Pecan pie

Perfect pecan pie has often eluded me. It will be just good and only great once in a while, mostly because I never seemed to use the same combination of ingredients twice in a row. So last week, I kept track of which ingredients precisely I used and the pie tasted perfect.

Mix 3 eggs with two-thirds cup light brown sugar, one cup light Karo syrup, one stick of butter melted, a quarter teaspoon salt and a generous teaspoon of vanilla. Pour over 1.5 or two cups of pecans in a pie dish. Bake at 350 until center is set. Divine, as long as you have a glass of milk. I like it with a handful of chocolate chips tossed in. Hubby does not. But we both think it makes great breakfast food!

Weekends

Another lovely weekend, ruined by having to go back to work today! On Saturday, we did a couple of major cleaning tasks then put up all the Christmas lights. Hubby wasn't all that enamored of the idea but we did it and they look awesome. Simple. Festive. Bright.

Late Sunday I rode with him to see his Dad in Ocala and wish him a happy birthday. It was a nice visit and a peaceful ride.

Made an apple crumb pie this weekend. Love those. Want to try one with chopped cranberries and pecans in the crumb topping. Not anytime soon though. We have to cut back on the eating! We're still munching Thanksgiving leftovers. Tonight I bought a loaf of Italian bread and we had hot turkey sandwiches. Oh my goodness! Butter sides of bread, place turkey slice and a little stuffing in the middle. Cook on both sides in skillet. Top with hot leftover giblet gravy and a scoop of cranberries on the side. So good.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thankful my family doesn't mind eating mid-afternoon today. I woke up at 9:08! A full night's sleep! Yay. Something definitely worth celebrating.

First mission this morning? Get the turkey in the oven. Rosie mushed up all the cornbread. I combined with the celery and onions I chopped last night. Stirred in the broth I made Tuesday night and stuffed about 2/3 of that mixture into the bird.

Decided to combine softened butter with salt, pepper, sage, thyme and rosemary and smear it all over the turkey. This is the first time I've made a herb butter to do that. We'll see how it works. Rosie put the bird in the oven at 9:35. Not too bad.


We have to stop every few minutes to see one of our favorite parts of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Hearing Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, sing was a little strange. Didn't expect his voice to be quite so high?

Remainder of the stuffing went into a shallow casserole dish for the family members who like it crunchier and we stowed that back in the fridge for now.

The Rockettes were gorgeous! I love their dresses. And the kickline is one of the highlights of my Thanksgiving Day. Don't ask me why.

Next step was to grate cheddar cheese for the broccoli casserole. The center rod for the Kitchen-Aid is missing! Oh no! Grating by hand not my favorite thing. Mix eggs and mayo with cheese and stir into the broccoli. Slide that back into fridge for now. Ritz and more cheese later.

As I stir eggs, butter and sugar into the sweet potatoes I wonder how we got so far away from the simple goodness of foods into this feast of seeing just how rich we can make almost every dish we eat on Thanksgiving! But it all really tastes soooo good.

Now I have to run to Winn-Dixie, because I miscalculated the number of eggs I need.

On my second glass of eggnog! No rum....

Yikes! Over an hour in the oven and I haven't basted the turkey yet! Bad, bad ...

Of all the parade entries so far, my favorite was the Navy chorus that just sang America the Beautiful. Tears in my eyes!

Rosie is going to take charge of basting the turkey.

Bread dough resting. Turkey taking forever.

Quickly regroup, change table settings, mother-in-law coming unexpectedly with a friend she invited from the nursing home. Son, daughter in law and children arrived.

Made bacon wrapped scallops. Getting ready to broil them.

Katelyn helped form the rolls. Bird finally cooked.



We sat down nearly an hour later than I intended. Oh well.




Won't do herb butter again for the turkey. Decided I don't like herbs on exterior of the turkey and I especially don't like either the thyme or rosemary. Leached into stuffing in turkey and I didn't care for it. Dressing in pan was fine. Weird. Used less goop in green bean casserole, liked it better.

All in all a nice dinner. Patti and I took the girls to the park. That was nice.
Used light brown sugar and light Karo syrup in the pecan pie. I think that's my favorite combination.

One of the things I love the most about nice dinners are the things we use that have come from others - my mother's turkey platter, bowls from great grandma, breadbasket from my neighbor Sarah. Fun. Appreciate my daughter-in-law for always helping to clean up.

Pre-Thanksgiving preparations

Home by 6:30 on Wednesday night. Started the pie crust and made a pecan pie and a peach pie. Then, pondering the left over pie dough I rolled it out, basted with butter, sprinkled with garlic salt, parsley and freshly ground black pepper and cut out little leaves. Baked them along with the peach pie for savory crackers today. Rosie and I had one as soon as they came out of the oven. Yum!

Made a small pan of cornbread, chopped the onions and celery. Steve helped clean the kitchen. I set the table, cleaned the floor. Cooked the sweet potatoes and made the cranberry sauce. Successful night, but still a bit behind. Oh well ....

Change ...

Speaking of change, diverting the Thanksgiving Week cooking routine tonight. Baking a cake for a gift so decided to do pies tomorrow night instead. So tonight, I'm boiling broth and making the cranberry sauce while the cake bakes.

The cake is a chocolate brown sugar pound cake with dark chocolate glaze. Hope the finished cake tastes as good as the batter. If so, yum! I substituted amaretto (my fav flavor) for chocolate extract.

