peanut butter pie for those you love

Jennie, one of the food bloggers I occasionally read, lost her husband last week.  He loved her peanut butter pie and it was on her list to make it for him.  But life kept getting in the way, and the pie did not get made.  Then he died.  Jennie asked everyone to make a peanut butter pie in his memory today and to hug those you love, long and hard.  

I do not know Jennie.  I have heard good things about her and hers from the virtual community of bloggers and twitter.  But I know about not getting the list fulfilled.  We had a friend who was murdered and I had promised him a guacamole sandwich with homemade bread and homemade guacamole.  It did not happen before he was murdered.  That was how little time we had.

Make this pie or another pie, but do something on that list for those you love.  And give them the biggest, hardest hug you can.  Like eight or ten seconds long.  You may think that is short but it gives you time to hold on and for them to be held.

Peanut Butter Pie

Note:  adapted from Jennie's blog that I linked to above.

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I make mine from scratch or you can use 8 ounces of cookies, oreo type)

1/4 cup melted butter

1 cup heavy cream

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup creamy-style peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar sugar

1  14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Balls

Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well.  Press mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan or pie pan.  Put in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.  I used a whisk but if you wish to avoid the work out, use a stand mixer or a hand mixer.  Store in the refrigerator until needed.

Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl and cream together.  Cream in the powdered sugar.  Add the condensed milk and vanilla.  Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream.  Once the whipped cream is incorporated, fold in the rest.

Pour into the prepared pie pan.  Garnish with cookie crumbs, if you have leftovers, and peanut butter balls.

I even made single serving sizes.  

This was the look on my Beloved's face when he tried the first bite.  

Go make something on that list for those you love.  And give them a nice, long, hard hug.

adult apricot cherry beverage

I was reading the blog Tartelette the other day and she described a cocktail that sound incredibly refreshing.  It has been very hot here.  We have had two weeks of 99, 100, 101,....  Yes, the humidity is down but when it is that hot, it is just hot.  In the shade, with a cool beverage and a bit of breeze, it is not bad.  Not in the shade, no breeze, a cold beverage is vital.  We finally went grocery shopping so I got the makings for a lovely cold beverage.  I am not sure it is the same as Tarelette's because I did not look up the recipe.  It may be close.  It may be not.  But it is lovely.

Adult Apricot Cherry Beverage

1 apricot

6 cherries, pitted

1/4 cup rum

1/4 cup simple syrup (plus or minus depending on your taste)

soda water

ice

Put the apricots and pitted cherries in a bowl or blender.  Mush them up together.  Add the simply syrup and mush some more.  Add the rum, and mush some more.  I mixed in the soda water at this time to make the beverage eaiser to strain.  Strain over ice.  Add more soda water until the glass is full.

We used a blender, so the beverage was cloudy.  If you just mulled, it would be clear.  Feel free to change anything you wish but it is really lovely sitting and chatting during the heat of the day.

fig and bacon salad

I normally take salads to work for lunch.  I need something that is not too high in carbs that will not play with my blood sugar otherwise I crash early afternoon no matter what I eat.  Or quantity of what I eat.  It is very frustrating.  It is all related to adrenals that are out of wack because the pituitary is out of wack.  I have found recently that salads work well.  Sometimes yogurt but my favorite sandwich (peanut butter and jam) is really a no go.

I could eat the same salad every day but what I put on it is not seasonal year round.  So I have to change what is on it.  I took the idea of the bagon wrapped fig appetizer and made it into my salad.  I actually made one for my Beloved at the same time.  I got that text message of it was soooooooo good.

Fig and Bacon Salad

1 to 2 figs per person, dependent on size

1 to 2 piece of bacon, dependent on how much you like bacon

romane lettuce

grated asiago chees

pine nuts

honey mustard vinagrette dressing

Put the bacon in a skillet over medium high heat and cook until brown.

While the bacon is cooking, slice the figs and add to the skillet.  You want to saute them and get a few brown bits if you can.

Remove the bacon (keeping cooking the figs), and crumble up.

Put enough lettuce in your lunch container or plate for one person.  Add the figs and bacon.  Sprinkle a bit of grated asiago cheese over.  Sprinkle pine nuts.  Dress with the vinagrette.  I use a light hand but I just do not like a lot of salad dressing ever (yes, I always order it on the side and usually do not even come close to eating half).

I put the lid on this, put it in my bicycle bag, and the refrigerator when I got to work.  It was lovely.  It was so good I could have eaten a whole other salad!

strawberry lemon sorbet for when the heat index is 116

I finally got lemons and strawberries in the same place for sorbet.  This tastes more like I would think a strawberry lemonade would taste like, that is if I were to drink one.  I am not a big lemonade fan so I have to do mine other ways.  This is one.

Strawberry Lemon Sorbet

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

juice of three lemons

10 ounces frozen strawberries

In a medium saucepan, put the water and sugar.  Bring to a boil and boil one minute. 

Put the strawberries in a blender conatiner.  Pour the sugar syrup over and blend for about 1 minute.  Pour in th lemon juice, and blend for about 10 seconds more.

Freeze in your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions or put in a large freezer proof container and stir every couple hours until almost solid.

This is very refreshing.  Especially when the heat index hits 116, 114, or 112.  Welcome to my current life!

beans, squished or not squished (sometimes referred to as lady beans)

I realized yesterday when I was posting about tostadas, I appeared not to have written my bean recipe down.  What I mean by bean recipe is my go to recipe when we wish to eat beans.  We could eat beans in some form everyday.  I squish them and they become refried.  Whole, they are a good filling.  I know when I have not had enough beans!

My stove top looks like the picture a lot!  Most days actually.  

Lady Beans

Note:  You can use any type of bean in this recipe.  I usually head for the a dark bean but I have used cannelli.  Or half cannelli, half black or rio zape.  I like good beans so I usually order from  Rancho Gordo and cook them myself in my slow cooker.

16 ounces cooked beans

olive oil (a couple tablespoons)

1/2 onion, diced

4 clove garlic minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

double finger pinch of smoked sweet paprika

double finger pinch of ground anch

doulbe finger pinch of ground chipolte

In a skillet, over medium heat, put the oil.  Heat for a few minutes and add the onion.  When turning golden, add the garlic.  When the garlic starts to turn brown, add the salt, pepper, ancho, chipolte, and paprika.  Mix well.  Add the beans.  Heat through.  Squish them if you want refried beans.

Totally addictive!