Friends Don't Let Friends: Miss Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Do you know what a Whoopie Pie is?

I actually had not heard this term until recently because it seems to be regionally New England with Amish origins.  According to food historians, Amish women would bake these (known as hucklebucks at the time) and put them in farmers' lunchboxes. When farmers would find these treats in their lunch, they would shout "Whoopie!"

I would be in agreement with them, because the first time I tasted one from the Menonite farmers at our farmers market, I was hooked.  Soft cake sandwiching a sweet frosting filling.  Not as pretty as a cupcake but, in many ways, I think better tasting and easier to eat.

Traditionally you will find whoopie pies in chocolate, oatmeal or pumpkin.  Mostly with a white sugar frosting center but sometimes with a creme cheese frosting filling. I've also been seeing red velvet cake versions too.  These cakes are firmer than a yellow cake so they hold up to sandwiching.

Pumpkin is my favorite though. Since the sugar pumpkins have been coming in, I've made these twice. I think it is very important to use your own roasted pumpkin over canned.  The results, no matter what you are making with it, are going to be incrementally better.

Roast your pumpkin, scoop out the flesh and puree it (you can do this in advance).

Ingredients:

3 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp fresh gound nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2 1/2 Cups brown sugar (I do a mix of light and dark)

1 Cup canola oil

2 egg replacers (I use Ener-G brand)*

2 Cups pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla extract

*Note: No matter if you cook vegan or not, you should have a box of this on hand. Besides the obvious cruelty issues, eggs spoil and having a box of this on hand ensures you will have all the ingredients you need when baking.  

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices in a large mixing bowl and whisk together to combine.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, egg replacer (mixed separately first, according to the box instructions), pumpkin and vanilla extract. 

Add wet ingredients to the dry and combine until well mixed.  Drop by rounded tablespoons, not too close together, on a parchment paper lined (ideal) or greased baking sheet.  You should have enough for about 24 - 30 sets.

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the center springs back when lightly pressed. If you bake on parchement, you can transfer the whole sheet off of the baking sheet and onto wire racks to cool.

When thoroughly cooled, pipe or spoon on a dollop of frosting and sandwhich together.

My frosting of choice for cupcakes, cakes and Whoopie pies is the Wilton icing.  It's pure white so it takes colors perfectly and it's pretty stable. Plus you can make it in advance as well.

Wilton Frosting Ingredients:

1 16oz can of Crisco

1 2lb bag of powdered sugar

1 tsp clear vanilla extract

1 tsp clear butter extract*

2 Tbl Meringue Powder (optional)

Pinch of salt

Water

*Note: you can play with the amounts or add other extract flavors as you choose.  Almond is a good one too.

In a stand mixer (ideally) whip the vegetable shortening with 2 Tbl water until fluffy.  Add in half the powdered sugar, 1 Tbl of meringue powder (if applicable) and 1tsp of extract.  Blend in the mixer until well combined.  Remove from the mixer and add 2nd half of the powdered sugar, 1 Tbl of meringue powder (if applicable), pinch of salt, the other extract and 2 Tbl of water.  Blend on medium speed until well-combined.  You can add more water until the fosting is to the consistency you like for decorating or icing.

Whoopie!!!!

This recipe is a part of:

Top image by: Teeny Tiny Turkey
All other images by me.

Answering the Question about Why No Eggs

I received a question in the comments from this post on information and making connections...

I keep seeing in your posts (and others like it) the consensus to give up eggs as well. I've been a vege for many years now (maybe 17yrs now) and I love eggs. But I've never had any guilt issues with buying eggs from free range farms. They don't harm anyone, the animals have good lives and the quality of the eggs are better. Rather than give up something which is a very good source of essential proteins etc., couldn't you just look into sourcing or using your own? Why the objection to (properly cared for) free range eggs?

I am very happy to answer this. I love discussion and to share our thoughts and perspective. I am going to talk some general answers and then my personal reasons.

There are many good reasons to give up eggs. There are health reasons (cholesterol and fat) and environmental reasons. There are many other readily available and much more healthful options for protein, so that is not really a good reason to me to keep eating eggs. There are also many other options for replacing eggs in recipes so I do not feel that they are needed there either.

In a better world, the eggs that hens lay would be naturally gathered and the hens would have lovely lives living outdoors, chasing bugs and having dust baths. I'm not going to go into the whole issue of keeping and managing the life cycles of animals, no matter how benign we may be as caretakers.

That is what free-range should mean.

