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Ollie Cake Winning Quartet

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“Ha ha Paul, your mom made us a Gooseberry pie, and it was yummy”

As a newly-wed, were you the recipient of a wedding ‘prank’ (or two) ? Perhaps you were the perpetrator?

This cute story found it’s way to me and I thought it would be fun to share. It might stir up old memories. If it does, I hope you can remember the ‘fun’ and laugh about it all now as this person does!

“Anna made us a gooseberry pie the first year we were married, and if you have ever used gooseberries before, you know how much labor stemming and prepping them is. When it came out of the oven and I had the first bite. It was awful!  It was salty and not sweet. We checked the sugar bowl she had gotten the sugar out of for the pie… it was SALT. When we had gotten married, someone — “PAUL”– had gotten into our house and tricked out our house. They took all the lights out of the fixtures, put potatoes under the couch to rot, put raw egg in the shampoo bottle, powder sugar on the sheets, pulled labels off all the cans. And the one that really pissed [ticked] me off ruined my pie by putting salt in the sugar bowl!  Some of the things we found immediately. Other things like the rotted potatoes, and egg in the shampoo took time.

Oh well kids will be kids.

It has made me laugh and have something to “remind” my nephew about. My brother had the key to my house, and I think he was in on it too, especially since his wife chastised him for bringing it up, again. He at least harvested the berries and stemmed them to make the pie.”

STEP ONE:

Start with cake mix or recipe that holds it’s shape ….

STEP TWO:

Bake two cakes and at least two cupcakes — for the eyes!

STEP THREE:

Stack the cakes,  sticking them together with a butter cream frosting.

Cut the cakes into a semblance of the desired shape.

Add the cupcakes for the eyes, and secure with toothpicks.

STEP FOUR:

Frost the cupcake ‘eyes’ with plenty of frosting to round them out.  Begin spreading a

thin layer of white frosting for a base.  Give up on that and add blue frosting paste to the white.

Begin covering the cake  with a thin layer of blue.  Stop and fill in the big black mouth.

Go back and start adding ‘fur’.

STEP FIVE:

Finish up the ‘fur’ around the mouth and sides.

STEP SIX:

Add real chocolate chip cookies…even the crumbs.

Oh yes, and add eyeballs with the black frosting

and …VOILA! COOOOKIE MONSTERR!!

STEP SEVEN:

Add candles.

Light… And you have a happy four year old!

Fresh Apricot Pie — something I grew up with and just happens to be a favorite of mine, always satisfying both my taste buds and my memories. Even my husband has learned to anticipate and savor this refreshing and delicious pie, so I don’t get it all to myself anymore (not that I ever did!). My siblings also share the Apricot Pie passion and memories, letting me know when they’ve indulged in the family apricot pie, often for breakfast!

Our mother served it to us for breakfast.  Making it with a whole wheat crust, sweetened with honey and served with a good cheddar cheese, she believed it is more nutritious than most breakfasts, especially cereals and pop-in-the-toaster ‘fruit’ things.

Since I am not, and haven’t been for a long time, living where fresh summer ‘pie’ fruits are abundant, I drool while anxiously awaiting the appearance of the apricots in the store this time of year and then pay dearly for enough to make a pie, allowing just one pie each season. Accompanied by slices of a robust cheddar cheese, we enjoy our pie from breakfast, morning ‘coffee’,  through lunch and afternoon ‘tea’ and past dinner to a bedtime snack. That is, IF it lasts that long — we have to discipline ourselves to keep from eating it all in one sitting!

So, here it is – the Annual Apricot Pie…drool away:

Fresh Apricot Pie Filling

Whole Wheat Pie Crust

Ready for the Oven

Fresh Apricot Pie Baked & Ready to Eat!

Always on the lookout for a good cookie, but not just ANY cookie, it has to be at least as good as, if not better than, what we can make at home where favorite family recipes and quality control of ingredients produce the best!  Enter. . .

A unique, almost ‘funky’ (but not quite) and ‘hip’ little establishment in Phoenix, we are drawn to  their use of ‘organic’ and ‘local’ ingredients. And where, with ‘simplicity and quality as the cornerstones,’ we find extraordinary but basic soul-satisfying

Cookies….

And

Cupcakes.

Is this a new food fad: Cupcakes?

Haven’t we all enjoyed cupcakes since childhood…an easy offering at birthday parties, picnics, and bake sales. I remember in the 3rd grade, taking cupcakes to share with my classmates in celebration of the birth of my baby sister; and in high school, my homemade cupcakes sold out first at a bake sale.  So, I am amused at this recent surge of interest and offerings of cupcakes: not only at ‘cup cake only’ bakeries, but also at other places offering sweet treats. Just this week, cupcakes were served at a professional business meeting luncheon I attended. And how about, instead of a traditional tiered wedding cake, tiered wedding ‘Cupcakes’?

Perhaps it is all of our childhood memories that make the cupcakes so tempting and ever more popular with all ages!

