Cooking Up Some Pie

So, for Thanksgiving this year, I was in charge of pie and I maybe went a little overboard...I made 3 pumpkin pies, 2 strawberry cream pies, 1 apple pie, and 1 caramel apple pie. They were all a pretty big hit, so I was happy with my work. Especially since I've never made apple pie before (but it's Tommy's favorite, so I had to). This is the second year in a row that I've made the pumpkin pie with a pecan crust and I'm a big fan, so I thought I'd share the recipe...

Pecan Pie Crust

Ingredients

1 cup pecans
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1.4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 stick cold, unsalted butter cut into bits
1/2 tsp. salt
raw rice for weighting the shell

Instructions

1. In food processor, coarsely grind pecans with sugar; transfer to a bowl. In food processor, blend together flour, butter, and salt until coarse like meal; add to pecan mixture.
2. Add 3 tablespoons ice water, toss until mixed and press dough onto bottom and up the side of a 9-inch pie plate. Crimp edge; prick with fork and chill 30 minutes.
3. Line crust with foil, fill foil with rice, and bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 7 minutes. Remove rice and foil carefully and bake crust 5 more minutes; cool.

And here are some pie pictures for you to enjoy...though I did forget to take pictures of my last 3 pies.

Showering Baby

Baby McLaughlin is feeling very blessed this week with lots of presents and love rolling in. As you know, I stink at taking pictures and have none to offer of the baby shower, but I have had a few requests for pictures of the sweet presents we got, so...your wish is my command:
Here's a shot of the way cute quilt that Aunt Cheryl made for us. I absolutely LOVE it, we show it off to everyone that comes over. Also, you can see in the corner our fancy diaper genie that Ryan and Jenny got for us:

Here we have some stinkin' cute burp rags that Cheri got embroidered for us with cute Harry Potter themes:

Great-Grandma McLaughlin got us a car seat that we absolutely love and we topped it this week with the cutest cars eat cover ever made (courtesy of Aunt Mae):

Aunt Mae also sent us these booties...maybe I'm over using the words "cute" and "love," but are these not the cutest booties you've ever seen? Everyone freaks out over how cute they are every time I show them off:

At the baby shower, everyone helped us build up Oliver's book collection. Look at how well-read he's going to be! haha

On an unrelated note..since most of our nursery crafts are over, we've moved on to some Christmas crafts...this week I worked on making a wreath for our front door and an advent calendar for counting down the days until Christmas (though we aren't putting any of them up until Friday so we can give Thanksgiving its proper celebration).

30 Weeks, Only 10 Left!!

Trip to India

So, for our anniversary this year, I gave Tommy a passport around the world for monthly dates to different countries. So far, we've visited France and China, and this weekend we went to India. For our trip we ate some very authentic chicken tikka masala and naan. (I meant to take pictures of all the stages of cooking, but whoops...I forgot! I'll still give you the recipe though because it is really really good (thank you to Brianna for letting me borrow a recipe from her India-inspired food cookbook)).

• Chicken Tikka Masala

  Marinade:

  • 1 cup plain yogurt • 1 tablespoon lemon juice, from 1 lemon • 1 teaspoon ground cumin • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste • 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

  Sauce:

  • 4 long skewers • 1 tablespoon butter • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped • 2 teaspoon ground cumin • 2 teaspoons paprika • 1 teaspoons salt, or to taste • 1 teaspoon garam masala • 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce • 1 cup heavy cream • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

  Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. 2. Preheat a grill for high heat. 3. In a large heavy skillet over medium heat melt butter. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Stir in cumin, paprika, salt, and garam masala. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. 4. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side. 5. Add grilled chicken to the sauce mixture and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve with garlic naan. Yields: 4 servings Note: This makes a medium spice chicken tikka masala. If you like it spicy, add an extra teaspoon of cayenne pepper and the whole jalapeno pepper.

  
  

  Naan

  Ingredients:

  • 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast • 1 cup warm water (110 degrees) • 1/4 cup white sugar plus 1 tablespoon • 3 tablespoons warm milk (110 degrees) • 1 egg, beaten, room temperature • 2 teaspoons salt • 3 1/2 to 4 cups bread flour • 2 tablespoons minced garlic • 1/4 cup butter, melted

  Directions:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of sugar; let rest 10 minutes until foamy. 2. Add remaining sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Mix with the dough hook on medium-low until thoroughly combined and smooth, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 3. Punch down dough and knead in garlic until combined. Pinch off small handfuls of dough, about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. 4. Preheat grill to high heat and lightly oil grate. Roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepare. Serve warm. Yields: 14 servings

  
  

  After we ate, we watched The Bucket List. Now, I know what you're thinking...what does The Bucket List have to do with India? Well, they go there in the movie, duh. Haha, originally we were going to watch The Jungle Book (which was much more applicable), but I couldn't find it ANYWHERE, so we settled on The Bucket List (wish that Blockbuster was still a thing, because I bet they would've had it for me).