chocolate peanut butter bars

There are times when I wish I lived in America's heartland. I would love to have a huge yard and plenty of space around my home. I would have a long driveway and a big swath of lawn in front of my house. The house would be up on a little hill so the view from my big front porch would be beautiful. Maybe I would be overlooking some sort of river or lake.

My backyard would have lots of trees. In fact, I would like to have a little bit of woods back there. Somewhere the kids could wander and built forts and make tree houses and have adventures. I would also like some space for entertaining. Maybe a little patio surrounded by flowers, and containing a huge ding table and some comfy chairs for lounging and reading.

Of course, in my dreams, in America's heartland I can have all this for... oh say, the exact same price of the little parcel I have in Southern California. And since there would be actual precipitation (I'll order some summer thunderstorms, please), everything would be lush and green and beautiful.

However.

I can't have all that and have the ocean, too, can I?

So for now, I'll stay right here in sunny (though dry) southern California. I will spend the summer taking my kids to the beach. They wander and build sandcastles and make moats and dig pits and go boogie boarding. They find sea shells and sea glass and dig for sand crabs. They find clams and then watch as the clam sticks that thing (stomach? tongue? Tiny little clam arm?) out and eats the sand crabs they feed it. They poke at sea anemones and squeal over sea slugs. They throw frisbees and footballs and whip each other with towels. They swim out way too far in the cold ocean and then come and lay on the hot sand.

And then, finally, when they are sun-kissed and worn out; when they are exhausted from running and jumping and swimming and floating; when they have raced against each other in the ocean, and raced together against the ocean that tries to destroy their sand castle faster than they can build; only then can I convince them to come close and sit and take a break.

I have to make sure, then, that I have a little treat for them.

These bars taste just like eating a Reese's peanut butter cup. They are rich and to die for. I am warning you now, make sure you have plenty of people to share these with, or you may end up eating the whole pan by yourself!


Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 1/4 cup peanut butter, divided
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, 1 cup peanut butter, melted butter, and powdered sugar. Press it into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Put this in the fridge for at least half an hour. 

Melt the chocolate chips on a double boiler (or in the microwave). Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup peanut butter. Spread the chocolate mixture evenly over the peanut layer and allow to cool.

Cut into bars and enjoy!

Strawberry Coffee Cake

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I took the kids to Downtown LA, and while we were there, we went to eat lunch at Langer's Deli, which is a bit of a local landmark. It's an old-fashioned deli/restaurant that is about to celebrate its 65th anniversary. The adults at the table followed the advice "When in Rome, act like a Roman", and we each ordered the restaurant's specialty: Pastrami, cole slaw, and Swiss cheese on Rye.


And now I need to pause and wonder. Does one capitalize Swiss and Cheese? Or just Swiss? Or is it so very far removed from Switzerland that it doesn't need to be capitalized at all? I don't want the entire nation of Switzerland, kind as they are, to go the way of Kleenex Brand Tissues (Reserved).


Anyway. My kids, in their infinite ability to astonish me, each ordered a meatloaf sandwich. What?! Don't they know that meatloaf is gross? I couldn't believe that any child of mine would voluntarily put meatloaf in his or her mouth.


They gobbled up the sandwiches and assured me that they love meatloaf. Ummm. Okay.


I am not really sure how they knew what meatloaf is, or where they had heard of it, or much less tasted it, but there you have it. They knew it, ordered it, and loved it.


They have been asking me to make meatloaf for dinner. And today, I humored them (despite my better judgement). However, since I am going to have to reward myself for eating meatloaf, I also made a yummy dessert. 

This recipe was presented as a "buckle." I have always understood a buckle to be more like a Brown Betty, Cobbler, or Crisp. This came out much more like a coffee cake. The bottom layer is very light and fluffy, with a layer of strawberries and a crunchy topping. So I am going to consider it to be a coffee cake. The good news, that it is so very delicious, means it won't stick around for long. It will be eaten long before anyone can have an issue with its name.

Strawberry Coffee Cake
(adapted from Martha Stewart's Rhubarb Buckle)


Vegetable-oil cooking spray, for cake pans
1 pint strawberries, sliced 
1 cup sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and divided
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt


Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center position. Coat two 9-inch square cake pans with cooking spray, and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on 2 sides. Slice strawberries and set aside.


