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A Weekend of Sledding

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Angela @ The Mango Memoirs • 2 Comments

This past Saturday and Sunday all three of us enjoyed a little get-away in the northern Wisconsin woods for the first year residency retreat. The highlight of the weekend was our trip to the tubing hill. What is it about a hill covered in snow mixed with the whooshing of freezing wind past your ears as you fly downward on a rubber tube? It’s an adventure at any age!


We bundled Ella in her pink snowsuit and boots, plopped on her hat, and tried to convince her it really was for her own good that she keep her mittens on. We weren’t great examples. Neither Pete or I had hats since we had only planned for Ella to go sledding. I had pictured a gentle hill, a small ditch perhaps, for her first true sledding excursion. Instead we ended up here with a bunch of crazy docs who, in typical resident fashion, went well above and beyond the regular tubing style. (Think three tubes, one person.)


Ella absolutely loved it! She was incredibly brave as the three of us barreled down the hill, side-by-side. Then Daddy would pull her back to the top (a great reason to always go sledding with Daddy) and we would do it all over again. We kept this up until Pete & I realized how cold our ears were.

So back to the cabin we went where we cozied up to the fire and continued to relax. It was a lovely mini vacation, indeed.

Oh! I almost forgot! Here is a video of Ella’s first trip down the hill. It’s a bit rough in places, but I was, after all, speeding down a hill for most of the recording. If you expand it to full screen, you may be able to see it better.


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Recipe: French Silk Pie

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Angela @ The Mango Memoirs • 0 Comments


Last week I was asked to bake a few things for our residency retreat over the weekend. I know that it’s not usually the greatest idea to try out brand new recipes for such occasions, but I felt I’d be forgiven if something didn’t turn out. Besides, when you’re staying in a cabin in the woods surrounded by gorgeous trees and lakes, the snow is falling, you’ve got a glass of wine or a really good cup of coffee, doesn’t everything just seem okay? Add that to the fact that there were six kids in the cabin all under the age of 2 1/2 and I’m pretty sure anyone would have eaten anything with a half-way sophisticated flavor.

So after a little searching, I narrowed my choices to two pies and a batch of fudge brownies. I had wanted to make biscotti, too, but I was already a little behind on class work, so I dropped that one. (Thanks to those of you who helped me come to that conclusion.) The first pie was a lovely, simple French silk that I found on allrecipes.com.

This recipe requires very few ingredients and not a lot of time. The only thing you’ll have to know is that the filling needs to be chilled for a while before serving it, so plan ahead. It’s completely up to you whether you want to buy a crust or make one. If you decide to make one, my mom’s no-fail pie crust works beautifully.

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup white sugar
2 (1 oz) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted & cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 prepared 8 inch pastry shell

Cream butter in a mixing bowl. Gradually beat in the sugar with an electric mixer until light colored and well blended. Stir in the thoroughly cooled chocolate and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating five minutes on medium speed after each addition. (The filling may not set well if you rush this.) Spoon the chocolate filling into a cooled, baked pie shell. Refrigerate at least two hours before serving.

I also recommend covering the top in fresh or store bought whipped cream and sprinkling bits of chocolate across the top. You can’t see that in my picture because I actually made the pie four days before serving it. And guess what? It still tasted amazing. (Mind you I only had one bite. I’m just starting phase two of this round of P90X and I’m trying to be really good.) I’m thankful for cold weather in such a situation because I never once had to put it in a refrigerator. It stayed perfectly cool in the back of the Jeep. So if you need to bake something ahead of time, this is the one to pick. I thought the brownies would fare better. I was wrong. They were dry. Blah.

Let me know if you end up trying this fairly simple recipe. It’s delish!

Enjoy!


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Grandpas Are For…

Posted on January 29, 2011 by Angela @ The Mango Memoirs • 0 Comments


post bath time cuddles.


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Baby Shower & a Diaper Cake

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Angela @ The Mango Memoirs • 0 Comments

Baby Maira is set to arrive any day! I recently threw a diaper shower for Mama Bex (my younger sis, Becky) to help prepare her for the big event. Malena has been practicing her big sister skills and even has a shirt to show off her new roll.


I made this banner with the baby’s name as a simple way to decorate our party space and celebrate the little one on the way. It’s made out of paper and fabric ribbon but would be super cute made entirely on fabric. It was a super fast and easy project.


Following the diaper theme of the shower, I decided to make a diaper cake to play double duty as a center piece and my baby gift. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I even used the extra diapers to make a little decoration for the gift table.