However, almost all commercial eggs that are marketed as "free-range" or "cage-free" are not, especially here in the US. Not really. It is just a misleading marketing term. I feel that egg farms and the animals there go through more suffering than even animals raised for meat. The hens may not be crammed 7 to a wire cage the size of a file drawer they way most egg factory farms do. Instead they are crammed into airless, sunless buildings many times with their beaks and combs sliced off, little health care or even good food and water. Not to mention the abuse many factory farm workers do to these sensitive animals such as throwing, kicking, stomping on them, etc.

They are manipulated with lights and temperature to lay eggs year round until their bodies are totally spent. Their lifespans are a fraction of the 7 or so years a hen would live naturally. When they are not able to lay eggs anymore their bodies are ground up for lesser food sources like being fed to other chickens or dog/cat food.

Other reasons to not support the egg industry are the breeding practices. Hens are bred to produce and/or be meat. Many cannot even stand up under their own weight. Their bodies and legs become so deformed they cannot stand or walk. And when they drop to the ground or the floor of their cage, they are left to suffer and die. Workers throw them into trashcans, often still struggling to live, like rubbish.

Another "by-product" of the egg industry often overlooked, no matter how "humane", are the male chicks. From a purely statistical view about 50% of the chicks born will be male... Roosters. An egg company has no need for all of these millions of baby male chicks so what do they do? Well sometimes they throw them in to trashcans to suffer and suffocate. Sometimes they, as you can see here, throw them alive into giant grinders.

So to sum up the industry-related reasons, I think you should avoid eggs:

- Grinding up alive millions of baby male chicks
- Short suffering-filled lifespans
- Genetic manipulation
- No real free-range lifestyle
- No health care
- Physical abuse
- When they stop laying they are just killed

But let's say you find a farmer who does truly give his/her birds a free-range life? There are three questions you need to ask. 1) What happens to the hens they stop laying? 2) Where did he get the chicks from to start his flock? and 3) What happens to the male birds born when we wants to increase his flock?

#1
Will this person kill the hens when they stop laying eggs? Yes or No? How can you be sure?

#2
Did he order baby chicks from a breeder? Many people, even backyard chicken owners do this. This is just as bad. Animals are "produced" for this and males are still discarded. Many baby chicks die in transport. Still creating and contributing to suffering.

#3
What happens if he/she orders eggs to raise or decides to let his hens hatch their eggs? What happens if he gets a bunch of male chicks? It's hard to keep all of them in a small space. It can be done but males don't produce eggs so many farmers would not see the value in them... and kill them.

Isn't just easier to stop eating eggs or food with eggs in them? I think so!

And let me be clear, I am speaking this from the standpoint of someone who has 2 hens and could actually be eating eggs if I wanted too. But I don't. Mostly because I don't feel the need to any more.

Sure there is an ideal scenario. I think we have it actually.

We have two hens who were rescues. We didn't buy chicks or eggs to raise. We adopted them because they needed a home and we had the space and the ability to care for them. They live a natural life and will not be killed when they stop laying. They are not manipulated to keep laying in the winter through lights or temperature. They get the best food and health care we can give them. Our neighbors get probably the best eggs they'll ever find.

At the end of the day, for us, it's all about eliminating suffering, living lighter on the earth and living a healthy life. We aren't looking for loopholes. I think that consistency helps us and helps share what we stand for too.

I love to hear more from you and any other questions you may have.

Thanks!

Home on the Range

So, Jake is finally with us.

I came home from my trip to see our new boy here. We're still getting used to each other but hopefully he will settle in okay. He seems to get along fine with the hens. We just to get him used to us.

I know this is a quick post and I've been lax in writing here but I promise to tell you tons more about Jake very soon. In the meantime, here are some new photos from Saturday free ranging in the yard. You can open them up big to see how colorful and majestic he is.

Enjoy!

Morning Meditations

I was recently asked in an interview to describe my ideal Saturday. I think I said something like: "Waking up early, going to the farmer's market for local produce and then letting my chickens out to free range in the yard."

When a friend read it, he said, "But that is what you do pretty much every Saturday!" I replied, "Well, yeah, it is. I guess I'm living the dream."

I didn't occur to me until later that they were probably looking for a response that was something along the lines of: Waking up in a 5 star hotel to breakfast in bed, then strolling the streets of Paris while shopping for designer clothes, etc. Or something equally grand. But, while that would be totally great and I wouldn't turn it down, I feel happy and at peace and joyful when I am sitting quietly in my yard, watching the sun come up. The birds are chirping, the squirrels are running around finding pecans and chasing each other in the trees and the chickens are scratching up the ground and eating some fresh greens.

