Happy Birthday Isaac!

Wearing Dada's shoes around one day.

Here is a belated birthday post for this little man!  We started his birthday with a mickey mouse pancake - most excited breakfast boy ever.  Since then, every time we have pancakes he points at the plain round circle and says "Mickey? Mickey?"  For dinner we had homemade pizza and chocolate cake.  It was a good food day, if I do say so myself.  Here's a bit about 2 year old Isaac:

Favorite Book: Little Golden Book's version of Pixar's Cars - so much so that the other day after reading it to him for the 10th time that day, mom took her chance and hid the book behind the cushions of the couch.  She needed a break.
Favorite Movie: Cars
Favorite Show: "Cats!" The first time he watched this he laughed uncontrollably for the first 2 minutes and spent the last 2 minutes catching his breath.  Now everyday he walks over to the computer and asks for "cats? cats?"

Latest Obsession: Mickey Mouse.  In addition to loving Mickey pancakes, he is thrilled if mom draws a picture of Mickey for him when we're coloring and he is convinced that one of the cacti in the Little Golden Book Cars is shaped like Mickey.  He points at it and yells "Mickey!" every time we read that page.
Favorite Food: Cubed ham, cheese, or Mac & Cheese
Favorite Toy: Any car.  He is an equal opportunity car lover, which is fortunate as I'm positive cars are disappearing and it would be problematic if he had a favorite that he couldn't live without and it went missing.

Favorite Shirt: A red shirt with a motorcycle (pictured above).  The other day I wanted to dress him in this shirt.  I knew it was clean and that I had put it away just a few days ago when doing laundry but I couldn't find it in his drawer.  So I asked Isaac "Where's your motorcycle shirt?" To which he responded "Bike! Bike!" and ran into his closet where he had stashed the motorcycle shirt in the corner, along with a collection of toy cars and a dump truck.  Usually I know if he's been emptying his dresser as clothing is strewn all over the floor, but only the motorcycle shirt was taken.  Silly kid.
Cutest Thing:  When dad is about to leave in the mornings, Isaac runs to him and yells "Hug!"  Geoff obliges and give him a hug and boy does that kid death clench to his neck for a good minute or two before he will let him go.

Boy is this kid a cute little thing, even if he does run mom a little crazy (and a little tired - we had to leave the park the other day after the chase after Isaac had caused 7 contractions in too little time.  We'll have to avoid parks with lakes in the future if mom doesn't want to have to take her prescription of Terbutaline.)  He loves hugs right now and tries to bestow them on a less than excited Tina.  Poor thing tolerates the abuse but has been known to try and hide between the piano and the piano bench.  It's fun to watch the two of them play outside, though.  He'll get her riled up so she goes sprinting in circles around the yard and that makes him giggle so hard he falls over into the grass.  She'll come over to him and play-bow excitedly, waiting for him to get back up.  Then he'll try to get back up, still giggling, and she'll jump up in the air, causing him to erupt in giggles again and fall back down in the grass.  This can go on for quite awhile, much to mom's amusement.

Well, enough about the crazy little goose.  Time for a recipe:

Carmel Apple Pie

Yes Please!

Cider caramel:
4 cups apple cider
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Apple Pie Filling:
5-6 cups sliced apple, thinly sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup cider caramel, warmed









Double Pie Crust (My favorite recipe is here).


To make the caramel:


I have to confess, my mom made most of the caramel while I made the crust and chopped apples.  The process took a little longer than we anticipated, so make sure you get that cider good and bubbling so it can reduce faster.

Boil cider until reduced to 2 cups, about 20 minutes. Add butter & sugar, cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly and is reduced to 1 1/4 cups. Can be made 2 days ahead, (store in the refrigerator.  Stir before using).

To make the pie:

In a large bowl, combine apples, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt, vanilla, and caramel. Mix well. Spoon apples into pie plate (I read that you want apples to be very thin and then spoon them into the crust so they are all laying more or less flat - this will help avoid air bubbles in the crust). Cover with remaining crust. Cut steam vents into the top crust. Brush with  a little milk, and sprinkle with sugar & cinnamon.

Bake until crust is brown and juices are bubbling, about 1 hour. Let cool before serving.

Terribly Belated Pi Day Post

I am a blogging slacker.  I had good intentions of blogging right after pi day.  Just as I had good intentions of blogging right after Easter.  Better late than never?

Isaac painting with his slice of blueberry pie.  I'm not sure he's ever been this quiet and content.  I'm going to start giving him slices of pie when I need a break from chasing him around.

