Pie Are Squared: Turtle Pie

For Thanksgiving, I wanted to make something extra delicious. And chocolatey. I scoured the internet for a delicious chocolate pie but didn't really find anything that fit all the criteria I was looking for. Or I'd find a delicious looking one that didn't include a recipe. So I ended up kind of making one up.
I realized that was I was really craving was the turtle cheesecake. They used to sell the whole cake at Sam's Club; now all I can find are the little square bites. You know, oreo crust, cheesecake topped with chocolate chips, pecans, and caramel? Well, for some reason that I can't remember now, I didn't want cheesecake, so I made an alternative, cheesecakeless version.
First, a regular crust that I prebaked using my new pie weights! I actually bought them a while ago, but this is their maiden voyage. The crust still kind of melted down the sides, but it wasn't too bad. I wanted to do a fun, decorative edge, but I couldn't think of anything, so I just made the regular fluting bigger.
Then, I made dulce de leche by pressure cooking a can of sweetened condensed milk for 30 minutes. I put a layer of that in the bottom of the crust and topped it with mini chocolate chips and chopped pecans.

Then, I prepared a chocolate mousse and poured that on top of the caramelly mixture. Top again with chocolate chips, pecans, and more dulce de leche.

It was pretty good. But very rich. And I found myself wishing it had more of a cheesecakey texture. Sort of like that turtle cheesecake I'd been imagining.
Why didn't I just make it a cheesecake? I have no idea.
I still have half of the pie in my fridge. Yeah, I know, it's been two weeks.

Ratings:

Flavor: 8

Execution: 9. Looked like the kind of pie you'd want to get at a restaurant...even if you end up regretting it because it is too rich to finish.

Difficulty: Medium. The mousse kind of took a bit of finagling, but not too bad, really.

Overall rating: *** 3 out of 5 stars.

Pie Are Squared: Pink Lady Apple Pie

"My grandmother used to say, 'Men expect women to be particular. As women, we shouldn't disappoint them.'"
With that in mind, the Patty Pinner advised me ask for a higher standard and use Pink Lady apples for this pie. I am not enough of an apple connoisseur to identify if Pink Lady apple pie is any better--or any different--from regular apple pie. But it was good.

I used the flag method of fluting the pie, which I thought looked kind of silly when it was raw. Then I added some little maple leaf crust shapes, brushed it with milk, and sprinkled on some sugar in the raw.
Once it was baked, the flag crust looked less silly.

Ratings:

Flavor: 8

Execution: 9. I thought it turned out rather nicely.

Difficulty: Medium. Though I feel like I may not be a good judge of pie difficulty. I'm not a huge fan of rolling out the dough, but it's not really difficult, but I don't like to do it, so double crust pies are more of a pain...I'll let you decide.

Overall rating: **** 4 out of 5 stars.

This pie crust recipe always leaves a fair amount of leftovers; double crust doubles the leftover. I always refrigerate the leftovers for a few days, thinking I'll do something with it later. I never have.
This time, though, my husband decided to put an end to the wasting of pie crust in our household and made a savory pie for dinner.

It was meaty and spicy and good. Thanks, dear. He did a pretty good job, eh?

Also, need I remind you that the biggest pie making holiday of the year is approaching? Happy pie making/eating, everyone.

Camp Cupcake: The rest of the story

So, I did go running that night. In fact, what I did in order to make sure that I went running was to call Anne.

By calling Anne, two things happened:

I actually went running that night because I had someone to go running with.

I got talked into running a half-marathon.

For me, it was an opportunity to do what I have been talking about doing for a long time--staying consistent and continuing on with something after completing a big goal. It involved getting up early to go for runs down Provo Canyon before work, or going running around the Orem High track at night.

The race was yesterday. It was a half marathon down Provo Canyon, starting at Aspen Grove (near Sundance, home of Robert Redford) and finishing up at a shopping center at the mouth of Provo Canyon. The notable thing about this race, besides it being the last big race of the season in Utah county, is that, because it falls over Halloween weekend, people dress up.

I was not among those people dressed up because I could not find a costume I was willing to wear for 13.1 miles of sweaty running. However, here are some of the costumes I saw:

-M&Ms (there was a whole group of them)

-Goofy (there was a running club that were all dressed alike in green shirts, black running tights, orange suspenders, and those giant tall hats with the Goofy ears).

-Captain America

-Superman

-Super Grover (his costume was furry. I have trouble believing he was able to run the entire distance without taking it off).

-catsup and mustard

Additionally, there were tons of women wearing funky tights/socks and/or tutus.

The only other notable thing about this race was that I got separated from the people I was running with when I had to make a stop at the Honey Bucket. Ten minutes later, I was back out on the trail. The line was that long. When I got back out, I found myself surrounded by several of the Goofys. One of the things that has always bothered me about running with other people is when you pass a person or a group of people who decide that they do not want to be passed by you, and who speed up just long enough to pass you, but then slow back down. It is particularly annoying when it is a whole group of people, and they are dressed like Goofy, and it happens three or four times.

Happily, I finished the race a few minutes behind my friends. Like I said, this was the last big race of the season. I do not plan to run another race until next year. However, in the meantime, I plan to continue to run a few times a week, both to stay consistent and to be ready for next running season. What I mostly gained from yesterday's race is that, whether I ever get good at it or not, there is something about running that I am beginning to enjoy, and I think I'll keep doing it.

Grill Pans, Birthday Cake, and Indian Food

Don't let my lack of posting fool you; the baby birds are not starving. I really do enjoy trying new recipes and have even found a few that we now use in our regular rotation. The thing that I really don't do very well is blog about them. So here you go, another multi-recipe post of a few things I've tried that might be worth mentioning. I'll start with the ones I remembered to photograph:

First up: Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas. I saw these on the Pioneer Woman's site quite a while ago but never made them because I didn't have a grill pan and we've had some issues with our outdoor grill. But finally my curiosity about the prospect of indoor grilling got the best of me and I purchased this grill pan. The quesadillas were the first thing I made with it.

The grill pan verdict: I'm actually pretty surprised at what good results this turned out. I guess I had always just assumed that grilling on my electric range could never come close to outdoor grilling. But the pineapple I grilled in this pan was so irresistible that by the time I was able to stop sampling it, I almost didn't have any left to make the quesadillas. I've also grilled chicken and hamburgers in the pan and the only negative I can see is the amount of smoke that ends up in your kitchen instead of outside. (Anyone know what to do about that besides open the windows?) The convenience of this pan is definitely worth the price.

