my fall favorites

I suppose it is “fall” now, being that we have had weather consistently in the high 80′s for the past week.

And fall makes me think of comforting foods, prepared lovingly by my family. I was looking through some old pictures and was reminded of these foods.

So here are my 3 favorite fall foods… plus bagels because I just love them so much.

First up: My Aunt Nell’s Classic Apple Pie

Next, we have Hot Virginia Dip. Oh how I long for it…

Now for my Mama’s (Famous) Mac n Cheese (and my most popular recipe ever!)…

And now for the bagels… Oh the bagels!

Feed some friends this weekend! Happy cooking!

2 ingredients, 1 kickin’ appetizer

This recipe is one of the easiest, quickest appetizer recipes that you can make almost last minute and they’re a huge crowd pleaser. I don’t know if it was my grandma or my Aunt Linda (hey y’all!) who came up with this first, but everyone loves them.

Book club? Take these. Pot luck? You’ll be popular. For your (in)significant other? He/She’ll put a ring on it.

Okay that last one was probably exaggerating. But if anyone does get engaged after making these, I need to know immediately so I can pass them out to all male suitors in a 5 mile radius.

But seriously. 2 ingredients.

And the leftovers taste really good cold for breakfast. Just sayin’.

Sausage Pinwheels (makes 30-35 pieces)
2 9” pie crusts (store bought or homemade)
1 tube pork sausage (I like sage-flavored, but maple would be great at brunch)
Roll the pie crust to as much of a rectangular shape as you possibly can. Spread half the tube of sausage onto one pie crust and roll up into a log. Cut into slices gently using a serrated knife. Reshape the pinwheels if necessary. Repeat with the second pie crust and the remaining sausage. Bake at 375* for 25 minutes or until the sausage is cooked and the crust is light brown.

Yeah, it really is that simple.

holiday highlights

I have been in a constant state of food coma for the past few days and I’m kind of okay with it. Roast beef with Bernaise, my mama’s mashed potatoes, too many cups of coffee in mama’s new Keurig coffee machine, our traditional Eggs Benedict, turkey, endless cookies, and pie…

More highlights from the Christmas include 42 feet of Twizzlers,

the best pie crust I’ve ever made,

and an epic apron that my grandma made me!

Now, I’m digesting and snuggled up in a chair watching football and drinking copious amounts of wine. My tummy is full from my grandma’s chili and pumpkin pie. But guess where I am? No, not Virginia.

Kitty Hawk, NC – the land of the first flight and the beaches of my youth. My family has been going to the Outer Banks since my grandparents’ honeymoon back in 1957. My summers as a child were spent in Duck, Corolla, Nags Head, and other beaches out here. My grandma and mom got a deal on a silent auction beach cottage and we’re here for the week. Slowly more and more family members are trickling down in time for a big New Year’s brunch on Saturday. Be sure to tune in for pictures of babies, icicles, long-awaited seafood, and Brew Thru.

The beach is good. Amen.

orange & pee-can pie

I say pee-can. People in TX make fun of me, but that is how I grew up saying it in good ol’ Virginny. But people in VA (read: Aunt Linda) also make fun of me. In more civilized parts of the Old Dominion state, people must pronounce it “pecAAAHN”, but in the boondock Tidewater town of my birth, I picked up “pee-can”.

So if your mouth is still gaping open at my crazy pronunciation, I suggest you fill it with a piece of pie. Epiphany: perhaps this is where the phrase “Shut your pie hole” came from?

Now that I’m home at my mom’s house, where she moved after I had started college, I am surrounded by snowy fields of cattle, endless Christmas cookies, and no friends, so I turn to my true love: pie. I would now like to share with you my version of pecan pie. Before leaving Austin, this particular pie fell victim to mine and my friends’ late-night drunken munchies and it did not disappoint them. I hope you enjoy it as well

Merry Christmas to you and yours! May you have a blessed day of celebration, faith, love, and pie.

