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The Birthday Pie
Hello friends! I’m stopping in for a late and quick update. Just getting in from playing a State of the Union drinking game. I had to take a drink of my Alexander Keith’s any time Obama said “economy” or when Joe Biden fell asleep :P
Tonight I want to share the pie I made for my birthday. It’s become a bit of a tradition that I make my own special treat rather than the more common birthday cake. You can see the carrot cake I made in 2009 and the chocolate beet cake I made in 2010.
This year I decided cake was passé and it was high time the lesser acknowledged pie take the front seat. I spent a lot of mental energy trying to decide what kind to make. I got some fabulous suggestions on Twitter and Facebook. But in the end I went with one of my favourite flavour combinations: peanut butter + marshmallow fluff. And so I give you…
Fluffernutter Pie
I ended up following this recipe. However I think it could be tweaked a little. I will save my comments for the end so you can feel free to play around with it if you so choose!
I started with a basic graham cracker crust:
- 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 5 tbsp melted butter
Sounds easy enough! However, this was my first attempt at a graham cracker crust, and I think it turned out too crumbly. Maybe because I used a pre-crumbled mix. Probably because any good recipe needs a little more butter ;)
I flattened that mixture into a normal sized pie dish and stuck it in the fridge while I assembled the filling.
You will need:
Start by beating together your cream cheese, peanut butter and marshmallow cream.
Slowly add in your 35% cream.
Then your sugar.
Blend all that up, then take a spoon and stir in the milk to get it nice and fluffy.
And pour over your chilled graham cracker crust.
That’s it! The hard work is done! Easiest pie ever, right? It’s quite literally “as easy as pie.” Now you just need to freeze overnight before eating. The recipe highly suggests you do this to bring out the flavours.
If you’re impatient, I recommend licking the bowl to tie you over.
Now, the recipe never said if this should be eaten frozen or just chilled. I tried it both ways, and letting it defrost in the fridge makes a much better pie. Nice and fluffy instead of hard like a frozen cheesecake.
Overall, it was a damn tasty pie. Even though the crust was crumbly, it still tasted top notch. And the fluffy pie made for a wonderful light dessert. I did however find that the cream cheese flavours overpowered the peanut butter and marshmallow flavour. And it was a touch too runny.
SO, if you’re brave and ever try making this. I suggest using a whole jar of marshmallow cream (closer to 1 1/2 – 2 cups) and leaving out the milk. Also, if you’re using natural peanut butter, feel free to bump up the sugar from 4 tsp to at least 2-3 tbsp.
Clearly, I’ll just need to find an excuse to make this again. Anyone in need of a birthday pie??
Catch Up
Hi friends!! It feels like a while, doesn’t it? Would you believe, that after 15 months of blogging near daily, I’ve never gone more than one day without updating? I usually have guest blogs or something. But this time I’ve gone a whole weekend!
It was nice to use what little downtime I had doing nothing. But that gets boring after a while, and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do!
First things first, this girl can do a good grilled cheese.
Wednesday night, Morgan and I had a conference call for No Limits Canada. Since I was without internet for what felt like a gajillion years, she invited me over for the Skype date!
She offered a choice of beer to start. I chose “Tuborg” because I could pronounce it in a funny Eastern European accent and the can claimed it was “pure gold.”
Not bad actually!
I was most excited however for her grilled cheese! Morgan and I sort of have an ongoing joke between our blogs about grilled cheese sandwiches. When discussing what to make for supper, it was the obvious choice.
Immediately impressed by her usage of the panini press.
Poor Morgan was worried about getting the right bread and cheese for me. She doesn’t know yet that I’m easily pleased and the sandwich was deeelicious!
Of course, what’s grilled cheese without soup?
An “everything but the sink” soup. Perfection! Thanks for the dinner Morgan! Bagels at my place next? ;)
I can’t remember what happened on Thursday. But I do know I was at work all waking hours and did a leg workout that made it hard to sit down all day Friday.
Friday though, I got off work a little early which meant I had time to make a hot dinner! Those are hard to come by these days. I’m a busy bee!
I started with this box of Eden Organic Kamut pasta. I assume ditalini refers to the little shape of the pasta.
