Pie for Pi Day

I know this post is a few days late, but sickness and sleeplessness crept into my life (and by crept, I mean galloped full throttle).

Friday was 3/14. This whole month, really, could be called Pi month as it is always 3/14. Anyway! I decided that I needed to celebrate in some way. Really, I just needed an excuse to 'spoil' S by making his favourite dessert. (Not that I *NEEDED* an excuse, but I think it makes it more fun when there's a reason, not just excuse...anyway!)

S's favourite dessert is chocolate pudding pie.  Over the last few years, I've made quite a few of them. His REAL favourite is pudding pie tarts, not one huge honkin' one - it's mostly because then he can have the different elements in the fridge and just make them up on demand and smother them in whipped cream, but I digress.  I've made ones with cookie crust, ones with pudding mixes, ones with candles, ones with premade tart shells, and now, I think I've settled on my favourite of S's favourite: from scratch.

Back when we lived in the "Hole" I found a fantastic recipe for from scratch pudding. I always knew you could make your own pudding, but I didn't realize how easy it really is! (though, the first time I made it, on Father's Day, it did NOT firm up...I just didn't cook it hot enough or long enough)  I've made it a few times now, and I would submit for the taste it is worth dirty-ing up a pot and measuring utensils!

So! Here's my basic recipe for chocolate pudding (based on this blog post )
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups milk (the higher the fat content the richer the pudding)
1 cup fair trade chocolate chips (we get our FT from Costco!)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract (I love me some vanilla - this might be too much for some)

So, go ahead and mix the dry ingredients together and then slowly whisk in the milk.  Heat it up while stirring fairly often. (don't get it TOO hot or it'll lump up and be kinda gross) Once it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon add your chocolate and continue to cook a few minutes until they are melted and the whole mixture is thickened nicely.  Take it off of the heat and stir in your vanilla!

That's it for the hard part. Now, chill it until you are ready to put it in your pie crust.

Recipe I used for pie crust (adapted from Better Housekeeping cookbook)
Pressed in Pie Crust
1 1/4 cup flour
1 TBS sugar
1/4 salt
1/4 cup oil
3-5 TBS milk

Preheat your oven to 450 F

Stir together the dry ingredients, then add the oil.  Add the milk 1 TBS at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a ball.  Take it out and smoosh it into the pie plate (9in or so) - make sure you push is up the sides and get it relatively even all around. Poke it a few times with a fork in the bottom of the crust

Cover the crust in 2 layers of aluminum foil. Pop it in the oven for about 8 minutes. Take off the foil and bake it until the crust is golden - about 5-8 minutes.

Now! Let it cool.


Here's a picture of me starting to get the pudding together while my pie crust was cooling:

Pudding in the queue and the crust cooling

After your crust and pudding are done, put them together! I suggest putting the pudding IN the crust, instead of the reverse, but to each his (or her) own!

We topped ours with freshly whipped cream.  It was all together delicious.  I'm a little ashamed to admit that it was gone before supper the following day. 

Hope you have a marvelous Pi month! Share your favourite pie recipe here!
XO,
J

Soli Deo Gloria

Happiness is...

A few years ago, my brother was in the musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."  While, I didn't get the joy of seeing him on stage, I was able to attend his wedding that was a short time after.  Most people wouldn't catch how those things are connected. If you were there, though, you would have heard his amazing friends perform the song "Happiness" from the play.

Today, I woke up humming it. You can get it stuck in your head too if you listen to this link and skip to 1:32.  I love the song, and love the idea of it, too.  There are so many little things that happiness is!

Today, for me happiness is:
- cinnamon in coffee
- knowing I have a date tonight
- notes from my husband
- reading 'new' books to my kids (that we've had but put away to not get ruined by too little hands)
- lacy packing tape on a box I received in the mail
- being in the last half of a knitting project
- being able to do something that makes a difference ( please read through this and do the links at the bottom)
- open windows in my livingroom
- braids in curly red hair
- getting royalties for my book ( buy it here or on amazon)
- juggling balls lined up on the shelf
- supper in the tub (my equivalent of breakfast in bed...sort of)
- a teacher willing to invest in my son
-shining sinks
- off switches on loud toys
- decluttering


The list really could be endless.  What's on your list today?

xo,
J

Soli Deo Gloria

Making the Impossible Possible

So, remember when I was talking about how I believe that God gives us impossible tasks? (This post)
I've been thinking about it more. Life in general, for my family, has felt like, as often times been, one of those impossible tasks.

We've had countless nights where we're up at least 5 times from 11PM - 6AM.  Days where Buddy can't help his aggressiveness and needs to be restrained. Days where S gets new marching orders at work, but not necessarily HOW to do them. Days where little pearly whites are trying to make their painful debut. Days where dishes seems to be breeding in the sink. Days where sock pairs just are not to be found before they need to be on little feet.  Days where it is easy to lose sight of the eternal.

But then, God stops the world from whirling out of control. He reminds us that he's been stepping with us and shows us how the next minute, the next hour, the next day is supposed to go. He makes that impossible task possible.

For us, that has been approval for 20 hours of respite aide for our son. It has been one of our friends volunteering to come over and just be an extra pair of hands and eyes for the kids so I can tackle the mountain of dishes and rid the floor of dust bunnies - or even more basic, get a shower and read God's Word. It has been helpful emails from teachers. It has been long-standing relationships with friends far away. It has been tear-filled prayers with brothers and sisters in Christ. It has been books that help us consider holiness more. It has been a Valentine's gift from my parents that gives S and I a fun form of communication.

Impossible, but, by God's grace, doable.

How are you, in Christ, doing the impossible?

xo,
J

Soli Deo Gloria


Also! exciting: I got my first check in the mail from the sale of my book! Hooray!