PIES Part 2 ~Caramel Banana Hazelnut Pie and a Tutorial

I've never made this pie before but I saw the recipe over on The Farm Chicks and well lets just say she had me at heller!!!  I thought I'd post another tutorial of my process.  Lawsy I'm thankful for...

Caramel Banana Hazelnut Pie

Crust:

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Add flour and sugar to a large bowl or food processor.  Cut in butter until it looks like sand.  Stir or pulse in egg yolk and vanilla until combined.  Pour crumb mixture into a 9" pie or tart pan and press evenly onto bottom and sides of the pan.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly browned and your kitchen smells like heaven.  Remove from oven and cool.

Caramel:

3/4 cup butter

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add butter, brown sugar, and cream to a saucepan, cooking and whisking at medium-high heat until bubbling all over.  Reduce heat so mixture continues to boil softly.  Cook and whisk for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla.  Set aside to cool slightly.  (This is a generous amount of caramel.  If you have a little leftover, use it to drizzle on the plate when you serve, or save as an ice-cream topping.  Just keep it in a jar in the fridge to enjoy!)

Bananas and Hazelnuts:

2 bananas, sliced (I used 3 bananas)

1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

1 Hammer (optional te-he)

Line pie crust with sliced bananas and top with chopped hazelnuts.  Gently pour caramel over bananas and hazelnuts and place in refrigerator to cool completely and firm up.

Whipped Cream Topping:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon honey

Add all ingredients into a large bowl and whip until stiff peaks form.  Mound Whipped Cream Topping atop pie and serve immediately.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

Tower of TREATS Part 1 - Pie crust

Add butter to flour mixture

Mix until the size of sand.  

Mine?  More like small pebbles but that's how I roll.

Add the egg yolk and mix until forms a dough

RUTRO I was going to shell these last night.  I forgot.  I was so glad to have found Oregon Grown Hazelnuts.  Let the fun begin

In the meantime.... press the crust mixture into a 9 inch pie plate.  I only had a 10 inch pie plate hence the crust comes up a little short.  No worries, its how I roll (pun intended).  It ain't pretty.

Who knew?  Ok so transfer the hazelnuts into a ziplock type bag and get your HAMMER out (any ole' hammer will do).  Bet ya didn't think I'd be saying that?  I completely forgot about THIS.  It wasn't as bad as I was expecting in fact once I got started it was kind of fun.  They make this cute little popping noise.  I almost went out and got another bag.  Te-he. 

Dump them out onto a sorting station.  Separate out the nutmeats from the hard outer shells.  I felt kind of squirrely.  Might want to take care with this step unless of course you like your dentist.

There they are.

M.A.R.T.H.A

Second act.  For the caramel sauce

Bring those puppies to a bubbly boil and then turn down to a simmer for 15 minutes.  Whisk

and whisk

Remove crust after 10 minutes when lightly browned

Act 3 for the banana hazelnut filling

Roast the hazelnuts (I used 1 tsp of butter to help with this)

Make sure the butter doesn't burn

I think oven-roasting would be better.  

I kind of burned the butter.  It's my signature step

Ask ANYONE

Layer the slices of bananas and hazelnuts in that order.  

P.S. I added an additional banana making that a total of 3. 

It's how I roll.

Pour the carmel sauce over ALL.  

There is ample caramel so reserve the leftovers in a jar to use for the plate-up or for ice cream.

Ready for whipped cream topping!!!

Can't wait to try it.

Can I have a moment of silence?

Touch it and you die.  Tehe ,) 

I hope everyone has a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Today - PIES ~Pumpkin Pecan Pie Recipe and Tutorial

I thought I'd share one of my ALL TIME favorite pies for the holidays.  Its my goto pie when the mood strikes me to actually do a home-baked pie.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.

