Procrastiblogging and Pie

Procrastiblogging: a verb meaning that life has taken over and if you have to chose between remembering to pick your child up from school, or blog, you fetch your child from school.
Nothing to worry about, the ride has been sweet.

In no particular order the past 5 months consisted of:
New career for Andy
New job for me
Repatriation (fancy word for moving home)
High school graduation for one kid
Sold a house
Bought a house
Sent younger kid off to camp for the summer
Sent said graduated child off to university (Sniff)
Enrolled the younger one in local high school
Taught younger child to drive (She is a really good driver. I am a terrible, shrieking, sure of certain death passenger. I'm very unhelpful in this process.)
Unpacked 110 boxes of stuff
Wondered why we would move a flattened soccer ball, half used bottles of nail polish, a can of silly string, and a small box of used tea lights from Africa to the United States.

I could go on but I think you get the gist.

And now it is Thanksgiving Day. As I look over that list and flesh out all the details of the past year, there is much to be ON MY KNEES thankful for.
Not the least of which is spending this day with my family. We have spent so many years thinking of them on this day that now I'm pinching myself that we are actually sitting around the same table together.

Can't put off the thanks! To to all we love who are near or far, we are thankful to you for every gift, every blessing, every touch, every word, every comfort—it is all grace!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This pie was the dessert I made for Thanksgiving our first year overseas. It seemed fitting to make it again for our first Thanksgiving back home.

Deep Dish Caramel Apple Pie
Adapted from Epicurious

One recipe of dough for a single pie crust
Streusel:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter cut into small pieces
Filling:
8 apples (I used a mix of Granny Smith and Jonagold) peeled, cored, and sliced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 375.
In a small mixing bowl combine the 3/4 cup flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture makes pea sized clumps. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl stir together the apples, flour, and ground spices. Set aside. Place 1 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup water in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Let sugar dissolve over the heat, do not stir. Keep a careful eye on the caramel. Once the sugar has dissolved and starts to turn golden give the pan a few swirls now and again (about 5-8 minutes). Once the caramel reaches a deep amber color turn off the heat and add the butter. Stir well to combine. Do not walk away from the caramel. Trust me. Do not walk away.
Roll out pie dough and transfer to a deep pie dish (91/2 inch diameter, 1 3/4 inch deep)
Crimp edges decoratively.
Spoon the apples into the pie crust and then pour the caramel over. Place on a parchment lined sheet pan and then press the streusel topping evenly over the top of the pie.
Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes. This is great on it's own, but it is transcendent (that might be a slight exaggeration) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Happy Trails and Happy Birthdays

This has been a big year, our 10th year overseas. When we left all those years ago my youngest daughter was still learning how to write her last name. When signing her passport, she confused the D with a B, and then soon lost interest in writing the rest. Her signature was a slumpy, jumble of fat letters. Three passports later, and with a solid grasp on how to write her last name, she is 16! Today is her birthday and gosh I'm proud of her. She is kind and funny, has a huge faith, and she still lets me hold her hand in public. IN PUBLIC!

I was anticipating what she might want in a Sweet Sixteen Birthday Cake. In the pantry I've been stashing away a few things: almond extract and almond paste (no vanilla for her), sprinkles, pretty cupcake wrappers, candles. I was looking at recipes, plotting and planning when her request came in.

Pancakes please.

Seriously?

Yes. Pancakes please.

Sigh.

You may recall when my older daughter turned sixteen. I found the most perfectly decadent chocolate cake to make for her. She then asked for a Funfetti from a box cake with the frosting from the can to go with.

I should have seen the pancakes coming.

Perfect Diner Pancakes from A Spicy Perspective

So we had pancakes for dinner, and breakfast for dinner happens to make the birthday girl very happy. And honestly, it made me happy because our house looks a little like this.

No we weren't robbed. We're moving. And with the entire house packed out (kitchen included) I wasn't sure how to pull off a birthday cake.

In one week we will be moving back to the Seattle area. We are very excited! While returning home is filled with nostalgia and the familiar, there will be plenty of new and exciting trails to blaze!

But what I really want to say is

I had a blog post planned about what has been going on in our family. I wanted to talk about plans and dreams, and people getting their braces off, and about having your blog mojo go missing.

But then there's Boston*. If you're a praying person I hope you'll join me. I think there are a lot of moms and dads and sisters and brothers who need us to do that. I think there are a lot of doctors and nurses and social workers and chaplains who need us to help them. People are tired and hurting, in pain and scared, at the end of their physical, and emotional and spiritual limits. We can help carry that.

So that's what I wanted to say.

