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A Few Variations on Apple Pie

Posted on November 22, 2011 by amydeline

Recently I had an idea which seemed so genius I could hardly believe the internet wasn’t overwhelmed with recipes for it. My idea: a traditional apple pie with bits of warm, melty brie nestled between the sweet apples in a homemade buttery pie crust. Doesn’t the thought of it make your mouth water with anticipation??

I had to make it. And I did. Only the result was not what I had hoped for. Rather than melting in creamy layers between the apples, the brie seemed to boil in the apples’ juices, becoming firm and a bit rubbery. Far from inedible, but definitely not the decadent twist on apple pie I was hoping to share with you.

So, I put a few other possible apple pie variations out there to my facebook followers. Perhaps a Chocolate Apple Pie or Apple Peanut Butter? Or maybe Apple Cinnamon? Someone even suggested adding raisins to the apple cinnamon pie. In the end, I just couldn’t decide which to make. So, I made four (yes, four) miniature apple pies and then enthusiastically taste-tested every pie, again and again…for the sake of accuracy, of course.

The apple peanut butter pie was my favorite of the bunch, though the apple cinnamon-raisin, made with cinnamon chips and golden raisins, was a close second. Anything with chocolate is better in my book, so I  ate more than a few bites of the chocolate apple pie. And while I was looking forward to the butterscotch apple pie, the addition of butterscotch chips was less than successful. They seemed to separate during the baking, becoming too liquid and then coagulating when cooled…not appealing. (A bit of butterscotch ice cream topping drizzled over the apples before baking may produce a better result.)

The following pie recipe is for a classic (full-sized) apple pie. You can make it as is or add in any of the optional ‘extras’ for  an interesting twist. I’m still undecided, but I think I’m going to stick with the perfectly plain, classic apple pie, served with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, for my Thanksgiving dessert!

Ok, friends…I’m out of here until after Thanksgiving. Time to put all of my energy into preparing our feast. But I’ll be around if you’re in need of Thanksgiving meal recommendations or advice. Just shoot me a message as a comment on this blog or on The Gourmand Mom facebook page.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. I count you all amongst my many blessings to be thankful for!

Apple Pie

Ingredients

  • 2 portions pie crust dough (homemade or refrigerated store-bought)*
  • 3 pounds of apples, peeled, cored, and sliced**
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
  • 3/4 cup peanut butter chips (optional)
  • 3/4 cup golden raisins (optional)
  • 3/4 cup cinnamon chips (optional)
  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries (optional)
  • 3/4 cup dried cherries (optional)
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

* I highly recommend a homemade all-butter crust. Click HERE to my my step-by-step photo guide.

**Use a combination of apples for an interesting flavor and texture. You’ll want to use mostly apples that hold there shape when baked, liked Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Golden Delicious, or Northern Spy, but I also like to throw in a few apples that soften when baked, like Macintosh or Cortland. (I used about 1.5 pounds Granny Smith, 1 pound Honey Crisp, and 1/2 pound Macintosh in my pie.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Press one of the pie crust doughs into your pie plate. Toss the sliced apples with the sugars, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and flour. If desired, toss in one (or more) of the optional extras. Pour the mixture into the unbaked pie crust. Cover the apples with the second pie crust dough and use a fork or your fingers to seal the edges. Cut off any extra pie dough. Use a knife to cut an ‘X’ in the center of the pie to allow the steam to vent during cooking. Bake for about 55 minutes. Allow to cool for a few hours before serving.

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Cider-Braised Turkey and Garlicky Creamed Spinach

Posted on November 18, 2011 by amydeline

You may recall that my recommendation for roasting the perfect Thanksgiving turkey is to roast it in parts, rather than as a whole bird. By roasting the breast separate from the drumsticks and thighs, you can cook each part to juicy perfection, rather than allowing the the breast to dry out while waiting for the legs and thighs to come up to temperature.

If desired, you can roast a few drumsticks and thighs alongside the breast, at the same temperature and with the same seasonings. Cooked separate from the breast, the drumsticks and thighs will cook more quickly (in about the same time as the breast). Use an instant read meat thermometer to test for doneness, since cooking time will vary based on weight and your oven’s exact temperature. Aim for 160-165 degrees for the breast and 170-175 degrees for the thighs and drumsticks.

