Maw Maw's Chocolate Pie

I like to brag about how I have/had four grandmothers...all of whom are unique ladies with special talents and quirks...and their own special recipes.

Grandma Kintner is still kicking at 95, likes to walk to the post office, and eats candy for all three meals. She has the best laugh ever (I think my niece inherited it), and is the grandma that sends you cards for every holiday.

Grandma Fairchild passed away while I was in grad school, but she had spunk. My favorite memory of her includes her at age 71 joining my mom and I in an adventure of climbing fences, wading through a river, ending up in someone's horse pasture, and walking back to my aunt's house with bare feet and pants rolled up. She is also the originator of the Fairchild Apple Pie, the first thing I ever learned to bake.

Grandma Irma passed away a few months ago. She was a very kind soul, keeping track of family members, doting on my grandfather and all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren surrounding them, and regularly visiting assisted living homes to play music. She also made the best sweet, garlic pickles ever.

Each of these women have been in my life since I was born, and have taught me about life and family in a variety of ways. They have all lived simply, but loved in great ways.

Maw Maw Stephens was only in my life for about 6 years, but I am grateful for those years. The mother of my step-mother, she embraced my sisters and I as grandchildren and had her own ways of showing us love. She kept a list of people to pray for each day and would regularly remind you that she was thinking of you. I loved that everytime she saw me, she would ask if I had lost weight or said I looked too skinny (which in my twisted head is a compliment). And at every family gathering, she would make her amazing chocolate pie.

I hadn't thought of the pie in a while, but was inspired to make one for a friend's birthday. Normally I make fruit pies, but William wanted something different. Then it hit me to make the amazing chocolate pie.

Now that I have made the pie, I have discovered that Maw Maw really did love us, because this pie takes more patience and attention than most pies, mainly because you have to stir the chocolate filling for about 20 minutes almost non-stop.

The famous recipe (shared with permission)...

Crust:
Make whatever pie crust you want, and bake it. (And by whatever pie crust, I mean a traditional flour and butter/crisco crust...you could try a graham cracker or cookie crust, but then it wouldn't be Maw Maw's pie)

Filling:
3 (1 oz) squares of dark baking chocolate (chopped)
2 1/2 cups of cold milk (the more milk fat the better)
Dissolve the chocolate into the milk overy very low heat

3 tbsp flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 egg yolks, beaten (keep the egg whites for the meringue)
2 tbsp butter (softened)
2 tsp vanilla
Combine the dry ingredients and add them to the beaten egg yolks. Then slowly add the milk mixture to the egg mixture, beating together each time until blended. Then stir for about 20 minutes on low-medium heat until, as I like to say, the filling is "puddin' thick". Take filling off the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Pour into pie crust, let cool a little, and then top with meringue

Meringue:
Use whatever recipe you want... I used one from the internet, but can't find the link...basically egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar all mixed until fluffy in the amazing kitchen aid mixer.

Bake it all together at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 

The finished product...

Enjoy!

Baking Failures

I recently read The Happiness Project and came across a simple idea, but one that I could stand to learn. It is how to find the fun in failure, or at least the bright side of it. As a perfectionist, I tend to beat myself up over even the smallest failures. However, I am learning to let go and realize that I cannot do everything or do it perfectly.

My baking failures of late are mostly due to good that are a little too dry. The blueberry coffee cake had too much wheat flour and not enough milk, and the jalapeno cornbread was cooked just a little too long.

Then my cookies that were either supposed to have cinnamon and clove or vanilla and dark chocolate chips, ended up with all of the above in them.

Everything was still edible, but definitely not high on the scrumdillyumptious scale. I guess the main thing is that I learned to be more careful about the moisture, and potentially thinking about reading the recipes before I try them. (I also have a tendency to just jump right in and see what happens!)

Oh...and my other failure was no pictures of anything!

So, here are some small failures that I can learn to accept...hoping that I can one day accept some of those bigger failures that come along. 

I have said this before....I am not crazy about writing. So I bake, but I tend not to blog about it. I think to myself sometimes about why I keep a blog, and why I let myself feel guilty about not posting. But, I like the idea of having a history of my baking exploration, something semi-tangible to show for how I tried something new, made something from scratch, and decided to step away from the TV to be more present in life. So for now, I guess I will keep up this pattern...baking every so often and posting less often. Sharing food and thoughts with family and friends....even if it is not as often as I would want it to be.

The latest baking experiments:

Peach and blueberry pie
Will found an article series on Slate, called "You're doing it wrong" that exposes not so great cooking and baking techniques. My curiosity was peaked when the topic was pie, as I believe that I have a pretty darn good talent at pie making. I liked what I saw in the article though, so I made it for a friend's 4th of July party. Note: I substituted local blueberries for the raspberries and stuck with my own recipe for the bottom crust. It was a hit.

