Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie --- Stacy Ahlden Connor Recipe

          Some moments just break your heart.  I am beginning to realize that as the ones we love grow older, these moments become more frequent and painful.  These difficult moments tear at the edges of my heart and remind me once again that Grams is getting older, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.  At six o’clock this morning, Grandma Ahlden was dressed up and sitting on her porch waiting to be picked up by a friend.  Grams had either imagined a story in her mind, or misinterpreted something said that led her to believe that she had plans for a day out with a friend.  She had dressed herself in a nice outfit and carefully curled her hair.  She was cheery and excited about the fun day she thought was taking place.  My mom had to gently explain to Grams that she was incorrect or confused and didn’t have plans to go out with a friend today.  My mom felt bad having to see Grams in this state, and Grams felt silly that she had made a mistake then sad that she wasn’t going to have company.  It just broke everyone’s heart a little bit.  So, this whole ordeal called for an Amber/Grams day, or more specifically a Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie day!

          Last Christmas I decided to make a pecan pie from scratch.  Pecan is my brother’s favorite type of pie, and I thought it would be a nice welcome back to Illinois treat for him.  Boy, I had no idea what I was getting into!  Making pie crust from scratch is a heck of a lot of work.  I swear it wanted me to do something different with it every half hour all day.  My brother’s pie turned out delicious, and now I can say that I have made a pie and pie crust from scratch, but I don’t intend to do that again any time in the near future (Sorry, Adam).  It did make me feel very Susie Homemaker for a day though.  Because of this all day baking experience, I had put off making any of the pie recipes in the Ahlden Cookbook that had the word ‘pie’ in the title.  Luckily for me, Stacy Connor also doesn’t want to spend the entire day making dough, and shared a recipe that instructs to BUY an unbaked pie crust.  The sly part is that no one who eats your pie has to know whether or not you made your crust or bought your crust.  Buying a pie crust reduces the time it takes to prepare the pie, and allows more time for eating and enjoying your pie.  

           Personally, I have always been a fan of the classic pumpkin pie, no cool whip required.  Grandma Ahlden prefers cream pies.  She mostly enjoys digging into a slice of coconut cream or banana cream pie.  She was also pretty impressed by the modern invention of the store bought pie crust.  We talked for a while about making dough for breads and pies.  Grams remembers her mom, my Great-Grandma Manssen, making homemade bread.  Grams said that her mom’s fresh, warm bread is one of the most delicious things she has ever tasted.  Taking it out of the oven and eating it soon enough that the butter melts across the bread is like a slice of heaven in a country kitchen.  For most of us, our version of “homemade bread” is a store-bought dough mix that is placed into a bread maker.  More homemade than a loaf of bread picked up at the grocery store, but certainly not as homemade, or mouth-watering as the bread that came out of Great-Grandma Manssen’s oven.

          As a lover of chocolate and a fan of pecan pie, I think these two make a perfect pair.  If you like to eat chocolate turtles, you will LOVE this pie.   It literally tastes like a turtle in the pie form.  My mom, being truly dedicated to desserts, decided to put a dollop of vanilla ice cream on her pie.  She called it the Turtle Pie Ala  mode.  What a brilliant woman!  I was avoiding all recipes with the word ‘pie’ in them, but this pie was actually simple.  It was easy, fast, and still tasted scrumptious.  I think preparation time only took about seven minutes.  Another hit for the Ahlden Cookbook!   Now that Grams and I have eaten our mid-afternoon dessert, we are going to take a shopping trip to The Gathering.  I am sure we will come home with a new treasure and an appetite for another piece of pie.  Sometimes a girl just needs a fun day out with her friend, and apparently today was that day for Grams.  

Pecan Chocolate Chip Pie—Stacy Ahlden Connor

3 eggs

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

2 Tbs. margarine, melted

1 t. vanilla extract

1/8 t. salt

1 cup pecan halves

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 unbaked pastry shell

Beat eggs slightly in a medium bowl; blend in corn syrup, sugar, margarine, vanilla, and salt.

Stir in pecan halves and chocolate chips, pour into pastry shell.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Reduce temperate to 350 degrees, bake for 25 to 30 minutes more or until browned and puffed across top.