Boston Cream Pie from Serious Eats

* Highlighting what occurred in Boston in no way diminishes pain and suffering in other parts of the world. There was an earthquake in Iran today, strife in the horn of Africa, slavery in India. I could go on. Just today, Boston was on my mind.

Run in with an Avocado

Fruit can be dangerous. We found this out recently when my daughter was attempting to remove the pit from an avocado. The knife slipped off the edge of the pit and slid into the palm of her hand. We took her to a local emergency clinic for what I assumed would just be a few stitches. The reality of the situation was more along the lines of: 2 severed nerves, 1 emergency surgery, and 0 basketball tournaments. A basketball tournament in Barcelona Spain that was going to begin in 2 days time. It's her senior year. Ouch.

Side bar: Being a nurse, my plan, had I found a suture kit in my box of supplies, was to give her a shot of tequila and throw in the 3 stitches needed to close the original wound.

Yes, really I had thought about it. Yes, I think we're all glad that I didn't have a suture kit.

We still went to Barcelona, she cheered on the team, it was really hard, but good. Good in the way that one day you'll look back and see that you learned a lot but at the moment this really sucks and you need your mom to buy you churros and dark chocolate and shirts from H&M.

I'm still needed. So grateful for that.

You're probably wondering about the picture of the avocados. You're probably thinking that it's pretty insensitive of me to post that photo or maybe even have large bowls of avocados in my kitchen. You're probably right. But in my defense, avocados are just so darn good.

And so for my avocado loving daughter who needs a little balm not only for her hand, but for her heart that is a little disappointed, I give you this.

Chocolate Avocado Pudding. I have to say when we tried this I wasn't sure what to think. It was good, but I was hoping that I could say it did not taste like avocados. But it does. That's not a bad thing, unless you end up in the emergency clinic while trying to make this dessert.

I used some melted dark chocolate along with cocoa powder to give a deep chocolate flavor, some dark brown sugar underscores it even more. Most recipes only use honey or agave nectar to sweeten the pudding, so feel free to leave out the brown sugar if you want to. My feelings won't be hurt in the least.

Chocolate Avocado Pudding
4 ripe avocados
1/4 cup coconut milk
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 ounces of dark chocolate 70% or higher, melted and slightly cooled
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pit and peel the avocados and place in the bowl of a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and puree until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Taste, season as you would like, more sweetener, more vanilla.....process again for 2 minutes until the pudding is very smooth.

Serves 4. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Did Someone Say Cake?

I have an indiscriminate sweet tooth. If it contains sugar, I'm in. My children know not to leave their candy unguarded, even the picked over unwanted Halloween candy is fine by me. Santa never gets to eat his cookies on Christmas Eve, and ears have been known to go missing from chocolate Easter bunnies. 

Don't get me started on what I would do for a tub of red vines.

Thankfully this week combines two great reasons to bake. Valentines Day and a friends birthday. That is where this cake comes in.

It was my friend Marty's birthday. He has a sweet tooth as well. He's a good guy.

The other day for inspiration I was looking at the Cupcake Royale website, they feature a treat called the Deathcake for Valentines Day. A jaw dropping combination of a Chocolate Decadence cupcake with espresso infused ganache and a sprinkle of fleur de sel. Since I couldn't have theirs (they don't deliver to Tunisia. I checked) I decided to make my own. Then I got a little lazy. I didn't want to make, frost, and decorate a bunch of cupcakes. And that is how the Deathcake, as layer cake, was born.

Viola!

A molten chocolate cake, gooey in the middle, with a smear of bittersweet chocolate ganache and a sprinkling of vanilla bean infused sea salt.

Santa will not be getting a bite of this either this year.

Happy Birthday Marty!

This cake is perfectly acceptable without the ganache topping. Take it out of the oven, let it sit for 15 minutes and serve it with some whipped cream or ice cream. It's fantastic like that, or if you want to make someone swoon on their birthday, top it with the ganache.

Molten Chocolate Brownie with Espresso Ganache and Vanilla Bean Fleur de Sel

3 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8 inch springform pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour and cocoa powder, set aside. Melt the chocolate in a microwave oven, in 30 second bursts, stirring well until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium mixing bowl cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the salt, mixing well, then the eggs one at a time until well blended. Stir in the sour cream and vanilla extract, and melted chocolate. Beat until well combined.

Gently fold in the flour and cocoa powder until just blended. Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.

The cake will be puffy but the center should still jiggle and be gooey. Allow to cool for 15 minutes if you are going to serve it right away or cool completely before topping it with the ganache.

Once the cake is cool, pour the ganache evenly over the top of the cake and spread with an off set spatula. Let the cake sit in a cool place for several hours or until the ganache is firm. Once the ganache is firm to the touch release the sides of the springform pan (you may need to run a knife around the edges of the cake first) and then sprinkle with the vanilla bean fleur de sel.

