pumpkin pie

Have I already told you that I love pie? My secret ambition is to win a $25,000 pie contest so I can leave my obnoxious husband, open my own pie shop and transform my life. Just kidding! That's the premise of "Waitress," a great movie to get you inspired about pie, if you're not already.

On a little trip through Washington many years ago, I stumbled across a darling little pie shop in Long Beach. "My Mom's Pie". It was run by two women who seriously knew what makes a fantastic pie! The older Mom has since passed away, and her friend moved on to other ventures. But I'm doing my part to keep a few of their pies alive. They kindly shared some of their recipes to make this happen. Thank you pie ladies! I've made a few modifications over the years, but I'm sure they would approve. I tried a slew of pumpkin pie recipes before I found this one. It has the right texture and the perfect combination of spices to make it one of my favorite desserts of all time.

This was the first pie crust I learned how to make. Over 15 years ago, in her small, tidy kitchen, my husband's Grammy graciously shared her pie crust recipe and techniques with me. I like the Crisco crust with this filling. It provides a flakiness that can't be matched with butter.

Grammy's Basic Foolproof Pie Crust
(makes one 9-inch crust)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup ice cold water

1. Combine flour and salt in a bowl
2. Add shortening
3. Blend together with a fork or pastry blender
4. Have a cup of cold ice water ready, sprinkling a little at a time over the mixture
5. Work ingredients together gently with your hands until water pulls flour, salt and shortening together. Handle the dough as little as possible. Repeat this until a ball forms and dough is slightly sticky. Stop.
6. Gently dust the dough with flour
7. Divide and roll out with light quick strokes

Pumpkin Pie
a slightly richer version of "My Mom's Pie" recipe
1 1/4 cups pumpkin (I use canned pumpkin, just make sure it's 100% pumpkin, all pumpkin and nothing but the pumpkin)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup half and half
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Prepare the pie shell and keep refrigerated until needed.

1. Mix the spices with the sugar
2. Warm the half and half to lukewarm
3. Beat eggs until smooth and add the lukewarm half and half slowly, beating constantly
4. Stir the pumpkin into the sugar mixture
5. Add egg-half and half mixture, vanilla and salt
6. Stir well, but do not beat
7. Pour into pie shell
8. Bake pie in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes to set crust (this is very important... it keeps the crust from being soggy)
Turn oven down to 325 degrees and continue baking for about 45 minutes. It may seem a little wiggly, but don't worry it will set up a bit more as it cools.

boo

Why rake them up when you can take pictures of them instead?

While I was shooting leaves, Nelly stopped by for a visit.



Somehow between being sick this week and all the homework, including creating an edible model of the earth in layers for science last night, Iz managed to put together this Halloween costume. She says she's a nerd zombie...





Have a great Halloween!

. . .

i only like you when you give me cookies

I love cookies. A tiny dessert. Not big enough to fill you up. Betcha can’t eat just one. Quick to make. Easy to eat. Easy to pack. In a lunchbox. In a purse. Perfect with a cup of tea or cold milk. My dog thinks I’m eating one of her doggie treats. She stares at me in anticipation.

Can you imagine some people actually buy ready made cookie dough? I did this once. It was a fundraiser item for my daughter’s school. People were raving about it. Blech! It tasted very chemical like. On the package it said there was no need to refrigerate it for up to two months. Yikes! What’s in that stuff?

In the first historic record of cookies, they were test cakes. A small amount of cake batter was dropped onto baking pans to test the temperature of the oven before the cake was baked (of course these early ovens, which were fueled by wood, didn’t have thermostats).

I made these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies this week. The recipe makes four dozen and they’ve already been devoured.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 Tablespoon milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups oats (rolled or "quick," but not "instant")
2 cups chocolate chips (about 12-oz.)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars until mixture is light in color. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the milk and the vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Either by hand or with the mixer on low speed, gradually beat the flour in to the sugar mixture until just incorporated.

