It’s National Pi Day! So in honor of this fabulous day – I made a homemade chocolate pie.
Any reason to make a pie ❤️
To start, I made a Graham Cracker Crust. You can use a premade store bought Graham Cracker pie crust for this pie or make a homemade crust. Believe it or not, it’s not that hard to make a Graham Cracker pie crust. So much easier than the traditional pie crust!
Graham Cracker Pie Crust
Here’s what you’ll need for the crust: 12 whole Graham Crackers (crush in a food processor or blender. You can also put the crackers in a large gallon Ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin – get your frustrations out and bang away!) + 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar + 6 TBSP undated melted butter 🧈 Stir the graham cracker crumbs and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl and then stir in the melted butter. Crush away if you see any big Graham Cracker pieces. The mixture will be coarse. Did I mention to crush any large pieces??! Make sure mixture is like a granulated texture. As you can see…I still need to crush! Pour the mixture into an ungreased 8-inch, 9-inch, or 10-inch pie dish, Press lightly with your hands or a measuring cup. Don’t use too much force, muscle queens and kings! Pressing with too much force will make your crust hard. You want a nice delicious crust – no need to lose a tooth over it 😆
Stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Boil 1 minute; remove from heat. Gradually stir about half of the hot filling into yolks.Mix the filling and yolks Return all to saucepan; heat to gentle boil. Cook and stir 1 minute.Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla.Pour into crust. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Cool. Refrigerate until set, about 4 to 6 hours.Garnish with whipped cream and strawberries, if desired. Cover; refrigerate leftover pie.
Today in American history…Jane Pierce was born on March 12, 1806 in Hampton, New Hampshire.
Being born into a wealthy family, her education was of the highest quality, and she attended the prestigious Miss Catherine Fiske’s Young Ladies Seminary in Keene, New Hampshire. While she was naturally talented in music and enthusiastic about literature, she would rather attend Bible studies above anything else.
She wasn’t fond for a life in politics and was an extremely religious and reserved woman. Suffering from depression due to the loss of her children – she preferred to stay behind the scenes as First Lady and left her official duties in the hands of her aunt and close friend, Abby Kent-Means.
As First Lady, Mrs. Pierce insisted on adhering to religious practices in the White House and instructed the staff to attend church and holding religious services in the White House library.
While she stayed mostly in the background, she did advise her husband at times. Notably, in 1856, she convinced President Pierce to reverse the arrest of abolitionist Charles L. Robinson.
It wasn’t until the last two years of her husband’s presidency that she started to attend more social functions and enjoyed witnessing the debates in Congress.
Mrs. Robert E. Lee noted about Jane Pierce, “I have known many of the ladies of the White House, none more truly excellent than the afflicted wife of President Pierce…she was a refined, extremely religious and well educated First Lady.”
Before Jimmy Carter became our 39th President in 1977 and before he was elected as the Governor of Georgia in 1970, he was a peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia.
As one can imagine, the Carter family has a love for all things related to peanuts. Rosalynn Carter was known for her delicious Peanut Butter Pie and made it quite often for her family and social gatherings. So today in the kitchen, I decided to make this delicious concoction topped with homemade meringue. It tastes like peanut butter fudge poured into a pie crust – oh my!
Rosalynn Carter’s Peanut Butter Pie
Here’s What you’ll need for the peanut butter pie filling Here’s what you’ll need for the meringue
You will also need one 9” baked pie crust
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix the confectioner’s sugar peanut butter until well combined. Set aside.
In a three quart saucepan over low heat, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, milk, eggs yolks and salt until well combined. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles and thickens, about 10 minutes (this will vary, based on exact amount of heat, thickness of pan, etc.). When thickened, remove from heat, and stir in vanilla and butter until butter is completely melted. Set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the meringue.
While filling is cooling, place the egg whites in a medium size bowl and beat on medium speed until the whites begin to foam. While beating, add cream of tartar and pinch of salt. Beat on high until whites become glossy and soft peaks begin to form.