Pi day was delicious as usual.  Every year I panic, thinking we won't have enough pies so at the last minute I throw together a third pie, only to have ridiculous amounts of pie left over.   Next year I need to remember to only make two pies.  It would be more than adequate, as so many people bring pies of there own to share. Fortunately, I've learned my lesson from last year and I stubbornly refuse to allow anyone to leave leftover pie that they brought so we didn't have more leftovers than the three of us can eat alone.

This year I made a walnut-brownie pie (um, brownie in a pie?  Yes please!), Creamy White Chocolate Strawberry pie, and in response to my unfounded panic that we wouldn't have enough pie, I threw together the Key Lime pie we have at every occasion that could possibly warrant a pie (the husband's favorite).

Brownie Walnut Pie
1 pie crust, rolled out and in a pie pan, unbaked
1/2 C butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut up
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 C chopped walnuts
Garnish with hot fudge and or strawberries


Melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring frequently.  Cool 20 minutes (this would be a great time to make your pie crust).

Combine eggs, sugar, flour, and vanilla.  Stir in the chocolate mixture and the nuts.  Pour into pie crust.  Cover edges with foil to prevent over-browning (I forgot this step - oops).  Bake for 50-55 minutes at 350, or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool.

We also celebrated pie day with a delicious quiche.  And, in retrospect, I determined that quiche doesn't photograph well (or, I should say, doesn't photograph well for a photographer, we use that term loosely, who just points a camera at something and presses the button).  But, believe me that the quiche was delicious, regardless how the picture looks.

Quiche:
1 pie crust
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 C half-and-half or milk
1/4 C green onion
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
dash ground nutmeg
3/4 C chopped ham
1 1/2 C cheese (cheddar, Monterey Jack, Swiss, etc)
1 Tbsp flour

Line pie plate with pastry crust.  Do not prick.  Cover with foil and bake fr 8 minutes at 450.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 4-5 minutes.

Stir together eggs, half-and-half, green onions, and spices.  Stir in ham.  In a separate bowl, toss together the cheese and flour.  Add to the egg mixture. Pour egg mixture into hot pastry shell.  Cover edge of crust with foil to prevent over-browning.  Bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.


And as a special bonus for actually checking my blog even though I never post anymore, here is a video of the little boy.  Did I mention that he is adorable?

The diaper box in the background is filled with sand. At the rate he throws sand, we'll need it soon enough.

Pi Day 2012

Another year has passed and once more we were forced to eat pie in massive quantities.  How I love that peculiar little number that gives me such a splendid excuse to binge on pie once a year.  As always, we hosted our annual pie day party.  The pie line up featured lemon meringue, oreo, key lime, peach, pecan, berry cheesepie, banoffee (a brilliant combination of bananas and toffee), and caramel apple.  All were delicious.  I made the lemon meringue, oreo, and key lime (recipe here).  And as a bonus, tune in later this week for a german chocolate pie!

Oreo Pie

9 inch chocolate pie crust (I just bought mine, but I've made them before.  Just combine 1 C oreo crumbs, 3 Tbsp sugar, and 1/3 C melted butter.  Press into a pie pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes)

8 oz cool whip

4 oz cream cheese (I buy the 1/3 fat kind, Neufchatel cheese)

4 oz instant chocolate pudding, prepared according to package instructions

Beat cream cheese and 1/2 of the cool whip.  Spread into pie crust.  Pour prepared pudding over cream cheese mixture.  Spread remaining cool whip over pudding.  Garnish with oreo crumbs and cookies.

Super easy!  And when you're making 3 pies, cleaning the house, and tending a 4 month baby, at least one of the 3 pies needs to be easy to make.

Lemon Meringue

1 Baked pastry shell (see my favorite recipe here)

3 eggs

1 1/2 C sugar

3 Tbsp flour

3 Tbsp cornstarch

dash of salt

1 1/2 C water

2 Tbsp butter

1-2 tsp lemon zest

1/3 C lemon juice

Separate egg yolks from whites.  Set whites aside for meringue, allow them to come to room temperature.  Beat egg yolks with a fork and set aside.

In a medium saucepan combine sugar, flour, cornstarch, and a dash of salt.  Gradually stir in 1 1/2 C water.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly.  Reduce heat and cook for 2 more minutes.  Remove from heat.  Gradually pour 1 C of hot filling into the egg yolks, whisking the eggs constantly.  Return egg yolk mixture to the saucepan.  Bring to a gentle boil.  Cook and stir 2 more minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in butter and lemon peel.  Stir in lemon juice.  Keep warm.