Cool; garnish with whipped cream and pecan halves.

Note from Stacy: This pie is totally delicious!  However, usually there is more than enough filling for one pie, so don’t be surprised when it does not all fit into the pastry shell.  Also, I bake on a cookie sheet so if any boils over, you don’t have a mess in the oven.

Delicious Delight -- Connie Ahlden Recipe

The name, Delicious Delight, really doesn’t do this dessert justice.  I prefer to call it Piña Colada on a Plate.  Minus the alcohol, that is really what it tastes like.  If you put on your sunglasses, blast some Jimmy Buffet in the background, close your eyes, and take a bite, you might be able to imagine yourself on a tropical island somewhere.  The Illinois heat index this week is hot enough to rival most of the tropical islands around the world.  Unfortunately, we all are experiencing the heat, but not the sandy beach.  Make this dessert, and you may experience a glimpse of a good looking cabana boy or a Hawaiian hula dancer.

My family has sampled a lot of desserts over the last few weeks, and according to my mother, Delicious Delight is the best dessert recipe thus far. Quoted by my mother, “It is a good summer dessert because it’s not so rich.  It’s just light and sweet.”  Delicious Delight is one of those desserts that you cut yourself a piece of, finish completely, then proceed to eat more of it straight from the pan.  It’s light and smooth, and easy to eat way too much of.  Consider yourselves warned. 

Because of the awful heat, I am leaving for the Kankakee River in a few hours to cool off on the boat.  The only way to be outside is if you are immersed in water.  I have been learning to water ski this summer, and although I have been successful on a few attempts, it certainly isn’t consistent yet.  While we were making Delicious Delight, I was entertaining Grams with stories of ski adventures that generally result in a face full of river water.  Grams shared with me that she has never learned to swim, and is by and large afraid of water.  She said that when she was younger, it just wasn’t something that her family was concerned about.  There were more important things to spend time learning.  She is pretty sure that even her brothers weren’t taught to swim.  Now that she is older, she really wishes she had learned to swim.  Not just because it would be fun and cool on a hot day, but because you never know when a freak accident will require the ability to swim.  I told her she is never too old to learn something new, and she could take a swim class at a YMCA.  She just laughed at me and said, “Oh, Amber”.  I think we’ll just stick to learning new baking techniques.”

Delicious Delight (aka Piña Colada on a Plate) isn’t difficult to make.  It is composed of four tasty layers: pecan crust, cream cheese and pineapple fluffy layer, vanilla pudding layer, and a top cool whip layer.  I may have added a little extra cool whip to the top because I absolutely love cool whip.  With a spoon in my hand I can seriously eat an entire container of cool whip in one sitting.  The only road block we ran into occurred during the vanilla pudding layer.  I bought the ingredients last night and didn’t buy INSTANT vanilla pudding.  When I read Cook and Serve on the box, I realized we had a slight problem. Grams and I hopped into the car and drove to Gilman for some INSTANT vanilla pudding -- problem diverted, and lesson learned.  Write down exactly what you need on your grocery list.  Piña Colada on a Plate did turn out to be one of my family’s favorite desserts from the Ahlden cookbook.  I sprinkled a few more chopped pecans on the top for a little extra cuteness.  Highly recommend this one!

Grams and I would also like to wish luck to all of our 4-H family and friends at the Iroquois County Fair this week.  She remembers watching her grandkids show Chester Whites and craft projects, and the Sunday service with A Natural High is always a favorite for her.  If you’re at the Iroquois Co. Fair this week, have fun, drink LOTS of water, and make yourself a pan of cool DELICIOUS DELIGHT to relax with in the evening!

         

Delicious Delight--- Connie Ahlden

Mix      2 cups flour

1 cup margarine

1 cup chopped pecans

Press into 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Cool.

Mix      1 cup powdered sugar

            1 8oz cream cheese (softened)

            Large (12 oz.) container of cool whip (use only ½)

            1 can 15 oz. crushed pineapple (drained)

Spread over cooled crust.

Mix 2 large INSTANT vanilla pudding with 4 cups milk.

