Blackberry Strawberry Pie

Today is an important day. The first day of summer. Now, of course, I have been waiting for this day for a VERY long time, but now that its here, I am at a loss with what to do with myself. It seems like before summer, i had all these grand ideas about what I was going to do. All of them seem to have happily flown from my head. I think its time to employ some of that creativity that I haven't used in quite a long time. It might need some time to get used to being used again because I can't currently think of anything to do. I can't bake because someone (my mother) must approve it which she probably won't because its hot outside.  Hmmm......

It's not that I don't have anything exciting planned because I do. In 24 short days, I will be boarding a plane all by myself to make the trip to New York City. I'm so freaking exciting I can't contain myself. I'm taking "New York in the 19th Century" or something of that sort. It's all about reading all these accounts of what life was like in the 1800s. Don't ask me why I didn't take the theater course, because I am at a complete loss as to why I signed up for this course. It'll be exciting anyway, though. We have to read a book called Writing New York: A Literary Anthology. So far, I've only made it through about three of the pieces, but I have to say that they are pretty interesting. The first one was about the history of Manhattan by Washington Irving. I was expecting a very difficult piece that was full of old language. Surprisingly, it was rather hilarious. Who knew that classic writers could be funny? The second one, however, by James Kirke Paulding was so weird. He didn't even write in complete sentences. It was full of ellipses and I had no idea what he was talking about for half of it. Ah well, at least it started out well.

I think when I'm in New York I have class in the morning and then I think we get to sign up for all this cool stuff to do in the afternoon, like dance classes and yoga in Central Park. You bet that I'm going to go see at least one show. OH MY GOODNESS I CAN HARDLY HANDLE THE EXCITEMENT.

The only issue is of the cost. My mom is paying or it but I am responsible for paying her back at least a part of the money. I can't get a job because I am too young. I was thinking of setting up some sort of baking service. Like, if someone needs cookies for a function or cake or something, they could call me up and I would bake it for them. I just have to figure out how to get it started. There, that's what I can work on!

Anyway, this pie is kind of a combination of a couple of recipes. I always use the same recipe for pie crust because it works better than any other one I've used before. Then, I just looked up a recipe for berry filling and adapted it to use only blackberries and strawberries. It turned out pretty darn well if you ask me. Delicious! I'd give you the recipes but I seem to have misplaced them unfortunately. Have a wonderful start to the summer.

Grill Bread

Hi there. Don't you love spring? The nice weather, the sunlight, the flowers.... It's great, especially after the horrible coldness of winter. I certainly love it. Well, i did. Right now, unfortunately, it is sleeting. Yes, at the end of April. That's what you get for living in Colorado. the land of wait five minutes for the weather to change.

Anyway, for a while there, the weather was absolutely beautiful. It was warm. Like so warm that i didn't have to wear tights with dresses and skirts. It was great. And, of course, that also means its time to break out the grill. During the summer, all we do is grill. I love the favor that it gives everything. Charred and delicious.

In my opinion, when you grill you should go all out. So why not grill bread, too? And that's what we did. Now, this bread is really quite amazing. It's made just like normal bread, it needs to rise for an hour and 15 minutes. It has a great flavor though. It uses both sesame oil and olive oil which gives it a unique flavor that I love. It also has a TON of scallions which you can increase or decrease to your liking. Enjoy the start of grill time!

Grill Bread

1 package yeast
1 tsp sugar
4 1/2 cups flour
12 green onions
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp coarsely ground pepper

Mix yeast and sugar with 1 1/4 cups of warm water. Let stand until foamy. Mix yeast mixture with 1 1/2 cups of flour, onion, oils, salt, and pepper. Gradually stir in 2 1/2 cups flour. Mix thoroughly, knead ten minutes. (may add1/4 cup flour) Shape into ball, place into oiled bowl and turn to oil the top. Let rise one hour. Punch down. Cover and let rest 15 minutes. Shape into 6 8" circles. Grill 2-3 minutes (may need longer cooking time) per side.

