Procrastination and Banana Cream Pie

The first thing I do whenever I learn that I have guests coming over is check the ice cube trays for dog hair.  When we renovated a little cottage in SE Portland ten years ago, I always stated that a painting project wasn’t done until a dog hair landed in it.  And apparently, the same goes for pie dough.  Because as I was rolling out my piecrust yesterday morning, I pulled out two dog hairs.  One was two inches long with a curve (Maya's) and the other hair was shorter and finer (The Assistant's).  Today, as I was scrolling through my pictures I found that there was The Assistant’s hair sitting on the edge of the pie dough.  Do you see it there, towards the left of the dough?  I wonder how many dog hairs I ingest in a week? I must live in a billowing cloud of black dog hair, so I sanitize my kitchen counters everyday and hope for the best.

I made a banana cream pie yesterday for dinner with My Kid, that I’ve been procrastinating on for at least ten years.  He used to tell me over and over how it was his favorite.  And I would read a few recipes and buy a few ingredients and then get conveniently busy.  But, yesterday with Maida Heatter’s piecrust recipe and Martha Stewart’s banana cream pie recipe, I dove in with confidence backed up by two strong cups of coffee.  I was thrilled with my baked piecrust.  This was my third attempt this week with the crust and I feel like I’m starting to get the feel for it.  So I propped up my cooling piecrust in my south facing kitchen window and took pictures of it.  Isn’t it pretty?

My pudding came together under ten minutes and then I folded the chopped up banana into it.  It tasted just like it should.  Then I posed it for some more pictures in my kitchen window, pulled out another dog hair that landed on it, and pushed a piece of plastic wrap on it and tucked it into the fridge. 

 After dinner, I whipped the cream, spooned it on top, and took a few more pictures before I shared it with My Kid.  I told him how I had meant to make this pie for the past ten years, since it was his favorite. Only to have him inform me that no, banana cream pie is not his favorite; my Bavarian Banana Cake is his favorite dessert.   Ok, good to know. I’ll send him a copy of my recipe.  But in the meantime, I’ll enjoy another bite of my banana cream pie!  

Banana Cream Pie 

from Martha Stewart's New Pies & Tarts

Baked pie crust

1/2 cup granulated sugar--I used vanilla sugar.

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

2 cups milk

4 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 ripe bananas, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

chocolate curls, for garnish (optional)

Whisk the egg yolks together in a medium bowl.  Prep bananas.  

Whisk together the granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.  Add the milk and whisk together over medium-high heat.  Don't step away from the pan.  Keep stirring until it thickens.  It takes a little less than 10 minutes.

Slowly pour the thickened milk into the egg yolks while stirring.  Then pour it all back into the pan and cook over medium, whisking carefully, until it begins to boil.  Remove from heat and stir in the butter until it melts.

Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a clean bowl.  Fold in bananas.  Pour it into your crust.  Put plastic wrap on the surface and put it into the fridge.  You can refrigerate it for up to a day.  The flavor deepens over time.

Right before you serve the pie, whip the cream.  Chill your bowl and beaters.  And then whip the cream and add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla.  Taste and adjust flavoring to your preferences. Pipe  the whipped cream onto the pie or spoon it on top.  Garnish.  Serve.

The Assistant adores baked goods, even pie crust!

Bouquet of the Week: November Beauty

chocolate cosmos

Today, the sun came out and lit the autumn foliage on fire.  I went outside with my camera to capture the moment and I noticed that the chocolate cosmos were still blooming.  So, I grabbed my snips and picked some blooms.  I decided to use my three favorite bottles that I picked up at a garage sale a decade ago.  I know.  I really like these bottles.

I also picked a japanese anemone seed head and a stem of purple beautyberry.  And I laid three fiery Kousa dogwood leaves in front of them.  Then I snapped a few shots.  

purple beautyberry

An old Listerine bottle adds character to this bouquet.  

I caught The Assistant playing innocent after sniffing the chocolaty scent of the chocolate cosmos.  

It was a beautiful day in the garden with The Assistant!

My Crumbly Disaster

This is a bit embarrassing.  

Here is the last ugly slip of evidence of my first attempt at Maida’s pumpkin pie.  We ate the rest.  Yes, I said we.  My Pirate was more than happy to take a warm four inch slice of pumpkin pie with a dollop of freezing cold whipped cream and give me ‘feedback’.  Oh yes, he took one for the team; and again this morning with a cup of coffee.

