Mommy's Little Helpers...

     One of my favorite books as a kid was "We Help Mommy" and to a lesser extent, "We Help Daddy" by Jean Cushman, as illustrated by Eloise Wilkin (the best illustrator Little Golden Books ever had, in my opinion).

     "We Help Mommy" was probably my favorite because my Mom did most of the stuff in the Mommy book, but Dad didn't do much of the stuff in the Daddy book. 

    Washing the dog and trimming hedges just wasn't something people did in rural North Carolina.  My Daddy was busy digging the foundation to our addition by himself with a shovel, not smoking his pipe and painting fences! 

     But anyway... I loved the part of the We Help Mommy book where the little girl makes her Daddy a pie.  Even as a child it seemed so domestically delicious and 1950's perfect that she would know how to make pie and use the cherries to make a face. 

     I bought my kids a copy off Amazon just so I could read them this book for Reading Week.  There is a large portion of the book that I don't do.  Nobody in my house uses place mats, for starters.  But it is an encouragement to kids, I think, to see what they are capable of and a reminder for parents, too (or at least me) of all the little ways kids can help out around the house.  "We Help Daddy" is on its way too, but there isn't much in there about playing iPad and breaking down boxes in the garage... 

     Fortunately, in our rough approximation of 2013 perfection, there is lots of room for pie.

We Help Mommy Individual Cherry Pies

Pie Crust Recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, pg. 866.  Method, mine.

1C plus 2 Tbs all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
8 Tbs (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into about 8 pieces
3 Tbs ice water, plus more if necessary
1 can pitted cherries in syrup

Place dry ingredients into a bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade, if you have one.  Pulse four or five times to combine.  Add the butter one piece at a time, pulsing in between.  Once all butter has been introduced, run the processor until crumbs begin to form.  Add ice water one tablespoon at a time and run the processor until a ball forms (about 2 minutes).  Add more water if necessary to form a cohesive ball that's not too wet.

Roll dough on a well floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut to desired shapes.  Place dough into floured press, fill, and close to seal edges.  Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 350° for 25-35 minutes.

Notes:
You can refrigerate the dough for an hour if you have time, I just went ahead and let the boys roll these out.  The Pie Mold is made by Tovolo, but for the life of me, I can't remember where I got it.  I think I found it on sale somewhere.  It's a great little press that works well for savory as well as sweet pies with good crust/filling ratios.  Wilton, Progressive, and Norpro also make similar molds.  The pie crust recipe made exactly enough for four personal pies with just a tiny bit left over.

I was going to use cherries I'd canned myself a couple of years ago in these pies, but it seems two year old cherries smell a bit fermented.  I didn't want to take a chance at any rate, so I used these cherries by Oregon brand.  I like that brand for storebought fruit if I must use it because there's really nothing in it except fruit and sugar water.  This can filled these pies just right.  I didn't add anything else to the filling, but a little cinnamon would be a nice touch if you like.

Review:
I made the boys wait until after dinner to have these and they nearly died waiting.  The good news is it was totally worth the wait! 

Summer Party Run Down...

Ok so, like, last time I was all, "I bought Angry Bird band-aids because I'm awesome," well this time I'm all, "I didn't need to use any band-aids because this time we sent a kid to the hospital."  Yeah.  We don't do anything half way around here.  Poor kid scraped her toe riding one of my kid's bikes and no amount of Neosporin and Angry Birds was going to do it.  Fortunately, she got all patched up and was able to come back to the party.  Lookit what we had!

~*~

Menu:

Puka Dogs (pure beef, and vegetarian hot dogs) slathered in aioli and mango chutney, on either Hawaiian Sweet Bread buns or gluten-free/grain-free buns.

