When Warren & I were living in Colorado Springs and planning out our wedding, a lovely couple moved in next door and we invited them over for dinner. I can’t remember their names, but let’s call them Heather and Jim (isn’t everyone named Heather?). Heather said she’d make the dessert and after a lovely barbeque at our house, Heather whipped out the dessert, which looked lovely and was to die for. What was this divine concoction – Yogurt Cream Pie. When Heather told me how to make it, I was stunned. This broke every concept of what I learned about cooking. All it took was a store-bought graham cracker or cookie pie shell, a container (6 – 8 ounces) of a flavored yogurt, and a container (regular size) of Cool Whip. I’ll write this out recipe-style.
Over the years I’ve taught single men how to make this dessert and it has become, to some people, a food group. You can class up yogurt pie by making your own pie crust with cookie crumbs such as ginger snaps, Lorna Doones, pecan sandies, peanut butter, chocolate and vanilla wafers. You’ll need about a half a box of cookies crumbled. For a filing you can use Greek yogurt (flavored or add fruit) and make your own whipped cream with a pint of heavy cream, sugar and a tsp. of vanilla. Whether you go for the easiest method, or make it from scratch, it is wonderful.
YOGURT CREAM PIE
1 small container of (6 to 8 ounces) yogurt
1 pie shell
1 regular container of Cool Whip – make sure that it is soft by defrosting it in the refrigerator
Mix well yogurt and Cool Whip. Add fruit (berries, bananas etc) if you wish. Pour mixture into pie shell and freeze for ½ to 1 hour. Top with chocolate shavings or fruit.
Crust– 10 minutes active time, 10 minutes baking time
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers) or dry cookies such as gingersnaps
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 stick of melted unsalted butter
Preheat oven at 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine sugar and graham crackers. Add melted butter and mix well. Press mixture into a pie pan – I used a fluted, ceramic tart pan. Bake for 10 minutes and cool.
Whipped Cream – 5 minutes active time
1 pint heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients and whip until mixture is stiff and can hold a spoon upright.
I hate ants and this is the time of year that they are on their Sunbird migratory path, straight for my honeys. So I, the Dark Lord, have been trying various deterrents to help them decide that my kitchen is a truly hostile environment. So far they’ve ignored the toxic chalk that I can no longer get in Chinatown, and Windex. But Gold Seal Foot Powder is holding the swarming mass back. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try orange, lavender and peppermint essential oils. Unfortunately, since half of the contents of my cabinet are on our kitchen island, the place looks once again, trashed. It’s bad enough that I’m lousy at housekeeping, but when this happens, the disaster grows exponentially.
DOUGH – Prep – 10 minutes, chilling – 1 hour, rolling – 10 minutes, cooking – 10 – 15 minutes The standard ratio is 1 cup of flour for each stick of butter. This makes enough dough for a pie crust. However, if you want the dough to be more buttery, add a ½ stick of butter. If you want the dough to be flakey, add lard. Butter and water must be cold. Add just enough ice cold water to get the dough and butter to stick, usually about ¼ cup, and a dash of salt. You can add sugar (about a tablespoon) to sweeten the dough. Remember to let the dough rest for 2 hours before using. What I usually do is make enough dough for 4 pies in the food processor, and divide in 4 balls. The other 3 doughs are put in the freezer wrapped in plastic wrap or a plastic bag.
Custard
In a small sauce pan, bring milk/cream to a boil and remove immediately from heat. In a bowl beat egg yolks, whole egg, almond extract and slowly add the sugar. Once mixture is light and fluffy gradually beat in the scalded milk/cream combination.
I can still remember it to this day. It was a beautiful can, brown, blue, green and and gold curlicues with elegant French script. In fact, it was too beautiful to be called a can; Boîte de Conserve would be a more honorable description. 
When asked “What is your favorite dessert?” my answer is spontaneous. Cream puffs, those exquisite little morsels of pastry and sweet whipped cream. And one of the best things about serving cream puffs is to hear the “oh’s” and “ah’s” when they are presented at a dessert table. They are so simple to make with inexpensive ingredients, and really get the bang for the buck. There is nothing better to see than the eyes of children when they catch sight of the cream puffs, and the adults that turn into kids while stuffing the little darlings into their mouths.
The title says it all: A great weekend of food, fun and friends. How do I begin? I knew that on Sunday we would have a wonderful time. October is grape harvest time and our friends, Joan and Milt Barber, have a tiny but delicious little vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains near their lovely casual home that overlooks the valley. Milt, who is now retired, has spent years cosseting his vines that produce mostly sweet chardonnay grapes (I always feel guilty when I pop a few in my mouth) that are purchased by the 
After many years of trying different places to live, I finally decided to move to the San Francisco bay area and settle down. So of course, the fickle finger of fate had me fall in love with a Colorado Mountain man and move out to Colorado Springs. During those days, Colorado Springs had beautiful scenery, lovely woods, Air Force boys, no jobs and even worse, NO GOOD FOOD. To me, living this was dining hell. I only found one passable restaurant and it closed up four months later.
Have you ever have everything coming together as a perfect moment? A crystallized memory or a snapshot in time that captures the essence of total happiness? Sometimes the moment occurs during a wonderful meal with friends and family, sometimes on a trip or sometimes you just sit down and appreciate life and your surroundings.