Urban Cookies is doing their part in joining this new fad and should consider adding ‘Cupcakes’ to their name! Offering tasty little cakes piled with a thick flavorful buttercream frosting or rich ganache, they add even more fun, by creating seasonal and specialty flavors like pumpkin for October/November, Strawberry for February (Valentine’s Day), Peach with fresh local peaches from Schnepfs Farm, and how about an Earth Day Cupcake — rich dark chocolate that actually looked like it could be dirt!

And NOW?  How about a different flavor each week all summer long!  

Make your own Angel Cake – it’s easier than you think and SO much better than any store bought or boxed mix …none of that tangy chemical taste.

Best Angel Cake from Scratch!

And the reviews? “Amazing!” “Awesome!” “Fantastic!” “WOW!”  ”This is the best ever!” And requests for ‘just one more slice” until there was no more and then the request was, “make another cake tomorrow!”

Living up to it’s name, “The BEST Angel Food Cake“, I liked this recipe for several reasons (great instructions and guidelines) but best of all — an actual measurement for the egg whites which makes a huge difference since ALL eggs vary in size and the amount of white whether it be a small, large or X-Large egg, so a recipe calling for 10-12 large eggs doesn’t produce the same cake each time. it IS the BEST Angel Cake!!

Served with fresh strawberries and lemon curd (another easy “make at home” item!), it is a winner!

It's a WINNER!

Beat the egg whites and sugar into a meringue of glossy almost stiff peaks

Fine soft texture & light brown crust

Homemade Lemon Curd

Breakfast at the Jeffersons! Homemade strawberry shortcake! Why not?! It was yummy!

Ok – It’s TIME!  What are your favorite ways to say “Be Mine” on Valentine’s Day?

It is almost February and fair enough to start thinking about hearts and flowers and chocolates and kisses and … oh so many ways to share them!  Seeing Valentines in the stores before Christmas was a bit disconcerting to me; but now with the new year well underway, February just around the corner, and these emails showing up, I am a lot more excited about Valentines!

There are so many places to go, things to do, and ways to say “I love you” –  let’s get started!   (coffee and chocolate, a picnic, a dance, strawberries and chocolate, more coffee…and this is just a beginning)

From Roger’s Gourmet Coffee

From the Farm at South Mountain:

Also available at The Farm for Valentine’s Day:  Quiessence is open for Dinner on Sunday and Monday; Morning Glory Cafe is open on Monday.

From Starbucks:          Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Your Sweetie from Starbucks

AND… From the Hotel Del Coronado:    What could be sweeter?

Let’s have some fun! How do you like to say ‘Be Mine’?

What are some the most romantic:  Places, Foods, Gifts, and Celebrations you’ve discovered for Valentine’s Day?

Booze Pie: 1975 – Blog – food52.

I just have to share this great blog with you! It is written with some history and humor. ( “crust filled with a wobbly, creamy mousse and enough alcohol to raise the hair on your neck and then make your neck wobbly too”) AND it includes the recipe!

Be sure to read the comments…it gets better and better! “My mind is boggled by the possibilities”; “Lethal and delicious-sounding!”

I especially appreciate Amanda’s response: “and it’s at the end of the meal so everyone can go home and fall asleep!”

A great addition to a Thanksgiving Feast…or any time during the holiday season! Let me know how you fare if you try it out!

What is it about fall that seems like PIE time? Now… I agree, that summertime is also Pie time with fresh berries and other summer fruits (peaches, plums and apricots). But isn’t there something special about Apple Pie in the fall? (and of course with Thanksgiving on the horizon…Pumpkin Pie? ummm…and my sister’s Minced Fruit Pie!).

And what is it that triggers a craving? Sometimes it doesn’t take much to create a craving which then, for me becomes a Quest!  Maybe it was Norah Jones singing about “the golden crust on an apple pie…” that set me off but for some reason I have been craving Apple Pie; and not just ANY Apple Pie – a REALLY GOOD Apple Pie! (with a Golden Crust!)

So…I am off on a quest for the perfect Apple Pie (with a golden crust), when we visit the October Fall (and pumpkin) Festival at Schnepf Farm.   With several food options available around the farm, we were attracted to the Country Store and Bakery for the type of food we prefer. (Not that the delicious aroma of BBQ, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Hot Dogs, and Burgers filling the air wasn’t enticing,  We just enjoy more fresh vegetables and salads in our meals).

There we were, being seated at a table (covered with a festive cloth) in the Country Store and Bakery, surrounded by antiques, country decor, country crafts and gifts, and shelves laden with jars of jam and jelly and PIES!

My radar was up and I spied the case of homemade pies as soon as we were seated…..”Dessert First” is a safe motto!

I perused the case before ordering my lunch (a healthy salad — always my first choice but crucial, when there is the possibility of a zag with dessert — especially with homemade pie on the menu!)  The pies looked tasty and – just maybe – I would find THE PIE I have been searching for!

Not just me…but EVERYONE in the family, found sheer delight and satisfaction with dessert — especially the Apple Pie!

Schnepf Farm’s gets my vote for the BEST Apple Pie! (and, yes — it has a golden crust!)

What is yours?