Macaroni salad

Cucumber salad

Hawaiian Maui Chips

Fresh papaya, mango, and pineapple fruit bowl

Bananas

Haupia (coconut pudding)

Okinawan Sweet Potato pie with macadamia nut whipped "cream"

Gluten-Free Vegan brownies

Chocolate Cupcakes baked in ice cream cones

Tropical Juice

Spa Water

~*~

 

 For playtime (besides the bicycles of doom) we had bubbles,

bubbles,

 

more bubbles, 

  And marshmallow cannons!  A paper cup with the bottom cut out + a balloon tied, with the top cut off = one heck of a marshmallow shooter!  They actually come out pretty hard, so make sure not to shoot them at anybody or, as my son is demonstrating, yourself.

Now, back to the food!

 So my whole idea for this party was that everyone in the world needs to eat a Puka Dog.  Puka means "hole" in Hawaiian and somebody on Kauai invented the most delicious hot dog on the planet.  It involves poking a hole into some Hawaiian sweet bread, filling it with aioli, and mango chutney and shoving a hot dog in there.  I blogged about it last year but nobody really jumped on the wagon.  So I decided that if the interwebs aren't going to go nuts, at least all my friends should!

 The whole menu came from the idea for the dogs.  Not a formal luau, more of a backyard get together Hawaiian style.

Pineapple, mango, papaya and some limes for them 'cuz I'm all addicted now and stuff...

I found a new Hawaiian Sweet Bread recipe that makes quite a bit.  It is wonderful. 

You can see some of the labels I made.  Almost everyone we invited had a different food issue.  We had gluten free people, people who can't do grains, soy free people, some who are off dairy, and then of course, boring ol' vegetarians.  It was nuts.   This label says: "Hawaiian Sweetbread Buns: Contains gluten, eggs, and dairy, soy free.  Soon to contain 1 hot dog."

 The label for this cucumber salad said: "Grain free, soy free, gluten free, dairy free.  I swear if somebody's allergic to cucumbers I'm gunna hack something."  Fortunately, there was no hacking...

This recipe is pretty simple.  You can edit ratios based on your taste and the number of servings you need:

Cucumber Salad

3 Cucumbers, peeled, seeded and sliced to about 1/4 inch

1 Red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

2 Tbs Rice or cider vinegar

2 Tbs Olive oil

2 Tbs Dill

Salt and Pepper

Combine cucumber and onion in large bowl.  Whisk to combine vinegar, olive oil, dill, salt and pepper and pour dressing over cucumbers.  I made this up a few hours before the party and everything was still crispy, the next morning the colors had run in the onions and the cucumbers were softening, so I'd say make between 1 and 4 hours before serving, but not much longer than that.

Hawaiian style macaroni salad.  Apparently, the biggest secret is Best Foods mayo (aka Hellman's on the East coast)  I hate Best Foods like beyond, but this was pretty good salad.  This is another of those "non recipe" recipes:

Hawaiian Style Macaroni Salad

1 lb macaroni

4-5 carrots, peeled and shredded

1/2 medium onion, grated

2 C Best Foods mayo

Salt and Pepper

Cook the macaroni and drain it.  One website I found said macaroni is usually cooked pretty soft for this recipe.  When the macaroni cools, mix in the rest of the ingredients and refrigerate over night.  A couple of the recipes I referenced specifically said "NO RELISH!"  So there you go.  Easy peasy.

Gluten-Free, Grain-Free hot dog buns, another really easy recipe.  I found it on a blog called Nichole's Special Diet Creations.  Nothing in these except almond flour, yogurt, eggs, coconut oil, salt, and baking soda.  The hardest part of this recipe is bringing the eggs up to room temperature.  They're pretty tasty, too! 

These guys know what's good...  These were chocolate cupcakes baked in ice cream cones, topped with lime buttercream frosting.  There are lots of ways to get your ice cream cones to stand up in the oven, but I bought this nifty rack, which is a great way to serve them, too.  I just used my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe and fiddled around with the frosting until it tasted OK.

