Chocolate Buttermilk Pie

Many thanks to my friend Erin for sharing this recipe from one of her friends.  I know some people question why you would post what you're having for dinner on social media, but if she had not posted her craving my taste buds would have forever missed out. 

I love to make dessert on Sunday afternoon. Something about my day of
rest equates to relaxing in the kitchen creating dessert.  Yesterday provided this much needed rest after several long (enjoyable and full, but long and exhausting) weeks, a wonderful day of worship and choir practice with the family.  I probably should have taken a nap like my husband, but did I mention this is restful for me?  Instead, I threw together this amazing little pie. 

Chocolate Buttermilk Pie

1 9" or larger unbaked pie shell
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c sugar
3 eggs
1/4 c flour
scant 1/3 cup cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 c + 1/8 c buttermilk

Cream sugar and butter.  Beat in eggs, then flour, cocoa, and salt.  When well combined beat in vanilla and buttermilk. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until pie is firm and doesn't jiggle in the middle.  Allow to cool completely, or as much as you can stand before you just can't wait and you have to slice into it. 

A couple notes:  We enjoyed it with a spoonful of heavy cream drizzled over the top.  (My Dads milk cow calved and he brought me 5 gallons of fresh milk the other day.  We skimmed the sweet cream right off the chilled milk, yummy!) Of course, it would have been fabulous if we'd taken the time to skim and whip the cream, too.    

I also happened to have a Nilla Wafer crust in my pantry so I didn't make my own crust.  The Nilla crust worked with great result.  When I use my own crust in the future, I imagine I will need to cover the crust so it doesn't overbrown. Take that into account.

I had to find a photo of this pie online (http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/pie/chocolate-buttermilk-pie.html, her recipe looks very similar and she obviously had more self control) since the only thing remaining here is the empty pie plate.  I think when you try it you will find it difficult to get a photo before it disappears too. Enjoy!  
  

A Cool Salad for a Hot Summer Day

I love to cook, but extra heat in the kitchen when the thermometer reads almost 90...no thanks.  While the crew played in the pool I determined I felt like something refreshing and cold we could eat out on the grass. Sandwiches are always easy, and I love a good sandwich stuffed full of meat, cheese and veggies; however, not today. I really felt like something with a bit of zing.  Vinegar, something with vinegar...enter the bean salad. 
I had a college roommate who loved three-bean salad.  She would make a huge batch and eat it every day for lunch for at least a week.  I haven't made it in ages and it sounded perfect but with a few modifications. 

 

 

This was the result. I wish I had garden tomatoes. A fresh sun ripened tomato would have lent itself perfectly to the harmony of this salad. Alas, only a few, very small green tomatoes peak from behind the leaves of my plants. Enough longing for a great tomato or two or three.  Here is the salad.  A simple 3-bean, corn, fresh basil, lovely red onion, perfect for a hot summer day, salad.  The crew enjoyed it on the front steps rather than the grass; however, the grass was only a minor part of the plan so I rule my effort a success. 

I found the inspiration for this salad over on theclevercarrot.com.  (The picture below also came from that site and of course looks more beautiful than the one I snapped with my phone.)  If you want to try the original recipe find it under honey balsamic 3 bean salad.  Hope you will enjoy both versions on one of your hot summer days.

 

 

My Honey Balsamic 3-Bean and Corn Salad

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 10 mins
 

Serves: 6

 

Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

• ¼ c. balsamic vinegar
• 2-4 tsp. honey (depending on your taste, I use raw honey)
• 1-2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• ½ c. coconut oil

Salad

• 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed & drained
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed & drained
• 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can sweet corn, rinsed and drained
• 1/8-1/4 c. pickled banana peppers, chopped
• ¼-1/3 c. thinly sliced red onion
• ¼ c. fresh basil, rough chopped
• salt & pepper

Instructions

1. To make the vinaigrette, add the balsamic vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard to a bowl (or your food processor or blender). Whisk well to combine. Slowly add the olive oil, and continue whisking until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
2. For the salad, combine all ingredients except salt and pepper in a large bowl.  
3. Drizzle with vinaigrette and toss well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

 

German Chocolate Chunk and Heath Cookies

Sunday Afternoon Desserts

Sunday afternoon is our time to try new dessert recipes. We don't get to this little adventure every Sunday, but we made it today.  The crew assembled in the kitchen to embark on the road to culinary success and the result was a soft, semi chewy, oozing chocolate and bits of Heath deliciousness cookie.

I must admit I don't love to make cookies. People make them all the time because they are simple and quick. I find brownies or cobbler to be just as quick, unless you cook only one batch. Today we cooked only one batch and put the rest of the dough in the fridge for tomorrows enjoyment.  (It may make it to the oven, or just be eaten by the finger-full from the bowl. Only tomorrow will tell the tale.) 

Without hesitation, I can say this recipe will happen in my kitchen again. I only used half of the bag of Heath this go around; next time I will use the whole bag for just a little extra toffee. I do love toffee and trapped in a cookie it talks to the taste buds in a marvelous fashion as it mingles sleepily with the chocolate.  

