This is going to be one of those blog posts that really has absolutely nothing to do with the recipe, and for that I apologize. I wanted to talk about one thing, but I also wanted to share a recipe for French Silk Pie, and couldn’t figure out a way to get the two of them to make any sense together. So, you’ll just have to get a French Silk Pie recipe with a dose of nothing related to it.

Our family saw the movie McFarland USA over the weekend and LOVED it. If you haven’t seen it, I implore you to take yourself, your family, anyone you know to see it. It is a fantastic family movie with an incredible message about making a difference. …

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Unless you’ve lived under a rock this past week, you probably are aware that a most important holiday is coming up. No, I’m not talking about St Patrick’s Day, which yes…this Irish family thinks is pretty important. I’m talking about Pi Day on 3.14.

Being the good food blogger that I am, I’m joining all the other foodies out there in turning this holiday, which has nothing to do with pie and all to do with math, into a day to celebrate the most wonderful dessert of Pie. Pie is way more exciting than math, right? It’s at least more delicious anyway….

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OK friends, I know you probably thought my new found love for pie making would wear off after all that pie making at the end of 2014. You probably assumed that I’d eventually tire of making the perfect pie crust and filling them with amazing things….

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Making pie crust makes me happy!

There was a time I would have said the exact opposite. Making pie crust used to make me cuss up a storm, but now that my friend DeLynn has taught me how to make a perfect pie crust, or as I say a “No Cuss Pie Crust”, I’ve changed my tune. I can’t seem to get enough of this whole pie crust making gig….

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There is one thing I’ve discovered as I have learned to make homemade pie. The more I do it, the more I miss my grandma.

As I was beating the egg whites together for the meringue of this banana cream pie, tears sprung to my eyes .

Grandma was our family pie maker. She made the absolute best pies.  She would make dozens of pies for every family gathering. No matter what, she would always cater to everyones favorites. From apple, to pumpkin, to pecan, to my favorite banana cream pie, if there was a pie someone wanted, Grandma would bring it. I can only imagine how much work went into her epic pie baking days….

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Over the last seven days, we have used our Frigidaire Symmetry Double Oven to make:

• 28 loaves of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (for our Christmas celebration and as gifts to our neighbors)
• 3 lasagnas
• 1 Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions (recipe coming soon!)
• 1 Honey Baked Ham
• 1 large pan of oven roasted green beans
• 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies
• 1 pan of brownies
• 2 batches of homemade cinnamon rolls
• 6 pies (1 banana cream, 1 vanilla cream, 1 chocolate cream, 1 apple and 1 pumpkin)

A few of these things were baked earlier in the week, but most of the powerhouse stuff was done yesterday morning, all in time for our family Christmas dinner at 1pm.

I honestly never knew how much I needed a double oven! I didn’t have to wake up before dawn to schedule things out “just right” for oven time. We had plenty of space, things baking at different temperatures, and when lunch was ready everything was hot and perfectly cooked!

I’m thankful that the Frigidaire Double Oven let me give the gift of a good meal to 30 members of my family without a sleepless night and stress over oven space.

I can’t share this post without sharing the Chocolate Cream Pie that has been making an appearance at our family Christmas’ since way before my time. My Grandma Sumner was a master pie maker and this is the recipe she used and now we use to carry on her pie making tradition. Enjoy!

Grandma’s Chocolate Cream Pie {Adapted through the years from the original Betty Crocker Cookbook}

• 1 9-inch Baked Pie Shell
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 3 heaping Tablespoons cocoa
• 3 cups milk
• 4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Bake pie shell. Mix sugar, cornstarch, cocoa and salt in saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.
2. Stir at least half of the hot mixture gradually into egg yolks. Stir into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat.
3. Stir in margarine and vanilla. Pour into pie shell; press plastic wrap onto filling. Refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 48 hours.
4. Remove plastic wrap; top with meringue (recipe below). Refrigerate any remaining pie immediately.

Recipe: Meringue for 9-inch Pie {Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook}

• 4 egg whites (keep cold until ready for use for best results)
• 1/4 heaping teaspoon cream of tartar
• 7 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I prefer to use clear vanilla so it doesn’t discolor the meringue)

1. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in 2 1/2 quart bowl until foamy.
2. Beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy (Peaks should form when you pull up with a spoon}
3. Do not under beat. Beat in vanilla.
4. Spoon onto pie, sealing edges and using back of spoon to create “peaks” in the meringue.
5. Bake at 400° for 8-12 minutes.

