I don’t generally do cute, and I refuse to do cutesy. That’s why the charm of these little guys pretty much ambushed me. Just look at them. They offer just the nicest little bit of plump weight in your hand. The perfect thing to do with leftover pie dough and excess pumpkin pie filling!
Where the hell have I been? Good question. And it will come as no surprise to hear that I’ve been, you know, baking. Baking my ass off, to be precise. (Though I hasten to add that no amount of baking will ever completely rob me of the attributes for which CurvyMama was named. Have no fear.)
Making a batch of lemon bars the other day, CurvyMama realized that it’s time to make the Christmas lemon curd. A couple of friends love this stuff, and it’s an easy and homey holiday gift. It looks really cute and sunshiny on a winter day, too. So we assembled a few quick things and got to work: lemons, eggs, sugar, butter, a zester or microplane, a juicer, a double boiler, a clean bowl and a strainer. Anytime I get to use my big juicer, I’m happy. My mom has made orange juice
And by “killer” I don’t mean piled up with all kinds of nonessential stuff. No distracting studdings of nuts, chocolate chips, coconut or mini-marshmallows. No alluring swirls of peanut butter or caramel. No exotic hints of chipotle or ginger. Those things can indeed be lovely additions to brownies. But sometimes you need simplicity. You need the deepest-chocolatiest-fudgiest brownies you can muster. Yep. And for that, we have just the thing.
It’s been an interesting 24 hours in my little corner of Pie Nation. Those of you who follow along with us here know that we set up a smackdown yesterday between two identical apple pies: one baked in a paper bag and one baked the typical way, in the open, hot oven air. If you’re thinking, “What the hell? Pie baked in a paper bag?” then you need a quick refresher, which you can get from reading yesterday’s blog post. So last night was unbearably suspenseful, because
The idea of an apple pie baked in a paper bag comes to me from Barbara Mautino, the mother of one of my dearest and oldest friends, DesignerPie. From her kitchen in Los Angeles, Barbara started reading the CurvyMama blog and sharing recipes. I’ve heard of people making Thanksgiving turkeys in paper bags, but I’d never heard of baking pies in a bag until Barbara told me about it. Barbara found her recipe in a cookbook she bought in 1973, put together by the Woman’s Auxiliary to
Be honest: if you had leftover homemade caramel in your fridge, what would you do? It’s been on my mind every day: it’s sitting there! In my fridge! Just staring at me! All plump and deep-amber colored! I can’t let another day go by! I have to do something! So I did the simplest possible thing: I lined a pastry crust with the caramel, and then piled chocolate cream filling on top of that. Like a pie version of a Milky Way bar.
CurvyMama’s Thanksgiving pie-making is over, and it’s very quiet in Pie Central. The beauty of the day–bare trees against a bright blue sky–only highlights the quietness of the kitchen, with its uncluttered work table and countertops.
This little baby’s ready to make its debut: And now CurvyMama’s ready to make more pies for at-home family & friends eating. One little pumpkin has already been devoured, and there is a need for much more. Here we come, pumpkin, cherry, banana cream caramel (I’ve got to do something with that leftover homemade caramel, right?) I promise I’ll post the recipe for Caramel-Apple Lattice-Top later today!