Whisk together 2 cups of the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together 1 1/2 sticks of butter, sugar, and the lemon zest until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then beat in vanilla. Beat in flour mixture in 2 additions, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture.


Make the crumb topping: Stir together remaining flour, brown sugar, and salt. Melt the remaining butter, and stir into the flour mixture to combine.


Divide batter between pans. Top with sliced strawberries, and sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake until golden on top and cooked through, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Let cool completely in pans on wire racks, then lift cakes from pans using parchment. Remove parchment. Before serving, cut into 2-inch squares.

This post is linked to the Improv Challenge hosted by Kristen at Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. Check out what everyone else did with strawberries and cream!

Lemon Cake

I had a friend over for breakfast the other day. It was such a nice break! She came and we chatted for a couple of hours. My kids were all at school, her preschooler took advantage of a kids' house with no kids in it (meaning she had full control and never had to wait her turn. Bliss).  It was such a wonderful escape from the constant running around that I have done for the past few weeks.

A little while ago this  same friend had served me an amazing breakfast of fresh-baked scones and delicious juice, made in her really, really cool juicer. I mean the juice was amazing. Fresh pears and oranges and I'm not sure what-all went in one side and came out the other side in a delicious concoction that made me feel like I did my body more good in that one glass than I did the rest of the month combined. (Honey? Are you reading this? I'm hinting!!)

Anyway, I did what I consider to be typical for myself, and I waited way too long to reciprocate the favor. So long that I started to feel so much pressure. Waiting that long could only mean two things. Either I am too lazy and distracted to invite her for breakfast (and I don't really want to admit that), or I am planning something really really special. So that means I totally had to come up with something good, right? But she already set the bar so high! I mean, fresh chocolate scones? How do I top that? And I don't even own a juicer! (hint, hint).

Plus, her house was spotless. How do I compete with perfection?

Okay, I'm exaggerating. This is the coolest, most laid-back friend. She totally would never expect that she should be invited back, or that anything should be special in any way. I could invite her over for a bowl of Cheerios and she would probably be just fine with that.

Still, though, I did want to make a yummy breakfast. I never eat a good breakfast. Most days I get the kids fed and ready for school and then whip up a quick protein shake to down on my way to work. Not exactly leisurely or inspired. Having a friend over forced me to actually think about what I was eating for a change.

Lo and behold, this week's Abundant Harvest newsletter included a recipe for Lemon Cake. Either the food gods are looking out for me, by continually setting perfect recipes in my lap at just the moment I need them, ... or I'm getting lazy and cooking the first recipe I see. Let's go with I am in the gods' favor. It makes me feel special.

One of the great things about this cake recipe is that it makes two loaf-sized cakes. That means that we had one with our breakfast (and the kids had the leftovers for an after-school snack) and I sent the other in to my son's teachers as a little recess-time snack, to thank them for their hard work at the school fundraiser the day before. Win-win-win! Everyone's happy!

The cake is really nice. It is lemony without being overwhelming. It's almost like a pound cake with some lemon added to it. The recipe called to make a syrup that would soak into the cake, (and I'm sure up the lemon-factor). Instead, I thought it would look nicer and taste just as good to make it into a glaze that stayed on top of the cake. By slightly decreasing the amount of lemon juice and using powdered sugar instead of granulated, I thought it made a nice difference.

This one travels well and goes great with a cup of coffee. Take some to work to share in the staff kitchen!

Lemon Cake
(From Abundant Harvest Organics)

2 sticks butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup grated lemon zest
4 eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease two loaf pans.

In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With mixer on medium speed, add eggs and lemon zest. Add dry ingredients. In a small bowl, combine l/4 cup lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the lemon mixture to the mixer and mix thoroughly. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until is is turning golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

When the cakes are cool, remove from their pans. Combine the powdered sugar and the remaining lemon juice (a tiny bit of juice at a time, until the glaze is a good consistency). Pour the glaze over the cakes and serve.

Spinach Cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day

Once again, I have resorted to hiding vegetables in my kids' food. I'm not proud of it.


But the cool thing is that on St. Patrick's Day, my children would never think that there is anything amiss with green food. They are all about leprechauns and rainbows and not at all about what veggies I am cajoling them into eating.

Actually, I saw these cupcakes and thought that they were super cute and a fabulous shade of green... prefect for St. Paddy's Day... before I read the part about the green coming from spinach.


