Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

A little while ago I was looking in my freezer and found a pie crust in a ziploc bag.  Since I didn't recall making pie crust in the recent past (in fact I realized that this had been made last time I posted about pie crust, which was December!) I decided I'd better see if it was still good.  It was!  Delicious, in fact.  And I made what has long been my favorite pie.  Or one of my favorite pies.  My mom swore off making this pie when we were little.  We had it once or twice and then she declared it "too rich."  But it isn't, not really.  I adjusted the recipe a little so it would be not quite as gooey-buttery (but still, quite sufficiently gooey), and so it would have a little more fluffiness and less oiliness.  Slice it thin and serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it's as delicious as you could wish for.  The top forms a chewy, caramely crust that is UNBELIEVEABLY good, and then there is the soft buttery filling beneath, and the melted chocolate, all underpinned by that delicate, flaky bottom crust.  It's just the thing to cheer up a cold day.  Like today.

We call it Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie.  Or my brother (he always has to be contrary; he called our cat Pussywillow "Ivan" for the duration of that cat's life) calls it "Chocolate Chip Cake Pie."  I don't know why.  I suppose it's really "Toll House Pie," but what information does that give you?  None.  Or worse, misleading information.  Do you have pay a toll to eat this pie?  Or live in a house?  You do not.  Or maybe it takes its toll on you by making you as big as a house.  But don't think of that; just think of:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

1 unbaked pie crust (use this recipe)
½ c. butter, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. flour or so (about 5 oz.)
1/4 t. salt
2 T. milk
1-1 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips*

Heat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars; add eggs. Beat in vanilla, flour, and salt. Blend in milk (filling may look a little lumpy), then stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour filling into prepared pie shell and smooth it with a spoon. Bake for about 50 min. When done, top will be dark golden brown and filling will be set except for the very center, which may jiggle when you tap the pan. Serve warm, with ice cream.  Or it is also quite delicious cold, sliced and picked up and eaten with your hands like a cookie.

*If you want, you can stir the chocolate chips together with the dry ingredients first, before adding them to the egg mixture.  This is supposed to coat the chips with flour and make them less likely to sink to the bottom of the pie.  But it doesn't really work that well.  Maybe it helps a little, but they still don't distribute throughout the pie evenly.  Anyway, I kind of like the two-layer look myself, so I usually don't bother.

(Another pie, warmer.  More chocolate chips in this one.  I like both ways.)

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Two months back in the middle of March

The last couple days it's been cold and miserable (even snowy).  Every year this last surge of winter catches me off-guard, even if I think I'm prepared for it.  Kenneth reminded us what Dad would say if he were here:

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill.

You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak, a cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March."

--from Robert Frost's "Two Tramps in Mud Time."

But before this we had a couple days that were warm but windy.  Warm enough to go outside and enjoy the Springtime (before it left us. Forever?).

What on earth is going on in this picture?

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Hyacinths

The hyacinths in my yard are pretty this year.  I like the yellow and orange ones.

Aaaand . . . I don't have anything else to say.  Except wouldn't it be awesome if you got to heaven and God told you, "All of your bad behavior was caused by hormones and all of your good behavior was a result of your own good choices.  Frankly I'm amazed you weren't grumpy MORE often!"

I'm not holding my breath for such a conversation, though . . .

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Oh, this is futile!

Daisy, 6 months old                 Malachi, 6 months old

"If I could just . . . open . . . wide enough . . . "

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A yellow petticoat and a green gown

from Mother Goose, The Original Volland Edition (1915), edited and arranged by Eulalie Osgood Grover and illustrated by Frederick Richardson

Daffy Down Dilly

Has come to town

In a yellow petticoat

And a green gown.

Do you know that nursery rhyme?  I told you there would be more daffodils!  These are also from Red Butte Garden.  (That links to their "What's Blooming" blog, but frankly you are going to get better pictures here: they need to update more often.  I wish I could have that job!!)  I couldn't get over how many there were!  And all SO beautiful!

"You probably don't need to get a picture of EVERY variety," said Sam (gently) as I stopped and exclaimed over each one. :)  But there were so many different kinds!  Look at the one on the top left, with the extra-long nose!  (I think it's actually called a "throat," but I prefer "nose.")  And the tiny ones at the right of that top row are so sweet!  I also like the frilly one on the middle left, and isn't the opposite-colored one (2nd from right, bottom row) interesting?  And I like the snub-nosed orangey ones on the botttom right.  All of them are SO lovely!  I do love the traditional gold ones best, I think, but I love them all.