Stir in the oats and chocolate chips by hand.

Drop 1-inch balls of dough onto the cookie sheet, placing about 1 1/2 inches apart so they have room to spread.

Bake at 350F for 10-13 minutes, until golden brown at the edges and light golden at the center.

Cool on baking sheet for at least 1-2 minutes before transfering to a wire rack to cool completely.

. . .

random life updates

It's been too long since I've posted here. Here's what I've been up to:

Getting ready for Halloween. My daughter has always had a love/hate relationship with this holiday. When she was younger, several months leading up to and following this holiday there was lots of angst. Now that she's older, she seems to love it for the most part. We drove out to our favorite pumpkin patch yesterday and gathered up a few orange orbs for the occasion. I was very disappointed with the size choices this year. They seem to only come in small and extra small. I started a tradition of hosting a party at our house several years ago to help ease her stress. At least that way she could have friends around to make it a bit easier to deal with.



School started. This is always a rough time of year at our house. Iz does not love school and each year brings some of the same challenges. Social drama. Schedule changes. Homework. There's been lots of this!



I'm getting into cooking scrumptious comfort foods again. I made this yummy risotto (recipe is from Bon Appetit) last week. I served it alongside a marinated, grilled pork tenderloin. I made so much that we tired of it after eating the leftovers for several nights.



We went to see Where The Wild Things Are over the weekend. Quick review. Disappointing. Did not enjoy it. I found it very disturbing and unsettling. Thought the wild things were whiny. My husband, on the other hand, enjoyed it.

I had a birthday.

I got new glasses.



What's new with you?

Are you enjoying fall?


. . .

for the love of logos

I love logos! I love the idea of creating a logo. I love creating logos. I love the long process of researching a company, brainstorming creative ideas, sketching out all the unworthy ideas that immediately come to mind and getting them out of the way. Eliminating the garbage. Reducing the clutter. Then I walk away from it all and do something completely different than think about logo design... clean out the chicken coop, pull out all the spent plants from the garden, make a batch of pesto with the last of the season's basil, bake some chocolate chip cookies... well, you get the idea. It's then that the best ideas hit me. Then I sit down and sketch more ideas. Nothing. Panic. Nothing. Panic. Beat myself up. Nothing. Panic. Sketch. Okay, I'm liking this a little. Sketch. Way too much going on. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify. That's the amazing part of logo design. It's a long involved process. It's the process of taking in tons of information and reducing it all down to the most simple terms imaginable.

Here are some colorful logos I spotted while walking through Disney's California Adventure and Universal Studios this summer...











Have you ever had one of these In-N-Out burgers? Like a logo it's reduced to it's simplest essential ingredients. A thin meat patty, a large slice of tomato, a chunk of crispy lettuce and special sauce on a perfectly toasted bun. Yumola!



Our good friend Ian stopped by with his Dad last weekend. I made some chocolate chip cookies. One of Ian's favorite things to do at our house. Eat as many of these as possible without getting sick. That and having fun with Isabel.





I made four batches of pesto from the remaining basil to stash in the freezer for winter. These should get us through October.



Last night was Back to School Night. Parents attend their child's classes in brief increments of about 15 minutes per classroom (six total) to learn what's in store for the year and what's expected of students. The stressful part was learning about several missing assignments. Then there were the tears when we returned home, and several hours of work through those tears. Each new school year brings at least a month of transition time. Maybe it's the shock of reality that life is not really a giant summer vacation.

On the positive side... I was very proud to see my daughter designed a logo that was on display outside her art class. I frequently find papers covered with small drawings around the house. Little logos in the making. Perhaps I've passed something on to her.

The disorganized part must come from her Daddy.