 
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/07/03/peach_and_raspberry_pie_with_oat_streusel_topping_the_only_4th_of_july_dessert_recipe_you_need.html

Dark chocolate ganache cake
This one was a request from Will for his birthday party. It tasted much better than it looked. Also, I used the orange extract called for in the recipe, but I think I should have used orange zest instead. It was a little too "fake orange" for me. I doubled the recipe so it would fill the bundt pan.

Enjoy!

More baking....less posting

I am not completely sure why I decided to make a baking blog... (well, I do...but that's a longer story)... because I don't like to write. I have a private journal that I have for three years and still have at least a third of it left. I also have worked on any of the scholarly articles I want to get published. Meanwhile, my writer husband goes through 3 journals a year, and has already written 2 scholarly articles before this year is even halfway through.

So, for some reason, I thought I would be the kind of person who regularly baked and then wrote intriguing and funny and poignant posts about how baking is related to life. Yeah...that did not happen.

The good thing is that the people who are most likely reading this are people who know and love me already, and will forgive me this lack.

Here is what I have been baking lately (and not writing about)...

1. Cranberry scones and muffins (because it was the end of the semester and the 2 lb bag of cranberries in our freezer that needed used)

The little guy next to the yummy treats is Flat Stanley, a school project visiting from my adorable nephew Jesse....

2. Blueberry pie (because there were fresh local blueberries at the farm stand and the idea of blueberry pie with ice cream made my mouth water)

It was just as awesome as I imagined it!

3. Rhubarb muffins (because I love rhubarb after discovering it last year)

 The before and after. I had to make these twice, because Will was upset that I ate most of the first batch and he did not get enough of them.

I also made some strawberry rhubarb jam that is pretty darn good too!


And here are the recipes:

1. Cranberry scones - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cranberry-orange-scones-recipe/index.html (I didn't make the icing part because we were out of powdered sugar).

2. Blueberry pie - I used my own crust recipe (see apple pie post)... but this filling... http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/blueberry_pie/

3. Rhubarb muffins - from the Simply in Season cookbook

2.5 cups of flour (I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat cake flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Mix together

1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt (I used yogurt)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
2 tsps vanilla
Mix together and the combine with dry ingredients until just moistened

1.5 cups diced rhubarb
(you can also add nuts if wanted, but neither Will nor I like nuts in baked goods)
Mix in and fill in greased muffin pan

1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp flour
Mix together and drizzle on top of muffins

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes

So, that's it. I at least wrote something... tune back in a few months from now for an update!

A lull

I have been feeling a little uninspired lately, especially as I am finding that working from home may not be the most ideal work situation for me. I tend to get distracted (which is great for keeping a clean home, but not so great for staying focused on work), and I need more human interaction. And although working from home does make it easier to fit in baking, I just have not been as dedicated lately. That is not to say that I have not been baking (I have made banana bread, pizza dough, cranberry muffins, and a king cake within the past month), just that I have not been in the mood to take pictures or posted anything.

I know that life comes with more and less exciting times, as well as the more and less mundane times, but I have just been feeling a little more stuck in the less exciting/more mundane moments right now. I am working on changing my attitude to find the little joys in each day, and our recent trip to San Francisco to catch up with old friends definitely helped. It just sometimes it takes more work to find those moments. I guess that no matter what though, you have to keep moving forward, knowing that adventures will come again and life will still be a big mix of joys, sorrows, and everything in between.

On a side note.... Here is the king cake I made for Mardi Gras. There are no purple sprinkles in Florence, so I had to use blue. The recipe actually turned out pretty well, so thanks to Emeril!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/king-cake-recipe/index.html

Vic of all trades

Most of the time, I am the kind of person who is up for trying new things, meeting new people, experiencing as much of life as possible. (That is except for days like today when I just want to be lazy and watch way too much TV.)

I like the idea of being a "jack of all trades", someone who is well-rounded and is adaptable/useful/interesting in a variety of situations. 

The problem sometimes becomes that when I find new things that I really love to do, I want to do more of it and become really good at it. However, I don't want to stop the other things that I like to do.

Plus, I always have my jobs coaching and teaching, and the publications/research projects on which I work. And the life list of adventures to have.

My point, essentially, is that I want to do all of the following things with my time, and can't quite figure out how to do all of them. How are there enough hours to:
*bake / cook from scratch almost daily
*run / swim / bike / lift weights / practice yoga / dance daily
*read
*work 40-50 hours per week
*spend time with William
*spend time with friends
*volunteer
*go to church / meditate

Not to mention, doing the daily/weekly tasks that adults must do.

