Kay’s Cooking Corner

November 23-29, 2015

How not to lose weight

By Kay Bona

I hardly ever dream, and when I do, I hardly ever remember them. Usually, when I lay my head down on my pillow and close my eyes, that’s all. It’s all over until the next morning.

Hubby, however, always remembers his dreams. Sometimes, I feel deprived because I am unable to conjure up a fun, exciting scene in my head when I’m asleep. When I do happen to remember one, which is maybe once every two months or so, they are ones I don’t want to remember.

But last night was different. I did dream, and although I don’t remember exactly what I was dreaming about, I know I was eating. How do I know I was eating? Because I woke myself up trying to take a bite out of the comforter. Seriously.

I thought I had aroused hubby from his sleep because I was tugging on the comforter, but I don’t guess I did. He never sat up and asked me what the heck I was doing. However, I am glad I woke up because I don’t think a mouthful of goose down feathers would have been very tasty.

Needless to say, this morning when I got up, I was really hungry, so I quickly gobbled down two bowls of cereal. I know, bad thing to do.

My eating habits have not been good lately. Last week, a few of my friends asked me to go to lunch with them. I got up that morning thinking, since I am going to eat a bigger than normal lunch, I’ll eat a light breakfast, like a boiled egg and a grapefruit. That didn’t happen.

Life happened as soon as I got up, and I never got around to eating that nice good-for-you healthy breakfast. So, around 11:30, my stomach started letting me know that I messed up, but our lunch date was still one-and-a-half hours away.

I knew I would be starving by the time I got to the restaurant, and would end up ordering the entire right side of the menu, so I decided to eat a bowl of cereal, thinking I would eat a salad at lunch. My only problem was that I didn’t stop at one bowl of cereal, I ate another one. I know. Bad thing to do! And I still ate a nice lunch – without a salad.

I have been trying to lose a few pounds before the holidays get here, but I think the cereal has defeated this effort. And maybe the cookies in the cookie jar. I have been going to the gym and exercising more, which is good, but I have been eating more, too, as you can easily tell from the above accounts.  As a result, any kind of weight loss has evaded me so far. Maybe this week will be better, even though I did start the morning off all wrong.

However, on a good note, the cookies in the cookie jar are just about gone. I will have to get those out of the way before the day ends!

The recipe I have for this week is not going to help my weight-loss battle but it will bring rave reviews at your Thanksgiving dinner! Thank heavens I will have lost a few pounds by then ... Who am I fooling? The only one who looses weight at Thanksgiving is the turkey!

Coconut Pecan German Chocolate Pie

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold lard or shortening
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

FILLING:

4 ounces German sweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

TOPPING:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup butter, cubed
2 egg yolks
1 cup flaked coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped pecans

In a small bowl, mix flour and salt; cut in lard or shortening until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Shape into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-inch thick circle; transfer to a nine-inch pie plate. Trim pastry and flute edge. Do not prick with fork.Line pastry with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice. Bake 11-12 minutes. Remove foil and weights; bake six to eight minutes longer or until light brown. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven to 350 degrees.

In microwave, melt chocolates in a large bowl; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk in milk, egg yolks, and vanilla; stir in pecans. Pour into cooled crust. Bake 16-19 minutes or until set. Cool one hour on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, in a small heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar, cream, and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, whisk a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to pan, whisking constantly. Cook two to three minutes or until mixture thickens and a thermometer reads 160 degrees, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in coconut and vanilla; cool 10 minutes.

Pour over filling; sprinkle with pecans. Refrigerate four hours or until cold.

You can find this recipe online at www.tasteofhome.com.

Kay Bona is a staff writer for the Daily Record and an award-winning columnist and photographer. Contact her at kay@dailydata.com.