Meringue:

3 egg whites

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

6 Tbsp sugar

In a large mixing bowl, combine egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar.  Beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.  Gradually add sugar while beating on high speed for about 5 minutes or until whites form stiff, glossy peaks and all the sugar has dissolved.

Pour warm filling into pie crust.  Top with meringue, spreading to the edge of the crust to prevent the meringue from shrinking.  Bake for 15 minutes.  If desired, broil for an additional 1-2 minutes for browner meringue.  Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.  Chill 3-6 hours before serving.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book

Creamy White Chocolate-Strawberry Pie

 Our Easter pie last week.  It was delicious and super easy to make.

Baked pie crust  (see my favorite recipe here)

Filling:
3/4 C white chocolate chips
8 oz Neufchatel cream cheese, softened
5 Tbsp sugar
1/3 C plain or vanilla yogurt
1 qt fresh strawberries

Garnish:
1/2 C white chocolate chips

Put 3/4 C white chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler over water (for tips on double boilers, go here).  When the chips start to shine, start stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool until needed.

Beat cream cheese until fluffy (about 4 minutes).  Gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat.  Add the cooled white chocolate and beat till smooth.  Add the yogurt and beat till smooth.  Spoon into pie shell.  Cover with foil and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Clean and hull berries.  Arrange on a layer over the pie, cut sides facing down.

For garnish, melt remaining white chocolate chips.  Let cool for a moment and then spoon into a parchment paper bag, cutting so it has a very fine tip (or spoon into a plastic sandwich bag, push the chocolate into a corner, and snip a very small hole in the corner).  Drizzle over pie.

Recipe from Po!

Serious Amounts of Pi

These were super easy to make and way cute.  It calls for a batch of double-crust pie dough, which I made from the recipe later in this post, but you might be able to do it with a single-crust batch.  I made the double-crust and had enough for these 24 mini's and for a crust for the banana cream pie I made.  Admittedly I had to re-roll the scraps of dough (I know, pie baking no-no, but it worked).  Also, if you are making these and the banana cream pie, save the 2 unused egg yolks and use them to make the banana cream.


Pecan Pie Bites

1 recipe pie dough for Double-crust pie
1/3 C chopped pecans, plus enough chopped pecans to lightly cover the bottom of each of the mini muffin tins
1 C packed brown sugar
2/3 C corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 egg whites

To make mini pies, roll out the pastry dough and use a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out circles.  Press each circle into a sprayed mini muffin cup.  This will make 24 mini muffin sized pies - that's usually one pans worth.  I pricked the bottom of each, just for good measure then spooned a small amount of chopped pecans into each pie shell - just enough to cover the bottom.

In a large bowl, stir the remaining 1/3 C pecans with all the remaining ingredients.  Pour filling into prepared muffin tins.  Bake for 20 min at 375.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on a cooling rack.  Top with whipped cream!

Recipe from Lion House Bakery Cookbook by Brenda Hopkin!

Banana Cream Pie

I'm so proud of myself for making this pie.  Why, you might ask.  Well, the last time I attempted to make a custard from scratch was when I was in elementary school (it must have been about 4th grade).  My neighbor and I decided we wanted to try a recipe we'd found for a chocolate custard.  I don't know if we didn't read the directions well or if the directions weren't specific enough regarding how to add the eggs.  Somehow we ended up with scrambled egg chunks inside our chocolate custard.  It was disgusting.  It was scarring.  I never attempted to make a custard again.  Until yesterday.  And it was good!  It was easy!  Hopefully my directions are thorough enough that you don't end up with scrambled egg and banana pie.

Prepared and cooled pie crust
1/4 C cornstarch
2/3 C sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 C milk
3 egg yolks, beaten (key word, don't skip that step - I wonder if that's what my friend and I did wrong all those years ago)
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-3 bananas

Mix together cornstarch, sugar, salt, and milk in a medium sauce pan.  Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly.  (Mine cooked about 13 minutes to get it thick enough.)  Pour a small amount of hot mixture into the bowl containing the egg yolks, whisking the eggs constantly as you pour.  Add the egg mixture to the pan with the remaining hot mixture and cook another 6 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool a moment (this would be a great time to go slice your bananas into the crust).  Now add the butter and vanilla to the custard.  Pour over bananas.  I let mine cool on a wire rack for a few hours, then I put it in the fridge until I was ready to serve it.  Top with whipped cream.

Variation:  For a coconut cream pie, mix 1 1/2 C coconut into the custard mixture at the same time you add the vanilla and butter.  Leave out the bananas.

Recipe from Logan B. whose love of pie started it all.