...

eating locally

I've become a bit obsessed lately. Food obsessed. I'm purchasing (or growing) exclusively organic, local meats, fruits and vegetables. It's pretty easy to find these items in some of our local grocery stores. Farmer's markets and farm stands also offer an abundance this time of year. The problems occur when we go out to eat. I can't cook all the time! Recently we discovered a small, local, par excellence cafe. Ladybug Coffee Company in St Johns, Oregon. They use exclusively organic, locally sourced ingredients to make very tasty things. Everything. I do mean everything. Is made from scratch at Ladybug. We were pretty excited to discover this little gem.



Meet Angelcake. A flaky, buttery homemade buttermilk biscuit. She holds a perfectly cooked egg, topped with white cheddar cheese and a slice of slightly spicy organic chicken sausage. In a word... scrumptious!

Everything at Ladybug is made completely from scratch. Ladybug's owner, Angel O'Brien believes in sustainable living practices and puts these to strict use in her cafe. Her 15-page job application for potential employees includes questions such as, 'What is something that you do on a regular basis to make the world a better place?' and, 'What is one thing that you think would make Portland a better city? The statement that she has chosen as her business model is this. We believe in local. We believe in organics. We believe in sustainability.





My taste buds have never been seduced by a chai tea latte this delicious.







It's estimated that on average, a restaurant in the United States contributes around 50,000 pounds of garbage to the landfills in one year. Ladybug has created less than 150 pounds in the nearly two years they've been open. Pretty impressive huh?

All electricity used at Ladybug is purchased from 100% wind power. They use secondhand silverware and cloth napkins. All edible leftovers are donated, egg cartons are given to local chicken farms, and egg shells and coffee grounds are taken by customers for use in their gardens.

. . .

fall fare

The long, hot lazy days of summer are already becoming a distant memory as we gather school supplies, organize clothes closets, buy sweaters, all in preparation of the shorter, busier days ahead. I can't help feeling a bit apprehensive this time of year. I've had a great relationship with my daughter this summer, but it's bound to be altered as she enters 7th grade. The daily interaction with classmates has a way of altering a girl's personality. Then there's the addition of homework that will soon invade our world and turn our once quiet home into a battle zone.

It started raining sometime during the wee hours of Saturday and has continued off and on since. I haven't been motivated to go out and prop up the tomato plants, which have fallen over, heavy with green fruit. Bailey even needs a little push to go outside.



I did make this delicious comfort food yesterday, and I'm sharing the love with you...



Lasagna
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 medium garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound sweet Italian pork sausage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pureed tomatoes (about 6 fresh tomatoes, or one 28 oz. can)
Diced tomatoes (about 5 fresh tomatoes, or one 28 oz. can) drained of juice
1 3/4 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cups grated parmesan
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
15 no-boil lasagna noodles
4 cups grated mozzarella cheese

Procedure:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat until simmering, but not smoking. About 2 minutes. Add onion and cook until softened, but not browned. About 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. About 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium high and add ground meats, salt and pepper. Break meat into small pieces and cook until it loses its raw color. About 4 minutes. Add cream and simmer, stirring occasionally until liquid evaporates and only fat remains. About 4 minutes. Add pureed and diced tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer slowly until flavors are blended. About 3 minutes. Set sauce aside.

Mix ricotta, 1 cup of the parmesan, basil, egg, salt and pepper in medium bowl until well combined and creamy.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

To assemble: smear the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with 1/4 cup of the sauce. Place 3 lasagna noodles on top of sauce. Drop three tablespoons of the ricotta mixture down each noodle. Level by pressing flat. Sprinkle with 1 cup of grated mozzarella. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of the meat sauce over cheese. Repeat layering of noodles, ricotta, mozzarella and sauce three more times. Place the three remaining noodles on top of the sauce, spread remaining sauce over noodles, sprinkle with remaining cup of mozzarella and remaining 1/4 cup of parmesan.

Lightly spray a large sheet of foil with nonstick cooking spray and cover lasagna. Bake 15 minutes and remove foil. Continue baking until cheese is spotty brown and sauce is bubbling. About 25 minutes longer. Cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

. . .

It helped make the rain palatable.

The chocolate chip cookies that Iz made helped too.