The recipe verdict: This was a great way to dress up ordinary chicken quesadillas. There are a couple of optional ingredients--extra barbecue sauce and jalapeños--and after trying all of the possible combinations we decided that we preferred them with both. I decided to omit the butter on the outside of the quesadillas. I'm sure it would have tasted extra great and fattening.


A couple of months ago my husband The Emasculated Baker (who stopped making cakes because he felt like he was forcing them on his coworkers) turned thirty. I decided to steer clear of his cake recipes as I doubted my ability to duplicate his meticulous attention to detail. Instead I made this souped-up cake mix recipe for chocolate-peppermint poke cake. It was nothing fancy, but it tasted pretty good and if you're the kind of person who likes chopped up candy bars throughout your cake, it's great! When I made it I couldn't find any white chocolate pudding mix, so I used regular chocolate. I also baked it in two 9-inch round pans and made a layer cake with a layer of frosting and extra peppermint patties in between the cake layers. And instead of using the frosting straight from the can, I whipped a cup of heavy cream and folded it into the canned frosting mixed with peppermint extract.


As you may have noticed by now, many of the recipes I try come from The Pioneer Woman Cooks or from PW's community recipe site Tasty Kitchen. I've seen this recipe for Butter Chicken come into the TK spotlight several times and have always been amazed by how consistently high its ratings have been. It's pretty rare for 73 people (at the time of this post) to have rated any one recipe, but over those 73 ratings, it still maintains a score of 4.73 mitts (on a scale of one to five). I've been wanting to try it for a long time, but every time I go to buy carda0mom at my local Wal-Mart and see that it costs over $10 just for a small bottle, I change my mind. Luckily, my cupcake-baking sister just moved into town with a jar of cardamom that she bought for a cupcake recipe. Only in a Martha Stewart cupcake would you find something like cardamom. So excitedly, I made the chicken, adjusting the amount of cayenne pepper in individual portions so that George and I could have it as spicy as we like it while not making it too spicy for the kids. And it was good. I would even say that it was really good. Definitely a recipe that I'll be making again. But I have to say, after the months of hearing all of the raves about this recipe, it was not as amazing as I was imagining it to be and the only reason I can think of to explain my disappointment is that I had such high expectations. So here is my new mantra for life: set your expectations low and you'll never be disappointed. Amen.

I couldn't really imagine eating Indian food without some fresh naan, so I thought I would look for a good recipe to try. And now, months later, I honestly can't remember which recipe I happened to try this time. I know it was one that I got from Tasty Kitchen, but it's been so long and I looked at all of them thoroughly enough that they all look familiar to me now. But quite honestly, whichever one it was it wasn't good enough that I bothered to add it to my recipe box. And this is not the first time I've said that about a naan recipe. This was my third or fourth time making it and I've yet to find a recipe that's worth keeping. Most of them come out a little too...dry? Too reminiscent of those spongy, squeeze-y stress-reliever things? I'm beginning to think that the problem is not in the recipes, but in my technique. So if any of you have a great naan recipe that you like to make, please send it my way and if it turns out bad on me, I will have isolated the problem. Thanks. Through my failures I have made one valuable naan-related discovery: cooking it on a preheated pizza stone in the oven is a lot easier and less smoky than cooking it on a grill.

That's all for this time. I still have a bunch of recipes that I've tried to blog about, but at this point I'd say it's high time I just ended this and posted something.

Pie Are Squared: Miss Oleda Halliburton's Easy Pear Pie on a Baking Sheet

This has been the biggest disappointment along my pie making journey.
I have been excited about this pie for a long time, partly because pear pie sounds delicious, but mostly because the crust wouldn't require cutting and transferring and shaping. You just roll it out, plop on the filling, fold it up, and you're good to go.
Or so I thought.
It goes without saying that the picture in the book looked nothing like my final product here. I think my filling was somehow a lot more watery. And then all the leakage. Look at all the leakage! It just looks terrible.
But I still didn't despair. Even if it looks awful, it will still taste great, right?
Not really. It didn't taste bad; cinnamon, sugar, and pears can't taste bad really. But it wasn't that great. It was pretty much a mediocre apple pie with a slight peariness.
Bleh.

Ratings:

Flavor: 6

Execution: 4. Man, it was ugly.

Difficulty: Easy. But it turns out that pies are made in cup-shaped pans for a reason.

Overall rating: ** 2 out of 5 stars.

Pie Are Squared: Chicken Pot Pie

Here's to my first savory pie: chicken pot pie!
Now that the weather's cooling off and feeling all autumnal, I thought pie would nice for dinner.
I must say, it was delicious. I paired it with cranberry sauce, and they complemented each other well. (Usually "pairing" something reminds me of wines that are supposed to complement some fancy dinner, so I am amusing myself by using that wording with something as pedestrian as canned cranberry sauce).

I actually did a double pie crust, but it was so much extra work, and you don't even notice the bottom crust, so I am recommending just putting crust on top.

Further, if you're just feeling lazy but want chicken pot pie-ness, you can make the filling and then serve it over toast. That is good, too.
Here's a shot of me making the pie:

Ratings:

Flavor: 8

Execution: 7. I wasn't very thorough about the egg wash=ugly top

Difficulty: Pretty simple. You'll want to work fast once you get the crust on top because the heat of the filling starts soggifying the crust pretty quickly.

Overall rating: **** 4 out of 5 stars.

The filling is my dad's recipe, so I'm happy to share it with the universe:

Chicken Pot Pie:

1 pie crust, prepared
3 c chicken broth
1 chicken breast, cubed
1/4 c frozen peas
1/4 c chopped carrots
1/4 c frozen corn
1/4 c chopped onion
1 stick butter
3/4 c flour
salt and pepper to taste
1. Boil chicken, peas, carrots, and corn in broth until cooked.
2. In large pot, sauté onion in butter until translucent. Add flour; stir until combined.
3. Add broth mixture to onions and heat until thick; season with salt and pepper. Pour thickened mixture into deep dish pie plate. Cover with pie crust; fold edges under and crimp. Brush with egg wash, if desired.
4. Bake at 425º for 30 minutes or until crust is golden.

Pie crust:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup shortening, chilled
3–4 Tbsp. cold milk

1. In a medium bowl stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, large fork, or the tips of your fingers, cut in or pinch or squeeze the shortening until mixture resembles crumbs the size of peas. Tossing the mixture quickly and lightly with a fork, sprinkle in the milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough holds together when lightly pressed. Gather dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 12-inch circle, rolling from the center to the edges and giving dough quarter-turns frequently. Place the 9-inch pie plate upside down on top of the rolled-out dough. Using a small knife, cut a circle around the plate, leaving a 1-inch border of dough around the plate.

