Goodbye Summer, Hello Pie

I know summer isn't technically over yet, as there are still 18 days until the autumnal equinox, but Labor Day definitely seems to socially and culturally recognize the changing of the seasons. This past Labor Day weekend in Colorado was simply BEAUTIFUL. Last week's cooler breezes led to a drop in temperature, registering city highs more than 10 degrees below the constant 85 pluses entered in the record books every day for the past two months, and it almost reached freezing in the mountains (woo hoo!). I had grand hiking plans scheduled for this weekend and last, but thanks to a pesky summer cold, I stayed home and took respite in my city, my neighborhood, and cozy abode just before a very busy fall begins.

Crisp and quiet mornings, no longer humming with swamp cooler and fan vibrations, led to early morning phone conversations with Mama while still under my covers. Plentiful sunshine inspired yard work and a sense of ownership, even if I'm just a longer term renter. Time to actually relax and not rush, rush, rush anywhere allowed for walks to coffee, sidewalk chats with strangers, leisurely shopping, homemade cookies, friends in the park, and more than a few movies, that all resulted in a return to whole health and a deep appreciation for each and every thing that makes Colorado my home. It's been 9 years now. Wow.

One of the most welcome additions to The Spectacular Summer of 2011 was "Family Dinner." A friend of mine invited me to join her group of weekly, home cooked, family style meals. Before I got sick, I got to host. We had two extra guests to our usual group of five and feasted on a fresh green salad, chicken kabobs, mushroom and asparagus risotto, and wayyyyyy too much wine :) What did we have for dessert you ask? We had pie. Delicious, fresh and easy, strawberry pie.

Jenni's Shortbread Crust & Strawberry Pie
Makes 1, 9 inch pie


3 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt
4 TBS unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk (freeze your white in a glass jar and save it for later!)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
large pie plate
small bowl
fork
~
2 TBS cornstarch
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 (3 oz) package strawberry jello
1 quart fresh organic strawberries (why organic? this is why)
small sauce pan
silicone spatula
knife
bowl

1. Make you crust first!
2. Turn on oven to 375
3. Add sugar and salt to your small bowl and mix briefly with a fork
4. Add butter and mix with fork until it's evenly incorporated
5. Add egg and vanilla and mix with fork again until you have a shortbread crumble that looks like this:

6. Press this crumble into your pie plate, starting in the middle and working your way up the sides until it looks like this:

7. Cook in oven for 10 minutes
8. Rotate dish and cook for 10 more minutes OR until the crust just starts to brown

9. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack
10. Now make the filling!
11. Add cornstarch and water to a sauce pan on a stove
12. Turn burner on to medium heat
13. Mix with a fork until no more clumps of starch remain and the water is uniformly cloudy
14. Add sugar and stir until boiling
15. Remove from heat and add jello

16. Mix until no more clumps remain and your pan is full of red, transparent goo
17. Set aside and let cool to room temperature
18. Rinse your strawberries, remove their tops, and cut in half

19. Place strawberries in the crust and arrange, evenly spaced and (if you like) cut side down (the pretty way)
20. Pour the red goo mixture over the strawberries slowly, letting it settle throughout the dish and not come over the edge of your crust

21. Chill for at least 4 hours
22. Serve with whipped cream!

Make a strawberry pie now before the last fresh harvests of the summer. Berry season ends soon. Then Autumn, you may come. I am rested and ready for you!

Next up is lots of weekend work, a big birthday bash, and most importantly, S N O W.

Thank you summer for so much fun. Thank you Labor Day for some much needed rest. Thank you Colorado for being my beloved home. Thank you Earth for your delicious bounty!

Okay. I'm done now. Peace out :)

Cool Treats Only, Please

It is HOT in Denver. Today was 100. When it's hot I don't like to bake. But if an occasion calls for it, I wait until the sun has gone down and the house has cooled off...

This post has been a long time coming. I put the recipe together two years ago and was originally thrilled to hear key lime connoisseur Kate say it was the "best key lime pie ever!" I'll go ahead and agree with that because it's usually a hit with everyone, even those who don't usually like key lime. And today Fletcher ate half of one himself ;) Go ahead and try this recipe - it will work at all altitudes and is as easy as pie!

Jenni's Key Lime Pie
Makes 1 large pie

1 cup finely ground pecans
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 12 squares or 6 rectangles, depending on the brand)
6 TBS melted butter
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 14 oz can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice
large bowl
rolling pin
large platter or clean counter surface
fork
large pie dish (10 inches at least)
standing or hand held mixer
medium bowl
silicone spatula

**The key to success with this pie is these ingredients: fresh pecans and Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice. Don't substitute!**

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Use a rolling pin to ground your graham crackers into a fine crumb. I like to do this on a large plastic serving platter so my crumbs don't go everywhere. You can also buy a box of crumbs but I prefer to get an arm workout buy pulverizing the corn syrup free natural version found at my favorite grocery store.

