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Pie-in-a-Jar: Strawberry Rhubarb

6 May

Pie is my zen. Time and again, I’m always surprised by the random thoughts that enter my mind as I clear my head and focus on making pie.  Over the past few weeks, my pietifications have centered around a funny phenomenon that I now affectionately call the Disappearing Mommy.

I’ve been seeing articles recently about how social media – Facebook specifically – can lower your self esteem and influence your self perception in more negative than positive ways (thank GOODNESS Facebook did not exist when I was a teenager).  While I’m sure these articles make very good points, I just usually shrug them off and feel grateful that I would never allow something as trite as Facebook to influence how I feel about myself.

As usual, I’m a walking contradiction and have realized that Facebook has actually begun to affect the way I see my life as told through photos.   Not a day goes by that I don’t see a beautiful picture posted of a friend in my newsfeed. In the age of Instagram and Hipstamatic i phone apps, beautiful, artsy pictures are being posted left and right.

These women post new profile pictures of themselves more frequently than I can come up with something witty to say in my status update.  The photos are cool – maybe a profile of her staring off in the distance, or a sassy head tilt accompanied by some sun glasses.  Or they are with their children, lost in a gaze or walking in the shadows.  These are not the same pictures that I have of myself – mostly in the middle of talking, chewing or eyes shut.  That’s when I even come across a picture of myself.  See, I wonder who is taking pictures of these women?  Do they take them themselves?  Do they have husbands or partners who fawn over them and carry a camera at all times? Is there a well kept secret that families are hiring professional photographers on a regular basis much like the revelation I just had that a majority of my friends hire housekeepers?

The reality is, even if I wanted to post pictures of myself, I don’t have many to choose from.  And to make matters worse, I don’t have many pictures of me with my children.  I discovered this when my son had an assignment to bring a picture of himself and his Mom to show and tell.  As I was tearing the house apart looking for a picture, I realized that photos of him and his Dad were in abundance, but other than the “just born” photos, the pictures of the two of us were slim.  I finally found one from three years ago, but at least it was the two of us.

And so the photos of my friends and their children flood my Facebook news feed and I wonder what my photo legacy has become.  If something happened to me tomorrow, what snapshots would tell the story of my life with them?

I’ve become the disappearing mommy whose time behind the lens has had the unintended consequence of cheating her out of the opportunity to document her life.  Will they remember how I buried my face under their ear to kiss their necks and smell them?  Will they remember our dance parties in the living room before dinner?  Will they remember that I liked to jump on trampolines and sing karaoke?  I don’t know – no one is taking pictures of that stuff.

I do not have many photos of me and my own Mom.  I have a few family photos, but I honestly don’t know if I have a photo of just the two of us.  Has she always been the one behind the camera?  And if not behind it, avoiding it?  My family is facing generations of disappearing mommies.  Mothers who have created countless photos of the life that happens around them, yet appear all too infrequently on the other side of the lens.

To remedy the disappearing mommy syndrome, I decided that I just need to start asking people to take my picture when the situation warrants.  So, for the past couple of weeks, I have done just that and, you guessed it… posted the pictures on Facebook.

Pie-in-a-Jar:  Strawberry Rhubarb

Pie in a jar has been the next frontier for me.  I mean, who doesn’t want to eat pie out of a jar?  Luckily, two of my friends requested some pie jars for some special occasions, so I had a reason to practice this weekend.  And of course, what better flavor than strawberry rhubarb.  If you don’t know already, I turn into a rhubarb maniac during the springtime, so this is just the first of many posts about rhubarb.

Ingredients and Supplies (makes 8 jars)

8, 4 ounce canning jars (I use Ball)

1 single recipe of pie dough of choice or best of both worlds

1 recipe pre-cooked strawberry rhubarb filling.

(Follow the recipe and directions posted in the mini pie recipe)

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

4T melted butter

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven t0 400

Roll pie dough until it’s about 1/4 inch thick – just as you would for a single crust pie.

Using the lid from one of the jars, cut 8 circles and place each circle at the bottom of each jar.

Roll the dough a second time and begin cutting strips that are about the width of the jar.  You will use these strips to line the sides.  While you want to touch the dough as little as possible, don’t kill yourself on this step.  You can gently piece the dough into place.  If you want to make a decorative edge, be sure to have at least a 1/2 inch of overhang or more.  Otherwise, you can line the dough to the top of the jar.

You can eyeball the width by making a light impression with the jar.

Once the jars are lined, chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes – 30 would be better if you have the time.  This is also a great step to do a day ahead of time.  Make the topping by combining the sugar, flour, melted butter and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

When the jars are chilled, place filling into each jar.  The filling should be room temperature or cool if made ahead of time.  Fill each one to the top and cover generously with the topping mixture.

Place jars on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and juices bubble.  Cool completely before enjoying.  Welcome spring!

