Pie Today and Tomorrow

So in the search of a basic southern pies, we decided that sweet potato, buttermilk, and pecan were ideal. I love the crustiness, the texture, and the flavors. Altering already perfected pie recipes was the trick. Audrey took the Fanny Farmer Cookbook out for the Pecan Pie. Emeril Lagasse's recipe (which by the way), was severely undercooked at 25 minutes and required another 20-25 minutes to set. The Sweet potato needed tweaking. I substituted half of the white sugar for brown sugar, and used half and half rather than milk. Why? Because I wanted to. Jim suggested that we make Maple Whipped Cream and sprinkle with crushed pecans. Sounds almost high-brow! By the way, already made shells are the way to go when you want pie in a hurry, and I say there is nothing wrong with that. If I feel so inspired I may just make that too. It doesn't help that I am currently reading a Texas Travels of Food and Wine for the Hill Country. Very inspiring.

Sign Me Up! Get Sum~Dim Sum

Unbelievable! I have not had good dim sum since Tommy's Wok in Carmel and Dun Ho's in SF! Fabulous to the eye, and delicious. WOW. Another new favorite place. The BBQ Pork Bun was delightful. The rice flour bun was delicate, the perfect sponginess, and tasty. The pork on the inside was just right, not too sweet, and just enough. The Spinach Dumpling was by far the visually and tastefully appealing. Delicate rice wrapper in spinach with a spinach and mushroom filling. The Law Mai Gai, aka Sticky rice in Lotus Leaf was delicious and perfectly porportioned. Was Lauren's favorite. The eggroll was worth getting, stuffed full of fresh vegetables and the dipping mustard just hot enough for the nose to tingle. Jim said his Har Gao aka shrimp dumpling was very good. I will be back.