Let set.

Spread over cream cheese layer.

Top with remaining cool whip.

Rhubarb Crisp- Diane Ahlden Recipe

To get your healthy 2-3 serving of nutritious vegetables in each day, eat Rhubarb Crisp.  Technically, rhubarb is considered a vegetable, and sans the mass amounts of brown sugar, sugar, and butter I added to the crisp, it probably would be healthy.  But then it just wouldn’t taste good!   It was originally used for medical proposes, but then it gained popularity as a food around the 20^th century.  Although it is a vegetable, it is mostly used in sweet desserts such as pies, crisps, jams, jellies, and tarts.  I wish all of my green veggies tasted this good!  DON’T eat the rhubarb leaves though! They are poisonous.  Lucky for all of you who ate my Rhubarb Crisp, I read this useful bit of information before the baking began. 

               The rhubarb Grams and I used came straight from the old Ahlden Homestead.  Luckily, Aunt Diane was able to gather up enough stalks for me and Grams to bake one rhubarb recipe, even though the season is almost over.  The other two rhubarb recipes will be delayed until next summer.  Aunt Diane told me that she set out a pile outside her house, and I could pick it up anytime.  I pulled up to the farmhouse with absolutely no clue what I was looking for.  I knew rhubarb was a plant, so it was most likely green, but that was all I could guess.  What I found were these things that looked like reddish celery with huge leaves.  I smelled them, and they didn’t really have a scent.  I licked them, but they really didn’t taste like anything.  At this point, I was having my doubts that anything sweetly edible could come out of these stems. 

               I decided that it would be best if I did the dicing.  I’m sure Grams would have done fine, but I didn’t want my blog to turn into a saga about a finger on ice.  So while I diced the rhubarb, Grams told me about her memories of making rhubarb jam out on the farm.  I had heard stories about canning vegetables and making peach jam, but I didn’t know that rhubarb was something that she used to make jelly from out on the farm.  Grams was saying that each summer a bunch of ladies with farming husbands would all get together to can and make jams.  She remembers doing lots of carrots and tomatoes.  Grams recalled that the she canned a lot of pickles on the Ahlden farm.  I am not a fan of pickles, and I have never understood how people could enjoy just eating a plain, dill pickle.  After I told her this, Grams said that if I had tried a fresh farm pickle, I would probably like that.  “There is nothing like garden vegetables,” she reminded me.

               As I said, Rhubarb Crisp was an experience from start to finish.  It really is a pretty vegetable with shapes of green, pink, and red.   When I added the sugar to the diced rhubarb the sugar stuck right to the moisture and gave it a real crystal look.  Not only was this my first rhubarb recipe, but this was also my first crisp attempt.  I wasn’t really sure when I should take the pan out.  I didn’t want the topping to get over done, but it needed a good crunch for the top.  Me and Grams decided to follow Aunt Diane’s recipe because we knew she wouldn’t steer us into inedible.  The Rhubarb Crisp turned out much richer than I would have imagined.  At my house, we decided to serve it over vanilla ice cream to even out the sweetness- go figure. 

               Grams and I decided that it was absolutely necessary to share our rhubarb dessert with the ultimate lover of rhubarb, Uncle Ronnie.  Since he and Aunt Diane supplied the “vegetable” part, we thought it was only fair to pass on the ending nutritious result of our baking.  He gave it the Ahlden stamp of approval.  Besides learning to bake a dessert from a vegetable today, I learned some family history.  I always knew that there was rhubarb growing at the Ahlden homestead, but I just assumed it was always there.  While talking to Uncle Ronnie, I learned that the rhubarb growing at his house was actually brought over from Great-Grandma Ahlden’s house after she passed.  Apparently she had stalks growing, and someone in the family decided to dig a few up and replant them at the Crescent City farm house.  There is family history in that tasty rhubarb.