The family consumed most of the first batch and would have completed the task had I not drawn the line. We don't all need two-a-days for the next week. We will reserve those for Mom, she needs them anyway.

Happy cookie baking and eating, or eating and baking, whatever order you prefer.       

 

 

German Chocolate Chunk and Heath Cookies

 Inspired by: dreamingallday.com (The picture comes from Dreaming all Day. The original version has coconut instead of Heath, and we made a few other changes. Theirs look fabulous as well. In fact, I may have to visit again to find more treasures. Thanks for the inspiration.)

Prep time:  15 mins

Cook time:  10 mins

Total time:  25 mins

 

Serves: 48

 

Ingredients

• 1 stick Butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 large Eggs
• 2¼ cups All-Purpose Flour
• ½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• Pinch Salt
• 2 Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate Bars
• 1/2-1 bag Heath chunks 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a stand mixer or large bowl, blend butter, coconut oil, both sugars, vanilla and eggs. In a medium bowl, sift flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture into the butter mixture and blend until combined.
3. Break chocolate bars into various sized chunks. Stir the German chocolate chunks and Heath chunks into cookie mix.
4. Drop tablespoonful dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, 12 cookies per sheet, bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a baking rack.

Baked oats

Baked oats? If you have never eaten baked oats, you have yet to be my friend. I love baked oats! I don't make the same thing very often, but baked oats are the exception.  They taste delicious, they don't make extra dishes, you mix them up in one pan, you can customize the recipe to your liking, and they are ready to eat by the time the kids are out of bed and dressed.  Did I mention you mix them up in the same pan they cook in? Fabulous!
In contemplating the joys of baked oats I can't help think how beautiful life is when it is simple. Have you ever been to the doctor and they ask you to fill out a medical history? There is an enormously long list of things to check yes or no.  I am grateful for my genetics every time I have to read through this list. I have hay fever. That's it. The rest of the list I can draw a line down through the "no" column. I realize we aren't all blessed with this particular line, but we are all blessed in some wonderful way. We all enjoy at least one simple thing in life for which we can be grateful.
Simple. Can life really be simple and still fulfilling? Can we really take that one simple thing and use it to help us enjoy the things that really aren't so simple and beautiful. Perhaps. It takes a little more thought to live that way.
When we had our last two, and yes, they came at the same time, I felt like I was an experienced mother. I had given birth three times previous. My children were amazing! Were they perfect? Of course not! (After all, their mother is the essence of imperfect.) Nonetheless, they were astounding little miracles and these two new people we just as miraculous.  However, who knew two at a time could be so exhausting? In case you didn't know, two at a time can be excruciatingly exhausting.
The first time I took them anywhere but to church or to the doctor, I felt pretty well drained, but the sunshine and good conversation at a small backyard barbecue was very inviting. Three mothers in attendance had twins, varying from age 5 to age 21. They had experienced what I was experiencing, or so I thought. During a simple conversation I was blindsided by one of those mothers. She said, "If you think you're tired now, just wait a few years. It gets way worse!"  
I am not a crier. I was once even accused of lacking all emotion after destroying my ankle in a high school basketball game. Emotion has always just stayed inside. Twins changed that. I bit my lip after hearing this comment and suffered through the next couple thoughts before I could make an excuse to leave the conversation. Another twin mom noticed my state and pulled me aside to where I could cry my eyes out unnoticed by the party. How could anyone say such a mean thing? I was surviving, I loved my new little amazing people, but I was wiped out. Beyond exhausted. Could she really mean it? If she was really correct I would basically be dead as they got older.
Once I found the ability to staunch the tears and my mind cleared from the storm, I made a promise to myself. I would do my best to never say such a mean thing to another mother or another human being. She did not understand what I was going through even though she had given birth to twins. She was simply not me. 
Even if we have experienced similar situations to others around us, we are not them. We do not live in their head. We do not dream their dreams or experience their pain. All we can do is help them enjoy the simple gifts and blessings they do have. In fact, if we really need to help them enjoy something simple, make them a pan of baked oats. Help them remember the simple joys of life, like not needing to wash a mixing bowl. 

BAKED OATS

This is great for breakfast or a busy weeknight, served alone or with milk or cream poured over the top.  The regular or quick oats change the texture, so try both and decide which you like best.  (I prefer regular.)  I usually add fresh or dried fruit, etc. when baking or serve fruit for topping individual servings at the table.  You can even try it with pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon. Make it your own, over and over again.  

 •          ½ cup oil

•          ¾ cup packed brown sugar  

•          1 Tbsp cinnamon  

•          2 eggs 

•          3 cups regular or quick-cooking oats, uncooked          

•          1 tsp baking powder 

•          1 tsp salt        

•          1 cup milk      

•          1 tsp vanilla     

•          ¾ cups chopped nuts
         

Mix all ingredients together in a 9x9” pan.  Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.