It just seemed like a fun snack to make the kids, and has the bonus of a wee little bit more nutrition from the applesauce and spinach than they would get from oil and food coloring.


This recipe comes from Amy at A Little Nosh. They were super easy to make... just puree raw spinach into the applesauce, mix it with some basic dry ingredients, and bake.


The kids were completely fooled. The cupcakes are a little dense, as I have found cakes are when applesauce is substituted for oil. Other than that, though, you would have no idea there was anything different about them. As long as you're color-blind.

And one more thing before I go... a friend from Ireland asks that you not write St. Patty's Day. Patty would be a lass. Paddy is the proper abbreviation for Patrick. (And we don't want to offend the auld bloke). There is a very funny explanation of the dear St. Pádraig's name here, if you're interested. 


Enjoy St. Paddy's Day, folks! I'll be looking for people I can pinch.


Green Spinach Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup nonfat dried milk
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 cups baby spinach


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with 18 cupcake liners.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Puree the applesauce and spinach in a blender.  You may need to add the spinach in batches. Add the spinach mixture and the vanilla to the flour mixture and mix thoroughly.  Divide evenly into the muffin pan.


Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.


Cool completely before frosting.


(I make my buttercream frosting by softening a stick of butter, and then adding powdered sugar and tiny amounts of milk until I have a consistency and an amount that I like. Just keep stirring in more milk and more sugar until you have enough. One of life's great miracles is how one stick of butter can become enough loaves and fish for the masses frost anywhere from 12 to 50 cupcakes.)

Momofuku's Butter Cake Bars

Are you on Pinterest? I love it. If you are, follow me and I'll follow you.

I love the happy constructive nature of Pinterest, and I have gotten all kinds of great ideas from how to store my boots in my closet to party decorations to new recipes for cauliflower.

One thing that makes me giggle, though, is the fine balance between people pinning things like this:

I stole this photo from Pinterest, and I don't know how to give credit. So sorry!  

 and the people pinning things like this:

Stole this one too. Forgive me?

I especially love when it's the same person. Back and forth, back and forth.... I should get out and run...Oh! Dessert! Yummy!!! ... Really I need to work out more.... Mmmmmm. THAT looks good!

As for me, rather than pinning reminders to exercise and stick with it and get moving and remember my goals, I just try to steer clear of.... exercise. It's fabulous. I have yet to quit that routine. no goal, no plan, no quitting, no guilt! 

And I DO pin lots of sweets and yummy foods. I figure that anyone who eats an entire box of vegetables every week can eat all the dessert she wants. I have earned it.

Pinterest actually does give me lots of ideas and recipes for my CSA veggies. I have had many happy, delicious, nutritious veggie-packed meals inspired by Pinterest. It also happens to give me recipes for things like this...

This is Momofuku's Butter Cake Bar. They are very oozy and gooey, and not at all something you can eat, and look dainty, at the same time. The bottom layer is a thick chewy base make with a yellow cake mix and that is topped off with the sweetest, richest, drippiest, cream cheese-and-vanilla layer you can ever imagine.

We took these to the Superbowl... and although they are a big gooey mess that leaves you licking your fingers, no one seemed to mind after a margarita or two.

They are super simple to make since they use a box of cake mix and almost everything else comes pre-measured (one block cream cheese, one box powdered sugar, one stick of butter). I think I might try using a cake recipe instead of a box of cake mix next time; I'll let you know how that works out. Being as it has that much butter, sugar, and cream cheese, its a good thing that just a tiny little square leaves you satisfied. Which means the rest of the pan should be shared. With me.

Momofuku's Butter Cake Bars

one box yellow cake mix
4 ounces butter, melted
3 eggs
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350, and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.

To make the bottom layer, mix together the cake mix, butter, and 1 egg. Pat this evenly into the bottom of the pan.

To make the layer of heaven, cream together the cream cheese, 2 eggs, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Spread this evenly over the bottom layer.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.

Cool completely before serving. I stuck them in the freezer for an hour before I cut them.  These pictures were taken just after cutting, and before the top layer started flowing onto the plate. I recommend serving with a spoon!

happy birthday to a happy happy guy.

My youngest son turned six today. I can hardly believe that I am writing that.