The gold+green color combination is so stunning en masse!

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Gardens

We went to Red Butte Garden over the weekend and it was SO BEAUTIFUL.  The daffodils were amazing in their quantity and variety, and the weather was just perfect for strolling around and enjoying the sunshine.  We all loved it.

Flower Birthday Cake

Daisy eats a twig

The boys probably played on this hill for over an hour.  They were pretending they were roller coasters going up and down a track.  They'd stand in a line, and the boy in back would push the other ones down the hill.

Malachi-Roller-Coaster chugs up the track

Daisy gets Daddy

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Lemon Quinoa with Asparagus and Feta

Spring weather means it's time for asparagus.  I can't get enough of it.  Roasted to tender crispness in the oven, folded with Hollandaise sauce into crepes, added to vegetable lasagne---everywhere you use it, it elevates the dish into something magnificent.  So here's what you should make for dinner tonight.  It's one of my favorite recipes, and best of all it only takes 20 minutes to make.  You'll love it!

Lemon Quinoa with Asparagus and Feta

3 c. water
1 1/2 c. quinoa
1 t. salt
2 t. chicken bouillon (or use broth for liquid)
2 bunches asparagus, trimmed* and cut into bite-size pieces
olive oil
kosher salt
parmesan cheese
4-8 oz. feta cheese
2 T. lemon juice

1. Combine water, quinoa, salt, and boullion in large pot and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until all of liquid is absorbed, 15-20 min.
2. Meanwhile, spread asparagus pieces in single layer on foil-covered cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle with kosher salt.  Roast in oven at 500 for 10 min. or so until asparagus is tender and just starting to brown on the tips.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
3. Stir roasted asparagus into quinoa.  Add crumbed feta cheese and lemon juice.  Stir until combined.

This is good served with poached eggs and a fruit smoothie.  Mmm, a perfect dinner!

*To trim asparagus, just hold it in your two hands and break it.  It will break naturally where the stem gets more tender.  Discard the lower half (or save to make stock for soup) and use the tender upper half to roast.  The upper part will still be long enough to need cutting, if you want to make bite-size pieces.

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Little Flower and Big Scoop

Any commentary I add ends up sounding too effusive.  But . . . isn't she just darling?

Malachi reassured me, "But the backhoe won't scoop ME up!  Because backhoes don't scoop up boys!  They only scoop up dirt!  Not boys!"  (But notice he still didn't want to venture into that scoop.)

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Spring flowers

Ballet arms (balancing?)

Too sunny!

She scoots now---not quite crawls---to get things that she wants.  She shows GREAT INTEREST in the world around her.

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Daffodils

The daffodils (one of my favorite flowers) are spectacular right now.  I'm sure you'll be seeing more of them from me, so be forewarned.

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Lark Rise to Candleford

I can't recall if I've mentioned Lark Rise to Candleford here before?  It's a period series on the BBC (We started watching it on YouTube, but the first couple seasons are on Netflix so we've been getting it that way lately).  It's SO good, and I just keep liking it better the more I watch it.  The characters are so interesting and multifaceted---Sam and I keep marveling at how they manage to be funny and exasperating and loveable at the same time.  It seems like many times, characters in a movie are trying so hard to be complex and dimensional that they end up just being unfathomable, and you stop caring about them because you can't understand them.  These characters, by contrast, may fit into stereotypical roles (the strong-willed spinster, the loveable drunkard, the overly-principled idealist, etc.), but they surprise you---not the easy way, by simply doing the opposite of what you expect, but by enlarging your understanding of their motivations and ideals.  They end up being very sympathetic even when they are infuriating. 

Robert and Emma Timmins.  This guy IS my brother-in-law Steve.  I can't get over it.

Queenie.  I love her.

Lady Adelaide

Laura

Dorcas.  Yes, she's Lydia from Pride and Prejudice.  But her role is SO different in this show.  I really, really like her.

The other thing I love about this show is that it is absolutely GORGEOUS.  The English countryside is lovely, of course, and the whole place has this LIGHT to it that is just exquisite.  Serene and peaceful and luminous.  It transports me back to my Idyllic Youth when I was in England---I can remember specific golden mornings with that quiet, misty air and the unbroken green of the meadows trailing off beyond the road.  So beautiful.

If you like Pride and Prejudice and Cranford (and who doesn't?) you'll like this series.  Try it out.

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