Peanut Brittle- Pat Storm and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies- Jan Schuette

         My house is a bit crazy at this moment.  We leave tomorrow morning at 5:30 a.m. for a float trip down the Current River in Missouri.  I thought this would be a great opportunity for me and Grams to bake a few things that my family could take with as car snacks.  We decided to on Peanut Brittle by Pat Storm and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies by Jan Schuette.  I absolutely love going on vacation, but sometimes the packing and unpacking can ruin the fun!  I’m really not an over packer, but you never know what the weather will be like, and you have to be prepared for whatever comes up.  As busy as I was I considered blowing off the baking, but I decided that maybe I needed to slow down, breathe, and spend some time with Grams.

       We began with the cookie.  I can see why these are Aunt Jan’s favorite.  It’s a refreshing change from all of the milk chocolate that has been consuming my life lately.  While making the cookies, Grams and I talked about the vacations she has taken over the past several years.  She has had a lot of really great traveling opportunities.  She recalled a time that she went on a cruise with Wilma, and how flying doesn’t bother her.  When we were taste testing our first batch of cookies, Grams shared that she has never really able to take her own kids on trips.  Financially it was not possible, and there were far too many responsibilities on the farm.  Aunt Jan’s favorite white chocolate cookies are delicious.  Grams suggested that maybe around Christmas we could bake them again and add a few green and red sprinkles. 

       Our Peanut Brittle was a bit humorous.  It is pretty temperamental.  Only one of our two batches worked out; this stuff sets up pretty fast.  The one that turned out is really tasty.  It will be a good, mess free munchies for the car ride tomorrow.  Grams was an excellent baking partner today.  She really jumped in and took control.  I know that I couldn’t have pulled it off without her.  I think that when it’s just me and Grams she isn’t so worried about making mistakes since she still sees me as a kid.

       It was so tempting to blow off baking and get more packing time, but I’m glad that I didn’t.  The truth is, when it comes down to this summer project with Grams, I know that I am enjoying myself just as much as she is.  After our time together, life just makes a little more sense. It brightens my day, and reminds me what is important in life.  Today grams said to me that life is short and you need to stop and enjoy it sometimes.  This week I plan to carry out Gram’s advice and really enjoy my family and our time together.  I won’t let the moments pass me by.  I will stop and take time to enjoy each special memory.

Off to finish my packing!

Munching Peanut Brittle

Pat Storm (Mrs. Ozzie Storm)

Power Level: High

Microwave Time: 8-11 minutes total

               1 cup Sugar

½ cup white corn syrup

1 cup roasted, salted peanuts

1 t. butter

1 t. vanilla

1 t. baking soda

Directions:

1.      Stir sugar and syrup. Microwave at high for 4 minutes.

2.      Stir in peanuts. Microwave for 3 minutes.

3.      Add butter and vanilla to syrup mixture, blend well, and cook for 1 minute.

4.      Add baking soda and stir until light and foamy.

5.      Pour into a greased cookie sheet.

6.      Let cool and enjoy!

White   Chocolate Chunk Cookies                                            Jan Schuette

3/4 cup sugar3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup crisco butter shortening
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 t. baking powder              
1 t. soda
1/2 t. salt
1 cup coconut
1/2 rolled oats
1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 12 oz. pkg. white vanilla chips
 

 Oven Preheat oven 350 degrees. Combine first 3 ingredients. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 350 for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute remove from cookie sheet.

Quick Fudge- Julie Ahlden

               Remembering Grams on her good days gets me through the time I spend with her on her bad days.  Getting old is a game of tease.  Grams is so feisty and full of life that it’s hard to remember that she is getting older, and her mind is getting older too. It gives you hope, and then quickly takes it away.  In the dessert world, it’s like sitting at a table with a German chocolate cake complete with coconut frosting, but being warned not to take a single bite.  It’s mint chocolate chip ice cream melting in a bowl right before your eyes as you sit there without a spoon.  You’re powerless.  The good news is that most days you are free to eat the entire cake if you so desire.  But like I said, today was not a good day for Grams.  I showed up at her house unexpectedly around noon.  She had on her pink polo shirt that she wears EVERY time she goes out, and her hair had been set.  I figured she must be going somewhere and we would just do our dessert making tomorrow.  I asked Grams if she was getting ready to go somewhere, but she said no.  “Well, you look so nice.  I thought you must be going somewhere.”  I said.  She told me that she did have plans for today, but they were cancelled.  Conversations with Grams are becoming increasingly vague as she struggles to fill in the details and recall the stories.  The conversation that followed went something like this.

