SWEET-POTATO PECAN PIE

This is one of my FAVORITE pie's. I wish I could say I came up with this recipe but I can not. That honor goes to my mentor, Chef Paul Prudhomme. Working in his restaurant, K-Pauls is one of the best memory's of my cooking career.

<---(Yep! this is my kitchen and the pie's from my oven, I like to keep the rustic look for this type of pie)

DOUGH
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ of a whole egg, vigorously beaten until frothy (reserve the other half for the sweet-potato filling)
2 tablespoons cold milk
1 cup all-purpose flour


SWEET-POTATO FILLING
2 to 3 sweet potatoes (or enough to yield 1 cup cooked pulp), baked
¼ cup, packed, light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
½ egg, vigorously beaten until frothy (reserved above)
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

PECAN PIE SYRUP
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup dark corn syrup
2 small eggs
1½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
¾ cup pecan pieces or halves

CHANTILLY CREAM(Recipe follows)


For the dough: Place the softened butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer; beat on high speed until the mixture is creamy. Add the ½ egg and beat 30 seconds. Add the milk and beat on high speed 2 minutes. Add the flour and beat on medium speed 5 seconds, then on high speed just until blended, about 5 seconds more (overmixing will produce a tough dough). Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into a 5-inch patty about ½ inch thick. Lightly dust the patty with flour and wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 1 hour; preferably overnight. (The dough will last up to one week refrigerated.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a thickness of 1/8 to ¼ inch. Very lightly flour the top of the dough and fold it into quarters. Carefully place dough in a greased and floured 8-inch round cake pan (1½ inches deep) so that the corner of the folded dough is centered in the pan. Unfold the dough and arrange it to fit the sides and bottom of pan; press firmly in place. Trim edges. Refrigerate 15 minutes.

For the sweet-potato filling: Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed of electric mixer until the batter is smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overbeat. Set aside.

For the pecan pie syrup: Combine all the ingredients except the pecans in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly on slow speed of electric mixer until the syrup is opaque, about 1 minute; stir in pecans and set aside.

To assemble: Spoon the sweet-potato filling evenly into the dough-lined cake pan. Pour the pecan syrup on top. Bake in a 325° oven until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1¾ hours. (Note: the pecans will rise to the top of the pie during baking.)

Cool and serve with Chantilly Cream. Store pie at room temperature for the first 24 hours, then (in the unlikely event there is any left) refrigerate.

CHANTILLY CREAM
MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon brandy
1 teaspoon Grand Marnier
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons dairy sour cream

Refrigerate a medium-size bowl and beaters until very cold. Combine cream, vanilla, brandy and Grand Marnier in the bowl and beat with electric mixer on medium speed 1 minute. Add the sugar and sour cream and beat on medium just until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Do not overbeat. (Overbeating will make the cream grainy, which is the first step leading to butter. Once grainy you can't return it to its former consistency, but if this ever happens, enjoy it on toast!)

I'm not running for Jesus; I'm just trying to get in!

Merry CHRISTmas.

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(Office Party with my Co-Workers)

I do my best to teach my children that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, regardless of what the world is pushing. To hold that truth and be steadfast in the belief of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph.
That being said, I run my house as I see fit. Folks that come to my door to inform me that I am not living right due to my current dogmatism, really cook my grits. Why is theirs better? What proof do they have I don't?
Even if I meet someone who doesn't believe in God, not my problem. I will live my life and do what I see fit and Godly. The non believer, when the moment strikes them will question their own belief and seek out God for themselves. When that person ask me about my God, it's at that moment I will talk about my religion.

I enjoy how some folks try to dispel God with science, there was a time I was one of them. Again, I don't tell them they are right or wrong, I just simply go on living my life as I see fit. I will talk to my children about this, even before they ask; it is my responsibility as a Father. I like to use short stories to explain my position on a topic, my DAD did it for me and it seemed to help give a more complete synopsis.

Here is my favorite story about science and the great piano player.

Imagine a family of mice who lived all their lives in a large piano. In their piano world the music of the instrument filled all the dark spaces with sound and harmony. At first the mice were impressed by it. They drew comfort and wonder from the thought that there was Someone who made the music - though invisible to them - above, yet close to them. They loved to think of the Great Player whom they could not see. Then one day a daring mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned very thoughtful. He had found out how the music was made. Wires were the secret; tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths which tremble and vibrate. The mice must revise all their old beliefs. Some, however, still held on to the faith in the Unseen Player.

Later, another explorer carried the explanation further. Hammers were now the secret, many hammers dancing and leaping on the wires. This was a more complicated theory, but it all went to show that they lived in a purely mechanical and mathematical world. Now mothers told their little ones about the myth of the Unseen Player.