It's so lovely to just sit still and silent for an hour or two. The other animals in the yard forget you are there and run near you or peer at you with curiosity rather than fear. We don't live in a very rural (or urban) area but we do get a bunch of different animals. We get all manner of birds, including songbirds, woodpeckers, crow, hawks and geese. We have bunnies, squirrels, chipmunks and groundhogs. In the evening we get deer who come up and nibble on the spilled birdseed.

This time is so addicting. Even though I know there are chores to begin and work to do, when I see the excitement of Napoleon, Meg and Gertie as they watch me open the door from their coop, I can't help but smile and feel happy.

They Way It Should Be

Today is absolutely gorgeous out, here in North Carolina. My favorite weather of all - cool, clear and sunny. It was so nice that I couldn't resist staying out with the chickens this morning and letting them run around the yard a bit before I went in to make breakfast.

This is the life that chickens deserve. Being able to spread their wings, scratch on the ground, interact with one another, eat some fresh greens and hunt for bugs and worms.



I have extremely crappy video capabilities on my little digital camera. This was low-res on the original video and even worse now that it is uploaded to YouTube. So, I know, you can't really get a good view of them.

What you can hear (and sort of make out) is Napoleon and the girls walking around and Napoleon finding stuff then making his little coo-ing sound to call the girls over, letting them know he found something good for them to eat.

It also shows him running over to me as soon as I got closer to the ground because he wants to jump up on my lap. He loves me.





I haven't really discussed this much on any of the blogs but we have changed to being vegetarians. I have actually wanted this for a very long time but it can be hard when you live with someone who is not totally ready for the change, especially if they do most of the cooking.

But Napoleon's attack really brought the issue and the disconnect home and we were both ready for this. And I have to say, no diet change has ever been easier. Or made more sense.

We are not completely vegan. We still each cheeses and butter and, rarely, milk, as well as the eggs we get from our girls. The hubby still eats fish. I'm a bit of a seafood snob in general so I didn't eat much in the past unless I was within an hour of the ocean. In terms of the cheeses, most of what we get comes from a local goat dairy, so we are very familiar with how the animals are treated.

With all of the great produce out there as well as the huge surge in recipes, menu choices and prepared foods, eating vegetarian is amazingly easy. And once you get past the mindset that a meal needs to include meat it's been simple.

One of my biggest hurdles was the milk issue. I love cereal and eat it a lot, generally. I always have - ask my parents. If I wanted a simple dinner, that was what I ate. So I was I bit leery of the Soy/Rice milk products. But when we decided to make the change we thought we would give them a try. How bad could they be, right? And if we hated them, we'd just dump them down the drain.

Well, we tried the Silk Soy Milk and LOVED IT. Seriously, I couldn't get enough. We have now tried the chai and chocolate flavors too. I like to have a glass of the chocolate when I get home from work for a quick "snack". The hubby uses it in his hot tea in the morning and to make scrambled eggs. If you haven't tried it, you really should. It's a little sweet but yummy.

The two of us have slightly different reasons for doing this but, hey, as long as we're together on the end choices, I'm fine with that. We're just at the beginning (just 3 months or so in) but I've never felt better physically or emotionally. It's kind of exciting.

I'm trying to convince the hubby to do his own blog talking about the recipes he's making and the products we find and try. I hope I can get him to do it because I think it would help to have someone share this change from a very early step. A lot of the vegetarian blogs and writers and podcasters have been on this for a long time, which can be intimidating. We're still learning ourselves but we're enthusiastic. What do you think?

We've been talking it up and, of course there are always questions. Our culture is so ingrained with how meals "should be" but once you get past that, you'd be surprised to realize that it's so easy.

And as I'm saying to everyone who is considering it or who we talk about it to:

You don't have to do everything; just do something.

That means, you don't have to make a 100% vegan lifestyle switch overnight. Ease into it. Give up chicken. Have 3 nights a week be vegetarian meals. Anything is better than nothing. I think you'd be surprised how much you already do and how much you like it.

Plus, if you want to chat or ask question (or follow my daily yummy meals on Twitter) I welcome it!

Hope to hear from you soon with your thoughts!

Free Range Strauss

I'm in a chipper mood so here's a little something to make you smile too... I hope!

