The experience of pumpkin cobbler

I was sitting in my living room with crabby dog Roxie catching up on DVR'ed Sex and the City reruns that I have seen a thousand times but still love. The particular episode that I was watching was the one where Charlotte is dating a pastry chef. I was being all comfortable and lazy when pastry chef starts talking about his experimental date tart with pumpkin custard. The it hit me like a ton of bricks...my pumpkin craving was back!





You see all fall and winter I eat, baked, drank, and dreamed just about everything pumpkin. I seriously love pumpkin anything. But I was "pumkinizing" everything so much that I got seriously burnt out on it a few days before Christmas. But now it was back!





I immediately got up, totally forgetting how much I was enjoying Sex and the City and started looking for my pumpkin cobbler recipe. It was my old stand by all Fall, but I was still trying to jazz it up a bit and add my own Teresa "spin" to it.





Of course, I couldn't find the recipe. Why? Well even though I have a decent collection of cookbooks, even after my recent finding of good new homes to about 12 to save book shelf space and decutter, I still have a problem with keeping my favorite recipes organized. Normally how it works is I will find a recipe online or come up with an idea for one. I will put some notes in one of my five smaller notebooks lying around. I find it ok the first few times I make it, but then I either tear it out and stick the paper in a random notebook or lose track of it in the notebook with all of my grocery lists, menu ideas, and bill paying schedules.





But I don't dispair, I call my mother. No, she doesn't have the pumpkin cobbler recipe. She has a pumpkin cheesecake bar recipe that I wanted to steal the topping from to experiment with on the cobbler. After she finds that recipe and we make some small talk, I continue to hunt for the cobbler recipe. I check all my books, random recipe computer files, and all my notebooks. I finally find it in one of the notebooks between an old shopping list and bill paying notes from September.





I start pulling out bowls and my canisters and I think, "Geez it will really suck if after all this I work I don't have all the ingredients." And that was the kiss of death. I open up the carton of eggs and see 2. I check the recipe...I need 3. WHAT!?! My supply of eggs is usually a dozen plus because I hate moments like this. Then I remember Nathan has been up early this week so he was probably making himself eggs for breakfast. Grrrr....





I stand there for a second pondering.....do I REALLY need 3 eggs? I mean it is baking, so things need to more exact, but this isn't a real precise recipe. I say to myself, "Oh screw it! I am not running out to the store now!" And I begin to break and beat my two eggs. As I am getting everything together I am thinking about my experiment. I decide that with the new topping the little cobblers will look great in my little red hardly ever used ramekins.





After I get the perfected filling in the ramekins, I begin on the topping. I realize the recipe my mom gave me was wayyy too much so I try to half it. Since butter/margine is such a pain to measure out from the tub (because of course I was out of the sticks too!) I eyeball it. I use wayyy too much butter but I try to balance it out with a little more flour and brown sugar. Methinks that will work.





I throw them into the oven and half a glass of wine later they are done.

Voila! And upon first taste inspection I would say the new topping is pretty good! Not the best I have ever made but I still love it!

If you are still reading this long ass post, here is the recipe:

Teresa's oh so fabulous pumpkin cobbler

Yields: 4 ramekins with extra (can be used up a few days later) or a 9x13 baking dish

Start by preheating the oven to 350. Lightly grease ramekins or dish with butter.

Filling:

3 (or 2 lol) eggs beaten

15 oz canned pumpkin

12 oz evap milk

1 c. sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp plus a little extra vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients together and pour in dish or ramekin (about 2/3 full)

Topping:

1 c. Flour

1/3 c. Brown Sugar

5 tbsp butter, soft but not melted

A little more cinnamon

Mix b. sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Cut in but with a fork until crumbly. If using ramekins you will have a little extra you can use later with extra batter.

Put topping on filling, bake 30-40 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle that comes out clean will indicate cobble is done. Let cool. I think the cobbler is best served only slightly warm.

I hope you enjoy! Even if you don't, your kitchen will smell amazing afterwards so it will all be worth it!