Disclosure: This post was written as part of my participation as a Frigidaire Test Drive Mom. I was given a Frigidaire Symmetry Double Oven Range to keep to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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I collapsed into bed, exhausted. Dealing with my brothers illness has taken a toll on me I never expected. When a family member is dying I’m discovering there are a lot of eggshells to be walked on. Am I doing enough? Am I intruding? Am I annoying them calling and checking on things when in reality I hadn’t called and checked on things all that much before he was sick? Will what I’m attempting to do be seen as genuine or as a last minute attempt to be at peace with our relationship? Do you want me around? Do you not? Can I help? Please, what can I do to help? What is the right thing to do?

I haven’t been myself this past month, and I know it. I’ve been flighty and distant and bitchy. I’ve shirked responsibility and have taken retreat into my house when I haven’t felt like dealing with being “on”. So, when I collapsed into bed, spent and worn out and my husband asked me to rub his neck, I sighed, made an unloving remark, turned over and went to sleep.

The one person I love the most in the world – more than my children, more than my brother, more than anyone else – is the one person I’ve been taking for granted. That hit me harder than ever when I woke up to find this tweet on Twitter from blogging friend Jennifer Perillo:

Her husband, the father of her two precious children, had suddenly collapsed and had died from a heart attack. He was gone. The reality of how quickly a loved one can be taken out of our lives hit me hard. What if it were my husband? Would I have regrets about how I had treated him recently? You bet so. I’m lucky enough to have another chance.

It pains me in the worst way that Jennie and her family has to endure what they are going through in order for the rest of us to be reminded to hug our loved ones. Not today, not tomorrow, but now. Now is all we have and tomorrow could be too late.

Through a heartfelt post, another reminder to us all of how raw this time is, Jennie asked us all to join together by making a peanut butter pie in Mikey’s honor. So a pie is what I made…and what hundreds of other bloggers have made… as a simple reminder that life is short. Savor each other, savor the moments and as a tribute to one another love each and every day because it could be the last.

This happens to be another 6 ingredient or less dessert recipe. Have you shared your 6 ingredient or less dessert recipe for the chance to win a $600 American Express Gift Card? If not, head over to my Creamy Biscoff Pudding post now to enter the giveaway.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie with Biscoff Cookie Crust for Mikey

For the crust:

• 1 package of Biscoff Cookies (approximately 32 cookies)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 8 Tablespoons melted butter

1. Place Biscoff cookies into a food processor and process until fine crumbs have formed.
2. Add granulated sugar and melted butter. Mix until well combined.
3. Press into a 9-inch pie plate.
4. Bake in a pre-heated 350° oven for 8 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and cool completely.

For the ice cream:

• 4 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup salted peanuts

1. In a mixing bowl, mix ice cream and peanut butter together on medium speed until combined.
2. Spoon ice cream mixture into cooled pie crust.
3. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped peanuts.
4. Freeze overnight. Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving.

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Today is pi day…3.14. Since I am a food blogger, I am going to join the masses of others who turn this mathematics focused day into something food related. Pie day.

Pie is much more fun than the actual math related pi, don’t you think? In all honesty, math is not my strong suit. In fact, when I was choosing my major in college, I based it solely on which track had the fewest math classes. Math and I are not compatible.

Sure, my mom always told me “you’ll need to use math all throughout your life” and I was sure she was right, but I also had a lot of confidence in technology and knew that there would be tools out there forever to be my math crutch. What no one warned me about though is that I’d have a math genius for a son…and no one told me how humiliating it might be one day when he needs help with his elementary school homework and I can’t help him because I am pretty much math clueless.

So, as stereotypical as it may be, Jacob and my husband take care of math homework duty. I bake cookies and cakes and delicious breakfast dishes that takes their mind off the fact that mom is not quite so smart when it comes to anything math.

I’m celebrating pi day with a different kind of pie. It’s baked in a pie dish, doesn’t have a crust, and is served for breakfast so it isn’t your traditional kind of pie. However, this baked oatmeal breakfast pie with cinnamon and sugar is the perfect way to start a great day like pi day…even if you don’t love math, you’ll love this special pi pie.

Recipe: Baked Breakfast Oatmeal Pie

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 3 cups Quaker instant oats
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350•
2. Mix together pumpkin and sugar. Add the eggs, milk, salt, baking powder and oatmeal and mix until well blended.
3. Pour into a lightly sprayed glass pie dish.
4. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.
5. Bake for 35 minutes or until firm. Serve hot.

Note – this dish can be assembled ahead of time, refrigerated over night, and baked in the oven the next morning.

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