But the pianist continued to play.

Paradoxical Commandments

In 1968, when Kent M. Keith was a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard, he wrote these "Paradoxical Commandments" as guidelines for student leaders to find personal meaning in the face of adversity:

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.

2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. I have more problems with this one than any. Telling people what they don't want to hear is a bitch.

6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.

7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for underdogs anyway.

8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

9. People who need help may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway.

10. Give the world the best you have, and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

The essence of these commandments is that all of us must choose to do what we think we should, even when we think we have good reasons not to. They remind us we are capable of rising above common practices that demean our nature and culture.

We can rationalize distorting the Golden Rule to read "Do unto others as they have done unto you" or "Do unto others before they do unto you," but in the terminology of the 1960s, we then become part of the problem rather than the solution.

Entitlement Attitudes

Before our sports award shin-dig Wednesday night, my Defensive Coordinator and I got into a discussion of perceived attitudes of todays generation. At first, I completely disagreed with him but after our discussion carried on for hours (Josh, you bastard!) I found myself agreeing with him. But unlike Josh, I can demonstrate this attitude in a few minutes.

When Gwen discovered she was pregnant, she quickly took a job that offered medical insurance and said nothing about her condition. A couple of months later, she was laid off, leaving her with no insurance.

Although she had kept her pregnancy secret, Gwen went to a lawyer. They decided to sue her employer claiming she was terminated because the company found out she was pregnant. When Gwen told her friend Ann about this, Ann was appalled, "That’s dishonest!" she said.

Gwen responded angrily, "Don’t be so judgmental. I had no choice. I’m doing what I have to do. You’d do the same thing in my situation."

Ann said, "No, I wouldn’t. That’s not the way I was brought up."

It’s easy to sympathize with Gwen. While her decision to lie is understandable, it’s not justifiable. It’s fraud, plain and simple. Unless we are willing to endorse the right of everyone to lie to get what they think they deserve, we must insist Gwen find another solution.

Both personal responsibility and the integrity of social programs are undermined by a rampant entitlement mentality that goes something like this: "Whatever I want, I need. Whatever I need, I deserve. I have a right to do whatever is necessary to get what I deserve."

Similarly, I worry about the all-too-quick resort of claiming needfulness to justify dishonorable behavior. Nietzsche once warned against granting moral immunity based on dubious exigencies. "Necessity is not a fact. It’s an interpretation."

In a world where "me-first" rationalizations place personal wants and needs above moral principles, we will all become victims sooner or later.

The Habit Poem

Monday I start my diet and thought it would be a good idea to post my power axiom.

I am your constant companion.

I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.

Half of the things you do you might as well turn over to me and I will do them - quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed - you must be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of great people,
and alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine though
I work with the precision of a machine
plus the intelligence of a person.

You may run me for profit or run me for ruin -
it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and
I will place the world at your feet.

Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I? I am Habit.

Coach to Team: "Sweep Up Your Mess"

I'll bet not many of you know this little tid-bit about Penn State this year and why Coach Joe Paterno in my book, is one of the greatest Coaches of ALL-TIME!

When any football team travels to Beaver Stadium to play the Nittany Lions, it’s a good bet the mammoth 107,282-seat stadium will be standing-room only. This year, though, the Penn State players won’t be happy about that. Not happy at all.

Because they’re going to have to clean up the entire stadium afterward. And at every other home game this season. They must also build a house for Habitat for Humanity and volunteer for the Special Olympics during the summer.

That’s because of the actions of at least 15 players who were involved in an ugly off-campus brawl resulting in six arrests, and because of the courage and principles of 80-year-old head coach Joe Paterno, who handed down the edict.

"Our kids were wrong; this is a team embarrassment," he told the Harrisburg Patriot-News. "We’re all going to do it – not just the kids involved -- ‘cause we’re in it together."

That means picking up the garbage, sweeping the stairs, and hosing the stands down. The nasty job is traditionally done by students who play in club sports like rugby and crew, which need the $5,000 the stadium normally pays for clean-up. Paterno said the clubs will still get their money, but the multimillion-dollar football team will do the work.

"This is easily the greatest punishment in recent collegiate history," declared Yahoo sports columnist Dan Wetzel. "In a coaching business so full of phonies who talk character only to bend the rules, here’s Joe Pa four decades on the job and not giving a damn – except about what’s right."

My Students having fun

My students in Web Design had some fun adding my pretty mug and the one of the assistant coaches to this masterpiece. I don't really know what it says about me and my Coaching Staff.