Fresh parsley for garnish

Place the chicken, broth, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, and parsley into the Crockpot.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
Shred the chicken with two forks and add egg noodles. Cook for another 20-30 minutes on high.
Serve hot, garnished with fresh parsley.

Curdled or cooked - it's a fine line

We've had a lot of travel time early this fall. When I'm not the one in the driver seat or making sure we are on a plane, I have a notebook where I write all the things that are floating around in my brain that need to be written out. Being trapped in a plane or car is the perfect place to get all those things on paper so I don't have to think about them anymore. Coming up with baking plans for a meeting worked well since I didn't realize it was in just one week. I saw this recipe and it looked very promising for Andy's meeting crowd - a little fruit and some chocolate - a win. And win was right. I cut it into 12 pieces and they ate 11! That's the most they've ever eaten of anything I've ever baked!
But let's talk about this recipe a moment... 45-60 minutes is... not accurate, at all. I made it in an 8 x 8 and that 1 inch did not make the hour difference... this thing baked for at least 2 hours. I baked until it had no more jiggle in the middle, that rhymed.... So sure... bake it until you kill it - but don't curdle it... fine line.

Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
½ cup (64 g) all-purpose flour
⅓ cup (40 g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter, melted, then cooled
Cheesecake layer
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Strawberry Swirl
1 ½ cups (383 g) strawberry pie filling

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9×9-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the sides for easy removal.
Brownie Layer
In a large bowl whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and cooled melted butter until smooth. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Spread the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan. Set aside.
Cheesecake Layer
In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the cream cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the brownie layer.
Strawberry Swirl
Spoon the strawberry pie filling over the cream cheese layer in small dollops.
Gently spread the filling to create an even layer.
Use a knife or skewer to swirl the strawberry and cheesecake layers together, being careful not to disturb the brownie layer.
Bake and Chill
Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until the center is set. (ours took 2 hours)
Let cool at room temperature for about 1 hour.
Once cooled to room temperature, place the cheesecake brownies in the refrigerator for 4 hours, up to overnight.
Serve chilled.

Swapping chips around

I saw a recipe for Chocolate Chip muffins and decided I think my family would much prefer them as Cinnamon Chip muffins - specifically Cinnamon Chips from Gygi... the only issue is you'll pay as much in shipping as the chips so... know ahead they are worth every penny, just ignore you are paying a crazy cost for them. These muffins are huge! They have giant crowns and are worth every bite. The boys were out camping and while I had some things to do in the kitchen after my morning walk I decided muffins should probably be on that to do list. These mixed up very easily, I was a little worried about piling on that much batter, but you know what? They worked perfectly and rose beautifully. I mean yes they stuck to the pan a bit and some of the tops came off without their bottoms, but tacos fall apart and we still love them... muffins can too! On reheat - these were great in the microwave with some butter - so good - warm and homey. Just don't tell my doctor who is trying to get me to eat fewer carbs and maybe not Cheese It's for breakfast... muffins are a better choice - right? Maybe?

Cinnamon Chip Muffins
Ingredients
4 cups (480g) all-purpose flour,
1 ½ cup (300g) granulated sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg, can also use cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 cup (240ml) whole milk or 2% milk, can also use buttermilk
½ cup (118ml) vegetable oil
4 Tbsp (57g) unsalted butter, melted & cooled
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups cinnamon chips, divided

Instructions
The most accurate way to measure flour is to use a kitchen scale, weighing it in grams. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, follow this method: Aerate the flour with a whisk or spoon. Flour becomes heavy and compact as it sits. Aerating is the same as fluffing the flour. Use a spoon to sprinkle the flour into the measuring cup. Do not tap the cup against the counter, as this will compact the flour. Use the back of a butter knife to level off the excess.
In a mixing bowl combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Stir with a spoon to combine, set aside.
In a larger mixing bowl combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, cooled & melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
Gradually mix the dry ingredients and 1 ½ cups cinnamon chips into the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined. The batter will be very thick!
Cover the bowl with a towel and allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes. During this time, preheat the oven to 425ºF / 220ºC.
For bakery style muffins, line a 12 count muffin pan with 6 muffins liners, meaning you’ll only fill every other muffin well with batter. Fill the liners with 6-8 heaping tablespoons of batter. Top the muffins with the remaining cinnamon chips. Sprinkle them with sanding sugar.
Place one pan in the center of the oven and bake for 7 minutes at 425ºF / 220ºC, then keep the muffins in the oven, turn the temperature down to 350ºF and bake for 12-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan. Repeat with the remaining batter, bumping the temperature back up to 425ºF.

Stressed out apples make great treats

In an attempt to use every bottle we have in the storage room and then some, we tried yet another version of Red-Hot Apples. While we do enjoy the rings, our apples this year were not uniform, actually none of our fruit was uniform. I have a hunch our road construction digging stressed the trees out as much as it stressed me out. With apples that were pretty wonky, this idea of wedges sounded great. Also, no cloves. We've enjoyed the rings with cloves but also maybe less bite would be good as well. I was right - these are wonderful! I bought a few bags of red hots after Christmas a year or two ago in Wisconsin, the whole family thought I was crazy, but you have to plan for these things. The syrup was easy - so easy I forgot it was bubbling away on the stove! Those red hots melted in no time flat. This was the first recipes I've tried where the liquid did not siphon out of the apples. I'm starting to think it has to do with the saturation of the apples, either way - they turned out beautifully and tasted great! The kids and I thought they had some bite from the candy - but plenty of color from the candy and they were a great treat.

