x~ Pucker Pie ~x

I have a friend Velva who is so generous with her garden. She always offers me whatever she has growing at the time. This time she shared Meyers lemons from her overproducing tree. If you check out her blog you will see all the wonderful things she made with her lemons. Knowing my husband loves lemon desserts, I turned to Pinterest to find a great idea. I stumbled upon this recipe from Serious Eats for Shaker Pie.

First off, any recipe that does not require me to blanch or peel fruit is appealing but this recipe I had to make because it sounded insane. Whole lemons? In a pie? The results was wonderful but puckerful. We renamed the pie, "Pucker pie" because while it is delicious it is VERY tart.

First I washed and sliced the lemons on a mandolin, added 2 cups of sugar and went Christmas shopping.

Washed lemons from Velva.

Add 2 cups of sugar and macerate for at least 2 hours

 Then I mixed eggs, egg yolks, and flour together and added it to the lemons. Next step was to pour it all in a pie crust and then put it behind bars :p er I mean to set it on the bottom rack of the oven to bake for 20 minutes.

3 Whole eggs,  2 egg yolks, and 3 T flour combined with the lemons and pour into an unbaked crust

Pie jail

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes on the bottom rack.

After 20 minutes turn the oven down and bake as you would normally. The pie should puff in the center when done after about another 20 minutes.

Aerial view

Baked for another 20 minutes at 350.

The result!

Both a custard and a fruit filled pie. This is one mother pucker of a pie!

Fusion Meatloaf

*steps up and speaks into mic* "Hello is this thing on?" *tap, tap, tap*

A million changes have occurred in my life since I last posted a recipe. I'll spare you but suffice to say I'm 45 now and if you round that up you get MID-LIFE CRISIS!!!! Do I go out an buy some big red shiny symbol of my womanhood (which for me would be splurging on a tube of red Estee Lauder lipstick as opposed to a new car)? 

Noooooooooo. I go back to college to get more knowledge. I know, I'm a poet and didn't know it.

Anywhooo I digress. I've taken a leave from the classroom. I'm in grad school and working with a non-profit whose mission I believe in with my whole cholesterol laden heart. 

So I'm trying out some "clean the cupboard" recipes. This first one is a meatloaf. Of course it is no ordinary meatloaf. There are a few special ingredients one of which is crushed Maui Style Maui Onion potato chips. I bought them at Costco and while they were delicious, think Funyun/Kettle Chips hybrid, I could not eat all of the ginormous bag by myself. So crushed chips replaced the breading in this recipe.

Ingredients

2 pounds ground meat (buy what you like, can afford, or can eat and face your doctor while he reads your lab reports)

2 cups crushed chips (you can use any kind you have laying around)

2 eggs

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup Sweet Chili Sauce

1 T soy sauce or Worchestershire (if you use soy adjust salt)

1T sriracha

1-2 teaspoons curry powder (You will need to adjust to your family's tastes. I use a special curry blend brought to me by my husband's friend Anu. It is her mother's blend brought to me from a trip home to India and I treasure it, doling it out like it is saffron.)

salt & pepper

For topping

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chili garlic sauce

1 teaspoon curry powder

I mixed all the ingredients gently and the let it sit covered in the fridge for 4 hours just to soften the chips. Then I shaped into a loaf and put in a 13x9 pan. Preheat the over to 375 degrees and bake for 45 minutes. Mix topping ingredients. Slather the top of the meatlof with the glaze and back for 15 minutes. Slather again and bake for 15 more minutes. Slather, bake, repeat until it is the doneness your family prefers. We like ours a little on the brown side. Enjoy!

Special treasure curry from Anu's mom

Left over chips & chili sauce

Ready to bake

After 45 minutes

Topping

Slather, Bake, Repeat

I hope that should you too find yourself at a crossroads, that you make choices that lead you to a life you are proud of living. Make your decisions based on love (even love for YOUR SELF) and not fear.  Those decisions are never wrong.