Espresso and Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons corn syrup (optional)

12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chopped

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

Bring heavy cream and corn syrup to a simmer. Add the chocolate and espresso powder. Stir well, then cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Whisk until completely smooth then allow to cool until it begins to thicken slightly.

Vanilla Bean Fleur de Sel

2 tablespoons large flake sea salt or fleur de sel

1 vanilla bean split and scraped

In a small ramekin or other small bowl combine the salt and vanilla bean seeds, rubbing together with your fingers until the vanilla is uniformly disbursed.

Chocolate, Cheese, and Wine, Oh My

For the second year Andy and I hosted a party featuring chocolate, cheese and wine. Most of our friends travel over the school Winter break. We send out an invitation asking people to pick up either some chocolate, cheese, or wine while traveling and bring it the party to share. We get together the first weekend we return from the holiday so everyone has a chance to get caught up with each other. We've had the chance to sample some excellent treats from all over the world. This year we had Pecorino from Umbria, Reblochon from France, a really strong cheddar from England, and Dutch goat cheese. Yes, things smelled a little funky, but I mean that in the nicest way.

Here are a few pictures of some of the treats we sampled.

In addition to the chocolates and cheese I like to add a few homemade treats. Brownie stuffed cupcakes, Mexican Chocolate Cake, and White Chocolate Cranberry Bars. I did make a rule that you had to eat a cupcake before you went home. I did not want any of those leftover in my house.

After everyone went home there were several odds and ends of cheese lying about, and what to do with leftover cheese?

Fromage Fort of course. Fromage Fort (Strong Cheese in French) is a creamy dip made up of leftover cheese, a little wine, come garlic, herbs, and butter. Serve it with bread, grissini, crudite, or make an over the top great grilled cheese sandwich.

Fromage Fort

adapted from Food and Wine magazine

This is a forgiving formula.....use what cheese you like or have on hand. Be warned that a strong, funky cheese will dominate in flavor so use them judiciously unless that's what you're looking for.

1 pound (more or less) of cheese. I used a mixture of Pecorino, another unidentified hard cheese, Edam, Brie, and Chevre.

3/4-1 cup white wine, any variety

1 clove of garlic

1-2 tablespoons of minced herbs, rosemary, chives, parsley.....whatever strikes your fancy

2-6 tablespoons of softened butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Grate the hard cheeses and cut or tear the soft cheeses into chunks. Put all the cheese in the bowl of a food processor. Add the garlic, herbs, butter and about half of the wine.  Process until smooth. Add more wine or butter if you want to loosen the mixture up a bit. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Resolutions? Probably not, but maybe this one.

How is 2013 treating you? Made any resolutions?
Confession.
I don't make New Year's resolutions. (I also don't give things up for Lent).
Why you ask?  Slippery slope people. Some would say I am weak, (or distracted by shiny objects), I say, I'm a realist. I know for fact that I WILL eat all that chocolate, not go to the gym, not drink 8 glasses of water a day, nor learn to crochet. And then once I do/don't do all those things I'll think, well heck what else is there to lose, and then who knows what I'll get in to.
See, slippery slope.
But......maybe I will make some resolutions this year. Like I most definitely WILL resolve to make these more often.

Nope, they aren't Cinnamon Rolls. They are what Cinnamon Rolls would be if they spent a semester abroad in some place sexy and exotic. They are Tahini Buns. What's that you say? Never heard of them? I hadn't either, but I had a big ol' jar of tahini that I needed to use before we left for Christmas break, and while searching out ways to use it I found this recipe.

They start with a pita dough which is rolled up with tahini, sugar, and cinnamon. I was skeptical but wow, it's a deadly, addictive combo. So, when you fall off your "I'm never eating carbs again" wagon, we'll be here waiting for you.
No judgement.

Tahini Rolls (Tahinov Hartz)
adapted from Taste of Beirut

1 recipe of pita dough. I used this one
1 1/4 cup of well stirred Tahini
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
coarse sugar for dusting

Make the pita dough. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Once the dough has risen, divide it equally into 3 portions. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Stir together the tahini, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
Roll out each portion of dough into a rectangle about 12 inches long and 8 inches wide. Spread one third of the tahini mixture over the dough and roll up as you would for cinnamon rolls.
Seal the ends well and gently, using a back and forth motion (as though you were making play dough snakes) stretch the dough out to a 2 foot rope. I read that you should try for a 3 1/2 foot rope of dough but I think that's just silly talk.
Cut each rope into 6 pieces. Roll each piece in a pinwheel fashion and pinch the ends tightly to seal. Flatten each roll slightly with your hand and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes.