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!

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.

For Dutchie: Peach Cobbler

So, back home in the good ole' MT, I have a friend. We'll call him Dutchie. Dutchie is my tech-hubby, as in we only communicate via MSN messenger or text, and he is a tech geek- but not a loser tech geek like Wallowitz or Sheldon, but a super awesome tech geek- like Chuck!

Anywho, Dutchie loves himself a Southern Belle. When I lived in Mississippi, I kept my eyes open all the time, trying to find him the perfect young spritely lass (preferably in a huge hoop skirt and a big day-at-the-horseraces hat), but sadly, all the locals reminded me more of hookers or whitetrash bumpkins instead of a plantation princess! Because I have failed horribly on the 'find your friend a good girl' part of our friendship pact, I have resorted to making tasty southern dishes and rubbing his face in it. Oh... thats not nice either? Dang it. Sorry Dutch.

Whenever Dutchie finds out I'm making anything peachie... or cobblerie.... he sends me a text asking how it is, asking for the recipe, asking for pictures, etc. So, my dear friend... here you go... a southern treat thats just as good as a belle.... if not better... because it won't cause you grief or spend your money :)

Eat your heart out, Dutchie

Peach Cobbler
From the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

Ingredients:

* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/4 cup butter
* 5 cups fresh or frozen peaches
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup water
* 2 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup milk
* Vanilla ice cream to top!

To Make:

* Preheat oven to 400.
* For topping: stir together flour, 2 tablespoon sugar, baking powder, salt, and if desired, cinnamon. Cut butter into mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
* For filling: in a large sauce pan combine 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and 1 tablespoon corn starch. Cook until sugar starts to dissolve, then add peaches. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly
* In a small bowl, mix egg and milk. Add this to the flour mixture, stirring until just moistened.
* Transfer hot fruit filling into 2-qt baking dish. Using a spoon, immediately drop topping into six mounds on top of filling
* Baking for 20-25 minutes, or until topping it golden brown. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for about an hour. To serve, heat and top with cold vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy Dutchie!

Chili & Cornbread

The guests have gone... the routines have once again begun... and it is just the three (ahem, four) of us in the house, once again. Joy! I loved having guests for Alex's bday, but I really enjoy our boring normalcy we have going in our family. This meant that it was back to cooking dinners for two (and a half) and eating whatever we wanted! I vowed to do the cooking if husband picked out the menu for an entire week- something he's never done before. I told him to pick five meals and I would make the grocery list, do the shopping, do the cooking, and the clean-up, if he would just PICK.

Ladies... don't let your husbands pick the menu for an entire week. Seriously. Especially if your husband believes he's the 'all-that-is-man' type and doesn't eat anything healthy like my husband. Gulp. Here is what he picked...

Spaghetti with homemade meat sauce and garlic bread. (no need for salad I guess)
Spicy sausage jumbalaya with cheese (out of a box... sigh....it actually worked since I wasn't feeling well that night and he had to make it after his busy work day and he was really the only one who ate it)
Hearty homemade chili served over fritos and cornbread (no need for salad again I guess)
Calzones with salad (yay- he actually mentioned salad!)
Smokey chicken, cheese, and potato casserole (left over salad maybe?)

Is it any wonder I truly believe husband may kick the bucket by the age of 30? All meat, cheese, starch. No veggies, fruit, or anything remotely healthy. Don't worry mom, I'm eating all my fruits for breakfast, and my veggies at lunch!

I also need to add he requested I make him Puppy Chow, and when I asked him to pick a dessert he wanted a chocolate peanutbutter pie. Yeah... no. Instead, I made him reason with me and pick something with fruit- so he picked peach cobbler... with ice cream....

Anywho, his menu did make me slightly happy because it wasn't our normal five dishes we eat every week- I actually get to try and cook some things I've never made before! I have never made chili from scratch, so I was eager to try, and it was delicious! May I take a minute to stop and toot my own horn? TOOOT... TOOOT!!!!!!!!! Not only was it fast, but it was simple- just the way I like it :)

This chili was amazing. Even Chris, who rarely compliments my dinners-from-scratch, and is a HUGE chili fan, said it hit the spot and was very very good! :) Also, it was nice that I didn't have to make it in my crockpot- just so I didn't have to smell its delicious aromas all day :) Oh, and I had all the ingredients without going to the store- whoop!