Liz's Famous Pumpkin Pecan Pie

***

10-Inch Pie Crust (Use your favorite pie crust for a 10-inch pie.  I use frozen and transfer it into my "real" pie baker)

For the Pecan filling:

2 large eggs
1/2 cup corn syrup or pure maple syrup (I use dark corn syrup)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans

For the Pumpkin filling:

3 eggs
1 3/4 cups of pumpkin puree (15 oz can or less, it makes more than you will use)
1 cup of milk
3/4 packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
OR (I use 3 tsp of cake spice (or a smidge less vs each separate spice above)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

OPTIONAL:  1 Tbsp of tapioca pearls

This provides an ample batch of pumpkin filling, so I pour just enough into the top rim of the pie shell (don't overfill).  I found this works the best.  Discard or freeze the leftover for use in another dish.

Preheat the oven 400
Prepare the pie crust (Use your favorite).  Also, the clay baker I use is bigger than the 10-inch standard pie plate so the crust doesn't go all the way to the rim.  No worries, I only like the crust on the bottom anyway AND I never did master the fluting that goes around the edge of a pie.  ,)


To prepare the pecan filling, whisk the eggs in a bowl until foamy.  Stir in the corn syrup or maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, salt and pecans.  Spread the pecan filling over the bottom of the pie crust.

Bake about 20 minutes, until the filling is set and puffed.  I like to set the pie on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet in case it boils over.

Meanwhile to prepare the pumpkin filling, whisk the eggs for the pumpkin filling and stir in the pumpkin puree, milk, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla until well blended.  I add a Tbsp. of tapioca pearls to thicken.  This is optional.  TIP OF THE CENTURY: Use the same bowl to prepare pumpkin filling.  Less dishes to wash.

When the pecan filling has set, remove it from the oven.  Pour the pumpkin filling over the layer and bake for about 40 mins, until the pumpkin layer is set in the middle.

Decorate by pressing toasted pecan halves around the outside edge of the pie.  Cool for at least 20 mins before cutting.  Serve warm at room temp.  Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream!

Makes one 10-inch pie, serves 8.

Enjoy~

 Cast of characters:

1 cup of chopped pecans

 Favorite pie crust

Pecan filling

Bake pecan filling for 20 minutes

Cast of characters Part 2, Pumpkin filling:

Use the same bowl for the pumpkin filling

Secret weapon adding 1 Tbsp of Minute Tapioca for a creamy thickener

Pumpkin filling all blended

Remove the baked pecan filling from the oven

 Pour pumpkin filling over the baked pecan filling

 Garnish with pecan halves around the border.  

Brush pecans with melted butter/brown sugar mixture

Bake for an additional 40 minutes

Enjoy!!  Where's smellivision when you need it?

Will edit tomorrow with a picture of a yummy slice all plated up.  Touch it and you die!  Te-he.  Bonkers I tell you BONKERS!

You Make My Heart Sing

Just a quick card post today.  This card is a Thank-You card for a male-singer-friend.  So I thought it was an appropriate sentiment.  Crafty Secrets Bird Notes set.

Giving Thanks

Lord, I do give thee thanks
for the abundance that is mine.

It's Your Lucky Day!

...because I am going to share a wonderful heirloom recipe with you for Fanny's Heirloom Chewy Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Scotchy Cookies.  Fanny was my Grandma.  She was a great great cook.  I have a lot of her recipes and have tried many of them.  I like to think I got most of my cooking skills from watching her during summer visits to her house.  She raised six children (5 boys and 1 girl, my mother), lived on a farm in central Wisconsin.  She kept a great big garden and canned and stored most of her food for her family.  They lived through the depression and had to get quite industrious to feed themselves.  Some of her best dishes were her pizza's, cinnamon rolls and home-baked breads (not during the depression, these came after the depression in more abundant times.  They had only potatoes and jelly beans during the depression so-told).  She made so many wonderful things its hard to pick just a few.  She was adopted, lived in an orphanage run by nuns for the first few years of her life.  In her adult years she eventually found her birth brothers and sisters who were also adopted and split up.  One sister became a sister.  I guess when you are raised by nuns that's a natural choice.  Anywho, I do digress.  There is so much more I could say about my Grandmother and perhaps I will devote an entire blog post to her.  These cookies are so good I couldn't quite decide what to name them.  Here were my choices:

Liz's FAMOUS Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
Fanny's Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
The Most Bestest Oatmeal Cookie Ever
Heirloom Oaties
Chewy Oatmeal Cookies (original name before I changed it, I can do that you know because its my families SECRET recipe.  It my creative license OKAYEE?)

