A wet Memorial Day

I just came off of a three day weekend, and didn't do much.  This wasn't an option.

Starting on Saturday, a line of storms swept through the Texas Hill Country. Pflugerville was relatively safe, with some flooding and strong winds.  There was a break on Sunday, and more downpours on Monday.  Over the entire weekend, we got around 7-8 inches of rain.  Our home faired the storms well, and there's no damage. We're lucky.  About a mile from our house, a tornado touched down in Pflugerville and damaged several trees, fences and some homes.  Fortunately, no one was hurt.  The same can't be said for the rest of the state.  A dam in Bastrop failed, and San Marcus and Wimberley are devastated.

My heart goes out to our neighbors in Wimberley.  The flooding there is tragic, and people are still missing.  Several homes have been destroyed.

I was going to post about knitting, because essentially what I did all weekend, but it doesn't feel right.
My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by these storms.

Knit, purl, knit, ukulele, knit

I realized something this morning:  I haven't updated my blog in nearly a year.  Bad blogger!!

So, what's been going on?

Ukulele! After taking time off due to vitamin D deficiency pains, I'm back to it, and the great news is my hands remember.  Challenging songs are now a pleasure to play, and I'm looking forward to getting better. My goal over the remainder of the year is to improve my strumming and picking skills.

Knitting!  I've had a ravelry account for 7 years and not done much with it.  My guest room closet is also loaded with yarn, and I've decided to begin working through my stash.  That yarn stash of mine is actually organized on ravelry now, all 60 yarns!  I've also used the needle chart to record all my knitting and crochet needles/hooks, and it turns out that I have duplicate sets in some sizes.  Big surprise there. :-)  This weekend includes a girly day with friends, cookies, and knitting, and I'll take my extra needles in case any friends want them.  On the yarn front, I've made some headway, but also bought some new yarn.  My thought is to keep my interest peaked by buying new, exciting yarns periodically...as a reward for using some of the existing yarns.  Here are some items I've made recently...and some projects that are in my queue, or find me on ravelry, http://www.ravelry.com/people/dawnner.


Beaded wrist warmers.  This I Dream in Color sock yarn is super soft and feels nice on the hands.  I added some bright yellow beads to accent the yellow variegation in the yarn.

Years ago, Sean's mom gave me several balls of crochet thread, which has been sitting in a closet untouched.  I've decided to use it for bookmarks, some lace gloves and doilies.  Here are the bookmarks I've done so far:

A unicorn chapstick cozy.  Yes, it's odd, but it's also a little bit awesome.

A pretty, Irish tea cozy.  This pattern is a challenge, but the result is worth it.  I plan on making more Celtic tea cozy with Aran knitting, using a pattern available on ravelry (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/little-and-large-aran-tea-cosy).

May 12th is Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, and for a friend who suffers this illness, I made a snuggly purple hippo.

My first lace project.  I had never made lace or blocked a finished product for that matter, and this was my first adventure.  It came out lovely.

I'm now working on some eyelet wrist warmers and a matching eyelet cowl, made with bamboo silk. Then, gansey socks, and some scarves.  Pictures soon...

Vitamin D, Summer Solstice, Buttermilk Pie and other things

--- Vitamin D - we need it, more than most know. ---

I've recently been diagnosed as being vitamin D deficient, which doesn't sound too bad.  However, this came after going to the doctor for severe joint pain, and I don't mean achy joints from too exercise.  This was sharp pains in my hands, wrists, ankles and knees.  It was horrible, and I'm glad the blood work came back to show something simple.

My dad had rheumatoid arthritis.  I saw him endure pain that incapacitated him.  Here was this big, strong guy who was used to be able to do yard work and carpentry, and in his latter years, he was confined to his recliner.  Tai Chi helped him, but he was never quite the same.  It was hard on him physically and spiritually.  I could see the sadness in his eyes, over the loss of being able to do what he loved.

