S'more Pie: Take Two

Back on May 14th, 2008 I posted a pie without a recipe or a link to a recipe - it was an attempt that didn't quite work out and I hadn't gotten another chance to test out a new version.  My brother has not let me live this down. He pretty much brings it up every time we talk.

In general, I just wasn't all that inspired to give it another try, but then I had the Snicker's Pie at the Great Lost Bear and found my chocolate filling. That, along with  having my company holiday potluck today, gave me enough reason to make a second go. (Oh  - and can I say my company's Christmas potluck includes a fresh raw oyster shucking station and a pound of local shrimp is the parting gift? I love Maine. )

The tart was a big hit at the party -  it turned out exactly how I wanted, chocolately without being too much like cake or pudding and a perfect balance of flavors.  And so after a year and a half of waiting,  here it is.

Merry Christmas, Big Brother.

S’more Pie

Makes 8 to 10 servings

For crust: 8 to 9 graham crackers,  finely ground (about 1 cup) 5 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1/4 cup sugar

For filling: 1 1/4 cups (10 oz.) heavy cream 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (not more than 65% cacao if marked)(as always, I prefer Ghirardelli’s) 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt

For Topping: Half a bag of mini-marshmallows

Equipment: a 9-inch round fluted tart pan (1 inch deep) or 9-inch pie pan

Make crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Shift together graham crackers and sugar. Stir in melted butter and press evenly onto bottom and up sides of tart pan. Bake until firm, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on a rack 15 to 20 minutes

Make filling:

Bring cream to a boil, then pour over chocolate in a bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Gently stir until smooth. Whisk together eggs, vanilla, and salt in another bowl until frothy, then fold into melted chocolate.

Pour filling into cooled crust. Bake until filling is set about 3 inches from edge but center is still wobbly, 20 to 25 minutes. (Center will continue to set as tart cools.) Cool completely in pan on rack, about 1 hour.

Add topping: Distribute about half a bag of mini marshmallows on the tart, until the top of tart is evenly covered and place under broiler until marshmallows are golden brown (about 1-2 minutes, but watch carefully and rotate as needed).

Best served when marshmallows are warm and gooey! (If you don't eat it all in one sitting - and I'd be amazed if you do - it's seriously rich, store in the fridge. Let sit out until room temperature before eating and if desired, microwave for a few seconds to re-gooify the marshmallows).

In other news, last weekend I made my annual batch of peanut brittle and this photo op was too good to skip, even if my hair is a little crazy and I'm wearing one of John's flannel shirts.

CHOMP!

In other, other news. I'm off to my hometown of Napa, California for a week come Sunday. I haven't been back since before I was married! I may not have internet while I'm gone, but I'll let you know all about it on my return. If you're a Napa-based reader, send me a email/comment before Sunday - I'd love to meet up!

First Snow

Last night was our first real snow of the season in Portland - around 6 inches.

Between the snow, seeing the Nutcracker Friday night, and the balsam pine scent of our $8 roadside wreath, I'm starting to feel very much in the Holiday spirit.

Only 19 days left to go!

Giving Thanks: Family, Food, and Fun

This Thanksgiving, Mr. Cleaver and I had the pleasure of hosting my big brother Luke and his lovely wife Jen for a few days. I think we crammed two days worth of activities into each one, showed the family some Portland-area highlights and had an all-around good time.

Photos 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 by Luke and Jen

Portland Pumpkin Tour

Happy Hallowe'en!

This is my costume for today - not so much a costume as my actual clothes, but hey. Whatever works right?

It was really nice earlier this afternoon, so I'll take you on a pumpkin tour of our neighborhood.

Anniversaries

2008

2009

As part of our anniversary celebrations, Mr. Cleaver and I once again went to Mt. Bradbury, the site of our first date. We're creatures of habit, what can I say?

Other than my having more hair, I'd say we look about the same.

And early October is a great time to go the mountain, because the color is peaking and the view are lovely. As you'll see below, we weren't the only ones with the idea.

And speaking of anniversaries - it's my 2-year blogaversary! I want to say a big thank you to all of my readers - thanks for hanging in there with me!

Two Years Today

Happy Anniversary Mr. Cleaver!

Leota

Between my last post and this one my world stopped. After church on August 16th, while washing her hands to make lunch, my Grandmother collapsed and never got up again.

Though she was 81, she was in excellent health and her death shocked us all.

I felt the same way I did when my father passed away five years ago - that the world has lost one of it's greatest members and most people didn't even know what they missed, and what I am missing so very very much.

This blog was the home page on my Grandmother's computer. We always talked about it when we spoke on the phone or when she wrote. I only feel it appropriate to put down some of my memories of her in this space.

Leota was a wife of 58 years, mother of two, grandmother to five, great grandmother to one, with another on the way.

She was a home economics teacher, a part-time bookkeeper, a bridge player, a quilter, a needleworker, a cook, a collector of sterling silver napkins rings, and the consummate hostess.

She was always stylish and had her hair done every Thursday. I though I got my red hair from her, until my mother told me she got it from a bottle.

She was born in Missouri, but called it Missoura in a town named Isadora she called Isadori -

that she took each grandchild to visit when they were twelve.

She started life on a farm, but traveled the country

and the world

She had a succession of somewhat sad-looking Southern California Christmas trees

and made fantastic feasts.

She quilted each of us a blanket and stitched each of us a specifically chosen Christmas stocking.

