I dream of sipping warm sumptuous soup in the long winter months. It’s so soothing and extremely good for you. I was recently reading an article (well, more like 4 or 5) and apparently “souping” is a thing. Like the “juicing” craze that happened a few …
By now my family has completed nearly all of the pre-Christmas traditions. We’ve put up our tree and decorated the house inside and out. Santa rode right down our street perched atop a festive fire truck for the annual Santa parade this year which was VERY exciting to …
Eating your veggies for dessert? Okay, I’m sold! Yes, I’ve officially boarded the pumpkin pie train. I’ve honestly never made a pumpkin pie since my all time favorite holiday pie is sour cream raisin or even mincemeat (I know, weird). Given that my husband absolutely MUST have pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, I feel it’s only fair to finally make one just for him. Starting from an old fashioned pumpkin pie recipe, I’ve created a dairy free pumpkin pie using coconut milk in place of the cream or evaporated milk. The spices include cardamom which is more traditional in Scandinavian pies so I’ve honored my heritage with that in combination with the old standards of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.
The crust for this dairy free pumpkin pie version is the exact crust I used to bake back home on the farm. I learned to make flaky delicious pie crusts using lard which we often rendered ourselves. The method is the same as butter based crusts (pate brisee) which needs to be chilled before rolling but this version using lard seems to be perfectly flaky whether or not you chill the dough before rolling so you can save that step if you prefer. They key to this awesome crust is to not over-handle it and roll it thin to around 1/8 inch. Blind-baking the crust first (baking without the filling for a few minutes) helps the crust to begin to develop flakiness without absorbing the moisture of the filling. You will want to cover the edges of the crust with foil or a pie shield to prevent overbrowning for the rest of the bake time.
Dairy free pumpkin pie can easily be made a day ahead or you can freeze the pie crust already made but not yet baked. To do this, you can simply pat it into a disk and cover in plastic wrap or go a step further and roll, plate it and cover the whole pie dish before freezing. The flavors of the pie filling are even more wonderful if you mix them up the day before and let them sit in the fridge overnight to mingle. Top your perfect slice with pastry leaves or a vanilla bourbon coconut whipped cream sweetened with maple syrup. Now, THIS is a pumpkin pie perfect for a feast!
Please note this post contains affiliate linksIt has been a whirlwind this past week experimenting with fun recipes like this baked pumpkin and apple wontons and spending the last four days back on my mom’s farm for a little archery hunting and fun with my …
We spent the weekend in much needed relaxation mode schmoozing with good friends on Friday night, having an awesome bonfire just me and my hubby on Saturday and then our somewhat productive Sunday afternoon quickly turned totally non-productive sitting out on the lawn with our neighbors. What can I say, …
School starts on Tuesday and my two girls are getting a little bit excited and a little bit nervous about their transition to a new school this year. It’ll be the first time they are riding the bus as well so they’ve been a bit anxious about the change. I know it’ll go just fine. We just need to get the first day or two out of the way. I feel better knowing that each of them knows at least one kid that will be in their class so there will be a familiar face to say “hello” to in the morning. Plus, both of their teachers seem wonderful and excited about what they do. This past week, I’ve been packing in all of the “lasts” for the summer before school starts. The last beach date, the last big latenight bonfire (with s’mores, of course) and the last time the girls will accompany me to the farmer’s market for the year. It’s been so fun having the farmer’s market as a tool to teach my daughters about their food choices and sustainability giving them a social experience and a lesson in budgeting their dollars since they always want to get either the hand squeezed lemonade or the kettle corn made right there on site. It has been a good summer and I feel so very humbled and blessed with all that God has provided for me and my family this summer.
My garden has also blessed me with a bounty of turnips which I’ve never grown before. I typically pair them with potatoes and mash them together for mashed root veggies and gravy. It gives the mashed taters just a hint of peppery goodness but not so much that anyone really notices. For a change this time, I decided to try making them into fries. Turnip fries won’t get as crispy as regular potatoes but I’ve found that if you soak the fries in cold water for 30 minutes prior to baking, it removes some of the starch which helps them get more crisp. For seasoning, a combination of miso paste and butter brushed on the fries compliments the unique turnip flavor perfectly. Another alternative that’s delicious is to toss in olive oil and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning for a spicy bite.
It’s an exciting day…I have plums!!!! As in plums directly from my neighbor’s plum tree and not from a supermarket. Holy cannoli are they TASTY! Tart and lightly sweet, these lovely little stone fruit have been a delightful treat all week. Since I was graced with a large bucket of them, I just had to make plum …
I get excited when fun things arrive at my doorstep. Today, the postwoman brought me a delivery of 50 alpine strawberry plants!!! I’m way super excited but I haven’t quite figured out where I’m planting all of them. The coolest thing about these plants is …
One week to go until we close on our new house and the process is finally going smoothly so we’re now expecting to close on time. Wheeee!! I may actually get to plant a garden this year and that makes me VERY happy. Vacations also make me happy. This weekend promises to be full of awesome as we’re heading to Wisconsin Dells with my husband’s family in what is becoming an annual tradition.
Know what else equals happiness? Dipping things in sauces and fun new veggie recipes! Have you every roasted a radish? No?! Me neither. I hadn’t ever thought to roast one but for this recipe using roasted carrots and radish, I thought why not?? They add a beautiful color and are perfectly snackable. Roasted just long enough to be tender crisp, they become slightly sweeter (as do most roasted veggies) and they lose that somewhat bitter bite to them. I was craving something dippable (always a winner with kids too) so I’ve created a fun harissa dipping sauce made with quark cheese (or you can use plain yogurt). Harissa is a Tunisian spice blend of chili’s, paprika, garlic, cumin, coriander and sometimes lemon. You can purchase it as a dry rub or as a paste. I used the dry spice blend that I found at my local market as that was easier to find in the bulk spice section. I’m guessing many of you may have never heard of quark cheese either. It’s a spoonable German cheese made similarly to yogurt and you can use it in place of yogurt in many recipes. I had actually never tried it and the company Elli Quark sent me some free samples to try so figured I’d give it a shot! The plain unsweetened variety has has more protein content and less sugar than Greek yogurt. The taste was phenomenal as well. I’d liken its flavor to a cream cheese or cottage cheese type of taste but with the consistency and usability of plain yogurt. You can find quark cheese in the yogurt section of many specialty grocers and if you can’t but still wish to try it, check out Elli Quark’s website and they can ship it to you in a really neat cooler style package. I’m actually still in awe of its cooler style packaging. Weird, I know.
Look how pretty these look!!! So much fun to dip…. perfect for a pre-dinner appetizer or sweet roasted carrot and radish side dish.
Mayday, mayday! Stress overload during this first week of May and it’s not about to get better so apologies in advance for any one-and-lonely posts in the weeks to come. In a whirlwind of house touring last week, we did find the perfect house to move into, …