Camp Cupcake: On and off the exercise wagon

After boldly declaring to the world (or the 9 followers of this blog) that I was going to be consistent in my efforts to eat well and exercise, I have exercised a grand total of twice.

Which I still maintain is better than zero.

Thursday morning (one week ago) I got up and did my Cardio Hula with Kili video. Unlike Charlie, I do not have any islander blood in me, and it was a bit of a workout. I felt good all day.

Then, my friend Kim came into town. We had an awesome time, as evidenced by this post. However, I did not exercise that whole time. Unless, of course, you count all the walking we did around campus, to and from our parking spot at the football game, around Olympic Park, and inside IKEA. And I probably shouldn't count that, since the rest of the trip was spent eating at places like Cafe Rio, Brick Oven, Kneaders, Panda Express, and Mini's Retro Cafe.

So, Wednesday night, I decided I needed to go for a run. I called up my friend Anne, who, coincidentally, was about to go running by herself. Shortly thereafter, we ended up at Orem High, where we ran just under four miles around the track. Again, it felt good. And I was reminded that it is infinitely easier to run when you have someone to run with--particularly if that person lets you use those four miles to complain about your life. Thanks for that, Anne.

Now, I am sitting in my office, about to go home. I know that, when I get home, I should go for a run. At the same time, there is that part of me that is trying to talk myself out of it because it has already been a long week and I want to go home, put on my pj's, and go to bed. The beauty of this blog is that if I write here that I should go home and go for a run, I am much more likely to actually do that than if I kept my thoughts to myself. We'll see if it works.

Camp Cupcake: Starting over

First of all, I just have to say how grateful I am for Ami (Pie Are Squared). Without her contributions, I probably would have abandoned this blog before now. I love this blog, so I would have hated that.

Forgive me if I wax philosophical, and dare I say it, ramble for a moment:

Over the last few weeks, I've been thinking about goals, and what you do when you have accomplished your goals.

In my lifetime, I have set many, many goals. Some of them have been big goals that have taken years like, "Get a Ph.D." Some of them are small goals like, "Go to bed before 1 a.m. tonight" And some are goals that you could argue have no lasting benefits to me or to society, like "Bake all of the cupcakes in Martha Stewart's cupcake cookbook over the course of a year." For me, goals get accomplished because I can see an end in sight.

But, as I think about my life, and who I am, and who I still want to be, I am beginning to recognize how important and overlooked the principle of consistency is. Let's say, for example, that I completed a marathon. The euphoria of finishing it, and the shiny medal they give you at the end last beyond that day, but the health effects of daily training only last if you continue to train. If you are constantly looking toward the end goal, rather than the process, it is hard to maintain consistency. Further, it is hard to get any better at what you are doing if you are only focused on the end.

My job, I am quickly discovering, is highly sedentary. I have a lovely desk, and a nice desk chair, and, if I didn't get up to go to the bathroom or microwave my Hot Pockets in the break room, I could, conceivably, stay in this chair for a whole day. In fact, sometimes I try to see if I can get all the way around my office without having to get up out of my chair. My coworkers are all significantly older than I am (somewhere between 10 and 35 years older), and I can see the effects such a lifestyle can have on a person who is not regularly exercising and dieting over a period of years.

To be fair, they are all busy people. They all have spouses, children, classes, research, students to advise, and clients to see. Not to mention, they are all active in their respective church congregations, which can also be rather time-intensive. And, I am sure, there are other things in their lives that are keeping them busy that I don't know about. My point is, exercise, in my profession, is not something that just happens. In order to stay healthy and fit, it requires a great deal of action, and, unfortunately, consistency.

So, this time around, I do not have some big end goal that I can check off. I mean, my end goals are to maintain a healthy weight, good cholesterol levels, not to have a heart attack, diabetes, or bone and joint problems, and to avoid getting sick as much as possible for as much of my life as possible.

So, how am I going to accomplish this? I'm not sure. But, for now, I think it will go something like this:

• Give up sugary cereal for breakfast in favor of oatmeal (which, as far as I can tell, is replacing cupcakes, smoothies, or frozen yogurt as the new trendy food)
• Cook two healthy dinners a week. As far as I can tell, this one will probably require the use of my Crock-Pot, so I appreciate all of Sarah's recipes.
• Exercise four times a week. I predict this one will be the hardest for me. I prefer exercise to be something that just happens in my life. Like, some mornings, I just wake up and feel like running. That's pretty rare, though. I think the biggest barrier to this will be time management. If I manage my time better at night, I get to bed at a decent hour, and I can wake up early enough to exercise. If I don't, it all goes downhill.

I realize that these goals are pretty boring compared to cupcakes, and, to be honest, I haven't figured out a way to blog about them that has a chance of being interesting. Also, because I don't have a time table for this that is more finite than, "the rest of my life," I could be blogging for a long time. However, it seems to me like another way in which goals can work is if they are reported, which was why I started this blog in the first place. So, hopefully, I can make that work.

Also, I plan to keep the handle Camp Cupcake, until I can come up with a different one. Or, possibly forever. Martha might have been able to shake it, but I'm not sure I want to.

Mayor Ham's Brown Sugar Peach Pie

Some friends, with whom we frequently hang out, called me out on the fact that I've been making pies for months and they had yet to have any. So I promised to provide some next time we saw them, which was last weekend.
I hope they enjoyed it, because I thought it was mighty tasty. Even though I just bought the peaches at Wal-Mart and they weren't super ripe, the pie turned out to be delicious. When I looked at the recipe, I thought it was pretty much just like an apple pie, but with peaches. So I wasn't particularly excited. But it was a great medley of fruitiness, spice, and buttery crust.
Not to mention we had fun hanging out.
Thanks to Camp Cupcake, Mother Bird, and The Emasculated Male for encouraging me to share the deliciousicity.

Ratings:

Flavor: 10

Execution: 10

Difficulty: Easy, plus you get to make a lattice!

Overall rating: ***** 5 out of 5 stars.

