Today's Breakfast

This was breakfast this morning..........



a homemade baked chocolate side pie. Oh my! It was buttery. It was chocolatey. It was perfect!

So I made my very first pie crust from scratch a couple of nights ago. I know! I'm almost 40 and I've never done that before. I resoved earlier this year to cook more from scratch which brought me to making my own pie crust for the pot pie I was making. The recipe I used however made enough dough for two crusts. So this dough sat in my fridge a couple of days while I figured out what to do with it. I was not going to throw it away. No way! So I decided to use it to make a long time but seldom enjoyed favoirite of mine-the chocolate side pie.

Growing up in the South, side pies were often on the table at family gatherings. Most of the time they were fruit side pies but ever so often there would be chocolate side pies. Oh, the joy! It always felt like a special gift to get to enjoy one of those.

The thing is they are incredibly easy to make. I may start making them more often.

Want to make your own?
Cut circles out of your pie crust. ( I was able to get 4 out of the crust I had. You'll need to re-knead and roll in between.)
Fill with a mixture of cocoa powder and sugar.
Dot with butter.
Fold over and crimp edges with a fork.
Sprinkle sugar lightly over top.
Bake at 425 degrees until done-This was trial and error and I think they took about 12-14 minutes total to cook. I just kept checking on them.
Enjoy!

Mini Caramel Apples

Ooh, I do love caramel apples. I really do. But I'm also not really a fan of messy food. And caramel apples rank right up there at the top of the list for messy foods. So, as much as I love them, I rarely make them and therefore my kids rarely get to have them. I thought I'd surprise the girls with a special Friday afternoon treat. The apples were on sale at Kroger this week. The caramels were on sale at Walgreens. Caramel apples were the obvious choice but I decided to dial down the messy factor and made mini caramel apples instead. When you can eat them in one bite the messy factor is greatly reduced.

Okay, so overlook the not so prettiness. I'm no Martha Stewart. But they were fun to make and fun to eat.

Wanna make your own mini caramel apples? Well, they're easy peasy. Okay, so that doesn't count the decorating. That is up to you and your abilities or lack thereof in my case.

You'll need:

2-3 apples

1/2-3/4 bag of caramels melted

lollipop sticks-I got mine at Michaels

Use a melon ball tool to cut mini apples out of apples.

Dry apples well with paper towel and insert lollipop sticks.

Melt caramels in microwave safe bowl on 1/2 power. I do this a minute at a time to begin with and then go for 30 seconds until it's done.

Dip mini apples into caramel and put on waxed paper to set.

If you want to drizzle with chocolate, melt chocolate chips and drizzle over the apples. Sprinkle with jimmies if you'd like.

Place in refrigerator until chocolate hardens.

Happy Eating!

Contaner Garden Update: Fresh Veggies

I'm finally starting to get to enjoy some fresh veggies from our container garden. Just over a week ago I was able to pick my first tomato. And then this weekend these were finally ready to be picked: a bell pepper, two tomatoes, 4 jalapenos and 5 cherry tomatoes. I ate fresh tomato slices on my sandwich for lunch today. So delicious. I'm thinking about planting some lettuce and spinach seeds soon so I can enjoy those this fall. I love being able to walk onto my back deck and pick fresh veggies.

Bread Pudding

As I mentioned in my previous post, The Man wanted bread pudding for his birthday instead of a cake. I was all for that. It's been far too long since I made it. We were given this recipe by a server at the Gumbo Shop in New Orleans when we were there back in 1998. It's your basic recipe but oh, so good. I did alter the sauce recipe.

Bread Pudding:
1/2 stick butter
2 cups milk
1 qt. cubed day-old french bread
1/2 cup cubed pineapple
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs, beaten


Combine milk and butter in a saucepan and heat until butter is melted. In a large mixing bowl combine bread, pineapple and raisins. Add milk and butter. Mix and let stand several minutes to let bread absorb liquid.

Combine sugar, salt and spices. Add beaten eggs and vanilla and mix well. Pour over bread-milk mixture and stir until well mixed. Pour into well-greased(I use a spray) 1 1/2 quart baking dish or black iron skillet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve warm with sauce.

Sauce:

1/2 stick butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk with tsp vanilla(original recipe calls for 1/4 cup bourbon)

Cream together butter and powdered sugar. Slowly beat in milk/vanilla mixture until it forms a sauce.

We added a little ice cream for good measure. Enjoy!