I finally settled on this name because it captured the essence.  

Now onto the good stuff

Fanny's Heirloom CHEWY Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Scotchy Cookies

1 cup sifted flour

3/4 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon (I used 1 1/4 tsp of cake spice which contains both cinnamon and nutmeg and other spices.  To me its easier than measuring out each separately)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup shortening soft (I used butter flavored Crisco, I think it adds something)

1 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups uncooked oats

1 cup raisins

Optional:

1 cup of chopped pecans

1 pkg of Nestles butterscotch chips

Sift together the dry ingredients. Add shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Beat until smooth (about 2 minutes).  Stir in oats and raisins.  Drop by heaping tsps onto greased baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven (350) for 12-16 minutes.  Makes approximately 3 1/2 dozen.

TIPS:  I set the timer for 6 minutes and then switch the pans on the shelves in the ovens.  Don't overcook.  12 minutes is about right even though the recipe calls for 12-16 minutes.   The original recipe called for raisins only.  The addition of pecans and the butterscotch chips are mine.  All of those items are optional.  You can also use cranraisins but I'd omit the butterscotch chips if you do.

TIP OF THE CENTURY:  When storing your cookies, did you know that if you put 1/4-1/2 piece of bread in your cookie jar with the cookies they will stay as fresh and chewy as first day you baked them?  Try it.  It works

Second TIP OF THE CENTURY:   Use good baking sheets.  Who knew?

BEFORE (See my new cookie sheets from Costco?  I have to tell you...  invest in quality baking sheets (these were only $14.00 for three, one half sheet and a lid was included).  All these years I thought my signature style of BURNT was all my fault.  It was just how I rolled (no pun).  Turns out my cookie sheet were shit.  This batch of cookies .... PERFECTION

AFTER

Touch them and you die.  ROFL and shhhhh don't tell anyone this recipe because it's SECRET.

The moon howls and whispers...

'tis near Halloween...

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

I finally finally finally got crafty and even before the holiday came and went.  I'm not big on Halloween images.  I love fall and tend to lean towards Thanksgiving-type images and fall images vs. Halloween specifically.  But it's growing on me since some of my Pr!ssy Pals love all things Halloween.  So I thought I'd give it a try too.  It's FUN.  I really like how this card turned out except the glitter is a little mangy again.  I have a glitter problem.  However, the mange look, went well since its a bat.


Hero Arts "Silly Bat" was the stamp I used for the bat.  I used the bottom two lines from this A*Muse sentiment.  I used Martha Stewart's Goo paper punch for the bottom border of the sentiment tag.  It really added a nice detail.  Paper: Solid color papers, all SU (Black, Elegant Eggplant, Grey for the tag); Prints paper: American Crafts.  Martha Stewart glitter.

See the black crystal diamonds outlining the bat wings and the red diamonds for the eyes?  Martha Stewart Halloween holiday clear die cuts for the moon.  There is an assortment of 36 fun die cuts in the package. I used the moon.  I love these.

This really turned out good and I had room for the sentiment tag.  Normally I forget to leave enough space for my sentiment.  It fit good this time.

Happy Birthday Hus!

It's my husbands birthday today and our daughter made a video for him. She is traveling around the world working on a cruise ship so she produced a video having all of her co-workers send birthday well wishes in difference languages.  Then she produced a video using one of my hus' favorite songs, "It's Amazing by One Eskimo.  I thought it was such a thoughtful gift to send from across the world.