Here it is:

Lime Buttercream Frosting

1 stick butter, softened

4 Cups confectioner's sugar

Juice of 3 key limes

Drop, whole milk

Combine the butter and confectioner's sugar with a mixer until it resembles crumbs, add lime juice and mix again, add milk a few drops at a time until frosting comes together.  If you add too much, add a little more confectioner's sugar.  Seriously good stuff, though it gave my husband a sugar rush before he got finished with half his cone!

This is haupia.  Lemme just say something here, hominahominahomina, OK?  This stuff is fantastic.  I have had it before at luaus and it's kinda bland and rubbery.  This recipe is pure coconut happiness.  It's softer than I was expecting and I nearly ate the whole pan before it even cooled off.  I love warm pudding. mmmm... warm pudding.... glurgle...  This recipe comes from John Fischer on about.com.

Haupia

2 cups coconut milk 

1 cup whole milk

6 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 tsp vanilla (optional)

Pour one cup of coconut milk into a saucepan. Combine sugar and cornstarch stirring into coconut milk. (Add vanilla if desired.  I added it.) Heat over low stirring consistently until thickened.  Add remainder of coconut milk and whole milk and continue to heat until thickened. Pour into 8 inch square pan and chill until firm. 

You may remember that we ate purple sweet potato pie on our last trip to HI.  This, my friends is purple sweet potato pie.  Purple sweet potatoes are sometimes called Okinawan sweet potatoes or purple yams.  I found these at a local Asian market.  The produce manager was quick to point out that he stocked only the gnarled "ugly" ones from Hawai'i and not the larger ones grown in CA, which he apparently viewed with no small amount of derision.  I don't know about the California ones, but these Hawaiian ones are awesome.  And yeah, that whipped cream?  That's vegan macadamia nut whipped "cream", because Cara Reed is also awesome...  And also, squeeze a little lime juice over it?  More awesome, though probably not authentic...

I found the pie filling recipe here.  Quick note: I didn't realize when I made this recipe it makes enough for 3 pies or around 2 deep dish pies.  So I've got another pie's worth of filling in my fridge right now.  I'm not complanin'.  I'm just sayin'.

Okinawan Sweet Potato Pie

Yield: 3 pies 

5 cups mashed potatoes

4 eggs

2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 cup softened butter
2 cans evaporated milk

3 unbaked pie crusts

Boil sweet potatoes until soft, peel and mash until no lumps.  Add remainder of ingredients, beat with beater until creamy. Pour into pie shell.  Cover edge of crust with foil strips making sure not to touch the filling.  Bake at 425° for 15 minutes; then, bake at 250° for 40-50 minutes.  Test the doneness by sticking in a toothpick.

Vegan, Gluten-free Brownies from my buddy Chinmayie over at Love Food Eat.  I have made these twice and they are fantastic!  They are especially good pared with the whipped "cream", too!

Of all the things I made for this party, the recipe that drove me the craziest was homemade POG.  POG is a Hawaiian drink that we can actually buy in the grocery stores here but it is chock full of high fructose corn syrup and other nasties.  POG stands for Passionfruit, Orange, and Guava.  Apparently it also stands for "extraordinarily hard to make from scratch if you live in the Pacific Northwest..."  This is how I wanted to make it:

pure passionfruit juice

freshly squeezed orange juice

pure guava juice  

Stir it up. Be complimented.

So apparently neither passionfruit nor guava is in season now so freshly squeezed was right out.  Then, I tried looking for boxed juices.  On the Thursday before the party I found the Ceres brand boxed juices which carry both passionfruit and guava with no preservatives or sugars but I couldn't find it in any local stores and I couldn't get it delivered in time.  Then I decided to try concentrates.  All of the passionfruit juice had some other juice added to it and all of the guava had high fructose corn syrup.  The straw that broke the camel's back though, was when I asked my husband to stop by a local store to pick up some fresh squeezed orange juice.  And the store.  Was closed.  For renovations.  I took this as a sign.  Only Hawaiians should make POG.  Unless you have a month of prep time.  And I didn't.  I threw my hands up in the air and mixed up a bunch of stuff I found.  (It's darn hard to mix juice with your hands in the air, btw...)