Pie Are Squared: Mama's Fresh Raspberry Pie

I was really excited about this pie. It ended up being good, but not amazing. Which surprised me because when I was mixing the lemon zest in with the raspberries, it smelled so wonderful I could hardly stand it. We ate this pie with vanilla bean ice cream, which was a perfect complement.
In the middle of preparing the pie, some friends invited us over to play games, so we brought along the pie to enjoy together. I had forgotten my camera, so my friend Emily graciously took a picture for me. Many of you probably know my friend Emily, perhaps more recognizable as Trisha:

Anyway, it was a fun night of fun pie. You should've been there.

Ratings:

Flavor: 8

Execution: 8

Difficulty: Easy, if you're okay with a double crust.

Overall rating: **** 4 out of 5 stars.

Pie Are Squared: Strawberry Lover's Pie

This was a departure from the Sweety Pies book. My sister was coming into town and asked for a chocolate pie. She rejected every chocolate pie in my book (there are actually only three), so I ventured elsewhere.
This pie was okay. I feel like it took too many steps for a mediocre product. And just so you know, that is NOT Hershey's syrup drizzled on the top. It is melted chocolate chips, on top of a raspberry jam glaze, which is on top of fresh strawberries, which are on top of a cream cheese/sour cream mixture, which is in a chocolate painted crust.
See what I mean by too many steps?
The pie was good, but not THAT good.

Ratings:

Flavor: 6

Execution: 8. The drizzling really wasn't pretty.

Difficulty: Easy, but it takes a while.

Overall rating: *** 3 out of 5 stars.

Sister Baby's Buttermilk Pie

This is not a picture of the pie I made. I forgot to take a picture, so this is one I found online of the same recipe. My pie was not nearly so pretty. It browned to a dark brown on top, and the filling was still runny. It tasted good and all, but I am frustrated with my failures at custard pies. Every single one has turned out runny. I don't know if there's something wrong with my preparation, my oven, or the elevation, but I really want to figure out the problem. As I've researched potential solutions online, I've come across several options that I would consider cheating: adding cornstarch or tapioca to thicken things. I'm not saying it's morally wrong or anything (haha, the morality of pies), but I feel like the recipes were written that way for a reason and they should be able to work without adding an extra thickener.
So. Since I feel like I've become pretty good at pie crusts (which was my original goal in this endeavor) I think I will move on to making successful custard pies (which is differentiated from cream pies in that custard pies are baked in the oven, while cream pies have a filling that is precooked on the stovetop before putting in the oven). I won't necessarily be making a custard pie every time, but that is my new goal.
Here's a link to the recipe, which I would recommend for sure. And let me know if your custard sets well. I need some help. Oh, and the online recipe calls for orange zest, while my recipe in the book called for lemon. I think orange would be even better than lemon.

Ratings:

Flavor: 7

Execution: 6

Difficulty: Easy, if you ignore my custard problems.

Overall rating: *** 3 out of 5 stars.

Camp Cupcake: Fruitcake

I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I am a week away from moving out of Lubbock, six days from graduation, five days from my family coming to visit, and two days from quitting work. I've been a little bit busy.

I have now completed all of the recipes I committed to make in Martha Stewart's Cupcake Cookbook. They are done. It will probably be a little while before I blog about all of them.

However, yesterday was July 31, and I promised that I would be done with all of these recipes by then.

On Wednesday, I made the fruitcakes and attempted the meringue mushrooms on Thursday.

Let me go on record right now as saying that this is one of Martha's more bizarre ideas.

I can wrap my head around fruitcake. When my parents were first married, my mom made fruitcake at Christmas. My dad, after tasting my mom's, decided to try to improve upon it. Since then, it has been a weird obsession with him to make fruitcake every year, usually just after Thanksgiving, and to try to improve upon it every year (Yes, I am aware that I have probably inherited this from him).

I realize that not everyone likes fruitcake. In fact, it is sort of a joke at Christmas time. It is dense, with a very small cake-to-fruit ratio. In addition, the fruit is typically candied, and like marzipan, is a substance unto itself. At the same time, I have fond memories of fruitcake at Christmas. I discovered that I am not the only one. I brought these to the temple yesterday and had a 15-minute conversation with one of the other temple workers about the fruitcake her husband's mother made for many years. My dad has several people he makes his for every year, and for them, it is a holiday highlight (or so they say).

The meringue mushrooms made a lot less sense to me. When I described them to people, I realized that I was not alone. I still, for the life of me, cannot understand why Martha thought that needed to happen. Apparently, fruitcake is not impressive enough by itself.

So I made the recipe, which I have included here. The only difference between the recipe linked and the one I made is that I used half the fruit and nuts, which gave it a better cake-to-fruit ratio.

I did not make the Seven-Minute Frosting because there is little difference between it and the meringue I had to make for the mushrooms, so before I baked the meringue, I used it to frost the cupcakes.

Here is a picture of my cookbook:

You probably can't see the smears of chocolate, or the pages hanging loose. I intend to have it spiral-bound when I settle down in Utah.

I really wanted to wrap this up neatly, like Julie and Julia, with the life lessons I have learned, and a pilgrimage to Martha Stewart's home in New York to sneak a can of Dutch-processed cocoa onto her porch before her security guards find me. However, in the midst of all of this baking and blogging, my life happened in a wonderful and exhausting way that, unlike Julie Powell's life, has nothing to do with baking or blogging.

So, that's the lesson I would leave for the three people who are curious if I ever finished this project or not: life does not always have to fit together neatly. Sometimes, you can do something like bake cupcakes or start a blog, and it can be a wonderful release without having to give birth to a book deal or a new restaurant, or a calling or a relationship. Sometimes, baking can just be about baking.

Sometimes a cupcake is just a cupcake.

And, while I have not yet selected a new project to continue my involvement in this blog, rest assured that there will be another one. As silly as the cupcake project was, there is something about setting a goal and completing it that I am addicted to.

For now, though, this is Camp Cupcake, aka Keiko Agena, signing off.

Miss Viola Tresvant's Blueberry Pie with the Crumb Topping

This was a yummy pie. I am really enjoying the berries of summer allowing me to make delicious berry pies fairly inexpensively.
I realized that I really hadn't been giving Ms. Patty Pinner the recognition she deserves with some of these recipes; the stories she shares about the women who provided the recipes have been all but forgotten on this blog. So I share with you the story of Miss Viola Tresvant:
When Miss Viola began going through her middle age "womanly time," she found herself having frequent crying spells. They became so frequent that her husband started just ignoring them, when all she wanted was for him to pay attention to her and soothe her. So she starting serving sparse dinners when he'd ignore her and bake this pie when he'd baby her. He quickly caught on, and both partners were happy.
Some might call it passive-aggressive, but if you tasted the pie, I think you'd agree it was worth it.
This is the first pie I've made this year that was actually gone in the first day. It might have something to do with the fact that we had two different couples stop by that night. They must have smelled the pie.
I just want to inform you of the butter count in this recipe:

Crust-1 stick
Crumb topping-1 stick
Berry filling-2 tablespoons

You read that correctly: 2 sticks+2 tablespoons butter in one pie!

