Alice will not be joioning us for dinner as she will be celebrating her mother's birthday starting at 3:00 p.m. She will be there between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. with a blueberry yogurt cake.

Hi,

Due to this crush of produce bought yesterday, I will bring a tomato pie instead of bean. It will be more savory than a dessert, so double forgive me. It is James Beard's recipe via Ruth Reichl, if pedigree is important to you.

I don't want to be late, though I might. It will be my canner's fault, if I am.

Regards,

I am so sorry but I'm going to be late. I don't have Laura's number to call her directly. I lost track of time and wanted to add whipped cream to my pie. Please don't wait for me for dinner! I should be in by 5:30.

See you soon!

Hi,

As promised, James Beard's Tomato Pie via Ruth Reichl.

Tonight's pie was made with sharp cheddar. I have also made it with Feta.

Terrific dessert exchange, thanks Laura and your husband for hosting us.

Regards,

Thanks for hosting! Everything was delicious, and although I forgot my lunch today, I have JustJoan's bars and gohan lover's blueberry cake to sustain me.

Thank you to Laura S and her hubby for hosting a wonderful dessert exchange. Their apartment was spacious and comfortable and there was a surprising amount of street parking within 1/2 of the front door. Dinner was a lovely assortment of baguettes, cheeses, veggies, homemade pesto and chicken and bacon to round out the offerings.

Cathy 2 added her savory Tomato Pie to the dinner offerings:


SueF's decadent Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie:


Izzy's Peach Crisp:


Ms. Ingie's Rote Grütze (summer fruit pudding) and vanilla custard sauce.


Foodie1's Peach Pie Bars:


Pie Lady's Banana Caramel Pie:


Our hostess' Blueberry Lemon Curd Pie:


Kevin's Indonesian Coconut Cookies (gluten free):


JustJoan's Chocolate Pecan Bars:


Gohan Lover's Blueberry Yogurt Cake w/Lemon Glaze:

Delicious dessert exchange (as usual!) Thank you Laura & your husband for hosting, along with all the participants for a lovely evening & tasty treats!

let me add my thanks to kevin and laura for hosting and feeding us a delicious do-it-yourself sandwich spread. as usual, i found the evening to be very relaxing. i was most happy to meet sue, joellen(foodie1) and alice(gohan lover) for the first time. please see my upcoming announcement for the next dessert exchange. justjoan

Indeed, that spread was refreshing. I usually don't touch peppers, but I went back for seconds and for next week's lunch, I'm making roasted red pepper/tomato sandwiches.

Damn, my pecans are unevenly spaced.

Anyhoo, this is the recipe for my pie:

Caramel Banana Pie with Shortbread Pecan Crust

Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of salt
6 tablespoon butter, melted

Filling
2 medium to large bananas, ripened so the skins are fully browned
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup water
1¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon milk, divided (I used 1%)
½ cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
6 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¼ teaspoon vanilla
sweetened whipped cream, whole pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray pie plate with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, pecans, ¼ cup sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Pour in melted butter; stir until combined. Press onto bottom and up sides of prepared pie plate.
3. Bake crust 15 minutes or until golden brown. Do not overbake. Cool completely.
4. Purée bananas until they are the consistency of pancake batter.
5. Combine 1 cup sugar and water in medium heavy saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Do not stir. When mixture is golden, gently swirl pan to evenly distribute. Reduce heat to medium-high. Remove from heat when color is deep golden brown.
6. Slowly pour in puréed bananas, whisking constantly. Reserve ½ cup mixture in heatproof measuring cup; set aside to cool. Pour remaining banana caramel in small heatproof bowl; set aside to cool. Clean saucepan.
7. Combine 1 cup milk and cream in saucepan; bring to a boil over low heat. Meanwhile, combine remaining ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon milk and cornstarch in medium bowl; whisk until well blended. Whisk in eggs, 6 tablespoons sugar and salt until well blended. Slowly pour in milk mixture; whisking constantly, until fully incorporated. Pour mixture back into saucepan. Clean bowl.
8. Return saucepan to heat; increase heat to medium-low. Add butter, whisking until incorporated. Continue whisking until mixture is thickened and coats back of spoon.
9. Remove from heat; pour mixture into cleaned bowl. Stir in vanilla and reserved ½ cup banana caramel; stir gently until fully incorporated. Pour into cooled crust. Press plastic wrap onto surface to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate 4 hours. Refrigerate remaining banana caramel for another use.*
10. Prepare sweetened whipped cream; pipe along edge of pie. Decorate with pecans.

*There appears to be enough for two more pies. Or leave some out at room temperature and use to drizzle over individual slices. This caramel is freakin' fantastic.

Disclaimer: Filling was a recipe called Fancy Pants Banana Pudding, found on Salon.com, which has a story that says it's from a cookbook being assembled for the Southern Foodways Alliance! I made a few changes to make it as a pie; these changes are reflected above. The crust came from grouprecipes.com and I made no changes.

Peach Pie Bars
recipe adapted from an apple version shared from my friend, Al

2 pie crusts dough (homemade or store bought)
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
8 cups peeled, cored and sliced fresh peaches, tossed with 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup sugar mixed with 1 to 2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
2 TB butter
Egg wash


Preheat oven to 350°.

Roll out 1 pie dough into a rectangle about 11" x 15". Place in a 9" x 13" cake pan. Push the pastry up the sides of the pan a bit to make a shallow container for the peaches.

Spread the bread crumbs over the pastry.

Spread the peaches over the bread crumbs and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar and the nutmeg over the top.

Cut the butter into small pieces and dot over the top.

Roll the remaining piece of pie dough into a 9" x 13" rectangle and cover the peaches.

Brush with egg wash.

Slash the crust 6 or 8 times to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before serving.

Laura and Kevin, thank you for a lovely evening. The dinner was perfect. And the desserts were, as usual, stellar. It was a pleasure meeting Kevin. You were wonderful hosts. It was an easy evening. Good company and fine food. Can't get much better.

Desserts look lovely!!!!!

Sue F., I would appreciate the recipe for the peanut butter/chocolate pie. Fantastic! Thanks.

Thanks to everyone for coming and bringing such fabulous desserts. Kevin and I had a great time hosting!