Sweet Potato Pie

I'm going to give credit for this recipe to my fabulous brother-in-law, Jason.

No, he didn't give me the recipe, BUT, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have it. In fact, I wouldn't even LIKE these pies filled with amazingness.

Let me explain.

A couple years ago on a holiday, either Thanksgiving or Christmas, Jason requested I make a sweet potato pie. I was hesitant, because my whole life I "didn't like sweet potatoes."

I was a weird kid. I had a problem with textured food. I didn't like mashed potatoes, the insides of baked potatoes, Jell-o, pudding, etc.

So when Jason requested one I immediately thought of the weird texture, but soon decided it didn't matter, it wasn't for me.

So I searched for a recipe and made it and OH MY SOUL I HAD BEEN MISSING OUT ALL OF MY LIFE!!!!

Sweet potato pie is now tied with pumpkin pie as my favorite. After the piece I had last night, it might even bump pumpkin aside. Just sayin'.

I don't even remember what recipe I used then, but I've tweaked and changed and adjusted so many times, it's not even close anymore. So this, my friends, is my sweet potato pie recipe.

What You Need:

There are only two sweet potatoes pictured here, but I recommend three.

So here's the third one.

3 sweet potatoes

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground cinnamon

a dash of ground cloves

(cloves aren't usually in sweet potato pie, but I love the hint of "fall" it adds)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 9 in. unbaked pie crust

(I used my "Easier Than Pie Homemade Pie Crust")

Mini marshmallows

(optional)

What to do:

Poke holes in your sweet potatoes and toss in the oven at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender to the touch. Turn oven down to 350.

Some people boil them, but I recommend baking. The flavor is SO much better! I've used canned too, while that's great in a pinch, it doesn't compare to the taste of baked.

(Remember, use 3. Here's a visual for you.)

Let cool and then peel. The skin should come off pretty easily, but if not run them under cold water and that should help loosen to skin.

Cut them into chunks, put them in a bowl and mash. Or just let your stand mixer do the job for you.

Add butter and mix well.

Add in brown sugar, eggs, milk, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Beat on medium (or give your arm a workout) until mixture is smooth.

I've used a stand mixer, a hand mixer, and my arm to make this pie.

If you don't have a stand mixer, I'd recommend a hand mixer. When you use your arm it's hard to get all the lumps from the potatoes out. Or maybe I'm just weak.

Pour into unbaked pie crust.

(Cute, yeah? I just cut my extra dough into small strips and twisted it and edged the pie with it. Is "edged" a word?)

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes. Center should still be goopy. (Is "goopy" a word?)

Place mini marshmallows all over top of pie.

Place back in oven for about 7 minutes or until marshmallows are starting to brown and are puffed up.

Let cool completely then refrigerate.

I made this for Thanksgiving, I made it again two days ago, and I'm going to make it for Christmas!

Stuffed Green Peppers

This is an easy dinner I make when I don't have time to make a "full meal" so to speak. Your protein and carb is all stuffed into your vegetable. This is one of my mine and my husband's favorite meals.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 green bell peppers

1/2 onion chopped

1 clove garlic chopped

Half a pound of ground beef (or ground turkey)

16 oz of pasta sauce

1/2 cup of rice (white or brown)

1 cup mozzarella cheese

(not pictured)

Dried Italian seasoning

Parsley flakes

Black pepper

Crushed red pepper flakes

Franks Red Hot Sauce (optional)

First

Get your rice going. I use my rice cooker(s) all the time. I can never get it perfect on the stove! It's either too hard or too mushy or burnt.

If you have perfected stove top rice, you're my hero.

Sautee your garlic and onion for a few minutes, add ground beef and cook until browned throughout.

While your meat is cooking, prepare your peppers.

But first, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Now cut each pepper down the middle.

Scoop out the innards with a spoon.

Lightly spray oven safe dish.

Arrange peppers on greased dish.

Add sauce.

Add spices

Add rice to sauce mixture.

Ooh, I forgot I added some shredded parmesan cheese I had left over.

Stir until all ingredients are combined.

Spoon into each pepper half.

Stuff them with as much as you can.

Bake at 400 F for about 40 minutes or until peppers are tender.

Top with cheese and put in oven for 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

If you think your plate it too bare with only the stuffed peppers on them, serve them with bread of some sort.

I love this meal because it's gluten free (double check the sauce you use is GF if you're not using homemade sauce( and pretty healthy. I've heard of some people substituting dried quick cooking oats for the rice. I haven't tried it, but I will someday.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

Adapted from Michael Symon's recipe as seen on abc's "The Chew"

My friend, Kristy, saw this on "The Chew" and sent me the link in an email with the words, "make this."

So I did.

I'm a HUGE pumpkin pie fan.

I'm also a chocolate fan.

Why not put the two together?

I used my own pie crust recipe, but added about a 1/2 TBSP of granulated sugar to offset the bitterness of the chocolate.

Click here for my "Easier-Than-Pie-Homemade-Pie-Crust" recipe

You can make your own pie crust, make Michael Symon's, or use store-bought.

So I'm going to skip that part of the recipe.

Ingredients:

6 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

(I used my ever faithful mini chips)

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

15 oz. can pureed pumpkin

12 oz. can evaporated milk

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 TBSP cornstarch

4 TBSP unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

This part was a bit strange to me. When I make pumpkin pie, I NEVER pre-bake the crust. I was skeptical, but it only calls for 15 min of pre-baking, so I did it.

Press pie crust into pie pan.

Cover pie crust with wax paper.

Now, if you pre-bake the crust without any weight, it'll bubble up.

There are these nifty little marble-like things called pie weights

I don't own them.

So I used beans.

Seriously. I googled it.

A whole bag of pinto beans cost about $1.00. I used as much as I needed for the pie, and I still have some leftover. I keep my "pie beans" in a container labeled "PIE BEANS" so that I don't try boiling them. I can use them again and again. A cheaper alternative to pie weights.

Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes.

While that's baking, let's start on the pie filling.

In a double boiler (or a metal bowl resting on a small pan of boiling water) melt your chocolates and butter stirring constantly until smooth.

Remove from heat.

Your pie crust is probably done by now. Take it out of the oven, remove wax paper and pour beans into container to be used again.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 F.

Let's finish the filling.

In a large bowl, or stand mixer, combine remaining ingredients. Beat until smooth.

Fold in chocolate mixture and pour into pie pan

(I had about a cup and a half of leftover filling, plus I overfilled it)

Put on pie crust shield if you have one, or just use aluminum foil so your edges don't get too dark. (I got my shield for $4 at Macy's!)

Put on baking sheet (in case of spills) and bake at 325 F for about 45 minutes or until center of pie has set.

(I told you I overfilled mine!)

Let cool, then refrigerate until ready to eat!

This pie is delicious.

I think I was expecting a classic pumpkin pie with a hint of chocolate.

This tastes more like a chocolate pie with a hint of pumpkin.

I tried this the day I baked it and was like "It's good, but I probably won't make it for the holidays"

But then I had a piece the next day and was like OH MY SOUL THIS PIE IS DELICIOUS!!!

Definitely make this a day ahead. Mmmm....I need another piece...