My RA factors in the blood work were normal - a huge relief.  Now, to deal with the vitamin D.  This deficiency might be related to perimenopause.  I am 42, and as women reach menopause, our bodies are less efficient at processing vitamin D.  So, it's not that I'm not getting enough sun.  This can contribute to osteoporosis, dental issues, heart disease and some cancers.  All things no one wants.  So, I have my vitamin D supplements and am anxiously awaiting the results of my most recent blood work.  For now, I'm just happy that it doesn't hurt to type.  :-)

--- Summer Solstice - how I celebrate ---

To me, there's nothing that says summer like BBQ or chili.  Yes, I know.  Chili is cold weather food, but I love a bowl of chili in the summer.  That spice.  The peppers.  The cornbread.  Mmmmm.  Finished with a cold beer, it's the best.  So, I'm going to celebrate the summer solstice by making chili this weekend, with a 100 year old recipe that belonged to my great grandfather.  My goal is to eventually make it my own with a little modernization and use that in the upcoming Pflugerville Chili Pfest.  That'll be fun.

--- Buttermilk Pie -  the Goldilocks way ---

I've done this before with lemon meringue, and am doing it again with buttermilk.  There are lots of recipes out there, and not all are very good.  For lemon meringue, I set out to create my own, perfect recipe, and did.  It was a process of starting with a generic recipe, making it, determining what when wrong...and trying again with corrections until it was just right.  It's the Goldilocks approach.  I'm going to attempt this again with buttermilk pie and am looking forward to the results.  There will be pictures.  :-)

Other things...

We might be going to Ireland this fall!  Woohoo!!!

It's been some time since I posted

Everything is going swimmingly.  Last year, I started taking ukulele lessons, and in that time, I've really fallen in love with the instrument.  It was rough at first, like with anything new.  It took time to build callouses on my fingers and become comfortable with chord changes, but...

I can play several songs now and just signed up for a blues course.  Also, my skills leveled up and so did my uke.

http://www.oscarschmidt.com/products/ukes/ou220-240.asp

I'll keep posting here with songs I've learned, and songs I want to learn...maybe even a video of me playing.

8 eggs - 2 cakes

It's been awhile since my last post, but I took a bit of a break from cooking after having a tumor removed from my parotid gland.  I'm nearly fully recovered now and back to slinging yums in the kitchen. Woohoo!

Last Friday, I baked a cake for a friend's birthday.  It was a yellow cake, this recipe in fact http://allrecipes.com/recipe/davids-yellow-cake/.  It's a nice recipe.  The cake is moist, has a smooth texture and flavor, and there was none left at the end of the night.  That's always a good sign.  There was only one problem -- the recipe calls for 8 egg yolks which left me with 8 egg whites.

After the success of the yellow cake, I decided to try my hand at another cake with the leftover whites.  In my opinion, it came out pretty damned well.  I just tweaked the yellow recipe, and for prosperity, my recipe for the white cake is below. (if I don't write this out and save it, I WILL forget)

White Cake Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups white sugar
8 egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 cup milk minus 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
lemon juice from one large lemon
zest from the lemon


Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 - 8 inch round pans. I use a baking spray that has flour in it.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whip the egg whites to the stiff peak stage.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla and lemon zest. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated.  Mix in lemon juice, and then fold in the egg whites.  Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with only a few crumbs. Cool 15 minutes before turning out onto cooling racks.

I used this frosting, from http://www.grouprecipes.com/61740/fluffy-lemon-buttercream-frosting.html.

Lemon buttercream frosting

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup of butter softened
1/4 cup of milk
1 t vanilla
1 T lemon zest (the rind of a lemon)
2 T lemon juice


Mix the butter, lemon zest and vanilla together, making sure all the lumps are gone.  Add the milk, and quickly cream it into the butter mixture.  One 1/2 cup at a time, mix in the sugar.  Once all the sugar is mixed in, cream on "high" for two minutes. Mix in lemon juice.

The above cake has so many options.  Instead of lemon, you can do orange, lime or grapefruit.  You can also exchange the vanilla for another flavored extract, and increase the milk to a full 3/4 cup and take out the citrus.  It will also make a dreamy coconut cake by taking out the lemon and substituting coconut milk for the milk.  The coconut cake is my next project.

Here's the lemon cake:

Nothing boring about these leftovers

This Christmas marked the first holiday celebration in our new house, and rightly so, we insisted on having family over.  For the dinner, I did a full spread including turkey, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, spinach gratin, and mashed potatoes.  Yum...  Here's Sean's dad, daydreaming about carving the turkey.

So...it was a wholelotta food, and as hard as I tried, Sean's parents wouldn't take any home.  In all fairness, they had another dinner the day they left, and they'd end up with leftovers from that one.  What do we do with all the leftovers then?

