Crusty

Ok I am breaking out my favorite pie crust recipes and tips and ideas. I love making pie and pie crusts are super fun! I love trying to make them really flaky, buttery, and powerful yummy. So I am going to share my 3 all time favorites.

1. The first one I will share was given to me by Jill Divis when I got married. I have made it so many times and it is dependable. I still have the bright pink 3x5 card she wrote the recipe on and it is a haggard looking thing. Good crusts time after time.

Marie Calender's (Jill Divis') Pie Crust
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup shortening
4-5 T. Ice water (Jill uses a little more and so do I)
Blend flour and salt. Add shortening. Cut in till pea size. Add water. Makes 2, 9 inch crusts. Roll out and bake at 475 until light brown (8 to 10 minutes).
Here are a few things that I have found work really well. I use frozen butter. If I am using a food processor then I will cut the butter in to thin slices and then cut the slices into fourths. Then toss it in to the food processor with the already blended flour and salt. Next I blend it up till all the butter is blended in. The trick it to blend it just long enough to break up the butter and mix it in but not to long.
If I am making it by hand I will take frozen butter and using a cheese grater I grate the butter in to the flour and salt mixture. That cheese grater is wonderful for getting the butter perfect. I prefer to make the crust by hand cause it does turn out a little better.
As for the ice water I use a liquid measuring cup and put ice and water in it, then I store it in the freezer until it is needed. I do this at the very beginning so that the ice water has a crust of ice on top. After I am done using the ice water I drink the rest because it helps the crust turn out better. After the crust is made make sure to chill in the refrigerator for an hour or 2. Do this with all pie crusts! It makes them so much easier to work with and so much taster cause they are flakier. When you take them out of the refrigerator be sure to let it sit for a few minutes. I take it out and then get all the other things I need to roll out the crust, rolling pin, pie tin, and flour.

2. The next crust comes from Miss Martha Stewart. This is by far the flakiest crust I have ever made however be warned that it will not hold up to a liquid pie that thickens up in the oven. It is also not very good for a crust that must be pre-baked, unless you fill the unbaked crust with parchment paper and beans or pie weights to hold the crust in place until it has cook a little then take out the weights and finish baking. I will give the instruction down below on how to do that exactly.

1 1/4 cups flour
4 1/2 t. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut in to small pieces or use the cheese grater trick
1 large egg yolk
2 T. ice water

Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds.
Lightly beat yolk with ice water. With processor running, add yolk mixture in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube, and process until dough just hold together (no longer than 30 seconds).
Turn out onto a work surface, and shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days), freeze for up to 1 month.

3. This last crust is really different than any crust I have ever found. A few months ago I found a book at my favorite book store. It is called, "The Pie and Pastry Bible." If you are looking for tons of pictures this is the wrong book. But if you want stellar professional pies it is a winner. I love it. I want to make pies for a living!!!!! This is the first crust from the book I have tried but I am hung up on it. It tastes so good and I think you will see why!

Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust
8 T. unsalted cold/frozen butter
1 1/3 cups flour
1/8 t. salt
1/8 t. baking powder
3 oz. cold cream cheese
1 1/2 T. ice water
1 1/2 cold cider vinegar

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in food processor. Next add the cream cheese and turn on the food processor for about 20 seconds or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the butter, which has been cut into small pieces already, and add the water and vinegar. Pulse until most of the butter is reduced to the size of small peas. The mixture will be in particles and will not hold together. Spoon it into a plastic bag.
Holding both ends of the bag opening with our fingers, knead the mixture by alternately pressing it, from the outside of the bag, with the knuckles and heels of your hands until the mixture holds together in one piece and feels slightly stretchy when pulled. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap, flatten it into a disc, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.

What is this thing I have for Watermelon?

I love fruit! I think it so yummy. It is a perfect food. Sweet and pretty dang good for you, no matter what some dieters say. For me it has not always been love when it comes to fruit. When I was pregnant some fruits tasted different. Nasty. I have no idea why but they tasted fake and like they were sweetened with some fake sweetener. I hate fake sweet. Watermelon was one of those fruits. I ate some when I was pregnant with Perrin and this summer is the first summer that I have been able to eat it with out having to fight off the gag reflex. You might say I have fallen in love with watermelon all over again.

Every season I pick a fruit or vegetable and do some experimental cooking. This is not a conscious thing it just happens. In the fall I have had a cooking affair with apples and pumpkins. In the winter I have toyed with cranberries. Spring brings strawberries and so many other berries to play with. Last summer I canned peaches, made peach jam, and canned peach pie! Scramming success! This summer it has been watermelon. I pickled some watermelon rinds and made watermelon jelly. I am going to give you the recipe I used for Zesty Watermelon Jelly.

I think it is tasty. I can't wait to have one of those dreadful winter days when I am achy for summer. On this day I will pull out my watermelon jelly and have some toast. It is a taste of summer all bottled up and ready for my winter blues.

6 cups chopped watermelon, rind removed (save it for pickled watermelon rinds)
1/2 Apple cider vinegar
4 T Lemon Juice
5 cups sugar
1 T grated lemon rind
2 pouches (3oz each) Liquid pectin

In a large stainless steel saucepan, crush watermelon with a potato masher. Cover and heat gently over med-low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and crush thoroughly. (I put it in my blender so that I knew it was very crushed. Heating it lets the juices out more easily.)

Transfer to a strainer lined with several layers of dampened cheese cloth set over a deep bowl. Let drip, undisturbed, for 2 hours. Measure 2 cups watermelon juice. If you do not have the required amount, crush more watermelon or add up to 1/4 cup unsweetened white grape juice.

Transfer watermelon juice to a clean large, deep stainless steel saucepan. Stir in vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, and grated lemon rind. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in pectin. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and quickly skim off foam.

Next can it!

I got this recipe from a wonderful book called, "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving 400 delicious and creative recipes for today."
I got the book at Costco and I love it.

Pickled Watermelon Rinds

Now that I have your attention...I will actually be giving you the recipe for Cinnamon Watermelon Rind Pickles. You may be already deciding that it sounds nasty and you will never ever ever make it. You would be sadly mistaken. You must try this with an open mind. I saw the name and decided it was so crazy I had to make it.....And I love it. I think I will serve it as finger food at Thanksgiving. Yumolishous! I also love that it is a waste not want not kind of food.

16 cups sliced peeled watermelon rind (2-1 inch)
1 cup
8 cups cool water, divided
6 cups sugar
4 cups white vinegar
3 cinnamon sticks broken in 1/2

In a large crock, glass, or stainless steel bowl, mix the watermelon rind and salt. Add 4 cups cool water and let it soak over night.
Drain and rinse, drain and rinse again. Then drain thoroughly.
In a stainless steel saucepan, combine rind with remaining 4 cups cool water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently until rind is fork-tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar, and cinnamon stick halves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes, until cinnamon has infused the liquid. Add drained rind and return to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour, until watermelon is translucent. Discard cinnamon sticks.
Now here is how I cheat on canning. I put all my jars in the hottest water my tap will allow and then I put the lids in a saucepan and cover the lids with water and boil them. When my food is ready and boiling, I keep it on medium heat, and ladle it in to the jars. Next I wipe the rim of the glass jar to make sure I can get a good seal. Then I take one of those lids from the boiling water and place it on my jar. Finally I get a ring and screw it on to finger tip tight. They always seal. Another super cheep thing I do is save all my jars! If I bought jam or pickles or any thing that comes in a glass far, I wash it and use it again. Everything I have ever canned in them seals, always. It is a free jar! I reuse those jars again and again. I find that if I do not screw the lids down tight they last longer. I reuse the lids from my store bought jars too. So far so good! I hope that was clear and easy to read. I will come back in a few days and see if it still makes since.

Do you know the Muffin Man? I do! (and I think it's a woman)

I made some really good muffins today. They are hunger bustin', low calorie, easy breakfast (if you make it the night before), all around good food. First I want to educate you some on white flour vs. Whole Wheat. Our bodies convert food to sugar in one form or another, sugar = energy. White flour and refined sugar (granulated and brown) turn to instant usable energy almost instantly. But what if you are not using all that energy? What if you just don't get to really move enough to burn it all when it is ready to be burned? Don't worry your body will store it for you. It will be stored in easy to get to places like you bum, hips, waist, and other unsightly places.

Now how does you body use Whole Wheat? Well it converts it to sugar too. It just takes a lot longer. It is a slow burn. You are much more likely to burn off all the calories from a Whole Wheat muffin than from a mamby pamby dainty white one.

I also used honey instead of sugar which your body had to work to break down too. This is an awesome super food! They are best right out of the oven but you can nuke one up in a microwave in the morning and it is almost as tasty.

