peCAN

I tried making a pecan pie last year for Christmas, it was a huge failure!

Thankfully not because of me! Our oven was on the fritz for the holidays (one of the elements were broken and it took extra long to cook everything) and we didn't know until the we kept checking the turkey and it just wasn't cooking!

My pie never cooked clean through, I hate making a cut in the center to check, if I had I probably could have saved it by putting it in longer, but I didn't want to scar my first pecan pie, needless to say I scar them from now on! It is not the end of the world to have score in the center, it is just going to get eaten anyways!

So this is my second attempt at pecan pie:

Pecan Pie

1/2 cup light Karo syrup

1/2 cup molasses

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 pie crust

Preheat oven to 350

Mix syrup, eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla then stir in pecans

pour filling in to pie tin lined with crust.

I usually decorate the top with a design of pecan halves, but the pie looks delicious no matter how you present it!

bake on center rack for 70 minutes (bake less if you have an oven that runs high, I have a gas stove it usually cooks evenly and took 70 minutes!)

cool at least 2 hours before serving!

The secret ingredient here is the molasses, it gives it a really rich full flavor... mmm and smells incredible!! The best part about baking is all the amazing smells! I wish I could smell like sugar vanilla, and cardamom forever!

Thanksgiving

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with loved ones. We went to B's parents house on Thursday and enjoyed a lovely meal! Then on Friday went to my parents house had another lovely meal, and spent all Saturday recovering from the massive amount of food we had eaten over the past two days!

But the best part was to have four full days with my handsome man!

I also go to spend time with my kitteh, and our little pooper Elvis!

It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend!

I hope you all had just as wonderful a Thanksgiving as I did!

Blueberry Breakfast

This past Monday I was searching the house for something

to grab and take into work for breakfast,

since I had no such luck

I made the plan to head home after work

and make some muffins for the next morning!

I decided to break out my gorgeous mint green kitchen aid,

since it is the baking season

I polished her up and made a very special place

for her on the kitchen counter!

The next mission was to bake!

I found a yummy recipe in a book I bought a while ago.

The recipe called for raspberry jam to be swirled in the top,

unfortunately B finished off his jar of jam,

so I used what was left on two and improvised on the rest!

I used blueberries, since these are Bs favorite type of muffin,

and the other I used grape jelly we received as a wedding present

from a dear old friends, Mrs. B and Mr. M.

And this is what the delicious little treats looked like:

Now that the real baking season is upon us,

you can probably expect to see a lot more recipes up,

other than just pies! I hope you enjoy!

Upper Crust

One thing my good friend R always insisted is that you keep a recipe to your self, one thing you do well and you never share, it is your thing, your special thing! So I decided it is my crust, it is nothing special but for some reason i just works with everything. I always get compliments, and it always rolls out perfect and browns up divine. It is the one recipe that is so ingrained in my head I think I could make it on demand perfectly even if my life depended in it!

So this I will keep to my self, the rest i will happily share!

Even-though I have decided to keep this one secret I will divulge a few helpful hints!

Most recipes call for chilled water with ice cubes, usually 2-3 table spoons, I say use it sparingly!

You never really know how the crust is going to turn out until you get your hands in it, this is where I can say this knowledge comes with practice! You will find when you have made your 50th or so crust you notice that by the time you are finished cutting in the butter you can tell just how much water you will need. The most important thing to remember with liquids you can always add more but you cant take it away!

I recommend NEVER using a machine, the fun of baking is getting your hands dirty, like making mud pies when you were little! it also helps with knowing what you need; a little more flour, more water... you develop a tactile sense over time and soon it become a feeling you have with dough something you just know.

It is hard to not sound all mystical about baking, it is part science but part faith and about a quarter luck. One ting B is driving into my brain s you can follow a recipe exactly, but itdoesn't mean it is going to turn out exactly the same as it should. So when I start sounding fairly (mystical) just know the more you make it the more you will understand, there comes a point where you just know.

One of my last tips for dough, it is ok to be rough with it, people treat dough so carefully and gently, afraid it is going to crumble and afraid of making a mess. Again think primal urges when you bake, make a HUGE mess, get flour everywhere have fun! I find giving my dough a little bit of a beating to be very satisfying as well as gets all the little crumbs in a row... when I roll it out it tends to crack less. Also a resting period for dough is crucial! somerecipes it is ok to roll out straight away, but for the most part 15- 20 minutes int he fridge is a good idea.

Now this is my final bit of wisdom that I can not emphasis nearly enough so listen carefully!

Doubling a dough recipe is a VERY BAD idea! I learned form my amazing Auntie G that you do not double recipes unless the recipe says so! it never turns out the same, take the time to make the second batch it is worth it and you can always taste the difference!

here are a few recipes I have collected, all are very good and can be used with various different pies. (If I reference any crust int he future and forget to give the recipe you can bet you will find it here! otherwise I will let you know how to make the crust.)

Basic Crust

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup ice water

1 teaspoon sugar

combine the flour and salt

cut in butter until mixture consists of coarse crumbs

add 1 table spoon at a time of water

until the dough sticks together

and you can roll into a ball.

refrigerate over night

Gluten/sugar Free Crust

3/4 cup rice flour

1 teaspoon honey

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/3 cup butter

2 tablespoons cold water

mix together rice flour, sea salt, and xantham gum well

cut in the butter and honey

add the cold water a little at a time

until you reach the desired consistency.

This dough can be kind of sticky

so roll out between two rice floured sheets of wax paper.

