Peanut Butter Pie

What good is making your own peanut butter if you don't have a fabulous peanut butter pie recipe to go with it?  I have been making my own peanut butter for about three years, and I love to make this pie every once in a while.  I say 'every once in a while' because this pie is so rich; a little bit goes a long way.  That said, I usually take this pie to parties because it would be too much for my family to eat by ourselves in a reasonable amount of time.

If you are going to make this pie, I would recommend using AB's peanut butter recipe that can be found on Food Network's website.  If you click the 'printable recipe' link below, the peanut butter recipe will be included.  Also included in the link is AB's roasted peanut application.  I have never roasted my own peanuts for this pie, mainly because I can't find raw in-shell Spanish peanuts anywhere.  I buy roasted salted Spanish peanuts from The Sunspot, and they never fail to produce a scrumptious peanut butter.

This peanut butter pie recipe is fairly straightforward.  There are a lot of steps, but the end result is well worth it.  The hardest part is waiting for the pie to cool, which you have to do a couple times during the process of making it.  The wait is well worth it as the reward is a smooth pie, that's not too sweet, where the peanut butter is actually the star.

Peanut Butter Pie

Recipe Courtesy Alton Brown

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
6 1/2 ounces chocolate wafers
1 tablespoon sugar
5 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1 batch homemade peanut butter
3 ounces powdered sugar, approximately 3/4 cup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the wafers and 1 tablespoon sugar. Process until the wafers are fine crumbs. Melt 3 ounces of the butter and drizzle into the crumb mixture. Pulse to combine. Press this mixture into the bottom, up the sides and just over the lip of a 9-inch metal pie pan. Place in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

After the crust has cooled, place the peanut butter and remaining 2 ounces of butter into the bowl of the food processor. Process for 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and process for another 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until smooth. Carefully spread the mixture into the pie shell and return to the oven to bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while preparing the topping.

Place the heavy cream into a heat-proof bowl and microwave on high just until simmering, approximately 30 seconds. Remove the cream from the microwave and add the chocolate. Make sure the chocolate is completely submersed in the cream. Allow to sit for 2 minutes. Gently whisk until the chocolate is melted and combined with the cream, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.

Spread the chocolate mixture over the pie and chill in the refrigerator for 1 1/2 hours before serving.

Homemade Eggnog

It was quite a happy holiday season at my house thanks in part to this homemade eggnog.  We had a Christmas cookie swap one Friday before Christmas, and I thought it would be fun to make some eggnog to drink with our cookies.  We were not disappointed!  This is the best eggnog I have ever had the pleasure of drinking, and I don't think I will ever buy another carton of eggnog again.

I had made Alton Brown's eggnog a couple years ago, but I made the cooked version.  This year, with my fear of consuming raw eggs all but gone, I decided to try the uncooked version.  I made sure to buy my eggs from a reputable source, The Sunspot, and found the freshest eggs they had.  The uncooked version is definitely the way to go; which makes sense, since that is how eggnog was originally made.  It isn't as heavy as store-bought eggnog, and it has a much more delicate flavor.

The eggnog was surprisingly easy to make, too.  I made the first batch this year with Eva, and it was ready before we knew it.  I think we were both expecting it to be a bit more complicated than it actually was.  All in all, it is a simple and delicious recipe and a real crowd pleaser.  Perfect for holiday entertaining!


Eggnog
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg whites

Directions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Add the milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg and stir to combine.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to soft peaks. With the mixer still running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Whisk the egg whites into the mixture. Chill and serve.

Granola Bars

I am a creature of habit.  Ever since I started riding my bike to work, I had been sticking to same the same eating schedule during the day.  I had Spiru-Tein for for breakfast, a Tiger's Milk bar on my morning break, and a some fruit for lunch.  It was the perfect amount of nourishment to get me through the day.  Then, disaster struck, The Sunspot stopped carrying Tiger's Milk! 

It turns out the Tiger's Milk bars were being made with high-fructose corn syrup, which is a no-no for Sunspot standards.  I was sad, but I understood their position.  I had been eating Tiger's Milk bars since I was a kid, and I always bought them at The Sunspot.  Since I didn't have the Tiger's Milk bars anymore, my eating routine was altered as well.  I didn't have that morning snack, and the piece of fruit for lunch wasn't enough to get me through the day.  I needed a solution!

I remembered the Good Eats episode 'Power Trip' where Alton Brown made granola bars from scratch.  I found the recipe and decided to give it a try.  I purchased all the ingredients from The Sunspot and went home to make the granola bars.  The application was quite easy, and I had a fresh batch of granola bars in no time.  For the bars pictured above, I used dried pineapple as my fruit of choice.

Then came the first test.  How did they taste?  Scrumptious!  The bars have a wonderful flavor and a nice crunch without being too hard.  Then came the second, and more important test.  Would it be enough to get me through the day?  Yes!  The bars may be small, but they are quite filling; and with my fruit at lunch, it is plenty of food to get me through the day.  What a relief.