Double Crust Pie Dough

This crust was one of the easiest recipes I've made for pie and one of the flakiest.  It will become my new standard.  As with all pie crust recipes, do not over mix or overwork.  Also, if baking an empty pie shell, always prick the bottom and sides of the crust before baking.

2 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/4 C granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 C shortening
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 C ice water, or less.  Just use as much as it takes to get the dough to start to hold together.

Stir together flour, sugar, and salt.  Cut the shortening in until crumbly.  Stir in egg and vinegar. Sprinkle in water.

Divide dough into two.  If baking a single crust empty pie (for example, for the banana cream pie above) bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

Recipe from Lion House Bakery Cookbook by Brenda Hopkin!


We also had Geoff's favorite: key lime pie.  (For those of you worried about us eating all this pie alone, we had a full house last night.  Around 25 people and maybe 10 kids here to eat pie.)

Recipe for Key Lime Pie here!

Hope your pi day was excellent!

Pi Day!

Probably the second best day of the year, topped only by Thanksgiving (you can't beat rediculous amounts of pie on the same day you also enjoyed rolls, stuffing, and turkey - you can see my Thanksgiving priorities in the order I list Thanksgiving foods).  Today we honor the most delicious dessert pie.  I've already prepared pecan pie mini pie bites, a banana cream pie, and a key lime pie.  Pictures and recipes to come . . .

What kind of pie are you having?

Thanksgiving!

Sometimes I think Thanksgiving is the greatest holiday ever.  A day dedicated to eating - all day long.  First an outrageously huge dinner with stuffing, rolls, and yams; and then another meal of pies.  I say pies plural because in my family, something is wrong if there isn't at least one pie per person present at the Thanksgiving meal.  (In fact, I did not eat with my family yesterday, though my husband and I dropped by later that night.  They had 4 people for the Thanksgiving meal and the following pies: razzleberry, pumpkin, pecan, cherry, and chocolate.)  No wonder I like pie so much.

We ate at my husbands grandparents.  I had volunteered to make rolls before I knew there would be over 20 people at the meal so I made two different recipes of rolls.  I can't decide which was best.  They were pretty similar.  The 1st one I'll post was sweeter and easier to make (in my opinion).

Crescent Rolls:

1 C boiling water
1/2 C margarine, melted
3 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 C sugar
1+ Tbsp yeast
5 C flour

Beat water, margarine, and eggs.  Add salt, sugar, yeast, and 4 C flour.  Add the fifth cup as needed while mixing for 8-10 min.  Be careful not to add to much flour.  You want the dough to be smooth and elastic (it should stretch if you pull on it. Ex: you should be able to make a window - called a gluten window - with a small piece of dough)  Allow to rise to double in size.  Punch down dough and cut in half.  Roll out 1/2 of the dough at a time in a thin circle on a greased or buttered surface (a floured surface will dry out the dough).  Cut into 16 pie shaped pieces.  Roll starting from the wide end and allow to rise for another 20ish minutes on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 for 12-15min.

I have made the next roll recipe several times and it is harder to get the exact amount of flour and avoid stiff rolls than the above recipe.   

Rolls

2 Tbsp yeast, dissolved in 1/4 C very warm water
2 C warm milk
1/2 C margarine, melted
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
6 1/2-7 1/2 C flour

Dissolve yeast in water and let sit.  Heat milk in microwave.  Combine milk, melted butter, sugar and salt.  Add the eggs and the yeast.  Add about 5 C flour and mix.  Begin adding flour 1/4 C at a time until the dough is not too sticky.  Again, you want the dough to be smooth and elastic.  With this dough, I found that if I waited when it was sticky and just needed it gently outside of the bowl, it would get smooth without me adding more flour.  Allow to rise.  Punch the dough down and divide into 3 dough balls.  Roll out, cut, and roll from the wide end (as described above).  Allow to rise another 20 minutes.  Bake at 350 for 12-15 min.

 These were once part of a full circle with 16 pieces, but I was almost done rolling them by the time my husband came back with the camera.

 Rolling the dough.

Piles and piles of rolls.  We made 80 rolls.  I can't decide which I liked better, so now you have both recipes an can choose for yourself.  

And finally, it can't be a Thanksgiving post without pie.  My husbands favorite pie is key lime.  So we made 2 key lime pies to take to his grandparents.

Key Lime Pie

See nicer picture of this same key lime pie recipe here, when I made it for pi day.

Put 8 oz cream cheese, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, and 1/2 C key lime juice (either from fresh key limes or you can find bottled key lime juice at Kroger chains) in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Pour into graham cracker pie crust.  So easy your husband can make it (and mine did)!  Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!