DEDICATION TO PIE

NO FAIL PIE CRUST 

This recipe comes from the aunt (Aunt Laura) of my sister's (Genny) dear college friend (Joan).

It works beautifully every time and is easy to handle. And I love that it makes 6 crusts!

3/4 cup water
3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt

Mix above ingredients together and make a paste.

4 cups flour
2 cups Crisco

Cut shortening into flour and add paste to form dough. Roll out your dough kind of thin, adding flour so it doesn't stick to your rolling pin. But try not to overdo it with the flour. You want flakiness ... too much flour won't keep the good consistency. Get creative! Pinch the edges to make a pattern. Or for fruit pies, do the criss-cross thingy on the top.

This recipe makes 6 crusts.

CHERRY STRUESEL PIE

I always try to make Greg a pie for his birthday. The last two or three years he has asked for cherry. This pie is the result of my experiments and tests, so far it wins my vote for best cherry pie.

Filling:

1 bag frozen sweet dark cherries (about 3 cups)

1 can tart cherries drained (retain the liquid in case you need it later for diluting)

1 cup sugar

4 T. cornstarch

big pinch salt

Cook frozen cherries over medium heat, covered, until they release a significant amount of juice. Part way through this process, add drained canned cherries. Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir into hot cherries. Return to heat. Cook on low, uncovered until thickened, stirring occasionally. Cool completely. (If too thick, add cherry juice. Too thin, add more cornstarch.)

Streusel:

1 c. oats

1 c. flour 

6 T. packed brown sugar 

1/2 c. granulated sugar 

3/4 t. cinnamon 

1/4 t. salt 

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 t. vanilla 

Mix dry ingredients. Add vanilla to melted butter. Add that to dry ingredients, rub with fingertips until small clumps form. You can do this ahead, just store in fridge if it's more than 4 hours.

Assemble Pie:

1 No Fail Pie Crust, rolled for regular pie pan 

Cherry Pie Filling 

2 T. Butter 

Streusel Topping 

Line pie plate with crust. Add cooled filling. Dot with butter. Cover with Streusel Topping, press down to adhere. Bake at 325* for 20 minutes. Tent loosely and bake until it bubbles thickly and streusel is golden, about 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Store leftovers, covered in the fridge. Greg will eat a slice for breakfast the next morning.

I'm back, baby!

This is a recipe blog that I started about 7 years ago. It's purpose with for me to have internet access to some favorite recipes no matter where we were while traveling on Let's Start Talking mission trips. 

For several years I had lost the ability to post and edit on this blog. I tried to blame the powers that run such web sites for this problem, but I will admit what we all know to be most likely true...user error! I have been so sad to lose this site because I had put so much time into it and it is so convenient, AND, I love sharing it with my friends. 

I'm so excited that I finally figured out the problem and I can once again post on this blog! I have lots of recipes that I want to add. And also lots of updates and corrections that I want to make.

If you like cooking, or just reading recipes, have a look around and enjoy.

***Instructions for searching on this blog:

Recipes are categorized by food types, click the label (to the left) that best matches what you are looking for then scroll down to see all the recipes in that category.

More Scones

Ginger/Nut Simple Scones

Simple Scones 

 2 cups all-purpose flour 

   1/3 cup sugar  

  1 tsp baking powder    

1/4 tsp baking soda   

 1/8 tsp salt    

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

8 Tbsp butter, salted    

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup molasses 

 1  eggs    

1/2 cup crystal sugar 

1 cup pecan pieces

 Directions: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix flour,  sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.. Add 1/2 cup of pecans to flour mixture. Make sure butter is cold and cut into chunks; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal). In a small bowl, whisk yogurt, molasses and egg until smooth. Using a fork, stir egg mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.) Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Press in remaining pecans on top. Sprinkle generously with crystal sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Serve warm with butter and jam. These hold up well leftover. Just reheat in microwave (wrap in paper towel) for about 20 seconds.

Simple Scone Recipe (the new favorite)

Simple Scones 

 2 cups all-purpose flour 

   1/3 cup sugar  

  1 tsp baking powder    

1/4 tsp baking soda   

 1/8 tsp salt    

8 Tbsp butter, salted    

1/2 cup sour cream   

 1  eggs    

1/2 cup crystal sugar 

 Directions: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix flour,  sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make sure butter is cold and cut into chunks; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal). In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.) Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle generously with crystal sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Serve warm with butter and jam. These hold up well leftover. Just reheat in microwave (wrap in paper towel) for about 20 seconds.

Sausage Balls

I have been a bit dissatisfied with sausage balls lately. I think they are a really great party food but they often seem kind of tough like hard little knots. I've always used the traditional Bisquick recipe but decided it was time to improve upon them. I am pretty pleased with the result.