Curiouser and Curiouser

We had some very rainy days last week but this weeked was just lovely. I let the chickens out today to have a good run around the yard. They actually didn't play as much in the compost pile like they normally do. I was sitting closer to the house so they decided to kick up the leaves right by the side of the house and dig in the dirt of the garden area.

I'm not sure if it is due to the soil there or all the leaves but it seems like there were a ton of worms in there because the chickens had quite a feast. It was actually good for us because they're feet are so good at turning up the dirt. Its so fun to watch them. They just get so into it. You have to be amused by their purposeful digging and scratching.

I had some fun playing with Napoleon in the yard. I was sitting on the ground and he was snuggled up on my lap falling asleep for a while. And actually Gertie came really close by me. She was standing right next to me looking me over. I think she is intrigued by the fact that Napoleon likes to sit on my lap. She has done this a few times. I'm hoping that she will want to jump up on my lap too. I tend to talk to them all them time and sing to them some. They know my voice and by getting them used to me, it will be easier to get close to them if I need to. And they will sort of come when I call them.

It was a good day. They got some sun, ate some seeds and greens and ran around. There's more rain expected this week, so sogginess to follow.

Today's Feed: Egg Mash, spinach, cukes, zuchinni, clementine
Today's Eggs: Just one, but we had two each day for the last two days
Today's Temperament: Warm and full

On the Moult

So a few weeks ago when it was just starting to get cold, Gertie started to lose her feathers. At first I was really worried about her but she seemed to be eating okay so I figured we would just give her time and see how it went.

Then Meg started to loser her feathers too. It looked like there was a chicken fight (ha!) going on in the coop with all of the feathers all over the place. Since both of the girls went through it and they also stopped laying eggs, both of which coincided with the winter coming on, I figured they were just getting their warmer "coats" like other animals.

Well, I guess I was right. It also goes to show how clueless I am as this process has a name - moulting.




I should have just gone online to look it up, but I don't think I would have even know what to look for. But there are several good sources.



This process takes a lot of energy and that is why they take a break from laying eggs. We thought they were just shutting down for the winter. But luckily they have started back up with the egg production. To the point that they are actually laying more than before.



We've started to add crushed oyster shells to their egg mash, so maybe that is helping too. And we did end up putting in a heat lamp on a timer for the coop. It's been pretty cold, so they really needed it, in spite of all of the hay and the shutters on the windows.



If you ever doubted that birds are descended from dinosaurs, a moulting, almost feather-less chicken will quickly change your mind!



Yesterday we got 3 eggs and today we got 3. We're back up to a half dozen in stock. It was crummy weather today but finally got sunny later in the afternoon so I let the gang out to get out into the yard and out of the mud, eat some fresh greens and play in the leaf pile.

We're back on track!

Sucking up to Chickens

I am the type of pet lover that totally obsess about their pets all the time. Not in a dress them up and carry them around all the time kind of way, but in the no one can take care of them better than me kind of way.

Faced with the choice between a family member or a pet of who I would try to save when they are hanging off the side of the cliff it would be a pet. My rationale is that, as a human being, you can do a pretty good job saving yourself, but my pup can't even make it on to the bed by himself, much less scrabble back over the cliff edge. So get climbin'.

Anyhow, we went away for the third trip in less than a month and had to again board the dogs and get a sitter for the cats and, more difficult, the chickens. Now the chickens are fairly easy to care for, but because it is a bit out of the ordinary it's kind of hard to get someone to come and take care of them. The folks we know who are used to chickens are dealing with more animals than we are (surprisingly) and can't help us. We typically ask the high school girl next store but they were out of town too. So we kind of had to scramble to find a pet sitter. I was actually to the point where I was possibly going to bail on the trip if we didn't like this person because I think it is more important to find someone we trust than go out of town.

I don't think we are that difficult in general to work for but maybe we just have too high of expectations. Maybe we're the problem, but as of yet, we have not found a professional pet sitter that we are 100% satisfied with. The girl next store is #1 in our book at this point.

We did meet and use a new sitter for this trip and actually felt pretty good about them during the first meet and greet. We took them through what they had to do for the cats (not much) and then took them through the chickens.

Granted, Napoleon is a pain in the butt. He's defensive and territorial and stupid (I love him, but he isn't bright). And he really needs to have his spurs cut. But he's like 12 inches tall and about 3lbs, so, if you're wearing jeans, boots and gloves you should be fine.