My first attempt at Maida’s piecrust was a crumbly disaster because I didn’t sift the flour before I measured out my flour for the crust.  No, I sifted it after.  That resulted in approximately 2 extra spoonfuls of flour in my crust.  And that threw everything off.  I refrigerated my crust overnight to help distribute the moisture through the crust and everything.  But, when I tried to roll it out on my brand new pastry cloth.  Half the crust mixture fused itself to the rolling pin and the other half crumbled everywhere. 

With a soft cussing whimper, I tossed it back into a bowl, while My Pirate turned up the volume on his football game.  I forked in more water until it was almost a gummy mess.  I rolled it out into a crackling mess, threw it into my new pie pan, and pressed it in and patched it until it almost resembled a piecrust.  Then I proceeded to finish making my pie.  When I pulled it out of the oven, it was puffy and smelled fantastic, fringed with my ugly little crust.

I let it cool for a fifteen minutes and then I served it warm.  And we ate it greedily while the dogs begged with drool dripping around their muzzles.  And I felt happy.  

P.S.  I’ll give you the recipe when I figure it out!

As Easy As Pie

Last week, my neighbor/taste test guinea pig sent me this note. 

I have a great idea if Charlie ever is hankerin' for a pie. 

Start with a graham cracker crust. Then melt some dark 

(70+%) chocolate and whip in a heavy cream. Layer 

about a quarter inch on the crust. Add a chocolate mousse 

filling, then top with marshmallow cream. Put under the 

broiler until golden brown. Yum!

It sounds great, but I don’t know the first thing about baking a real pie.  Which is a shame, considering that pie is one of my favorite desserts.  So I purchased Maida Heatter’s Pies & Tarts cookbook.  And I’m really glad that I did.  Maida’s warm encouraging voice comes through her recipes and she teaches you her secrets and tricks. 

I have decided to bake one pie a week until the first day of spring.  Seventeen glorious weeks of pie!  But don’t worry about my waistline; I’ve already enlisted my friends to help me eat it.  My Pirate doesn’t like pie…or so he claims right now!  We’ll see how he likes Maida’s pies. 

Here’s my rough draft list of the pies that I plan on making, but not in any specific order. 

• Rum pie
• Coffee buttercrunch pie
• Black bottom pie
• Black bottom pecan cream pie
• Blueberry pie
• Blackberry pie
• Pumpkin pie
• Lemon meringue pie
• Key lime pie
• Colorado high pie
• Savannah banana pie
• Coconut cream pie
• Frozen peanut butter pie
• Chocolate mousse pie
• Creamy coconut cream cheese pie
• Date pecan pie

So, let's get started!  

Even The Assistant approves.

My mother taught me that cooking is an act of love—and a beautiful, mountainous escape.  

                                                                                     –Maida Heatter

Nineteen Library Cookbooks and a Clean Kitchen

Tonight, as I picked up my 8 massive cookbooks off the checkout counter at the library, I watched the librarian’s eyes squint into a dirty look like she smelled bad cheese.  I smiled briefly, cheeks reddening, and whisked my pile of books out the door before she could comment.  This was my second trip this week to pick up a massive pile of cookbooks.  She’s on to me. 

I go a little crazy once the rainy season begins.  And after the driest summer in recent years, the rain began to pour the day after Monica’s wedding like someone had turned on the faucet.  And this year, I didn’t have my normal temper tantrum at the return of the rainy season.  I just felt relieved that my plants would get some moisture without raising the water bill even higher.  And I could almost hear my plants singing in the rain along with the tree frogs. 

dinosaur kale

Every winter I choose a cookbook or two and cook my heart out.  This keeps me out of trouble and repels the winter blues, because how can you be sad when you are making kick ass food in the kitchen.   And I tuck all of my soups, braises, stocks, and stews into Gladware boxes with artist tape labels describing the contents and stack them in our massive freezer.  And we eat this treasure trove when I’m busy in the garden.  It’s a great system and Charlie hasn’t complained yet. 

borage blossom

Now, I normally try to hide my winter cooking binge, because it’s a bit unseemly.  But, its so much FUN!  The clerks at my favorite grocery stores know me well and simply ask, 'What ya makin’ now?' Charlie never knows what he’s coming home to at the end of the route.  For instance right now, I have a five-pound duck unthawing on my counter to make Duck a l’Orange.  I’m in a retro sixties mood. What can I say?

But, this year, I’m going to share my winter cooking storm with you.  So buckle up.  It’s going to be a wild ride!