Cinnamon Red Hot Apple Wedges
4 cups water
1 1/2 cup red-hot candies
2/3 cup sugar
6 medium tart apples, peeled and quartered

Directions
In a large saucepan, bring the water, candies and sugar to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir until candies and sugar are dissolved.
Reduce heat; carefully add apples. Cook in sugar mixture for 10 minutes on low. Turn off the heat for 10 minutes to let the apples suck up the syrup then just heat them back up to a simmer. Turn off the heat and with a slotted spoon, transfer apples into pint size jars then fill with the sweet liquid. Fill to ½” headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rim, add lid/rings. Process in water bath canner 15 minutes.

Pack your baking patience

Sometimes you see a new recipe and add it to your "sometimes" list and it falls down the list and you eventually get around to it. Other times you see that recipe and it gets made that day. This was a "that day" recipe. I saw that it needed a few days in the fridge so that was an easy decision to get it mixed up and in the fridge. I almost forgot about it in the fridge on Sunday but got it rolling and rising. I decided to add to finely chopped apples to the cinnamon sugar mix. Focaccia seems really daunting but it's not - at all. It's really just a lot of sitting and waiting, every once in a while you fold or pull in some way. So, pack your patience, it's going to be a lot of leaving it alone so the yeast can do its magic. This tasted like fall magic, delicious bubbly cinnamony appley bread. I know with sourdough there's a bunch of timed folds and pulls... but here it'll forgive you if you do it wrong, I'm sure it will... right? I mean how would you know if it messes up? Give it a try, so worth it... and added bonus - your house will smell amazing.

Cinnamon-Sugar Focaccia
Ingredients
For the dough:
4 cups (512 g) bread or all-purpose flour
2 to 3 teaspoons (10 to 15 grams) kosher salt
2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast, see notes above if using active dry
2 cups (455 g) cold or room temperature water
olive oil
Softened butter, for the pan
For the cinnamon-sugar mixture:
½ cup (113 grams) butter, salted or unsalted butter, divided
½ cup (100 grams) brown sugar, divided
4 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
For the glaze:
1 cup (113 grams) confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons (28 grams) milk or heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and instant yeast. Add the water. Using a rubber spatula, mix until the liquid is absorbed and the ingredients form a sticky dough ball. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Stretch and fold the dough: Fill a small bowl with water. Using a wet hand, stretch and fold the dough by grabbing an edge and pulling it up and towards the center. Repeat this stretching and folding process, 8 to 10 times, moving your hand around the edge of the dough with every set of stretches and folds. As you stretch and fold, you should feel the dough transform from being sticky and shaggy to smooth and cohesive. Find video guidance in the post above as well as here.
Let it rise: Rub the surface of the dough lightly with olive oil. Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator immediately for at least 12 hours or for as long as three days.
Prepare the pan: Grease a 9×13-inch pan with softened butter. Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into the pan.
Deflate the dough: Using a flexible bench scraper or a lightly oiled hand, deflate the dough by releasing it from the sides of the bowl and pulling it toward the center. Rotate the bowl in quarter turns as you deflate, turning the mass into a rough ball. Turn the dough out into the olive oil in the prepared pan. Turn the dough several times in the oil to ensure it is completely coated. Let the dough rest for 1.5 hours. Cover the pan. (I use a cutting board or sheet pan.)
Prepare the filling: In a small skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter. Whisk in 4 tablespoons of the brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Remove from the heat and let cool briefly.
Stretch the dough: Using lightly oiled hands, gently dimple the dough, stretching it to fit the pan. Pour the brown sugar filling as evenly over the top of the dough as possible, and use your hands to distribute it over the surface. Reserve the skillet.
Fold the dough: Starting with a short end, fold the dough envelope style: if, for example, you are starting with the right edge, fold it to the left covering two-thirds of the dough, then fold the left edge over to the right to cover (and vice versa if starting with the left edge). Then turn the bundle of dough so that the open ends face the short ends of the pan. Video guidance here. Cover the pan and let the dough rest for another 1.5 hours. 
Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Prepare the remaining filling: In the same small skillet, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Whisk in the remaining 4 tablespoons of brown sugar, remaining 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Remove from the heat and let cool briefly.
Dimple the dough: Uncover the pan, pour the filling over the surface of the dough, and rub with your hands to distribute it evenly. Using lightly oiled hands, gently dimple the dough, creating bubbles and craters as you do. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
Bake the dough: Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the focaccia is evenly browned. Remove the pan from the oven, let the focaccia cool in the pan briefly (2 to 3 minutes), then run a spatula around the edges of the pan, and transfer the focaccia to a cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes.
Make the glaze: In a small bowl or liquid measure, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla.
Finish the focaccia: Transfer the focaccia to a serving board. Drizzle the glaze over the top. Using a serrated knife, cut the focaccia into pieces (or more) and serve.