Next up in my hopping around Deceptively Delicious is Chocolate Pudding – of course it’s not just any chocolate pudding, it’s got avocado in it! With a smack of Cool Whip on top, all three kids *and* my husband ate it and loved it.

Making the puree is beyond simple. Really. Just cut the avocado in half, scoop out the flesh and mash it with a fork before pureeing it in the blender or food processor. So why avocado? Brimming with monounsaturated fats, serious soluble fiber and vitamin E – hello good cholesterol, stable blood sugar and shiny hair! Ok, so vitamin E does more than shiny hair, but it’s a bonus! So now that you have your puree…

Chocolate Pudding (with avocado) from Deceptively Delicious (p. 159)

Pull out your favorite mid-sized saucepan and melt the Becel. Then add in the avocado puree, sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla.

Mix it while it cooks and mush up any lingering avocado chunks you may have, for about 3 minutes. Once it’s thickened, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cornstarch.

I think the entire operation took me 15 minutes start to finish – and that includes making the puree. Painfully simple. If you’re giving this to someone really super picky, I’d mix a little Cool Whip right in the pot. Here, I served it with the Cool Whip on top, which is how I normally serve the fam pudding so that wasn’t suspect. I only had a lick, but I didn’t notice anything but chocolate! This one goes into the ‘will make again’ box!

In this post, I’m participating in three WIP Wednesdays; Freshly Pieced, Tami’s Amis and Musings from the Fishbowl.

As usual, I am knitting. Socks. What else is new? These socks are wonderfully unisex and they’re being knit up for a very dear friend as a late Christmas gift. He is Wee One #2’s Godfather, and I’m technically not late because he and his darling wife have not crossed the border for their Christmas visit yet!

I came across the pattern on Ravelry, and then hopped over to Posh Yarn for all the deets. The only thing I don’t love about these socks is the weird jog from the rib on the cuff to the rib in the leg – you can’t even see it unless you know it’s there – but *I* know it’s there!

The rest of the sock? I love. It’s amazing. It knits up super fast even though it’s got a cable, and it’s not boring because there is a cable in the front and the back! I find that if I’m lucky enough to come across a fun pattern, like say the really cute polka dot socks in Paton’s Socks in the City, there is a serious gauge problem. Or if I come across a pattern that has little to it there’s no chance of a sizing issue, but it’s a total snooze and I don’t want to finish it!

I think I’ve finally stopped being wobbily with my cables. Pretty!!

I am knitting these in my hands down most favourite yarn ever – Malabrigo Sock, in Azules which is a really deep blue with little bursts of lighter blue and white. Delicious.

I have a knitting resolution this year. I’m going to try a few new sock knitting techniques. I’m going to properly knit toe up socks, perhaps Leyburns, and for sure I will try to knit up socks two at a time too! That would be nice! I don’t know if it will actually save time, but when I’m done – I’ll really be done!

I ordered a new box of yarn from Knit Picks last night, and I really want to finish this pair and my Dad’s birthday socks before the new stuff gets here. Fingers crossed next week I’ve got a new project to show off – and eventually I’ll have one that hasn’t been knitted. Maybe. 😛

In this post, I’m participating in Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tuesdays at the Table, Tuesday Night Supper Club, and Hearth ‘n Soul.

I mentioned a few days ago that I’d be cooking and baking my way through Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious cookbook this year, and I’m not making you wait! Her butternut squash infused coffee cake was my first project, and it was fun!

Every recipe in this book sneaks in a nutrient packed veggie or fruit. They’re all pureed ahead of time (though there’s no reason you can’t just make the puree before you make the recipe). So before we get into the recipe, let’s talk about pureeing the squash in the first place, shall we? I swear, it’s a cinch!

Just cut the stem off, cut the squash in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Put them fleshy side down on a baking sheet and roast them naked for about 45 minutes. Then just scoop the flesh out and pop it in your blender or food processor till it’s baby food! Tah-dah!

Coffee Cake (with butternut squash) – from Deceptively Delicious (p. 61)

I’ll warn you right now that after following the directions to beat the sugar and the butter till creamy and then add 1 cup of the buttermilk, sour cream, egg and vanilla it did not look pretty (left). However, just like that vanilla cake I made a lot of last year, once I added the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt it started to look a whole lot better (right).

Then comes the super weird part. Pour half the batter into your buttered or sprayed cake pan (9″ will do it) and smooth out the top. Now, spread your cup of squash puree over the batter. I know, right? THEN, sprinkle with the mini marshmallows and, as you can see, half a cup doesn’t totally cover the cake but I don’t think it’s supposed to. Now, take the rest of the milk (1/4 cup) and the other half of the batter, mix them together and then spread over the squash filling and marshmallows.

Now mix your topping ingredients together and sprinkle that over the batter. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

My crust looks burnt, but it’s not bad at all. The photo in the book has a dark looking crust as well. This cake is probably the heaviest cake (for it’s size) that I’ve ever made, very dense – and also very good. I like squash anyway, but you can’t taste it at all.

P to the S, your leftover butternut squash puree can be frozen for months or made into soup. I looooove butternut squash, and at just 63 calories a cup, if you’re careful how you prep the soup it can be a really filling and healthy low cal snack!

