Wild Turkey

Today, while I was on the phone with a client discussing how best to proceed with resolving her issues, the dogs commenced to barking. Yesterday, the neighbor behind us was having work done on his A/C and of course Mopsy and Honey just had to remind me all day about what great watch dogs they are. So anyway, I am on the phone, and the dogs started barking and I look out my window hoping that my evil eye would somehow convince them to cease and desist with the barking. When what did I see? A turkey peering over the fence. He was standing on top of Joey's truck. Just standing there. (Well, just standing there and leaving presents for Joey.) As soon as I got off the phone, I raced into the bedroom yelling for Joey to come see! Turkey! On his truck! I was thinking that he could get the pot of oil hot and we could just drop him in like they do lobsters into boiling water. Anyway, he went outside, and I went outside with my camera and whadd'ya know? TWO TURKEYS! On his truck. Until they saw us and then they popped up on the roof and walked over our house. I went through the house and out the front door and I have no idea what happened to them. Oh well.

So then, the dogs were in the house, which I don't usually do when I am working and here is why. Mopsy somehow got Bibianna's beautiful handmade with love by Elena and Jane "Annie Get Your Gun" ornament and was eating it. EATING IT! UGH. So, I get the piece that she was chewing on away from her, got her into the sunroom and proceeded to search the house for the other pieces. I found all but two pieces of the ornament and in the meantime called Miss Elena on the phone in a panic. As usual, Miss Elena saved the day and I took the pieces to her and she fixed the chewed pieces and put it all back together with more love. She even had to replace Bibianna's chewed up hat with the director's hat. That is just like her to put one of her students needs before her own. And, as she said, maybe some day Bibianna will be directing a play and she can remember how she got the director's hat the year that Mopsy tried to eat her ornament.

And that is pretty much the only exciting things that happened today.

White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

I made this for Thanksgiving, and it was oh so yummy. I got this recipe from Helen Roach, my pie coach and it isn't as hard as it may look.



Crust:
1 1/4 cups Oreo cookie crumbs
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend cookie crumbs and brown sugar, using a pastry blender to get the lumps out. Then stir in the melted butter. Press crumbs evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate and bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Make the custard while the crust is cooling.

Custard:
2/3 cup sugar
6 Tbsp cornstarch (although I used 1/2 cup)
1/8 tsp salt
5 large egg yolks
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp butter
3 medium bananas sliced

Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a large mixing bowl. This evenly distributes the dry ingredients. Whisk in the eggs slowly and then add the milk immediately. Make sure the milk is ready because you don't want the egg yolks sitting in sugar.

Transfer the custard to a double boiler or heavy saucepan (I used a heavy saucepan). Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until custard is thick (the consistency of soft pudding.) Remove from stove and stir in butter and vanilla. Reserve 1/3 cup for mousse and cover with plastic wrap. Layer bananas randomly in pie shell and the pour the rest of the custard into the baked pie shell and cover with plastic wrap. Place the plastic wrap directly on the custard so that a skin won't form on top of the custard. Let this cool for at least 2 - 3 hours. (I put in the refrigerator over night and made the mousse the next day.)

Mousse:
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
2 Tbsp hot water
4 oz white chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup reserved custard
1 1/4 cup whipping cream

Dissolve the gelatin in the 2 T hot water for 5 minutes. Stir several times to make sure the gelatin is completely dissolved. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, stirring it with a heat resistant rubber spatula. Then mix the gelatin into the melted chocolate. In a mixing bowl, blend the 1/3 cup of reserved custard into the white chocolate and gelatin mixture. Stir these thoroughly. Set aside.

Pour the cold heavy cream into a chilled mixing bowl and whip until stiff. You should be able to make trails and peaks in the firm cream. Stir a small amount of the whipped cream into the chocolate, just to make it workable. Fold in the remaining whipped cream with a rubber spatula. Work slowly, cutting down with the spatula, then pulling toward you, and finally lifting up with the blade of the spatula held horizontally. Don't over mix!

Heap the mousse on in a generous layer over the custard keeping the center thicker than the edges. Chill thoroughly.

This pie is better made a day ahead of time (or two if you make it in two days like I did) so that the banana flavor will intensify.

Enjoy!

"A Grace Before Dinner"

I repeated a phrase several times to myself yesterday. "This pie is going to kill me!" I have spent 10 months working so hard to lose weight and then to keep it off and within a few weeks time, and a new hobby of pie baking, I am quickly packing the weight back on. What I need to do is exercise and practice portion control, but that just seems so much like work! Not to mention that I had decided to limit myself to one piece of pie a day (one regular size piece of pie) but we have so many pies that if we all don't pitch in and help to finish them, they will go bad. I can't have that - what with all those starving children in Africa and all.