Food Trivia Wednesday: Popcorn

Personally, I think that popcorn is addicting. I mean have you ever just eaten a small amount of popcorn? In a movie theatre, if I am given popcorn, it's usually all gone before the movie even starts. I don't really have a sense of patience. at all. It's just SOO good. You can also utilize popcorn in a bajillion different ways. Caramel corn, popcorn balls, cheesy popcorn, etc. All delicious. Here are some little known facts:

1. Popcorn was first introduced at the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth.
2. The colonists then ate popcorn with milk and sugar (cereal)
3. 17 quarts are eaten by Americans every year.
4. The world's largest popcorn channel at 12 feet long, 40,000 pounds of sugar, 280 gallons of corn syrup, and 400 gallons of water.
5. The Marion Popcorn Festival attracts over 200,000 people every year.
6. There is a Wyandot Popcorn Museum. 'nuff said.
7. Popcorn kernels can pop up to 3 feet in the year.

Almond Macaroons

I think that I may have macaroons coming out of my ears. Do you KNOW how many macaroons I've made in the last two days? It's ridiculous.

That's the price I pay for agreeing to be in charge of dessert for Passover. These are almond macaroons though. I like these much better. They use almond paste, egg whites, sugar, and salt. Not much eh? It makes them all the more enjoyable. I have not got the recipe right now but enjoy the pictures!

Food Trivia Wednesdays: Coconut

I can't deny it. Coconut has been on my mind a lot. Only because I have made dozens of macaroons over the last two days, all of which use way too much coconut to be comfortable. Anyway, it's a pretty appropriate ingredient for food trivia this week, no?

Every year, 150 people are killed by coconuts. Apparently, that's ten times the number of people killed by sharks. Wouldn't that be a sad way to die? So, I think the moral of this story is, do not worry so much about prowling sharks in the water on your vacation. Instead, avoid coconut trees.

Coconut water is the liquid inside the coconut, coconut milk is coconut steeped in hot water and then strained, and coconut cream is coconut milk cooked down until it thickens. Oh my, so much to remember!

About 20 billion are produced each year. Can you believe that's all the facts online. Well that's sad. I'm sorry. Next week will be more promising I swear.

Macaroons

I LOVE sleep. I never realized how incredibly awesome it is. Like legit. I'm on spring break right now so sleep is actually attainable. No getting up at 5 am for an entire WEEK. and it was 78 degrees today. I think mother nature is trying to tell us all that summer should come 2 months early. I definitely be ok with that.

And in other news, both absolutely horrible and incredibly awesome. On Monday I discovered to my absolute horror that I did not make it into the highest choir at my school, while both my best friends did. It just confirms my own mediocrity and unworthiness. But then today, I found out that I made it into that Barnard program over the summer in New York. I'm pretty much psyched. Maybe I didn't make it into the choir because of the summer program. I'll just stick with that because it makes me feel better.

Next week is Passover and I am in charge of all the desserts. Since I have school the day of the seder, I got a bunch of my baking done today. I made regular and chocolate macaroons. I've never had chocolate ons before but I can't imagine that anything involving chocolate and coconut could be all that horrible. The camera is being stupid right now so you all will have to live with no pictures. I'm sure that will difficult since SO many people read my ramblings. That's no problem, however, it's still kind of fun writing to nobody.

These stick like none other and they spread quite a bit more than you would expect so you might want to spray the paper.
Macaroons
Martha Stewart

3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven o 325. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla, and salt. Using your hands, mix well, completely combining ingredients.
3. Dampen hands with cold water. Use 1 1/2 tablespoons to form mounds; place on prepared baking sheet, spacing each 1 inch apart.
4. Bake until golden brown, 16 to 17 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate version: PLace 4 oz. of semisweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt. Increase coconut to 2 2/3 cup and combine all ingredients with 1/4 cup of cocoa and chocolate.

Food Trivia Wednesday: Chocolate

Yes, I know it's slightly silly that my last post was a food trivia Wednesday and this post is also one, but that's the spice of life!

Chocolate. is. DELICIOUS. My mother is like the biggest chocoholic in the entire world. I'm pretty partial to it as well. Those clever Mayans! They will never know how much happiness they created in my life.

In the seventeenth century, a "death by chocolate" occurred. If I had to die, that would be preferable. But I'd rather not die. Cacao was used as currency in ancient Mexico because it was so very valuable.

People spend over $7 billion on chocolate every year. That is great investing if you ask me. Each person eats 12 pounds per year on average. I probably eat more than that but who's paying attention?