P.S. – there won’t be any left so be sure to snag your own first!

Cherry Pielets (How to make pie during the weekday)

17 Mar

I dread baking during the work week for one simple reason – dishes.  I love the baking part, but the aftermath is just so overwhelming when all I want to do is call it a night and go to bed. My M.O. each time I’m in the kitchen is to use as few utensils and cookware as humanly possible.  That ceramic ramekin?  It only had grapes in it – clean.  The stainless steel mixing bowl?  It only had some batter in it for like 30 seconds – quick rinse and it’s clean.  The spoons – shoot, they just stirred for all of 10 seconds – swipe them under the faucet and they’re as good as new.  No dishpan hands here.

This week was one where I had a double dose of pie-making during the work week.   Early in the week I needed to make these pielets for my friend – it was her daughter’s birthday on Pi day, so of course she needed to take these pies to her kindergarten class!  Then I signed up for the bake sale at work to raise money for a Liver Walk.  I’m all for healthy livers, so to show my support I of course offered up some more pies.

With a little planning, making pie during a busy work week can be pretty easy and the dishes can be managed in stages – not ending in one big heap at 10pm destined to sit there until Saturday.  Here’s a timeline for how to make these pielets and wow anyone, anytime:

3 days ahead:  Make your dough, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.  Heck, if you’re really good, whip up some dough when the mood strikes and freeze it months ahead of time!

(20 minutes, 4 pieces of a food processor to clean and probably a knife.)

2 days ahead:  Make the filling, cover and refrigerate.

(15 minutes, a pot, a spoon and a couple of measuring spoons to clean)

1 day ahead:  Roll the dough and cut circles.  Place circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.

(25 minutes, a glass, a rolling pin and a messy countertop to clean).

Go time (the night before serving pies):  Preheat oven, assemble pies and bake!  You should be able to be at the finished product in 30-45 minutes.  While they bake, put on your jammies and clean up the kitchen.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack while you brush your teeth (so you don’t eat any pie).  Cover lightly and go to bed.  Ta-da!  Fancy pies to take to work the next day.

Cherry Pielets, makes 2 dozen

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Sour Cherry Pie recipe

Ingredients

1 double recipe of pie dough of choice or best of both worlds pie dough

2 cans Oregon Sour Cherries canned in WATER (3 cups) Fresh or frozen would be better, but during off season I don’t mind this cheat.

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Dash of vanilla powder (optional)

Directions (this is as if you’re doing it all at once)

Preheat oven to 400

Roll dough until it’s about 1/4 inch thick – the same as you would for a pie.  Cut your circles and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  If you are using a 2.5 inch cutter, you should be able to get 26 circles out of one single recipe of dough.  A good roll gets you 16 circles from the first pass.

Place the cut circles in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Drain 3 cups of cherries (2 cans) and place in a pot or deep saucepan with 3/4 cup of the sugar.  Begin to cook down for 3-4 minutes over over medium heat.  You will see a lot of juice in the pan.

Combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with 3T cornstarch in a small bowl.  I keep some vanilla sugar on hand so I used it for the remaining 1/4 cup.  Turn the heat to medium-high and stir until the mixture thickens.  About 1-2 minutes.  If you think you have too much liquid, you can pour a little off.  You will be able to leave streaks through the mixture when it’s thick enough.

Transfer into a bowl to cool completely.

To assemble the pies, place 1-2T of filling on every other row of circles (the others will be the top of the pie).  We love our filling, so I try to get as much in there as possible.

Place a circle on top and seal around the edges.  You can lightly brush the edge of the bottom circle with cold water to help the seal if you want.  Crimp the edges with a fork and place in the freezer for 5 minutes or so – just to snap them back into form.

Remove from freezer and vent each one with a knife.  You can do any design you want – a criss-cross, one vent, whatever you want.  I did a Pi sign on these because it was Pi day.

Brush lightly with an egg wash (1 egg and 1 T water) and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.  Bake in the oven for 19 minutes or until golden brown.  The baking time can vary depending on humidity and other conditions, so watch carefully around 18 minutes.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product because, well, it was the workweek and I had to get them baked and out the door.  Here is a picture from another batch I did a while ago.

Now, go forward and make some pie!

Ruby Red Grapefruit Pie (Community Project!)

28 Feb

I’ve been in a phase where it’s all about the short cut.  With a new job and now a cold to go with it, the past two weeks have been all about taking the easy way out.

I hit bottom this weekend when I was standing at the sink staring at two non-stick pans that had set up shop days earlier.  One had met it’s match with some sloppy joe and the other sported the remainder of some overcooked scrambled eggs.  These pans had been taunting me with threats of stuck-on grease each time I entered the kitchen, to which I only responded with a cold shoulder.