I guess maybe it doesn't sound like so much, but all of this is to say, that I don't understand how people (especially parents) do everything they do, and there is so much to choose from that I occasionally have a difficult time balancing things and something falls by the wayside. For the past month or so, baking (and cooking) has been the thing that has received less attention.

However, there is nothing like a party that makes me want to bake! So, I am back in the baking game (at least for this weekend).

On Saturday, we went had chili with several friends which was the perfect time to make some cornbread. I LOVE cornbread and have a hard time passing it up. So, of course, I made two kinds.

First, cheesy chile pepper corn bread

The super easy recipe....

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
3 tbsp melted butter
1 egg
4 oz can of green chilies, drained

Mix the dry ingredients, then mix the wet ingredients, combine and spread into a 8-inch square baking pan, bake at 375 for 35ish minutes.

Second, sweet corn bread muffins

Again, super easy...

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
3 tbsp melted butter

Again, just mix the dry ingredients, then mix the wet, then combine and bake in a muffin tin for 18 to 22 minutes at 400 degrees.

(These cornbread recipes came from 1, 000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles)

Today, we are going to a Super Bowl party tonight, so I made nutella cookies. I made some nutella cookies over Christmas that were flourless and not that great, so this time I decided to take a peanut butter cookie recipe and just substitute nutella. I must say, they are pretty darn good!

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/peanut_butter_cookies/

I imagine I will probably always struggle with time management and prioritizing the multiple ways I have to/want to spend my time. But I do hope that baking and cooking and learning how to relate to food and people are activities that find their way into my schedule.

M.I.A.

I am constantly amazed at people who are really hard workers with really hard jobs. My sisters are good examples of this. One is an ER physician's assistant and the other is an internal medicine physician. They work ungodly hours after little sleep and deal daily with life and death situations. And this is only their job; it does not include life outside of work with family obligations and regular adult duties like paying bills, caring for a home, and figuring out how to feed themselves and others daily. There are millions of people like this all over the world, some working two or three jobs to care for themselves and families.

Even though I worked two jobs this semester, one of which stressed me to the point of having heart palpitations, I know that I do not regularly endure the hard work that my sisters and others complete daily. (Plus, my hard work is dealing with students who are less than competent and writing at a computer... not saving lives... at least, not saving lives directly.)

All of this is to say, that I guess I have no excuse for not baking and posting lately. The only reason I have for slacking is grading and watching too much TV (and making brief appearances in Florence's Nutcracker).

I will say, however, that when I got off my butt and into the kitchen (that sounded a little too 50's housewife didn't it), I made some very yummy goodies.

First, I made gingerbread cookies. I have always loved gingerbread (the bread), but never been crazy about gingerbread (the cookies), mostly because they tend to be the thin, crunchy cookies instead of soft, gooey cookies. But I managed to find a good recipe and they turned out well. I used this on-line recipe, added 1 egg white for more moisture, did not roll the cookies as thin as the recipe said, and only cooked them for 6.5 minutes. I then iced them with cream cheese icing instead of vanilla (confession - I used store bought because I ran out of time). They were a hit at the Christmas party and I can't stop eating them at home. You should definitely try them.

The recipe:
http://www.food.com/recipe/the-most-wonderful-gingerbread-cookies-80156

And here is a vegan recipe that looks similar:
http://www.vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=1243&catId=2

Then I made sweet-potato crescent rolls from my Simply in Season cookbook.

(I think they look a little bit like ducks all curled up and tucking the beak in their feathers.)


The recipe:

Combine:
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat bread flour (I just used regular whole wheat flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast (proofed according to directions on package)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Cook and mash 1 cup of sweet potatoes (about 2 medium baked sweet potatoes will do). Combine with 1 cup milk and 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until butter is melted.

Add sweet potato mixture to flour mixture and mix until moistened.

Beat 1 large egg into mixture for a couple of minutes. (I did this in my kitchen aid mixer on medium speed.)

Gradually stir in bread flour (up to 2ish cups) until dough is easy to handle. Knead (on a floured surface) for several minutes, place in a greased bowl and allow to rise until doubled. Knock down and divide in half. Roll each half into a circle (I used my pizza stone to help with the shape), and brush the whole thing with a little melted butter. Cut into 12 wedges and roll like those Pillsbury crescent rolls you loved as a kid (and probably still love as an adult). Repeat with the other half.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown (and slightly orange because of the sweet potato goodness).

These were also a hit at the party and good for breakfast the next morning!

Enjoy! I hope everyone (including my hard working sisters) gets to relax a little this holiday season.

Happy Holidays!