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Mmmmmmmmmm … Pie

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Thanksgiving is a time that honors tradition … Grandma’s stuffing, Mom’s sweet potatoes, Aunt Betty’s pumpkin pie. But then there’s this, a frequent thought of mine …  so many recipes, so little time. So I tried another new dessert for Thanksgiving. In fact, I had spotted this recipe months ago, and knew I would make it.

The pie just out of the oven!

Happily, my host is of the same ilk, and four of the dishes served for our main meal were also first-timers, (but definitely not the stuffing – one of his  family recipes.)

So what could make pumpkin pie even yummier? How about a layer of cheesecake underneath? This recipe appeared in a terrific but now defunct magazine, General Store, the issue over 10 years old. It is not clear exactly where the recipe came from except it was recommended by a couple from central Jersey with a passion for early American living.

A portion of the pie cut for taking home.

Well, the pie turned out quite well, the pumpkin nicely spiced and the cream cheese layer appropriately creamy. As I have no place to link to, I thought to share this with you pumpkin pie lovers.

Paradise Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:
1- 9 inch unbaked pastry crust
1-8 oz. pkg Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/4 sugar
1/2 tsp.vanilla
1 egg

1-1/4 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash of salt
Maple syrup
Pecan halves

Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, mixing at medium speed until well blended. Blend in egg. Spread onto bottom of pastry shell.

Combine remaining ingredients except maple syrup and pecans. Mix well. Pour carefully over cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350˚ for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Cool. Brush with maple syrup and decorate with pecans, if desired.

Enjoy!

Baby Loves Black

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

I wouldn’t say my Mom was a fashionista. She wouldn’t have said it either, even if that word had existed back then. She was a conservative dresser in the time I knew her, that is, growing up my whole life. When I was a child, she wore simple clothes for the most part – straight skirts, (now known as pencil skirts), quasi-fitted short sleeve sweaters or printed or solid blouses, shorts in the summer. I remember her in wedgies in the warmer weather and medium high heels the rest of the time. Always on the simple side. In her daily dress, my Mom was not an adventurous soul.

And then … she had her evening/party clothes. An entirely different woman appeared. My Mom had the most fabulous skirts, tops and dresses for when she went out, and they were almost exclusively black. She wore black taffeta flared skirts, black silk tops and she had a gorgeous pair of black (real) velvet pumps. She positively glowed. To this day I can vividly remember one of her shirts … it was black crepe with cap sleeves, solid in the back, and in the front, there were chevron stripes of sequins, about 1/2″ apart, in alternating pale colors – gold, silver, aqua, pale rose and green. Even as a child, I wanted that shirt.

I believe those fabulous evening clothes – and possibly how happy and confident my Mom seemed in them – inspired my own love of black clothing. I’m typing this blog in a favorite combination – black jeans and a black sweatshirt over a black long-sleeved polo-type shirt. Garnet earrings are the only color at the moment, but then … I’m home. I love wearing black and honestly, I could wear it all the time, but it somehow seems a good idea to vary my wardrobe colors. Still, it’s a lifelong attraction.

Pan back in time when I was 6 or 7 years old. In school we were given these horizontal booklets each year; we filled them out with photos of ourselves, “My Best Friend”, “My Pet” and some of our favorite things. I may still have that book; my Mom saved a lot of our school stuff. On one of the pages, they asked you to fill in your favorite color. Undoubtedly inspired by my Mom’s fabulous evening clothes, I happily wrote “black.”

And that’s when they called home.

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

/ still a dreamer / 1 Comment

No, that’s not a bundt cake, though she sure is sweet.
That’s Livy, a rescued Belgian draft horse.

Each year Mylestone Equine Rescue holds its annual Open House. As Mylestone is a private farm, this event is their big annual fundraiser and the chance for visitors to come and meet all the rescue horses, learn more about the rescue, participate in a silent auction and … buy goodies from their bake sale tent. As one of 20+ volunteers, I spend the day educating visitors, discussing the need for horse rescue, introducing the horses and their histories to people, and functioning as photographer for the day. I also bake.

Unfortunately, last Sunday, the official date, had to be postponed due to rain and cold weather, and is being held today, October 14th. And unfortunately, I had previous plans and am not able to be there. However, as always, I baked something for their bake sale.

I’ve made this chocolate chip bundt cake once before and chose it again because it is so unbelievably moist and delicious.  It’s all butter with plenty of dark brown sugar and buttermilk. What makes it extra tasty is a blend of chopped pecans, butter and sugar which are mixed together and spread in the bundt pan before the batter is spooned in. It adds a just-right, sweet crunch that complements the dark chocolate mini-morsels.

Of course, I had to taste a very small sliver before packaging individual slices just to make sure it was safe for human consumption!

All packaged up,  ready to go and be enjoyed by Open House visitors. In a world where baking from mixes seems to have become fairly common, that little sign saying the cake is all-butter and made from scratch always turns out to be a great selling point!

You can find this chocolate chip bundt cake recipe at myrecipes.com.

Here’s Looking at You, Kid!

/ still a dreamer / 6 Comments

Finally! Work subsided sufficiently that my blogging brain returned and I knew what I was going to write for a post as soon as I got the chance. But in the meantime, something else happened.

 

In the afternoon, the western sun bathes my office and upstairs bedrooms in warmth and light. Great in cooler weather, not so much in the summer. Anyway, about noon or so each day I go upstairs and open all the windows facing that way so as to soak up as much heat as possible to stave off the chill of the cooler autumn evenings and nights. In the back bedroom, Claude was soaking up that sun on top of a piece of furniture, too, but seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was being closely watched!

Then he realized … it moved! As I moved with my camera, the praying mantis got into prayer/attack position and rotated his head to keep an eye on me. Claude was interested only when he moved, which I suspect has something to do with an animal’s depth perception or ability to comprehend something on the other side of both screen and glass.

These creatures are so bizarre looking, but so fascinating. If they are symbols of good luck, which has been said to me, then I ought to be in for one big bucket-o-luck anytime soon!

Claude, below, not quite knowing what to make of this slow-moving creature. (I’ll get to that other post real soon. This was too good to pass up!)

 

Touched By an Angel

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

She’s just a bit of a thing – her name is Pipsqueak and she’s a female betta fish. I first met her when my neighbors prepared to go on vacation, a time when I mind their cats and their pond fish. This year, one of the girls brought over a vase with her new pet, Pipsqueak. My experience of Pipsqueak was so enjoyable; I never imagined such a tiny creature to have such a personality – not only curious about everything, but also very responsive to me as we got to know each other over the 3+ weeks of her stay.

Pipsqueak and one of her favorite friends. (Pipsqueak is not actually that big, BTW, nor are the marbles – it’s a distortion of the glass.)

Pipsqueak often stayed on my computer desk while I worked, though not too close to the computer, and sometimes on my other work desk. I often placed various items next to her, as she seemed to really enjoy checking out new objects. But one struck her fancy, as you can see in the photo … a Willow angel given to me as a gift. She is an Angel of Wishes.

Pips was fascinated. She checked out the angel’s face, (which, if you know Willow angels, you know their faces have no features), but then every aspect of her from top to bottom. She really seemed to enjoy spending time with her. Sometimes I rotated the angel a bit, and she became interested all over again. Of all the things she had the opportunity to see, the angel and my bringing my face up to the glass and waving at her – which brought out actual body wiggling and fast and furious front fin action – were Pipsqueak’s favorites.

I think I was touched by a little angel, too.