A Quicker Blog Post

Today I will be trying to make this blog post as brief as possible because I am currently in my hometown and would like to spend as much time away from a computer as possible (naturally the iPad doesn't count!).

I only have one thing I would like to touch on for a minute and that would be how doctors and the media have influenced our everyday thinking. Now, this is one of my biggest topics, something I could talk about for a long time, but I am going to suffice to say this: people forget how things were before "The Change." The Change could be as simple as how fudge used to be made (with sugar and cocoa and no corn syrup) compared to how it's made today (evaporated milk and chocolate chips). While the result is somewhat similar, flavor and texture is somewhat compromised due to sheer laziness because of a shortcut method someone came up with. Or The Change could be something much larger, in my example people saying that pregnant women need folic acid. Before people knew about folic acid, what happened? Were people born with all sorts of defects? No, that doesn't make sense because those people would be our grandmothers and grandfathers and most of them are perfectly fine. Was childbirth more intense? No more than today I would think. So then what is it? Ahh, the doctors. Those doctors. Someone did a study somewhere along the line and discovered that folic acid was one of the nutrients babies developing in the womb used the most. Thus the connection was born, pun intended. So when someone asks me how I'm getting enough folic acid without taking a prenatal vitamin, I can simply say I'm doing it the old-fashioned way; not worrying about it and letting the natural/organic food I eat nourish my body and my baby, the way God intended.

Lastly, I am going to talk about recipes, as usual. I made everything I said I was going to make and even better than that I have good news! I have at least two more weeks of baking. I'm very happy about this. This week don't expect much by way of baking. I will be making four bundt cakes for my baby shower (on Saturday already, yikes!) and possibly a lemon curd. Anything else is a bonus!

French silk pie... that combination of words leave you feeling wrapped in velvet. The best part about this recipe is, no raw eggs. Normally, raw eggs don't bother me but I am pregnant. I only had 3/4 of a cup of whipped cream which ended up being just fine. I followed Brown Eyed Baker's recipe, plus Allrecipe's basic pie crust recipe and it turned out fantastically. Hint for the pie crust: use a bread or higher protein flour, it makes the dough WAY easier to work with!

Completed pie. Doesn't it look amazing? My whole fridge smelled like chocolate.

I had never made or tasted French silk pie before. It came out fabulously.

I did make the stuffed cheese buns, which were delicious but I think the next time what I'll do is up the oven temperature to 400 or 425 because they didn't brown enough. Thanks to Yammie's Noshery for the recipe! (P.S.: Any kind of cheese will do for the inside!)

Cheese buns. See? They didn't brown at all, except on the bottom. Next time I will up the oven temperature, or maybe spread some butter on them before baking.

The inside was wonderful though. So amazing.

So after weeks of talking about curd, I finally made a raspberry curd. I ended up tweaking the recipe a bit from About.com's, and then some more... and it really ended up being my recipe in the end. I hope you enjoy, it was quite yummy!

Raspberry Curd

Makes about 1 1/2 Cups

I know, only one picture. But hey, how many pictures can you make out of a smooth custard-y substance?

Ingredients:

Between 2 and 3 Cups of Raspberries, Fresh or Frozen (use a little more if frozen)

1 Tablespoon Lemon (or lime depending on your taste) Juice

1/4 Cup Sugar

2 Eggs

3 Tablespoons Butter

Directions:

1) If you're using frozen raspberries, thaw until room temperature.

2) Put the berries in a small pot over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes or until the juices run out of the berries and it begins to look like a thick, juicy sauce.

3) Put the now liquidy berries in a sieve, colander with a cheese cloth, or other extracting device. Use the back of a wooden spoon to extract as much of the juices out of the raspberries as possible into a heatproof bowl. Note: raspberry seeds are very small and some may still make their way through. If this doesn't bother you, no worries, otherwise re-strain as necessary. Discard leftover pulp.

4) Place a medium pot with about an inch and a half of water on the bottom over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, add the lemon juice, sugar, and eggs and whisk to combine. Once combined, add butter.

5) Place the heatproof bowl over the simmering water (creating a double boiler) and whisk or stir constantly until the butter has melted and until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 20-30 minutes. You will know when this happens because the transformation is surprisingly sudden and quite obvious. My batch even lightened in color.

6) Remove from heat and continue to stir for about five minute. Place curd in a glass jar or other sealed container and refrigerate. You now have a delicious spreadable substance you can use on desserts, fruit, chocolate, bread... anything you desire!

Lastly, I made homemade peppermint patties. They were outstanding and I give complete credit to Oh Nuts for a wonderfully accurate recipe. (Except mine made way more than what the recipe said... it could have been the way I rolled and cut them.) You can substitute the cream for half-and-half (I didn't have any cream) and I imagine you could substitute it for any non-dairy milk as well. This is pretty easily made dairy free.

My fiance and my friend Justin both asked me what the inside was made out of. Want to find out? Click the recipe link above!

Finished peppermint patties. I know, I'm supposed to use parchment, not plastic wrap. Well, it just so happens that plastic wrap works pretty well and I didn't have parchment paper.

That's it! Really! I have quite a lot to do this week. My stomach is now getting noticeably bigger every day... which is weird but also good. I like knowing my child is growing correctly! I hope everyone has a nice week!