Busy in the Kitchen

Wearing my Arizmendi  tee I baked away Christmas Eve day. Arizmendi is a bakery cooperative located in San Fransisco where our good buddy Diane is part owner. If you click on the About Us page, she's the one standing in front of the door. She's a really cool gal and even makes trips to New Mexico to go cycling with us!

But I digress...

In preparation for a dinner gathering  I made roasted chickpea "nuts" from the Voluptuous Vegan cookbook, kale chips from Smitten Kitchen, and this ancho chile pumpkin pie. This was my first time making all of these things and they turned out pretty well. The nuts are a touch chewy and the kale is oh-so delicate (but delicious!). The pie was done entirely from scratch (crust and pumpkin puree included) and we'll see how the whole thing tastes in a few hours. Here is a picture of my first pie:

I could use a little work on the crust, but I think it will be the right balance of sweet and spicy. The dinner is Indian-themed so it should fit right in.

I also baked another loaf of peasant-style bread from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I was wary of the wet, unkneaded dough, but I think the breads turned out pretty good. I'll have to work on my boule-shaping technique.

I tested the sauerkraut and I think it's ready. Out of the crock and into the fridge it went. I think I overdid the salt in the brine but we'll give it a real shot sometime next week. Speaking of brine, I also made two pickles--beet and daikon radish. Delish, delish, delish.

Note: The pie turned out pretty darn good, if I may say so myself. It wasn't spicy enough, though, so I think next time I'll add more ground chile.