When I had babies (I think... yesterday?), I would look at those people who had kids, (you know kids, those age 5-12 people) and think What do you do with them? They're ungainly, their teeth are too big and they are skinny and smelly and they talk too much.


Now my babies are all of a sudden kids. They do have big teeth in their little faces, and they do smell sometimes. I can admit that once in a while I wish they would just shut up for a minute. But, they are so wonderful. They are intelligent and they keep me on my toes with their questions and their observations. They are funny and warm and helpful to each other. They are learning at amazing speeds and trying new things out all the time.


The baby of the family is Andrew. He is funny and witty and charming. He is a people-person to the extreme. He can quickly gauge a person, find out what he or she would like to see and/or hear from him, and deliver it. I don't mean to make him sound like Eddie Haskell, because he's not. He doesn't want to simply make you like him, he just wants to make you happy. As a two-year-old, I actually called him reasonable. I don't know many reasonable two-year-olds. He also definitely realizes that life is much simpler and more pleasant when everyone is happy. He rarely fails to do what he is asked, and he often doesn't have to be asked, before doing chores or being helpful. He gets himself up and ready for school, completely independently, every morning. He notices when I have folded laundry, and puts it away on his own volition. He holds the door when my hands are full, says please and thank you, and willingly shares his toys and snacks. He cleans his room, does homework, and practices piano, without my having to nag him.


Of course, there is a flip side to this, too. Because he can read others so well, he knows just how to push their buttons; a skill he uses readily with his older brother and sister. He can needle them and drive them to violence like nobody's business. 


He is physically coordinated, and although he may never be a star athlete, I feel confident he won't embarrass himself, either. He's comfortable with a ball in his hand, he is ready to take on any challenger at dodgeball or tetherball, and he holds his own on his baseball team.


He loves to be the center of attention, and he is pretty skilled at doing so without being (too) obnoxious. He will put on antics and try ever-more daring feats, if he knows he has an audience. He can tell a whopper like no other, as well. All through preschool, his teachers would have to ask me to clarify if his stories were true or not. Some, like the skiing mountain in his backyard, and the twin brother named Jeffrey, are clearly just tall tales. Others, though, can be pretty believable (like the swing set he and his dad are supposedly building in the garage, and the reptile show that allegedly came to school and let him hold a snake). As a matter of fact, I guess I was checking with his teachers to find out what was true as often as they were checking with me. There were two weeks where he came home every day to tell me about a new student. Daily he told me what he and Jacob had been doing together. I was happy to hear the had such a great new friend for a quite a while... until the teacher informed me that there was indeed no new student.


He strives to be cool, and to act older than his age. He won't kiss me goodbye in front of his friends, or hold my hand on the way to to school. He loves surfers and skaters, won't wear anything with stripes (too babyish) or a collar (too nerdy). He is up-to-date on current music and movies, and won't cry in front of anyone. 


He is in kindergarten now, and although he is reluctant to learn to read, he is growing in leaps and bounds in every other arena. It is amazing to witness. He is engrossed in math, loves the songs they sing in the classroom (although he is too cool to actually sing them while he is at school), and believes wholeheartedly that "Zero the Hero" comes to his classroom every 10 days to leave treats for the kids.


I count myself lucky indeed to be able to spend this kid's childhood with him. He makes my life so very much more fun, day in and day out.


And fairly often, at night, he really is still my baby, when he falls asleep on my shoulder.

We are having some friends from school over next week to celebrate his birthday. Today, though, was meant to be special in every way for him.


He got to choose breakfast (donuts), lunch (McDonalds ... yuk), and dinner (Islands). I notice he didn't give me any opportunity to try and get some veggies on a plate for him. Don't you worry, though... I fooled him (and I'll get to that later).


My husband took the kids for a tour of a local farm preservation/museum this morning, and this afternoon we went to a local candy shop. He had proclaimed that he wanted "a big, swirly lollipop" instead of a birthday cake.

However, you can't put birthday candles in a lollipop. 


So, of course I went ahead and made him a cake.... 

I made a chocolate cake with a peanut butter filling. I am not a cake decorator, by any means, so I left it unfrosted, with a layer of chocolate chips baked into the top. It was a bit too crumbly for me to try to frost it and have it come out looking decent at all, so I didn't attempt it (and risk a total failure).

But here is the biggest secret of the whole day... and if you ever tell any of my family members, I will never ever speak to you again.

