PIE!

My friend Emily has a good job with a lot of perks, but unfortunately, it isn't really doing a lot for her soul.  Let's face it.  Not many of us have jobs that do anything for our souls.  Those jobs are hard to find.  Emily does have some hobbies, however, that are GREAT for her soul.  Running, knitting, reading, and making pie.  She is especially good at making pie.  Like State Fair of Texas Blue Ribbon Winning good.  Winning a blue ribbon at the State Fair of Texas is HUGE.  Those Texas ladies are serious about their pie, and she showed them how it's done.

Emily has decided to write a pie book.  For her soul.  I am 100% in favor of this.  And because I am her friend, I have already read the first couple of chapters (which are great) PLUS I got to be a recipe tester for this Nutella Buttermilk Pie.  Yesterday, I cleaned the glass on my oven door.  Since you could actually see through it for the first time in four years, I thought there needed to be something in there worth looking at.  So, it was the perfect day for pie recipe testing.

After I put the pie in the oven, I saw this guy on my kitchen floor.  Apparently, he heard there was going to be pie.  With Nutella.  Who can resist that?  You can't tell, but he is HUGE and scary.  I covered him with a tupperware container and tried to ignore him.  Ugh. Let's get back to the pie.

TA-DA!

Isn't it pretty?  And it tastes really good, too.  Daphne was running around the house singing, "Awesome, awesome...awesome, awesome...awesome, awesome... "

I'm sorry to say I can't post the recipe.  You will just have to wait and buy the book.  But, you will totally be glad you did.  I'll let you know when it's at an Amazon near you.

I'd Like to Propose Some Toast

Well, hello there, food blog!  It's been a long time!  Let's just say, summer didn't inspire a whole lotta cooking.  We were hot and busy and out of town a lot, so it just didn't happen.  But now, fall has arrived.  My favorite season.  It's time to start thinking about soup and stew and pumpkin bread and pie.  Oh, yeah.

I do have a few things to post from the last couple of weeks, and I thought I'd start with some toast.  I love toast.  And recently, I've been making it by grilling bread on my grill pan.  I just brush some good French or Italian bread with some olive oil and grill away.

Making a frequent appearance on my grilled toast is my new friend, avocado:

I thought I didn't like avocado.  I hate guacamole, so how could I possibly like avocado?  But I recently tried it in it's non-guacamole form and loved it!  I had it at a party, wrapped in prosciutto with a little melon.  Delicious.  Then, I saw it on some toast in a copy of Bon Appetit, so I decided to make my own.  All I did was grill the bread with olive oil, rub a little garlic clove on the hot bread just off the grill, spread on some avocado, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle on a little more olive oil.  So good.  And healthy!  Bonus!

Last week, we had pasta, so I decided to make more toast.  This time, I added pesto and parmesan cheese to the grilled bread and warmed it in the oven to melt the cheese a little.  Yum. 

I like all this toast.  I'm sure there are a million possibilities.  I like that, too.  Possibilities are good.  And toast is easy.

Coming soon, chicken marsala, chicken apple curry, and white bean chicken chili.  A CHICKEN TRIFECTA, if you will!  And stay tuned also for my attempt at being a recipe tester for my friend Emily, who is writing a book about one of my very most favorite things ever: PIE. 

It's good to be back, food blog.  It's good to be back.

Question of the day:  What is your favorite thing to put on toast?