Or for a little something different, try braising the dark meat using this very simple, very flavorful preparation. The meat will become fall-off-the-bone tender and you’ll have a delicious, ready-made sauce to serve along with it! You can even braise the parts the day before and reheat on the stovetop at a gentle simmer when you’re ready to serve (though the skin will lose some crispiness with reheating).

Give it a try! I think you’ll like it!

And you can click back to HERE to see last year’s post on how to roast a turkey breast.

Bacon and Cider Braised Turkey

Ingredients

  • 8 slices bacon, chopped
  • 2 turkey thighs, skin-0n, bone-in
  • 2 turkey drumsticks, skin-on, bone-in
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 2-3 cups chicken broth
  • Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pat the thighs and drumsticks dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour over the thighs and drumsticks. In a large dutch oven pan, cook bacon over medium/medium-high heat until crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon, leaving the bacon drippings in the pan. Place the thighs and drumsticks in the pan in a single layer, skin side down. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until the skin is nicely browned. Then flip the pieces and cook for about three minutes on the other side. Pour the cider and chicken broth over the chicken. (The liquids should come about halfway up the sides of the turkey, leaving the browned skin exposed.) Return the bacon to the pan. Cover and place on the middle oven rack. Allow to cook for 90 minutes, undisturbed. Then, remove the cover and allow it to cook for 30 minutes more (to crisp up the skin and allow the sauce to reduce). Remove from the oven. Remove the turkey pieces and place on a platter. Pour the sauce into a measuring cup and allow it to cool for a few minutes. As it cools, the excess fat will rise to the surface. Use a spoon to remove the excess fat. Then, taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, as desired.

Serves 4

Garlicky Creamed Spinach

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 shallots, finely diced
  • 1 pound baby spinach leaves
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • Salt (about 1/4 teaspoon)
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • Ground black pepper

Directions

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach to the pan. (It will look like a tremendous quantity of spinach. Don’t worry…it will drastically shrink as it wilts.) Cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until all of the spinach has wilted. Add the heavy cream, parmesan cheese, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Bring to a simmer and allow it to cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, until the liquid reduces by at least half. Allow to cool slightly before serving, which will help the cream to thicken up a bit.

Serves 4

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How to Make an All-Butter Pie Crust

Posted on November 17, 2011 by amydeline

Making a homemade pie crust is not difficult to do. It just takes a few simple ingredients, carefully blended together to create a flakey, buttery crust to be proud of. And it really does make a difference!

The key to making a great pie crust is keeping the ingredients cool throughout the process. You want the butter to remain in solid form, dispersed in small pieces throughout the dough, so that when the dough is baked, the little bits of butter will melt between the flour, creating delicious flakey layers. To this end, work quickly and handle the dough as little as possible (so the butter doesn’t melt by the warmth of your hands). Start with very cold ingredients and refrigerate the prepared dough before using to allow the butter to chill before handling the dough any further. A cold work surface, such as a marble slab, is handy, but not necessary.

Some people prefer to use a food processor to make homemade dough, but it’s very easy to do by hand. The only special equipment needed is a simple plastic or metal pastry/dough blender.

This step-by-step guide will produce enough dough for two pie crusts (or one double-crusted pie). But while you’re at it, make a couple extra and freeze them for the next time you need a quick crust!

You will need:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into small cubes*
  • 1/2 cup ice cold water
  • Mixing bowl
  • Fork
  • A pastry blender/cutter
  • Rolling pin
  • Pie Pans(2)
*I use salted butter and skip the addition of extra salt. If desired, you can use unsalted butter and add a pinch of salt.

Pour 2 cups flour into a bowl.

Add 1/4 cup sugar.

Use a fork to blend the flour and sugar.

Add 1 cup (2 sticks) very cold butter (cut into small pieces) to the flour mixture. (I place the butter into the freezer for just a few minutes after cutting it to ensure that it’s extra cold.)

Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture, until the butter appears like flour-coated pea-sized pieces.

Gradually add the ice-cold water and stir with the fork until a loose dough begins to come together. You may need a little less or a little more than 1/2 cup.

You’ll know you’ve added enough water once the clumps of dough stick together when pressed.

Use your hands to pull the dough together into a ball. Remember, handle the dough as little as possible during this step.

