When desserts go horribly, heinously wrong
You know, I always show you guys the good stuff. The pretty stuff. But I make mistakes, too. Sometimes I pay no attention to what I'm doing. Sometimes my creativity gets the best of me. Sometimes things turn purple. Sometimes I have to scrap stuff and start over.
Long Story short, Nolan won his Fantasy Baseball league last year. Gross winnings of maybe $400, less the total he spent on picking up players throughout the year, $210. Winner brings food to draft night. (Les the $$ I spent on groceries, We're down to a hundred bucks. Go, team. *waves tiny flag*) So Nolan gives me the doe eyes and asks me to cater dinner for his dorky friends. (And he teases me about writing in the HP fandom. As if pretend baseball is ANY less cool than Draco. Um, NO.) I, of course, am a sucker. I cater for him. Nolan loves pecan pie; he had 8 pies at our wedding reception rather than Groom's cake, so I knew that'd be a favorite with him. There will be 20 dorky friends that night, so I decide to do individual little pecan tartlets. So clever! No dessert plates! No messy cutting of the pies!
RECIPE For Pecan Pie:
1 single crust pie shell (I know you will make it from scratch - but I don't 'cause Pillsbury needs to be kept in business.)
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cups pecan halves (or more) - And Nolan likes the little bitty pieces instead of halves. Don't ask why. The man has an opinion on EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING, I say.
Preheat your oven 350F.
Combine eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla mixing well. Stir in pecan halves and pour into prepared pie shell. To prevent over browning, cover the edge of the pie with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 20 - 25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cover and refrigerate within 2 hours.
Nice action sugar shot, right? I did that one handed, y'all.
Butter. Don't melt it all the way or the eggs will scramble. Uh, EW.
This looks really gross. Nolan assures me it's super-de-dooper good. (He doesn't say that. He's way to cool, doing stuff like bitching at the computer screen for his imaginary catcher- who is a real man- having knee problems. )
*sharp intake of breath* THIS is where I went off the reservation. I couldn't find the little tartlet shells made out of regular pastry, so I bought these. Graham Cracker crust. I even called my mom and asked, "What do you think? Pecan Pie in a graham cracker pie shell?" She said that she thought it would work, but was worried about the taste.
Oh, no. The taste wasn't the biggest issue by a long shot.
But aren't they cute? Unbaked, sliding into the oven. They would have been darling.
Ah. What could have been. *sigh*
Vanilla. I don't know why I took a picture of this. It's vanilla, for crying out loud. But there you have it. Enjoy. It makes a vanilla-y statement.
Look at the little monsters!
The boiled over and gooed all over my cookie sheet. AJ said the goo was the best part.
I didn't try it. I was in mourning for my little individual pecan tartlets!
So I made three other pies - regular ones, that looked just like this.
Aw. Look at my old kitchen! I LOVED that kitchen.
Not as much as, you know, I love my new one, but the blue and white was pretty.
So, yeah. I'm not perfect. Who knew?
FYI, those little monster tarts did get eaten. Nolan & the boys finally finished off the last one yesterday.:) They might have been ugly, but they still tasted good.
Long Story short, Nolan won his Fantasy Baseball league last year. Gross winnings of maybe $400, less the total he spent on picking up players throughout the year, $210. Winner brings food to draft night. (Les the $$ I spent on groceries, We're down to a hundred bucks. Go, team. *waves tiny flag*) So Nolan gives me the doe eyes and asks me to cater dinner for his dorky friends. (And he teases me about writing in the HP fandom. As if pretend baseball is ANY less cool than Draco. Um, NO.) I, of course, am a sucker. I cater for him. Nolan loves pecan pie; he had 8 pies at our wedding reception rather than Groom's cake, so I knew that'd be a favorite with him. There will be 20 dorky friends that night, so I decide to do individual little pecan tartlets. So clever! No dessert plates! No messy cutting of the pies!
RECIPE For Pecan Pie:
1 single crust pie shell (I know you will make it from scratch - but I don't 'cause Pillsbury needs to be kept in business.)
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cups pecan halves (or more) - And Nolan likes the little bitty pieces instead of halves. Don't ask why. The man has an opinion on EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING, I say.
Preheat your oven 350F.
Combine eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla mixing well. Stir in pecan halves and pour into prepared pie shell. To prevent over browning, cover the edge of the pie with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 20 - 25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cover and refrigerate within 2 hours.
Nice action sugar shot, right? I did that one handed, y'all.
Butter. Don't melt it all the way or the eggs will scramble. Uh, EW.
This looks really gross. Nolan assures me it's super-de-dooper good. (He doesn't say that. He's way to cool, doing stuff like bitching at the computer screen for his imaginary catcher- who is a real man- having knee problems. )
*sharp intake of breath* THIS is where I went off the reservation. I couldn't find the little tartlet shells made out of regular pastry, so I bought these. Graham Cracker crust. I even called my mom and asked, "What do you think? Pecan Pie in a graham cracker pie shell?" She said that she thought it would work, but was worried about the taste.
Oh, no. The taste wasn't the biggest issue by a long shot.
But aren't they cute? Unbaked, sliding into the oven. They would have been darling.
Ah. What could have been. *sigh*
Vanilla. I don't know why I took a picture of this. It's vanilla, for crying out loud. But there you have it. Enjoy. It makes a vanilla-y statement.
Look at the little monsters!
The boiled over and gooed all over my cookie sheet. AJ said the goo was the best part.
I didn't try it. I was in mourning for my little individual pecan tartlets!
So I made three other pies - regular ones, that looked just like this.
Aw. Look at my old kitchen! I LOVED that kitchen.
Not as much as, you know, I love my new one, but the blue and white was pretty.
So, yeah. I'm not perfect. Who knew?
FYI, those little monster tarts did get eaten. Nolan & the boys finally finished off the last one yesterday.:) They might have been ugly, but they still tasted good.