I stood, staring at the pans again, and could not summon the energy to wash them.  Instead, I remembered (thanks to an infomercial earlier that morning) that word on the street was that non-stick pans are not good for you and the coating could emit harmful chemicals.  I had been meaning to transition to more stainless steel pans!  Of course, I will just throw these away and it will motivate me to remember to buy new pans.  Voila!  I grabbed a trash bag, stuck the food-laden pans inside and carried them out to the bin leaving behind a clear sink (I should mention that I also added a plastic kid plate that was caked with ketchup – come on, I can’t have BPA seeping into my children’s chicken nuggets!).

My choice of pie experiment also reflected my state of being this weekend.  I didn’t want to tackle anything too fussy and my cold had me craving citrus like crazy.  This felt like the perfect time to begin formulating the pie I have been fantasizing about – a refreshing, creamy, ruby red grapefruit pie.  With a now clear sink and clean kitchen, I began whipping up my first attempt.

Calling all pie lovers – I need your help!

Calling all creative pie lovers – I’m on a mission to create a recipe for an amazing grapefruit pie.  There’s a version floating around out there that calls for grapefruit segments and gelatin, but that’s not exactly what I’m after.  I think (and I stress think, because I’m not quite sure I’m thinking of the right thing), that I’m aiming for something in the family of key lime pie.  Creamy, tangy, popping with grapefruit flavor, but refreshing and not overwhelmingly sweet.

So, here’s what I did…

Ruby Red Grapefruit Pie

Ingredients

1 homemade or store bought graham cracker crust

1, 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh grapefruit juice

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 Tablespoon grapefruit zest

Directions

If making a homemade graham cracker crust, prebake crust at 375 for 12 minutes until brown.  Cool completely.

 

In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, yogurt and grapefruit juice.  In a small bowl, whip egg yolks until creamy and add to milk mixture.  Fold in grapefruit zest.

Pour into prepared pie shell and bake at 325 for 15-17 minutes.

Watch closely – you want to remove the pie when the filling is just set and tiny little bubbles form on the surface.

Can you see the tiny, tiny bubbles?

Remove from the oven and cool completely.  Place in refrigerator to chill before serving.  Cover with a thin layer of fresh whipped cream if desired.

Here’s the thing – this was a good pie, although I totally went overboard with the whipped cream.  Sadly, it wasn’t quite what I was thinking.  It was a little too rich and not as firm as I had anticipated (maybe another egg yolk?).  Actually, the part that seemed too rich was the graham cracker crust.  I’m stumped – I really think there’s a good pie somewhere in here, but I need to keep brainstorming on what the perfect combination is.

So, that’s where you come in.  What is your vision for a grapefruit pie?  Let’s put our heads together and come up with an amazing recipe!  Back to the drawing board…

Apple Cherry Crumb Pie

12 Feb

I always have the best results when I don’t over think things.  Take my hair, for instance.  The days that I’m late, half-showered and furiously drying my hair to get out the door are usually the days that people tell me my hair looks good.  “What did you do to your hair?” they will ask.  And my answer is always the same – I have no idea.

On the other hand, the days that I plan and try really hard to do my hair tend to be a disaster.  I learned this in a big way a couple of years ago.  The night before I had an important meeting, I decided that my hair needed to be totally revamped.  I was nervous about the meeting and my split ends were just not going to cut it (no pun intended). I decided to get a very last minute cut and ended up with a 7pm appointment at Fast Eddie’s Chop Shop (red flag #1).  The night started out with promise – the place was edgy and the stylist’s name was Emily.  She was new (red flag #2) and eager to style my hair.  She washed my hair and started to cut.  All of a sudden, the lights went out (red flag #3).  The entire street blacked out and we couldn’t see a thing.  I sat there, with a half-cut wet head praying for the lights to come back on.  The emergency lights cast a blue glow across the studio as I watched the clock close in on 8pm. Word soon reached us that there had been an accident on a nearby street which had knocked out blocks of electricity.

I was in a mild state of panic, but Emily assured me that we could do this (red flag #4).  By the glow of the emergency lights and a flashlight she continued to cut my hair.  I went home with a wet head, tired and ready for bed (it was 10pm).  Needless to say, I woke up the next morning, showered and dried my hair.  It was awful.  Just terrible.  Uneven with a hint of a mullet.  I was devastated, but had no option but to summon some confidence and go to my meeting.  Then, I crawled back to my regular stylist and confessed that I cheated on her in the name of vanity and begged her to fix it.  $80 later, my hair was short but at least the mullet was gone.

I keep learning this lesson time and again in various parts of my life.  Over thinking and trying too hard cause me to lose perspective and get caught in the weeds.  How many times do I need to learn to simply rely on my instinct and relax?  I have no idea.