Chili
From the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
* 2 cups chopped onion (2 large- I only used one)
* 1 cup chopped green pepper (1 large)
* 4 gloves garlic, minced
* 2 15 oz cans of kidney beans, pinto beans, blackbeans rinsed and drained. I used a half can of black beans and a can of chili beans- Chris isn't a huge bean fan so I decreased the amount to appease him.
* 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
* 2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes (I used one regular, one fire roasted) undrained
* 1 cup water
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* shredded cheddar cheese to top
* sour cream to top
* fritos for under chili if you are like Chris and enjoy the 'frito pie' thing

To Do:
* Cook ground beef, onion, green pepper, and garlic over medium heat until meat is browned and veggies are tender. Drain fat.
* In dutch oven (or large boiling pot like I have), combine beans, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, chili powder, basil, black pepper. Add meat and veggie mixture.
* Bring chili to a boil and then reduce heat so a simmer. Cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occassionally. I let ours cook for about half an hour.
* Ours did seem a little more runny than we were used to, so I did thicken ours up a bit with some cornstarch- but didn't add too much.


Cornbread
Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

Ingredients:
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup cornmeal
* 2-3 tablespoons sugar (use 3 if you like sweeter stuff)
* 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1 cup milk
* 1/4 cup cooking oil or melted butter (I used butter)

To Do:
* Preheat oven to 400. In medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
* Add 1 tablespoon to 9 in. round baking dish, and place in oven for 3 minutes, or until butter is melted. Remove pan from heat and coat bottom and sides of pan with melted butter (perfect that swirl motion!)
* Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine eggs, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir until just moistened.
* Pour batter into hot buttered skillet and return to oven for 15-20 minutes (mine needed 20). When toothpick comes out of middle clear, its done!
* Cut into wedges and serve warm. Feel free to whip up some tasty honey butter to serve on the side :)

Streusel Coffee Cake

It was the morning of my son's first birthday, so I had to make something special for breakfast.

Ok, that's sort of a lie... it WAS his birthday, but it wasn't the true reason I made this tasty breakfast.

It was mostly just because I really wanted sweets for breakfast, didn't want to drive to Wallieworld for donuts, and knew my mother and other houseguests would judge me for driving to Wallieworld for donuts.

Oh yeah, and my little boy deserves a special breakfast on his first birthday... that too!

Yes, its not a very creative picture. I'm so glad I took a picture of it hot from the oven because when I tried to flip it over, it crumbled to pieces. Dang.

Streusel Coffee Cake
Found on the Southern Food section of About.com

Ingredients for streusel topping:

* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients for cake:

* 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg, beaten
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup melted butter
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla

To Make Delicious Coffee Cake:

* In a small bowl, mix the ingredients for the topping. Mix it with a fork until its nice and crumbly
* Combine flour, baking powder, and salt for cake in a medium bowl.
* In another bowl, mix beaten egg and sugar. Slowly add the melted butter. Add milk and vanilla.
* Stir egg mixture into flour mixture.
* Pour batter into a greased 9 inch layer pan. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the batter.
* Bake at 375 for 25 to 30 minutes
* Partially cool on a wire rack before serving. (I did not bother with this step as we were all starving- hence the whole 'not flipping over and just crumbling out' part. Who cares... worth it!)

Pumpkin Cheesecake

HALLE-FRICKEN-LUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The day is finally here! What day you ask? Only the best day in the history of all the days in fall (sorry Thanksgiving, but it may even be greater than you!)

Its National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'Who decided that?' my husband sarcastically asked. My response was a simple, 'who cares!' I have made a mental note of his poor attitude regarding such a magnificent day, and do not plan on sharing any of the cheesecake with him (if there are leftovers in two days- probably not).

