So I want to be a math teacher or professor when I grow up, right? So of course I like pi. And I *love* to cook, so I also like pie. So how is that I forgot today was pi(e) day? I don’t know. But when I realized I ran to the store and made a cheater’s dinner and dessert. I cheated because I bought frozen pie crust. But it was still good.

First up we had quiche for dinner. Ham and cheese, and delicious! (Yes I forgot to take a picture before we cut it.)

Then for dessert we had fresh strawberry pie.

With *real* whipped cream – i.e. not out of a can OR a tub.

Don’t you wish you lived here? Or were at least invited for dinner once in a while?

I took the boys to the produce market this morning. I gave them cart control and told them to pick out whatever they wanted. And I threw some things in as well of course. We got a little bit of everything, including three different kinds of pears. We’re gonna have a pear taste test to see which one we like best. And lots of strawberries because they smelled so freaking good. That is one thing that is very good about living in Florida. Even in the winter you can get fresh local produce. Sweet potatoes, corn, spinach, broccoli, red peppers… all kinds of yummy goodness. And I’m not great at healthy eating but I do know that eating tons of this stuff will only do me good.

In other healthy news the boys and I hit the park this morning and did day one of the Couch to 5K program. It wasn’t easy, as I’ve been quite the couch potato lately, but I did it. And so did the boys. I figure it’s important to establish the exercise habit now while it’s nice. Because once summer hits it’s impossible to get going.

I think I’m gonna go and slice some strawberries for lunch. Nummers.

I got to sleep in a bit this morning. Until 7:20. Kind of cool. But my day did not go as I had planned it – mostly because I didn’t buckle down and start baking right after class. So now it’s 11:09 PM and I still have pies in the oven. And I still need to bake one more pie and a batch of lemon bars. I also need to dip the buckeyes – thank goodness the time consuming rolling is done. One pie, and two batches of cheesy broccoli rice casserole are done at least.

So tomorrow I will get up early-ish and knock the rest of this out. It won’t really take that long. I remember being a kid and my mom used to do all of it – every last thing by herself. And there was tons of stuff on the table. I have no idea how she did it. She must have been Wonder Woman in disguise after all.

No, I didn’t really say that out loud. I live in Florida *and* I value my life. But my Mom’s buckeye candy is a totally non-partisan delight. If you’ve never had a buckeye, I’m sorry. I don’t make them year round because they are kind of time consuming. Ok, very time consuming. But the hardest part is the rolling, and you can do that while watching a movie.

Buckeyes

•    1 c. melted butter
•    1.5 lbs. confectionary sugar
•    1 tsp. vanilla
•    2 c. peanut butter

Notes – Do not get fancy, natural peanut butter. We grew up poor and ours came from the huge tubs they sold at Kroger’s. Cheaper peanut butter makes better buckeyes. I have tested this theory.

•    12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
•    1/2 bar of paraffin wax

Mix melted butter, peanut butter, vanilla, and sugar in a large bowl. You will probably have to use your hands for this. Form into 1 inch balls and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes – I like to do about an hour in the fridge.

Using a double boiler, slowly melt together the wax and the chocolate. Line a cookie sheet or two with wax paper. When the balls are hard, use a toothpick (or a plastic fork with all but one tine broken off) to dip the balls in chocolate, twirling to let the excess drip off. Place on wax papered cookie sheets. Refrigerate until firm.