Tasty Tuesday Chocolate Pie!

For those of you who are just now finding your way back to the blog, I apologize for not giving you and advance warning. I didn't want the new url posted on that bookmark site, so I had to do it without an announcement on the old CBEB. It still gripes my cookies that I had to do that.

Per Diva Donna's request, I'm reposting the chocolate pie recipe. This pie has been my claim to fame for many a year. There was a time when I couldn't show my face at a pitch-in or family get-together without one of these in my hand, but times have changed, and I don't make them as often as I used to. I still make them when I go to the lake with the girls, although Suzie and Terri prefer the coconut version, which uses less sugar (2/3 cup) and 1 cup of coconut instead of the unsweetened chocolate. I also sprinkle some coconut on top of the meringue before baking it.

The meringue recipe was given to me many years ago by a friend who had gotten it from her grandmother. Where it came from before that is a mystery.

The pie filling recipe comes from Joy of Cooking, but I've gotten a bit lazy over the years, so the pie crust, which I used to make from scratch, is now Pillsbury's roll out and bake kind. I bake the shell while making the cornstarch mixture for the meringue so they can be cooling while you make the pie filling.

Cheryl's Famous Chocolate Pie

Directions:
Bake a 9 inch deep dish pie shell according to your favorite recipe or package directions.

Pie filling:

In a double boiler, mix together:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk (add about 1/2 cup first and stir until the sugar and flour are completely moistened, then add the rest of the milk and stir)
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate

Cook over the boiling water, stirring frequently until thickened and the chocolate is completely melted. In a separate bowl, mix two large spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture with 3 egg yolks and then return this to the double boiler with the rest of the filling and cook a few minutes longer until very thick. Remove from heat and add 2 tsp vanilla extract and 2 tbsp butter. Stir until butter is melted and pour into baked pie shell.

Top with:
Meringue that won't weep

Mix together:
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Cook until clear (I do this in the microwave. It takes about 2 minutes on high, stirring every 30 seconds or so)
Then cool to room temperature (I stick it in the freezer for a few minutes)
Next:
Beat 3 egg whites until foamy, then add 1/4 tsp cream of tartar and a pinch of salt and continue beating until egg whites form stiff peaks. Then add the cooled cornstarch mixture to the egg whites and beat until well incorporated. Next, add 4 Tbsp sugar, one at at time as you continue beating the egg whites. Top pie with meringue, sealing the edges.

Bake at 325 for 20 min. Refrigerate until well chilled (2-4 hours) and enjoy!

Monday, Monday...

Alas, there are no moons to shine upon us on this first Monday since "The Change." I've been focusing on other things, like recipes. I've reposted several, but when you consider that I posted a recipe every Tuesday for at least the past two years, I'm wondering if I shouldn't call this blog "Recipes From the CatMaster."

We saw "Despicable Me 2" on Saturday night. Absolutely hilarious, although I'm sure the kids didn't get the significance of some of the funniest stuff. I love it when they put humor in for the parents. Having a good laugh makes sitting in a theater while the kid behind you does a tap dance on the back of your seat a little more tolerable. I actually had tears in my eyes from laughing at the last scene. I won't spoil it for you, but trust me, if you lived through the seventies, you'll laugh.

I've been harvesting a few herbs, which is most of what my garden consists of these days. That reminds me. I need to get some pine nuts for making pesto. Anyway, I picked basil, thyme, and parsley in addition to a whole lot of lettuce. These herbs are hanging from a rack Mikey made for me one Christmas--I'm assuming it was done in shop class, but I really don't remember. He likes having the herbs there and doesn't like it when I take them down to crumble them up and put them in jars. He says it adds a rustic atmosphere to the kitchen. I have to agree. It also shades some of the sunlight that the poplar tree used to block.

