It's Officially Pie Day

Back around Thanksgiving, I seriously wanted a pie that I could safely consume. Looking through online recipes I found one of my favorite pies: sweet potato. The recipe I used can be found at The Witchy Kitchen: Vegan Sweet Potato Pie. 

My friend, who shall be nicknamed Pyro, had decided to surprise me with a Hannah-friendly pie. So Friday the 23^rd of November officially became Pie Day. I was souped.

The Boy also hung out that day (sadly he did not get to fully join our festivities; he does not like sweet potato and he was gone by the time Pyro’s pie was ready). While I baked my pie he had the idea to finally try out the new donut pan I’d bought a few weeks earlier. Awesome right? I have a boyfriend who LIKES to bake and cook. Plus! He wanted to make the recipe I had found, peanut butter donuts. This new adventure made Pie Day ten times more fun.

As for my sweet potato pie, I followed the recipe as is. I like to the first time I make something to see what the original is like, the next few times I’ll start playing with it. Like for this, next time I may add some peanut butter to the filling itself. For me, you can just never have too much peanut butter.

The pie did take most of the day to make. I didn’t mind though, I got to spend the day cooking. It may be important to say that my day started at 10:30am…so…yea, that might have had something to do with the time frame.

It wasn’t hard work, just a lot of baking and cooling. For the most part the hardest thing was probably making the sweet potato as smooth as possible. But once again, I wasn’t using an electric mixer or anything, just a trusty old fork.

Making the pie basically goes as follows:

1) Bake the sweet potatoes; let cool

2) Make crust out of oats, pecans, dates, oil, water, and peanut butter; stick in fridge

3) Peel and mash potatoes till smooth; then to potatoes, add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and mix together

4) Then add milk (substituted almond milk), yogurt (substituted coconut yogurt), and vanilla

5) Pour mixture into the pie crust and bake again; then let cool for a couple hours

See? Simple stuff, just takes time. All the best things do.

In fact, the pie was quite tasty. I love sweet potato pie, so this Thanksgiving I was extremely thankful for this recipe.

The donuts…were more of an experiment. The Boy and I didn’t have all the ingredients for the original recipe. So, we did what the best experiments call for, we improvised. 

Pyro was nervous about our end result. But honestly, the improvisation worked out just fine. However, the minor detail that I had previously used basically all of our measuring utensils that morning and the night before…That made it a little difficult.

Most of our eyeballing worked, except for one. Baking powder.

I knew we shouldn’t have eyeballed baking powder. But what else we were supposed to do?

(Sure I could have cleaned off one of the teaspoon measures, but really, that just seemed like the easy way out.)

On the bright side, we underestimated. The first donuts tasted wonderful, just didn’t rise correctly.

The next few tasted just as good AND rose to a nice fluffy height. 

Later on, the feasting commenced later in the day on Official Pie Day. Pyro came over after he ran a few errands; he had made a yogurt and whipped cream (oil based so I could eat it) pie. It has to refrigerate for a while. So we did our own improvisation and stuck it in the freezer.

I was quite impatient.

I wanted pie.

The Boy had to leave, but Pyro and I stayed dining and talking over two distinct and tasteful pies.

Conclusion: Official Pie will definitely become a tradition.

Smell Without Taste

There seems to be a debate on how many senses the human body has; however, two senses are readily agreed upon and strictly connected: Smell and Taste.

For a long time, humans have known that these two senses are intricately intertwined. It’s why, grossly, after getting sick, to eliminate the wretched smell from your nostrils, you have to brush your teeth. It’s why some people say that they can taste snow before a single flake ever falls. Also, for the reverse of my first example, it’s what makes food so much more than just fueling ourselves to keep us alive, but an entire experience able to be enjoyed.

Or to be avoided. One unfortunate family dinner at my Grandparent’s went from a homemade Shepherd’s Pie to a quick run down to the local pizza place. As the food was served, before anyone even tasted the meal, the odor emanating from our plates removed any volition to actually eat what sat in front of us. Some ingredient (still debated till this day) had obviously soured without my grandmother’s knowledge. Most of my family never ventured to try the pie, I did (it was hypoglycemic act of desperation, I needed food). It tasted wonderful; I experienced no adverse side effects from whatever had gone rotten, but once everyone else’s reactions were made public (and loudly) I immediately stopped my consumption.

Smell and taste can hardly be separated.

This connection baffles me. I understand it. It makes perfect sense. Yet it still confounds me.

I often hear, “Wow Hannah, that smells amazing!” Or “Hannah, that smell is making me want to cook something.” When my parents order pizza (which I cannot eat) or go out for dinner, I experiment with my mine, having the kitchen to myself. My mom tells me all the time during these situations that the smell is almost making her feel guilty for not cooking something of her own.

This is where my confusion comes from. I hear comments like these, I say thank you, then politely offer them a bite. Their reaction every time “Oh no. But thanks.” Their response is either coupled with a laugh or stated quite matter-of-factly like they would never eat something like that and why was I even asking? If smell and taste are so mingled within our functioning, how can they be so willing to smell my food, but not taste it? Isn’t smelling half of tasting?

Maybe there’s a block in most people’s brains. And maybe my wacko-ness somehow broke down that blockage. Maybe that’s an indicator I’m meant to be in the food world. Most foodie people seem to have broken through that block.

Three specific instances of this (even though this happens just about every time I cook) are when I cook my Veggie and Quinoa Stir-Fry, when I cooked my first ever portabella mushroom burger, and my recently created black bean soup.