Split the dough into two balls.

Flatten each ball into a disc-shape.

Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour, or overnight.

Once cool, roll out the dough on a well-floured surface, into a roughly circular shape, large enough for your pie pan. Periodically shift the dough to ensure it is not sticking. Add more flour under the dough, if necessary.

Once the dough is sufficiently large for your pie pan, using the rolling pin to help you transfer the dough into the pan. Carefully press the dough into the pan.

Use a knife to cut off any extra dough, leaving about an inch of dough around the perimeter.

Fold the edge of the dough under and use your fingers to press the edge into a fluted design.

Refrigerate until using. Or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for later use.

Check out those flakey layers!!

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Pumpkin Vanilla Custard

Posted on November 16, 2011 by amydeline

I call myself a runner. In fact, I’m going to run a 5k race this upcoming Sunday. Pretty impressive, huh?? More accurately, I will partially run, partially walk, and partially crawl a 5k on Sunday.

I am, in fact, a terrible runner. I can’t breathe. My muscles ache. I’m slower than a crippled snail. It’s not in my genes to be a runner. And yet I run. Diehard runners would probably call what I do “casual jogging”. But when I’ve got my running sneaks on, I feel like a runner. And so that is what I consider myself.

I started running sometime after having my second son. I was looking for a quick calorie burn to get rid of some of the extra weight I was hanging onto, without giving up my favorite foods. But what started as a means for losing the baby weight quickly became a treasured part of my day. The solitude. A chance to be alone inside my head for a few minutes. It made me feel strong and capable. It gave me peace and helped me recover a bit of the sanity that small children seem determined to abolish. And in that way, it made me a better, calmer mom.

I’d hoped to continue running throughout my third pregnancy, but fatigue and the waning evening light had other plans. Now, after months of not running (and some extra lingering baby weight), it’s been an uphill battle (both literally and figuratively) to regain my running ability.

This Sunday will be my first race since having my baby. I’m not ready. Not even a little bit. But I’m going to tie on some bells and run the jingle out of that Jingle Bell race.

I can run for 10 minutes (most of a mile) before I feel like I’m going to die. During the 5 minutes which follow, I start talking a variety of nonsense to myself. You’re a superstar. You’re strong. You can do anything! By the time I get to 15 minutes, I’m desperate and fully out of my mind. I’m screaming the lyrics to Pink’s Perfect in my pitchy off-key voice. They don’t like my jeans! They don’t get my hair! Which makes no sense since I almost exclusively wear sweatpants and keep my hair in an incredibly non-controversial pony tail. I’m quite a sight. Panting, crazy eyes, accusatory lyric shouting. Not exactly sure how I’m going to complete this race on Sunday… Ay! What was I thinking??

Run, Amy! Run!

The run will be good for me though, no matter how long it takes me, because I’ve been enjoying more pumpkin treats and apple pie (post coming soon) than any person should. Including this delectable pumpkin vanilla custard. It’s like a pumpkin pie without the crust. And it’s really good. Good enough to add a few more calorie-burning minutes to that run!

Pumpkin Vanilla Custard

Ingredients

  • 2 cups milk*
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 5 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • Pinch of ginger
  • 4 egg yolks
*Skim milk would work fine if you’d like to reduce the fat and calories.

Directions

Combine the milk, pumpkin puree, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and ginger in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking continuously so that the sugar and cornstarch dissolve. Once the mixture begins to bubble and thicken, reduce the heat. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. Gradually whisk about 1/2 of the hot mixture into the egg yolks, starting with a slow drizzle. (Gradually incorporating the hot milk into the egg yolks tempers the eggs, allowing them to slowly rise in temperature without scrambling.) Gradually whisk the egg mixture into the remaining hot milk mixture in the pot. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, whisking constantly for about 3 minutes, until thickened and smooth. Pour the custard into individual serving dishes and refrigerate until set. Garnish with whipped cream and crushed vanilla wafers.

We all enjoy an occasional pat on the back for a job well done! And as a stay-at-home mom there are no pleased supervisors or satisfied co-workers passing out the pats..only little people who need more apple juice. Urgently. So, it was such a delight to be informed that The Gourmand Mom has been awarded the Editors’ Pick Best Food Blog award by the editors of Parents Magazine. What a fabulous recognition! Thank you, Parents Magazine!