I think the pie would have been just as good with half of the crumb topping; it took some deft piling to get it all to stay on top. But two of the friends who came over--completely independent of each other--both mentioned that the topping was wonderful and how they wished there was more. So. Bring on the butter.

Here's the pie, prebaked.

Ratings:

Flavor: 9

Execution: 9-the fluting just wasn't working for me.

Difficulty: Easy.

Overall rating: ***** 5 out of 5 stars.

Mother Bird: Four New Recipes!

I could give some excuses for not posting on this blog as much as I had hoped to, but they would all be a big, lame waste of time. So instead, here are four recipes I've tried that I would make again. There have been more recipes that I have tried that I would not make again, but I think posting about those ones would be pretty dumb, considering how long it has taken me to post about the good ones.
I found this Asiago Garlic and Herb Bread on the Pioneer Woman's community recipe sharing site, Tasty Kitchen and I have to say, it's definitely my new go-to for dinner bread. I've made it several times since my first try and have had lots of requests for the recipe. It makes two loaves, so we usually eat one with dinner and save the other for ultimate grilled cheese sandwiches the next night. It makes great panini sandwiches.


Here are a few notes, in case you want to try it:
- I use Parmesan cheese instead of Asiago (because I usually have it on hand) and I don't think I've ever used the full amount. I just grate until I'm sick of grating and call it good.
-I only use half of the crushed red pepper. My kids are wimpy when it comes to spicy food.
-Instant yeast is a must. It won't rise right if you use active dry.

This Ham and Potato Soup was also a Tasty Kitchen find. It was super fast, kid-friendly, and used up leftover ham. Win-win-win! I thought mine was a little on the salty side (I think my chicken bouillon is extra salty) so next time I make it, I'll add the bouillon and extra salt a little at a time, tasting between additions.








I thought it would be fun to make corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's day and this recipe looked like an easy and popular one. It was good but not fabulous. I only have one corned beef and cabbage experience from a long time ago for comparison, so I guess it's possible that I'm just not wild about it no matter how it's cooked. Also, there was no room for the cabbage in my crock pot, so I would have had to cook it separately if I hadn't been too lazy to do so.


This last one is a definite keeper. My sister-in-law Robin had these waffles and syrups at a church function where they were enjoyed so much that the recipes were later distributed to all of the women who attended. Both of the syrups are good, but the Hawaiian Coconut Syrup is my favorite. I could just eat its liquid gold goodness all by itself. And I did.

Oatmeal Waffles

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
2 cups rolled oats (I used quick oats)
3 cups milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil

Combine dry ingredients. Scramble eggs with milk and add to dry mixture. Add oil. Mix lightly and bake in a waffle iron. Hearty enough for dinner. (I had to spray my waffle iron after every single waffle or I had major sticking problems. I tried making it again without the sugar and it seemed a little better and tasted just as good.)

Hawaiian Coconut Syrup

1 cube (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coconut flavoring or coconut oil (I just used imitation coconut extract)

Combine butter, sugar, buttermilk, and baking soda in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Mixture will foam, so be sure to use a large enough pan to prevent overflowing. Remove from heat and add coconut flavoring.

Apple Cinnamon Syrup

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3-1/2 cups apple juice

Sift together brown sugar, cornstarch, allspice, and nutmeg. Add apple juice and cook until bubbly. (This one is really good but doesn't keep super well in the refrigerator. I would make a half batch or less and plan on not keeping it for very long.)

Camp Cupcake: Pistachio Raspberry Teacakes

You know what I love about summer? Fresh fruit.

These cupcake recipes are starting to come out of order based on the fact that I have some time to kill in the Albuquerque airport and I am just posting those recipes that I can link to Martha's website.

My friend Allison is currently housesitting for a senior missionary couple in our ward. In the front of their house, they have several raspberry bushes that have been in season the last few weeks. She invited me to come over and pick as many as I needed. However, the day I needed the raspberries, the owners of the home came back in town-

I need to interrupt this post to let the blogosphere know that, right now, in the airport, a couple is demonstrating swing dance moves to a friend.

-and I chickened out. For this reason, the fresh raspberries in this particular recipe came from the store.

It was still good.

Here's the recipe.

I left out the pistachio slivers, though. I feel like it is overkill on the pistachio.

French Silk Pie

This was a delicious pie. I just found the recipe online, since I invited some family over who is quite picky but loves chocolate.
I did encounter a problem, though. This is my first pie that required a prebaked crust. I didn't have pie weights or even some beans to prevent crust bubbling, so I just pierced it well. So, the bottom of the crust didn't bubble up, but the sides kind of crumpled, leading to unpretty pie.

Obviously, it didn't affect the flavor, but I'm trying to go for tasty and pretty here. And I really don't know what to do about it. Even if I had official pie weights, they wouldn't counteract the forces of gravity. I'm going to have to do some research.
Ratings:

Flavor: 10

Execution: 7-the filling was great, but the aforementioned cascading of pie sides disappointed me.

Difficulty: Moderate

Overall rating: ***** 5 out of 5 stars.

Camp Cupcake: Cherry-Almond Teacakes

It's been awhile.

I have discovered that, with finishing the dissertation, packing up, prepping classes, and trying to find a place in Utah, the thing I struggle with is not the baking. Rather, it is taking pictures of what I have baked.

There are no pictures of the honey bee cupcakes (they were bad), the iced pistachio cupcakes, the pistachio raspberry cupcakes, or the date-nut mini cupcakes. I am divided about whether or not to even do a post about any of these.

But these tiny teacakes I thought were worthy of a post because they were a big hit, and because they were a little unusual.

As you can see by the picture, Martha recommended baking a whole cherry in each one, with the stem left on and sticking out of the batter. In fact, if Martha had her way, I would have left the pits inside the cherries and just warned people that they were there. I thought that was a bad idea. Sometimes I just leave cupcakes places and don't have the opportunity to give people instructions about how to eat them. Some of the people I give them to have prosthodontics. So, I bought this guy:

I'm sure more dignified cherry pitters exist, but every time I look at this one, I smile. You put the cherry in his mouth, push down on his head, and the pit shoots down into his leg area. I can't even describe it without giggling. But it worked.

