Category Archives: recipes

baking, recipes

Of course we’re celebrating Pi Day!

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I first made this Coconut Cream Pie recipe more than a decade ago, I think. I’m pretty sure it was for a party at Chris & Sinead’s house. It’s a delicious pie, and it’s so simple even a T-rex could make it.

Coconut Cream Pie
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Southern Living
Ingredients
  • 1 9-inch graham cracker crust
  • 8oz cream cheese, softened
  • 3.4oz package cheesecake-flavored instant pudding
  • 6oz frozen, sweetened flaked coconut (thawed)
  • 8oz whipped topping
  • 1 cup cream of coconut
  • 1 cup whipping cream
Instructions
  1. Beat cream cheese and cream of coconut until smooth. Add pudding mix; beat until well-blended. Stir in coconut. Fold in whipped topping. Spread mixture into graham cracker crust. Cover and chill 2 hours or until set. Beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Spread evenly over top of pie and garnish with toasted coconut, if desired.

 

Here are a few other tasty pie options if coconut isn’t your cup o’ tea:

Eating, recipes

It’s the best bean soup, and of course there’s bacon in it

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Paul Goyette photo

OK, so I’ll admit that I wasn’t thrilled when Pete asked if we could have bean soup for dinner one night this week. I mean, I do love that he loves beans so much. But I wasn’t looking forward to boring ol’ bean soup. But then last night I made Dave Lieberman’s Black Bean Soup.

And you guys. My stars. That is good soup.

Rockford would’ve given it two thumbs up if his thumbs hadn’t been busy with the soup-eating. Instead he just ate two bowls of it silently, with that slightly-crazed gleam in his eye that he gets when he’s eating something really, really good.

I altered the recipe a little bit, giving the bacon a little extra attention to make sure it was crispy; adding broth because a lot of reviewers suggested it; cutting back on the garlic because I didn’t have the six cloves called for in the original recipe; blending some of the soup to make it a little bit creamy; and adding tortilla chips because I like ’em.

Here’s the recipe with my revisions. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Dave’s Bacontastic Black Bean Soup
Recipe Type: Soup
Ingredients
  • 10 slices really good smoked bacon, chopped
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 32 ounces reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 can diced tomatoes with garlic
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 4 (15 1/2-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • juice of 1/2 lime
  • Sour cream
  • Grated cheddar
  • Tortilla chips
Instructions
  1. Put the bacon into a large heavy pot and place it over medium heat. Cook until it starts to give up its fat, about 4 minutes. Leaving the grease in the pot, move the bacon to a baking sheet and put it in the oven. Turn the oven to 400 degrees and move the bacon around occasionally while the soup cooks.
  2. Stir the onions into the grease in the pot and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 1 minute. Add the broth, tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire and chili powder. Stir in the beans, then turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Simmer 10 minutes, then season the soup with salt and pepper.
  3. (Check your bacon every now and again. When it’s <i>just-this-side</i> of very crispy, take it out and set it on some paper towels to drain.)
  4. Put about 3 cups of soup in a bowl and blend it with a hand-blender. Stir the pureed mixture back into the rest of the soup, then stir in the lime juice. Serve with crispy bacon, cheese, sour cream and crumbled tortilla chips.

 

A final note: I’m not normally a proponent of spending extra money on things, but for this soup you’ll want to go ahead and splurge on the bacon. Because let’s be honest: It’s pretty much a bacon-delivery vehicle.