Orange & Pecan Pie (makes 1 9” pie)
1 pie crust (here’s my go-to recipe that makes 2)
1 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
juice of one small orange or 1/2 medium
zest of half an orange
2 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1 T heavy cream
1 T flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
Prepare pie crust by rolling it out on a floured bread board (the recipe above makes 2, I recommend freezing half the dough for later use and chilling the dough before rolling it). Butter a pie pan and press the crust gently into the form. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until foamy and then slowly incorporate melted butter, whisking vigorously. In a small mixing bowl, combine white sugar and orange juice, mixing well to form a thick mixture. Add brown sugar to eggs & butter mixture as well as the sugar & orange mixture, mixing well. Whisk in flour, heavy cream, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Fold in chopped pecans and pour mixture into the prepared pie crust. Tent the edges of the crust with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes at 400*, then reduce heat and bake 30-40 minutes on 325* or until done. Remove the aluminum after 30 minutes to allow crust to brown but not burn. The pie may be a bit puffed up when you remove it from the oven, but it will settle as it cools. Enjoy!

miss american pie

This week marks another challenge of Project Tasteless. Remember when I cooked meatloaf naked? Well, this time around, we’re talking “Girls who eat their feelings”.

So, other than busy with school work, how am I feeling these days? I’ll give you a hint: giddy & with butterflies in my stomach. Figured it out yet? That’s right kids — I’ve got a crush! I’ve found myself a nice, sweet, Texas boy – an American classic. I’ve been walking around with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I also happen to associate these warm, fuzzy feelings with another American classic: Apple Pie.

So I stocked up on butter and got to work making “This Boy Makes me Feel All Warm and Fuzzy Like An Apple Pie” Pie (which is actually my Great Great Aunt Nell’s recipe I’ve made my whole life.

I decided that if I was going to whole hog and eat my feelings, I might as well go whole hog on the pie and do it 100% from scratch. I decided against the store-bought pie crust and braved making it on my own. My Aunt Josette, a chef, had confidence in my pastry skills, but I’m sad to say my own mother did not. But I persevered and made what is, in my opinion, perfect pie crust (I used this recipe from King Arthur Flour).

The key to my family’s apple pie, and what makes it unique from any other pie I’ve eaten, is the use of sweetened condensed milk!

(Shout out to my friend Mary for humoring me & playing photographer!)

When you make the pie crust, it makes 2 so you’re going to want to roll out the top pie crust to cover the apples. How you design this is up to you, but if you use a straight up pie crust make sure you cut some vents into it or use a pie bird! I decided that this guy was worth the “go big or go home” attitude and went for the lattice. 20 minutes and a lot of awkward dough later, I ended up with a semi-normal looking design!

Now you’re ready to bake at 350* for 45 minutes. Be sure to line the edges with aluminum foil for the first 35 minutes so they don’t get too brown!

“This Boy Makes Me Feel All Warm & Fuzzy Like Apple Pie” Pie
For this pie, you’ll need 2 pie crusts (I used this recipe which makes 2!)
3 baking apples (Braeburn or Granny Smith are the best), peeled and sliced thin
cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 T cornstarch
1/2 can Eagles Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 egg (for egg wash)
4 tsp butter
Once you have one crust lining a buttered pie pan, place the sliced, peeled apples in the crust. Dust with a few shakes of cinnamon. In a separate mixing bowl, combine sugar, vanilla, cornstarch, and the condensed milk — do not be tempted to add more than 1/2 the can, it will be too runny! Once that is all mixed up, simply pour it over the sliced apples and cover with the 2nd pie crust, using whatever design you choose (be sure that the top crust has some vents!). Beat up an egg to make the egg wash and brush it on the exposed crust. Cut the 4 tsp of butter into small chunks and drop onto the top of the pie crust. Line the edges of the crust with aluminum foil, and be sure to remove it 10 minutes to the end of baking! This bakes for 45 minutes on 350*. There you have it, perfect apple pie! Now go eat your feelings!

pizza photo shoot & pie!

Thanks for all the sympathy via Twitter, the blog, and Facebook (be my fan!) about my embarrassing fall. The good news is that I’m no longer as sore! The bad news is that I look like I’m the victim of a vicious crime when you look at the giant bruise on my back. Good thing I’m moving out of this house with dangerous stairs and to a 1st story apartment in TX!

Well because of my fall and some stress in everyone’s life, my mom and I decided it was easier to order a pizza for dinner instead of cooking on Thursday night. I’m a fan of the local joints, but there aren’t any good ones where my mom lives (read: the middle of nowhere) so we settled for Domino’s. Lo and behold their website is running a food photography campaign for their “new” pizza (which, I will admit, was delicious). In my mom’s words, “If there’s one thing Meredith is, she’s an expert in food photography!” And even though this is a healthy living blog, let’s be honest: a girl’s gotta have some pizza once in a while! This is the photo I’m submitting!