Amber:  What were you going to do today?

Grams:  I was going to go shopping.

Amber:  Oh, that would have been fun.  Who were you going with?

Grams:  Oh, yes.  Well I was going to go shopping with some…ladies.  Yah.  Oh, I love to shop! Well…Jan and them girls were going to take me, but they cancelled. 

Amber:  Oh, really.  I figured Aunt Jan would be working today.

Grams:  Oh, that’s right.  You’re right.  It wasn’t Jan.  It was my friend, but she just called me, and now we can’t go.

Amber:  Well that stinks.  Girl days are fun!  Which friend were you going to go with?

 Grams:  Well…it was….you know.  My one friend.  She is really nice.  You probably don’t know her. 

Amber:  Okay. Let’s make fudge.

               I love recipes that have common household ingredients.  I didn’t feel like running to the store this morning since gas is $3.60 a gallon, so I chose a recipe with ingredients that I had on hand.  Today me and Grams made Julie Ahlden’s Quick Fudge.  This was my first homemade fudge attempt.  I didn’t realize how much powdered sugar there is in fudge!  I never really thought about what was in it.  I just ate it.  I guess it makes sense though since fudge is kind of similar to a thick frosting.  On the recipe, Julie says that you can add in whatever extras you want in your fudge- peanut butter, nuts, marshmallows, candy, etc.  Grams had chucky peanut butter at her house, so we decided to make Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge.  Mmmmm chocolaty rich!  Grams said that she never really cared much for chocolate until she got older.  It was cute to hear her call herself old.  She says she still prefers white cake and vanilla ice cream over chocolate, but now that she’s old, she likes chocolate too. 

               Apparently Julie knows my kind of baking—microwave only.  No stove, no oven, no other crazy kitchen contraptions, and 6 ingredients.  Add. Mix. Microwave. Done!  It only took about ten minutes, but it tastes like we slaved away in the kitchen all day long.  I would highly recommend this recipe for busy moms.  Grams and I decided to add M & Ms to the top for a little added fanciness.

               While our Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter fudge set up in the fridge, we decided to count out how many members there are in the Lorraine Ahlden family.  Having a mom who is one of six kids and a dad who is one of five means that I literally cannot go anywhere in Iroquois County without running into a relative!  Here is the current count:

Six Ahlden kids and their spouses-12

The grandchildren-16

Add in the grandchildren’s spouses-26

Great Grandkids - 28 (that’s 28 crazy kids under the age of 15!!)

Expectant mothers-2

This much math required a calculator.  I crunched the numbers for you and found that when you include Grams and count in the soon to be born babies the total Francis and Lorraine Ahlden family count is currently 69 people!  Whooah!!!

              

               Grams talked about how amazing it is that so much has grown out of something that began so small with just her and Grandpa Ahlden.  Now we have grown into a huge family that could almost field 8 baseball teams!  After our count, Grams told me how she wishes that Grandpa Ahlden could be here to see all of this and meet all of us.  I reminded her that with 69 Ahldens to watch over, we keep him plenty busy and entertained!  Although I wish I could have met him, I feel better knowing that my Grandpa is up in heaven, always watching over me. 

               I’m glad I could be there for Grams today.  I think she needed some love, and of course some fudge!

Quick Fudge

Julie Ahlden

1 box of powdered sugar (4 cups)

½ cup cocoa

¼ cup milk

1 stick butter

1 t. vanilla

Combine powdered sugar, cocoa, and milk in microwave safe bowl.  Make a hole in the middle of mixture and place the stick of butter in the center.  Microwave for 2 minutes.  Whisk until smooth and microwave an additional 2 minutes.  Whisk in vanilla.  Pour into buttered 8x8 baking dish and refrigerate until set.

Many other variations can be made after you add the vanilla.  Ex.  add ½ cup of peanut butter for Peanut Butter Fudge or marshmallows and nuts for Rocky Road Fudge.