Holy Mother of Cheesecake... here it is...

Bow down... worship the cheesecake....

This recipe comes from Food Network Magazine. It is Emeril Lagasse's Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon-Spike Cream. I passed on the bourbon-spiked cream because of my current state of preggoness, and the fact that we in no way have anything remotely close to resembling bourbon in our house. (Because I didn't use the bourbon cream, I won't include it in this recipe, but if you feel like getting your buzz on, you can find it at foodnetwork.com... but I can tell you... you don't need the bourbon... it'll get you drunk enough on delicious flavor alone!)

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (about 45 wafers)
* 1 cup pecans, ground (I didn't include these)
* 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
* 2 lbs cream cheese, cubed and softened
* 1 cup packed light brown sugar
* 6 large eggs
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
*  pinch of salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups canned pumpkin

To Do:

* Preheat over to 350.
* Combine the wafer crumbs, pecans, and melted butter in a bowl. Press into a 12-inch springform pan.
* In mixer, mix cream cheese until it is smooth. Add the brown sugar and mix until blended.
* Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in heavy cream.
* Add the flour, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla and blend until smooth
* Lastly, add the pumpkin and mix until well incorporated.
* Pour the filling over the crust in the pan. Bake for 1 hr 15 mins or until cheesecake is set.
* Remove from oven and use a knife to loosen the cake from the side of the pans.
* Let cheesecake cool completely before slicing- this may take up to four hours.
* Before serving, top with whipped cream (I just mixed whipping cream with granulated sugar)

Yes, it is heavenly. It is soft, pillowy, spongey, and light. Mindy and I sat tonight in awe of what we had just created. I took a small bite, and melted into it. Mindy on the other hand, took a small bite, said "oh my god, holy crap, oh my god this is good, oh mannnnn'' and devoured half of her piece.

Can I get an 'AMEN' ?!

Pumpkin Seeds

Some people (cough cough Mom cough cough) hate carving pumpkins for one reason- the innards. Oooey, goooey, and squishy are just not some people's forte. Call me gross, whatever, but I LOVE scooping out pumpkins- probably more than I love actually carving them. I have no artistic talent, or enough patience, to sit and carve out a beautiful or truly scary pumpkin. One year I tried to make Chris a Texas Longhorns pumpkin- it just looked like a fat peanut with two bugles coming out to the top of it. He laughed at me. So did all his friends. I digress....

I wasn't really a huge fan of pumpkin seeds until Kristin Lynn made them for me. Every year she makes the most delicious seeds, in so many flavor combos, and she gets me hooked on them to the point where I feel I should enter a rehab center. I wish she could have been here with us today as I was making mine!

Ok, so instead of harassing Kristin for her recipes, I resorted to Food Network Magazine's newest fall issue. They have a whole middle insert on making them.

Basic instructions:

* Clean out pumpkin. Put pumpkin guts into bowl. Sort through the guts and extract as many seeds as you can from the goo. Place seeds in colander and rinse seeds well to clean them. Do not dry with paper towel (FN Mag suggestion).

* Place seeds on oiled cookie sheet and place in 300 oven for 30 minutes to dry the seeds unseasoned.

* Place dried (and slightly oily) seeds in a bowl to season. I made three different varieties today. I have them listed below with the seasonings I used. To start all three, I drizzled a small amount of olive oil over the dried seeds...

Variety #1: Basic Salt

After drizzling with olive oil, sprinkle seeds with salt. I didn't have sea salt (I wish I had) but the basic table kind worked just fine!

Variety #2: Sweet

After drizzling with olive oil, sprinkle with cinnamon and granulated sugar. Do not salt (FN Mag stressed this)

Variety #3: Italian

Drizzle with olive oil. Toss seeds with grated parmesan and dried oregano.



Once you have seasoned your seeds, they will need to go back onto the cookie sheet and into the oven for another 20 minutes. Be sure to have a few right out of the oven- nothing better than a nice and toasty pumpkin seed... its a perfect fall snack!

