“What do you want to do for your 13th birthday?’ I ask my rapidly growing Pokeypants who is not really a kid anymore.
‘Nothing really Mom,” he replies. ” I just want to have a relaxing day’.
‘Any special present?’ I persist. “No, I don’t need anything,’ he is quite emphatic.
‘Maybe an iPhone?’ I pester, though a bit hesitantly. After all, most kids seem to need an iPhone now-a-days, besides the million other gadgets their kitty is already teeming with. Stoppypants – my boy#2 – has already wished for one as his next birthday present. ‘All kids in the neighborhood have it Mom’, he tried to convince me last Tuesday. “Well, in this house, we go by what we need, not what others have, and you are not old enough for a phone,’ I preach sagely.
So I assume my brand new teen must want one too. Instead, his reply floors me. ‘No, why do I need an iPhone for? I don’t make calls and I don’t like texting. That’s such a waste of money.’
That.Totally. Floored. Me. And my heart swelled with tenderness and pride. This little guy of mine always has had a practical head on his thin but strong shoulders. He never demanded anything if he thought it might put us at an inconvenience.
The delicious gooeyness of it….
When he was about 5 years old, he developed a habit of opening his shoes the moment he sat in the car. He even started stepping out of the car without shoes, and wear them only when we got annoyed. We kept asking him why he did that, whether he didn’t like his shoes, or if he was simply copying a friend. But he just kept denying, said it was fine and yet kept repeating it. So we got a bit suspicious. Though the shoes were barely six months old, we still took him to a shoe store and asked him to pick a shoe of his liking, one that he would keep wearing. He picked one, and as we always do, we measured his feet. We were shocked. His feet were more than 2 sizes big. We realized why he kept opening his shoes. It hurt his feet. Badly. As parents, it made us feel all kinds of fool. Hubs was especially crestfallen because son#1 happens to be the center of his existence, and he always prides himself for getting the best he can for his children (something I don’t agree with, but that story is for another time). But that’s my Pokeypants for you.
He turned 13 yesterday. Apart from shooting up, developing a heavy voice, some mustache and wearing the same shoe size as his dad, he hasn’t changed much. Oh! he is definitely a naughty one and loves pulling pranks on his kid brother (I have named him Pokeypants for a reason). Plus I can already detect that wee bit of mood swings happening every now and then, but this one conversation tugged at my Mommy heart, assuring me he still has got that practical head on his thin but taller shoulders.
He is not too fond of cakes, so I baked him a white chocolate pie.
Unfortunately, the pie turned out to be a one big mushy gooey concoction of cream, chocolate and apricot puree. But it was delicious. More importantly, Pokeypants loved it. And for this one time, that mattered the most.
- 1 cup graham crackers
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup dark milk chocolate morsels ground
- 6 tbsp butter melted
- 9″ spring foam pan
- 1-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 cup apricots pureed (dry apricots soaked over night and then pureed next day)
- 2 Oz White Milk chocolate
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 pouch gelatin
- For garnish:
- Few dried apricots sliced
- White chocolate grated
- Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter and chocolate.
- Press the mixture into the base of the spring foam pan.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour or more.
- Whisk 1 cup of whipping cream till it forms soft peaks
- Add half of the sugar and vanilla essence.
- Soak gelatin in cold water for 30 seconds, and then heat the water in microwave till it is dissolved. Add the gelatin to the cream and whisk for 10-15 seconds.
- Pour the mixture into the pie crust and refrigerate.
- Blend ¼ cup of the remaining cream till it forms soft peaks, and fold in the apricot puree.
- Whisk rest of the sugar.
- Dissolve half of the gelatin mixture in warm water (follow the steps above) and add to the puree mix.
- Layer the puree mix over the cream in the pie crust and return to the refrigerator.
- Melt white chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Heat the bowl for 30 seconds and repeat the process until the chocolate is melted (fork test it after every 30 second interval).
- Whist rest of the cream to the melted white chocolate and whisk the cream into soft peak.
- Add remaining of the gelatin.
- Layer this chocolate mixture over the cream and apricot puree ( I had forgotten to add gelatin to this part, hence the gooey runny chocolatey mess that happened later on.)
- Refrigerate for 3 hours.
- Note: Instead of gelatin, you can also add cream cheese or eggs at room temperature.
Recently, I met a very interesting group of bloggers who are powering their way through a series of power foods every week, based on Power Foods: 150 Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients, (from the editors at Martha Stewart’s Living Magazine). This week’s challenge was apricot.