Freeze them?  That's an option, but boring.  Donate them?  As nice as this sounds, you can't donate prepared food unless it's been prepared in a professional kitchen, for obvious reasons.  How about soup, chili, or enchiladas?  I considered it but have used these recipes for holidays passed, and it takes care of the turkey but does nothing for the leftover sides.

With a little research, I came across two recipes that used all the turkey, potatoes, and spinach.

First, I made these turkey turnovers.  It calls for broccoli, which I bought, but if I'd done a broccoli casserole, I could have subbed that for the broccoli and cheese.  They're really good, and I froze several without cooking them.  Now, we can have a quick lunch or dinner for the next few weeks.  All we have to do is take some out and bake them for about 25 minutes. Then, lunch!  This recipe used about half the leftover turkey and some of the cheese left over from making the gratin.  Huzzah!

Next, I made samosas.  The original recipe was from Real Simple, and in my opinion, it's too simple.  If you look at the recipe, you'll see that they don't add any spices or veggies, and I don't need much spice.  But give me a dash of something! When I think of samosas, I also think of delicious pastry dumplings filled with potato and VEGGIES.  Where are the veggies in this recipe?  Exactly.  The general idea is nice, but I had to make several changes.  So, here's my leftover turkey samosa recipe:

Leftover Turkey Samosas

Ingredients

1 cup of chopped leftover roasted turkey (I made sure to use a mix of white and dark meat)
1 cup of any green veggie dish (I used spinach gratin, but you can use creamed spinach, green peas, green beans, or any other green veggie dish)
1 cup mash potatoes
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon yellow curry powder
salt to taste

refrigerated pie crust (usually a 2 pack of 9" crust)

Cut the rolled out pie crust into 8 segments and roll each segment out into a triangle.  Set aside.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and taste to make sure it's seasoned to your liking.  Spoon mixture onto triangles of dough.  Bring edges up and pinch together to form a dumpling.  Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.  These can also be frozen and baked later.  If freezing, don't thaw to bake.  You'll bake them straight from the freezer but for about 40-45 minutes instead.  Here's a picture of the samosas I baked today.  They came out perfectly and go well with that leftover cranberry sauce.

It was a good holiday, and we'll be eating well in 2013.

Adventures in Healthy Cooking: Quinoa Salad

With the new running and yoga regimen, I'm looking into cooking healthier as well. That doesn't mean that I'm abandoning baking altogether. Oh, no! I'll never give up my homemade cookies and pies, but I can dilute that fatty cooking with some healthy fair once in awhile. Like, quinoa.

I've never cooked with this grain, but from what I've read and heard, it's a super food. Also, it's versatile and tasty -- two things I adore in ingredients. This past weekend, I made a quinoa salad inspired by a friend who offered that salad at a recent camping trip. It's simple, and here's the recipe that I created. If you go to Whole Foods, this might look familiar. My friend based her salad off of theirs, and I tweaked the ingredients to get a better consistency.

Cranberry-Orange Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

2 cup dry quinoa

1 cup orange juice

2 1/2 cups water

1 cup mandarin orange slices, drained

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1 tspn salt

3 Tbspn extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Rinse the quinoa with cold water and strain. In a pot, add the quinoa, water and salt. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down to simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or till the liquid is absorbed. When done, fluff with a fork and then lay out in a thin layer on a baking sheet to cool.

While the quinoa is cooking, reduce the orange juice to half by simmering in a non-reactive sauce pan for approximately 10 minutes. Set in the freezer for 5 mintues to cool. Once cooled, whisk in olive oil to make a vinaigrette.

In a large bowl, combine the cranberries, raisins, nuts, orange slices and cooked quinoa. Pour vinaigrette over the mixure and stir together. If desired, add fresh chopped mint. Serve cold. Great with a side of whole grain toast or leafy greens...or by itself. Makes approx 8 servings, 350 Calories per serving.

School's Out! For Summer!!

School is done! No more classes, homework. None of it. Except for stuff I have to do for the dog training internship, which is fun. Oh. And I started a running class last week!

What??

Yes!!! Running. Me. Whodathunkit?

So far, I really like it and am excited about the prospect of being able to run 5 miles for the first time in my life. After this class, maybe I'll even take the next in the series. Half Marathon Training. That's right. 13 miles. I can do it.

