DAY THREE OF PIE PREP

 I woke up and got started on the pie making. First I had to make the pie crusts for the Lemon Pies. I made the mistake of making two pie crusts at once. I put them both in the oven at once. It would have been fine but I made the pie crusts too thick. Lesson learned when making a new recipe: make one first and see how it turns out, then make the rest. The two (I call them First Pancakes) are not terrible. They are just not sellable. So I had to remake the two crusts and then the third. I had some extra crust and made two tarts.

After a break, I made the lemon curd. I learned and made one portion of curd. It was not up to par so I put it in the First Pancake crust. I then fixed the curd and made three more curds. I filled three crusts and the tarts. I will fill the last crust in a day or so. It is for me to eat so I will do it later.

Then after a break I made the Candy Lemons to garnish the lemon pie. This was easy and I hope they turn out okay. I was running out of descent lemons at this point. I used over 20 lemons to make these pies and tarts. Some of them were from my tree and were super small (just over the size of a dollar coin). 

I am on track to finish on time. I have to find a bag to carry them when I deliver them. I have a list of things to do tomorrow morning. 

That was my whole day! 

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO OF PIE PREP

 Today I continued with my pie prep. First I cleaned out the refrigerator downstairs. I now have two completely empty shelves. Those should hold five pies. 

Then I cleaned off the stove. I know what you are thinking, how dirty is her stove? I clean it all the time. But today I did the deep dive clean. I have a very old Wedgewood stove and it is very hard to clean not like the new stoves. What I really need to do is take all the stove top pieces off and soak them in soapy water. But that is a task for another day. I cleaned them off so they sparkled. 

Then I cleared off my kitchen table so I can cool pies and do assembly on it.  I cleaned off my counter and made lots of room to assemble pies. 

I go my two deliveries from Amazon with my paper pie pans and 8" springform pan. Now I can start on the No Bake Banana Cream pie. I have two 8" pans now. I proceeded to make the crust and put it in the pan. They are chilling in the fridge. The crust is made out of nuts, dates and coconut oil basically. 

The rest will be done tomorrow and Tuesday morning. 

Then I made some roasted Romeanesco cauliflower, zucchini and broccoli and some baked tofu for dinner. It tasted marvelous.

It was a full day. I also talked on the phone with a friend who just moved to the Cincinnati area.

Until tomorrow...

DAY ONE OF PIE MAKING PREP

 Today was a day of action. The first day to get things done. I had my first delivery: food. I have all my ingredients now to make the pies. I am waiting for the pie boxes, pie tins, pie springform pan (I wanted it for Christmas but now can't wait), and ink for my printer. 

I spent part of today planning some more with the help of my brother. Then my cousin helped me make what I call "Calling Card" to let people know where they can find me and who I am. I am going to put it with all the pies. I am also making my logo into stickers to close the pie boxes. Marketing is key!

Tomorrow is clean up and clear out day. I have to clear out the fridge and clear out space in my kitchen. I need to cool down pies, chill them and store them. That is a lot of space and flat space. I don't really have that much space. Tomorrow is the day to make it. Organization is key. I have enough ingredients to make extra pies if I need to. I am ready, I think. All my friends are telling me I am. 

Until tomorrow...

MAKING PIES

 Today I went to the dentist to get my crown put on. I thought it was going to be a normal dental appointment but it turned out to be so much more.

My dentist asked me if I was available to make some pies for her staff. Anyway it turned out that I am now making 5 pies next week. I went through decision making on what types of pies I thought I could make on such short notice, what shopping I had to do and what other things I needed to do to be ready. 

Phone calls were made to people for consultations: how much to charge? how do you make a certain type of pie?  

I finally got the final confirmation at about 10pm. I am super excited.

Until tomorrow...

DAY ONE HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE OF COOKING COURSE

 Today was my first day baking with the Vegan Baking Essentials Part 2 chapter. I was excited and planned it out this morning. I made Pasteis de Nata - Blitz Puff Pastry with Vanilla Custard. This was originally a Portuguese egg custard tart but to make it vegan there is no egg. The vanilla custard is so creamy and delicious. The puff pastry is just the right crispiness. 

I made 12 of them and right after I took these photos I dropped two of them on the floor. Five second rule. I picked them up and ate them. My floors had just been vacuumed. I am not wasting such awesome food. 

I have a plan to make more delicious desserts but I have to wait until I get my food order for some of them. 

