Peanut Butter Pie ... Sigh ... :)

At Jeremy's graduation party over the weekend there were a number of dietary concerns to take into consideration, which is why we decided to simply serve desserts rather than hors d'oeuvres or lunch or anything more substantial (or nutritious!).

Many of the people we invited keep kosher, and thus cannot mix meat and dairy products at the same meal. One of our friends has a severe dairy allergy, and so that would have mandated a meat meal if we'd had any notion of providing something for him to eat; but it would have had to meet Rabbinic standards, which would make it prohibitively expensive.

Then, if we'd served a meat meal, that would have relegated our vegetarian friends to eating salad or vegetable sticks or hummus because they won't eat fish, and goodies like macaroni and cheese couldn't be served; and none of this even takes into consideration the picky eaters (bane of my existence) ... oy! My head started to spin in trying to find options for everyone, and so I finally gave up and settled on sweets, a universal favorite.

Those who keep kosher, for the most part, will eat dairy products which have been made in a treyf ([TRAYF] = non-kosher) kitchen like mine. And they'll especially eat things that are pareve [PAHRV], which is neither meat nor dairy such that they can accompany either type of food. And so this was easy -- bake some cookies with toffee chips that were dairy ... serve some fruit, which is obviously vegan ... and make use of items like soy milk to make pareve options. Everyone, in theory, should be happy! (As you can see from the card in the photo above, I labelled each offering so that people would know which category it fell into and not put their health -- or my peace of mind, God forbid! -- at risk.)

When I make pareve items I use non-dairy chocolate chips (which I could pay a lot of money for at a health food store, but which conveniently can also be found as the generic brand at a local grocery store), though you could easily use any other type of chip you want to if dairy products are not a concern. (Although this photo actually shows a bag of pretzels, you can see the designation for the item being "pareve" right next to the OU symbol, which is the highest certification for meeting kosher standards. "Oh, so that's what that little doohickey means! I always wondered ....") And the non-dairy butter substitute of choice -- frankly, the only one I'll use after extensive searching for one that works properly and tastes good -- is Earth Balance. It's still not quite butter, but ....

So today I'll share with you a pareve recipe which works for people who keep kosher, as well as for folks with dairy allergies or lactose intolerance. My Peanut Butter Pie is truly rich, luscious, delicious, and indulgent. Enjoy!!!

Peanut Butter Pie

1 9" pie crust (I bought one at the health food store made with no lard, no butter, no shortening, no hydrogenation)
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup vanilla soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips
3 tablespoons finely chopped honey-roasted peanuts

Place the crust into a pie pan. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks, brown sugar, peanut butter, corn syrup, soy milk and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then beat them into the peanut butter mixture.

Pour into the pie crust and bake for 30 minutes or so until the filling is set when tested with a toothpick. Cool completely.

Melt the chocolate chips and drizzle the melted chocolate over the pie. Sprinkle with the peanuts and let set until chocolate firms up.

Congratulations, Jeremy!!! Class of 2010 ... :)

This is a quickie post, because I have so, so much to do today. Jeremy earned his G.E.D. a few weeks ago -- YAY!!! -- and this afternoon we're throwing the party that I'd promised to him ("Congratulations!") and to everyone who's helped him through ("Thanks for your support!") if I could just get him through school somehow. He's overcome a tremendous amount of challenges -- some health issues, some situations that ya just can't make up, and a fair dose of being too smart for his own good and lacking motivation. But he did it! So today, we celebrate -- MAZAL TOV!!!

I've spent several weeks baking and freezing goodies, and spent my weekend shopping and defrosting and cooking and putting the finishing touches on everything. Several posts this week will be devoted to our Dessert Buffet, featuring items to satisfy any sweet tooth and any dietary restriction. I've accommodated people who keep kosher, people with dairy and citrus allergies, and vegans ... have I left anyone out??? About the only special interest group not represented here is the Nut Allergy Lobby!

With so much work accomplished and yet so much more to do still, I'm enjoying a simple and nutritious breakfast before the schlepping of stuff (to the condo clubhouse where we're holding the party), the setting up, the schmoozing, the cleaning up, and the recovery.

This is a nearly perfect way to start the day -- yogurt with granola and dried fruit. My ideal breakfast is good cheese and fresh fruit, but that wasn't on the menu this morning. I like variety, too, rather than starting every single morning with waffles, for example; so there might be whole wheat English muffins and/or fried eggs, perhaps chips and guacamole, and on weekends I'll sometimes make oatmeal pancakes. But today I needed something quick and easy.

So here's my recipe, such as it is:

Pour some Brown Cow Cream Top Maple Yogurt into a bowl. Vanilla yogurt will do, and you could even use fruit flavored ones. But the cream topped yogurt is decadently rich, and the maple flavor is just exquisite!



Add some granola -- homemade is best, from a health food store is great, from a grocery store will do.


Top the granola with dried fruit. Raisins will work, but zzzzzz. Liven things up with dried cherries, cranberries, and/or blueberries.


If you were to be feeling particularly motivated on a Sunday morning, you could improve upon the presentation by using tall glasses and making layered parfaits. But I wasn't feeling so inclined, with as much other presentation as I'm going to have to handle this afternoon. I can cook, and I can bake; but showcasing it all leaves a lot to be desired. I have such admiration for those who can set up a fabulous, creative display!

So, there you have it: breakfast on the run ... or, rather, before the run now that I've become a mindless gerbil on a wheel. (A post-ex exercise -- pun intended! -- to work on self-improvement rather than rotting and wallowing.) It's still a little fast and a little slow and a fair amount of panting, but I've got more running in the mix than walking now ... :) I'm working towards making my ancient, klutzy, and slightly asthmatic self run a mile without gasping for oxygen, and getting a bit closer to my goal every day.

But for today, I'm going to celebrate Jeremy's achievement by devouring a few thousand calories in the various forms of cake, cookies, pudding ... and maybe a grape or a strawberry, just for color!