Tiny Cherry and Almond Tea Cakes

Pie Are Squared: Key Lime Pie

This was a departure from the Sweety Pies book; I saw a different book at the library and checked it out. It is Bubby's Homemade Pies. It has endorsements by Billy Crystal and Jon Stewart. You might think that such facts would indicate some exciting, unique pie, but you'd be wrong. I still tend to choose a recipe based on what ingredients I already have on hand. That is kind of boring. But I did happen to have some key limes, so we went with it.
I was in a hurry to get it chilled and cut before my brother left, so it didn't have the perfectly set texture to it. But it was delicious. I added the cream, blueberries, and leaves for effect.
This is the first pie in my series that called for a graham cracker crust. You'd think that a graham cracker crust would be way easier than a pastry crust. I think there's probably a smaller margin of error, but it still takes some skill, I think. Getting it all pressed into the pie plate at a uniform thickness is difficult. For me, anyway. The recipe book recommends making your own graham crackers instead of using store-bought ones. Apparently, they're way better. I didn't do this for two reasons: 1) I had limited time. 2) It seems ridiculous to gather ingredients and bake them simply to crush them into a fine powder as soon as they're ready.
So a little tip for those of you using graham cracker crusts someday: bake it (empty) for 8 minutes at 350 degrees. It makes it a little crispy and prevents sogginess, even the next day. It's way better.

Ratings:

Flavor: 9

Execution: 9-The picture doesn't look great, but I took it before it had totally cooled and set. Today, the texture was perfect.

Difficulty: Moderately difficult

Overall rating: **** 4 out of 5 stars.

Shape Shifter: I ran my 5K!!

I guess that with anything, sometimes you just don't know until you give it a try. So the experience of running in my first 5K was great...but I know much more of what I will do for my next race. Here is the list of things learned:

#1. If the race ends at a destination other than where we began, there WILL be someone there to pick me up at the finish line. We had to wait for over an hour on the buses that were transporting the racers back to the starting line. Of course, there were those who just turned around and ran back to the starting line...show offs! :)

#2. If the race is in the morning...which most all of them are...it might be prudent to train at least a few times in the morning. All of our workouts were completed in the evening. Since it is the summer and I don't have to be worried about being at work early...I have decided to try training in the morning. I just did not feel like I had the same energy I was used to running with.

#3. Must eat something more substantial before racing. Sadly, I must confess to eating a package of powdered donuts before my race. We stayed with my sister in Aubrey, which was an hour away, and had to be there by 7:30a.m.---so we just stopped at a convenience store real quick. The donuts were not a great source of lasting energy.

#4. If it is humid where I race...I should train with a humidifier attached to my face! Seriously, it was SOO humid and there was absolutely NO breeze...I thought I was going to die!

#5. Since they attach a device to your shoelace that keeps track of your time, there is absolutely no need to start off with the rest of the crowd. Call me a little anti-social, but I do not like people in my space...and there were so many people invading. Next race, I think that I will just hang back for a bit and start at the end of the crowd. The crowd was a good experience...now I know what to expect.

#6. Not everyone runs. This is totally fine---not a problem. However, I don't like being the basis for someone deciding to run. Meaning that there was a group of ladies that would walk, until I started to try to pass them, then they would haul off and run...at a faster pace than I was going. Then once they got up a ways, they would start walking...that is until I got close and started to try passing them again...so they would run. More than a little annoying. I am thinking of taking a taser next race...that should take them out. hehe

#7. Need some form of water while running. Usually while running, I don't require water until after I am finished. However, I am usually running when it is nice and cool. They had water at mile marker #1, which I drank...but there wasn't any more until the end of the race. Needless to say, by the time I made it to the finish line, I was parched and frothing at the mouth. Not very appealing sounding, but even more unappealing to experience.

#8. Smile at the dude taking the pictures as you run. They e-mailed pics of each of us running and I look more that slightly perturbed. I look flat out pissed. Which really, if you haven't gotten the gist by all of the many things I have learned from this one race...I wasn't exactly exuberant. However, pissy does not make for a cute keepsake photo. Fortunately my running buddy took one with her phone...so I will probably just use that one.

All in all, I had a blast. It was a great experience and I am glad to have completed a goal that has been on my New Year's Resolutions for probably about 8 years. I am also glad that I completed it before my birthday this summer. I am turning 29...perhaps I will be able to run a marathon before I turn 30! I will take that goal one step at a time. For now, I will just begin to train for a 10K. My goal is to run a 10K Labor Day weekend. I am also going to run in another 5K in a few weeks close to here...I want to keep up the progress I have made.

Camp Cupcake: Coconut Pecan Cupcakes

I think I am losing my touch.

When I started the cupcake project, I realized that it was going to collide with my dissertation, possible job interviews, and whatever other unexpected things life had in store for me.

What I didn't count on was wanting to abandon the project because the pieces of my life started to fall into place. I started this project because I was worried that the pieces of my life would never fall into place, and at least cupcakes were something I could control. But there are definitely times when I have wanted to scrap this project for the sake of other things. However, I find that, even though I now have a pretty good idea of what I will be doing with my life, I still get stressed out, and I still need to bake.

I also didn't count on the fact that when I started making recipes that deviated from a standard Martha recipe (all-purpose flour, butter, eggs, etc.) that I would have trouble.

One of my favorite lines from the movie Julie and Julia is when Julie Powell (Amy Adams) says, "You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say nothing, I mean, NOTHING, that you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It's such a comfort." That was one of my favorite things about the cupcake project. I learned that there are rules in cooking, and that if you follow them, you can be assured how your food will turn out. It's the only place in my life where this happens.

That said, I had some trouble with these. I am still learning about what happens when you use oil instead of butter (the cupcakes bake flatter and overflow the liners), and this recipe used coconut oil, which I was completely unfamiliar with. Martha calls it creamed coconut (different from cream of coconut), and it is sold in health food stores in glass jars, usually in the refrigerator section. It can be used as a substitute for butter, but it does not bake up like butter.

I would have to say that I like the concept of this recipe, but I was not pleased with the execution.