Salad + Domino's California veggie pizza

We looked at the other photos submitted and I think I have a shot at the $500. For one, mine was taken on a DSLR and not a cell phone. And secondly, I did not try to pimp out my (non-existant) children by forcing them to eat pizza and look cute for a photo.

Fast forward to today where we packed up all of my worldly possessions into my Prius. All that separates me from Texas is tomorrow where I’ll have a goodbye barbecue with my family and then my mom and I leave bright and early Monday morning for a 1500 mile drive! For our little party, I chose the menu and decided to bring a supplemental dessert, a dessert that invokes a sense of nostalgia and is healthy food in disguise: Butternut Squash Pie.

The Phillips Family Cookbook

For Christmas 2 years ago, my grandmother compiled a cookbook with the favorite recipes of everyone in the family. It is complete with embarrassing pictures of me, my cousins, my mother, my grandparents, and everyone else in between. I looked up the recipe for Pumpkin Pie because, as legend has it, it was secretly made with butternut squash by my Great Grandmer Phillips as a way to disguise vegetables and serve them to my mother and her siblings.

Simple ingredients -- complete with the squash from my mom's garden!

My Family’s Butternut Squash Pie (makes 1 pie)
- 1 3/4 cup butternut squash purée, drained of excess liquid
- 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
Spray a pie dish with non-stick baking spray and form pie crust to fit pan (I used the store-bought kind, but feel free to make your own crust!). Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk together. Lightly brush a bit of the egg mixture around the top edges of the crust to prevent burning while in the oven. Using the rest of the whisked eggs, combine all ingredients and whisk vigorously. Once all the ingredients are completely incorporated, pour the (very liquidy) mixture into a pie crust. Bake in a 425* oven for 15 minutes, then turn the temperature to 350* and allow the pie to bake 45-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean. Allow to cool and serve with a big dollop of whipped cream

Hidden vegetable goodness

This will be eaten tomorrow at our barbecue! I can’t wait to eat it, but I will be sad to say goodbye to my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, and my little cousins. At least I’ll be back for Christmas!

Father’s Day & new recipe

Today is Father’s Day and if you are so lucky as to have your father around, tell him how much you love and appreciate him. Tell him every day. I am not able to do this, and it makes my heart ache every day.

My father passed away a year and a half ago and I’m still grieving — but that is another post for another day. Today, we’ll honor my daddy and the other amazing fathers out there.

When I was just a few days old! I can't believe he ever wore socks like that (actually, I can)

Playing Barbies with me and my brother, Hunter!

On a family cruise when I was 15... sadly this didn't translate well from the scanner and we both look kind of weird. But it is my favorite picture of us!

So now that I’m crying alone in my bedroom at 8am, let’s move on to the fun stuff… PIE!

Disclaimer: My Grandma is diabetic and we’re celebrating Father’s Day at her house with my Grandpa, so I used the sugar-free/artificial sweetener varieties of some ingredients. I usually stay away from it, but let’s all be practical and realize that sometimes you have to make exceptions and a piece of pie won’t ruin you. Should you want to clean this recipe up, there is natural pudding and you could whip your own cream.

Strawberry & White Chocolate Tofu Pie

You will need:
- 1 package silken tofu
- 1 package white chocolate pudding mix
- 1 container Cool-Whip or about 3 cups of hand-whipped cream
- 1 graham cracker crust (make your own or be lazy and buy it like me!)
- ~1 cup sliced strawberries
- slivered almonds for garnish (optional; we were out, so no dice)

Step one: slice strawberries

 

Steps 2 & 3: using a whisk or hand beater, beat the block of silken tofu until smooth. THEN add the package of pudding mix & stir together. Note: The gelatin in the pudding will make it glob up and firm up very quickly, so it is important to work the tofu first!

Step 4: Fold in 1/2 container of Cool Whip/~1 1/2 cup whipped cream

Steps 5 & 6: Transfer mixture to pie crust and smooth out. Then layer sliced strawberries to cover.

Step 7: Cover with remaining Cool Whip/whipped cream and garnish with a strawberry or optional almonds!

Let this set in the refrigerator for at least an hour before eating!

There is also a chocolate variety that I made with a package of chocolate pudding and no strawberries. I garnished with some grated chocolate on top!

Chocolate Tofu Pie

We’re surprising my family & not telling anyone there is tofu in this until after they’ve tried it and (hopefully) liked it. I think my Grandpa will be the most shocked! Based on the number of spoon licks I took yesterday, I can tell you that these are kickin’ pies. A fun treat for our Father’s Day luncheon!