In this, I also started a running journal and am particularly proud of the layout. If you're interested....

http://runs-with-dog.blogspot.com/

A Greek Cowboy Dinner

Sometimes culinary creativity is born of necessity. For example, I had spinach in my kitchen that would spoil unless I found a creative way to use it. Viola! Spinach-feta popovers to go with my white chicken chili. It's Mediterranean meets West, Zorba meets McLintock.

First, the chili:

Chili Blanco con Pollo

1 1/2 pounds skinless chicken thighs

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

14 ounces chicken broth

1 teaspoon cumin

6 sprigs fresh oregano, stems removed

8 leaves of fresh sage

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne

1/2 teaspoon red pepper sauce

45 ounces great northern beans (3 cans drained and rinsed)

16 ounces frozen white sweet corn, thawed

olive oil

Lightly oil the pottery of your slow cooker with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix onion, garlic, broth, spices, herbs, salt and pepper sauce in the slow cooker. Add chicken, and cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours (or until chicken is fully cooked and juices run clear). Remove chicken, and shred the meat from the bone using 2 forks. Discard bones and return the chicken meat to the cooker. Stir in beans and corn. Cover and cook on low for another 30-45 minutes, till hot. Tip: when the chicken is falling off the bone, you can begin shredding the meat from the bone. Cooking time will vary for each slow cooker, and for me, the chicken was ready at 3.5 hours.

Yields about 10-12 servings.

Now, cowboy meets Greek

Spinach-feta popovers

2 eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup crumbled feta

2 cups fresh spinach, steamed or sauteed

Preheat oven to 450.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and oil. Add the flour and salt and beat till smooth. It's okay if there are clumps, and it's important to not overbeat. Add the feta and stir just till combined. Fill each muffin tin with 1/8 cup of batter, add a tablespoon of spinach, top with 1/8 batter (tins should be 2/3 full). Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Reduce temp to 325 and bake for 25 minutes more, till tops are golden brown. Do NOT open the oven while these are baking, or else they'll fall. Remove from the oven and prick the tops with a toothpick to let steam escape. Makes 12 popovers.

Zorba meets McLintock
Originally uploaded by MrsPath

The nonchalant plea for play

The nonchalant plea for play
Originally uploaded by MrsPath

This is quite possibly my favorite photograph of Nola yet. It's a very typical pose she'll make when wanting to play but not getting what she wants, such as when I'm snapping shots instead of tossing the ball.

Another title for the picture could by "Catahoula indignation."

The depth of field appeals to me also. The only thing I'd change is the lack of contrast, but there's not much help for that in the living room with a white dog and a beige carpet.

Birthentines v3.9

It's my birthday. Normally, I write about cooking, snapping photographs, or dogs. Today, it's me...and my life in pictures...or more accurately my birthday in pictures.

Here it is...To start, birthday cake/cupcake for breakfast. Yep.

A very decadent treat, but then again, it is my last 30-something.

Then, play with Nola. I just had to get some time with my best gal pal in the world.

Nola in deep play

Nola in deep thought

Then, some shopping at TJ Maxx (where I found a new dog bed for Nola for

under $50), and then sake it to me, baby! sushi and hot sake at 'How do you roll?'

The slammin' salmon...I highly recommend it if you like your sushi rolls to have a kick.

And after getting high on sushi and sake...shoes....shoes! and more...SHOES!!!

My S alliteration is complete with sushi, sake and shoes :-)

For dinner, Protein 2000 and a much deserved bubble tea @ Veggie Heaven

...and to end the day, Gnomeo, Gnomeo. Wherefore art thou, Gnomeo?

Oh but it's not done yet. Tomorrow night, we're going to see the White Ghost Shivers. :-)

Veggie Joes...with a twist

In the crock pot this week, lentils!

I'm trying out a slow cooker recipe for veggie joes, a vegetarian take on the sloppy joe. No, I'm not a vegetarian, but I do like to try new and interesting foods. Lentils are tasty, and sloppy joes are also a tasty item. So, the idea of making a sloppy joe from lentils seems pretty good to me. They'll be full of protein and healthy carbs, too.