3. Add your finely ground pecans and melted butter to your crumbs.
4. Mash with fork until the butter is evenly distributed among the dry ingredients.
5. Press into your pie dish with your hands by starting in the middle and then out and up the sides. Making an even crust can take a bit of practice but it honestly doesn't matter that much.
6. Bake for 10 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before filling.

8. Beat eggs and egg whites at medium speed until well blended.
9. Gradually add milk and juice to egg mixture bu continuing to beat on medium speed until well blended.
10. Pour mixture into crust and bake for 20 minutes or until the center is almost set.

11. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack.
12. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
13. Just before serving, evenly spread with whip cream.
14. Consider garnishing with pecans and or lime slices and eat up!

For Real

So I think I'm really back. For real this time, look.

I even put on the apron again, after being convinced NOT to give it away. Thanks Lil :)


First I threw some chewy chocolate chip cookies together to take to Red Rocks for a Dispatch show last weekend, and last night I used up the last of my frozen fruit (yay for the start of growing season!) and mouth watering peach preserves. I almost forgot I had the homemade treat, made from Palisade peaches and canned by Claire and Linnea last fall, after originally eating a quarter of its contents straight from the jar with a spoon.

Yep, my mouth is watering while I type...


Anywho, go ahead and try out the recipe below. It will work at every altitude, is easy, and can be adjusted to your taste by using what ever kind of preserves, frozen fruit, and nuts you have on hand. Enjoy!


Oat Nut Fruit Bars
Makes 24

1 3/4 cup rolled, steel cut, or old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup salted butter, melted
1 cup peach preserves
1/4 cup frozen blue berries, warm rinsed and drip dried
9x13 inch pan
vegetable oil non-stick spray
large bowl
medium whisk
fork

1. Turn on oven to 350 degrees
2. Coat your baking pan with vegetable oil spray
3. If need be, coarsely chop your nuts. I needed to because I buy mine in bulk. Hint: the less chopped they are, the cheaper they will be, hence the need to chop at home.

4. Combine oats, flour, sugar, nuts, and baking soda in bowl.

5. Whisk together until all ingredients are evenly combined
6. Add melted butter
7. Use fork to blend butter into a wet mixture until no loose dry ingredients remain
8. Remove a 3/4 cup of the wet oat mixture and set aside
9. Press the rest of the oat mixture into your baking pan, making sure it's even and the edges and corners are well covered
10. Bake for 10 minutes
11. Remove from oven and spread the preserves over the partially baked base ONLY to within 1/4 inch from the edge (you don't want them to cook out and burn on the pan)
12. Spread your blueberries evenly
13. Sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup of oat mixture over the preserves and fruit
14. Bake for an additional 20 minutes or until you can see the top starting to brown
15. Cool pan on wire rack
16. Enjoy for breakfast, a snack, or with vanilla ice cream!

An Autumn Fav for Every Altitude

Pumpkin Cookies
Courtesy of Mama, a.k.a. Shelley

For cookies:
2 cups light brown sugar
1 can plain pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 large bowls
mixer (hand help or standing)
silicone spatula
short wooden spoon
baking sheets
quilon free, unbleached parchment paper (it’s biodegradable)
wire cooling racks

For glaze:
3 oz fat free cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBS milk
1 cup confectioners/powdered sugar
medium bowl
silicone spatula
hand held mixer

1. In large bowl, cream sugar, pumpkin, oil and vanilla together on low speed until smooth (don’t be scared, it will be kinda sloppy and oily).
2. In another large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together.
3. Add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the creamed mixture.
4. Blend with mixer until smooth.
5. Add another third of the dry mixture to the creamed mixture.
6. Blend with wooden spoon until smooth.
7. Add remaining dry mixture to the creamed mixture and blend until smooth (it's okay if its heavy and stiff).
8. Turn on over to 350.
9. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper.
10. Drop spoonfuls of batter on to cookie sheets. Sometimes I mold it in my hands a bit to make them more rounded and smooth.
11. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes.
12. Remove sheets from oven at let set 2 minutes.
13. Move cookies to racks to cool completely.
14. In medium bowl combine cream cheese, vanilla, milk and sugar.
15. Mix on medium speed until smooth.
16. Dunk the top of each cookie into the glaze and then let dry on wire racks (some WILL drip off so make sure you make these on a surface you can easily mess and then clean up :)

Lesson Learned
If your cakes or cookies get cracks in them it means they're too dry. This time around, my cookies simply had too much flour. Lesson learned? I didn't need to up the flour amount to 4 and 1/3 cups. Oh well, they were still FALLtastic!