Coconut-Pecan Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

1 c. firmly packed shredded sweetened coconut

3/4 c. pecans (about 3 oz.) toasted, and cooled

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature

1/4 c. coconut oil, room temperature

1 Tbsp. coconut extract

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 c. plus 2 Tbsp. (9 oz.) unsweetened coconut milk

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

2 c. unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted

Preheat oven to 350F. Line standard muffin tins with papers. In a food processor, finely grind shredded coconut; transfer to a bowl. Process pecans with 2 Tbsp. sugar until finely ground. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir in ground coconut and pecans.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter, creamed coconut, and remaining sugar until pale and fluffy. Add extract and then eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of coconut milk, and beating until just combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden, about 20 to 22 minutes.

To finish, dip tops of cupcakes in chocolate glaze, then turn over quickly and garnish with toasted coconut.

Shape Shifter: I AM READY!!

Last night I went for a run on my own...which is very boring once you have gotten used to having a buddy to run with. I decided to use this as a chance to just run and see how far I could go. I even made a run up the wheel chair ramps...just for a little incline work. I truly think that I could have continued running, but for some reason, the fact that I ran 3.5 miles kind of freaked me out. My Nike+ actually said 3.69...but there is a small discrepancy between mine and my running buddy. I wanted to make sure that I made it to 3.5, so I just ran a little further. Anyhow...it has been probably six years since I have run any type of distance at all and when I saw the mileage it is almost like I thought I should stop...don't want too much of a good thing...or something?? I have no clue. I was very excited that I am ready for a 5K---even a little earlier than our training program would have suggested. But now I have the question of 'just how far can I run?' stuck in my head. As soon as we have completed our 5K I am going to start training for a 10K. I know that most of running is 'all in your head'. I guess I am grateful to have had so many things to mull over in my mind as I run. :) So, I am 'officially' ready!

Tonganterror: P90X Week 12

There isn't much to say this week other than I am still bringing in spite of a serious back injury which has slowed me down considerably. Play was pushed and we continued the workouts anyway. My back is feeling much better tonight than it has this last couple of weeks so I think I will be fine to make it through this next recovery week. The hard part is over, all that remains is one final charge down the hill. I am excited to be finishing up the goal, however, I plan on beginning again, this time focusing on losing weight. Stay tuned for next week when I wrap up my P90X Phase I with pics, info, and other interesting discoveries from Bringing It!

Camp Cupcake: Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes.

Here they are.

Bake 'em.

Am I tired?

A little.

Camp Cupcake: Pound Cakes

I was supposed to top these pound cakes with fresh flowers. I did not.

What I did I can only describe here, as I failed to get pictures. I baked these into an equal number of mini cupcakes and standard. I frosted them with vanilla-bean Swiss meringue buttercream. Then, I stuck a sucker stick in the top of all of the standard cupcakes, and stuck the mini cupcake on top of the sucker stick. I decorated them with pink M&Ms and piped leaves around the edges, creating, in effect, cupcake topiaries.

It was an idea I got from Sister Curtis, a senior missionary serving in my ward. I thought it was perfect for Mother's Day.

3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. salt

1 lb. (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 c. sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

9 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 325F. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour and salt.

Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add beaten eggs in four batches, beating until each is incorporated. Add flour in four batches, beating until each is incorporated.

Divide batter evenly, bake about 20 minutes for standard, about 15 for mini.

Camp Cupcake: Tres Leches Cupcakes

Cinco de Mayo is pretty big in Lubbock.

I would like to think it is because of Lubbock's significant Mexican population. However, I recently learned that Cinco de Mayo is a much bigger deal in the US than it is in Mexico, so I think it falls under the same category as St. Patrick's Day: holidays that give people an excuse to drink in the middle of the week. If you want to know more about St. Patrick's Day, check out my other blog.

However, just because a) I don't indulge in margaritas, and b) it's a fake holiday, it doesn't mean I didn't want to celebrate.

With cupcakes.

And despite the fact that I had leftovers at my house for four days, I took no pictures. No Bloggie for me.

However, I do have some thoughts about this recipe:

• Just like the name suggests, there are three kinds of milk in this cake. It is not a cake for the lactose-intolerant (pretty sure I would never bring them to an Oka family function for this reason).
• It is really moist. Moister than the tres leches cake I have had before. If that creeps you out, you have been forewarned.
• It takes awhile to get the cake to absorb the milk mixture.

Here's the recipe:

6 large eggs separated, room temperature

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. coarse salt (I use sea salt)

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 c. all-purpose flour, sifted

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

3/4 c. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 325F. Line muffin tins with foil liners. This is important because the liquid will soak through paper liners. With an electric mixer, whisk egg whites, baking soda, and salt together until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low. Add yolks and sugar, whisk until completely combined. Fold in melted butter. Add flour in four batches, folding until just combined after each.

Divide batter into lined cups, filling only halfway. Bake about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately poke holes in the tops.

Whisk together evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream. With cupcakes still in tins, brush milk mixture over cupcakes. Repeat until all the mixture has been used. Allow cupcakes to absorb at least 30 minutes, or up to one day in the refrigerator tightly covered.

To finish, dollop with whipped cream and dust with cinnamon.

Tonganterror: Week 10 and Week 11

I definitely forgot to write about last week. The P90X goal is still intact. I have been going strong and will finish Week 11 here in a few days. For the math wizzes in the crowd that means 77 days of bringing it.

As I approach the end of the 90 days, I am realizing that I won't have rock hard abs by the time this is over. I also won't be some amazingly fit guy. What I will be is a much more athletic and fit guy than I was 90 days ago. I must admit my diet was terrible from start to finish. I have not lost a pound in all the time that I have been doing the workout. However, I feel I am much more muscular than before. I have lost 6.5 inches around my waistline (at the belly button) and I can touch my toes. At the end of the day, I have found a serious workout plan that I can do and have made it a habit. So I'm marking this goal down as a big fat "satisfactory".

I have had many friends start the program and fall off the wagon. To those that felt that the program was too hard, I say "just keep pushing play". There were days we felt terrible, there were days we didn't have time, there were days that weren't really all that effective for working out; but as we kept pushing play, we created a habit that propelled us forward. Now the momentum will for sure see us through. I hope the fallen friends will get back in to the workout and see it through. I am a much happier, confident person because I was able to stick with this goal. I wish that for anyone else who might be pursuing any worthwhile goal.

I am going to make an effort to get serious about diet now that I have locked in the P90X habit. I figure another year of this combined with a good diet will leave me about where I want to be. The program will end in two weeks, wherein, hopefully i will have found my "before" pics and will post next to my after pics. This is just round one, however, of what promises to be a great fight with P90X. BRING IT!