Now, I haven't been brave enough to step on the scale to see exactly how much I have packed on, but the fact that I can't button some of my pants and the ones I can button are now painful, I know. Why is it that something that I love to do is so horrible for me? I love to bake, especially at the holidays, and I love to share my baked goods with friends and family. Most of those friends and family though are in the same boat that I am, that would be the boat that is gradually sinking because we are overloading it, and so they see my gifts of high fat and calories more as torture versus kindness. Anyway, I saw this prayer today and decided that I liked it and may start to use it to remember to in all things be content.


A Grace Before Dinner
by Robert Burns


O thou who kindly dost provide
For every creature's want!
We bless Thee, God of Nature wide,
For all Thy goodness lent:
And if it please Thee, Heavenly Guide,
May never worse be sent;
But, whether granted, or denied,
Lord, bless us with content. Amen!

Prep Work

Today after a busy but good day at work, the baking of pies for Thursday began. This is sort of a new hobby of mine. I have made a few pies in past years but have never made the pie crusts from scratch. And, I have always done the standard pies, nothing fancy. Well, a few weeks ago a wonderful woman invited me to make caramel pies with her. This is a recipe that her mom used to make and works best if you have two people. I showed up on a Saturday morning about 9:30 am, a little nervous and with a half gallon of milk in my hand. Helen promptly put me to work making crusts. Well, I have to say that even though I had a guiding hand, those crusts (and the subsequent pies) turned out great. Helen loaned me a cookbook called "The Great American Pie" cookbook and after spending about a week reading and drooling on the pages I decided to purchase that book for my own shelf. Last night, I finally was brave enough to get my hands dirty and I have to say that for my first attempt, I think I am on the road to a happy pie baking hobby.

The first pie was just a shell and it shrunk up horribly so it was deemed as a reject and Bibianna and I nibbled on it while we worked on #2 and #3. The second pie was a pecan coconut pie from my new cookbook. It was pretty easy and I have to say that it looks and smells delicious. Not only does it have pecans and coconut, but it also has chocolate and some grated orange peel. Also, I worked at rolling the crust out gently and not stretching it and it didn't shrink when baked. I hope that it tastes as good as it looks and smells.

Third pie is going to be a white chocolate banana cream pie. Now, all I have to say to Joey is ___________ cream pie and he becomes putty in my hands. This pie is kind of complicated and I am halfway finished. I think that although my first attempt won't be to the standard that I like, for instance I think I cooked the custard on too high a heat and it thickened up too much and too fast, I think that it will still be edible. The oreo crust and bananas with custard are chilling and firming up in the refrigerator. All that is left is the white chocolate mousse that goes on top.

Tomorrow, I will attempt a chocolate chiffon pie, again, another new one. Usually I make chocolate meringue, but Bibianna doesn't like meringue and loves chocolate pie, so that will be for her. The worst part will be having to wait until Thursday to taste.

I love Thanksgiving and I love all the cooking and baking. Makes me wonder why I don't do it more often.

Fun

Well, that was fun to read my last (or next to last post). I am not sure how I posted the crochet hat thing, but I did make two of those hats for Taylor and Javi so I am glad that I now know where to go to find the pattern if I need it again.

Since Oz, Bibianna was in the Angelo Civic Theater Youth production of "Once Upon A Mattress." She was a wench and was fabulous, as usual. My hand, is still not back to 100% and pretty much I have decided it never will be and that's ok. I can still crochet and type. In addition, Bibianna, my mom and I went to New York with a group from ACT and Bibianna attended a class for young budding performers. My mom and I just spent time hanging out and doing fun things like shopping at Macy's, and eating at Mesa Grill. Wish I would have been blogging then because I could have created an entire blog and a half about that brunch. This spring, we are planning to do it again, although this time we are taking Joey with us.

New events that I am still hating and loving is Carolyn leaving the nest. We moved her into her first apartment last week. Sad, happy, excited, scared, miserable, ecstatic, overwhelmed, etc. What a roller coaster of emotion. However, we are adjusting and it is the circle of life, right? She came home last night with two laundry baskets full of clothes that I gladly helped her with. Haven't done that in a long time. Usually I am complaining about her doing her laundry too late at night, scattered over her floor, or any myriad of other things that seem so unimportant now.

Bibianna has two roles in the newest production for ACT Youth, "Annie Get Your Gun." She also is taking theater arts at school and they are performing their first play on December 2. I wish more family lived here so that they could enjoy watching that sweet girl sparkle on stage like we do.

And, today, in case you don't read my posts on Facebook, I am thankful that the grout in my kitchen floor is dark brown/gray. :)

Rambling yarns from the Crochet Kitten...: The Animator's Hat

Rambling yarns from the Crochet Kitten...: The Animator's Hat