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This recipe kicks off our year of baking through Baking With Kids. I guess I should say ‘their year’ of baking though this book. I have promised to be there for any and all things the cookbook tells them must be done by an adult, but otherwise it’s totally their thing.

Wee One #1 started with the very first recipe in the book, Apple Crumble Muffins.

Apple Crumble Muffins – from Baking With Kids (p. 10)

First, make the crust by mixing all of the topping ingredients together. Set that aside to sprinkle on later.

Then sift your flour into the mixing bowl, add sugar and mix with a wooden spoon. Grate the lemon zest (being careful to avoid the white pith), mix in and make a well in the middle of the ingredients. Melt the butter (either in the microwave or stovetop) and pour into the well. Then break the eggs into a small bowl and mix them with a fork till they’re broken up. Add the eggs and milk to the well and mix with a wooden spoon. Or in our case….

…mix with a wooden spoon until it becomes really tricky, and then turn to the trusty Kitchen Aid!

Once all the ingredients are combined, spoon the batter into your paper muffin cup lined tray. Using all of the batter, and almost filling the cups, you will have 12 good-sized muffins.

Now, chop up the apples and sprinkle the pieces over the batter. We left the skin on for a little burst of fiber, and we had about half an apple’s worth of pieces left over.

Now, on top of the apple pieces, sprinkle the topping mixture you made earlier! He tried a spoon, but soon realized that clean hands were much, much easier to sprinkle with!

Now bake them at 375 for about 30 minutes. These were done in 20, in my crazy supernova oven. 😉

I helped just the brown sugar and the baking powder, and that was only because my containers are a little tricky to get into. This entire recipe was done by my 10 year old – aside of course from putting in and taking out the pan from the oven. He even poked a tested into the muffins to check if they were fulled baked!

The topping burnt a little, as you can see, but I think in hindsight the topping should go in a little later through the baking. Other than that, this recipe was good! The muffins are dense, and 2/3 the kids didn’t love them, but Wee One #3 loves them!

1 recipe down, 52 to go!

There is so much going on here for the blog I hardly know where to start. Tomorrow is my first proper post of the year but I thought I’d outline a little of what I’m cooking up!

With my Uncle Bob passing last spring, my Granny last summer and then our big move in the fall, Cake Year 2010 did not go down as I had hoped. The official count for 2010 was 45 different cakes or cupcakes, but I did not do as well as Pie Year 2009 – when I made 57 different pies or tarts. Now that we’re settled into our new house and I’ve gotten comfortable in my new kitchen, I’m taking on two cookbooks, one with the kids help, and declaring 2011 to be Cookie Year. All of my long distance friends just got really excited because they know I’ll totally mail cookies.

I’m also going to make a separate gallery for my handmades because I knit more socks than I can keep track of!!

The first cookbook I’ll be baking from with the kids, the oldest two anyway. It’s called Baking With Kids and I’ll supervise them baking one thing from it every week – there are 53 recipes so we’ll double up one week. They’re really excited about this so I’m super looking forward to it!

Last year for Christmas my dear friend Brigitte got me Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food, the cookbook about hiding veggies in unusual places (like french toast and brownies). I’d see it on my counter and flip through it and think about cooking from it and now it’s been a year! This year, my aunt got me the next book, Double Delicious!: Good, Simple Food for Busy, Complicated Lives and getting this second book was the kick in the butt I needed to really get into the first one! I’ll be making something from Deceptively Delicious slightly more often than once a week. Thankfully my husband is on board to try out these new recipes! He is getting a lot more adventurous in the kitchen (ever since I really mastered some recipes he’s been asking me to figure out), so that’s a win for us as a team for sure!

My adorable friend Sammie has asked me to help her pull together a little DIY cookbook for a good friend of hers who has had gestational diabetes in the past and is blessed with another wee one on the way! Good thinking on her part, to be proactive about it before it becomes a problem!

Between these two books, Cookie Year 2011, our light on the sugar project and all the random seasonal and holiday themed baking that is sure to fill in the gaps, this promises to be a busy year for my kitchen and I could not possibly be more excited!

I’ll leave you with that as I made a mad dash to my kitchen to get baking!!

6. January 24 – Chicken Pot Pies

5. January 17 – Chocolate Tart (for a happy husband)

4. January 16 -Miss America Chocolate Cupcakes

3. January 16 – Sugar Cookie Ganache Sandwiches

2. January 14 – Cassoulet (French Winter Stew)

1. January 8- Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

3. January 21 – Pillow Cookies

2. January 15 – Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

1. January 7 – Peanut Butter Brownie Biscotti

05. January 25 – Ranch Dressing

04. January 20 – Spaghetti and Meatballs

03. January 11 – French Toast (with banana)

02. January 6 – Chocolate Pudding (with avocado)

01. January 4 – Coffee Cake (with butternut squash)

2. January 19 – No Tears Socks

1. January 12 – Princess Curtains

04. January 27 – Baked Alaska

03. January 18 – Scones

02. January 13 – Basic Bread

01. January 3 – Apple Crumble Muffins