Chocolate Beet Cake

Oh, yes, I did. Stop looking at me like that. He didn't even want a cake in the first place, remember? And he doesn't know I fed him beets.


I got this recipe from the Abundant Harvest Organics newsletter (tell me it wasn't providence that a chocolate cake recipe came the week of Andrew's birthday), and I didn't alter much. The only changes I made were to make it in two round layers (9-inch pans) and to add a layer of peanut butter cream in between (I thought this would help in case it tasted too beet-ish, but it didn't).

Unless you knew there were beets in the cake, I don't think you would notice anything was different. Certainly my family didn't. There is the tiniest earthy edge to it, but the chocolate is so rich that you really aren't thinking about anything but chocolate while you eat. 


Here is the recipe from Abundant Harvest:

• 1 ¾ cup flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3-5 steamed beets, quartered, save liquid
• 1 ¼ cup sugar
• 1 cup oil
• ½ cup juice from beet cooking
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. In a bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt together. In food processor puree cooked beets that have been drained, should be about 2 cups. To the beets add sugar, oil, ½ cup of beet juice and beat on medium speed until well combined. Add eggs and extract. Add the flour mixture to beet mixture and mix until well combined. Add melted unsweetened chocolate. Pour mixture into baking pan and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over top of batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cool. May be sprinkled with powdered sugar if desired.

And here is the recipe I used for the peanut butter layer:

Cream together 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Spread on bottom layer before placing top layer on the cake.

Apple crumb pie

-- or--
Christmas Pie #3 we never ate

My kids are little. At ages 5, 7, and 10, I realize they are still pretty small in the grand scheme of things. I realize they will get a lot bigger (and a lot more complicated). At this point, though, I am happy to have kids who are not so big yet.

When they were even littler, I thought it was so difficult to have kids. What with the diaper changing, and baby-proofing, and spoon-feeding. I was constantly watching for choking hazards, chasing toddlers, and buckling car seats and buckling Baby Bjorns and buckling strollers. If I wasn't rocking someone to sleep, I was picking someone else back up out of a crib, or listening to someone else "cry it out." At times, I thought I might go insane. So, I joined a mom's group. There were about 70 women who met twice a month. We had a potluck breakfast, sometimes invited a guest speaker, sometimes did a craft together, sometimes just chatted. We tucked all those little babies of ours safely away in a nursery with some wonderful babysitters, and we relaxed together. We enjoyed the break from baby tending, we commiserated and advised and hugged and cried and laughed.

My good friend was in charge of coming up with the craft ideas and implementing them within the group. It is no small feat to design a craft that 70 women (with a wide range of crafting ability and interests) can do in the general-purpose building of a church, on a very limited budget and even more limited time frame.  In the past there had been such crafts as candle holders, picture frames, and laminated babysitter instructions. There had been such dust-collectors as chalkboards and spoon rests.

This friend of mine wanted to make sure that we had more useful, universally appealing crafts. To this end, she had the brilliant idea one day of helping us all learn to make an apple pie. It seemed like the perfect thing! It could be done quickly and easily while seated at folding tables. And who doesn't want to take home an apple pie?

Well, unfortunately that day there was a guest speaker as well, who had gone well beyond her appointed time to speak. Being as she was kindly volunteering her time for us, no one wanted to cut her off, and we were running very late. Ordinarily we might have held the craft until our next meeting, but we didn't want the ingredients for 70 pies to go bad, and so we went ahead and made pie in the 10 minutes we had left.

It was chaos for those 10 minutes, with apple peelers and measuring cups flying around. People were tutoring each other in how to use a pastry blender, and people were borrowing a cup of sugar left and right. The recipe came to be known as "Panic Pie" for those 70 of us, but no one could deny that it worked, and it worked well. Seventy families had a delicious dinner that night. Not a single one of those women looked around at bedtime, and amid the piles of laundry and teething toys and dirty dishes,  had to wonder what the heck she had accomplished that day.

All of this is to say that 70 women (some of whom had never ever made a pie before in their lives) can make 70 apple pies, without even a kitchen, in only 10 minutes. This pie is easy and quick (once you have the apples peeled and chopped, there isn't much to it). It never fails. It is delicious. And even if you have never ever made pie before, you will be able to do this quickly, and it will taste delicious. I promise.

