What I Do on my "Day Off"

Ben has been off work yesterday and today which means I've had the closest thing to a weekend I will have for awhile. So what did I do with my time off? Take Mina to the doctor's and wash diapers, of course. But since Ben likes to spend time with Mina on his days off, I get some time to myself. So apart from the usual laundry and house pick-up, I made a cloth diaper that actually seems to hold in pee (fingers crossed) and baked a yummy chocolate chess pie... it's been an exciting two days.

Mina sporting the new mommy-made diaper

Ben's mom brought me a bunch of supplies to make cloth diapers last week and I couldn't wait to try it out. The instruction booklet even made it look pretty easy. My beautiful but ancient sewing machine complicated the process as I can't make a zig-zag stitch. With a little more care and precision, a straight stitch works just fine. Of course, I didn't take that care on one side of the diaper and ended up with a small hole, but I went back and fixed it. It isn't quite as pretty as it could be in that spot but diapers exist to catch poop so I guess that's okay. The diaper is still adorable. I love that cloth allows you to find fun, cute patterns that look way better than the disposables. I learned a few things with this diaper so next time I can make an even better one. I still have lots of cute fabric and accessories to use.
Continuing on the cloth diapering train of thought, Ben put up a clothesline for me today. Now I don't have to dry my covers on the side of the bathtub. I just need to remember to put the diaper laundry in the wash in the morning so it has all day to dry in the sun. Today the line wasn't up until late afternoon so the diapers had about an hour outside and are now hanging on the tub. Hopefully the sun will help keep them nice and white too. They look cute on the line which makes me happy.

Cute diapers on a line

Finally, my last project and the one my reader's may enjoy the most - the chocolate chess pie. Yesterday was pi day so Ben and I went out to dinner at District of Pi, a DC pizzeria that specializes in deep dish. They had a special - buy one large pizza and get a second for $3.14. So we have been swimming in tomato sauce since it was too good a deal to pass up. Anyway, I didn't have time to make pie yesterday, but figured it would taste just as good today. I was right. Gooey and chocolatey with a nice crispy top crust - the way a chess pie should be. I kind of mashed together several recipes and added a few touches of my own. Here is what I ended up with:

Chocolate Chess Pie:
1 baked pie shell
6 Tbsp butter
2 oz chocolate (I used 70%)
2 eggs and 1 yolk, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp cormeal
extra sugar (about 2 tsp)

- Melt together butter and chocolate, set aside to cool slightly
- Whisk eggs, milk, and vanilla together
- add in sugar, brown sugar and salt
- Gradually add chocolate and butter
- Whisk in cornmeal and allow to sit about 20 minutes (this would be a good time to bake the pie shell)
- Pour into baked pie shell
- Bake at 300º until just set, center may still jiggle slightly - about 40 minutes
- Immediately after removing from oven, sprinkle top with granulated sugar
- If you can, wait until it cools before slicing (we couldn't)

Enjoy!