Banoffee Pie

My career, in my opinion, has taken a nose dive since the baby was born.  Going from a 100 hr/week attorney to a part-time attorney has been a major hit on my career self-esteem.  So, when one of my cases recently was scheduled for back to back depositions and a settlement conference, it was my time to get back on the work horse.  And, I loved it.

After very successful depositions, I marched into the settlement conference with dare I say — a swagger.  My client and I sat in one room while the opposing party was in another and the attorneys were to walk back and forth with settlement offers.  Walking back to my client’s room, I happily thought that I put aside the mom clothes and was back to my old self.  I took one step inside my client’s waiting room when she said, “I think you sat in chocolate.”  Mortified, I stood there for a minute attempting to salvage this most unprofessional situation.  But, she was right.  Somewhere between feeding my kid a chocolate chip granola bar and driving, I sat in it.  Oh, and my suit was tan/light brown.  It paired well with my dark chocolate chip stain.

Luckily, my client quickly said, “Oh, I figured your son did that,” and went on about her life as a mom.  And, there I was – in my professional element, exchanging mom advice with my client.  The settlement went well and on the drive home, I accepted the duality that has become my life, where the mom part is the base and everything else is seemingly built around that.  When I got home, I celebrated by making a pie.  No chocolate.

Banoffee Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups graham crackers, finely crushed into crumbs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 2 (14 oz) cans dulce de leche 
• 4 large bananas, sliced
• 2 heavy whipping cream, cold
• 3 tbsp confectioner’s (powdered sugar)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a 9-inch pie plate, mix together the graham crackers and butter, and evenly press into the pie plate for the crust.  Bake for 5 minutes to set the crust.  Set aside to cool.
3. Once the crust is cooled, spread the dulce de leche from one can over the crust.  Layer with bananas.  Finish with the last can of dulce de leche.
4. Chill in a refrigerator.
5. Make the whipped cream:  With a stand or handheld mixer, whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff.  Spread evenly over the cake.  Serve immediately or put back in the fridge to chill.

Dulce De Leche (The Easy Way)

Remember when I slaved over a pot of boiling milk to get about 1 cup of dulce de leche?  Yeah, turns out that’s not going to be happening anymore.  Why?  Ask my kid who finds it fun to tug at my pants and grasp onto my leg for dear life just to be picked up every 5 minutes.  It’s also hilarious when he pretends he has cooked noodles for legs when I try to set him back down.

You could extend a sigh of frustration with me.  Or, you could ask why a mom who has more than enough on her plate couldn’t just buy a bottle of it?  Or perhaps just not make it altogether because it really isn’t a necessity like maybe … dinner?  I call those non-options.  And, you’ll agree when you see what I’ve done with two beautiful cans of pure decadence, without all the stirring.

Dulce De Leche (The Easy Way)

Ingredients:

• Cans of sweetened condensed milk
• Large pot with a heavy bottom with a lid

 Directions:

1. Place the cans of condensed milk in the pot.  Fill the pot with water.  The water should fully cover the cans.
2. Place the pot on the stove and bring the water to a boil over medium high heat.
3. Once at a boil, cover and reduce the heat to medium to keep it at a simmer.
4. Check the water level every 30 minutes to make sure that the cans are all well submerged.
5. After three hours, turn off the stove and move the pot with lid off the heat (to another burner).  Jut let everything cool down.  Once the water is cool, remove the cans and place on a towel to cool to room temperature.
6. Do not use any cold water, ice or any cooling procedure to make the cans colder faster.

Blueberry Scones

Last week was ridiculous.  Between two trips to the emergency room for a baby whose 104-105 fever wouldn’t break for 3 days (with medicine), and work deadlines that didn’t take notice at all of my personal schedule, I’m physically and emotionally spent.

For instance, after 2 days of a high fever, we thought we were in the clear when the baby’s temperature went down to 99.  And, after 48 hours of no sleep, we thought to take a nap at 3:00 a.m.  At 5:00 a.m., turns out the temperature went down to 94, which is bad bad bad.  Helpless is the word.  Oh, and also sleep deprived.

Spent.

As in, I want to hide under my bed covers and sleep for a month….and wake up only for these scones.

I made these scones as a way to use up my frozen blueberries, and to also have a special breakfast treat for several days during the week.  With such a short ingredient list, you’re likely to have everything on hand.  And after a week like mine, I’ll call that a win.  Add a cup of dark coffee, and I can almost see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Blueberry Scones

barely adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, make sure its thawed and drained)
• 1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the scones

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
3. Cut in the butter with a fork until the mixture look like coarse crumbs.
4. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Be careful and gentle to where you don’t break the blueberries because the color will bleed into the dough.
5. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough.
6. Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 x 3 x 1.5 inches. Cut the rectangle in half then cut the pieces in half again, giving you 4 squares. Cut each square in half diagonally.
7. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown.