Chocolate and Coffee: Mocha Black Bottom Pie

I love chocolate by itself, but I also appreciate it in combination with certain flavors and ingredients. Chocolate and peanut butter is always hard to resist, as well as chocolate/raspberry, chocolate/caramel, and chocolate cherry. But perhaps my all time favorite chocolate combination is chocolate and coffee. So I was curious and excited when I saw a recipe for "Mocha Black Bottom Pie" in the First Prize Pies cookbook, by Allison Kave. I knew that this was a recipe that I had to try!

This pie has several steps so that it is a pie that takes a little time to prepare. The "black bottom" is a chocolate cookie crust. When I saw this, I assumed that I would use store bought chocolate cookies, crumbled and blended with butter. But Ms. Kave insists that the cookies should be made from scratch, then blended and baked. The dark chocolate cookies have cocoa, flour and maple syrup, along with the usual egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt, flour, butter, and dark brown sugar. The cookies are very tasty, and could certainly be eaten as a dessert by themselves. Then comes the filling. There is a chocolate custard filling that goes over the cookie crust, and is made of unsweetened chocolate, egg yolks, cornstarch, milk, salt, and vanilla. The next layer is a coffee custard made of espresso, sugar, gelatin, and egg whites. The third and final later is freshly whipped cream topped with grated bittersweet chocolate!

This pie is beautiful to look at - it may be the best looking of all of the pies that I have made. I expected that this pie would be perfection, because of the combining of my favorite flavors. It is very good, although I was disappointed with the texture of the coffee layer. I have concluded that I either under-beat the egg whites, or let the gelatin set up a little too long. The pie was difficult to slice because the layer was not as firm as I thought that it would be. But the chocolate/coffee combination was very tasty and satisfying. As is often the case when a pie is not quite as delicious as I had hoped for, I still looked forward to eating a slice every morning! And today, I just ate it directly from the pie plate so that I would not have to worry about slicing it!

On a somewhat different topic, I wanted to mention pie making utensils. I have upgraded some of my tools since becoming serious about pie making, including my pastry blender, bench scraper (given to me by a friend), and large, flat mixing bowl. But sometimes the old tried and true tools work well also. Although I have a stand mixer, I still use my hand held mixer as well. I realized that I have owned this little mixer for 42 years, and have never had a problem with it! It was actually a wedding present at my first marriage back in the 70's - a very "seventies" type wedding gift (before everyone had gift registries)!  I appreciate all of the work that my little mixer has done through the years, and don't see any evidence that it will stop anytime soon!

A Day for Pie Lovers: National Pie Day

Well, I will admit that National Pie Day slipped up on me. Being such a fanatic about pies, I am ashamed of myself! I will actually be making a pie later on today, but had not planned one specifically for this special day. During the past year, I have made and blogged about many pies. Most of these were from the Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book, by Emily and Melissa Elsen, who own a pie shop by the same name in Brooklyn. Some are pies in which I combined several online recipes. And recently, I have started making pies by the owner of another pie shop in Brooklyn and author of a pie book by the same name, First Prize Pies by Allison Kaye. I decided that I should go back over the past year and list all of the pies that I have made.

List of I pies made in 2015:
Strawberry Balsamic
Lavender Honey Custard
Lizzie's Lemon Sour Cream
Derby Pie
Lavender Blueberry
Peach
Blueberry Lavender
Salted Caramel Apple
Bourbon Pear Crumble
Pear Anise
Brown Butter Pumpkin
Rosemary Honey Shoofly
Buttered Rum Cream
Black Bottom Oatmeal
Cranberry Sage
Junipear
Malted Chocolate Pecan
Salt Pork Apple
Grapefruit Custard
Lemon Chess
Black Bottom Lemon
Maple Lime Custard
Green Chili Chocolate
Old Fashioned Chocolate
Key Lime
Butterscotch Cream
Samantha Bee's Salty Caramel
Old Fashioned Strawberry Pie

After all is said and done, pies are still by far my favorite dessert. My goal is to keep making them until I am tired of them. (which will be never). So on this National Pie Day, I encourage you to eat a piece of pie, and then exercise tomorrow!

