Ok, I am officially a fan!

[bikediva]

I made Alissa's blueberry pie today, and while I was making it, my roommate was like, What is that mush? It'll never set! It looks like it needs to go in the oven!

But I put it in the fridge, and now it's this gorgeous dark purple, perfectly jelled, and I purposely kept the almonds chunky so the crust has a nice crunch.

SCORE!!! So far I've made the carrot cake, date-nut torte (many times), banana-papaya pudding, and now this, and EVERY ONE was a TOTAL success!!! Seems like I can't do it wrong!

Also, last night at a dinner party, while I was eating my salad and everyone was eating meat lasagna, someone brought up a close friend who died of breat cancer at age 50. People were all puzzled HOW this could happen. Then my friend piped in, But Kimberlee won't get cancer because she eats organic. OK, so it was facetious, but still progress!

Smiles to all!

[ViolinCyndee]

LOVE the blueberry pie! And... SO easy to make too!

[Mary Kay]

And look at you bikediva, you've lost 40 lbs! I think you're leading by example! Way to go!

Mary Kay

[abeautifulworld]

That's encouraging! I'm making blueberry pie tonight for a party, and I'm hoping I won't be the only one eating it!

[OnMyJourney]

*packs bags for a flight to bikediva's home for all the goodies* :D:D

Congrats on the great turn out with all of your recipes!!! Sounds YUM-MY!

[bikediva]

Yup, I'm becoming quite the chef. Made Alissa's lemon poppyseed cookies today, after discovering that my convection oven can do 100 degrees. The perfect dehydrator! I'm so excited to make pizza and cannoli now! :)

So funny, having a roommate who is an accomplished SAD cook. After I made my cookies, she kept insisting I dip them in chocolate to give them that "hit of sugar" cookies require! Then she tried the blueberry pie, and said it was "too intense" with all the nuts in the crust. And yet, I also made her a SAD beef pot pie with tons of butter and flour in the crust, and she thought it was great. So bizzare... :rolleyes:

It's like Alissa says, people think it's weird to eat 6 bananas, but not a full greasy breakfast! :confused:

[bikediva]

@ Journey, sorry, my town is small and the nearest airport is 200 miles away. But I like the sentiment!!!

[T-Bird]

Yup, I'm becoming quite the chef. Made Alissa's lemon poppyseed cookies today, after discovering that my convection oven can do 100 degrees. The perfect dehydrator! I'm so excited to make pizza and cannoli now!

ohhhhhhh - what brand is it???? model, etc! That is so cool - would love one that can do double duty....still cook for my 2 teens...

[OnMyJourney]

@ Journey, sorry, my town is small and the nearest airport is 200 miles away. But I like the sentiment!!!

Well, I tried! :p And I'm curious as well. What brand is your convection oven? You've got my attention with the fact that it goes down to 100 degrees.

[bikediva]

It is a Maytag Gemini electric. Not sure the exact model number, but it has 2 ovens, which you can set to their own precise temperatures. It has both convection and regular bake settings, as well as all the other settings you'd expect from an oven. The burners on top are flat, so easy to wipe. And it's self-cleaning and stainless steel. Also, I double-checked, and it definitely goes down to 100 degrees FARENHEIT.

Looking online, seems like you could get one for about $800. It works really well and everything I dehydrate in there comes out perfectly!

Too bad I don't have a camera to take a picture :(

[bikediva]

I'm making Alissa's basic flax crackers in there now, so we'll see how it goes!

[bikediva]

The flax crackers turned out well in the oven. One sheet I put on a pizza pan with holes in it, and parchment paper on top. This one came out perfectly. The other two were on baking sheets with no holes, and they both have black patches. Not sure why?! They still taste great, though!