If you follow me on Snapchat, you're aware that I baked kind of an obscene amount over the course of Thanksgiving. The final count ended up being 4 pies (pumpkin, apple-cranberry, chai spice, and Kentucky derby) and one chocolate cheesecake. Also apparently no one communicated this to the rest of the family, so we ended up with 8 pies and a cheesecake for 17 people. Oh well. Also, wait until you see how much I bake at Christmas. It makes Thanksgiving look like amateur hour.
Anyway, this recipe is for the chai spice pie. There's only one picture because I sort of forgot to take them and also wasn't expecting this to turn out that well. But here we are.
I sort of love baking pies lately. I love baking everything lately, and it's a favorite hobby of mine. It keeps my hands busy, it's repetitive to a certain degree, and I've been doing it forever, so it brings an amount of familiarity which is calming to me.
In other news, has anyone else seen Moana? I went with my fiance, siblings, their significant others, mom and grandma. Let me just tell you, going on a "triple date" with your younger siblings and their boyfriend/girlfriend is a FUN time, especially when you're engaged and they've been dating for like a month. My mom told me to act as a chaperone, and I thoroughly enjoyed that task.
The movie is pretty good though too. I loved the music and the setting, and Moana herself is likable. I also just thought she was beautiful and love that she has a realistic body type, especially compared to some of the classic princesses.
In other news, the Beauty and the Beast trailer played and I cried. Emma Watson is playing another of my childhood role models and that makes me really emotional.
Okay, that's enough rambling for today.
Chai Spice Pie
Ingredients
2 sleeves cinnamon graham crackers
1 stick salted butter, melted
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
- Crush the graham crackers into coarse crumbs, then drizzle in the melted butter. Stir to combine, then press into a greased pie pan. Refrigerate as you make the filling.
- Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and spices in a medium bowl.
- Microwave the milk until hot, then slowly stream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
- Gently pour into crust. Some of the crust may combine with the filling, this is totally okay.
- Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Filling should be set. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!
I made pie. And it looks a mess, but that's okay because I'm mostly just excited to tell you that I'm back and I love food and cooking and sharing food with the people I love.
So, this summer I ended up disappearing because I was studying for a cute and fun little test called the MCAT. Ha. No. I did study for and take the MCAT (no score yet), but it wasn't cute or fun. I think the test went well, but getting to test day was mostly filled with frustration, crying, and too much coffee. (oh yeah, if you follow me on Insta you know that I like coffee now. not sure what that's about, but.....).
Anyway, here's some thoughts on the MCAT, medicine, and life in general.
If you saw the hot freaking mess I was during Spring semester, you're probably wondering how and why I ended up studying for the MCAT anyway. Well, here's the thing. I never really stopped wanting to be a doctor. I had an exceedingly rough Fall of my junior year, and emerged with a new major and a whole lot of sadness in my heart. Basically I felt like I'd failed at being a biochemistry major and a premed and was, honestly, worn out and tired of spending every second of my life in the library with anxiety and exhaustion clouding my brain. Science, particularly medicine, had come to symbolize everything I wanted and couldn't achieve.
In a lot of ways, I stopped thinking I could do it. But it never left my mind. Thinking about doing something other than being a doctor, while exhilarating at first, terrified me in more than a "fear-of-the-unknown" kind of way. It hurt a lot.
Finally, after a semester of watching my wallow, my mom gave me a piece of mom-wisdom in a Mexican restaurant, and I cried and decided to try again. The mom-wisdom? "You're selling yourself short if you just walk away from this and don't even try. There's no reason why you can't be a doctor as a psych major." Thanks Mom.
And then, something amazing happened: I realized that I actually like science. I actually love the human body. I love knowing how metabolism works. And, weirdly, I kind of love studying (when I'm not caffeine crazed and hyper-emotional). I was studying because I wanted to, and taking the MCAT because I wanted to. And it felt so good. I remembered why I wanted to be a doctor in the first place.
On test day, I walked into the testing center feeling more peaceful than I would've thought possible. The test was my victory lap at the end of 4 long months of hard studying. It was the cherry on top.
And so, pie. I made it awhile ago, I know peaches aren't really in season anymore. But please appreciate it anyway. I'll have something a little more seasonally appropriate soon.
Blueberry Peach Streusel Pie
Ingredients
crust:
12 graham crackers, pounded into crumbs
1 stick of butter
filling:
4 peaches, cut into chunks (I didn't peel them)
3/4 cup blueberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp corn starch
juice of 1 lemon
streusel:
1/2 cup oats
1/2 stick of butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
- Melt the butter and stir in the crumbs. Mash into a greased pie pan, making sure you get the sides. Put into the fridge while you make the filling.
- For the filling, gently combine the fruit with the other ingredients. Let sit for 5 minutes so the fruits can release a little juice.
- Add filling to the pie pan.
- To make the streusel, melt the butter and stir in the other ingredients. Scatter on top of the pie.
- Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. If the top starts to burn, cover it with foil. We ate this with whipped cream, but vanilla ice cream would be pretty amazing too. Enjoy!
Being my friend is sort of weird and also sort of fun (I hope). You end up getting texts asking "hey, do you like {insert whatever thing I made way too much of}?" and then if you say yes, I appear at your apartment with whatever the thing is. Or I invite you to come over and eat with me. Because the fact of the matter is, I love cooking, I love food. But I don't eat enough to finish whatever the thing is usually. So I cook, I eat my portion, then I text people and give them my food. What a time to be alive.
Does apple pie smell like autumn to anyone else? As soon as I started peeling apples and sprinkling cinnamon, it was like the spirit of autumn had entered the kitchen and joined me.
While it was in the oven, I felt so cozy and warm. Apple pie is a gift, friends. Give it to yourself. You deserve it.
As for that crust? I bought one. I feel a little guilty, considering that I can make a homemade crust. But I didn't have the time or desire or materials. So instead I bought one. Don't hate me. Use any crust recipe you want, or buy one like I did.
Apple Pie
Ingredients
1 pie crust (like a top and bottom one)
4 Granny Smith apples (about a pound)
1 2/3 cups sugar + 1 tbsp
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp flour
juice of one lemon
2 tbsp milk
- Peel the apples and slice them thinly.
- Place in a bowl and add the 1 2/3 cups of sugar, cinnamon, flour and lemon juice. Stir gently until apples are coated. Let sit for ten minutes.
- Put filling into crust. Add top crust.
- Slice vents into the crust. Brush with milk and sprinkle the remaining sugar on top.
- Bake at 425 for 45 minutes. Enjoy!