Anticipation

This is the time of of year when many gardeners enjoy a rest from their hobby. Bare trees and few flowers make it easy to stay inside and keep toasty, rather than face the chills in the air. Gardening is certainly one of my main passions, and I will admit that for about a month (mid December through mid January), I don't think about my garden very much. I am too preoccupied with holiday celebrations! But around this time in January, I start to think about spring colors and preparing my ornamental garden for planting seeds. And the seed catalogs start arriving, so that encourages me even more to think about how I can create more spring and summer interest in my landscape by planting seeds.

I have always loved seeds for several reasons. They are inexpensive compared to perennials and annuals. A packet of seeds costs less than $4.00 for a pack of 50-100 seeds. Seeds have been the best way to make a mass of color in areas of my garden. And my favorite part of planting seeds is that I am always surprised with the results! In most cases, the surprises are fun and interesting. For example, last year I planted nasturtium, ordering seeds that produced orange, red, and yellow flowers. But something that I did not expect was a beautiful variegated foliage on one variety that was stunning with the orange and yellow flowers. And while I expected the nasturtium to bloom earlier in the summer and fade out in late summer, it actually bloomed in mid summer and lasted to the fall! These are the kinds of surprises that I love with seeds!

Each year, I experiment with different seeds. In my Asheville garden, I plant some seeds in the fall, including larkspur and poppies. I have had good luck seeding both of these beauties in the fall, although my larkspur seems to do well with either fall or spring sowing, particularly if it is very early spring. Larkspur likes the soil to be cool before it will sprout. Last year, I experienced beautiful shades of purple, blue, white and pink larkspur blooms. Some of these plants had come from fall seeding, while others were done in the spring. Starting bloom in early summer, the blooms stayed around until late summer for me.

Favorite mid and late summer blooming plants that I start include nasturtium, zinnias, and cosmos. While my last Asheville garden had plenty of sun, this one has smaller sun areas. The zinnias and cosmos really do require 6-8 full hours of sun, so my growing space for them is limited. But I must sow zinnia seeds every year, as I adore them as cut flowers. I sow the zinnias and cosmos in late April, while the nasturtiums are sown in early April. I direct sow all of my seeds for the garden except one - foxglove.  This favorite of mine does best when I start seed indoors, in containers, and then transplant once they have gotten several inches tall. I have been successful with this for many years if I start the seeds indoors by early March.

There is no great skill to starting plants from seeds. I follow the directions on the packet regarding depth, cover the seeds with packaged seed-starter mix, and water. Watering really is the key to helping your seeds sprout, and this makes all of the difference in whether they will flourish. Water by misting or use a watering can with holes on the spout but water thoroughly. With seeds started indoors, I mist the soil, then put them in Ziploc bags to keep them moist. When they start to sprout, remove the plastic, and keep watered with plant trays underneath.

So the seed catalogs have arrived, and I am ready to order!  I look forward to the sight of my summer blooming seed plants. If you haven't tried seeds before, I suggest that you try it. You never know what kinds of surprises they will bring to your garden!

Battle of the Pies: Butterscotch Cream vs. Lemon Chess

For some reason, my friends and family have the idea that I love desserts, particularly pies. Two years ago, I received my first pie cook book from a good friend for my birthday. That book, the

Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book  by the Elsen sisters, inspired me to make and write about pies. I received another cook book for pies from my stepson and his wife on my recent birthday. The title of the book is First Prize Pies, and was written by Allison Kave, who also has a pie shop in Brooklyn! I must admit that this new book was one of my favorite birthday gifts this year - another way to get pie recipes and make pies! So I decided to make a pie from each book, and invite my sister-in-law and a friend over to try these out and compare pies from different pie experts.

From the new cook book, First Prize Pies, I decided on the Butterscotch Cream pie, and from my old standard Elsen sisters book, I chose the Lemon Chess pie. Since I have talked about the Lemon Chess pie before, I will describe the new pie, the butterscotch, in today's blog. The butterscotch cream used a regular butter, prebaked  crust. The creamy filling consisted of whole milk, sea salt,cornstarch, eggs, butter, dark brown sugar, vanilla extract, and Scotch whisky. The whipped cream topping had the usual heavy cream and powdered sugar, but used Scotch whisky instead of vanilla extract! The filling was cooked over the stove, with ingredients added in stages. Once the pie shell is filled, it is put in the fridge for about 5 hours, to set up. The whipped topping is spread on top before serving.

Fortunately, this cream pie set up beautifully in the fridge. Once I added the topping, I enjoyed the creamy texture. The butterscotch was a different cream pie flavor that was refreshing, and surprisingly light. This pie is also very aesthetically pleasing. It is a pie that would get one's attention in a pie shop! It was also relatively easy to prepare, and not a difficult or time consuming pie. I liked the fact that you can make it in advance, and then add the topping when ready to serve.

