Tuesday, November 30, 2010

PW's Pumpkin Cream Pie

Day: 472
High Temp: 60F

For the past five years or so, Tom and I have spent every Thanksgiving with his family in California. This year, given time and financial restraints (mostly due to the wedding) we stayed in Austin. We were fortunate enough to be invited to one of Tom's fellow playwrights homes for the big meal, and oh did we feast. There was a fried turkey, dressing, pureed parsnips, a mashed potato bar, carrot soufflé, mashed sweet potatoes... shall I go on?

What about dessert, you ask? Well there were pies, of course. My pies to be exact. Now, normally I shun the pumpkin pie. Pie making can be tricky, and since I don't love pumpkin, I just skip it. Also, since we are normally with family, I just figure that if someone wants pumpkin badly enough, they know to make it themselves, or just enjoy my pies. This Thanksgiving, however, we were going to be with friends. And as we were guests, I figured it was important to represent the holiday classic with some sort of pumpkin dessert. Enter Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond's Pumpkin Cream Pie. Go ahead, check it out.

Her photos are beautiful, her writing witty, and her recipe spot on. Mine turned out exactly as promised, even though it was my first time every making a graham cracker crust. And the addition of lots of cream, rich vanilla pudding and whiskey make this a pumpkin pie I will definitely go back to.

Stay tuned... later this week I will try my hand at food blogging for the first time when I post pics and recipes of the classic Becker chocolate cream pie and my personal favorite pie, raspberry cream with streusel topping.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Welcome to Marble Falls

Day: 468
High Temp: 55F

The weekend before Halloween, Tom and I took a day trip out to a little town northwest of Austin called Marble Falls. The plan was to pick pumpkins, tackle the giant Texas-shaped corn maze and eat some pie at a famous diner in town.

First off, the pie. It was around 12:30 when we arrived to the Blue Bonnet Cafe, and there was a fairly impressive line waiting for us. Thankfully it moved quickly, and within 15 minutes we were next in line for a table, standing in front of a large bulletin board plastered with locals and (Texas) celebrities who love the pie. Among these Blue Bonnet enthusiasts, I spied Dubbya and Rick Perry. Not very appetizing, but we persevered.

This place is so retro chic.
Thinking that it was too early in the day to just order pie, Tom and I shared an omelette and some biscuits and gravy before deciding on the pie we would eat. It is a tough decision, too, because Blue Bonnet offers at least a dozen options each day, many with a mile high mound of meringue. We stayed classic, though. Tom opted for the apple, while I got the cherry.

Warm pie. 
The verdict? It was okay.  As a person who flatters myself to think I make a pretty damn good pie, it is kind of hard to impress me.  The crust was okay, but both the apple and cherry fillings seemed to be from a can. Maybe I am not being fair to Blue Bonnet... perhaps one of us should have went for a meringue, but honestly, I don't love meringue. Ultimately I would rather have a slice of my own apple pie over the stuff at Blue Bonnet any day. That said, I would be happy to stop back by Blue Bonnet to try some of the tempting cream pies they have next time I am in Marble Falls.

Once we had our fill of diner food, we made our way just a few miles out of town to Sweet Berry Farm, where the Harvest of Fall Fun was in full effect.  Tom and I perused a really great sample of different varieties of pumpkins before finally making a decision.  I love to go for the bumpy, mottled looking pumpkins, and here they were to be found in abundance.  Ultimately, we chose one big round classic Jack, two pimply, spotted Lunch Ladies, a small, smooth, ghostly white Lumina and a green stripy Caveman gourd.

The bounty of the Harvest. We'll take one of each!

With our pumpkins tucked safely in the back of Elly, we then traipsed over to the other side of the farm to partake in the legendary Texas Corn Maze (check out a birds eye view of the maze here- you have to click on Hay Field Maze 'Texas' because their website is a little odd and won't let me link directly to it.)

Each entrant is given a ticket with 12 locations that correspond to 12 check points check points hidden within the maze.  The locations are actual spots in Texas, and are located roughly within the Tsxas maze where you would find them on an actual Texas map. the object is to find all 12 and punch your ticket with the little hole puncher waiting at the check point. Each station has a different shape, so the workers can tell if you actually completed the task. If you do, you win a can of pop. It was hotter than it should be at the end of October, with temperatures in the upper 80s, so Tom and I didn't complete the maze. But we did have a lot of fun trying.

Corn stalks... as high as a giraffe's eye at least, I would say.
But then again, everything is bigger in Texas. 

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thankful that you all are still reading this blog...

I am not even going to bother with the day count, because this is a short and sweet entry to let you know that there is more to come. I know I have been MIA from the blog, and I am hoping to make amends really soon. I have some fun posts planned, including:

-A recap of our trip to Marble Falls, TX, which included pie at a place where Dubbya (eww) has eaten many a slice and a huge Texas-shaped corn maze
-Some wedding recap blogs, including some of the photos which we just recently received from our photographer.
-LH does Thanksgiving. I will be baking 4 different types of pies this year, and am excited to share my family recipes for both Chocolate Cream and Raspberry Cream pie. There will be photos! And maybe also my recipe for sweet potatoes, you know, to help you plan for Turkey Day 2011.

So, hold tight. I am hoping to get some of these posts up this weekend!

PS- Because I can't help but rub it in a bit... today's high temp is projected to be 86F. Looks like I will be baking with the windows opened for sure.