Sour Cream Crust

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter

6 tablespoons sour cream

in a medium bowl mix the flour and salt

cut in the butter and then the sour cream

knead briefly on a floured surface

This recipe requires no rest time!

pot luck suprise!

I apologize for not posting yesterday like I said I would, but I will be putting out a few today:
special pie crust recipes
sweet potato pie with glaze
and possiby one more! We will see!

But I just wanted to say the Creme Brulee pie may not have been the prettiest pie ever, but it sure was delicious!!!
B and I spent the day with our very good friends R & K, we had a delightful day shopping yesterday (B got many new shirts that making him even more handsome). After a long day we all went out to eat and came back to our house to try out the pie! I think we were all a little nervous to try it, but thank God for such wonderfully supportive freinds and husband, they all tried it! and thanfully it did not taste burnt or anything, it had a very nice flavor, creamy, and smooth with a crispy crust! it was very delightful! And K gave me some good hints about how they do the Creme Brulee at the resturaunt, so next time K will be there to help me torch the top! She said that the 1/3 cup of sugar the recipe called for to spread over the top was way too much! She said it needs a really thin layer so it melts evenly, that having that much means it is that much more the heat has to melt! So I am putting in my request for a torch! we will see what Santa puts in my stocking!!!

3rd times a charm...

Sort of. So I tried the creme brulee pie again, and while I still burnt the sugar the filling came out fantastic! I finally figure out how to cook it and made some adjustments to the recipe. So my darling friend K suggested I use a torch to melt the sugar, but I was too impatient and tried it out in the broiler again. (did you know there are two settings on a broiler?) Obviously I didn't, apparently there is a low. So the sugar got burnt but not as bad as last time i think we can still actually eat it!

So I consider this a success, and will be making it the next time we go see our friends K & R with the kitchen torch! :)

Creme Brulee Pie

filling:

3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks beaten
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon vanilla

Here are a few of filling my suggestions to start off with:

Have all of the ingredients ready, because you really do not want to leave the unattended on the stove!

Second bake the pie shell first so it has time to cool down a bit!

Now in the original recipe they said to cook in a heavy sauce pan, well both times I had trouble burning the bottom and not getting it to thicken up very well,

so I decided to try a double broiler and it is sooooo nice!

It thickened up very well, there was no burning,

and it allowed you more room for if you

forgot something and had to step away!

To start get your water boiling

in a metal bowl dissolve the cornstarch in the cream,

(I found a whisk works best

throughout this whole process!)

I whisked it up a bit before I put it over the stove

to get some air through the cream

After you put the bowl over the water

whisk it around for a bit to get it all warmed up

next add the condensed milk and the beaten egg yolks

It took a good 20 minutes of whisking,

(trust me it is definitely worth it!)

It will thicken up pretty good,

I kept it going until when I pulled out the whisk

you could still see the imprint,

like a pudding consistency.

at this point while it is still over the heat

you can whisk in the vanilla and butter

make sure the butter is melted before you take it off the heat.

Now that everything is thoroughly mixed and the pie shell is nice and cool, it is time to pour the mixture in to the shell.

I placed mine in the fridge for about 2 hours

to let it finish setting up and cool down.

Now the tricky part!

after it is allowed to cool

you want to cover the top with sugar,

the recipe called for 1/3 of a cup,

but I just sprinkled it on until it was evenly covered.

In the future I will use a kitchen torch

(hopefully my husband will take that as a hint for a Christmas present!)

The broiler is too scary for me

you cant really see too well what is going on

and before you know it, this happens!

We didn't cut into it yet,

but I I am sure it will be eaten tonight!

I will let you know how it tasted!

I apologize for not posting the past two days,

I have been home sick, and am starting to feel a bit better!

I will make it up with a couple extra postings this weekend,

on my go to pie crust recipes,

as well as some other pointless facts!

Have a lovely day!

surprise!

Yesterday I got home and started cooking dinner

and tidy up the kitchen a bit,

when I heard my husband come in the door!

I was excited as usual to see him,

but this night he had

a wonderful surprise in his arms!

these:

and a lovely card to go with it!

He has is own little ways that are romantic, but every once in a while he comes home with a surprise and a big smile, and those moments always make me even more greateful that I get to com home to him every day and wake up with him every morning!

I look forward to the rest of our lives together, when I think of us 50 or 60 years from now I just cant help but smile!

coast

It is Monday and we are back from a relaxing weekend at the coast.

B and I headed out Friday night through fog and rain to reach Newport's clear skies full of stars!

The house that B's family rented

was right on the beach,

what a sight to wake up to the next morning!

B headed out crabbing with his

dad and brother in-law

while the girls stayed at home to make breakfast

and keep and eye on the kids!

After all the boys got home most of us took a nap,

B and I took the longest...

it was a long week for B!

Later that night my new brother in-law

made some yummy clam chowder

And we ate the delicious crab that my husband help bring home!

Later I made sweetened-whipped cream

to serve with the pumpkin pie,

which was well received!

Unfortunately I do not have a photo of a piece of the sour apple cream pie, because it did not last long enough for me to get one! Every one loved it! it was devoured shortly after being cut into!

So I definitely recommend this recipe to anyone willing to try it! It has almost a cheese cake flavor, but not too much with a little bit of a bite form the tarts apples! And the cinnamon sugar topping really added a delightful flavor!

For this week I want to figure out the best way to make the cream brulee pie, I tried it again last night, but the filling never quite set up! I am determined to conquer this recipe!

I also have plans to make a sweet potato pie, and try a few yummy... non pie... recipes I found in a cookbook over the weekend!