The point of this story?  Apple Cherry Crumb Pie!  When I make pie, I’m very focused.  I read and re-read directions and over think everything.  Recently, I had accomplished all of my planned pies and had one recipe of dough left.  Not wanting it to go to waste, I started scouring my cupboards and fridge to see what I could come up with for a pie.  I had 4 apples, one can of Oregon Sour Cherries and some oatmeal.  Apple cherry pie with an oatmeal crumb topping!  I chopped and stirred adding a dash of this and a sprinkle of that.  Not a care in the world entered my mind as I effortlessly made this pie without following a recipe.  What resulted was an amazing pie that everyone who had a piece said was my best one yet.  “How did you do it?” they asked.  I have no idea.

But, I’m going to recreate it and share it with you!

Apple Cherry Crumb Pie

Ingredients

1 recipe for a 9 inch pie crust (or best of both worlds pie dough)

4 Apples (2 Granny Smith, 2 Jonagold or Fuji)

1 can Oregon Sour Cherries (the kind canned in WATER!  NO SYRUP)

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 Tablespoons corn starch

1 squeeze of fresh lemon juice (barely a teaspoon)

Oatmeal crumb topping

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) cold unsalted butter but into 1/4 inch pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 400

Prepare your crust.  Roll to a 13 inch circle, place into a 9 inch glass pie pan. Gently tuck the dough into the pan and sculpt the edge.  Place in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 1/2 Tablespoons corn starch. Set aside.

Peel and slice apples into 1/4 inch thick slices.  You can cut some of the slices in half so that the apples lay more compactly.  Toss with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest.  Place in a large dutch oven (or large skillet) and cook, covered, over medium heat for about 15 minutes.  Stir often and remove from heat when apples are soft but still hold their shape.  Place apples into a colander over a bowl to remove excess moisture.  Let cool to room temperature.

Open Oregon Cherries and drain well.

While waiting for the apples to cool, make crumb topping.  Put the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor and pulse several times to mix.  Scatter the butter over the top.  Pulse repeatedly until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Empty the crumbs into a large bowl then rub them together between your fingers until you have large, buttery crumbs.

Turn apples and cherries into a bowl.  Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and toss with the remaining sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch mixture.  Give the mixture a quick squeeze of fresh lemon juice (you don’t want too much) and turn the mixture into chilled pie shell.

Place the crumbs on top of the pie and gently press them into place.

Place the pie on the center rack of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and the juices bubble.  Use a pie crust shield to prevent the crust from browning too much if necessary.  Let cool for at least an hour before slicing.  May this also be the best pie you’ve ever made!

Tuesdays With Dorie: White Loaves

7 Feb

I’ve taken back Tuesday.

Tuesday is such a bummer of a day.  It does not have the cache that Monday has.  Manic Monday.  Oh, looks like he has a case of the Mondays.  I’ll start on Monday.  Hop on Facebook on Sunday night and see how many posts mention Monday.

Wednesday has the unfortunate status of hump day, so that right there will allow it to live in infamy forever.  Thursday is the warm-up for the weekend and Friday is the golden child.  TGIF, baby.  Saturday and Sunday are awesome because for many of us, we don’t have to work, and they are filled with the promise of getting everything done you’ve been trying unsuccessfully to accomplish all week.

What does poor Tuesday have to offer?  Tuesdays With Dorie!

In 2008, a woman who received Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (ahem, my FAVORITE cookbook.  Ever.) for Christmas, embarked on a resolution to bake one recipe a week and invited other bloggers to join her.  Their project was called Tuesdays With Dorie because they would post their recipes on Tuesdays.  The clan was a closed group, so I have pined on the sidelines to play along ever since I found out about them.

Yes, the baking book is next to the Eat Clean Diet. A girl can dream.

Fast forward to last month on a car ride between work meetings.  I was listening to NPR and to my amazement, Dorie Greenspan was the guest on Talk of the Nation.  As I was desperately trying to call in to tell her how much I want to be her adore her cookbooks, she mentioned that the Tuesdays With Dorie group had completed the book (four years!) and was opening the group again in preparation for their new book, Baking With Julia by none other than Dorie Greenspan.  I was overcome with excitement and could not believe my good fortune to catch this interview.  I raced back to work and promptly did what any good employee would do; jumped on the internet and sent an email asking to join immediately!

So, I’m in!  Two Tuesdays a month I will be posting my attempt at the assigned recipe from Baking With Julia with the hopes of completing the entire book.  You should plan to be my friend in about two years because by then, I should be a darn good baker!  But no worries, the pie obsession continues – just not on Tuesday.

Recipe #1, White Loaves

For the recipe, click here to go to the blog hosting the recipe this week.

As much as I love to bake, I have not dabbled in bread.  That’s my husband’s territory.  In fact, I’m pretty sure these white loaves are my first official attempt at bread.