Anyhow, we take them through the process: arrive as early as possible, put out the food, open the coop door and let the chickens run out, go inside and shake out the buckets, pour in fresh water every other day and then leave. Ignore Napoleon until he leaves you alone. Not that hard really.

I think the biggest problem is that I didn't have her do a trial run while I was around, because after day one we got a call from the sitter that she was freaking out and scared of Napoleon. We immediately identified that she was going over way later than she should have. At that point they had been awake and locked in the coop for more than an hour and a half and were pissed off. She also was wearing my boots rather than the husbands so Napoleon was pulling on her pants and kicking her. Annoying, yes, but while you may get a bruise he can't really hurt you.

We gave her some advice for dealing with them and advised her to go over as early as possible so they are more sleepy and to just avoid Napoleon because he will eventually walk off to the two hens.

The next day we got another call saying she was scared of him still and that she was worried he was going to jump up at her. At this point I'm one of those horrible mothers who never thinks bad about their bratty kids and blames everyone else.

In instances like these I don't have much sympathy because, hello!, you're the person who opted to do this for a living. And I had never worked with chickens before a few months ago, so just get over it! We ended up telling her all she needed to do is put out the food and open the coop door - not change out the water or shake the buckets. But the whole rest of the trip, all I'm thinking is, sweetie, you just lost a job because we probably won't use the service again. It's too bad too because she managed the house and the cats pretty well.

So, luckily we had booked our trip back for Saturday. That way I was able to get the coop and pen cleaned up and I was able to let the chickens free range for a while on Sunday. It was kind of cold and overcast but they didn't mind. The played in the leaves and compost pile and watched me carry fallen branches to the burn pile. We also put a heat lamp on a timer inside the coop because nights are getting pretty cold around here. We still need to get them some more hay for snuggling into.

When I had cleaned everything up I sat down on the ground and Napoleon ran over to me and jumped onto my lap to be held and petted and cuddle. I even tucked him into my jacket and carried him around for a while. Who could be scared or such a sweetheart, right?

My new goal is to teach him to walk on a leash. Maybe. We'll see.

Livin' for the weekend

I think the chickens live for the weekend because that is when they get to free range. This weekend was kind of hectic, but since we've been traveling and have more to do, I wanted to at least give them a few hours out in the yard.

The husband mowed the grass and did some yard stuff, but when he was done we let the chickens out to run around while I cleaned inside the pen and the coop and we raked the leaves off of the top of the screen. It was nice and sunny and warm and the chickens had a great time eating the freshly mown grass. Plus they found where we'd filled up the bird feeders so they ate up the spilled seed.

When the coop was all cleaned up, I pulled out the lawn chair to read a magazine while the gang continued to roam around. Napoleon loves when I sit down because he wants to jump up and sit on my lap. The minute I put the chair down he is running over to me to jump up and be petted.

Lately I've been sort of pushing him gently down so he goes into a sort of broody resting mode and he actually was falling asleep a bit. The girls will roam all over the yard but Napoleon wants to be held on my lap 75% of the time.

He's so small and warm. It's kind of cute.

Of course that lasts only until he pinches me with his beak.

Creepy!

Today's Feed: Egg Mash Pellets and lots of grass and bugs, For Monday they got corn & tomatoes
Today's Eggs: None! Stupid winter!
Today's Temperament: Very very happy. They love the yard.

Free Range Sunday

The weekends are always an exciting day for the chickens, because that is the day they usually get to "free range" out in the backyard. We have just under three acres that is virtually unused so they get to get out of the pen yard (even though it is pretty big for three chickens), kick up the accumulated leaves in the bushes and eat grass to their heart's content.

Their coop is back behind our garage and off to the left going waaaay back is our backyard - so you can see they have lots o' room.



Here's a better view going straight back from the back of our house. Their coop building is off to the right of this picture. There is grass and trees and lots of bugs to chase around.



Many people let their chickens roam around because they are pretty territorial and won't go that far from their coop, but we live on a very busy road and I am totally paranoid that they are going to get too close to the road and get squished. This is a rare picture of our road with out cars speeding 15+ miles over the speed limit.



They had a very long day out of the coop today. We were working on some ongoing major coop improvements, which I will share with you later, and it took us about 5 hours to get done what we did. And we have some more to finish. But with the time change, we lost daylight around 5pm, so they headed in for the night and so did we.

Today's Feed: Egg Mash and lots of grass and bugs
Today's Eggs: Two! One fresh from Gertie during the day
Today's Temperament: Very very happy. They love the yard.