You can check out the complete list of blog award winners here.

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Favorite Thanksgiving Ideas

Posted on November 13, 2011 by amydeline

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. I’d better get my butt in gear and start preparing.

To be honest, I’d been struggling to come up with new Thanksgiving recipes to share with you. I’m just really in love with my standard Thanksgiving dishes. It’s a menu that’s evolved over the past several years and in my mind, it’s the perfect Thanksgiving feast. But, as my husband reminded me, Thanksgiving is very much about tradition.

So, this Thanksgiving, we will be enjoying what has become our traditional Thanksgiving feast, but I have come up with a few new ideas to share. Over the next two weeks, keep your eyes out for a Pumpkin Vanilla Custard, How to Make an All-Butter Pie Crust Photo Guide, Spiced Pumpkin Wontons, From-Scratch Green Bean Casserole with Homemade Crispy Onion Straws, Garlicky Creamed Spinach, a fun twist on a classic Apple Pie, and Braised Turkey Drumsticks.

Yikes! Ok…it’s probably unrealistic that I’ll be able to get all of that posted before Thanksgiving. But I’m gonna give it an honest effort. Let me know if there’s anything in that list you’re especially interested in seeing and I’ll try to prioritize that post.

In the mean time, take a look back at some of my classic Thanksgiving favorites:

Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast with Pan Gravy

Spiced Sweet Potato Puree with Pecan Streusel 

Sausage, Apple, and Leek Stuffing

Cranberry Orange Sauce 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Walnuts 

Hot Doughy Buns 

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Soupy Soup Round-up

Posted on November 11, 2011 by amydeline

Are you on facebook or twitter?

Well, what do you know…me too! In fact, I’m hardly ever not on facebook, especially now that the temperatures are dropping and we’re retreating into full hibernation mode!

Come keep me company! Click on over to follow The Gourmand Mom on Facebook or Twitter!

See you there!

And speaking of dropping temperatures, has it cooled down by you too? Got snow in the forecast? Ready to throw on your Snuggie or Slanket (I promise, I own neither.) and hibernate for the winter? Well, here are a handful of toasty soups (and chilis), guaranteed to warm you up! Enjoy!

Creamy Bacon Mushroom Soup

Pumpkin Caramel Bisque

Italian Wedding Soup

Vanilla Carrot Bisque

Chicken Soup from Scratch

Sausage, Bean, and Rapini Soup

Spicy Beef Chili

White Chicken Chili

BBQ Beef Chili

Split Pea Soup with Ham 

Cheesy Cheddar Soup 

Chicken with Matzoh Ball Soup

Sweet Potato Bisque (with seared scallops and bacon)

Baked Potato Soup

Chilled Avocado Soup (Ok, so this one isn’t going to warm you up. But it’s yuuuummmmy!)

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Creamy Bacon Mushroom Soup

Posted on November 10, 2011 by amydeline

Remember when I thought I didn’t care for soup? Then, remember when I woke up and discovered the glorious world of soup?

What a difference a year makes!

This new world is so much warmer than the old soupless world I was living in.

I like it here. I think I’ll stay.

Here’s a new favorite soup for you. It’s a creamy mushroom soup, kicked up with a punch of bacon flavor. (And bacon makes everything better, right??) Pureeing a bit of the broth and mushrooms helps spread delicious mushroom flavor throughout the soup. It’s seriously yummy. Even my mushroom adverse husband enjoyed this one!!

Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Soup

Ingredients

  • 8 slices bacon, chopped
  • 2 shallots, finely diced
  • 4-5 cups button mushrooms, quartered
  • 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves
  • 4 tablespoons flour
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • Splash of Marsala wine (optional)
  • 1/2 cup half and half
  • 1/2  – 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • Pepper

Directions

In a large saucepan or dutch oven pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the diced shallots to the bacon grease and cook for about 3 minutes, until tender. Add the mushrooms, rosemary and garlic to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and golden. Return the cooked bacon to the pan.

Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and bacon and stir to coat. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Pour the chicken broth into the pan. If desired, add a splash of marsala wine. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring frequently. It should begin to thicken as it simmers. Simmer for a few minutes, then reduce heat and add the half and half.

