Welcome to the Month of Love Celebration!

Happy February, everyone. Since February and its most famous holiday, St. Valentine Day, is all about the love, I've decided to celebrate all month long with recipes, guest bloggers, and much more fun, all centered around the theme--you guessed it--LOVE!


As an author of romance and erotica, I deal with the relationship kind of love all the time, so I thought I'd share with you today, and all month long, something else I'm passionate about: COOKING. I love to cook and what better way to show your special someone you care than to whip up a yummy dish, just for the two of you (or three or four, we don't judge here at the Writer's Block!) Not to mention each of these recipes works great for family dinner night, too. I hope you enjoy these dishes as much as I enjoyed perfecting them!

And now for today's tasty treat.....

Chocolate Meringue Pie

1 9"-deep dish Oreo crust (you can substitute with graham or shortbread crusts, too)

Filling:

1 cup semi-sweet choc chips

2 cups granulated sugar

6 tablespoons flour

1 cup hot water

1 can evaporated milk

6 eggs, separated (reserve egg whites for meringue)

1 tablespoon butter

Meringue:

1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

Melt chocolate and granulated sugar in bowl over boiling water. Beat until smooth, set aside to cool.

In a glass or metal bowl, whisk together flour, hot water, evaporated milk, and egg yolks. Heat over boiling water until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and beat in chocolate until well blended. Pour into pie crust. Cover top with plastic wrap or parchment paper to prevent 'pudding skin.'

Time to make meringue! Combine sugar, cornstarch and water in glass or metal bowl. Heat over boiling water, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat.

In mixer bowl, beat egg whites, and 2 tablespoons sugar until soft peaks form. Gradually add hot syrup and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Remove protective cover from pie. Spread meringue over warm pie filling, seal edges to crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until browned to your liking.

Chill at least six hours prior to serving.

Enjoy!

Stawberry Rhubarb Pie

Okay, I'll admit it, my entire life I have shied away from this concoction, not because I don't like fruit pies, because I love fruit pies. And not because I don't like vegetables, because I'm a big fan of the food group. However, the thought of combining fruits and vegetables in pie is what gave me pause, but I've been feeling adventurous lately so last weekend at the local farmers market, when I saw all the pints of beautiful strawberries set out next to a bin of rhubarb I thought oh why not give it a go? Guess what...the pie turned out to be delicious. It was so good I had to fight the boys in my house to get my share. Who would've thought I'd actually fight someone for a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie? But I sure enough did! Here's the recipe:

Crust:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, well chilled
3-5 tablespoons water, ice cold

Combine flour and salt. Cut butter into 1/2 cubes, toss into flour. Take out your pastry cutter and throw it away. It is an evil, evil device that will overwork your pastry. For an exceptionally flaky crust you gotta get your hands in there. Using your hands, quickly pinch the butter cubes into pieces about the size and thickness of dimes and nickels. Stir in cold water with fork until incorporated, then give the dough 2 or 3 more quick stirs. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest in fridge while you prepare the filling.

Filling:
3 cups fresh strawberries, sliced or quartered
3 cups rhubarb, peeled and chopped
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon lime zest, minced
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Toss all ingredients together evenly.

Assembly:
Handful of flour
9" pie pan
Pie crust dough
Filling
2 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/4" cubes
small bowl of water
1 egg white
2 tablespoons sugar

Dust work surface with flour and divide pie crust dough in to halves. Working quickly, roll out one half of dough on floured work surface to 1/8" thickness for bottom of pie. Gently fold into quarters, lift and place into pie pan. Unfold bottom crust, allow excess to hang over edge of pan. Roll out crust for top of pie to 1/8" thickness. Put pie filling into pie pan. Dot filling with butter. Brush lip of bottom crust with water. Fold top crust into quarters, lift and place on top of filled pie pan, sealing around edges by pressing gently. Trim excess and flute edges. Cut vents in top pie crust. Brush top of pie with egg white, sprinkle with sugar.

Baking:
Place pie onto baking sheet to catch any overflow. Put into 425 degree (F) preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 degrees (F) and bake for at least another 30 minutes. When crust is golden and pie has bubbled over a little, remove from oven. Allow to cool on wire rack at least 1 hour prior to serving.

Notes:
--Don't panic if pie looks soupy when you first take it out of the oven. Once it cools it will gel nicely.
--Pair this pie with french vanilla ice cream for a delicious summer dessert!