Speaking of that tree, Budley moved most of the wood out of the yard yesterday. Now we have two big muddy spots, but with all the rain, I'm sure grass seed would sprout quickly, even in mid-July. He found some termites under the first pile he moved, which kinda freaked him out. They were a good distance from the house, though. I think our termite treatment should keep them at bay. I'd be surprised if there weren't termites a lot closer that he doesn't know about. Yet another drawback to living in the woods.

I've been critiquing some chapters for Sandy and Nancy, and I'm up to Chapter 22 on Unrivaled. Still hoping to get it done by the 22nd. Wish me luck!

And by the way, Donna, you're the winner. 

My, my, my....

I see the number of hits on the blog are way, way down. Clearly many of my viewers were only here for the hunks, either that or people aren't coming back to look at the pics of my flowers as often as they did the dicks. Ah, well. Can't blame anyone for that.

Since my blog posts were still feeding into that adult bookmark site, despite my takedown request, I changed to a new url. Sorry if it's caused any confusion. This new blog address isn't showing up on the search engines yet. I'm hoping that will change soon.

My fellow Sextet author and cover artist, Bethany Michaels ( http://www.dragonflypressdesign.com/ ) sent me the final versions of the Unrivaled cover yesterday. Those of you who follow me on Facebook may have already seen the bookmark she designed for me, and I've also added it to the banner at the top of the blog--yet another painstaking process I didn't have time for. Writing blogs and taking my own pics eats up a lot of time. Posting hunks was quicker!

Here's the bookmark.

I thought it turned out rather well, except that the printer put a white border around it. I'd have liked it better without that, but these DYI printers are particular about keeping stuff inside the dotted lines.

I'm about two thirds of the way through Unrivaled. I keep getting bogged down over a few sentences, trying to get them just right. My blurb writing experience helps when it comes to whittling them down, but even that takes time.

However, I did take a break long enough to watch The Big Lebowski last night. I'd never seen it before, and since my son considered that to be horrific omission in my cultural education, Budley rented it from Netflix.

While it was entertaining, one vital point bugged me throughout the entire film, even distracting me from the humor at times. The question in my mind was this:

Where did he get the money to live on????? 

I mean, even unemployment runs out after a while, and I got the distinct impression that he hadn't worked in years. If anyone can answer that question, please post a comment. Whoever makes me laugh the loudest will win the Unlikely Lovers ebook of their choice!

The Last Piece of Pie

First of all, I'd like to tell you all how much I appreciate and cherish your support with the whole blog issue. Please bear in mind that no one is telling me to take down the blog--only that one post--and the photographer actually seemed more interested in being given credit and having a link posted to his Facebook page than he was in having it removed. That being said, I'm reading the handwriting on the wall and taking these first steps on my own. If anyone chooses to snag any of my photos for their own nefarious purposes, so be it. That's what you get for posting stuff on the Internet. Once it's out there, it doesn't belong to you anymore.
But I digress...

There's something rather sad about July 5th. The parties are over and the fireworks are done, their charred remnants littering the yard like stinking cigarette butts. It's especially nasty if it rains before you can pick up the mess. For once, it didn't rain, but we did have a few bottle rockets that didn't quite make it off the launch pad. I'll admit to not enjoying the show much since I'd just received the email about deleting that infamous photo. I wasn't paying much attention, and I was actually shaking.

The Fourth had begun as a great day for me. Sam and I cleaned the house in the morning, then I went to the store, came home, and started cooking. There are a lot of people who say they hate to cook. I am not one of them. There's a certain creativity to cooking that is similar to writing a book. I came up with a couple of new recipes, which I will post at a later date, and I enjoyed every minute it--even washing the dishes afterward.

Sam had asked for a chocolate pie for the Fourth, so, for the first time in ages, I made one. He cut it into wedges and served it up himself. The next day, he had pie for breakfast, then asked if he could have another piece. I said, "Sure, go ahead." He ate it and went off to work. I looked at that pie, still sitting on the table and saw it as a thing of beauty. The meringue was over an inch thick--even thicker than the pie filling itself. So I took a picture of it.