3 cups Whole Wheat flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 cups plain low fat yogurt (I made my own out of powdered milk cause I am cool like that)
2 large eggs
8 T melted and cooled butter (I used olive oil cause it is a good fat and I was in the mood for healthy)
I made Lemon poppy seed muffins so I added 3 T poppy seeds and
Pre-heat oven to 375. Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in another bowl. Before you combine them get out your muffin pans and spray them with Pam. Now mix the wet ingredients with the dry and using an ice cream scoop fill up each of the muffin cups until they are almost full. I made 24 muffins.
I made lemon poppy seed muffins so I added 3 T poppy seeds to the dry ingredients and 1T lemon zest to the wet ingredients.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes then turn them out on the counter and taste one or two knowing you are getting less than 120 calories of slow burning fuel! Enjoy!

My dessert called Thursday.

So I invented a dessert! Well sort of.....I used a recipe I have made many times and changed a couple of things about it. It is the recipe for my Mom's French Silk Pie. Yes pie again, what can I say, I love pie. One of the changes I made was to use my tartlet pans. I purchased them on ebay a few months ago and have been waiting for the perfect day to use them. Well that day finally arrived. With the kids out of school we got busy and made Thursday on this blustery Tuesday.

For the crust I used the pie crust recipe I already gave in my entry entitled "This is to Pie For."

Now for the Mom's French Silk Pie recipe! If you do this just the way I tell you it will turn out great. However, if you try to cut corners or cheat it will only lead to tears.

1-1/2 cups sugar

2-1/2 sticks BUTTER, softened (Must use butter)

5 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1-3/4 t. Orange extract

5 eggs

Combine sugar and butter until smooth. Add melted and cooled chocolate and mix until smooth. Add orange extract and mix. Next add one egg at a time and mix it in. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula after each egg addition. Pour into prepared and cool pastry shell and refrigerate for 5 hours or over night.

I made some adjustments to this recipe cause it was fun. Instead of vanilla I used orange extract. I also candied some orange peel and some orange slices to garnish. Let me tell you candied orange slices are delish!

Here is how to candy orange or any citrus really:

Using a tool called a stripper, similar to a zester, peel some of the orange peel. After I was done getting the peel off I sliced the orange very thin. Next in a pot and a thick bottomed skillet I put 2 cups of sugar and 2/3 cup of water in each container and heated over medium high heat until the sugar dissolved. It needs to be clear. In the pot take all those strips of peel and stick them in there turn down the heat to medium, you just want it to be barely boiling, for 40 minutes. In the skillet add the slices in a single layer and turn down to medium. Again you want it to just barely boil so it will not tear up those tender slices. Let it simmer for 10 minutes flip them and let it simmer for 10 more minutes. When they are done cooking place them on parchment paper. Poof candied citrus.

Meat loaf and sweet potatoes.

First off, our family eats early! Casey has to be out the door by 5pm. So by 2pm I am working on dinner. I get myself to a stopping point and go pick up the kids at 2:50 and get back to the dinner thing while I help the kids do homework. It can be a little trickie so I have to plan. Tonight I got everything ready to go in the oven before I left for school and had everything in a few minutes after I got home.

I made the most amazing meatloaf. It is the Souperior Meat loaf from the back of the Lipton Recipe Secrets Beefy Onion box. Of course I have made a few "improvements" and now it is amazing. Here is the recipe:

1 envelope Lipton Recipe Secrets Beefy Onion mix.
2 lbs. lean ground hamburger
3/4 cup bread crumbs, I just use what ever bread is laying around and crumbles easy
2 eggs
3/4 cups water
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar!!!(the brown sugar was my addition)
Half an onion cut into wedges.
A little more brown sugar to sprinkle on top of the loaf

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients, except the onions. Put it all in to a bread loaf pan and arrange onions on top, so it looks pretty. Now sprinkle the last of the brown sugar on top of the loaf. Now bake the meat loaf for 1 hour or until done. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

The brown sugar sounds off, but trust me.

Now for the veggie:
Orange Sweet Potato Casserole
3 lbs. sweet potatoes (about 6 medium potatoes), Peel and slice about 1/4 inch thick.
6 T. melted butter
2 T. honey
3 T. molasses
1 T. Grated fresh ginger or 1 t. powdered ginger
3/4 t. salt
4 t. grated orange zest
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1-1/2 T. cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375. In a large pot boil sweet potatoes in water until parboil or until you can stick a paring knife easily into the flesh of a sweet potato. Drain potatoes well and put in a pam sprayed baking dish.
Meanwhile in a bowl whisk melted butter, honey, molasses, ginger, salt, orange zest, and cayenne in small bowl; set aside. Mix cornstarch withe 2 T. cold water in a small bowl until totally smooth, then whisk into butter mixture; pour over sweet potatoes and toss to coat well.
Cover dish tightly with foil and bake until liquid is bubbly, about 50 minutes. Remove foil, stir potatoes gently, and bake until liquid thickens to glaze potatoes, about 20 minutes longer. Cool slightly and serve hot.