Of course, I’m reverting back to my college days with the recipe due on Tuesday and I’m up late baking on Monday night.  Some habits die hard.  What a relief to find how simple bread is – six ingredients!  Flour, salt, yeast, sugar, water and butter.  Why am I buying bread at the store?  While making this bread, I was channeling my friend Heather who has embarked on a February Bread Challenge – her version of Pie it Forward – and is reflecting on her experiences through her blog, Abundance Measures. She makes more bread than I make pie, so I figured I could uphold the February bread challenge with my two white loaves.  I’ll eat one and give one away!

It was full steam ahead and things were going great until I was ready for the bread hook.  To my dismay, the bread hook for my stand mixer was too long for the bowl – I had the wrong one!  I think my mother-in-law has mine.  The hook was too long to even lock the mixer into place.  But nothing was going to stand in the way of my first Tuesdays With Dorie post.  I started that unsecured mixer and bread hooked my little heat out.  Truth be told, about two minutes into the 10 minutes it needed to mix, I had to assume a football stance and hold the top of the mixer steady so it would not fling dough out at me. Nothing like eight minutes of taming a wild Kitchenaid mixer.  But I prevailed and the dough was ready for the first rise.

Before Rise

After the first rise

45 minutes later, I cut the dough in half and proceeded to shape the 12 x 9 inch rectangles as instructed.  The first one was a breeze, but I did whip out my measuring tape to be sure I was on target.

Size DOES matter

The second one wanted nothing to do with forming into a rectangle.  I kid you not, that ball of dough kept bouncing back into a heart!

I patted, I stretched, I nearly laid myself across it.  Finally, it came into a shape that was close enough.  I folded the dough as instructed, pinched the seam closed and placed them into their pans to rise for another 45 minutes.

After they had double in size, it was off to the oven to bake until they were golden brown.  The recipe says to stick a thermometer through the bottom to be sure that the internal temperature is 200 – a good tip for avoiding over or underdone bread.  I only had a meat thermometer but I figured if it could make my turkey moist, it could certainly safeguard my bread from over baking.

And then the moment of truth.  They looked beautiful as they baked in the oven and I only hoped that they tasted as good after the shenanigans I pulled trying to stretch one into a rectangle. I followed the tip in the book and took them out of their pans and returned them to the oven for the last five minutes for even browning.  Perfection!  This bread was so good that I went upstairs at 11pm, woke my husband up and made him eat some.  Breakfast on Tuesday will be something to look forward to!

As American As They Come Apple Pie

23 Jan

What better to commemorate National Pie Day then a big, deep-dish,  double-crust, packed to the brim, all-American apple pie?  And a darn right perfect one at that!  Yep, let’s just skip to the end – I did it and it was awesome.

Week after week, I sit here behind my keyboard and espouse my latest pietifications.  I’ve conquered fruit pies, lattice crusts, mini pies and butter crusts. Cream pies and custard pies – shoot, they ain’t got nothin’ on me.  Crimped edges?  Crispy bottom crust?  Bring it.  But there is one pie I have steered clear of.  One pie that threatens to topple all of the pie skills I have acquired over this past year.  The one, the only… DOUBLE CRUST APPLE PIE.  As if getting one crust right isn’t hard enough, this monstrosity demands perfection on the top and bottom!  I haven’t had the courage to take it on until now.  But a pie holiday calls for the most serious pie I can make.

This recipe is the collision of Grandma Ople’s tried and true and the America’s Test Kitchen 2006 scientific experiment.  I figured old school meets new school would be a good mash up.  Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie is one of the highest rated on Allrecipes.com.  If you know me, then you know that I swear by the four and five star recipes on that site.  On the rare occasion that I cook, you can pretty much bet that I found it on Allrecipes.  I also LOVE America’s Test Kitchen because really, why do your own experimenting when someone has already done it for you?

From Grandma Ople, I adopted her technique of making a caramel sauce to toss with the apples instead of the usual sugar/brown sugar mixture.  I also adopted the suggestion of saving some of that sauce and brushing the top crust with it.  America’s Test Kitchen confirmed what I had begun to notice about apple pie – cooking the apples first ensures that they don’t shrink away from the top crust and that you minimize the moisture that threatens to make your bottom crust soggy.  Voila – my perfect apple pie!

As American As They Come Apple Pie

Ingredients

1 double crust recipe of Best of Both Worlds pie crust.  Follow this link for the recipe and instructions.  Refrigerate the discs of dough for at least one hour or up to two days.

10 apples or about 5 pounds (6 Granny Smith, 4 Braeburn or Fuji)

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

3 Tablespoons flour

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 egg white, slightly beaten (for bottom crust)

Directions

Roll one disc of dough into a 13 inch circle.  Place into a 91/2 inch deep dish pie plate.  Trim dough to leave a 1/2 inch overhang.  Return to refrigerator to chill.  Next, roll the other disc of dough into a 13 inch circle and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and return to the refrigerator.

