Week 7: Double Trouble

This week I had a pie in mind that I wanted to make, but I made the mistake of asking my husband if he had any requests, and he asked for lemon meringue pie.

Now the dilemma...my pie, or his pie? I compromised and made both.

I'd seen Paula Deen make a white chocolate macadamia nut pie one day on her show. It looked and sounded delicious. White chocolate macadamia nut cookies are one of my favorites so I figured this would also be wonderful.

The ingredients proved to be somewhat expensive--things can get pricy when you're making multiple pies. Between the white chocolate baking bars, whipping cream, cream cheese, and macadamia nuts, this really added up. My goal for next week will be to see how inexpensive I can keep things.




For my second set of pies I chose another Paula Deen recipe that said it was lemon meringue. Instead of the usual cornstarch, sugar and eggs mixture, it involved mixing eggs and lemon juice with sweetened condensed milk.




My pie crusts went really well.



Both fillings were fairly easy to make, too. I was glad since I was making a total of 6 pies! I spent a lot of time with my mixer today.



As I expected the white chocolate filling was delicious!

Pat tried the lemon meringue and he was not impressed. I tried it later, and found it to be most definitely non-traditional. It was more creamy, and not very tart at all.

Since I made 6 pies and we kept one of each kind, I had 4 to deliver.

I delivered one pie to a next-door neighbor. In return I got to see her beautiful just-remodeled kitchen. I now have extreme kitchen envy because everything she'd done was something I have been wanting to do with my kitchen.

Another pie went to a co-worker to "convince" her to trade a shift with me so I could go to a friend's wedding. Yeah, it's a bribe. She loved it.

The other two pies went to church friends. One of them is moving so I'm glad I got to get a pie to her before she moved. Both of them said, "You made my day!" and that made my day.

I'm really having fun with this.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pie
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen, from FoodNetwork.com

Prep Time: 25 min
Inactive Prep Time: 4 hr 0 min
Cook Time: 5 min
Level: Intermediate
Serves: 6 to 8 servings.

Ingredients:

Ganache:
•3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
•1/2 cup heavy cream

Filling:
•6 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened
•1/3 cup sugar
•1/3 cup heavy cream, plus 3/4 cup, whipped soft
•6 1/2 (1-ounce) squares premium white baking chocolate, melted
•1/2 teaspoon orange zest
•2/3 cup roasted, chopped macadamia nuts
•1 pre-baked deep-dish (9-inch) pie shell

Garnish:
•1 1/2 cups heavy cream
•1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
•1 to 2 ounces chopped macadamia nuts

Directions
Place chocolate chips in a metal mixing bowl. Bring cream to a simmer over medium heat. Pour simmering cream over chips and stir until melted. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.

Filling:
Beat cream cheese and sugar with a handheld electric mixer until smooth. Scrape bowl with a spatula and mix in 1/3 cup heavy cream. Add the melted white chocolate, zest, and nuts and stir just until incorporated. Fold in the whipped cream. Spread into pre-baked pie shell and level off using a rubber spatula. Put in freezer until frozen.

To finish pie, place the ganache in the microwave on low for no more than 10 seconds at a time. Stir after each warming, until ganache pours loosely but is not even close to boiling. Be very careful when warming chocolate, as it will burn very quickly when heated in the microwave. Once chocolate is scorched it is unusable. Spread warm ganache over top of frozen pie, smoothing to the edges with a spatula.

Garnish:
Beat cream and confectioners' sugar with a handheld electric mixer to stiff peaks. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe edges of pie with whipped cream. Sprinkle macadamia nuts over top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen, FoodNetwork.com

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 6 to 8 servings.

Ingredients
•1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
•1/2 cup lemon juice
•1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
•3 egg yolks
•1 (8-inch) prebaked pie shell or crumb crust

Meringue:
•3 egg whites
•1/4 teaspoon cream or tartar
•1/4 cup sugar

Directions
In medium bowl, combine milk, lemon juice, and zest; blend in egg yolks. Pour into cooled crust.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks from. Gradually beat in the sugar until stiff. Spread over filling; seal to edge of crust. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until meringue is golden brown.

My Experiment

On Sunday, I was sitting in church, listening to the speaker talk to us about service, and how many people in the ward had helped his family when his wife had been very sick. I realized that it had not occurred to me to help them, and I had not been asked, either. Then, I pondered something a friend of mine had said when I commented that I was never asked to help with a wedding. She told me, that she goes up to the people involved and asks how she can help.

I admire this friend greatly. Her house is full of love and laughter. People are always coming over. She is a person that a lot of people consider a good friend, and lots of people seek her out to ask advice or just to tell her about a problem, because she is such a good listener.

On the other hand, our house is a quiet house. No one comes to visit us. No one calls me to see if I want to go to lunch, or shopping, or whatever. My boys, who have autism, are socially awkward and have settled into a routine of getting on their computers and pretty much staying on them from the moment they get home from school until they go to bed (with breaks for dinner and homework).

While I often wish that this was not the case--wish that we had friends to come over, wish that my boys could make neighborhood friends, etc., I am coming to realize that if I want to HAVE friends I have to BE a friend. My life is full enough that this can be difficult.

So, on Sunday while I was listening to the speaker, this idea popped into my head: I would make and take pies to church friends, neighbors, and others. I would do this once a week for a full year. In the process, I would not only perfect my pie-making skills, but I would also take the time to reach out to people. It is my hope that this endeavor will accomplish 3 things:
1. I will regularly take the time to perform a service, and thus learn to make service a regular part of my life.
2. I will get to know lots of new people, as I deliver pies to people outside my bubble of my house, work, and Scouts.
3. I will find a way to expand my children's horizons as well.

So, here goes. On Wednesday I will make my first set of pies. I think I will start with apple pies and take them to one person from church, one neighbor, and maybe one other person. And one for us, of course. I have never understood why doing service for others would involve depriving your family of a delicious dessert.
3.