I am so happy with the granola bars.  For one thing, I learned to make something new from scratch, which is a lot of fun.  Secondly, it is always nice to know what exactly goes into the food you're eating.  Third, I get to have pineapple granola bars, which is something I've never seen at the store, and they are delicious.  Fourth, they are a lot cheaper to make from scratch than buying a box at the store, and taste better, too.  They are also nice to carry in a backpack during hikes or long bike rides.  What a treat!

Granola Bars

recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups

1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup

3 ounces sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup

1 1/2 ounces wheat germ, approximately 1/2 cup

6 ounces honey, approximately 1/2 cup

1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed

1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit

Directions

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

End of Summer Party

This past weekend, Valta hosted the first annual 'Sunspot End of Summer Party' and it was a rousing success. After we got there, Valta showed us around and we immediately spotted the paddle boat peacefully floating next to the dock. Valta said we could take it out and Angela and I were all over it. Valta got some life jackets for the kids and we were off.
Ari got to steer and he even paddled a bit himself. We went all over the pond and then decided we had better let someone else have a turn. It was tremendous fun, and Ari and Piper really enjoyed themselves. As we were waiting for the food, the kids took advantage of the hill that lead from the house to the pond and played on it for quite some time.

Ari had a blast rolling down the hill; and watching him brought back a lot of memories from my childhood. This was the first time he rolled down a hill successfully; we tried to show him how to do it on the hill at Jackson Morrow Park last year, but he just couldn't figure it out. He got it on his first try this time, and it was hard to get him to stop so that he could come eat dinner. After we ate, we were treated to the musical stylings of the Eleventh Hour.

It was an awe inspiring, rocking good time! It's always fun to watch them, and they put on a memorable show. The kids were dancing, spinning, and running to the music; they were having the time of their lives.

It was a wonderful party, and I was happy to hear that Valta said she would like to host it every year. Looks like the start of a tradition to me!

Looking ahead

My tomato plants have really taken off since the last time I posted about them. I enjoy seeing them grow and it got me thinking about how much fun it will be when I start seeing little tomatoes starting to take shape. The seeds we planted are of the Wisconsin 55 variety from a Seeds of Change packet we got at The Sunspot. I didn't know what to expect from the Wisconsin 55, except that they were going to be red, so I looked them up on the internet. Here is what I found...

Bred by the University of Wisconsin in the 1940s, the Wisconsin 55 is an excellent and versatile tomato with great flavor and lots of sweetness. Smooth, large tomatoes are about 8 ounces and as pretty as can be. Plants are extremely productive and thrive in a wide range of growing conditions.

Reading this got me excited and I know I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch, but I can't wait to start harvesting tomatoes!

Jar Story

I asked for a spice rack for my birthday a few years ago and Angela delivered twofold. She gave me two nice wooden spice racks that held twelve jars apiece; each jar adorned with its own custom made label for the herb, spice, or spice blend it held lovingly inside. I soon realized that twenty-four jars wasn't enough to meet the demands of all my spicy needs, so I purchased some tin containers that I velcroed on the inside of one of my cabinet doors (a technique I learned from Alton Brown). I have a total of twelve tin containers, so that gives me a total of thirty-six containment units for my herbs and spices.

I always buy my dried herbs and spices in bulk, except for those darned grains of paradise. The cost of bulk is so much less than buying prepackaged, it sometimes feels wrong to get them so cheap. It doesn't hurt that The Sunspot has the best bulk section around, so my needs are almost always met, except for those darned grains of paradise. But anyway, I need the spice jars and tin containers so that I don't have a bunch of loose plastic twist tied bags piling up in my cabinets full of herbs and spices; that was getting out of hand.

Over the years, my glass jars have begun to show signs of their age, not the jars so much as the lids. They have flip top lids, one side flips up for shaking and the other flips up for pouring. To my chagrin, the flaps have begun to break off from overuse on the ones I use the most. I decided it was time for some new jars, so I met with Ang at The Sunspot a few weeks ago and we looked in the Frontier catalog for some replacement jars. They didn't have the exact same jars I had, but I found some that I thought would fit the bill. She ordered six for me, so I could see if they would fit, since each shelve of my current spice rack holds six. If they did fit, I would have her order me eighteen more.

Just as I was hoping, the six fit perfectly and she ordered me the rest. I picked them up on Sunday and am in the process of making labels for my new jars. I've also taken this opportunity to shake things up a bit. Since my tin containers are smaller than my glass jars, I am going to transfer some of the higher volume herbs and spices that I use from tin to glass. I'm quite excited about it. I'll post a picture of my new look spice racks once my project is complete, but in the meantime, you'll just have to settle for a picture of my fancy new jars. Aren't they pretty?