Place a baking sheet on the lowest rack of the oven.  Preheat oven to 425 (or 400 convection).

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

 

Peel and slice apples into 1/4 inch thick slices.  You can cut some of the slices in half so that the apples lay more compactly.  Toss with sugar/spice mixture and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest.  Place in a large dutch oven (or large skillet) and cook, covered, over medium heat for about 15 minutes.  Stir often and remove from heat when apples are soft but still hold their shape.  Place apples into a colander over a bowl to remove excess moisture.  Let cool to room temperature.

While apples are cooling, prepare caramel sauce.  In a medium saucepan, melt 4 Tablespoons of butter.  Once melted, add the flour and cornstarch to make a paste.  Add water, 1/2 cup brown sugar and remaining 1/4 cup of sugar.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Once the mixture reaches a boil, lower the heat and simmer for three minutes.  Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Toss apples with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice then add 2/3 of the caramel mixture.  Reserve some of the sauce to glaze the top crust.  Remove pie plate from refrigerator and brush bottom crust with slightly beaten egg white.  Pour apples into chilled pie shell and arrange so that they lay compactly.

I could have used more apples!

Cover gently with the top crust and trim the edges to 1/2 inch overhang.  To achieve an even edge, fold the edge of the top crust and tuck it under the edge of the bottom crust so that the smooth, folded edge is flush with the pie plate.  Create a decorative edge and then use a knife to cut four vents into the top.  Brush crust lightly with reserved caramel sauce and sprinkle with turbinado sugar if desired.

Place pie on baking sheet and bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until golden brown and juices bubble.

Use a pie shield or foil if crust begins to brown before pie is done.  Enjoy with ice cream, by itself, for breakfast, for a snack or all of the above!

 

 

Homemade Vanilla Extract

16 Jan

I have a silent competition going on in my office – I want to be the best baker.  I want to be the one that brings in a treat and watches my co-workers rush to the table because of my stellar reputation as the workplace baker.  Every office has one.  The minute word spreads that Jane brought in her famous blueberry pound cake, you rush to the kitchen hopeful that the office Gods have spared you a piece.

The reality is, I’m not always that girl.  There are a few of us who try to edge each other out with a secret sugar cookie recipe, or a homemade cake served up on a vintage cake platter.  But I have my place in the competition, so I have always regarded bringing baked goods to work as my territory.

Then one day, everything changed.  I had just arrived to work and was loaded down with my usual computer bag, lunch bag, bag of work papers that had accumulated in my car for a month, and a coffee.  I rounded the corner, and was greeted by a gorgeous pink cake sitting on the kitchen table.  As my bags dropped to the ground, I knew right away that this cake was a game-changer.  It was beautiful – none of us in this office could decorate like that.  Surely it wouldn’t taste as good as it looked!  After all, that’s my theory – the prettier the cake, the worse it tastes.

Without bothering to put my things away, I started scouring the office to see who the mystery cake maker was.  Down the row of offices I traveled, gathering more followers as I went along.  Everyone was eager to find out who this cake belonged to, and more importantly, when we could eat it.   Then I found her – it was the new girl I had just hired into my department.  Gasp!  I have just hired my own replacement!

We surrounded the table, passed out slices and began to eat.  Two bites in, a commotion arose from the back hall.  We walked back to find Dee Dee half out of her chair, hollering that this cake was so good she might cry.  I stood in utter disbelief.  This girl is only one week  in and has Dee Dee on the floor hollering in ecstasy over cake!  Here’s the thing about Dee Dee – you want to be on her good side because if Dee Dee’s not happy, ain’t no one happy.  And not much makes Dee Dee happy.  Except this cake apparently.  One week and the new girl has not only thwarted me from my reign as Cake Queen, but she has won over Dee Dee – something I’ve been trying to do for 8 years!

THIS CAKE WAS AMAZING.  I bowed down to her and begged for the recipe, asking her what in the world made it so good.  Her answer?  Homemade vanilla extract.  She was convinced that the homemade extract elevated the flavor and was better than any vanilla you could buy at the store.

Ever since that day, I’ve been eager to make my own vanilla.

While pie is usually judged by it’s crust, I’m just as picky about what goes into that crust.  From taste to texture – it has to be outstanding.  I mean, why spend all that careful time making a great crust and then dump a can of shiny, gooey pie filling into it?  I get so angry when I’m duped.  Like at the County Fair when the guy swore that the banana cream pie was an old family recipe and after one bite I could tell it was banana pudding with imitation banana flavoring.  Yuck.