I try to use at least three varieties of apples when I make a pie, but you don't have to. I heard a pastry chef recommend this on a radio show once, and I took it to heart. She said that it works out the best to have the combination of different flavors and crispnesses together. I used Granny Smith (the stand-by baking apple) as well as pippins and fujis. Almost any tart apple will work well.

Apple Crumb Pie
(otherwise known as Panic Pie)

crust for a 9" pie (make your own or buy one), unbaked

4-6 large apples, peeled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 c. sugar, divided

1 tsp. Cinnamon, ground

¾ c. flour

1/3 c. butter, cut in pieces

Preheat oven to 400.

In a large bowl, toss the apples with 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Arrange in the pie shell.

Mix flour and remaining ½ cup sugar. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut buter in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (This can be done in a food processor, if you prefer.)

Sprinkle over apples.

 Bake 40 minutes or until apples are tender. Cool on a wire rack.

Persimmon Pie

--Or-- 

The Second Pie we didn't eat on Christmas

As you may or may not have realized lately, I have had a few persimmons languishing on my counter. I am pleased to say that we have gone from 3 full bowls of persimmons down to a half a bowl... and nary a persimmon has been tossed out. Having had persimmon margaritas, persimmon bread, persimmon muffins, persimmon cookies, and persimmon leather, it seemed like the only thing left to do was to make a persimmon pie. (As it turns out, that won't be the only thing left... see "half a bowl" of persimmons still, above).

Speaking of more persimmons... any suggestions? What can I do with the rest of them? help!?

Anyway, I set out to make a persimmon pie for Christmas dessert. As it turns out, it was probably just as well that there was extra dessert on Christmas. While there is nothing wrong with persimmon pie, there is nothing particularly exciting about it, either. It just tastes like... sweet. There is no real special flavor to it. Unless you (a) just love persimmons, or (b) have a bunch of ripened persimmons laying around and you need a pie, I would say go ahead and spend your time and energy on something else. However, I fit the (b) category to a "T," so I went for it.

If I were to do a persimmon pie again (and I might... who knows?), I would probably go for a regular pastry crust. The recipe I found here had me make a graham cracker crust. At the time, I was glad (having already a rolled out three pie crusts that day) to make a simpler crust. However, when it came to eating time, there was just so much sweetness in the pie that a plainer crust might have evened things out a bit.

Just in case you are a persimmon lover, or you have a persimmon tree that you need to make use of (or the unwitting neighbor of a persimmon tree), or, like me, you got a bunch of persimmons in your CSA box and you need a pie, I'll give you the recipe.

Persimmon Pie
crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup melted butter

pie filling:
2 cups persimmon pulp
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter
2 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix the crust ingredients in a large bowl, and pat firmly into a pie pan. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

Mix persimmon pulp in a stand mixer. Beat in all other ingredients in the order given.

Pour pie filling into prepared crust, and bake at 325, until set (a knife inserted int eh middle should come out clean).

It will come out of the oven looking like a swollen behemoth, but don't get your hopes up. By the time you serve it, it will look much less impressive.

Persimmon pie fresh out of the oven

Persimmon pie after cooling for 1/2 hour

Butternut Squash Pie

Merry Christmas to you all! I realize I haven't posted anything in a while... because I have been too busy baking, wrapping, baking, unwrapping, eating, drinking, being merry, baking, hugging, thanking, and cooking.

I'm a bit exhausted and feeling a little bit Christmas hungover, but I would go back to two weeks ago and do it all again if I could. I can't begin to explain how much Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year! I could never sustain the frenzy of activity and energy that happens in December for another minute, but I do wish we could all hold on to the joy of thinking about others, giving thoughtful gifts, surprising those we love, and generally hoping and wondering and being amazed. I love to see what happens when we all put our best selves forward, try to do for each other, and enjoy the moments we have together.

For Christmas, we weren't sure if we should expect a crowd of 10 or a crowd of 20 at my parents' house. Of course, I had to bake for at least 30. Just in case, you know, Santa stuck around for dinner. Or accidentally left some elves behind.

As it turns out, there ended up being too much dessert. As in too much by about 3 pies or so. That's okay, though, because they will be well appreciated in the staff room at my mother's library this week.

First up, I thought I would make a pumpkin pie (inspired by the line from the Christmas carol "When they pass around the coffee And the pumpkin pie, It'll nearly be like a picture print, By Currier and Ives...")


