My Aunt's Lemon Pie

I'm not an individual who is typically big on sweets or any type of baked goods. I'd prefer an actual meal to candy, pies and cakes. But in the spirit of Thanksgiving and to feel closer to my family, I made one of the only pies that I could eat for days, my Aunt's lemon pie.

Now this is so unlike a typical lemon or lemon meringue pie. Like my sweet potatoes, it's simple and easy to make. I love how the simple things in life bring the most joy. The same can be said about food. I've often found the best tasting foods are not elaborately made or filled with a million and one ingredients and steps.

Try this one out and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

• 1 small tub of regular Cool Whip
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 8 oz block of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• Lemon juice
• Lemon extract
• 1 regular sized pie shell

Directions

1. Alright now here comes the complicated part, take the Cool Whip, condensed milk and cream cheese and mix it all together. *One could use a bowl and mix manually, but I save time and labor by using a blender to mix it all together.
2. Transfer mixture to a bowl or keep in a blender and add the lemon juice and extract. *You can adjust the amount of lemon additives according to your taste. I love a lot of lemon in this pie, which may be too much for others.
3. Add the mixture to your pie shell and smooth over.

4. Cover and let the pie sit in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours, overnight is preferred (this 
    allows for the mixture to settle and solidify).
5. Then serve.

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Simple Sweet Potatoes

This Thanksgiving was the first one I have spent alone. Ironically, I wasn't lonely. Why? Thanks to technology and food. Although I was alone, I was able to record videos to send to my friends and family and communicate with them throughout the day.

I know this may sound weird, but I find an extreme comfort in food, mainly cooking it. It's a stress reliever for me. Simply put it make me happy.

So for this Thanksgiving, I spent the entire day, cooking talking with loved ones and watching Harry Potter :-)

My Thanksgiving meal including vegetarian dressing with cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, baked macaroni and cheese and a homemade tofurkey (that didn't go all that well).

I would like to share with you the recipe I used for the sweet potatoes. Now many people like to get fancy and add marshmallows, cinnamon, brown sugar and in some cases walnuts or pecans. But not me. I like my sweet potatoes simple and sweet. So here you go...

Ingredients

• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes
• 1 stick of butter
• Sugar
• 1/4 cup of water

Directions

1. Wash, peel and cut your sweet potatoes.
2. Add water to your pot on medium high heat.
3. ONce you start to see your water begin to boil, add your sweet potatoes and a butter.
4. Then add your sugar, pour until there is a good layer of sugar on top (for the most part everything is white ;-)
*I never measure here. I typically pour sugar on top until just about all the potatoes are covered.
5. Cover and cook on medium high heat until sweet potatoes are tender. Usually around 20 minutes or so.
6. *Due to the heat, I would suggest letting the final product chill and then reheat before serving. This way the syrup has time to thicken up a bit.

Here is just a pic of my 2011 Thanksgiving Dinner Spread!

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