Red Sherbert Punch

Alex's birthday party went off without a hitch! It was full of family, friends, fun, and good food. It was Dr. Seuss themed and the entire dining room was bright blue and red! For the adults, we made teal margaritas, and for those who couldn't have it (aka pregnant me) we made a special red punch!

It was delicious! I probably drank half of it (shame on me). It reminded me of the lime green punch Jaren specializes in, which was good because we really wished she could have been there :)

Kristin found the recipe online somewhere, but I have no idea where, and it took her forever to try and find it again, so we kinda just guessed and threw it all together from what we remembered after seeing it for the first time! Whether it was spot on or not, it tasted great!


Ingredients:
 * 1 package cherry kool-aid powder
 * 1 can frozen pineapple juice concentrate
 * 1 liter gingerale
 * 1 container sherbert of your choice (we used raspberry to keep with the red color theme)

To Do:
 * Thaw pineapple juice concentrate
 * Mix pineapple juice with kool-aid packet
 * Before serving, add gingerale and scoop however much sherbert you want on top of the punch, letting is slowly melt, and give it a stir! Easy peasy!

Banana Bread

My son eats everything.

Everything.

Except avocado. And italian dressing for pasta salad.

With a boy who eats everything, who knew I'd find his absolute all-time favorite food ?!

Well, I've found it. Banana bread. Good thing I could eat an entire loaf a day if I wanted to because I plan on having some on-hand at all times. Although, I won't eat an entire load a day- I have a son to share with now (shoot).

Banana Bread Recipe
Source: My little red recipe box in my dining room

Ingredients:

* 1 cup granulate sugar
* 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 2 large eggs
* 3-4 ripe bananas (I always use 4)
* 1 tablespoon milk
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt

To Do:

* Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter loaf pan.
* cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy
* add eggs one at a time, beat well after each addition
* mash bananas with fork in bowl. Mix in milk and cinnamon
* mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl
* add banana mixture to creamed sugar/butter mixture. then add dry mixture 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition
* Bake for 1 hour, then remove from loaf pan and cool on baking rack for 15 mins

Serve warm with butter... Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm

Cheese Scalloped Potatoes

Finally, a sidedish that steals the show and puts the main dish to shame. I do not have a witty story to share with this recipe- I'm not going to waste your time with useless words when you could be in your kitchen making these NOW. The only thing I can say is that it worked perfectly for our 'Mock Easter Dinner' we had a few nights ago. Ham? Good. Green Beans? Good. Crescent Rolls? Good. Scalloped Potatoes? Amazing!

This original recipe is from Emeril Lagasse. Usually, I will admit, his recipes seem to intimidate me, but this one stands on its own with few ingredients, none of which are fancy, and all of which I had in my kitchen already! I did make a few adjustments, which I have noted below....

Emeril Lagasse's Cheese Scalloped Potatoes
(as found on FoodNetwork.com)

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup chopped onion (I omitted this so Alex would eat them)
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons flour
* 1 1/4 cup milk
* 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I used mild)
* salt and pepper
* 3 potatoes (scrubbed clean, peeled, and thinly sliced)

To Do:

* Preheat oven to 350
* Cook the onion in pan on medium-high heat with butter until tender. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes.
* Whisk in milk and cook until thick and bubbly
* Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper
* Layer half of the sliced potatoes in a casserole dish. Cover with half of the cheese sauce. Add second layer of potato slices and top with remaining sauce.
* Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese on top
* Bake, covered, for 30 minutes.

Additional notes:

* Potatoes always take longer to cook in the oven than you think they will. I had to leave mine in the oven for almost an additional 30 minutes, and I sliced my potatoes fairly thin. After about half an hour, keep checking back on them- do not pull from oven until they are fork tender. Mine were a bit crispy, but Chris said they were just as they were supposed to be. Liar.

* We also, to add to our wasteline (our favorite activity), cooked up two strips of super thick cut pepper bacon in a seperate pan and chopped it to add to the cheese sauce and sprinkled some on top. This MADE the potatoes! Nothing like smokey bacon to pep up a dish!