Key Lime Pie

Mexico. When I take a bite of this pie, that's where my imagination takes me. I hear the mariachi band playing, the maracas shaking, and the colorful, ruffled skirts swaying to the beat. If you, like me, want a tropical vacation without being able to take a week away from a life, this pie may just be for you.

Key Lime Pie

I used canned whipped cream so you'll just have to imagine a fluffy little cloud in the middle

Ingredients

• 4 large egg yolks - if you are unsure how to separate the yolk and white, enjoy this tutorial
• 5 limes
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 pie crust - I made my own found here
• optional: whipped cream, 

Directions

1. Grate and juice the limes. You will need 4 tsp of lime zest and 1/2 cup of lime juice.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the lime zest and egg yolks until green. Whisk in the condensed milk until smooth, then whisk in the lime juice.
3. Cover the mixture and set aside to thicken for about 30 min.
4. Bake the pie crust if it is not precooked then pour in the filling while the crust is still warm. 
5. Bake pie at 325 degrees until the center is firm, but slightly jiggly (such a fun word to say), about 15 minutes. Allow to solidify in the fridge if you're the patient type, or if you're like me, devour immediately. 

This recipe comes from the cookbook Cook's Illustrated Cookbook.

The Baby Diaries: Hospital Stay

I had a baby.

I rocked pregnancy. I rocked labor. And now I had a newborn baby to care for. 

When I was pregnant, it seemed that everyone had a piece of advice. Most of it was unsolicited so I just smiled and nodded. It fell mainly along these lines: "Don't expect to sleep at night...or during the day...really, just don't plan to sleep," "He will cry inconsolably for hours and hours and hours," "Each outfit will only get a few hours of wear before the poo and spit-up make an appearance...and that goes for your own outfits too," etc. Sure I was told that he'd be really cute and I'd love holding him, but that was rarely the focus of conversation. I was starting to wonder if having a baby could really be worth it. 

I'm tired, but not in the way I expected. I'm tired of people solely depicting the hardships of being a new mom. I'm angry, but not for the reason I expected. I'm angry that people don't talk much about the sweet moments of parenthood. They mention the funny: I knew having a kid would grant me funny stories, but I didn't know about the sweet. Maybe it's because many of the sweet moments have an almost sacred feel, but I wish I'd known that they'd happen so frequently. My goal is to share ALL of motherhood: the sweet, the exhausting, and the things I learn along the way. 

Maybe you know/knew exactly what to expect with your first baby and think that I'm overdoing it. If so, you likely had plenty of experiences with babies before your own. That is not my story. I'm the youngest child of 5 and I'm the first to have a baby. I babysat some, but had no idea what to do with babies so I didn't enjoy it. This post is for people with a more similar background to me, or anyone really, who wants to know what makes being a mom worth it. 

Sawyer is already 2 months old, but I want to start at the beginning. Thankfully, this is possible since I write in my journal every day. I write his age, his milestones, our routines, and my feelings. I haven't missed a day since we got back from the hospital (I am unabashedly tooting my own horn at that) and while Sawyer is currently only 2 months old, I've already referenced it several times. 

Things you should know before reading The Baby Diaries: 

1. My entries will be blunt as I think it is ridiculous that our culture leads us to be embarrassed over our bodies doing what they were created to do. I'll make a point not to be overly graphic, but there are a lot of things that I wish people would have told me that happen during childbirth or with a baby that they held back due to embarrassment. 

2. This is MY story. Yours will be different, but you likely have some similarities. For example, becoming a mom has been a very spiritual experience for me, but that may not be the case for everyone. 
3. There will be some things I won't share, particularly if it involves someone else, like my husband. Some of these experiences are very personal and I think justice can still be done for you, dear reader, in simply knowing that there are things that I, a very open writer, see as too dear to display to the public. 

Here we go.

Quesadillas

My family has a million variations of this recipe depending on how much time is available. It can be made with just cheese or the works. This recipe is for the works, but feel free to manipulate it as you see fit.

Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons oil (I used olive, but any will do)
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1 (15.5 oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (10 oz) can corn, drained
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
•  tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
• cooking spray or butter
• optional toppings: sour cream, guacamole, salsa, hot sauce

Yield: 6 medium quesadillas

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. 