I did tweak the recipe...as usual. It called for ketchup, and I never have this in my house. I fact, I never eat it when out either. There is just something about a sugary tomato paste that doesn't appeal to me. I also reduced the Worcestershire sauce and added a new spice...dum-da-dum-dum! Curry. Why? Lentils. That's why. Lentils scream to me that they like curry, and I never deny a food its heart's desire when it screams like that.*

Here's a picture and the recipe (for prosperity and in case I decide to make it again)

Veggie Joe Masala

2 cups dried lentils, sorted and rinsed

4 cups H2O

6 medium carrots, chopped

6 medium celery stalks, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups of chopped tomato (or 12 oz can of stewed tomatoes)

4 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons yellow curry powder

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Heat the lentils and H2O to boiling. Reduce the heat. Then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix the remaining ingredients with the lentils in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours.

To serve, stuff a pita pocket with 1/2 cup, or you can use burger buns.

Snowless snow day

I had a snow day yesterday, sans snow. The city of Austin had rolling blackouts, and my office had to close because of the power outage. Between the office never being able to heat up and the server having to reboot every 30 minutes, there was just no point in being at work.

So, I stayed home, watched Groundhog Day and baked. The first step was deciding WHAT to bake though. It was 20F, and I didn't feel like bundling up for the grocery store. Instead, I looked in my pantry to see what I could improvise. I found white chocolate chips and pecans...and that was as far as my eyes had to search. It was an easy sell for me. No snow on a snow day = white chocolate then. Fair enough. :-)

To spruce up this combo, I used Mexican vanilla and cinnamon, and here is the resulting recipe:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract

1 large egg

2 cups (12-oz. pkg) white chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped pecans

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in small

bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract

in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually beat in flour

mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by rounded

tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 8 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on

baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

The cookie...well...it just might be my new second favorite. I'd say favorite, but the snickerdoodle will always have my heart. This was a really, really good cookie though, proof being that there are no more left today. :-)

Chli Revival

It's spicey. It's warm. It's chili and cornbread...in a pie? Yes! Can I get an Amen?! It's the chili revival.

To freshen up this dish, I made pot pies. Just a little bit of chili in each dish, topped with some cornbread batter. Then baked following the cornbread recipe. I did bake it for the minimum time first and then 5 minute intervals, checking after each 5 to make sure they didn't burn.

The results: YUM! Proof: these pot pies are already gone. :-)

On my mind today...

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth."
- - Muhammad Ali

A man known best for comments like, "Float like a butterfly sting like a bee " and being able to defeat his opponents in the ring, Muhammad Ali is also a champion humanitarian. He advocates for volunteerism and has worked in many countries...battling hunger and helping to provide medicine for millions in need.

I love the dichotomy of his character, fighter and altruist, and I wish more sports figures today would follow his example. In all truth though, we can all take a cue from Ali....stop fighting every once in awhile and actually do something that matters.

Brrr...time to warm up the kitchen

It's one of those rare winter days in the Texas hill country. Yes, we have about 3 months of winter, but a normal winter day here has temperatures in the 50s or 60s. Today, the high is predicted to be 43, and it's going to be like this over the coming week...with a low of 23 on Tuesday. I cannot express BRRRRRRrrrrr enough. My hot Texan blood isn't designed to endure these cold days, and this means one thing. It's time to make chili.

Now, I'm not new to the chili-craft but do have a problem when it comes to making it. What happens is an assortment of ingredients that are thrown together, and I don't write down the recipe. So, I hardly ever make the same batch of chili more than once, and it's difficult to duplicate a batch that I really liked months later. That changes today.

On this week's chili menu is a southwestern style turkey chili, and here's the recipe.

~~-------++--------~~

3 lbs ground turkey 85-15

1 lb lean ground turkey 93-7

30 oz can black beans

27 oz can pinto beans

12 oz package of frozen SW style corn

2 8 oz cans tomato sauce

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with chilis (Rotel style)

1 cup vegetable stock

1/4 cup blackstrap molasses

1/2 cup HEB San Antonio Chili seasoning

2 TBSPN cayenne pepper

It's really simple. Brown the meat in a skillet, one pound at a time, adding some of the chili seasoning to each batch. While the meat is browning, combine the remaining ingredients in a large crock pot, and add the browned meat. Set the pot to cook on high, and cook for about 4 hours.

~~-------++--------~~

Notice that I added Rotel and a couple of tablespoons of cayenne. This is going to be 5 alarm batch, and that is how it should be (although I did add molasses to cut the heat just a little with some sweetness). It also has beans, and I know that Texas chili should NOT include a legume. To me, tradition can sometimes be a good guide but should never be followed rigidly, and since I like the contrast of textures in my chili, I make it with beans (and corn this time). :-P

Normally, I serve chili with cornbread, but this time, hubby and I are going to try it on brown rice. It's a little healthier, which will help with our goals to lose weight after the holidays. Taste testing so far indicates spicy and full of good flavors. Once the chili is done, I'll write an update on how it is.

