I Can't Believe I'm Saying This

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm suddenly in love with Martha Stewart.

Let me start by drawing your attention to
the picture above, which shows the beautiful cherries from the tree in our backyard.  Tasty, no?  (Well, actually, no; but add enough sugar and anything's tasty, yes?)

I've been dying to make a homemade cherry pie, but I was too lazy to run to the store for a ready-made pie crust.  I turned to The Joy of Cooking and attempted their crust recipe.  The following tragedy ensued:

Then Dee inadvertently saved the day by generously giving me a copy of July's Martha Stewart Living, which included a large section on cherries.  Which means recipes for cherry pie.  Which means fresh-picked cherries and crusts from scratch, because you know Martha would personally climb through your kitchen window and whip you with a home-made birch-bark thrice-braided strap, were you to do anything but.

Here is the pie I made with Martha's advice:

TAAAAA DAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

Doesn't it look like I know what I'm doing?

I just can't get over how easy it was to make that crust, and how it didn't crumble or break from the rolling pin.  Martha Stewart is now officially My God, and I will religiously follow her color advice, flower-planting schedule, and three-course dinner suggestions from here on out.

In other news, let me show off the cake I made for Mr. C's birthday.  He's obsessed with Finding Nemo, so I spent a mere four hours creating the following masterpiece:

 

Finding Nemo Creamy Coconut Cake

I think I was smart in not putting the licorice on until the last minute, as I suspect it would have otherwise melted into the whip cream.  May I also recommend that you use regular candles on your cake and not Fourth of July-inspired sparklers, as the resultant charcoal bits mixed with the coconut flakes may be a little off-putting to some of your guests?  Another note: don't try to light the sparklers in your kitchen unless you can open several windows . . . or a wall.

I will include the Creamy Coconut Cake recipe I stole from online, because it was easy and pretty tasty.  I will not include Martha's pie crust recipe from her July 2011 magazine, because I love her; but she scares me.

And now, after all my cooking, I am going to order take-out and put my feet up.

Creamy Coconut Cake 

(http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/creamy-coconut-cake/detail.aspx)

Buy a box of white cake mix, and bake it as per box directions.

Once cooled, poke holes in it and drench with a mixture of equal parts sweetened condensed milk and coconut cream (found in liquor stores).

Frost with whipped cream.  Sprinkle with coconut flakes.  Eat.

Note: I think that about half a can of condensed milk and its equal in coconut cream was plenty for this cake; I'm freezing the rest of the mixture for use at some later date.  And the rest of the bottle of straight coconut cream comes in handy for the pina coladas I've taken up drinking because I have a bunch of coconut cream to get rid of.