I had never made a diaper cake, so I took a look at a few tutorials online to get some ideas. I personally prefer to keep the diapers as flat as possible, rather than rolling each one individually as many cakes do. The first couple layers were made of size 2 diapers while the top two layers were size 1. I used a ribbon with a slip knot to keep the diapers from falling all over while putting it together. Another great idea for the cake is to hide little gifts inside, which also gives it some internal stability. Wipes and big bottles of baby lotion work well.


However, after really considering the mama who would be using the cake, I replaced the wipes with a bottle of Diet Dew. It is, after all, the staple of every home in the Scott/Johnson family. I know Mama Bex will put that Diet Dew to good use after Maira arrives.


Here is the nearly finished product. There are endless ways to decorate these babies. (Well, no, they’re for the babies, actually.) Anyway, I bought my ribbon on major clearance at Michaels after Christmas. I’ve seen pictures of other cakes covered with baby toys and travel-size lotions.


Ella & I are getting excited for a sleepover with Malena when Becky heads to the hospital. It won’t be long before Maira is here!


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Miss Ella's New Dress

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Angela @ The Mango Memoirs • 0 Comments


I’ve always wanted to be able to sew a dress for my little girl. It’s true. This was long before I even knew I would have a little girl. So this year I braved my pattern-reading insecurities and attempted to make a Christmas dress for my little Ella.

As you can see above, it worked! I didn’t tell anyone I was working on a dress for her just in case it didn’t work. I didn’t even tell Pete. No one knew until the moment I put it on her at Grandma & Grandpa Olsen’s house at Christmas. That’s how unsure I was that it would turn out. But there it is! All one piece with a closure on the back and enough material in the skirt to twirl. Score one for this mama. Yay!

While making the dress, I followed a pattern for the first part but took plenty of liberties after I could see that the dress really was coming together. I fit the top to Ella’s frame and, instead of putting in a zipper along the side, I gave it more of a homespun feel by sewing in a natural ribbon on the back near her neck. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. And, as you can see, I didn’t choose a Christmas fabric so that she can continue to wear the dress for other occasions. The picture above was taken at Mama Bex baby shower a week ago. I think I’ll make a few more before spring arrives!


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Recipe: Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Angela @ The Mango Memoirs • 0 Comments

Happy Pie Day!

What? You didn’t realize today was pie day? Or did you not know that a pie day even existed? If you’re of the latter party, no worries, I was in that boat, too. While listening to public radio this morning before class, I heard the amazing announcement. Silly me thought there were no major holidays between New Years and Valentine’s Day. Why do they not sell cards for such an occasion? At least they sell PIE!

If you’re looking for a fun change to a predictable dessert, you simply must try this recipe. This pumpkin pie variation tastes like a classic but has a surprising and pleasing twist. The secret is in the eggs. They are carefully beaten to create a light-as-air texture. Although it is perfect throughout the fall season, it also fits quite nicely on any chilly day. (And heaven knows we have plenty of those around here!)

The recipe originally came from a Martha Stewart Living magazine a couple years ago. It can be found here on her website.

Start with a gingersnap crust.

32 gingersnaps, coarsely broken

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.

If you have a food processor: Process gingersnaps, sugar, and salt until finely ground. Add butter, and process until combined.

If you don’t have a food processor: (This is the way I make it.) Put the gingersnaps in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Using a rolling pin or wine bottle, roll over the cookies until they are finely ground. Pour the crumbs into a medium bowl and stir in sugar and salt. Pour the butter over the crumb mixture and stir with a fork until evenly coated.



Press the crust into the bottom and sides of a pie pan. Bake until darkened and firm, 11-13 minutes. Let cool.



And now for the pumpkin filling.

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup cold water

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin (from a 15-ounce can)

3 large eggs, separated

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a small bowl and set aside for about 5 minutes.

Combine the pumpkin, egg yolks, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, milk, salt, and spices in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring until mixture begins to thicken, about 8 minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin mixture until dissolved. Let the pumpkin mixture cool completely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a bowl using a hand-held electric mixer…this is much more time-consuming and can be challenging), beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. (Soft peaks means that you can still see a mark when the beater is taken out of the eggs but it soon disappears.) Gradually (MUST be done very slowly or the eggs won’t turn out) add remaining sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. (Stiff peaks remain well after the beater is lifted out of the egg mixture.)



Whisk 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into cooled pumpkin mixture. Gently fold in remaining whites.



Spoon into pie shell and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.



If you don’t plan to serve the pie the day it is made, I recommend refrigerating the filling in a bowl rather than in the crust. The crust tends to get mushy otherwise. Just before serving, spoon the chilled filling into the crust and smooth the top.

Let me know if you have any questions. This really is a treat!

Enjoy!


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