Hurricane Irene

We made it back home after a quick trip to Ohio just a few short hours before Hurricane Irene was due to hit. I enjoyed using the storm as an excuse to stock up on lots of goodies to get us through the storm and the "inevitable" power outages that were sure to follow. We had been told that if the power went out in our city, it would be out for at least a week because the power grid was so old.

City Hall in the Pre-Irene gloom

Coincidentally, this was also the week I decided to try and avoid meat.

I stocked up on as many fresh veggies and no-prep needed foods as I could carry. We also stashed all our water bottles in the fridge.

Before the storm, I noticed that we had a gallon of milk that was close to its sell-by date. Rather than dumping it down the drain, I decided to give some homemade ricotta a shot. I'd tried it once before but it didn't turn out well. My mom was very sweet and pretended to like the results.

The next day, to celebrate our survival, intact water-mains and functioning power grid, I made a cheese plate, baked acorn squash (leftover emergency supplies), and crostini with figs, honey, and homemade ricotta. The ricotta was good but a little weird so I'm not putting up the recipe. We decided to walk off our post-storm celebration with a walk around the city to survey the damage.

We made it!

Bring on the next Snowpocalypse!

Blueberry Pie

We've just headed back to the East Coast. To kick off our job hunt festivities, I decided we needed to start with something sweet. A week or so ago, we headed down to Italian Market for the first time. While we were down there, I picked up a few pints of blueberries that may have 'fallen off the back of the truck." (We've been watching a lot of The Sopranos).

I decided a blueberry pie would be the perfect pick-me-up! I used my mom's perfect pie crust recipe and improvised for the filling.

Ingredients:

2 9-inch pie crusts

2 pints blueberries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup cornstarch

Directions:

1) Pre-Bake pie crust at 425 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned

2) While crust is baking, mix together all of the ingredients for the filling.

3) Remove crust from oven and pour in the blueberry filling. Top with second crust in a lattice or other design. No matter what you do, be sure to leave vents to let steam escape!

4) Bake for 1 hour at 350. Let cool on wire rack. Let the pie sit for at least 30 minutes before trying to slice.

5) Top with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream.