So it’s that time of year again that I remind you that there is an entire page dedicated to my “Christmas Cookie Madness” here. If you want to know “the Story” or are looking for a recipe, you’ll likely find it there. And in the meantime, this happened recently….
Yes, I know that I am sometimes known for my unique flavor combinations, but hear me out because these are great, if you can find the ingredients. Pumpkin Butter Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Crumble Bars definitely need to be part of your autumn dessert or snack repertoire. Pumpkin butter can be bought (seasonally) at Trader Joe’s (online as well, and I have seen in some other specialty shops) and cinnamon chips are made by Hershey’s and I have found them (also in autumn) at Stop and Shop, Walmart and some other regular food shops where you normally would find the chocolate chips. They are a great little alternative to making a whole pumpkin pie and would also great on a cookie or snack platter. I was skeptical of the pumpkin butter, but it’s surprisingly good.
Just seems like a week ago when I drove from Munich to Innsbruck to have “homeland” Apple Strudel. Oh wait, that was just last week!
If you follow me on social media, you know that almost every time I am in Munich, a friend of mine and I do this crazy drive just for a piece of strudel, aka The Strudel Run. Sometimes in addition to Austria, we end up in Italy or Lichtenstein or Switzerland, but it’s always an adventure. Often, you’ll see that I hashtag my posts with #bergblicksteuer, and I suppose I should actually explain that so here goes: “Berg Blick Steuer” translates to “Mountain View Tax”. A number of years ago, on a Christmas Strudel Run with some additional adventurers, the topic of conversation was “Taxes that Germans Pay, that others don’t” — examples are Kirchensteuer (Church Tax), Luftsteuer (literally, “Air Tax”; a commercial tax if a sign extends into public space off your property), Hundesteuer or even Pferdesteuer (Dog or Horse Tax — we would call those permits or registration fees, but not taxes). Anyway, when the view of the mountains came into sight, someone made the off-handed comment like “Well, I see that we paid the Mountain View Tax”, and #bergblicksteuer became a thing.
Train of thought: Strudel > Strudel Run > View of the Alps > Berg Blick Steuer!
This is a pretty straight forward recipe, easy to make because I used store bought puff pastry. The recipe is actually for two strudels, but you can either halve the filling recipe, or make both and freeze one of the strudels (they freeze really well; reheat from frozen loosely wrapped in foil for 25 minutes at 350F). Or just eat both. They are delicious with vanilla custard sauce (my favorite), ice cream or whipped cream.
Somehow, even though the days are still warm, it feels like the inevitable march toward autumn has begum. I am not complaining as I love autumn; it’s my favorite season by far. With it come late summer and autumn foods. Apple picking has started (!!!) and other stone-fruits are plentiful. Enter dark red, tart and sweet plums. I decided to make some jam to preserve their flavor a little longer, and I think that it turned into one of my best jams in a good long while.