I’m usually not a huge pasta fan because of the mushy texture, but I don’t mind these kinds made without white flour. The nutritional stats are a lot better too!
I only cooked half the tiny box…
…so I could plump the rest up with meat!
A plain turkey sausage from my amazing local butcher. The sausages are HUGE. I threw it in a pan with some leeks, carrots, celery, spinach, tomato, onions and garlic.
Defrosted a serving of tomato sauce I made a while ago with watered down tomato paste and various spices.
The point of the meal was to eat something that would fill my belly up for the rest of the evening and that it did! Meat + pasta has a funny way of doing that ;) The pasta itself was pretty good, I really liked the shape and texture (remember, I don’t like regular pasta!). The sausage totally stole the show though.
Friday was also a special day in that it was National Fluffernutter Day (and my sister’s birthday – hi Sara!!)
Of course, this was a U.S. food holiday. Living in another nation, I thought it was okay I celebrate a day later on Saturday.
For those of you who don’t know, a fluffernutter is a sandwich spread with both peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. It is a fabulous combo that seems to be mostly consumed by children. And, well, single 24-year-olds such as myself.
So why am I talking about fluffernutters and showing you waffles? Oh friends. You know me better than that.
This would be a fluffernutter wafflewich – french toasted. I mean, I had to celebrate in style, right?
I spread my PB + fluff between two defrosted freezer waffles (I like Nature’s Path Maple Cinnamon), then I dipped my wafflewich in egg whites and cooked in a pan.
Dipped in syrup of course! Look too decadent for you? The whole ridiculous wafflewhich with the sugar-free syrup is only 357 calories, 14g fat, 5g fibre, 40g carbs and 15g protein and 15g sugar.
I chased mine back with the usual coffee, in an unusual mug.
Bahahaha, thank you Janetha for seeing this elephant mug and thinking of me!!! The ridiculousness of it suits me perfectly. Also, elephants are my favourite animal :)
The rest of my weekend was spent working at the running store with a wonderful run in between. I ditched my usual waterfront trail for a busy city street and it was fun!! I used to hate running on populated roads when I first began running because I was embarrassed. But now I’ve got enough kilometres under my feet that I just don’t care. It was entertaining to whiz down the sidewalks of the city.
Of course, after working 17 hours on my feet in two days and running in between, my legs are pretty darn cranky with me. Namely, my IT band, which is a brand new pain for me. So the plan for this holiday Monday is to rest, relax and recharge. I haven’t had a day off in 21 days so I think I deserve to be lazy for a day ;)
A few extra things:
Congrats to my bloggie friend Brie who completed her first ever marathon yesterday in Chicago!! She had many bumps through her training program and I couldn’t be more proud that she finished it!
In case you haven’t noticed, I didn’t make it through to the next round of Project Food Blog. Thank you to everyone who took the time out of their days to vote for each of the challenges! It was really fun to participate in, but I’m happy I no longer have to stress about it.
I wrote not one but two guest posts last week! Head on over to Leah’s blog to read my thoughts on Pre and Post Workout Nutrition. Then stop by Morgan’s blog for my tips on Meeting People in a New City.
Finally, the most exciting thing: I’m going to the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival! That means in less than four weeks, I’ll be in San Francisco with hundreds of other food bloggers. Cause ya know, I’m the type of person who casually goes to California for the weekend (that’s a joke, I’m SO not!). But after some careful planning, shifting of funds, and wonderful bloggie friends, I’ve decided that I should just GO. I mean, you’re only young and reckless once ;)
And with that, me and my giant flannel pants are back to bed to watch movies for the rest of the day. Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! Eat some extra stuffing for me! Q&A’s will resume tomorrow, so you still have time to submit questions. See ya then!