Not POG Tropical Juice

1/2 container Hawaii's Own concentrated guava nectar

1/4 container concentrated pineapple juice

1/4 jug Earthwise Passionfruit Aloe juice

juice 1/2 large orange

water

lemon slices

lime slices

water

Mix juices with enough water to dissolve and float lemon and lime slices on top.  Let sit for about an hour if you have the time.  This was a huge hit with the kids, but I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't do what I wanted originally...

 After we finished eating, my son decided to give a speech.  (He made the podium all by himself.)  Mostly it went, "Thank you all for coming.  I hope you have a great time!"

I think people did...

Valentine's Day is Not for Sissies...

     I have to say first thing that I didn't really plan on doing a Valentine's Day post.  But then I made the pie pops.  And then I made the cupcakes.  And then I made the Valentines.  And I simply had to. 

Doily Valentines, just like Mom used to make.  The present is a box of candy hearts.  (The boys are nuts for those awful things!)

     The second thing I have to say is I am not a big "pink person."  Until I made the pie pops.  And the cupcakes.  And the Valentines.  And now I am in love with Valentine's Day for the sheer pink girliness of it.

     The boys have a skating party today with a group of other homeschooled kids (shhhh... they don't know yet...).  We're supposed to bring Valentines for 12 kids and a treat to share.  Long, rambling, boring story (involving a frustrating trip to Michael's and an extended fruitless search for chocolate lips) short, I decided to make pie pops for the Valentines.  I know.  Every blogger in the world has made them, but I had to, you see?  They're just so stinkin' cute.  And, Cheese and Sprinkles!  Who wouldn't want to eat pie on a stick?!

     I've been baking my tail off today.  None of it is even remotely original and I don't care.  It's all delicious!  These pie pops are everywhere (originated by Luxirare) and are pretty self explanatory, but I thought I'd share the crust recipe I used.  It's from the Better Homes and Gardens Old Fashioned Baking book on page 76.

2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 C shortening or lard (I used 1/3 C shortening and 1/3 C salted, softened butter)
6 to 7 Tbs cold water

In a large bowl, stir together flour and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening or lard till pieces are the size of small peas.  Sprinkle 1 Tbs of the water over part of the mixture, then gently toss with a fork.  Push to side of the bowl.  Repeat, using 1 Tbs of water at a time, till all is moistened.  Divide dough in half.  Form each half into a ball.

***
The rest is my direction:
     Roll the dough out and cut with cookie cutters.  Place bottom half of the pop on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper or parchment.  Gently press lollipop stick onto the bottom half.  Place small amount of jam (about 1/4 tsp depending on the size of your shape) over the stick.  Then put the second half on top and seal the edges with a broken piece of lollipop stick.  You can use an egg white wash over top if you really want to make them special.

     Bake at 375° for 10-15 minutes or until tops are nicely browned.  Remove as quickly as possible to a cooling rack.  Any jam that has leaked out will caramelize on the paper and it's darn near impossible to get them up if they cool completely.  (Trust me on this...)

     These cupcakes are the treat we're bringing.  I used my favorite cupcake recipe of all time by Cheryl Porro over at Cupcake Bakeshop.  The frosting is hers, without the chocolate and considerably less milk.  I added natural food coloring to make the pink and a tad of vanilla extract.  These.  Cupcakes.  Are.  Divine.  (Even though my piping skills are not...)

I hope you are all spending today with the one(s) you love.  Have a sweet and happy Valentine's Day, everybody!  (Wish me luck at the skate party, wrangling two sugared-up kids on skates is one of those wacky times that try men's souls...)

You're Invited...

