Before I get any further though, did you see the new trailer for A Year in the Life!? Oh my gosh. I cried...of course.
Did you watch it!? Did you cry? Please tell me I'm not the only one. It's less than a month away.
Okay, but back to the present. Well, I guess it's the past...but revived. There's always so much food and drink inspiration packed into every episode, which can make it hard to choose, but this week it was Sookie and another of her crazy pie ideas that got stuck in my brain.
In episode 12 of season 7, Sookie drops by Lorelai's house early in the morning bearing coffee and muffin tops (since they're the only part Lorelai likes) trying to butter Lorelai up so that she would take care of Davey and Martha while she and Jackson go skiing, when their normal sitter gets mono.
Mm, muffin bottom pie. Sounds dirty.
Sookie made 4 kinds of muffins—Apple Cinnamon Walnut, Lemon Poppy Seed, Apple Spice, and Double Chocolate Chip...but since I recently made a batch of pumpkin einkorn muffins, I decided using the bottoms of those would be most prudent. I toyed with using them as the crust, kind of like a graham cracker crust, but I wasn't sure how well that would hold up, so I thought maybe a pudding pie would be best...allowing me to sort of crumble and fold the muffin bottoms into the pie.
The result is oddly delicious.
Episodes watched:
S7:E1 "The Long Morrow"S7:E2 "That's What You Get, Folks, For Makin' Whoopie"
S7:E3 "Lorelai's First Cotillion"
S7:E4 "'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous"
S7:E5 "The Great Stink"
S7:E6 "Go Bulldogs!"
S7:E7 "French Twist"
S7:E8 "Introducing Lorelai Planetarium"
S7:E9 "Knit, People, Knit!"
S7:E10 "Merry Fisticuffs"
S7:E11 "Santa's Secret Stuff"
S7:E12 "To Whom It May Concern"
S7:E13 "I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia"
S7:E14 "Farewell, My Pet"
S7:E15 "I'm A Kayak, Hear Me Roar"
S7:E16 "Will You Be My Lorelai Gilmore?"
S7:E17 "Gilmore Girls Only"
S7:E18 "Hay Bale Maze"
S7:E19 "It's Just Like Riding a Bike"
S7:E20 "Lorelai? Lorelai?"
S7:E21 "Unto the Breach"
Episodes remaining: 1
This week's cravings and obsessions:
- Ratatouille
- Muffin Bottom Pie...if only because it's almost as intriguing as Fried Marshmallow Pie.
- I don't know if it's because it's fall or what, but I have the urge to spend a little time in a hay bale maze.
- Cesar's Chilaquiles. Chilaquiles!
The coffee talk:
- "Black Eye Dinner" = steak and peas + ice cream for dessert. As in, make a meal out of everything that you might consider holding over your black eye to take down the swelling. LOL!
- Maybe this isn't fair, but I kind of hate Lorelai for sleeping with Christopher. That was such an asshole thing to do. And I totally loved it when Luke punched him in the face.
- WWTBFCD (What would the BareFoot Contessa do)? Answer = make waffles.
- I'm still kind of disgusted with Lorelai. I mean, I do get it. Christopher will always be a part of her life, as he should be. But, I just don't like them as a couple. What I do like, however, is that 18 And Life by Skid Row (Gil!) is playing on the radio while they are driving in the car on episode 5.
- I am so tired of Luke getting shit on. By Lorelai. By Anna. By the judge. Ridiculous.
- Okay, Lorelai is slightly forgiven. That letter (ahem, character reference) was beautiful and made me cry. Good on you, Lorelai.
- Is it mean that I was happy when Lorelai and Chris finally realized they weren't meant to be with each other? Because I was happy.
- "I don't know what she'll do. She's gone bananas. For all I know she'll throw a Molotov Mocktail at me!" Lorelai about Emily after Richard's heart attack...when she starts serving mocktails instead of cocktails. Ha ha ha ha ha!
- Lane and Zack are just so cute together, and I'm loving the relationship with Mrs. Kim these days. Plus, twins!
- I absolutely broke down when Lorelai was singing "I will always love you". Big fat tears, dripping nose. I'm such a sucker for love. Team Luke FOREVER.
- So, I mentioned that Logan kind of grew on me, and I thought it was super heartbreaking when Rory told him that she wasn't ready to say yes to his marriage proposal. No avocado trees.
I'll be back next week with my thoughts on the final episode of the series (but not my last week discussing Gilmore Girls and sharing recipes)! I hope you'll drop by and chat with Chef Sarah Elizabeth and see her recipe for Stone Fruit Pie this week, as well.
yield: serves 8
Muffin Bottom Pudding Pie
prep time: 4 hour and 30 MINScook time: 13 MINStotal time: 4 hours and 43 mins
Muffin top lovers left you with a bunch of muffin bottoms? Fold them into pudding and make a delicious pie!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 (9-inch) pie crust homemade or storebought
- 3 cups homemade pudding* (or a 4.6 ounce box Jell-O Cook & Serve prepared according to instructions)
- 3 muffin bottoms, divided
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Roll out dough and line a 9-inch pie plate with dough. Prick bottoms and sides with a fork. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450° F.
- Slide into oven and bake until golden, 13 minutes (or according to package instructions if using storebought). Allow to cool completely.
- Pour half of pudding into the cooled pie shell (allow pudding to cool for 5 minutes if you've just taken it off the stove before using). Crumble 2 muffin bottoms evenly over the pudding. Cover with remaining pudding. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap that touches the surface of the pie and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Beat the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla together until medium peaks form. Scoop whipped cream over the pie and sprinkle with as much of the remaining muffin bottom as you wish.
Notes:
- *Feel free to use any kind of pudding and muffins that you like, and that complement each other. For this pie, I used vanilla pudding and pumpkin muffins.