I’m the most obsessive about vanilla.  I love, love, love vanilla and, yes, I pay $10 for that tiny bottle.  I feel like the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding who thinks he can cure everything with Windex.  I’m constantly having to reign in my tendency to add vanilla to everything.  It is high time I attempt some homemade vanilla – if not only to ramp up the taste of my sweets, but to save some money!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

For holiday gifts this year, I decided to make homemade vanilla extract and vanilla sugar for everyone.  What a great gift it turned out to be – so easy to make and a little goes a long way.  I had gifts for everyone!  If you want the gift to be ready to use, you’ll need to start two months ahead of time.  However, because planning is not my forte, I just attached gift tags that had the date it would be ready.

Because I was making a lot of extract, I found a reputable vendor to purchase beans for a good price.  Vanilla Products USA sells a pound of Madagascar beans for $27! AND, when the package arrived, they had thrown in an extra 1/8 of a pound.  It was vanilla heaven!

Ingredients

Vodka (decent vodka)

Madagascar vanilla beans

Directions

You will need 2 vanilla beans per 8 ounces of vodka.

Split the vanilla beans and place into container of your choice.  Mason jars, or any glass bottle with a good lid or seal.  I used 4 ounce bottles from a local craft store.  You could also put the beans right into the vodka bottle.

Pour vodka into the container and seal tightly.

Store in a cool, dark place for two-three months shaking once a week to distribute the vanilla.  Word has it, the longer it sits the better it will be (up to  six months if you are really serious).

The beans will continue to make extract for up to a year.  When your vanilla is about 75% gone, top it off with more vodka, wait a month and then you have more!

Here's the vanilla I made for myself after 1 month

Homemade Vanilla Sugar

1 vanilla bean

2 cups of sugar

Split the vanilla bean and scrape vanilla into the sugar.  Bury the vanilla bean in the sugar, cover and let sit for one week.  Use to flavor coffee, tea, oatmeal or to bake with!

Pear Eggnog Winter Pie

5 Jan

It’s 2012 and the best thing to do for a new year is to come clean and start fresh.  Don’t get excited – there’s nothing juicy here like sordid affairs, slipping my kids Benadryl so they will sleep, or a problem with shop lifting.  My confessions are rather mundane, but they are mine and blogging about them makes me feel like I can bless and release them, then move on.

I don’t recycle if the item is upstairs, in the kids’ room, in the bathroom, or anywhere really but the kitchen. And this is a step towards a greener me.

I feel guilty that I don’t feel guilty for being a working Mom.  I’ve felt like this for a while and am waiting for some type of guilt to set in for working full time and liking it.  But I’m fine.  So instead, I feel guilty that I don’t feel guilty.

I did karaoke just before Christmas in a bar full of strangers.  On a Wednesday. Sober.  My husband and I also have our own personal library of karaoke songs – nearly 1,000.  And we do karaoke.  Sober.  On any day.

This blog didn’t start entirely because of pie and I didn’t tell you the whole story.  I was totally into pie, so that part is true. The rest of the truth is that this blog came into being because I needed a distraction from a miscarriage that I had over the summer.  My husband and I finally got the nerve to try for a third child, succeeded for a brief moment, and lost the pregnancy.  This was my fourth miscarriage (three before my first son) and I was looking for a way to distract myself from the disappointment.  While I think I cope with my miscarriages pretty darn well, I do tend to do something slightly drastic after each one.

#1 – adopted two cats.

#2 – Painted every room downstairs in one night

#3 – Moved to Portland, Oregon (for a minute – found out I was pregnant (again) three weeks after I got there, quit my job and moved back to Cleveland.  That was the now 5 year old.)

Having a fourth miscarriage in the midst of raising two boys, a dog, a cat (left over from the first miscarriage), and a harder job left me with slim pickings for drastic change.  So instead of moving across the country, I started baking even more pie and blogging about it.  In those first weeks, I was making pie three or four times a week.  Pie is about precision and paying attention – especially when you’re new at it.  I found that the process of making pie cleared my head and prevented my mind from wandering and over-analyzing the summer’s events.  The rolling, the shaping, the baking, the eating – pie raised up my let down spirits and provided comfort.  And since we’re confessing here, it also added a few more pounds.

I love making pie.  I love giving it to people.  I didn’t know it at the time, but this funny little hobby has given me so much more than just a distraction.  It’s given me some space in my life to practice the art of gratitude and acceptance.  And that’s what I never had before – I always had to react, to make sense of things, make a plan, move on, go, go, go.  Who knew pie would teach me how to just be still and enjoy the slice of life that is mine?

Pear Eggnog Winter Pie

Adapted from Vegetarian Times

My coworker sent me a recipe for a Pear Eggnog Pie from Vegetarian Times a couple of weeks ago.  One look at this pie and I knew it was my next suspect!  There were some things about it that I wanted to tweak, so I used the recipe as my base and developed what I think is a pretty awesome winter pie.