So tonight my sister-in-law, who considers herself to be a pie expert, and another friend, came over to sample these pies. They loved both pies, but I needed them to commit to butterscotch or lemon chess. The verdict:  my pie taster sister-in-law chose the Elsen sisters' lemon chess, while my friend preferred the butterscotch cream of Allison Kave ! So in the showdown between pies from two different pie shops, it was a dead heat! However, if I had to give my vote, I would vote for the Lemon Chess. Stay tuned for further pie reviews from both books - let the fun begin!!

Not For Wimps: Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie

Several years ago, I belonged to book club in which members hosted the meetings at their homes. The hostess provided both a place to meet and brunch for the once a month gatherings. On one of these mornings, our hostess had made a delicious spread of eggs, pancakes, and other breakfast goodies. After she had finished the cooking and we were all indulging in our delightful meal, my friend announced "Book club is not for sissies"! We all laughed but realized what she was talking about - doing a brunch for 8-10 people can be exhausting! I recalled this incident the other day after I had finished making the Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie, from the Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book.

I had been wanting to try this different twist on a pumpkin pie for quite some time, but the recipe scared me a little. First of all, there was a long list of ingredients, many more than your basic Thanksgiving pie. And secondly, there were many steps involved in mixing the ingredients before getting the pie in the oven. So I decided to finally try this pie in a week when I knew that I would have the time to devote to its preparation. The ingredients include the usual canned pumpkin (which the Elsen sisters claim works better than fresh), cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, eggs, vanilla extract and milk. The unique ingredients include heavy cream, lemon juice, molasses, carrot juice, butter, and brown sugar. The butter and brown sugar are cooked first to a "caramelized" state, then the cream added to provide a different flavor to this pie. This brown butter mixture is then added in gradual stages to the remaining ingredients in a food processor. After this, the well-blended mix is strained through a fine mesh sieve before being poured into the partially prebaked pie shell, and then baked for about 45 minutes.

I must admit that after going through all of these processes, I was pretty wiped out. It seems like I stood on my feet for a long time before the pumpkin pie went into the oven, with little opportunity to take a break. Timing is important with this recipe, particularly with the brown butter sauce. As for the result, the pie is really quite good. For me, the primary difference between this and my usual pumpkin pie was the smooth, creamy texture. The food processor blending really makes a difference. The other noticeable but subtle difference is the brown butter flavor. It is a really a different way to experience pumpkin, with the brown butter adding a nice change to the sometimes overwhelming flavor of pumpkin. I really do like this pie, particularly with a dollop of whipped cream.

Having said this, I would say that the brown butter pumpkin pie is one that I would make for special occasions. (like Thanksgiving, or book club!). It is rather labor intensive, and not a pie that I would make on a regular basis, like the pear anise or blueberry pies. But I will also say that having experienced the brown butter pumpkin, I would choose to make this one over my regular pumpkin pie. If you are going to make pumpkin, it is worth the trouble. My advice is: if you are a baking wimp, don't make this pie. If you are a pie fanatic like myself, it is definitely worth the effort!

Yoga with an Attitude

I would say that the major change in my fitness routine this past year was incorporating yoga on a regular basis. I have dabbled in yoga for probably the past 10 years, but never could make a commitment. But 2015 marked the beginning of my yoga adventures. I have done yoga once or twice a week on a regular basis. The benefits I had read about yoga included better posture, stronger bones, increased strength, better flexibility, improvements in balance, and stress reduction. I would say truthfully that I have experienced at least some strides in all of these areas. My favorite part of yoga, however is the peaceful atmosphere that I experience in my yoga classes.

When I walk into a yoga class, I look forward to the calmness in the room, the gentle voice of the yoga instructor, and the quiet commitment of the participants in the room. Thus, I have been rather taken aback by several recent yoga classes that I have attended. Over the weekend, I attended a very crowded class, where the instructor informed us that we needed to get as close together as possible so that everyone would have a space. There were probably 40 of us in a pretty small room. I was okay with this, as I assumed that everyone would understand the situation and be focused on the moment. To my surprise, people all around me were complaining that they could not do yoga in such an environment. "I can't do this", one woman said, and left the class after five minutes. Other people left as well, apparently frustrated by the smaller space that they were allotted. Although I was initially challenged by the space issue, I found that it made me really focus on the words of the instructor, and the poses. I actually did the best tree pose that I have ever done!