Then I looked out the window and saw a rabbit nibbling the grass between the piles of wood left from having the dead tulip poplar cut down. My trusty watchdog, Peaches, was snoozing on the deck not twenty feet from that rabbit.

I realized then that I hadn't taken many pictures of the yard this year. I'd gotten so used to posting hunks, I hadn't bothered. So I went out in my nightie and slippers--the horses neighed at me thinking I was coming to feed them--and I took some pics.

The phlox is especially pretty this year, particularly since the climate has been more like England than Indiana. Those yellow flowers were supposed to have been cosmos, but when they sprouted, they looked so much like ragweed, I almost pulled them up. I'd compared the leaves and seen a very slight difference, so I let them go. And they bloomed! I'm still not sure what they are. Can anyone identify them?

This tree lily is at least three years old and had never bloomed. Needless to say, it was worth the wait. I can smell it anytime I go out on the porch.

These are some other tree lilies. Not as spectacular, perhaps, but certainly more prolific.

I took a few more pictures, mostly of the dead tree in the back yard. I've been slowly shuttling the pieces small enough for me to carry in my wheelbarrow over to the woodpile on the other side of the house, but some of them are too big to budge. Budley counted the rings and determined that this tree was forty years old, and the oak that we also had to cut down was sixty. I guess we can blame their deaths on global warming--or at least last year's drought. Either way, it makes me very sad.

So, after taking one more picture of Peaches,

I went back in the house and ate the pie.

Friday Fun?

So...did we all have fun yesterday? I hope so, because things are changing here on the CBEB. In fact, I may have to change the blog's name. I know you all love the hunks, and I'd hate to disappoint anyone, but I also don't want to go looking for trouble.

I received a take-down request from a model/photographer yesterday. I deleted the post, but it's only a matter of time before I receive others. Apparently this is becoming a problem for us bloggers, and coming on the heels of the notice of the change in Blogger's policy, I wonder if it isn't time for the fun to end.

I have posted a blog every single day since the CBEB's inception on December 4, 2008, and I'm very proud of that fact. Most of the pics used here were sent to me by readers and blog followers. I have no idea where they came from and giving credit to every model and photographer is impossible. The post I deleted was over a year old, and I doubt that any of my regular followers ever go back that far. I know I don't.

This photographer also brought a site to my attention that is an adult bookmark site. My entire blog was there, which includes not only his photograph, but my family photos as well. I have sent a takedown request to that site and hope they will comply.

Another problem I'm dealing with is that of e-book returns. People are buying my books on Amazon, reading them, and returning them for a refund. Other self-pubbed authors assure me that the more sales I have, the more returns I will get. To me, that's stealing, and I'm guessing some models and photographers feel that posting pictures on my blog is also stealing. Not wanting to be the pot calling the kettle black, I have unpublished this entire blog and will go forth without the erotic pics.

I will continue to blog, but the hunk pictures, I'm sorry to say, will be missing. 

We've had a great time here, and we've made a lot of friends. I'm sad to see it end.

Tasty Tuesday Tequila and Herb Chicken!

A few days ago I received an email from Blogger saying they were changing their policy regarding adult content and would be taking down "monetized" blogs that link to "adult" sites. I'm guessing that email was bogus, but if I'm wrong and they consider Amazon or Siren to be adult sites, this blog may suddenly disappear. 

That being said, here's a recipe for sauteed chicken that was reasonably popular at my house a few nights ago. Sorry I didn't get a picture.

Tequila and Herb Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
1 oz tequila
Juice of 1 lime
2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
2 tsp each of chopped fresh rosemary, oregano, and parsley
1/2 tsp Hawaiian sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter

Combine all ingredients except the butter and marinate for about an hour. Heat 2 additional tbsp olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add butter and saute chicken until done and browned. Serve to the hungry hunk of your choice and Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Donna!

Here's wishing a great big  

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

to our own  

Diva Donna! 

Hope you have a great day!