I O.D.'d on Pie.

Pecan pie, specifically. I ate so much on Thanksgiving that I couldn't eat a bite of pie. Well, I made up for it by eating mostly pie for the following 3 days and consumed almost 3/4 of the pie myself. Mmmmmmmmm.

I moved here almost six years ago during the holiday season. I was so excited to bring a little bit of the Midwest to the East Coast so I made cookies and cakes and pies (we are all about the dessert tray) and nobody touched a thing. Well, hardly a thing. Except me and my daughter. I wondered what was wrong with these people. Seriously. This family doesn't really like sweets. My youngest stepdaughter eats sweets (and cheese) almost exclusively but she doesn't really like homemade things, only processed, packaged sweets. It breaks my heart.

Our first Christmas here, my oldest stepdaughter and I made an apple pie. It was gorgeous and sky-high, with a flaky, homemade crust. She said, "What's wrong with it? Why is it so tall?" And nobody touched it. Everybody claimed they were too full from dinner but I think perhaps they didn't trust pie that didn't come from a box.

In subsequent years, I learned to restrain myself. I now make a couple of things my daughter and I like for treats and sometimes I don't even make dessert. It's just not right. I even make cake out of a box sometimes now because I know only two people will touch it and you don't want to eat the entire cake so it's less sad to toss out the remainder of a cake made from a box, right? Right?

My mother would disown me.

So, last year I made Red Velvet Cake for Christmas dessert. Every Red Velvet Cake recipe I found contains something like 2 cups of oil. It was disgusting. All I could think of was how moist it was because if you put a gallon of oil in it, it is going to have no choice but to be moist. And when you add a gallon of Red Dye No. 40, it will be red. And a little carcinogenic to boot.

But for today, I will be detoxing with Miso Soup. Ever since I discovered how easy this is to make with Dashi (dried Bonito Fish Soup Stock granules), it is my go-to lunch and pie detoxification program (and it only takes about 7 minutes to make fresh):

Miso Good For You

Shiro (Mild) Miso Paste

Hon-Dashi Soup Stock Granules

Dried Cut Wakame (Seaweed)

Miso Soup

3 T. Shiro (mild) Miso Paste
3 c. water
1 t. Hon-Dashi Soup Stock granules (you can use flakes and remove flakes after water simmers)
1/2-in. pieces silken (or firm) tofu
Dried wakame (seaweed)

Note: This recipe can be easily divided by 3 for a single serving.

Heat 3 c. of water to boiling. Before it boils, add the soup stock. When it begins to boil, remove from heat and add miso paste. Put back on burner at reduced heat and heat until dissolved - do not boil. Add pieces of tofu and broken pieces of dried seaweed. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes to rehydrate seaweed. Top with scallions, if desired.