Sweet Potato Pie

If there ever comes a day when we can't be together.  Keep me in your heart and I'll stay there forever. - Winnie the Pooh

A few days ago, I arrived back home after a trip down to the Deep South.  There are so many things that I love about the South...family, friends, hospitality, ocean waves, the scent of freshly bloomed jasmine wafting through the air, tall oaks, and quiet evenings...(and of course the food).

Besides Grits... Sweet Potato Pie always brings back sweet memories from the south.  On weekends when I was young, my dad would buy this freshly made pie for Sunday Dinner.
If you would like to taste a bit of the south...give it a try...it is one of my favourites!

Sweet Potato Pie (adapted from Allrecipe)
makes  2 9-inch pies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 unbaked pie shells

Directions:
1. Boil sweet potatoes whole in their skins for 40-50 minutes.

2. Run cold water of sweet potatoes and remove the skin. (about 3 cups mashed).

3. Break apart sweet potato and add butter.  Mix well with a mixer.

4. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla.  Beat on a high speed until smooth.

5.  Pour filling into a prepared pie crust (pierce the bottom and sides of crust and lightly baked for 10-15 minutes at 350)

6.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes, or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Pie will slightly puff up as it bakes and then sink down as it cools.

Enjoy!

Pictures of Spring

No winter lasts forever;  no spring skips its turn. - Hal Borland

Just A Little Trip...

Sing me a love song, in a slow southern drawl, to the tune of sunny days...-Kellie Elmore

I am not in the North this week.  And I am sad to leave behind dear friends to fend for themselves in the continued cold (I do feel really bad, honestly, I do).
I have come to the south to sing, though I think I have lost my southern drawl...
Here are a few pictures from a day at the beach with my family...
Way down south...

April Showers ( in Canada)

Though April Showers, may come your way

They bring the flowers that bloom in May...

So if it's raining, have no regrets,

It isn't raining rain you know,

It's raining violets...

-Al Jolson

 This morning, we woke up to an ice world....as we welcome the beginning of Spring.
Here is our world today.

 

 

Meatball Sandwiches

He who goes to bed without eating, will regret it through the night. - Italian Proverb

My children have requested that I post this recipe.  We have had it three times in the past three weeks...(and they have already asked me to make it again for dinner tonight...or tomorrow night or the night after).  We were inspired by the show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri.  He featured a Toronto Diner, Hey! Meatball on March 15.  We were all enamoured by the meatball sandwiches...But, since we live about two hours out of Toronto, too far to go for a meatball sandwich, we decided to try to make our own.  Here is our family's version of the Hey! Meatball Rodfather Sandwich.  This is now officially my children's favourite dinner.  Give it a try!  I am sure you will enjoy it, too!
(And when you are ever in Toronto...be sure to stop by Hey! Meatball in Little Italy and try the real thing)

Meatball Sandwiches (inspired by Toronto's Hey! Meatball)
A recipe in several parts

Meatballs
Preheat oven to 550 degrees Fahrenheit
makes about 30  1.5 -2 inch meatballs

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground pork
4 cloves minced garlic
3 eggs
salt and pepper to taste (about 1 1/2 teaspoons each)
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup milk

(plus about 3-4 cups chicken stock to add to the pan after the meatballs are formed)

1.  Pre-soak bread crumbs and milk in a small bowl and set aside.

2.  In a large bowl,  using your hands, combine the remaining ingredients(except chicken stock) and mix it together with the soaked bread crumbs.

3.  Shape into 1.5 - 2 inch balls...a bit larger than a golf ball.

4.  Place meatballs into a pan and pour chicken stock in pan...just coming up about half an inch or so...

6.  Cook uncovered in a 550 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 20 minutes. (Note: Oven Temperatures can vary slightly...and may need more time)

As the meatballs are cooking, prepare toasted bread, make pesto sauce, and  warm up the tomato sauce...

Toasted Bread

Add a little olive oil

fry on a hot grill

My son , ready to assemble his sandwich

Pesto Sauce
(makes enough about 2 cups of pesto sauce...you could half this amount if you don't need as much)

Ingredients:
1 cup walnuts
4 -6 crushed garlic cloves
1 cup vegetable oil (Hey! Meatball recommended vegetable oil over Olive oil...because the olive oil can sometimes be overpowering)
20-30 leaves basil

1.  Put the first three ingredients into a blender...pulse till well combined.
2.  Add basil, process till just combined.


And Now...To Assemble the Sandwich:
1.  On toasted bread put pesto on one side on the other place your meatballs.

2.  Top with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese .

Enjoy!