Coffee Friday - Let's figure out How the Pieces Fit!

 Hi everybody! Today is Coffee Friday, and I am very excited to introduce our Featured Blogger! Her name is Melissa Edwards  from Figuring Out How the Pieces Fit. Her blog is interesting, creative, educational and filled with knowledge! I really admire Melissa for her passion for education and for always seeking for new methods to learn, create, explore and not retain it to herself but also share it with the world!

Melissa earned Masters degree in Reading Education, and I love it when she says "my favorite time of the day was when it was time to Read Aloud." I can identify with that! She is not only knowledgeable, but she is also compassionate and such a great friend! If you want to meet a blogger that will for sure correspond with the same level of friendship... well...here she is! So please stop by her blog and make sure you get to know her better!

Now... I leave you with Melissa:

---------------

I am Melissa and I write over at Figuring Out How the Pieces Fit ...

I tend to write about creativity, learning, and instructional technology resources ...

My blog started as a place for me to keep track of the things that I found that I wanted to remember  .... 

Over the years, it has taken me on a journey full of making connections, collaborations, and having a great time exploring creativity! 

I know that is a lot of things that start with the letter C ... but coffee is one C word that I don't interact with .... well at least yet!

I am not sure why I haven't tried coffee ....

I used to enjoy drawing coffee cups ...

I love collecting coffee cups ...

I even just ordered a coffee mug with the name of my blog on it ...

But I don't drink coffee ...

I do have a shirt that I enjoy wearing ....

Theme: Coffee

I had that shirt on this other day and my dad asked me why I was wearing it since I don't drink coffee ...

I don't know ...

I like the shirt! :)

I even participated in a coffee cup blog swap one time! I got partnered up with another blogger and then we looked at the other person's blogs and picked out a coffee cup to send! What does your blog say about you?

Maybe it is the warmth and comfort that I associate with coffee that keeps me so interested in things that go along with coffee ...

 --------------------

So... if you enjoyed Melissa's cup of coffee even when she hasn't had any... would you please stop by her blog and say "Thanks"? :) You can also follow her on twitter here

Happy Coffee Friday Everyone!

© Paloma K.

Update and Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie!

Hello everyone! Happy Thursday! I am sorry I didn't post my usual/traditional quotes on Tuesday! it's been busy here and I've been a little bit under the weather...

Sunday was a very emotional day in church... it was "Adoption Sunday" and ... well... everything that has to do with children being abandoned/abused, etc just really affects me... then we attended an Adoption Forum in the evening... and all the stories just break my heart and actually have physical consequences! I just felt sick for the next two days... We're praying about adoption... it's not something certain... but ... we're open to look into it.

 Then on Tuesday (still not entirely well)  I went with a group of ladies from church to the Houston Mission Centers, I was a little hesitant about going... because of how I was feeling but it was a blessing and we had a blast! Bagging Rice/Beans, Sweeping, organizing skates for the children who go and play there, inflating balls, weeding in the gardens, making bags of candy, etc... (I didn't do all that, I am just mentioning the chores that were assigned to all of us) ... so... that was a good reason to not be able to blog, don't you think? Here is a picture of all of us!

I am the first one standing from left to right

Yesterday, I just took it a little slower and I did feel better! I think I was needing a break... Today... well, here I am! Looking forward to tomorrow's Coffee Friday! Did you think I forgot? Well no! So I hope you join us!

Now... here comes the Recipe to make a delicious and very old-fashioned Pecan Pie! It uses Maple Syrup and Molasses instead of Karo Syrup, to make sure it has the robustness, deep flavor and crisp crust from the original Pecan Pies.

This Pie is Original from the Cook's Country Show/Site... and I thought it would be great to share with all of you!

Pecan Pie, Top it with Homemade Whipped Cream Preferably

Ingredients

• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon molasses (regular or light, not dark)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 6 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups toasted and chopped pecans
• 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell (you can use your favorite pie shell or my own recipe which I shared in the Pumpkin Pie Recipe I posted a few days ago), chilled in pie plate for 30 minutes

Instructions

• 1. Make Filling: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Heat sugar, syrup, cream, and molasses in saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes. Whisk butter and salt into syrup mixture until combined. Whisk in egg yolks until incorporated.
• 2. Bake Pie: Scatter pecans in pie shell. Carefully pour filling over. Place pie in hot oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until filling is set and center jiggles slightly when pie is gently shaken, 45 to 60 minutes. Cool pie on rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate until set, about 3 hours and up to 1 day. The wait is totally worth it! Bring to room temperature before serving.

 Enjoy!

© Paloma K.

Traditional Pumpkin Pie!

Hello everybody! How was your weekend? How are you feeling today? I hope that "exercising gratefulness" in November sticks with all of us and we turn it into a lifestyle! Thanksgiving should be part of our daily life!

So... I hope you are enjoying my Thanksgiving series (go back a couple of posts and you'll be able to see what I am talking about) ... Well... I've been sharing my Thanksgiving Menu with all of you... and the next item would be Lime Jell-o and then even Dinner Rolls... but I thought... I would postpone that for a little later and instead I am going to share with you a "Traditional Pumpkin Pie" recipe because we don't need to wait for Thanksgiving to enjoy it... am I right?

(I am using Libby's recipe for the filling)

Ready?

Traditional Pumpkin Pie with Homemade Crust

 
Traditional Pumpkin Pie

First of all, let's make the crust! (skip all this if you are going to buy a "ready to bake" pie shell from the store)

(I use this recipe every time! You can use this for apple, cherry or your favorite pies too! just double it so you have enough for the bottom and top if necessary)

Mix in a large bowl:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

Then cut in using the dough blender (or a fork):

3 tbsp. softened butter

3 tbsp. shortening

3 - 4 tbsp. ice water (just enough water to make the dough come together, once it forms a ball, stop adding water)

Chill the Pie Dough

Wrap your pie crust in plastic wrap. Then place in refrigerator for 20 or more minutes, while you make the pie filling.  

Let's make the filling!

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can (15 oz.) Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk
• Whipped cream  for garnish (optional).

Directions

MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in a small bowl. Separately Beat eggs in a large bowl, stir in pumpkin puree and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk until just incorporated. Set aside.

Rolling Pie Crust

Roll the dough until it is around 1/8th of an inch thick. Once you have rolled out the dough, wrap it around the rolling pin and unroll it onto your pie pan, shape it to fit the inside of the pan (and shape the borders with your fingers to make it look "wavy" like a traditional pie)

Now POUR filling into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving (homemade whipped cream is SOOOO good and easy to make! I'll share my recipe tomorrow, but again, don't stress about it... if you want to just buy the whipped cream already made, then it's your choice!).

Note: You can also buy a "ready to bake" pie shell from the frozen section in the store... but homemade of course it's better... although trust me... what matters most is that you don't fret about it... and if you want to save time and energy just buy the shell! I won't tell anybody!

© Paloma K.