I was going to invite one family over for the 4th.  Then I went all crazy and invited three more.  I have been posting some snooty fruity recipes lately.  Most of which reflect how we eat on a fairly regular basis.  Today, though, I'm going to post some honest-to-goodness-shut-yo'-mouth-awesome mostly Southern recipes that reflect our roots and make for one w00tastic spread. 

I plan on posting menus here from time to time.  I like to plan big meals out in advance and if I like it, I do it again. I've got a few.  For the Fourth, I decided to go All-American.  It didn't hurt that most of my guests were Southern (or at least knew a good slaw when they saw it.)  The best party food can be served hot, room temp, or cold, and made in advance.  So, without further ado, here it is, a giant photo/recipe dumpapalooza.  Recipes to make any outdoor party!

Our menu was as follows: Fried Chicken, hot dogs, Baked Beans, Coleslaw, Red-White-&-Blue Potato Salad, Lavender Lemonade,Pecan Pie, juice pouches, chips, watermelon, cherries, and plenty of water to keep everyone hydrated.

I had this recipe in the box, but it originally came from one of my cookbooks.  It's a sentimental favorite of mine for no other reason than it's full of recipes for 'possum and chitlins and (I'm not kidding) pig tails.  As well as a hundred or so recipes for various versions of deep fried love.  It's called The Treasury of White Trash Cooking.  It has not one, but two, (you heard me,honey), two fried chicken recipes!  This one is on page 181.

 

Countrified Fried Chicken

Cut 1 fryer into pieces.  Salt and pepper each piece.  Combine 3/4 C of flour, 2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp of pepper in a plastic bag.  Shake each one until they are coated will with the flour mixture.  You can fry chicken in a deep-fat fryer, covered for 5 minutes, then uncovered, until coating is golden brown.  Turn chicken occasionally.  You can also fry chicken in a skillet on your stove.  My grandma always fried her chicken in fried meat's grease and a pinch of garlic salt.

My substitutions/additions:

I cooked mine in an improvised frier.  A dutch oven with a bottle of oil poured in it.  Try to have about 3 inches of oil in your pan.  I could fit 4-6 pieces of chicken in at a time.  It took 10 minutes per batch.  I had my oven set to 350° to finish off any pieces that didn't quite get done.  For this, it wouldn't hurt to have had two thermometers, which I don't.  (One to read the oil temp and one to check the meat temp.)  Ah well, it didn't waste that much time.  Keep the oil between 310° and 375°.  A deep fryer is probably better at regulating the temperature, I had to keep fiddling with the heat, but it seemed to work and nobody got salmonella.

Review:

Nothing but thumbs up on this one!

Next up? Baked Beans.

I found this recipe at beanbible.com in 2003.  The website is still operating, but this recipe is no longer available.

Dr Pepper Baked Beans
 yield 6 servings

1 28 oz can pork and beans (or two regular-sized 14-oz cans)
1 onion, chopped fine
1 green pepper, chopped fine
1 tomato, chopped fine
1/2 c dark brown sugar
1/3 C Dr. Pepper
1/8 tsp ground cloves (I left these out)

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Drain liquid from the pork and beans.  Pour beans into a bean pot, if you have one, or a baking dish if you don't.  Gently mix in onion, green pepper, and tomato into the beans.
Combine sugar, Dr. Pepper, and cloves (if you use them) until sugar is dissolved.  Pour evenly over the bean mixture.  Bake, covered, for an hour.  Check on the beans; they might need a little more time than that.  but don't overcook them.

You could successfully substitute ginger ale for the Dr. Pepper for a different flavor.

My substitutions/additions:

I used Bush's Vegetarian baked beans and doubled the recipe.

Review:

One of these days I want to attempt this with my own white beans instead of canned, but this recipe is so easy and quick to put together using canned!  Oh, and it tastes awesome! 

