FR: Brownies Made Better

I'm heading back to Birmingham this weekend to visit my Southern Progress friends, one of which is letting me crash on her couch. She's a food stylist and recipe developer (among other things) so I was a little worried about what to get her as a thank you.

Then I calmed down and realized I could bake her a treat. I chose Bea's Brownies, which are named after my great-great aunt. These brownies include two delicious layers; Hershey's syrup and lots of eggs make the brownie layer cake-moist and the frosting is basically an old-fashioned fudge (butter, sugar, milk and chocolate chips) that sets quickly and melts in your mouth.

Oh, man, just writing about them makes me want to run downstairs and cut a huge piece for myself! Must resist...

Wordless Wednesday: Sasquatch!

Swanky Gardens & Atlanta Braves

This weekend was very busy for me. On Saturday I went on the self-guided Artful Garden Tour with a family friend and had the chance to peek in the private gardens of some very nice homes in the West Wesley Road, Ansley Park, and North Druid Hills areas. I also attended my first Braves game of the season. The weather wasn't great but it's always an adventure at Turner Field!

Car art...no, really, somebody glued this stuff to their car.

 

My favorite garden, off Habersham Road.

W is for...

Wascally wabbits -- we used to have a neighborhood coyote to take care of the rabbits, but he or she is clearly gone.

 

Evoking the Sea with Jewelry

I finished working on two pairs of earrings this week that remind me of the ocean because of their blue colors. 

I first turned my attention to these sad hoop earrings. I probably bought them at Claire's in high school and used to wear these ad nauseam. I eventually tired of them, especially after the silver pieces became so dirty.

I wanted the convenience of pre-made hoops so I went to my local bead store to purchase them. This is a good video to watch if you want to simply buy wire and make your own hoops.

I followed the same pattern on the original earrings and reused the original turquoise beads. I'm really pleased with how they turned out, especially since my wrapping skills aren't perfect.

I made this second pair of earrings to match a necklace that I bought at Forever 21. I purchased the necklace for less that $10, which is great because the handwork involved in making something like this would take hours to finish.

I used faceted chalcedony teardrops, glass beads, and crystals to complete the look. I bought a small amount of chain to create a nice dangled effect; this also gives enough space to let the various beads hang down and look extra pretty.

Yum...Coconut Cream Pie

Okay, this getting-back-into-blogging-after-personal-trauma thing has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. Luckily over Easter I had the chance to engage in some therapeutic (that's a hard word to spell!) baking. I give you an excellent coconut cream pie, above.

The filling is creamy and thick without being overly sweet and there's just enough shredded coconut in there to create a nice texture. I decided to top the pie with meringue, which is something that I recently learned how to make thanks to my grandma.

I will post the procedure that I followed in making this particular pie, but I'd like to note that I cobbled this recipe together from a pie recipe on allrecipes.com and a meringue recipe from Sunset magazine.

You can skip the meringue and substitute whipped cream. But, if you've never made meringue, you should definitely try it! Sunset's directions are clear and easy and it's totally worth trying.

If you'd like some more information on making meringues, these websites are helpful:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/perfectmeringue.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_5637775_keep-meringue-pie-topping-weeping.html (also check out the sidebar articles)

Coconut Cream Pie with Meringue Topping (Serves 8-10)
1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
1 cup coconut milk
4 eggs
3 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
Meringue:
3 egg whites (reserved from above)
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Press pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate and use a fork to poke holes at a 1-inch interval around the bottom and sides of the crust. Bake for 9 minutes until just golden brown. Let cool completely while you're making the rest of the pie.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, flour and salt over med-high heat. Slowly add milk to the mixture, stirring well after each bit to keep the sugar-flour mix from lumping up. Once you've added the milk, add the coconut milk and mix well.

3. Whisking constantly, cook the milk-sugar mixture until it thickens and starts bubbling, about 15-20 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook 2 more minutes. Remove pan from heat.

4. Separate egg yolks from whites. Save 3 egg whites for meringue, letting them come to room temperature. 

5. In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks lightly. While whisking the eggs, add a large spoonful of the milk-sugar mixture. This will temper the eggs. Add about a total of 1 cup of the hot mixture to the eggs; return the tempered egg mixture to the rest of the milk-sugar mixture.

6. Put the saucepan back over med-high heat and whisk until it bubbles gently. Cook 2 more minutes; remove pan from heat.

7. Stir butter, vanilla, and shredded coconut into the mixture. Cover to keep warm while you make the meringue.

8. Lower your oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cornstarch.

9. In a glass or metal bowl, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until the whites are very foamy.

10. Continue beating the eggs and add the sugar mixture, 1 Tbsp. at a time every 30 seconds. Continue beating until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks. You can test this by stopping the mixer and dipping the beaters into the meringue. You're good to go if the resulting peaks stay upright.

11. Use a spatula to fill the cooled pie shell with the coconut custard. Then spread the meringue over the top of the custard and smooth it all the way to the edges of the crust.

12. Bake the pie at 325 degrees 15-20 minutes until the meringue is lightly browned.

13. Let the pie cool completely on a rack. Slice and enjoy!

You can cover and refrigerate for a few days. The meringue may weep a little on the top but it won't damage the pie at all. 

No Longer MIA

Hi everyone! I'm back from an unexpected hiatus -- after returning home from my trip to New Mexico, my family unfortunately suffered the loss of a loved one. 

As many of you know, an event like this can upend your priorities and sadly for my blog, I first found that I didn't have the time, and then didn't have the energy to write any posts.

But today's my birthday, and in honor of my mid-twenties, I've decided it's time to return to the blogosphere. I plan to keep my schedule a little more open-ended that it's been to give myself time to catch up, but check back each week for updates.

*Sigh of relief* That wasn't so hard after all:). Happy Hump Day! Here's a funny photo to tide you over. I saw this sticker on a parking deck support at my local Target. Totally makes me think of Team America..."I'm so ronery, so ronery and sadry arone..." LOL.