happy weekend

Happy, happy weekend to you - catch all of the rays of sunshine that you can!

bananas for a birthday boy

This past weekend called for a special treat for a special guy, & a bit of sweetness to give us the fuel we needed to dig out of 12+ inches of new snow. This is the freshest tasting & most scrumptious banana cream pie recipe I've come across to date, with just a few hacks to send it over the top. Cheers!

banana cream pie with maple whipped cream

adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe

1 Pate Brisee   use 1 disc and reserve remaining disc for another use

1/2 cup Turbinado sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

4 large egg yolks

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups whole milk   I used Strafford Organic Creamery's Creamline milk

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter  I used Vermont Creamery cultured butter

3 ripe bananas, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 pint fresh blueberries

or

1 Toasted Walnut Crust

instead of blueberries, shave bittersweet chocolate on top of the maple whipped cream layer

prepare the crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough into a 14-inch round (1/4 inch thick). Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim dough to extend above edges by 1 inch, fold under, and crimp. Prick bottom with a fork, and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Cut a large round of parchment paper (about 11 inches), and place in pie shell, allowing excess to extend above edges. Fill with pie weights. Freeze until cold, about 10 minutes.

Bake crust 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Remove pie weights and parchment, and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes more. Let cool on a wire rack.

prepare the filling

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add egg yolks & vanilla, and whisk until smooth. Bring milk to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup milk to yolk mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. Pour mixture into pan with hot milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to bubble and is very thick, about 6 minutes.

Pour milk mixture through a large-mesh sieve into a bowl. Add butter, and stir until melted. Fold in bananas. Pour into crust. 
If using blueberries, distribute berries evenly over custard, saving 1/8 cup for topping. 
Place plastic wrap directly on surface of filling to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

prepare the topping

Beat together cream, maple syrup, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread whipped cream over filling using a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon.

Scatter remaining blueberries on top of pie.

or

Using a vegetable peeler, shave chocolate at a 45-degree angle, and scatter over pie. (You will only need about 1 ounce of chocolate for the shavings, but it will be easier to shave if you start with a larger piece than you need.)

from here

bookshelf envy

We've been getting trounced by more snow in New England, inspiring us to delve further into our wintry ways as we more often than not curl up with a good book after eating a hearty dinner & (yet again) shoveling. Oftentimes, I find myself wanting to reference a book or read a passage of which an event or thought has sparked a memory, only to realize that very book is packed away in the attic.

Oh, how I look with envy at the photos on bookshelf porn, a blog I could easily get lost in, which will one day provide inspiration for the perfect shelves to house our little army of books waiting patiently upstairs.

forts for grown-ups

I need one of these for my back yard. 

 

Suzanne Husky's Sleeper Cells blend beautifully into the outdoors, like cozy little hedgehogs or beehives, providing a small space of one's own in which to get away. Recently chosen to be one of the artists in this year's Bay Area Now at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Suzanne is an inspiring mult-disciplinary artist who talks about her thought-provoking & environmentally responsible approach to art in an interview here.

from here

happy weekend

This weekend is my love's birthday, so I am signing off early to begin the celebrations. Have a swell weekend!

bedtime stories

While the temperature outside hovers in the teens, comma workshop's lyrical & gorgeous quilts certainly struck a chord with me: a well-turned handwritten phrase paired with simple design & exquisite craftsmanship always wins my admiration. I especially love the contrasting thread & piping details & phrases wending their way along the snowy white expanse. I can imagine nothing but sweet slumbers while wrapped up in one of these beautiful pieces.

from here 

this is beautiful

 

When he received a 15-year grant from the Finnish government in 1991, photographer Pentti Sammallahti retired from his teaching position at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki in order to travel more widely & photograph the creatures, both human & animal, that crossed his lens. The softness of his detailed, delicate gelatin silver prints capture the emotional layers of both human & animal existence, lending deep personality to landscapes & cityscapes alike.

It almost feels as though an animal were behind the camera, capturing creatures doing what they do when human eyes are not upon them.

If you are in New York, be sure to catch his exhibition here

from here