Happy Birthday, Mom!

Day 73.

My mother (right) with her sister and her dog.

First, I would like to wish my mother a very happy birthday. In honor of her birthday, I made this Boston Cream Pie Great Cupcake with French Vanilla cake, vanilla custard filling, and chocolate ganache frosting.My mother was raised in Massachusetts and has fond memories of her very first Boston cream pie, consumed as a child in a Boston cafe. 

Mom, you are my inspiration, and the person I most admire. Sending you my love & wish I was there to celebrate with you!

 I lined the cupacake base with lady fingers, hollowed out the base for the custard filling, and topped it with the cupcake topper.

Then, it was time for Southern Cooking Sunday! This go-round, I made chicken-fried steak, smashed potatoes, green beans with bacon, and finished it off with Mississippi Mud Ice Cream Pie. Incidentally, did you know that today is Pi Day? Pi, being 3.14,a nd today, being 3/14. Celebrate Pi Day, won't you? Bake a pie for Pi Day.

Here are a couple of recipes...

Chicken-Fried Steak

Ingredients:

• 6 round steaks (ask your butcher to run them through the tenderizer, or buy them as cube steaks)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup grease (bacon grease is great for this recipe. Since you're already frying, you might as well go whole hog. pardon the pun)
• 2 cups or more of milk

How it's Done:

1. Heat grease in a large, high-sided skillet (medium heat, but reduce to medium low if it starts to smoke).
2. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a pie plate. Pour eggs into another pie plate.
3. Dredge steaks in flour. Dip in egg. Repeat two more times, triple-dipping each steak.
4. Fry in grease for 4 minutes per side.
5. Move to a 250 degree oven to keep warm while you make the gravy.
6. Add the rest of your flour (from dredging the steaks) to the hot grease, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until the flour is no longer white.
7. Add milk. Start with 2 cups and add more later if needed. Cook and stir constantly over medium heat until thickened and smooth. Serve gravy over steaks and mashed potatoes.

Mississippi Mud Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 chocolate graham crust
• 2 pints coffee ice cream
• 1 jar chocolate sauce (or make your own!)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• whipped cream

How it's Done:

1. Pour 1/3 of the chocolate sauce into the crust.
2. Top with 1/2 of the ice cream and 1/2 of the nuts.
3. Freeze for 1 hour. Then, repeat layers and freeze another hour.
4. Top with whipped cream just before serving.