Remove about a cup of the soup. (Make sure to get lots of mushrooms in there.) When cool enough to safely handle, blend the cup of soup until smooth. Return the blended mixture to the pan with the rest of the soup.

Season with the salt and pepper.

Serve topped with croutons and/or bacon crumbles.

Serves 4

**For a person who claimed to be indifferent about soups, I’ve got quite a few soup recipes hanging around this site! Keep an eye out this weekend for a round-up of some delicious, warm-you-up soup recipes!!

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Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Quiche

Posted on November 8, 2011 by amydeline

I’ve discovered the long sought after secret to getting kids to eat their vegetables.

Are you ready for it?

Treat veggies like you treat treats.

If you’re tearing your hair out trying to barter with your children (two bites of green beans in exchange for a cookie) or trying to rationalize with them about how veggies are good for their growing bodies, then stop right now! You’re doing it all wrong.

Kids are clever, curious, and complicated creatures. But they are not rationale. I mean, my three-year-old believes he can become a firetruck when he grows up, if he just works hard enough. Kids are not concerned with silly things like vitamins and minerals…unless the vitamins are shaped like superheroes and taste like gummy bears.

I’m not suggesting that you should neglect teaching your kids about good nutrition. Kids should know the difference between healthy food and junk food. Just don’t treat eating healthy food like a chore. You need to speak in kid-language. And kids don’t eat things because they think it’s good for their bodies. They eat what they think is good.

The simple trick is to handle nutritious foods like the special treat they are. Show them how much you enjoy eating delicious, mouth-watering vegetables. Being good for their bodies is an added bonus they’ll appreciate when they’re older. For now, work the tasty angle. Drool over your veggies. They will follow your example. Empathize with how awful veggies are and they’ll follow that example instead.

I know it works.

I just stood in the kitchen watching my boys fight over the snow peas in my lunch, with genuine concern over who got more. They snuck them out of my dish as if I were going to cry over my missing snow peas. You should have heard the mischievous giggles as their sneaky fingers worked they’re way into my dish, snatching the crisp, green veggies, while I stood there shooing them away from my delicious snow peas. They go wild for asparagus too. And they’re pretty sure that green strawberry-spinach smoothies are a special dessert.

My kids eat their veggies because they’ve never been given the impression that they should enjoy their vegetables any less than their desserts. They know that vegetables are good for them, because I’ve told them so. But they eat them because they’re delicious.

Shhhhh…don’t tell them that some kids don’t eat their veggies. I’ve got a good thing going here!

Roasting veggies brings out their natural, delicious sweetness. Make a huge batch of roasted veggies for sandwiches, omelets, and pasta. And throw some in this fantastic quiche the whole family will enjoy!

Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Quiche

Ingredients

  • 1 deep-dish pie crust, frozen or homemade
  • 1 1/4 cup roasted vegetables*
  • 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • Salt and pepper

Directions

*To roast the vegetables: Chop any combination of vegetables into small pieces. Onions, peppers, mushrooms, eggplant, squash, asparagus, carrots, brussell sprouts, leeks, or zucchini would all be delicious. (I used asparagus, yellow squash, baby eggplant, red onion, and mushrooms.) Toss the veggies with a bit of olive oil, minced garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Arrange in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes in a 375 degrees oven, stirring every 10-15 minutes.

To prepare the quiche: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (If using a frozen pie crust, allow it to thaw in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before using.) Line pie crust with a piece of foil.  Fill with dry beans.  Bake in oven for 15 minutes.  Remove foil and beans.  Return to oven for another 5 minutes. (You can save the dried beans to reuse as pie weights.)

Scatter the roasted vegetables in an even layer in the prepared pie crust. Sprinkle with the goat cheese. Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour over the veggies and goat cheese, being careful not to overfill the crust.

Place the pie shell on a baking sheet. Bake on the bottom rack for 35-45 minutes, until the filling has set in the middle. (You’ll know because it won’t wiggle anymore.)

Allow it to cool slightly before serving.  Serve with a side of spring greens or baby spinach with balsamic vinaigrette.

Quiche will keep well in the fridge for a couple days.  You can reheat it in a 200 degree oven until warm.

