A Family Recipe and Yuletide Greetings

Hello, and Merry Christmas, from Bermuda!

This was a nice break from the snow/ice in Providence!

I'm at home for the holiday, and yesterday was a momentous day; my dad taught my sister, her boyfriend, and me how to make his world famous cassava pie. What a great reason to experiment with Android's Blogger app (verdict: dissatisfied. Pictures added using my mom's painfully old/slow desktop), and what a fabulous opportunity to share a Bermudian, family recipe with all of you!

In the past, my dad has supplied cassava pies for all of the major hotels and grocery stores in Bermuda throughout the Christmas season. These pies have also been enjoyed throughout North America, the Caribbean and the UK. Over the last few years, though, his declining health has taken a toll on his holiday pie operations. He has had to cut production to just a few pies for close friends and family.

Recipe Disclaimer: Dad is used to a large scale operation, so this recipe will leave you with lots of pie! The recipe, as listed below, will make at least one large tray, 3 loaf pans and 8 muffins of golden cassava pie. Also, one secret ingredient has been omitted for the family's sake.

Cassava Pie

Ingredients:

2 pounds Butter
15 pounds Grated cassava (soaked, rinsed and strained)
2 and 1/2 tbsp Ground nutmeg
22 Eggs
6 cups Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 shot Vanilla extract
0.75 pound Boiled chicken (cut into cubes)
Retain chicken stock
0.75 pound Boiled pork (cut into cubes)
Retain pork stock
Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°. Melt butter in a medium saucepan on the stove over low heat.

Sprinkle the ground nutmeg over your strained cassava and mix well (by hand).

Use a painter's bag to strain the soaked and  rinsed cassava.

With a standing or hand mixer, beat the eggs at low speed. Continue to beat the mixture, adding sugar gradually. Add salt and vanilla extract and mix for another 30 seconds.

My dad's old Oster mixer is a beaut!

Add the egg mixture to the cassava and nutmeg, mix thoroughly by hand.

Coat your cooking pans liberally with cooking spray. Pour some of the cassava mixture into your prepared tins, filling halfway. Add a single, even layer of chicken and pork over the cassava, top with a ladleful of the water used for boiling the meat (skip this step entirely for vegetarian pies). Top each tin with the remaining cassava mixture.

Bake until golden brown. Baking time will vary depending on the size of your cooking trays. Our smaller pies were ready in about 1.5 hours, the large pie took 2.5 hours.

Serving Suggestion: Cassava pie should be enjoyed all day on Christmas. Serve it for breakfast with eggs and ham. Serve it at lunch/dinner with turkey, gravy, potatoes, mac & cheese and whatever other fixin's your family enjoys. Tuck yourself into bed with a small piece of pie and some eggnog (with Black Seal rum). Worry about your cholesterol levels in the new year!

I feel so fortunate to have been able to end a day of pie making with a stroll along Horseshoe Bay with some of my oldest friends. Travel anxiety be damned, Christmas in Bermuda and time spent with family/friends is always good for my soul.

Horseshoe Bay

Do you have any holiday foods and/or traditions that help to make this season special (and less stressful)? Please share in the comments below.

Peace and love to you and yours!

*PointsPlus values were not calculated for this recipe (because I'm in Bermuda and it's the holiday season). I know that the butter/sugar/egg combo is PPV-lethal in this recipe. Eat in moderation. You've been warned. 

Wordless Wednesday: Today

Peace & liberty on my mind today, in remembrance of the many lives lost 12 years ago.

Photo credit: Luke Reidy

Wordless Wednesday: To Boston, with Love

Sometimes there are no words. 

Thanks, Luke, for allowing me to share your beautiful photos of Boston.

Coming to Terms with February 14th

On Thursday, I survived the very last Valentine's Day of my 20's; and I enjoyed it. Can you believe it? Single, and rapidly approaching 30, I spent a quiet Valentine's Day alone and didn't wallow in any sort of lonely hearted misery. It has taken me a long time to learn to embrace this mid-February holiday, and to stop letting the 14th ruin the whole month.

A Valentine from a local pizza place, be still my heart!

I spent so much of my late teens and early 20's obsessed with what Valentine's Day should look like. If I was in a relationship, undoubtedly my partner's romantic gestures were rarely grand enough. If I found myself single on the 14th, I clung firmly to the notion that I was supposed to be miserable and acted accordingly. Sometimes that meant binge drinking (and a little love bashing) with my single pals, other times it meant crying into a pint of fro-yo while watching chick flicks on the couch with my dog. I assume that my heavy dependence on romantic comedies might be partially to blame. It's not rational, however, to let contrived Hollywood plots dictate how I should feel about my life on this holiday. It seems I just got stuck chasing an ideal that I hadn't even created. Why was I so hell-bent on being a cliche?

Love was in the air, and in the snow.

A few years ago I was a month into a new relationship when Valentine's Day arrived. Against my better judgment I was dating someone that I couldn't really see a future with. Grown ups are supposed to be in relationships, right? She looked great on paper (if you're into that sort of thing) and she seemed to really like me; I figured those two facts might add up to enough of a reason to make it work. I agreed to be her Valentine, but found myself increasingly crabby as the day approached. The idea of putting myself through another mediocre date on Valentine's Day was just too depressing. I was sick of doing what was expected of me on this Hallmark holiday. I didn't want to spend the 14th with someone that didn't make me happy, so I canceled our plans.

Awesomely bacon-y Valentine's gifts.

On Thursday, I showed up for work with some Valentine-inspired pep in my step. I ate a small box of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for breakfast (4 pointsplus, not exactly health food, but I counted it!) with my cup of coffee. When my manager asked me about how I would be spending the evening, I told her that my grand plan was to buy a bathrobe and sit on my couch eating take-out.

"Buy a what?" she asked.

"A really cozy bath robe!" I yelled into her office.

In fact, my night turned out even better than I had imagined because I managed to get free food from my sister in exchange for giving her a ride home from work. She even loaned me her bathrobe, so I didn't have to shell out any money to spoil myself for the evening. If we look at Valentine's day as an excuse to take some time to slow down and enjoy ourselves, then it doesn't matter if we're alone or in a couple. You don't have to do very much to make the day special (for yourself or a loved one), and that simplicity can leave you recharged and happy.

A delightful Valentine's Day dinner for one.

As I write all of this, I'm watching "The Giant Mechanical Man", a quirky rom-com about two 30-somethings struggling to find their way to a happy and meaningful existence. One of the characters just said something so poignant, that I feel it's worth sharing here:

"And it's true what they say. It only takes one person- just one person- to make you feel special and valid. And like you belong in the world." 

I've come to realize that every now and then it is okay, important even, for that "one person" to be yourself. Don't let the hype surrounding February 14th cause you to forget that!