2. Stir in onion and cook until softened.

3. Stir in beans, corn. 

4. Add sugar, salsa, lime juice, rice, and pepper flakes. Mix well. 

5. One at a time: Warm up a skillet over medium heat. Spray the skillet with cooking spray. Place a tortilla in the skillet and sprinkle with cheese (more = better in my opinion). Top the cheese with the bean mixture then place another tortilla on top. Flip once the cheese is melted and the tortilla is golden. Cut like a pizza. 

Multiple: Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray, then compile multiple quesadillas on the sheet using the above steps. Broil until the tops are golden.

Alternative: Only put the mixture on one-half of a tortilla and fold the tortilla like a taco (this is what I did).

6. Consume with joy

Movie and Book Review: Week 3

No spoilers! These posts are written to help those who are debating whether or not to read/watch these titles, not to spoil them. 

Movie: The Way Way Back - PG 13

This movie made me cringe. The main character, Duncan, is so painfully awkward that there times when I wished I could just close my eyes. Painful as it was, I appreciated this movie's realism and consistency of characters. I believed them. It's one of my husband's favorites so if you're willing to shed a few tears, check this one out.

Summary: Shy and unpopular 14-year-old Duncan is joining his insecure mom and her loud new boyfriend (Steve Carell) on a beach vacation. His soon-to-be-step-dad, doesn't think much of Duncan and expects him to improve himself on this trip. While there, Duncan finds an outgoing group of misfit adults who love his overly literal mentality and recruit him to help them work a water park. Along the way, he learns who he really is and the family is forced to face some unpleasant realities.

First lines: Trent (mom's boyfriend) to Duncan: On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you think you are?
...Duncan: A 6
...Trent: I think you're a 3. You know why I think you're a 3? You know what would make me say that?
Duncan: No.
...Trent: Well, since I've been dating your mom, I don't see you putting yourself out there bud, meeting kids you own age. And from what your mom tells me, you just seem content to hang around her apartment. Is that a fair assessment? Are you just happy to not do anything, cause damn, to me that is a 3....So what do you say, let's try to get that score up huh? Aim higher than a 3?


Book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell 

I am haunted by this book. Not by the typical terrors, being ghostly creatures and the like, but by how honestly it spoke of human nature. It is the longest book that I have ever read and I have no doubt that I will read it again. And maybe I'll read it again after that. It's my opinion that an author's goal should be to make the reader grow to love at least one of the characters, thereby making the book a much more personal experience. This book not only made me love one character, but I grew to care about every. single. one. The way this book is written is to be completely objective. It shares the rationales behind each character's actions as well as other characters' thoughts about that action. It brought me to understand characters with an unexpected depth, which also opened me up to stronger emotional reactions to their choices. Vices make their appearance frequently as do their opposing virtues and honest consequences are revealed.

If it weren't so long, I'd want this book in schools. It shares the southern side of the Civil War story from the viewpoint of an entire community which goes from riches to rags as a result of the war and the following Reconstruction. As a nation, I feel that we have closed ourselves off to this side of the story and as a born Virginian who (dare I say it) had family members fight for the confederacy, I appreciated this view being shared. As I felt the devotion with which slaves and owners were bound, my eyes opened to what slavery really meant for the south and I realized how one-sided we view it today. I began to understand what brought men to form the Ku Klux Klan (NOT why it still exists in towns like the one I grew up in which I think is a disgrace), as well as how poorly Blacks were reintegrated into society. There are several things about society today that I found unstated reasons for in this text and because of that, I encourage every one to read it.

Summary: Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of a wealthy plantation owner, must become much more than that when her beloved Georgia is destroyed in Sherman's March. Only her fire for life and selfish nature keep her alive, but at the expense of everything else she holds dear. 

First line: Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.

Thanksgiving Sandwich

I wish Thanksgiving happened everyday. Except for Christmas - that one can stay. I love everything about Thanksgiving - the focus on gratitute, the focus on family, and the focus on food. Growing up, my siblings and I made sure that we had at least 4 big turkey dinners a year since one was not enough. Nowadays, I'm on my own and am too intimidated to attempt to cook a turkey, but the craving remains. This sandwich, this glorious, God-sent sandwich is the solution. It can also be made after the big day to use up leftovers.