You may have noticed the temperatures for the two dishes did not match and the sweet potatoes took extra long to cook. So here is how I fixed that. I cooked the potatoes a little longer than recommended and put them in with the meat loaf. As for the temperature I raise it up to 365. Some times we must make a compromise.

BAD CHOCOLATE CAKE?!?!

Have you ever made chocolate cake because you wanted to eat the batter? I have several times. I love cake batter. Cake is....eh ok. Last week sometime decided I was going to make a cake so that I could eat some the batter. I found a recipe that looked legitimate. It is the recipe found in the BAKER'S GERMAN CHOCOLATE box. Yes I was about to make a German chocolate cake. What is the difference between a German chocolate cake and just your average chocolate cake? Nothing! Ok here is the story. A man named Sam German worked for the Baker's Chocolate Company. He had the brilliant idea of adding sugar to the chocolate so that the consumer would not have to. It was just for our convenience. They named the chocolate for him "German's Chocolate." Then about 100 years after his gift to the chocolate community a talented baker from DALLAS made the chocolate famous by creating the tempting and yummy Baker's German's chocolate cake. Her recipe is the one that is in the Baker's chocolate box. It is also the one I am going to share.

The first time I made this a week or so ago I really screwed up. The cake fell, the texture was wrong and the taste was less than moist. The frosting was pretty bad too! I attempted a very simple chocolate frosting that is not super rich. All you do is take two cups whipping cream beat it with the wire whisk in your kitchen ade until fluffy and then add a large box of pudding. Sound yummy and easy enough....well do not over mix the whipping cream. It will destroy the frosting. That was my down fall for the frosting on the first cake.

Before I get distracted again here is the recipe for the Original Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate Cake. (That is not a name it is a tittle and with cake this good it should have a tittle.)

1pkg. (4 oz.) Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate

1/2 cup water

2 cups flour

1t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, separated

1t. vanilla

1cup butter milk

Coconut-pecan filling and frosting!!!!!!!

Preheat oven to 350. Cover bottoms of 3 Nine inch round cake pans with wax paper (I only use two so I can eat a bunch of the batter!) Spray a healthy dose of Pam on your pans.

The way I make this cake differs from the recipe a bit but, trust me, it will turn out excellent this way.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave, one minute on high stir and if it needs more time only do 30 seconds increments until the chocolate is melted, be sure to stir after each trip in the microwave.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks , one at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Blend in malted chocolate and vanilla. Add water and mix it all in. Next add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beating until well blended after each addition.(I did this part by hand so I could keep my mixer free for the next part.)

Beat egg whites in mixer with the wire whisk until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into batter. Pour evenly into prepared pans.

Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted int centers comes out clean. Immediately run small metal spatula around cake layers. Cool in pans 15 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks. Discard wax paper. Cool cake layers completely. Spread Coconut-Pecan Filling and foisting between cake layers and onto the top of the cake.

Beating egg whites in baking makes things moister. The first time I made this I miss read the instruction and skipped the egg whites completely and the cake was dry and it fell. The cake was dense, more like a nasty tort.

Tips for beating egg whites: Use a metal bowl and wash it first with soap and warm water. Dry it completely. Now it will whip up a lot easier.

Now for the Coconut-Pecan Frosting

This stuff is freaking awesome. If you like carmel you will love this. If you don't like nuts and coconuts then find another frosting!

4 egg yolks

1 can (12 oz. ) evaporated milk

1-1/2 t. vanilla

1-1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cups (1-1/2 sticks) butter

1pkg. (7 oz or 2-2/3 cups) coconut flakes

1-1/2 cups chopped pecans

Beat egg yolks, milk and vanilla in a large saucepan with wire whisk until well blended. Add sugar and butter cook on medium heat 12minutes or until thickened and golden brown, STIRRING CONSTANTLY (It is so easy to burn this). Remove form heat.

Add coconut and nuts; mix well. cool to the desired spreading consistency.

That is the recipe and here is how I changed it to suit my needs. I did not have any evaporated milk so I used a 10 oz. can of sweet and condensed milk and added a 1/2 a cup to 1 full cup of milk to thin it down a bit. I then cut the sugar in half so instead of 1-1/2 cups sugar I used 3/4 cup sugar. I did everything else just the same and man is it good.