Then, two days later, I attended my regular Monday yoga class that gets my week off to a good start. To my dismay, my regular instructor was not there and the substitute was an instructor at my gym that I have previously referred to as the "drill instructor". In a different class that she taught, she would bark orders and get upset with me when I was unable to replicate her perfect movements. (or so it seemed to me). So here I was in my favorite weekly yoga class with the sergeant. As the hour progressed, I realized that she was truly challenging me with a fast paced, flow yoga fitness class. I didn't know that I could do all of the things that I did, and felt empowered by the end of the class! The drill sergeant had inspired me!

What I am learning about yoga is that I can usually gain something satisfying from almost any class that I attend. (the one exception being the really goofy instructor that I once had!). I think that yoga is the best way for me to totally focus and be in the moment. I am not always successful in keeping all of my stressful thoughts out of my mind during a yoga class, but I am getting better at it. And I always feel wonderful after I have completed a class. If you have never tried yoga, I would recommend trying at least one or two classes. You may enjoy an hour or two a week of quiet introspection, and improve your physical fitness at the same time!

Making and Keeping New Year's Resolutions

I am one who always makes New Year's resolutions. This started for me at a young age when my Dad made a New Year's resolution party for our family. The purpose of this family gathering was twofold: it was a clever way of helping kids stay up until midnight, and it was a way to help each of us set little goals for ourselves. These sweet celebrations made me want to continue the tradition of making resolutions each year. So each year, I make my list of goals for the upcoming year. The following year, I check to see if I kept any of the promises that I had made for myself. Today, for the first time, I am going to share my resolutions on my blog, and offer some hints on how to keep at least one or two of the resolutions that you have set for yourself.

Resolution 1: Exercise and Eat Healthier
Well, certainly I write about both exercise and food in this blog. Frankly, I always keep my exercise resolution, as I really like to exercise. This leads me to my first hint to keeping resolutions: Always make one resolution that you know you will keep! Yes, I will admit that it is lame to make a resolution that you know you are likely to keep, but at least you will have one goal that you kept when you look at your list at the end of next year. So I suggest making that "likely to achieve" resolution. But the second part of this resolution is a little trickier for me. I do try to eat healthy, but I do like sweets, so much, in fact, that I make and write about pies! This comes to hint # 2: When it comes to resolutions about dieting or eating healthy, go to the mall and try on clothes, or even better, put on a bathing suit and have someone photograph you! After my day at the beach the other day, when Rich took several pictures of me, I can guarantee you that I will be greatly reducing my sweet intake. (at least for a couple of days, or until the next bathing suit picture). If I do eat sweets, it will be my pies, which will help me to keep my next resolution.

Resolution 2: Write a Book
I have had this resolution for the last 5 or 6 years, so this is not one that I have yet accomplished. Yet, I keep putting it on my list every year. I do feel, for probably the first time since I stated this goal, that there is a small chance that I may do this in 2016. Before last year, I would talk a lot about writing, but actually do very little of it. I always found too many distractions to keep me on track. But since I have started this blog, I do at least write on a semi-regular basis. And, more importantly, I actually enjoy it, and sometimes choose to write over other activities that I like. So perhaps there is hope!! Since I will be only eating my own pies for sweets (ha, might last one day), I will be continuing to write about pies, and the more I write, the more chance that I may eventually write my best selling novel. Hint #3 - Keep track of the small things that you do that help you accomplish your long range goal.

Resolution 3: Live Each Day as if it were my Last
I made this resolution because of my recognition of my advancing age. Yes, it is no secret that my time is limited, and I need to take advantage of every minute and enjoy life as much as possible!
I already try to do this, but perhaps this resolution will help me take a few more chances and mark some more items off of my bucket list.

So there are my resolutions for 2016, for the world to see. And I give you hint #4 - Share your resolutions with someone else so that they will hold you accountable. Putting mine in this blog certainly makes me accountable. Finally another word for the New Year. I resolved last year to change the name of my blog. I will continue to write about exercise and pies, but want the freedom to write about other topics, such as gardening, travel, or just simply what is on my mind. So today, on my birthday, my new blog name is "Unbridled". At my age, I will be free to write about anything! Happy New Year, and good luck on your resolutions!