Shape Shifter: Fireman 5K

It has been a while since my last post, which might make one think that I have fallen off the wagon again...but this is not so. I have continued training for a 5K and am currently on week 7 of a nine week training plan! My mileage is a little over two miles now...and will be determined as soon as I get my new little toy calibrated. My running partner surprised me with a Nike+. It is this little device that fits in the sole of my Nike running shoes that monitors how far I have fun as well as how many calories I have burned. I used it for the first time last night and it was great to be able to see my progress on my I-pod Nano.

Concerning actual shape shifting...I am still working on that. My running partner and I also joined Weight Watchers. We have been going for about five weeks. I am in the 10+ pounds lost bracket...we will see how that might change on Friday. It has made monitoring what I eat a lot easier...less guess work. I don’t know how familiar anyone is with different body types. There is the ectomorph who is naturally skinny and petite---so not me, the endomorph---naturally a little cushioned, and the mesomorph—can get cushiony if not working out, but builds muscle quickly. I fall into the mesomorph category, which is why I think running will be great for me. I hired a personal trainer once and did a lot of weight lifting...I tend to bulk up. Being as how I don’t plan on perusing a job as a line backer...I choose running.

My mother took my body measurements in February and she is going to remeasure me this weekend when I go home. I will be curious to see what king of physical changes have taken place in the last three months. It is hard for me to tell...I see myself everyday and feel that I look the same.

Running has helped me to work out some stress and anxiety as of late. If for no other reason, I will keep running just for that benefit. Let’s just say that nothing is definite in my life right now, other than the fact that it is all changing. Some of those changes I have created for myself, and others are just a part of life. Regardless of their origin, I tend to have a hard time with change.

I have signed up for the Fireman’s 5K in Fort Worth over Memorial Weekend. I am getting excited!

The Mighty Pen: On Coming Back

As the "one of the other authors", I appreciate Megan's call to come back. Have I made progress toward my goal? Hardly, unless you count two and a half pages written over the course of three days--over a month ago. That's better than a blank sheet, I suppose. That day to day life just always seems to get in the way. Even while my priorities suffered an overhaul shortly after I joined this blog I've realized that, because of my busier, less self-indulgent schedule, I need this goal more than ever. So, here are some thoughts I had several weeks ago when I started out:

I am determined to persevere, even while fighting amazement at how terrible the product is. One of the hazards of penning a story is allowing yourself to ramble. Stories are linear where unfortunately, thoughts are not. That means that every sentence you write can't just be in natural progression from the one before it; it has to be pointing toward an end, as well. Exploring derivatives can bring you to an observation you wouldn't have made before, but it can also be hard to get back to where you were going. Maybe that's why George Eliot always overdid the metaphors. I can certainly understand the fascination that many authors have with stream of consciousness. In the end I'm most likely going to have to plan out every scene, how they each lead to the next. Structure isn't only important to architecture.

The building blocks are waiting!

Camp Cupcake: Gelato-topped Mini Cupcakes

Do you know how hard it is to find gelato in Lubbock?

Actually, it's not that hard. I found it at the second store I went to.

However, by buying it at the grocery store, I was pretty much limited to one flavor: pistaschio. It's okay; I like pistaschio, but I'm not sure it is universally enjoyed.

I'm also not sure what the point of this recipe is. I like gelato, but I'm not sure what about these cupcakes makes them suited to gelato. As far as I can tell, they are just a basic yellow cake recipe served in a nut cup.

Also, gelato presents some logisitcal problems. Namely, it does not travel well. Also, you cannot scoop it in advance and have it there, ready to eat.

For these reasons, it was harder to distribute these cupcakes in their natural form. After they were enjoyed by the people I made them for on Wednesday, I froze them. On Saturday, I made up some fluffy vanilla frosting, piped it on the remaining cakes, covered them with a few sprinkles, and took them with me to the temple, where they were eaten quickly by the other workers, some of whom later confessed to me that they'd had several. I was glad. It was a nice way to pay back the wonderful people I work with there, many of who try to set me up with men and/or give me their hand-me-down clothes. True story.

Here's a link to the recipe. As you can see, it is just a buttermilk-vanilla cupcake. You can top it with gelato, ice cream, or regular frosting, and people seem to enjoy it any of these ways.

Pie Are Squared: Oatmeal Nut Pie

This is my first pie from the "Cereal Pies" section of the book. It literally is a bunch of recipes for pies made of cereal, like cornflakes, Rice Krispies, grits, rice, Grapenuts...this seemed like a weird idea to me, but my husband was really excited about it.
This oatmeal nut required a little bit of substituting because I didn't plan ahead, and it was Sunday, and I didn't quite have all the ingredients. Instead of one teaspoon of maple flavored extract, I used a tablespoon of pure maple syrup. I also didn't have dark corn syrup and just used light corn syrup.
It ended up being much like a pecan pie, except with oatmeal and coconut in addition to the pecans. And, much like the pecan pie I made earlier, it was quite runny. Although this time, I think I can probably blame the fact that I might not have baked it long enough (as opposed to how I always blame the elevation) because the outer edges were set quite well but the middle was not.
Also, my past two crusts haven't been quite as good, and I just put it together that this is also my fault: I've been lazy and haven't been stocking up on heavy cream, so I've just been using 2% milk to bind the crust together instead of the cream. Apparently, that detail matters. So, my new words of advice are Always, Always, go for the cream.

Ratings:

Flavor: 7

Execution: 7-Soupiness wasn't great, though that might be chef error. It was a tasty pie, but I'm not really wowed. I fear I'm getting tired of the recipes in the book. But I'm not giving up!

Difficulty: Easy.

Overall rating: *** 3 out of 5 stars.

Camp Cupcake: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

We had Thanksgiving in May. Allison called it Maynksgiving. It was a potluck affair, but, impressively, she roasted an entire turkey.

I offered to bring dessert, knowing that it would be cupcakes, despite the fact that Thanksgiving usually means pie. Cupcakes have never been a part of my family's Thanksgiving tradition. But lemon meringue pie is. My mother is famous, at least in my family, for two pies: banana cream, and lemon meringue. And she does a superb job of both.

My mom loves all things lemon. If I could, I would have waited to make these for her. I think, at some point, I still will.

They are an impressive little cupcake. There's a lemony cake base with lemon curd filling and a seven-minute frosting top that you brown, either with a blowtorch or in the broiler. I think Martha thinks it's pretty impressive too, as it is one of the recipes from the book that is featured on her website. Here's the link. Prepare to be wowed.