Here's a teaser pic in the mean time.

-- also playing the depth of field in photography today....tips used are to lower the aperture and increase the zoom. So, I lowered the aperture as low as it would go, 2.8 or 3.5 when I zoomed in on an object.

Adventures of the Curd Kind

Lately, I've been thinking about baked goods. Nothing over the top (of the crust), just your ordinary items available at the local market, like all the variations of breads and pies, and the first that came to mind is the lemon meringue.

Of course, the first part of every pie is the crust, and having a mother who can bake with one eye closed, one hand tied behind her back and monkeys taunting her (AKA me and my brother begging for cookies) has brought me to believe in this about crust -- never bother with store-bought. Why? Pie crust is one of the simplest things to make, as long as you keep a few things in mind, but that's for another post.

Now, lemon meringue. It's easy to get a slice of this pie at most diners or bakeries, but too many times have I seen one of these sugary, lemon curds gone wrong when homemade. The meringue is too short, or the crust is too tough. Even worse, the filling is a tart, citrus soup. So, I set out on a mission -- to create the best recipe for this simple but oh-so-easily-disastrous confection.

To start, I tried a family recipe which won't be posted here. The taste was alright, but overall, it was not a good pie. Typical of many I've tried, the filling was soupy, and the meringue was tough. Upon looking over the recipe closer, I noticed that it only called for 3 eggs, and the meringue didn't include any cream of tartar. So it was no wonder that the recipe failed, and pushing forwarding on my mission, I tried another from Alton Brown.

This recipe uses 4 eggs instead of 3 and includes cream of tartar, and the pie did come out better. It wasn't perfect though, and the filling separated. Determined to complete this quest, I threw out the soupy pies and started over. This time, I increased the egg content even further and also tried a new meringue. Some other key changes include using a wooden spoon, quality zest, lower baking temperature and increased cooking time. The results were amazing. With just a few changes, I was able to make a lemon pie that had a nice curd. My recipe is below, and I've emphasized my alterations in bold.

Best Ever Lemon Meringue Pie

5 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (only use the outermost part of the peel for the zest, avoiding any pith. This may require an entire lemon to get enough for the recipe)

1 (9-inch) blind-baked pie crust

1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 325

Whisk the eggs yolks in a small bowl and set aside. In a sauce pan, whisk cornstarch, sugar, water and salt. Turn the heat on to medium and stir mixture frequently with a **wooden spoon**. Bring to a boil and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and add half the mixture to the eggs. Gently whisk to combine, and then add the egg mixture to the remaining mixture in the sauce pan, also gently whisking to combine.

Turn the heat down to low and return the pan to the burner. Cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in the butter, lemon juice and zest. **Return to the burner and cook for one more minute, stirring constantly.**

Pour mixture into the prepared pie crust and top with meringue while the filling is still hot. Spread the meringue to the crust to prevent shrinking, and bake till meringue peaks are golden, approximately 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 4 hours before serving. The pie should be completely cooled before cutting.

Meringue

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

5 egg whites

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl. With a whisk attachment, beat egg whites until soft peaks form, and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Viola!!

Easy as Pie Part 1: Crust

The first in my Baked Installment: Pie Crust...easy to make and equally easy to ruin. Here are the tips my mom shared with me when I picked up my first rolling pin (with a few of my own additions over the years):

1. Keep all your ingredients cold. I cannot emphasize this enough. So, again. Keep all your ingredients COLD!!! This helps to keep the butter/shortening/lard from melting in your dough, and those globs of fat you'll see in the rolled out dough will make your crust nice and flaky.
2. Use a healthy* portion of fat. Most recipes for crust call for only 3 TBSPNs of butter, but this just isn't enough. Why would we want to skimp here anyway? It's not as if we're thinking about our waistlines when making pie! So, make it good...and make it buttery. I use 1/3:1 ratio for my butter and flour. If your recipe calls for one cup of flour, then use 1/3 cup of butter. Then, use an additional 2 TBSPNs of lard or shortening.
3. Add the cold water a little at a time. Check the dough after each tablespoon to see if it's too dry, and keep going till you have a firm dough. You'll see some loose flour in your bowl, and that's alright. You just don't want a gooey mess.
4. Work the dough as little as possible. Why? As you massage the dough, this creates gluten strings which are great for maintaining th structure but not for a flaky texture. So, we don't want these. Work the dough just enough to combine everything. Then, you'll form a ball and roll the dough out to fit your pan.
5. When rolling out the dough, first press the rolling pin into the dough about 3-4 times to help flatten it. Then, roll up and down. Turn the dough, roll up and down. Repeat till your dough is about 1/4" thick.
6. Set in the pan. Trim the edges, and chill for 15 minutes.