SAUSAGE BALLS
3 c. flour
3 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 lb. raw ground sausage
2 c. grated cheddar cheese
3/4 c. buttermilk
1 stick melted butter

Sift together dry ingredients. By hand mix in sausage and cheese until crumbly. Add buttermilk until all dry ingredients are moist. Roll into balls and place on greased baking sheet. Brush on melted butter. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until browned.
Freezes well.
Makes about 24.

Chicken & Dumplins

For the stew:
3 lb. chicken
2-4 t. vegetable oil
1/2 stick butter
2-4 carrots, sliced 1/4 in. thick
2 ribs celery, large chunks
1 large onion, minced
6 T. flour
1/4 c. coke or white wine
4 1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. milk
2 t. thyme, minced
2 bay leaves

For the dumplins:
2 cups flour
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. milk
3 T. butter

For the stew:
Heat 2 T. oil in a large dutch oven over medium/high heat until very hot but not smoking. Salt and pepper chicken and place in hot oil. Cook until golden on both sides, about 10 minutes. Take out chicken and remove browned skin. If you can't fit all the chicken in at once, then repeat these steps with the remaining chicken. Pour off oil from pan and then put in 1/2 stick of butter. When melted add the carrots, celery, onion and 1/4 t. salt and cook until soft, about 7 minutes. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the coke/wine, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the broth, milk, thyme and bay leaves. Nestle the chicken into the pot. Cover and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked and tender, about 1 hour.
Transfer the chicken to a plate and allow to cool. Remove bay leaves and celery pieces from the broth and then let it set a while to allow the oil and fat to settle on top. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and shred. Skim off the fat from the broth with a spoon. Add chicken meat back into the broth. Return to a simmer. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
For the dumplins:
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Melt 3 T. butter and mix with 1 c. milk. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until incorporated.
Drop golf ball sized dumplins over the top of the stew, about 1/4 in. apart. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the dumplins have doubled in size and are no longer doughy, 15-18 minutes (you may wish to turn the dumplins about half way through cooking time.
This makes about 6 generous servings.

MORE DESSERTS

KENTUCKY DERBY COOKIE BARS
I needed more dessert than one pie would serve and I already had one crust and didn't want to make another, so I decided I could adjust my Kentucky Derby Pie recipe to make it in a casserole dish and therefore get 15-20 pieces instead of 8 pieces. I thought it turned out pretty good.

2 c. sugar
1 c. flour
1/2 c. melted butter
1 T. vanilla
4 eggs, beaten
1 c.(or more) pecan pieces
2 c. chocolate chips
1 unbaked pie shell
Roll out pie dough to cover bottom of 13x9 inch casserole dish.
Stir flour and sugar together with fork. Add butter and then eggs and blend. Add remaining ingredients (except pecans) and mix. Pour into unbaked pie shell top with pecans and bake at 325 degrees for 45-55 min. Top should be golden and the center should feel set. Cool, cut and serve.



MIXED BERRY COBBLER
This one is a bit labor intensive but well worth the trouble. I remember my Aunt Thelma making a wonderful cobbler that had the crust rolled around the filling kind of like a jelly roll so I started looking for a similar recipe on the internet. I found one that sounded right and with a little tweaking, I finally got the results I was looking for.

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
1 c. water
1 c. vanilla brandy (I like Kashmir)
3 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 T. baking powder
1 c. butter
2/3 c. milk
4 c. berries (I prefer a mixture of blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry)(fresh is best but frozen will work)
4 T. sugar
Sugar Crystals

Preheat oven to 350.
Melt 1 c. butter in a big casserole dish, set aside.
Heat the sugar and water until sugar melts, set aside.

Sift dry ingredients and mix together. Cut butter into flour until fine crumbs. Add milk and work together until dough forms (add more flour if sticky). Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead 3 or 4 times. Roll 1/2 dough to 11 inches, 4 inches thick. Spread 2 cups berries over dough and sprinkle with 2 T. sugar. Roll up like a jelly roll. Repeat with other 1/2 of dough. Cut into 1 1/4 inch slices.
Place in pan over butter. Add brandy to water/sugar mixture and pour over slices. Sprinkle with sugar crystals. I usually check half way through baking to see if it needs more crystals.
Bake one hour. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.



SERIOUSLY CHOCOLATY BROWNIES

5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 c. butter, cut into pieces
2 T. cocoa powder
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract (more if using imitation)
3 large eggs
3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and place rack in center of oven. Butter 8 inch square pan.
Melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and stir in cocoa and sugar. Whisk in the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Finally, stir in the flour, salt and chocolate chips.

Pour into pan. Bake for about 30 min. or until toothpick comes out with moist clumps. Cool on wire rack.