My Veggie stir-fry doesn’t have much to create a smell other than the sautéing vegetables themselves. I only put a little black pepper in the quinoa and nothing else really. The sauce is what creates the aroma: peanut butter and horseradish mustard. The sauce sounds strange, but it’s a simple way to add tons of flavor to a stir fry. My mother always tells me “Wow, that smells great! I wish I was cooking something that smelled and looked as good as that!”

Will she taste it?

Of course not.

A few weeks ago I tried my first “burger” made from a portabella mushroom cap. I slathered some peanut butter and horseradish mustard (hadn’t had this combo in a while) on the bread. On top of the mushroom, I lavishly layered some onions and pineapple, sautéed in worcestershire sauce. While I was cooking the onions, pineapple, and mushroom, my dad walked over and exclaimed, “I have got to tell you, Hannah, that really does smell amazing!” Accompanied by his classic laugh and facial expression that goes along with statements he’s surprised to be making.

Would he try it?

Of course not.

Okay, I’ll admit, the latest dish I’ve concocted looked nasty. Like not terribly nasty, but it sure wasn’t the prettiest dish I’ve ever made. Black bean soup. With peanut butter. Separately, they both look appetizing and taste good. Together, they’re still tasty, absolutely creamy. However, when they get together any chance of physical attraction disappears.

The soup was spiced well though; it had cumin, curry, cinnamon, and red pepper (my favorite mix). I added diced peaches, onions, celery, and peanut butter. It was a result of another late night need to cook. I actually made it a second time and kept it in the fridge for dinners. I have yet to eat this warm, but I did do quite a bit of “taste-testing.”

When I give the ingredient list people admit that it’s got good stuff in it, they’re attracted to the spices, the peanut butter throws them a little bit, they admit (while I’m cooking it) that obviously it smells good, but will they taste it?

Of course not.

Smell without taste.

Maybe it’s our sight that messes things up, or just stepping out of ones comfort zone. Either way, smelling without actually tasting…Just doesn’t seem fun to me.

Making Yogurt Hannah-Friendly

So I went through this weird phase when I was little.

(Okay, I went through a lot of weird phases, but this one was probably particularly annoying to my parents.)

So Delicious yogurt, peanut butter, and Triscuit Thin Crisps

For a long time I wouldn’t, well couldn’t, eat yogurt out of one of the large containers. Don’t ask me how this happened or why my brain decided to outlaw the big (and cheaper) containers of yogurt, but it did.

Same yogurt, same brand, same amount, couldn’t do it. It HAD to be one of the small containers.

These days, I pretty much stick to my small containers because my local grocery store (and most others around here) only sell Hannah-friendly yogurt in small containers. I mainly eat So Delicious coconut milk yogurt. I didn’t think I’d like it because I absolutely cannot stand coconut, but my taste buds have gone through so many changes over the past couple of years that I’ve actually fallen in love with it.

I rarely even miss Greek Yogurt (my favorite).

There are three reasons I do not eat just yogurt.

1. Hannah-friendly yogurt is expensive.

2. Hannah-friendly yogurt comes in small containers and is at large risk of being eaten way too quickly.

3. Yogurt tends to have a lot of sugar, plus it's easily digestible. Two things that are not good for hypoglycemics.

So because of these reasons I like to make the most out of it when I get it.

First:

During my snooping around the Internet for various recipes and mixtures, I stumbled upon different parfaits. Thinking that a normal parfait just wouldn’t do, I mixed my own.

The ingredients: Your yogurt of choice (I tend to use mango or raspberry), peanut butter, and your favorite bowl. (In my opinion, a meal is never complete, without the perfect dish.)

Pour yogurt in bowl.

Add peanut butter.

Stir. Enjoy.

Second:

Yogurt and Cereal. (Plus any additives you like. Fruit, peanut butter, etc.)

For the most part, I do a combination of stuff. Yogurt, peanut butter, and cereal. What I’ve found this does, is make those little itty-bitty containers of yogurt, last so much longer. It’s also better for me because of the sugars in yogurt. With more stuff to digest my blood sugar doesn’t spike or drop as quickly as it would with just yogurt.

Yogurt, Cheerios, and peanut butter

Last night I made a dinner out of it. I started with mango yogurt and mixed in some PB2 (powdered peanut butter). If you try this, make sure to thoroughly mix it for two reasons. One, so that all the PB2 gets incorporated and you don’t have little clumps of it. Two, the longer this duo is stirred, the thicker it gets. PB2 is supposed to be combined with water to create a lower calorie peanut butter. But I read somewhere that it imparts great peanut flavor (that it does). Since when added to water it was supposed to thicken up, I figured it would act the same in yogurt (that it does). Next I added my homemade crunchy peanut butter. Then I topped it with some cereal. Last night’s choice was Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted. Of course the last step is to stir it all up (without crushing the cereal of course).

What’s my favorite thing to do with yogurt though? My third option:

I’ll call it…Mock Greek Yogurt? Or insert whatever other witty title you can come with (I’m never good with the titles).

It starts out pretty much the same as the mixture above. However, for this, leave it in the fridge in an air tight container for as long as you possibly can. (I usually do overnight. But I put it in the afternoon before, and eat it for lunch the next day.)

Take your yogurt; mix in 2 tablespoons of PB2 (blend thoroughly). Drop a spoonful of peanut butter and stir that in. I prefer crunchy to give it some varying textures. Leave it in the fridge.

I haven’t had Greek yogurt in a while…But I can almost guarantee it’s almost the exact texture. It’s light, while still having some bulk to it.

(I’m actually starting to crave some right now…)

Maybe I'll create a new yogurt concoction tonight for dinner.