Lyrics:

It's Amazing

I feel sweet
Do you feel sweet?
It’s amazing
I have no skin
And I feel everything
It’s amazing
I feel good
When you feel good
I knew I would
And it’s amazing
I’ve wanted this for so long
Now the deed has been done
We shall rise with the sun
And spend our time as one

Now there is no sin
In anything
And it’s amazing
I love life
I hope you do too
‘Cause I love everything
It’s all amazing
I feel you
Do you feel you?
I understand
When they say we’re born again
“Cause I feel born again
I’m born again
And it’s amazing
And it’s the best thing
And it’s glorious
It’s life changing
This feeling
Is amazing
It’s the best thing
It’s glorious
It’s life changing

This feeling

This feeling
Oh lord this feeling
It’s amazing
It’s in the stars
In the sun
It’s everywhere
In everyone
And it will be every day
From now on
From now on
We are one
And it’s amazing
It’s in the stars
In the sun
It’s everywhere
In everyone
And it will be every day
From now on
From now on
We are one
And it’s amazing
It’s in the stars
In the sun
It’s everywhere
In everyone
And it will be every day
From now on
From now on
We are one
And it’s amazing

It's amazing <-----Click here

Be sure and expand the video to full screen to get the best effect

I Won Some Blog Candy

a while back and will do a post about it soon.  Remind me!  Its really funny.

Moving tends to throw a wrench in it....

FOR EVERYONE!!  This little guy has gotten quite used to hanging out with me. Yes, he always does have a little smirk on his face.

He's gotten pretty used to hanging out with ME

because this one's

Yeah her - the cat's mom

been doing alot of this TRAVELING

I KNOW GET OUT RIGHT! THAT'S HOT!

So he's got pretty comfy at my place. Which is COOL because I LERVE HIM anyway.  HE'S MINE NOW HE'S ALL MINE. Little does she know.

But when she's back for a visit, he tends to park himself on top of her SUITCASE.  He's KNOWS he's a smart cat.

But he always seems to be on high alert for suitcase action

 But can you blame her?  She's got places to go like HERE:

A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

SOOOOO as I was saying moving is hard on everyone.  Including the blog action.  This blog is the PRISS[Y] Place remember?  For those of you that don't know....that's an acronym for [P]aper,  [R]ibbon, [I]nk, [S]tampin', [S]crappin' and [Y]atayatayata.  I do realize there's been a lot more of ONLY the [Y] in that equation. Yatayatayata.  True true.  Which is OK because this is my blog RIGHT and I only have 2 READERS TOPS.  ROFL.  I won't be invited to the Blogher awards anytime soon or Martha's for that MATTER.

SOOOOO Let's revisit <--- click my good luck totem MR. HAWK that came for a visit on my first morning at the new place.  Oh yes I was so overjoyed and thought what a wonderful world.  Yes?   Yeah SURE the Native Americans think he's a symbol of "the dawn and a fresh new day".  That's awesome.  But personally I think he was MARKING HIS TERRITORY.  

This is who came for a visit on the second day of being at my new place.  I was all excited and going to go look up what it meant in Native American terms as regarding to "totems"  I was sure it was another good omen until.....

Little did I know he was on his way out of this world and his visit would be but a brief one.  He was so cute and I was wondering why he was so still and didn't startle when I took his picture.  I got pretty close.  Shortly after this picture was taken I went back out in the backyard (a couple of hours later).  And Mr. Bunny was gone (as in R.I.P.) not as in ran away.  I had to pick him up and bury him.  

LOOK AWAY NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE A PICTURE OF A CUTE BUNNY WHO IS NO LONGER WITH US AND IS THE LAST DAY OF MR. BUNNY'S LIFE.

Hello and Goodbye =C - Thanks for visiting...

IRONIC that I titled this post <--- click "The Other Side".  Singing the praises of Mr. Hawk.  What am I prophetic?

Good Omen?  I think not!!!  MEET THE NEIGHBORHOOD BULLY

TOTEM SCHMOTEM.  He's on my $#!( list.  I guess a hawk's gotta do what a hawk's gotta do.  Which is be a predator.  Nice.