Thanksgiving Sandwich

One day I will learn how to take pictures of food that will make the viewer's mouth water. For now, please just trust that's it's good. Darn good. 

Ingredients: 

• 2 slices of bread
• 1 box of stuffing mix 
• 1/4 cup or 1/2 stick of butter
• 2 1/2 cups of water
• 1 can of your favorite cranberry sauce 
• turkey (I recommend that this be higher quality. We are imitating thanksgiving dinner after all) 
• mayonnaise

Directions:

1. Cook the stuffing according to the package directions. This takes about 5 minutes.
2. Spread mayonnaise on one slice of bread. Layer the cranberry sauce, stuffing, and turkey on top. I used thin slices of the cranberry sauce, but if using the kind with berries, the equivalent is 2 tablespoons. I prefer a thick layer of stuffing and 2 slices of turkey. 
3. Consume with delight

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

I have a dream. This dream is to become a first-class homemaker. Is that weird? Either way, there are a few things that symbolize the accomplishment of this goal to me. 1. I learn how to keep a clean house so that guests don't send me into panic mode. Last time I left this to my husband while I was at work and I came home to guests on the same couch as my flaming red bra... 2. Learn how to fix stuff - not Tim the Toolman Taylor stuff, but hemming jeans, bedazzling a plain wall, that sort of thing. 3. Become an expert cook. I want to be that mom that when guests come, they take seconds...thirds...sixths! Maybe not sixths since then everyone would need their own pan, but you get the point. Somehow, making my own pie crust has become important to this vision as it seems especially domestic (in a good way). So I gave it a try.

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Ingredients: 

8 whole graham crackers

5 tablespoons butter, melted and COOLED
3 tablespoons sugar

And that's it. 3 ingredients. Brilliant, right? 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Break up graham crackers into fine crumbs (either by putting them in a plastic bag and pounding them senselessly, or in a food processor for about 30 sec)
3. Add butter and sugar to the crumbs while still in the bag or food processor and blend them

      4.  Sprinkle mixture into a 9-inch pie dish and pat it down using the bottom of a measuring cup                until the crumbs are in an even layer along the bottom and sides of the dish

      5.  Bake on a middle rack until crust smells delicious and is beginning to brown (13-18 min)

This recipe comes from the cookbook Cook's Illustrated Cookbook.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

Making this pie. Signing for a package. Slipping on ice. Ordering a pizza. Begging your family for a puppy (unless you're like me and continue for hours, complete with convincing pictures of potential adoptees). What do these all have in common? They take less than 5 minutes.

This, and similar pies, are my go-to for last minute dessert. Uh oh, signed up for a potluck but forgot to make something? Uh oh, it starts in 10 minutes?! Uh oh, it takes 5 minutes to drive there?!! What are you to do?!!! Make a pudding pie.

Here's the goal: Make a pie in 5 minutes.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

I used canned whipped cream which melts in  minutes, so excuse the lack of embellishment

Dave, our goldfish, is pretty much a professional photo bomber

Ingredients: 

• 1 pie crust (I used my homemade graham cracker crust found here, but any kind will do) 
• 1 5.9 oz package of instant chocolate pudding mix (or if you have longer than a couple minutes, try the richer flavored bake and serve)
• 2 1/2 cups of milk

Fun for kids: Turn into dirt pudding by using oreo pie crust, adding a thick layer of oreo crumbs to the top, and sticking gummy worms inside.

Optional ingredients: whipped cream, Heath bits (seen sneaking into the picture above) or other candy bits, and caramel sauce. 

Directions: 

1. Follow directions on pudding mix.
• Pour milk into a bowl
• wisk in instant pudding mix
2. Pour into prepared pie crust (if homemade, bake first) 
3. Add toppings (optional)
4. Allow to sit until it thickens. I ate it after about 5 minutes, but it's best chilled.

*I made this pie 4 days ago and it tastes exactly the same as the first day, but the crust is a little soggy.  

Make this yourself and let me know if you achieved the goal!