I mean, who doesn't want their Christmas to look like this?

Okay, I see no pumpkin pie or coffee in this picture print. Nor could I even find a picture print by Currier and Ives that contains coffee or pumpkin pie. But if I were out ice skating, I would probably want some coffee. And some pumpkin pie. Mostly because that would be an excuse to sit on a sofa instead of falling all over the ice.


So anyway, since Currier and Ives didn't have any pumpkin pie, I guess it is fitting that we didn't either. We, on the other hand, had Butternut Squash Pie. I think butternut squash is a perfect substitute for 
pumpkin in most recipes, and in pie it particularly makes for creamier results.

This recipe is the one my grandmother used to use. In her cookbook, she had listed her preferred ingredients for the pie, with the note that the directions from the label on the can of Libby's pumpkin.

I know there are a million pumpkin pie recipes out there, but I think that this one has all I could ever want... just the right amount of sugar and spice, enough squash flavor, and ingredients I always have on hand.


Here you go!

Butternut Squash Pie


2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 3/4 cup butternut squash puree
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk


Either make or defrost a pie crust and place into the pie pan. I use the recipe from the handy Better Homes and Gardens cookbook... you know the one with the red and white checkered cover that surely someone gave you as a wedding gift? That's the one! 


Preheat the oven to 425.


In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Mix together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and then combine with the eggs. Add the squash, butter, salt, and milk. Pour into the pie crust. 


Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, and then reduce the oven temperature to 350. Continue to bake it for another 50-60 minutes (until the entire pipe is set, and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean).

persimmon cookies

My seven-year-old is a cub scout. Despite the fact that there are certain philosophical differences between myself and the Boy Scouts of America, I can't deny that it has been an amazing experience for him.


I am watching a group of boys learn to do new things -- cute cub-scouty things like tying ropes, folding the American flag, and building model cars, as well as things I never could have predicted like preserving a stamp collection and making ice cream with nitrogen.


All in all, this is a group of rough and tumble boys who much prefer running and shouting to sitting still. They will cooperate long enough to make a chore chart or a poster about how to protect nature, but before long they are back to wrestling, climbing, and tumbling over each other. At summer camp, almost all of them named BB gun shooting and rock climbing as their favorite activities, and I am pretty sure none of them claimed to love the craft center.


We had the chance to host the boys last Saturday night for a Christmas Caroling evening. I had my doubts as to how well it was all going to go, but I didn't need to. These guys were amazing! They remained calm, sang their little hearts out, and melted my neighbor's hearts. Other than some choice add-ons to "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", I might have thought that somehow we had lost our boys and found angelic replacements.


My job for the evening was to supply the cookies and hot cocoa. Not knowing how many boys to expect exactly, I wasn't exactly sure how many cookies to bake. I basically went with the idea that each boy could eat about 2 dozen cookies (depending on how closely his mother or father was watching). I therefore decided to do 2 dozen cookies times up to 20 boys, which clearly equals: Bake as much as you can all week long, and then hope that it is enough.

Chocolate chip cookies-- one of about 8 platters of cookies I baked.These are my old favorite.

Of course, I couldn't let an opportunity like this go by... it was the perfect chance to share some of the AHO produce!

Since my persimmons are continuing to ripen a bit more each day, I had plenty that were ready to be used. I decided to make a double batch of persimmon cookies.

These cookies, like all persimmon recipes, use persimmon pulp. To get the pulp ready to bake, you just take a persimmon, cut the top off, and puree the fruit in a blender. You may need a couple of teaspoons of water to get the blender going, but then just let it puree until all of the fruit is smooth. Go ahead and puree all of your ripe persimmons. Even though the recipe only calls for 1 cup, the rest can be frozen to use later... or you can make persimmon fruit leather out of it. It's really easy, and I will show you how tomorrow.

Isn't that a beautiful orange color? It's amazingly sweet and yummy too!

Persimmon Cookies

This recipe makes 4-5 dozen small cookies. They are very cake-like, and taste like fall, what with all the cinnamon and whatnot. I based my recipe loosely on the one I found here.

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup persimmon pulp
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture. Stir in the persimmon pulp; mix well. The batter is very soft, and a beautiful bright peach color.

• Drop by the teaspoonful on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.