Caramel Pie

For the past few years, my brother Chris has brought an amazing caramel pie to the family get-together on Christmas Eve. This particular pie is amazingly delicious and is served with freshly whipped cream. Chris gets the pie and whipped cream from Beatrix in the River North neighborhood in Chicago. It is a pie that I have not really seen anywhere else, but it occurred to me that this caramel pie can be made at home with ease.

First, there is a crumb crust. I used a basic graham cracker crust, but other types of cookies or crackers could be used to make the crust. Then, the caramel is so easy to make if you have a slow cooker. Just stick a few unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk covered completely in water in your slow cooker for eight hours to make the delicious caramel. I used two cans of sweetened condensed milk, which adequately filled a nine-inch pie pan, but another can would result in a filled to the top pie. Finally, whip some whipping cream, and you have just re-created Beatrix's caramel pie. MDS even thinks this version is better than the original.

Update: I shared a piece of this pie with whipped cream with Chris. He can be quite particular about what he will eat, such that some might call him a foodie. He reported that this pie was excellent and suggested that I make it for the next family get-together. So this pie must be good.

Caramel Pie 

• 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 or 3 cans sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1-2 tsp. vanilla extract

Blend the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press the crumbs into a greased nine-inch pie pan. Refrigerate the crust for a few hours before filling. 

To make the caramel, remove the labels from cans of sweetened. Place the unopened cans in a slow cooker. Cover the cans completely with water. Turn the slow cooker on to low and let sit for eight hours. Allow the cans to cool completely before opening. Spoon the caramel into the pie crust. Combine the whipping cream and vanilla in a bowl and use an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Serve the pie with fresh whipped cream. Enjoy!

Buckwheat

Recently, MDS and I went to a local Ukrainian restaurant, Shokolad, located conveniently in Chicago's Ukrainian Village neighborhood. The food was awesome--we loved everything that we had, including a Drunken Cherry Cake that I may try to make some time. But one item that struck me was the option to have Buckwheat as a side dish. Because I don't recall every having tried buckwheat before, I knew I had to try it. And, I loved it. It was simply prepared with just a bit of butter and salt and pepper.

After a bit of research, I learned that buckwheat is fairly common in Eastern European cuisine. It is often used in Kasha, which I have had, so it turns out that I probably have had buckwheat before. But, the recipe below is just for plain buckwheat. It is a delicious and easy side dish. Or, it can be used in place of a grain, rice or pasta in many other dishes, which I did with part of this batch. Buckwheat also could be used as a breakfast cereal, instead of oatmeal or grits. In other words, it is very versatile. And because it is so easy to make, I plan to work it into many future meals. One note, I was able to find buckwheat at Mariano's near the rice and grains. It may not be commonly available, but it is worth seeking it out.

Buckwheat 

• 1 cup buckwheat
• 2 cups water
• 1-2 Tbsp. butter
• salt and pepper, to taste

Place the buckwheat and water in a pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add butter, salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Grandma Holmes's Oatmeal Cookies

These no-bake oatmeal cookies are fairly common. The cookies are routinely brought along to potlucks or other events requiring something easy to make and easy to eat. This recipe is especially good when you want cookies on a hot summer day but you don't want to use the oven. The recipe makes about 60 cookies, which is great for feeding a crowd. I recently made these cookies for a family get together and the cookies were quite popular. Although not as popular as my sister-in-law Laura's peach cobbler, so I may need to make that cobbler for a future blog post.

There are variations to the recipe. As noted on Grandma Holmes's recipe card below, you can use chocolate or peanut butter. Or, I bet you could easily make a peanut butter chocolate cookie by using half of the chocolate and half of the peanut butter. I went with a chocolate cookie because some family members have peanut allergies. I also substituted an extra cup of oatmeal instead of the coconut. The recipe card calls for oleo (more commonly called margarine these days), but I used real butter. I think that you could add in other items, like nuts or dried fruit, but just reduce the amount of oatmeal by the amount you substitute in. Whatever ingredients you decide to use, these cookies are delicious treats.

Grandma Holmes's Oatmeal Cookies 

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 stick (8 Tbsp.) butter
• 2 squares baker's chocolate or 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 cups oatmeal

Boil the sugar, butter, chocolate (or peanut butter) and milk for three minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the stovetop. Stir in the vanilla and oatmeal. Spoon out onto wax paper, using the spoons to shape and pack the cookies. Allow the cookies to set for several hours or overnight, if possible. Enjoy!