So who are these powerful bloggers who blog about powerful foods? Meet them here:
Alanna – Kitchen Parade Veggie Adventure – Alyce - More Time at the Table, Ansh - Spice Roots, Casey –SweetSav Jeanette - Jeanette’s Healthy Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks Martha - Simple-Nourished-Living, Mireya- My Healthy Eating Habits
My lil Miss turns 13 in two days! Where did the time fly I have no idea! Oh she does want a phone! And no parties she said. She wants to use the money to donate to an animal shelter. Guess she will turn out alright after all
Ansh recently posted..Lamb Apricot Stew – Indian Inspired
Hey Ansh, that means we are both in the same boat. Tell me about it. Don’t they just grow up, and so soon too!! I guess the phone thing also has a lot to do with being social – my little one is the extrovert, where whole world and its family are invited to his birthday parties. This one, on the other hand, is the reserve one, and he keeps a very close knit group of friends. Happy Birthday in advance to your lil Miss
Awww… That’s so sweet of him…. Guess ur upbringing talks a lot about it…. This recipe is quite interesting, would try it out for when when I go home…
Thanks so much Anu! Try and tell me how it turned out. Instead of graham crackers, you can use Britania’s Thinarraroot biscuits too for the crust. Just make sure it’s hard after refrigeration, else it might need baking.
Happy Birthday to your son! “no-bake” pie sounds wonderful for someone who doesn’t bake much.
Hope you had a wonderful celebration with him!
Nami | Just One Cookbook recently posted..Chicken Teriyaki Bento チキン照り焼き弁当
Thanks Nami! You are right. I don’t bake much, but I am known to make killer frozen desserts.But this one time, it didn’t come out the way I had envisioned. But it was fun – the way we all were scrambling around to contain it, hahaha! The screams, the shouts, the hollers, lol!
I love how you describe your son my friend, he sounds so mature! He deserves your incredible creation for his birthday, it looks delicious
Cheers
CCU
CCU recently posted..Happy Birthday TT 2012
Awwww thanks Uru!
Oh poor little fella, he was too shy to let you guys know about his bubu with the feet or maybe he is a though man in his early age! hm I just learned about no bake pies recently (except the cheesecake). a friend of mine makes a pie only of fruits. =)
Helene Dsouza I Masala Herb recently posted..Comment on Goa in September Impressions & a quick Google+ Introduction by Helene Dsouza
Till today I don’t know what went on in his mind…..he just wouldn’t convey his discomfort to us, ever. I don’t know why. I would love to learn the fruit pie.
Your boys must be so much fun to be around. Shoes 2 sizes too small would make me cry too, poor thing! I’m glad you got to the bottom of it. I like the cake a lot.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef recently posted..Asian Salad
They are fun all right, lol! They keep each other and me quite busy
Thanks for liking Maureen, it didn’t turn out perfect, but the combination was really cool.
Aww what a great kid! And I think credit where it is due, you’ve obviously raised him well
What a gorgeous cake!! I’m crazy for sweet apricots 
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella recently posted..Upside Down Rice Cake
Hey Lorriane, thanks so much sweetheart. I try…..and hope for the best.
you have a really good boy there!
worth your effort of baking such delicious cake to celebrate his special day
FiSh recently posted..Sherlyn’s Little Dream & 32°F @ First Subang Mall, SS15
Yes, he is a great kid. I am fortunate. Hopefully his hormone surges will not be as bad.I could have done better, but we had fun.
Gooshy pie is the best kind.
Kim @ Treats & Trinkets recently posted..Spaghetti & Meat Sauce, or What I Mean When I Say Gravy
Lol! I kinda love them too.
Your son sounds like an absolute delight! I’m glad he loved the pie. The combination of flavors sounds luscious.
Martha@ Simple Nourished Living recently posted..Laughing Cow Cheese Raspberry Toast
Thanks so much Martha
He is a great kid, we are very fortunate.
Minnie,
I’m sorry, somehow I must have missed your post last week. I understand why you are so proud of your son. My son is 15 and though he doesn’t ask for a phone he would snatch it up in a heartbeat if we offered it. Did you know that gelatin will break down it it gets overcooked? Maybe it’s better to heat it on the cooktop than in the microwave?
Mireya @myhealthyeatinghabits recently posted..Blueberry Smoothie
Thank you Mireya
That’s so sweet. My younger one is like that, hahaha! But we do count our blessings.
I didn’t know gelatin breaks down when overcooked! That could have been the reason for the total disaster the pie turned out to be. I think I will take great care on that in future. Thank you for letting me know.
Loved all the little tidbits about your son, and I’m sure he enjoyed the pie. My kiddo is a comfort to have around when something goes wrong in the kitchen. She makes me laugh so much that its easy to forget the disaster
Welcome!! Thank you so very much. I love your blog name – Tadka pasta. You are lucky to have a kid who can make you laugh.