I almost, almost bought a pie at Sam's tonight. That would be a first (for a holiday, have bought a couple from the old Village Inn). I chatted with the lady behind me in line who had loaded up on baked goodies AND prepackaged rolls. I told her I was beginning to think I might be a little psychotic and maybe it would be easier just to buy things already made.

"I wondered as I watched you load all those 5 pound bags of sugar up there," the woman says.

"Oh I make everything from scratch," says I, mentioning again that I was questioning my own judgement after watching people load up pre-packaged rolls and breads.

"You make bread from scratch too? You must not work full-time."

"I do, in kind of a high-stress job!"

"Wow," says she. "How do you do it?"

"I don't know. That's why I mean I wonder if I'm psychotic."

Have to go now, the turkey backs are boiling ...

Life ...

And then every once in a while you just get a cold bath of reality that makes you reassess your priorities. That's what Ron says about Hermione in one of the Harry Potter movies: "She needs to sort out her priorities."
Change is often good, though it doesn't seem like it at the time when it begins.
Speaking of movies. The latest episode of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn, Part 1, had a $138.1 million opening this weekend, including $16 from my daughter and I. Never have so many paid so much to go watch two people have sex. Surprisingly they say 60 percent of the audience was over 21.
That speaks to this notion I found in a quote from an earlier blog from a couple of years ago? "It is that thing that we all yearn for at some level — to be simply loved unconditionally for nothing more than who we are — not what we can get, give or become." Who said it? South Carolina's then Governor Mark Sanford.
Made a batch of chocolate chip cookies tonight. So glad I finally figured out the secret to chewy chocolate chip cookies, more or less. More sugar and more chips. Though still not perfect.

A few weeks ago, one of my Facebook friends posted an item with a fake number for one of the things in life that annoys him most. And, it made me think, hmmm, what annoys me most. I jotted down a little list.
I'm not saying that I'm not very grateful for all my blessings, or that I don't dearly love you even if you may occasionally perpetrate one of the items on this list. It's just a list. It makes me laugh. Hope it might you too.
* Lying
* Whining
* Lack of basic, personal hygiene - toothbrushing, showering, flossing, using deodorant.
* Grocery stores who have the floor cleaners come in before closing
* People who take little children shopping at Walmart in the middle of the night, the only time I will go
* Criticism
* Malicious gossip
* Red light runners
* Voice mail, especially my four different collection points (and the people who gripe at me for not checking them all regularly)
* Store clerks/cashiers/foodservice workers who:
- cluster and chat when it's obvious help is needed
- complain about their jobs within earshot of customers
*Failure to:
- help clean up after a party
- reseal boxes and bags of crackers, chips, etc.
- minimize personal body noises in public, i.e. sneezing, hiccups, nose-blowing
* Plainly visible bra straps. And while we're on the subject of bras, failure to hide two key anatomic details in public
* Saggy baggy pants
* Clothes that fall off the hanger in the store at the slightest touch
* People who don't give credit where credit is due
* Displays of cinnamon pine cones and broomsticks. Who thought this was a good idea?

Pie Crust

In response to a request from a cousin and a Facebook acquaintance, here's a perfectly lovely recipe for pie crust. I use it all the time. The key to successful pie crust is to treat it tenderly, barely mix with a fork and use plenty of flour when rolling it out. Make sure the water is ice cold.

Place a handful of ice cubes in a two cup measuring cup with water. Let sit while mixing crust.

Place 1 cup all purpose flour in a bowl and 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in (either with a pastry cutter or two forks) 1/3 cup Crisco. (Some people get this cold too)

Sprinkle in a little less than 1 tablespoon white vinegar. Begin sprinkling in water one or two tablespoons at a time, gently stirring dough with fork. When mixture comes together into one ball, stop sprinkling water. Richly flour your hands and pat the ball together.

Place on flour-covered mat or countertop. Flour the rolling pin and then roll gently back and forth and then from side to side. Don't roll in a bunch of directions. Usually when it's about half-rolled out I flip it, again lightly flouring underneath it. When it's rolled to the size you need, roll it on to your rolling pin and transfer to the pie dish. Press to bottom of pie dish and then to sides, fluting as you wish.

If you want to make a lattice or double crust, just double this recipe. Works just fine.

For a cream pie, prick the bottom a few times before you bake it so it doesn't pop up while baking. 350 degree oven till lightly golden brown.

For a fruit pie, cut slits in the top crust.

We often sprinkle sugar and spice on pieces of leftover pie dough and bake with the crust. However, for fruit pies, I like to cut out shapes that look like the fruit and place them on the pie. Sometimes you can brush them with food coloring or edible markers to "paint them." Or sprinkle colored sugar. Sprinkle regular white sugar across the top of a fruit pie crust.

Good luck.

Where do the weeks go?

Wow. A month since I posted. Really want to blog regularly but days disappear without me realizing it. I always heard older people say it happens but never really understood until the past year or so. Too bad younger people don't get it. I keep hearing them wish their life away. Only a few more weeks til this, or a few more weeks til that. Wish I had all those "few more" back again to appreciate more fully.

Flew to California last week for the wedding of a friend's daughter, then did a quick two day trip to Yosemite National Park. Wow! What a gorgeous place. Will post a few photos.

One of the most fun parts of the trip was going to the grocery store Rancho San Miguel in Merced, on the way to Yosemite. What a fun place. We loaded up on Mexican cheeses, tortilla chips, queso and quacamole, as well as pastries and bread.