Inspired by a friend who recently asked me to show her how to make crust, and written for prosperity sake. Maybe others will find this helpful, too.

*healthy in the sense of ample, not the calorie-counting sort.

Progress

Being out of school has been really nice, and I've been using this extra time to catch up on personal goals.

The Ritz camera classes have been helpful. Maybe it's just me, but I do feel like there's been a significant improvement in the quality of my photographs. Lately, I even find myself looking around wherever I go, to see photo opportunities, and I'll keep on practicing with new techniques while following this path. What I really want to do sometime is walk around downtown one morning and take pictures. The architecture of some of the buildings is so pretty and unique, and morning light is less harsh and makes for better photographs. The trick will be finding someone to go with me. Most folks I know are not morning people, and walking around and taking pictures is probably not the most exciting thing to many. With that in mind, this is probably an adventure best tackled alone...or maybe with a photographers group. Hmmm..

Things have been better at TLAC. I took some time away after the Rabies Clinic event and have been back at the shelter this week, and last night, I hopefully helped a dog find his forever home.

The story: A lady came in with 4 children (two boys 8 and 3 years old and twin infant girls in one of those mega-strollers), and she was looking at the dogs. She'd been enamored with one dog in particular, Roux, who came in a few days ago as an owner surrender, but Roux was very skittish and nervous. Because Roux seemed a little neurotic, the lady's husband didn't really think he'd work out with a house full of kids, but she wanted to give Roux another try. So, I sat with her, her children and Roux in a play area for half an hour. Mostly, I held one of her daughters while she interacted with Roux (and while she wrangled a very enterprising 3 year old boy), and it seemed to go really well. Later that night, the lady "confirmed" her application for Roux, meaning she planned to take him home today. I sincerely hope she follows through on that, too. He's a sweet dog, and after being in the play area for a few minutes, he was very calm, played with one of her sons, and checked on one of the babies when she cried. We even discovered that Roux knows "sit." Aside from the family bonding, I also hope that the lady takes Roux home because dogs who are surrendered by owners are sometimes first to be euthanized if the center runs out of space, and I hate to think that might happen to such a kind and gentle little soul. *crossing my fingers for him*

In more TLAC news, I will attend a Dog Handling training next week, and this means two things. One, I'll be able to participate in Potty Patrol. This might seem disgusting to some, but it's a chance to take the dogs out of the kennels for walks, which is good in that it gets them out of their kennels and it helps them stay social. PP (and yes, I get that the abbreviation is very fitting) is also a great time to get to know the dogs a little better, which leads to the second implication of going to training next week. In Potty Patrol, I can help identify good trail dogs. One of the leading Trail Dog volunteers has already said that she'd like to mentor me, and in order to participate in the Trail Dog program, I have to attend the handling training first. Soon...I'll be out on the trails with the TLAC dogs. Yay!!!

Then, I've done yoga 3 times this week so far, and it feels good. Now, I just have to keep the momentum going and push through that wall I've been hitting. I've lost 10 pounds since we moved into the new place in January, and while it's a good start, there's more weight to shed. The problem is that in the past few years, whenever I lose a little bit of weight, this voice inside my head speaks up, "Who are you kidding? You can't lose this weight, and besides, you like being chubby." Then, I go and eat whatever the hell I want....which usually means pizza, hamburgers, ice cream, cookies and/or chocolate bars. The simple fact is that I don't like this extra weight though. I'm not obese, but last year, I did have the highest weight of my life and was technically "over weight." This time around, I have to hear that voice, acknowledge it and push through it.

Anne's Modeling Debut

Anne was sunning this morning, and the shadows were so nice. Fortunately, I was able to get the camera out before she decided to move.





...and my favorite.