yeah.
i did.
i figured, since i was going to be out of town for half the day,
and the dough needs to chill the heck out for a while
before it's really a reliably pliable piece of work,
that what i was actually doing was utilizing good time management
for maximum results with the minimum of wasted motion.
uh-huh.
so,
i made a couple of pie crusts.
right now,
i wanna tell you about the littler one.
what?
what?
neighbors,
the smaller crust was the bigger challenge.
okay?
jeez, take it easy.
par-baked pie crusts are a tricky situation.
oven-activated sans filling,
they buckle and shrink, the expand and contract, and generally,
without a heavy heap of hottness in the middle,
they're a wholly uncooperative operation as soon as the oven gets involved.
ha.
i even used pie weights to help the whole thing progress apace.
huh?
well maybe they were marbles from a terrarium,
thoroughly washed, but, they did their job admirably anyway.
the thing is, it was the sides that were being a bunch of little b!tches.
that's something i didn't account for.
however,
i DID plan out a pretty pattern for the top,
in cookie-cutout leaves and stars.
why?
because maple star is my kid's name,
and i figured that was a nice little tribute or somethin'.
awwwwwwww.
check the beige-on-beige-on-beige-tart-type teleport:
fresh to death,
and with the dual light source photography, too.
pretty sweet, no?
i like it a whole bunch.
the custom custard creme in the center is no joke,
and i think this one had a little exxxtra awesomeness
in the form of sap-happy new englandy real maple syrup.
yup.
2 cups of almond milk,
almond extract, vanilla,
a 1/3 cup of real maple syrup,
3 heaping T powdered sugar,
2T starch, (i used organic corn, but whatever)
2T flour,
2T tapioca....
duders,
all the dry stuff, and half the almond milk, in a blender,
makes the slurry that makes the custard that creams the competition,
when it's added to the hot other half of the stuff.
y'gotta whisk it for all it's worth, though,
or you'll get a filthy flappy fartskid of clotted crap.
you've been warned.
ha.
stop stirring when it gets thick, and remove it from the fire.
it'll firm up a whole helluva lot in just a little minute,
so be on your best behavior,
and keep your spatulas at the ready.
word.
-
maple syrup is delicious,
and so are almonds,
although almond extract is to almonds
what quicksand is to gorilla biscuits, y'know?
you don't?
well, you should maybe look into it, then...
when you've got texture locked down,
and flavor locked in,
and the visuals on target,
i think what you end up with is something expert.
yeah.
that's it.
even after polishing off a mountain of food
at the green elephant down in portland eaast;
and terrorizing a coupla cookies afterwards;
AND beating up the last scraps of deep dishery when we got home,
there was still room for several slices of this taupe miracle.
mmmmmmmmmmm.
when it's the hottness, you find room to stuff it in.
***********
so,
as i mentioned,
we went to portland yesterday.
i hadn't been in six whole months,
mostly because of crabtree.
no, really.
i'm no longer the type of pet owner who'll leave his little dude
for long lengths in the crate when i'm prefectly capable
of full time day off bro-hangs with my buddy.
i'm honestly as surprised as you must be.
however,
yesterday, joyce and fred, ampy-d's mum and dad,
spent the afternoon with the shark-bullet!
they got to enjoy the barreling bombardier
and his headlong hucklebutt bucking and rolling,
and we headed southeast to the coast.
it's an unfair trade, for sure,
but i wasn't about to argue with anyone who'd insist
on the worse end of the deal,
and damn, i'm grateful they took such good care of my man.
we gorged ourselves on goodness,
grabbed up some specialty groceries,
and nabbed a few new outfits,
for lookin' exxxtra-fresh over the next few days.
little moments, kids.
that's all i ever really need.
tiny bright spots to remind me that the stormclouds
that i'm usually standing under aren't everywhere all the time.
sunny car rides,
too much food,
hand-holding in public,
simple.
it helps when i've got cake baked,
and pie dough chillin',
and a plan of attack for our triumphant return.
i mean it.
i don't care what else we do-
big, small, fun, tedious, whatever-
provided that what i feel i need to do gets done, too.
it's all really happening,
and i'm pretty lucky to have gotten the day to enjoy.
six months in the making only made it that much sweeter;
never quiet, never soft.....
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