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Coconut Custard Pie

Posted on November 6, 2011 by amydeline
Halloween has come and gone. Just like that. The costumes have been washed and packed away (though I think I’d put my baby in his monkey costume everyday if it were socially acceptable to do so). The candy has been picked over for the good stuff. (You know who I’m talking about, Almond Joy.) And the daily morning frost makes it feel more like winter than autumn. We’re on the fast track to Thanksgiving.
And with Thanksgiving comes one of my favorite meals of the year. Comfort food just doesn’t get much more comforting than Thanksgiving dinner. Savory stuffings, tart cranberry sauce, vegetables doused in cream, doughy buttered rolls, and pie. Sweet, delicious pie.
This recipe comes by request of a reader in search of a recipe for a graham cracker coconut crust to use for a fresh pumpkin pie. I decided to use my crust to make a seriously satisfying coconut custard pie, but this crust would also work beautifully with a fresh pumpkin coconut pie filling or any other filling you can dream up.
This recipe is written for use with a deep pie dish. If you have a more shallow pie dish, you will probably have some extra crust and custard. Spoon the extra custard into cups and top with some of the extra crust mixture for a tasty little treat!
Coconut Custard Pie
For the Crust:
  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 3/4 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) melted butter (I use salted butter.)

For the Custard:

  • 3 cups milk*
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 2 cups shredded coconut
*If you’re looking to reduce the calorie and fat content, skim milk will work just fine!

Directions

To make the crust: Combine graham cracker crumbs, coconut, brown sugar, and melted butter. Press the mixture onto the bottom and sides of a deep pie dish. Bake for 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

To make the custard: Bring the milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and cornstarch to a simmer over medium heat, whisking frequently so that the sugar and cornstarch dissolve. Once the mixture begins to bubble and thicken, reduce the heat. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. Gradually whisk about 1/2 of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks, starting with a slow drizzle. (Gradually incorporating the hot milk into the egg yolks tempers the eggs, allowing them to slowly rise in temperature without scrambling.) Gradually whisk the egg mixture into the remaining hot milk mixture in the pot. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, whisking constantly for about 3 minutes, until thickened and smooth. Stir in the shredded coconut.

Pour the custard into the prepared crust. Cool for a few hours, until set.

Garnish with whipped cream and toasted coconut or crushed graham crackers before serving.

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Snickers Caramel Apple Dip

Posted on October 31, 2011 by amydeline

Last year, I wanted to be a bumble bee for halloween. I was a few months pregnant at the time and thought it would be cute to be a big, round bumble bee. But the only costume I could find was for a “sexy bumble bee”. When did bumble bees become sexy??

So, I let the boys pick my costume instead. They picked out a cowgirl costume. It didn’t say it on the package, but it was a “sexy cowgirl” costume. I had to wear it with a pair of jeans underneath.

Seriously, when did Halloween become a holiday for dressing in expensive, provocative clothing?? I object! Bring back the cheap, plastic ET, Darth Vater, and Strawberry Shortcake masks or the homemade scarecrow, bum, and clown costumes (the funny kind of clown…not the creepy kind).

The older two boys are dressing as ghostbusters for halloween. They know the theme song. I giggle every time they sing it and wait with eager anticipation for the part when they scream, I ain’t afraid of no ghost,which follows an extended period of them singing, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.

My husband has been assigned the role of “ghost”. If I’d been thinking, I would have ordered myself a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man costume…the regular version, not the “sexy” one.

While my husband takes my two little ghostbusters around the neighborhood to collect their treats, my sister will hang at home with me and my littlest munchkin to pass out candy to the ghosts, ghouls, and miscellaneous sexy bugs who come to my door. We’ll be dining on Connecticut Supper and snacking on this sweet dip; a perfect way to use up some of those extra Snickers bars you may have on hand after tonight’s festivities!

Happy Halloween, my friends!

Have fun. Be safe. And by all means, eat more candy than you ought to. 

Snickers Caramel Apple Dip

Ingredients

  • 1 8-ounce bar cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons prepared caramel dip
  • 1/4 cup finely diced nuts (walnuts or peanuts)
  • 6-7 fun-sized Snickers bars, chopped
  • Sliced apples

Directions

Combine the cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of caramel and the chopped nuts, until well-blended. Spread the mixture into the bottom of a serving dish. Spread the remaining caramel on top of the cream cheese layer. Top with chopped Snickers. Serve at room temperature with freshly-sliced apples.

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