Ingredients

1 recipe of pie dough for a 9 inch crust

10 gingersnaps (pulsed into fine crumbs)

3 medium pears (peeled and sliced about 1/4 -1/2 inch thick)

1 Tablespoon crushed or minced fresh ginger (in the jar if you’re lazy like me)

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 can evaporated milk

2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon rum

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

Ahead of time:

Make pie dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to two days.

Pre-bake the crust:

Preheat oven to 400.  Roll dough into a 12 inch circle and place into a 9 inch pie plate.  You will want to leave a one-inch over hang by cutting the dough to even it out.  Tuck edges under and sculpt an upstanding ridge if desired.  Place pie plate in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Partially bake the crust by lining the pie with foil filled with rice, beans or pie weights.  You want enough to keep the crust from puffing up while baking.  Place the pie on the center rack and bake for 25 minutes.  Carefully remove the foil (save the rice for next time!), and using a fork, poke several holes into the bottom of the crust – particularly in the parts that have puffed. Bake for another 8 minutes until just barely starting to brown.  Remove from oven and let cool while you make the filling. * Cover the edges with foil or a pie shield if browning too fast.

Make the filling:

Keep oven at 400.  Using a food processor or mini-chopper (or a ziploc bag and a rolling pin) turn the ginersnaps into fine crumbs.  Line the baked, cooled crust with a thin layer of gingersnap crumbs.

Peel and slice pears.  Toss together with lemon juice and ginger in a medium bowl.  Arrange the pears in rows, standing on edge along the bottom of the crust.  Place pie plate on a baking sheet.

Whisk the sugar and eggs together until well blended.  Add in the evaporated milk.  Continuing to whisk well, add the vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and rum.  Pour mixture over pears into the prepared pie shell.

Place pie on the center rack of the oven and cook for 15 minutes at 400.  Lower the temperature to 350 and cook for another 35-40 minutes until the middle is set.  Ovens will vary, so begin watching it after 30 minutes.  Enjoy with ice cream or fresh whipped cream!

Hungarian Kiflis (it’s not pie!)

18 Dec

There comes a time when you need to leave the pie behind and get down to business.  It’s Christmas and I have other baked goods standing in line waiting for some attention.  First on the list – my Grandma’s Hungarian Kiflis.

I would venture to say that I have been eating Kiflis since before I could walk.  As soon as the babies in my family are old enough to gum a teething biscuit, they are ready for Kiflis.

Elliot conquers his first Kifli

I’m very territorial over these Kiflis.  Friends will say, “Oh, we make those – they are Kolache.”  No way – those are Czechoslovakian.  Or someone will mention that they have a recipe for the same thing – Rugelach.  Close, but not the same thing.   Kiflis are a soft, yeast-based pastry that are rolled closed around an apricot, plum or nut filling.  They are not super sweet and are the perfect side for a cup of coffee.

This is our family recipe. It didn’t come out of a food blog, nor did it come from the pages of the latest epicurian magazine.  It came from my Grandmother’s tattered cookbook that now rests proudly in my kitchen.  I became the new owner of this cookbook when my Grandmother moved into a nursing home several years ago.  This was the one and only item that I begged to have.  I adored her cooking and wanted to learn straight from her pen.

The year my Grandmother went into the nursing home would also be the first year that she did not make Kiflis for Christmas.  Instead, I decided to pass the torch to myself and learn to make these beloved pastries.  I made them that year the same way I do now – using her bowl, apron, spoon and rolling pin (I really don’t know what it is, but it’s good for rolling).  I figured I’d do my best to put some good Kifli karma into the air and use the tools that had spent decades producing these little horns of goodness.

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Caramel Apple Mini Pies

11 Dec

Do you ever have those weeks where you feel like you’re trying way too hard?  For some reason, you have deliberately complicated your days with too many tasks and too many commitments all in the name of proving to yourself you can do it all? That was my week.

I blame it on kindergarten.  If they were grading me, my report card would be full of “NI” (Needs Improvement).  I keep hearing my husband’s words when I suggested that I’d rather feed my kids cereal for dinner than buy Market Day fundraiser food.   “We can’t be THOSE parents.  We have to be involved.” Look, I’m a joiner.  I’m a helper.  Need something?  I’m your girl.  I’m Miss Involvement….usually.

I made the rookie mistake of agreeing to the very first thing the PTO asked me to do.  It was going to be nearly impossible with such short notice, but my husband’s words were haunting me.  I was asked to bake a breakfast casserole and provide muffins and bread for a teacher appreciation breakfast and deliver them to the coordinator’s home that night.  Here’s what I was up against: I had to work late, my husband had to work late, and my kids (and dog) were being dropped at my in-laws until I could go get them.  Somewhere in there I had to make  breakfast casserole, get some muffins and bread and deliver them at a reasonable hour. Oh, and put my kids to bed.

So I did what any hard working, multitasking Mom would do…totally forgot I was supposed to do it.

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