One of these day I shall resume my normal programming which requires a lot of GLITTER. K.THX

M.P.D?

Multiple personality disorder a.k.a Cybil. That's me? On the one hand I love vintage things, I love the 50s theme.  I have a lot of treasures collected over many years and I've weeded them out considerably.  But there is still a fair bit of Chotzkie hell goin' on.

and drum roll....this is me?  Minimalist, zen, spa.  Actually, I am moving more towards the "less is more" style.

THEN ya have this me... chotzkie hell.  My library wall which I still LOVE was behind my sofa in the other place.  Now it's in a more prominent location not behind a sectional but in full view within the room.  The chotzkie's from chotzkie hell used to be displayed on a shelf that ran around the perimeter of two walls of the room.  Now, they are displayed on top of the library bookcases.  I think its a bit busy, but for now they will stay since we don't have the shelf installed and probably wont put it up in the new place.  I only pulled out a few.  I have other collections apples, cows, tins etc... the chickens made the cut this time.  I'm really really trying to thin things out for GOOD.

AND then back to desert sticks sans art I picked up from the desert.  I like the texture it brings to a room.  I copied this from hotel decor I saw once.  Really like the natural colors of an area.

AND THEN THERE'S CYBIL.  Oh incidentally, the burgundy wall color is the existing paint.  It was the only room I am thinking of changing the paint color of, all of the other room paint colors in the new house were the same color paints that I had in the old house.  Lucked out there, what are the odds of that?  I can live with this color for now.  I probably SHOULD have painted it before I unpacked but srsly did not have it in me.  It will have to be done later.  I will probably go with the seafoam green (very light) I had in my other kitchen/living area.  Still love that color.  I'll post a link later.  I will add however, the burgundy goes really well with the existing chotkies I have.

 EDITED TO ADD:  THERE IS A BACK-STORY TO THE ABOVE FRAMED PRINTS.  I HAVE ABOUT A DOZEN OR SO DIFFERENT PICTURES TO THIS COLLECTION AND MAYBE I WILL POST THE ENTIRE SET SO YOU CAN SEE.  THESE WERE WATERCOLOR PAINTED ON CARDBOARD INSERTS (REMEMBER THE CARDBOARD FROM SHIRT PACKAGING) AND THEY ARE ACTUALLY FLASH CARDS.  FOR EXAMPLE: THE TREE HAS THE WORD "TREE" STENCILED ON THE BACK OF THE CARD.  I THOUGHT THEY WERE SUCH CUTE FOLK-ARTESCK IMAGES I HAD THE ENTIRE SET MATTED AND FRAMED.  MY GREAT-AUNT (NOW DECEASED) WAS A SCHOOL TEACHER.  SHE PAINTED THEM ALL BY HAND. I BELIEVE SHE GOT HER INSPIRATION FROM OLD THE DICK AND JANE READING BOOK SERIES.  I HAVE IMAGES OF A MOTHER, FATHER, BOY (I'M ASSUMING IS DICK), A GIRL PRINT (JANE?), DOG, CAT, PIG, CHICKENS, BALL, HOUSE, ETC... THEY ARE VERY OLD AND QUITE THE HEIRLOOM.  SHE HAD GIVEN ME A "BOX" OF HER OLD PAPERS AND SUCH FROM HER TEACHING DAYS WHEN MY GIRLS WERE LITTLE AND THESE WERE IN A FILE OF THAT BOX.  THAT'S WHEN I HAD THEM FRAMED.  A SEPARATE POST ON THIS LATER.

I guess you can say I have a very eclectic style.  Its a mix of folk, vintage, americana, 50s and minimal, shabby chic, chic shabby and a dash of bohemian too.  I don't know I'm a bit scattered.  I crave minimal and am slowly transitioning towards that style.  Out with the old and in with the new "less is more" theme.  I am planning on selling whatever doesn't work for me any more to an Etsy store just as soon as I get through things and continue purging.  I will post more after photos as soon as time permits.  Hope you enjoy a peek into my new place.

Ciao for now...