Until tomorrow...

BACK TO COOKING COURSE

 I am back to my cooking course! They sent me access to a new chapter Vegan Baking Essentials Part 2.  I am back to baking but this time I am excited to bake all the items in the chapter. Tomorrow I plan to bake the first dish.

Today I have to food shop for Thanksgiving. I want my food to show up next Tuesday so I planned it all out and got online right away exactly one week ahead of time. I had my list ready and ordered everything. I have my menu ready and I planned it all out. 

I also purchased some items from Costco that I have been waiting to go on sale. I ordered a power washer, phone system and some food. Oh, also some tape. Packing and scotch. Getting ready for the holidays.

I decided to pull out a folder that keep that has gift certificates. I am going to use as many as I can this month. I figure I better before they are useless.

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN STIR-FRY BROCCOLI BOK CHOY AND ZUCCHINI

 Tonight is the night I am supposed to take Orencia. I am skipping it again because I have my crown dental appointment on Friday. I have not taken Orencia since my tooth infection well over a month ago. I could have started taking it last week but I am holding off until my crown is completed just in case. This time being off Orencia is really affecting me. I am not as tired but I am having all sorts of joint pain. Now I am having issues with my knees.

But good news: I am feeling SO much better being off the progesterone and estrogen. I really had such a little idea how much it was affecting me. I was in such a fog with the low blood pressure. I was unable to think and process things. I was so tired and miserable. I couldn't sleep and was so sleep deprived. I guess those drugs are just not for me which is so weird since I have been on birth control since I was 16 years old. There really should not be such a difference according to the doctor but I guess there is! I feel almost back to normal after being off them for two weeks.

 I made a wonderful stir-fry today. I cleaned out my vegetable bin and made a broccoli, bok choy and zucchini stir-fry with udon noodles. Delicious! 

I bought some clothes through an online store. I bought some jeans and a raincoat. One pair of jeans and the raincoat didn't fit. I called the company and I have to send the raincoat back to buy another coat for the same price. They have no exchange policy. So I have to wait until they get the return and then buy another. I packaged up the coat and jeans and took them to the post office to send back. Lucky and I walked them down. I wanted them mailed back as soon as possible.

Until tomorrow...

GAVE AWAY A BUNCH OF COOKIES

 No cooking today. I worked a bunch and gave away a bunch of cookies to my dog walker. 

It is late and there is not much to say today. I will catch up tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN LEMON COOKIES

 Vegan Lemon Cookies!  I used the lemons that had fallen from my lemon tree when the gardener trimmed the tree. Some of the lemons were green and now they are turning yellow.  The recipe called for lemon extract, what?, yes, lemon extract. I think that is a travesty. I used fresh lemon juice and zest instead and the cookies turned out terrific. It was such a simple recipe that it only took a short time to make them and then glaze them. Next time I will make a double batch.

My cooking course has a new chapter coming out in a few days. Baking Essentials Part 2. I am excited to start baking more strenuous things. Although I had a hard time with some of the easy things lately.

Lucky and I took a walk around the block today. Then we got to the house and Lucky wanted to keep walking. She gets to the bottom of the stairs and puts on the brakes. She won't go up the stairs. This time I gave in and walked two more blocks with her. Then I called it quits to bake the cookies. 

I read somewhere that the best thing to do is to use the timer on your dishwasher so it turns on after peak electric usage hours. I didn't even know dishwashers had timers. Tonight I looked and low and behold my dishwasher has a timer. I set it at 7:50pm when I put my dinner dish inside to turn on at 8:50pm since my peak usage time ends at 9pm. That is a handy thing to know about. I will be using that more often since I tend to forget to turn on the dishwasher after peak usage times. 

Until tomorrow...

CHICKPEA, CARROT, TOMATO AND KOHLRABI SOUP

 I got a new vegetable this time in my veg box. It was a kohlrabi. I never cooked with a kohlrabi before so today I made a soup with it. Kohlrabi is called a German turnip and is in the family of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, Savoy cabbage, and gai lan. I think it is a bit like a celery root. Not the taste but the texture. The soup tastes good. I used some coconut milk to make it a bit sweet. It has chickpeas, carrots, tomatoes and kohlrabi.

I just did a bunch of laundry today. Then Lucky and I took a walk. We ran into a few neighbors. For Day of Kindness we delivered cookies to a few people. 

Until tomorrow...