Pie o my

My sister and I attempted to make a lemon meringue pie a few days ago. This was definitely trickier than the other pies I've made and required a lot more work and time. The crust was made first, then the filling, then the meringue.

I rolled out the the dough for the crust for the first time. It's gonna take a while before I can get it down, but man, it was not easy (nor pretty).

The finished product.

After letting it cool and fridging it, it was time to taste test it.

Failed. What pie? It was a friggin soup. While everything tasted good, I had baked the meringue too long, which is why you can see some droplets. The bigger problem was the filling. It was thick before I had topped it with the meringue, but somewhere and somehow along the line, it became watery. Upon some research, I'm guessing I either did not completely cover the meringue over the pie or I didn't let it cool enough, which resulted in the pie becoming "weepy." I am going to have to ask the baker what I did wrong and try again.

With some leftover crust pieces. I quickly (as you can probably tell) squished them, dipped them in some cinnamon and sugar, and baked it with my pie. I called them "crusties." =p

still messing w/ the blog as you can see. Not really sure what I want for the picture for my header nor do I really know what to do with the size.

Almost January. It never ceases to amaze me every year how fast time goes. Days are mere minutes...

gone fishin

This month's adventure is brought to you by Transderm Scop.

I went deep sea fishing for sand dabs with some friends last weekend at San Pedro's 22nd Landing. Way too early for all of us...

Cutting up the squid for bait...

and putting it on our 10 hook line and waiting while the pelicans eyed the poles. Some of these guys would try to jack you as you were pulling your fish up.

Winna. It was more manual labor than fishing, but still fun. Great money value since there was no limit. Everyone caught at least 60 of these babies.

Took a break every once in a while and went into the kitchen. Coors light for breakfast anyone? The true breakfast of champions right there.

She made an awesome cheeseburger.

Closeup. I ended up getting two. First time she added some bacon. Second time, she put in some jalapenos. Everything fresh and delicious.

Two people caught Mako sharks.

I had one on my line, and I lost it. That could have been me, enjoying a tasty shark steak. =**(

It was so peaceful and quiet out there, and thanks to the patch, I didn't get seasick either. I came home, stinking of fish, took a shower, cleaned the fish, pan fried the tasty morsels, ate em, and passed out.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday...

Merry Christmas!

I know my posting activity has slowly been dying, but I will be changing that over the break/sprucing up the blog a bit. It was a long and stressful semester, but I'm very happy that I finished strongly, so now I can chill over the holidays and rest easy. One more class to take, and I'm DONE. And while the waiting game continues, it's only good times from here on out...

Enough of the small talk. Let's go onto the food. For the break, some family came back home, so we had a pre-Christmas feast at my cousin's/-in-law's.

They had grilled up some lemon chicken and tri tip(sorry no picture of that, was too busy eating). We were all starving by the time we got there, having to deal with some horrible traffic, and let me tell you, I ate way too much that night. Also a thumbs up to the salad (no picture), which I had 4 helpings of.

Some Duvel to get the party started.

My other cousins also made some brownies for dessert, and this blurry picture does not do this any justice...It had a good balance, and I enjoyed that it was dense but at the same time cakey.

As I sat there gluttonously stuffing my face, enjoying good company, and playing Taboo, I thought to myself, this is what the holidays are all about, and it was great to just enjoy the night without having any worries at all. Thanks to my cousins who made this all happen.

Merry Christmas everyone!

going to california

SF that is.

school's out, work's done, and it's time to play. i'm loving the rain....lord knows california needs it.

I am still messing around w/ the blog and learning a few tricks about html on the way. i know i have a lot of blogs missing on the links section. i lost them all somehow, so i'll have to add them one by one if i can find/remember them all. but overall, i like what i have so far...it seems a lot less cluttered.

here are some pictures of some goodies my sister brought back with her from norcal a few months back...(which also shows you how far behind I am in some of my posts...)


a fruit tart w/ an excellent cream filling from La Farine Bakery


A half baked veggie pizza from Zachary's. Of course, our oven is a joke compared to theirs, so it didn't come out as well, but still, it was nice to eat.

I'm going to pass out now...I still have to pack...

foolin around

w/ a new template....so "under construction" for now

My first pie(s)

gawdddddddddddddddddddddamnnnnnnnnnn

I SAID, ahhhgawddddddddamnnnnnnnnnnn

Sorry everyone. I know that I've been neglecting the blog lately, but I'm still alive. Life has been quite busy, and this week is no exception w/ finals coming up. So here's a quickie on my past Thanksgiving.

I decided to step it up this year and attempt to make two pies, crust and all. Sprinkles and that cupcake craze? Nah kid. Pass me the pie son cuz I got five on it. Gimme a fatty slice, and you better make sure to put on some of that freshly made whipped cream too FOOL.


The first pie I chose to make was Uncle Richard's sweet potato pie, recipe courtesy of Homesick Texan's beautiful blog. I had actually made it the week before as a trial run and because I had never had a spp before. It turned out well, so for Thanksgiving, I decided to tweak the ratios of the ingredients. Baking that pie made me feel confident, but I got too big for my britches because I should have just left it as it was. The first pie wasn't too sweet, had a good sweet potato taste, and went well w/ whipped cream. But this pie oh deed on the spices and ended up tasting very close to pumpkin pie although you could tell that the texture and taste were slightly different. Lesson learned. Also, I don't know what I did wrong, but on both pies, there was a paper thin layer of some white froth after it was done baking (you can see it in this picture too). Any suggestions/ideas? Oh, and a holla to my sister who made the crust. It was a little bit too thick, but certainly better than the frozen stuff you can buy.


The second pie I made is a favorite of mine: banana cream pie. I got the recipe from my dad's manager, an excellent cook and baker from the east coast(she makes an apple pie for us every year, and i'd put my bollocks on the table to say that it is the best apple pie I've ever had).

The graham cracker crust was easy to make: crumbs, sugar, and butter. And yes, I am well aware that I could take a few classes on presentation, but I tried damnit! When I read the recipe, I was surprised that bananas didn't actually go into making the cream/pudding. I layered the bottom with bananas before I put on the pudding and found that the flavor had infused overnight. It was pretty fun making it, especially whisking the liquid and feeling sweet satisfaction as I felt it getting thicker. I had to skip the end part, which called for putting the pudding through a mesh sieve. I didn't have a clean one, so I didn't want to do it. Overall, I thought it tasted good, and next time, I will make a thicker crust because it came out a little too thin for my liking. I will also get some nilla wafers and put them on top too.

I'm out folks. Going up to SF once I finish my tests, so see ya in a few.