A fantastic mess!

How do you separate your eggs? I used to yo-yo the yolk back and forth between the two halved shells - back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Oops a little white is still in there. Back and forth. One day I said to myself (Self) - Bah! Just crack the whole damn egg into the bowl, reach in and pull out the yolk. Haha! Saved 2 minutes of yo-yoing! So you get a little egg on your hands, don't be a sissy, just clean it off. And so, that's how it's done now! Maybe everyone already does this, I don't know, I'm pretty much self taught learning every day, I could be behind the times.

I just got back from spending the weekend in the mountains with my hubby for our 1st anniversary. We ate the top of our wedding cake and it was fabulous! Believe it or not, after surviving 6 moves, that's 6 times of being frozen and defrosted and frozen again, it was almost nearly as good as it was last year.

In my semi-newfound culinary adventures, one thing I never tried was making a pie shell from scratch. Boy was I missing out! Who knew it was so easy and fun. If you love a good mess like I do, and I like to think you do, you have to try it out! Check out this fantastic mess:

That is the beginning of a Tomato and Corn Pie, I made to bring to the mountains. This recipe was recently posted by Smitten Kitchen, and it was quite the delicious number let me tell you. Here is her recipe:

Tomato and Corn Pie

Adapted from Gourmet, August 2009
Adapted, barely, from Gourmet’s adaptation of Laurie Colwin’s and Jame’s Beard’s versions

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 3/4 teaspoons salt, divided

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons or 3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 2 teaspoons melted

3/4 cup whole milk

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 3/4 pounds beefsteak tomatoes

1 1/2 cups corn (from about 3 ears), coarsely chopped by hand (my preference) or lightly puréed in a food processor, divided

2 tablespoons finely chopped basil, divided

1 tablespoon finely chopped chives, divided

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

7ounces coarsely grated sharp Cheddar (1 3/4 cups), divided

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 3/4 tsp salt in a bowl, then blend in cold butter (3/4 stick) with your fingertips or a pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal. Add milk, stirring until mixture just forms a dough, then gather into a ball.

Divide dough in half and roll out one piece on a well-floured counter into a 12-inch round (1/8 inch thick). Either fold the round gently in quarters, lift it into a 9-inch pie plate and gently unfold and center it. Pat the dough in with your fingers trim any overhang.

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Whisk together mayonnaise and lemon juice.

Cut an X in bottom of each tomato and blanch in a large pot of boiling water 10 seconds. Immediately transfer with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to cool. Peel tomatoes, then slice crosswise 1/4 inch thick and, if desired, gently remove seeds and extra juices. Arrange half of tomatoes in crust, overlapping, and sprinkle with half of corn, one tablespoon basil, 1/2 tablespoon chives, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and one cup of grated cheese. Repeat layering with remaining tomatoes, corn, basil, chives, salt, and pepper.

Pour lemon mayonnaise over filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Roll out remaining piece of dough into a 12-inch round in same manner, then fit over filling, folding overhang under edge of bottom crust and pinching edge to seal. Cut 4 steam vents in top crust and brush crust with melted butter (2 teaspoons). Bake pie until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes, then cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Do ahead: Pie can be baked 1 day ahead and chilled. Reheat in a 350°F oven until warm, about 30 minutes.

Sigh...Delicious memories of the pie that once was, and was devoured quite quickly at that. I have a link on the right to Smitten Kitchen's blog, I eliminated a few of her personal notes to the recipe as I didn't want to be a total thief. Please check it out!

Ooh and another thing! I was going through a few of my favorite blogs and came across something so amazingly good looking I can't wait to try it out. I mean, I want to run out to the store NOW to buy the ingredients, but am holding back on account of that I just ate the aforementioned wedding cake. Ready for this???

Have you ever heard of Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses!!!! That is another Smack my ass and call me Judy moment!! Fibberty gibberish I can't even come up with words for my excitement over this! So, also in my favorite sites at right, check out Picky-Palate's Black Bottomed Mini Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites. (I haven't learned yet how to highlight words in my blog to take you right there yet.) Anyway, check THOSE bad boys out and try, TRY, not to lick your computer screen! Those are coming to my blog quite soon.