Mr. Cleaver's was the last stocking she completed and our wedding quilt was the last quilt she finished. Her round robin quilting group was working on a biography quilt, when she passed away - the squares she made for her own quilt depicted the farm she lived on after she first got married and of the balloon ride she took over the African safari.  That's my grandmother in a nutshell.

Oftentimes when someone dies, everyone scrambles to find a photos or an object to remind them of the one we lost, none of us had to scramble pieces of her handiwork were already there.

I can't believe she's no longer with us, but at the same time, every time I pick up needles, or press a seam, she'll be there.

I love you and I miss you very much - and if there's internet in heaven, I know you're still reading this blog.

(Thanks to Jen for the scans)

Roadtrip: Philly

Last weekend, Mr. Cleaver and I took our big summer vacation, a long weekend in Philadelphia.

We were fortunate to spend a few days with Mr. Cleaver's college roommate and his family, who showed us around town and make sure we got plenty of great food to eat.  Our days pretty much went like this: sleep in, eat break fast, go out and see awesome things, eat some local food, head back to the house, play with the kids and chat with the adults, sleep and repeat.

Some of the awesome things we saw?

Star Trek: The Exhibition at the Franklin Institute (nerds, eat your heart out!)

If sci-fi tv series aren't your thing, the Franklin had a lot of other incredible exhibits including the Amazing Machine, which contained one of the coolest things I've ever seen, an automaton who can draw pictures and write poems with better handwriting than me (seriously - check out the videos - so cool).

Another great thing about the Amazing Machine is that a old Singer sewing machine was used to explain the majority of the types of machine parts. Also - the first sewing machine caused a tailor's riot in France!

The Franklin also had a lot of great hands on exhibits including the Franklin Airshow and Sir Issac's Loft, when Mr. Cleaver is shown literally pulling his own weight.

Of course it wouldn't be my first trip to Philly without my first cheesesteak and for those who know about these things: Geno's, with, no wiz.

On our second day, we went out to Valley Forge to pick up a little Revolutionary War knowledge, including learning about General Baron Frederick William Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben, who I had never heard of and turned the Colonists from a rag-tag band of individual militias in the U.S. Army.

And there's no better way to follow up a load of history with some Guitar Hero.

Our last day in Philly we headed out our own to Old Philly for some more history and learning. We saw the Liberty Bell, which was smaller than I thought it'd be; the National Constitution Center, which made me cry and I highly, highly recommend; and a lovely and haunting performance of a glass armonica.

These are just a sampling of the photos I took on the trip, but if you want to see more you can check out my "Philly Trip" photoset on Flickr.

Fish and Finery

As promised I'm here with my latest sewing project and my mysterious 9-months in waiting project, which I just now realized could be construed as a pregnancy. It's not. It's goldfish.

If you've known me in the past 7 years or so, you may know that I love goldfish more than most people love goldfish. I've taken multi-state roadtrips with goldfish. I really like goldfish.  Our last Goldfish, Franklin died when we were in Chicago, and Mr. Cleaver , who had gotten quite attached, wasn't ready to commit to a new pet right away. When we decided to move back to Maine, I made Mr. Cleaver promise me that after we moved I could get a fish tank and some goldfish.

True to word, we got a 10 gallon tank/hood/filter set up on sale in mid-November. But as we were planning on going away for Thanksgiving, we figured we'd wait until we returned and the hustle and bustle of the holidays were over. Come the new year, we still had no fish, but more glaringly in our somewhat furniture-light apartment, no place to put the tank. We looked and looked, but found no suitable tank stand until a few weeks ago, while I was still working on the History Boys.

The show over and now May, we finally went and picked up a pair of lovelies. So without further ado, meet Gil:

And Jac.

They've adjusted nicely to their new home and are Mr. Cleaver and I are thrilled to have 'em.

You know what else makes me happy? Having time to sew and finishing a project in a day! The project?  Rae's Ruffle Top Tutorial from Sew Mama Sew!    

As soon as I saw it on the blog I knew I had to make it and picked up the great leaf cotton/bamboo fabric at Z Fabric and the contrasting green from JoAnn's.

I made a few modifications, namely the width of the bottom was limited to 1/2 the width of my fabric (I thik it ended up being 27" at the bottom), but I don't see that it made much difference. I also omitted the arm cutouts and side shaping, choosing to do a french seam on the sides and keep everything as simple as possible. I love the end result . It's pretty and airy and the perfect summer top. I think I shall be making at least one more this summer, which as someone who rarely makes patterns twice, is saying something.

Next up: An awesome start to summer!

Getting Back in the Swing

I certainly didn't intend to take a month-long hiatus, but life, as it is wont to do, often does it own thing. Having now had an entire week of evenings to do whatever I want to do with them I finally felt ready to come back.

Generally, I knit a lot and sew a little in the cooler months and sew a lot and knit less in the warmer ones. Despite tonight's frost warning, we are definitely edging into those warmer months here in Maine and the sewing bug is hitting me hard.

I made  pair of aprons back in March for my new York trip, but the last item of clothing I made was this skirt, back in December, which I don't think I ever showed here. 

Before I could jump into new projects though I made myself tackle my small mending pile first, so Saturday morning I sewed on some buttons and darned one of my handknit socks while making gardening shows on New Hampshire PBS. It was rather relaxing. Later that day Mr. Cleaver and I headed out to the theatre to watch a pair of readings and then went to try the famous fries at duckfat, which are seriously good.

On Sunday, I started (and finished!) a new sewing project, as well as put something together that was nine-months in the waiting. Both of which I'll share later this week, when I've taken some photos.

It's good to be back.