Nil, Nada, Zip
This is what I planned for after work today:
But this is what ended up happening:
Six miles somehow turned into six chapters from Eclipse. In my defense, it wasn’t nearly as nice out as in the above picture. I’m hurtin’ for some cold-weather running gear and couldn’t bring myself to do it. But getting lost in a book is just as fun as getting lost on the trails :) Tomorrow, I fully expect to get lost in the void that is the empty gym on a Sunday afternoon…
My day didn’t start out this relaxing. I was in and out of consciousness all night, finally coming to at 5:15 am. CRAP!!! I have to be at work for 5am to ensure my 7am newscast gets to air. I have to compile all the news that happened overnight, write, sift through stories, e-mails, phone messages, get the cast together to record on time. Apparently, I just forgot to turn my alarm on last night. Silly. I’ve been living in fear of sleeping through my first newscast for so many years, I find it ironic that it happens just two weeks before I’m due to leave.
In case you’re wondering, I got the 7am newscast on two of our three radio stations. There was one I still couldn’t get to on time, but that was partially a programming mistake and not entirely my fault (although, I could have fixed it had I been there in time).
In the world of broadcasting, deadlines are infinite. Basically, not getting to air on time is not and option. Small mistakes sometimes have big consequences. Ugh. Stress.
Needless to say, I did not get to savour my breakfast cookie as much as I would have liked.
S’muffernutter!
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 scoop chocolate whey powder
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tbsp marshmallow fluff
- 1/2 tbsp mini chocolate chips
- couple splashes almond milk
My late start led to one of those work days where I felt like I was trying to catch up the whole time. Luckily, I had awesome food! First up: Peanut Butter and Jelly Larabar!!!!
I know this flavour is probably old news to all you “big city” bloggers out there, but I’ve been anxiously awaiting these in my small New Brunswick city. Things were starting to look bleak!
Same ‘ole Larabar stats, if not a touch higher on the calorie side.
I remember some other blogger pointing out the emergence of a new ingredient in the new Larabar flavours…
Refined sunflower oil? Really? I wonder why…
Anyways, we all know taste is what matters most, even more than dinky size.
Ohmygodthiswasgood. I’ve never tried the Peanut Butter Cookie flavour, so I didn’t have anything to compare it to on that front. But I looooved the peanut flavour mixed in with the sweetness (and chunks!) of dried cherries. Odd, because the Cherry Pie flavour is really tart, but this balanced the flavours really well. Actually, it was kinda odd to eat a Larabar that tasted like a PB&J sandwich. But for 230 calories, something a little bigger, and more filling, would be appreciated.
“Lunch” was pretty stellar too, as I hammered away at work.
Smoked salmon bagel (with laughing cow, mustard, capers, tomato and spinach) and a perfectly ripe pear. I’m one of those crazy people who spend ten minutes rummaging through the produce bins looking for the perfect one. This pear was definitely it – yum!
I picked up a new box of Kashi cereal bars after enjoying the blackberry flavour. This time I chose baked apple and had my first one crumbled atop some yogurt (with extra cinnamon).
Stirred up into a yog mess, of course.
I really liked it! Better than the blackberry flavour too. I know many people don’t care for the Kashi cereal bars, but I used to love Nutri-Grain bars as a kid, so they’re a nice alternative for me :)
Then I got lost in Eclipse and at some point breaked for a simple dinner.
I’m still eating that Sabra hummus I got at Costco two and a half weeks ago. How long does that shite last? It still tastes okay… I think…
My sandwich was definitely okay, if not great.
Yves cajun chicken slices, mayo, mustard, swiss cheese, tomato, onion, spinach and sprouts. All toasted up for melty-crunchiness. I’ve been on a real sandwich kick lately. Plus, it is Sammie Saturday after all ;)
Now if you don’t mind me, I have another s’muffernutter cookie to prepare (silliest name ever) and a book to get lost in again. Today was definitely a write-off. Some Saturdays I feel like go-go-going after work, some I feel like doing nothing. Guess what today was? :P
Questions of the Day:
1. What’s your favourite way to do nothing? Besides reading, I like to putter away on the internet, which I guess is also just reading. Watching crappy movies and going through old pictures is also fun :)
2. What’s your favourite book? I lovelovelove children’s fantasy novels. The Hobbit, Alice in Wonderland, A Wrinkle In Time, House at Pooh Corner, the Golden Compass, Harry Potter,and yes, Twilight. I appreciate the simple writing and how the fantastical elements don’t need complicated explanations They’re just accepted :)
