11.17.2011

Get In The Kitchen, and Make Me A Pie, Woman!

Ok ladies... POP QUIZ!

When your husband hounds you for over a week to make him a chocolate peanut butter pie, do you:

A.) Say, "Oh, I'm so sorry you much deserving man! How could I have forgotten?! I'll throw my apron on and make it for you right now!" (Sincere tone, of course)
B.) Say, "Oh I'm so sorry you much deserving man! How could I have forgoten?! Probably because I've had contractions all week, a fussy teething baby, and I barely have the sanity to get through each day without you and your freakin' pie needs. I'll throw my apron on and make it for you right now, you selfish brat!" (Sincere tone, of course)
C.) Say, "Tough nuggies- if you want pie- make it yourself!"
D.) Stay on the couch and act like you can't hear him over your Covert Affairs marathon you're smack in the middle of.

The correct answer: Anything but 'A'

Ok, so Chris really didn't hound me about a pie, nor did he say the words 'Get in the kitchen and make me a pie woman' in that exact context. He may or may not have asked me to make him a pie like two weeks ago and I said I would, and then, well, never did (because I'm awesome). And yes, he did ask me today where he pie was. Whoops.

So, I did what every other normal non-pushover wife would do. I said I'd make him his goddamn pie if he would help. He willingly agreed. We started to cook together. I got the cookbook out. I got the ingredients out. I got the measuring cups out. I got the bowls, spatulas, and mixer out. I... hey... wait... I did it all... what the heck!!!!!! Ok, so he read the measurements out to me, one time. He only did it one time because he read me the wrong measurement on the first ingredient, almost ruining the pie. I kicked him out. His master plan worked: pretend to be bad at this stuff so he doesn't have to do it. Awesome.

I finally got the pie made and in the fridge so it would set in time for his football game tonight. Best wife ever? You betcha! Did he enjoy it while sitting on his tush in front of the TV watching two teams he really doesn't care about? You betcha! Sigh... at least he enjoyed it. This should earn me backrubs for a week. Wait, who am I kidding? I'm pregnant and should be getting backrubs nightly. Oh wait, who am I kidding, again? I never get backrubs.... sigh...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie by Better Homes & Gardens

Rich, decadent, and pushy husband approved!
Ingredients:

* 1 chocolate graham cracker pie crust
* 8 oz cream cheese, softened
* 3/4 cup peanut butter
* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 cup whipping cream
* 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
* 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks

To Make:

* Combine cream cheese and peanut butter in mixer. Once combined, add 1 cup powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.

* In another bowl, mix the whipping cream and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar until stiff peaks form with handheld mixer.

* Gently fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Once fully combined, add chocolate chip chunks and the rest of the whipped cream. Gently fold mixture together, keeping it light and fluffy.

* Fill the pie crust with peanut butter mixture and put into fridge to set for at least 2 hours. My husband waited the minimum time and it was perfectly light and fluffy. He then, of course, because he's a glutton, drizzled it with a bit of chocolate syrup, but its not a bad suggestion if you'd like some more chocolate flavor to even out the peanut butter!

11.08.2011

Turkey Noodle Soup

Every Black Friday, while people are pushing and shoving their way through packed stores and slashed prices, getting stepped on, trampled on, and ran over just to get ten extra dollars off that big screen TV or season of Dexter, I'm at home in my snuggly jammies, with a cup of hot coca or chai, cooking. Sure, I had just spent the entire day before slaving away in the kitchen. And sure, I'd love to save a few bucks on Christmas presents and spend the rest of the day tired from being jacked-up on adreneline after waiting in the freezing cold for 7 hours, but I'd much rather put my energy to an even better use and have a wonderful meal to share with my family, instead of nap time. This is why, every year, I take that left over turkey carcass and make a turkey noodle soup. Yes, I save some turkey for sandwiches and such, but a large amount of it goes to this soup. You can freeze it and enjoy it later, or you can eat it up right away, but either way, sitting in a warm house in your slippers, smelling turkey soup simmer on the stove sounds a lot more appealing to me than fighting angry mobs! 



Oh wait... its not the day after Thanksgiving? Dang it. Well, yesterday, I found myself wanting to eat this soup with the same desire I have to win the lottery. But alas, no turkey carcass. I ran to the store and found some turkey drumsticks, fired up my crockpot on HIGH, and hours later I was in Post-Holiday-Heaven.

Kelsey's Crockpot Turkey Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
* Three large turkey legs
* 9 cups chicken broth
* 6 large carrots, sliced
* 4 sticks of celery, sliced
* 1/2 large onion, chopped
* 4 red potatoes, cubbed
* Chicken Bouillon cubes
* Salt and Pepper to season
* 3 Bay leaves
* 2-3 teaspoons Thyme
* Noodles (I used about 1/3 of a box of bow-tie)

To Do:
* If you have all day, throw the turkey legs in with the broth, veggies, and season with salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaves. (Use a few bouillon cubes if it needs more flavor- I added three extra) Cook on low 8-9 hours. Check on turkey legs and once meat is cooked, remove from crockpot, shred meat off the legs, and put back into crockpot. With about 15 minutes left of cooking, toss in noodles until they are tender. Serve with warm biscuits.

* If you don't have all day, and you aren't able to get your ingredients into the crockpot until after noon, you'll have to make a few adjustments. I had to cook my turkey legs on 375 for about 40 minutes to make sure the meat would be cooked. Then, I shredded the meat and placed all ingredients in the crockpot together. I cooked it on high for 4-5 hours.