While mixer is running, slowly pour in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, then add vanilla. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Set meringue aside.
Stir peanut butter into cooked filling mixture until completely combined. Pour mixture into baked pie shell. Spread meringue onto pie filling, mounding slightly in the middle, and completely sealing meringue edges to crust. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until meringue is lightly browned.
Let pie set on a wire rack until completely cooled before slicing, at least 2 hours.
Today in American history…Ronald and Nancy Reagan were married on March 4, 1952 in Los Angeles, California.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
“When I say my life began with Ronnie, well, it’s true. It did. I can’t imagine life without him.” – Nancy Reagan
“The nicest thing a girl ever did for me was when a girl named Nancy married me and brought a warmth and joy to my life that has grown with each passing year.” – Ronald Reagan
Scones are probably one of my favorite “go to” sweet treats that I enjoy whenever I visit a coffee shop or bakery. I love the texture (and taste!) of biscuits and scones are just “my cup of tea” because they literally come in so many varieties. My favorite flavor? Pumpkin. Just because I’m one of those crazy pumpkin flavor lovin’ people! But when I can’t have a pumpkin scone (out of season. Boo boo!) I lean towards blueberry. Equally delicious.
Scones are thought to have originated in Scotland in the early 1500’s. The word “scone” is said to have originated from the Dutch word “schoonbrot” which translates to “fine white bread” and also the closely-related German word “sconbrot” which translates to “fine or beautiful bread.”
It wasn’t until around 1840 that scones became popular in England and were served with the traditional afternoon tea.
What is the difference between British scones and American made scones? British scones are quite simpler with just a few ingredients – which usually include raisins or currants. British scones also tend to resemble a fluffy biscuit and are served with clotted cream or jam.
American scones come in a million different varieties – they also are usually wedges or triangle in shape. They have a much more dense texture due to adding more butter and sugar to the ingredients – which the British use less of.
Maple Walnut Scone Recipe
Ingredients
2 Cups Bisquick
3 ½ tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter (cold and cut into pea sized pieces)
2 eggs
3 tablespoons whole milk
2 teaspoons maple extract
½ cup Walnuts, chopped
Glaze Ingredients
1/2 cup of confectioners sugar
1/4 Cup maple syrup (use more syrup for desired consistency)
Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Grease a 9” cake pan and line with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and set the pan aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: Bisquick + Sugar.
Use a pastry blender (or two forks) to cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until the mixture is very coarse and crumbly.
Add the wet ingredients into the large bowl (eggs, milk, maple extract, syrup)
Add walnuts.
Mix together until a soft dough forms.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan.
Place the cake pan into the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the scones are lightly golden brown. To double check, Inset a toothpick into the center of the baked scones and if it comes out clean – they are done ✔️
Remove from the oven. After ten minutes, remove the scones from the pan and place on a baking rack and cool to room temperature.
Once the scones are cooled, use a pizza cutter to cut into 8 triangles and separate.
Make your glaze…
Mix together the confectioners sugar + maple syrup until desired consistency. Add more syrup if needed.
It’s a snowy Saturday here in Virginia and it’s the perfect day to bake comfort food – chocolate chip cookies 🍪
I had a few bags of different types of chocolate morsels and didn’t want to make the traditional one type chocolate chip cookie so I combined all that I had – bittersweet, white and dark chocolate morsels + of course, walnuts for the ultimate cookie crunch.
Now I can’t stop eating them!
Here is my own personal recipe. Enjoy ❤️
The Historical Homemaker’s Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 Cup (1 Stick Unsalted Butter)
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 large egg
Dash of Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup of chocolate morsels (bittersweet, white and dark chocolate)
1/2 Cup Walnuts (or pecans)
Directions
In a large bowl, mix the softened butter, vanilla, egg, brown sugar and granulated sugar until well combined.
Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix thoroughly until a soft dough is formed.
Add the chocolate chips and nuts (I used walnuts). Stir really well until everything is combined.
Refrigerate for at least an hour.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Cool on a baking rack for a few minutes and then enjoy!
Buttermilk Pie is believed to have first originated in England and the recipe was brought to the United States by Southern settlers.
The pie was predominately made in Texas where they were very resourceful with buttermilk because it was in large abundance and also inexpensive.
Buttermilk Pie is very similar to Chess Pie and the only real difference is that Chess Pie uses cornmeal as a main ingredient while Buttermilk Pie does not.
Southern Buttermilk Pie
Southern Buttermilk Pie
Ingredients
1 ½ cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon loosely packed lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Store bought refrigerated Pie Crust (or you can make your own homemade pie crust…I used the store bought refrigerated pie crust)
Garnishes: fresh berries, whipped cream, fresh mint
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together first 2 ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk eggs and next 5 ingredients into flour mixture.
Pour into the pie crust.
Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes or until almost set, shielding edges with aluminum foil after 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool 1 hour.
Today in American history…George Washington was born on a plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia on February 22, 1732. We all know the stories of him being a hero of the French and Indian War…the Revolutionary War…and the very first President of the United States and is often referred to as “our founding father.”
But did you know that he was just a regular guy who loved to eat breakfast at his beloved home Mount Vernon?
In honor of George Washington’s Birthday today we made his favorite breakfast: Hoe Cakes. President Washington loved to have his favorite breakfast topped with a lot of butter and honey along with a cup of hot tea.
Washington Irving once wrote that our founding father’s favorite meal often included “two small cups of tea and three or four cakes of Indian meal (called hoe cakes).”
Here’s the recipe from Southern Eats & Goodies. It’s very simple to make that you can make them in your own kitchen and eat like George Washington!
Cheesecake was very popular in the new colonies. By the 1730’s the city of Philadelphia even had a tavern called the “Cheesecake House!” How cool is that? I wonder if it was like our beloved Cheesecake Factory – but colonial style 😉
Cheesecake was also listed in the book A Booke of Cookery and Book of Sweet Meatswhich was given to Martha Washington upon her first marriage to Daniel Custis in 1749. In the book, Cheesecake is also listed as a Curd Pudding. These were all flavored with rose water, spices and currants.
The basis of the American Cheesecake changed dramatically in the 1930’s from a cheese curd type to a much creamier and richer flavor – as well as texture – due the use of cream cheese in the filling.
Our friend, Tara, asked that I make a Red Velvet Oreo Cheesecake for her husband’s birthday this weekend. Luckily I had enough Oreo’s to make the crust thanks to my Oreo loving Mr. Dixon 🤣
Happy Birthday to Kevin! Enjoy your special day…and your cheesecake!
Red Velvet Oreo Cheesecake
Ingredients
Directions for the Oreo Crust
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9” springform pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
In a food processor, pulse the Oreo Cookies until you get 2 cups of crumbs. Add in the salt and butter and pulse until thoroughly combined.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Directions for the Cheesecake Filling
Mix in the vanilla, heavy cream, buttermilk, and vinegar and mix until combined.
Bake on 350 degrees for 15 minutes then, without opening the oven door (I know you want to peek. I’m a peeker too!) reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees and bake for an additional 50 minutes.
Once the 50 minutes is up, turn the heat off and slightly crack the oven door for about 20-30 minutes to allow the cheesecake to slowly cool. (NOTE: this step is not necessary, however it is so incredibly helpful because it helps reduce cracking – and we don’t want a “Humpty Dumpty” cracked head lookin’ cheesecake!)
Chocolate Ganache Topping
With the whipped cream topping, it’s important that you serve immediately. If you aren’t serving immediately, refrigerate the cake until you are ready to serve – then top with the whipped cream (and chocolate shavings is beautiful on the top too!)
I used the recipe from My Heavenly Recipes. Make sure to look on their site for additional delicious recipes too!
The Historical Homemaker 