Now, I have lived all over this beautiful country of ours.  And let me tell you something: they only make coleslaw right in the South.  And at KFC.  My Grandmother used to make coleslaw with just cabbage and vinegar and onions, sort of a fresh kraut.  I'd give anything if I could find that recipe.  This particular recipe is based on the KFC coleslaw.  I found it at topsecretrecipes.com.

Just Like KFC Coleslaw
(Serves 6-8)

8 C finely chopped cabbage
1/4 C carrot, shredded
2 T minced white onion
1/3 C sugar
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1/4 C milk
1/2 C mayo
1/4 C buttermilk
1 1/2 T white vinegar
2 1/2 T lemon juice

Cut cabbage and carrots into pieces about the size of rice and put into a large bowl.  Combine sugar, salt, pepper, milks, mayo, vinegar, and lemon.  Beat until smooth.  Pour over carrots, cabbage, and onion.  Mix well.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. 

Notes:

• I use a  salad shooter with the shredder cone in to cut all the veggies for this. 
• This may serve 6-8 in the South, but it's much, much more than that in the rest of the world where people don't know what good is.
• Mixing this up the night before makes it a great recipe for picnics and it tastes better the second day.

Review:

This slaw is great on hotdogs (called a slaw dog in the South).  People think they don't like slaw but it's only because they've never had it made the right way!

What picnic is complete without potato salad?  Unlike my other recipes, this one was flat refused when I made this for a get-together in the South.  But what can I say?  I lived in California for 8 years.  Some of that granola rubbed off on me.  This one has a vinaigrette base instead of a mayo base.

Look at that.  Isn't that beautiful?  I love these red, white, and blue potato mixes that I see around the 4th.  I'm sure they're available all season long, but they just shout my name around the 4th.  The blue ones are a purple color inside and these particular reds were actually a little pink inside!  I got this recipe online years ago and made it for my church picnics so often, they started asking for it specifically.  I didn't write down the URL when I found this salad, so I've re-named it:

Pot Bless Potato Salad 

(serves 6)

14 red potatoes
3 T parsley
2 T dill
6 T green onion
4 T red onion

1/3 C red wine vinegar

3/4 C olive oil

2 t dijon mustard
1 clove garlic
black pepper

Boil potatoes until just cooked.  Meanwhile, chop herbs and onions.  Combine vinegar, oil, mustard, garlic and pepper in a small bowl and whisk.  When potatoes have boiled and cooled slightly, gently stir in herbs and onions.  Pour vinegarette over potato mixture and gently stir to combine.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours, but overnight is best.

Notes: 

I used Beaver brand hot dijon when I made it this year.  It gave it a surprising kick on the 4th and took it out of the range of the small kid zone.  I liked it.  By today (after two nights in the fridge) the kick was pretty well gone and the kids chowed. 

We washed all this nomminess down with lavender lemonade!  The dispenser says it all:

This was another recipe in my box that I have the original cookbook for.  Actually, in this case, it's a magazine.  Herb Companion June/July 2004, p 27

Lavender Lemonade

(Makes 8 servings)

6 C water
1 3/4 C sugar
3 T fresh lavender blossoms
2 1/2 C fresh lemon juice
8 fresh lavender sprigs

Bring water to boil in saucepan.  Add sugar, reduce heat and stir till dissolved.  Remove from heat and stir in lavender blossoms.  Cover and allow to steep for 30-60 minutes.  Strain lavender mixture into a serving pitcher and stir in lemon juice.  Cool and serve with crushed ice.  Garnish with lavender sprigs.

My substitutions/additions:

I didn't have enough blossoms as lavender isn't quite in season here yet, so I used some leaves to cook with and saved the blossoms for the pretty.  Make sure you use lavender that hasn't been sprayed with pesticides if you can.

I was expecting 22, so I wanted to make a little extra.  I used 8 c water, added an extra 1/2 C sugar, 1/2 C leaves, and just to make it extra lemony, as I was boiling the water, I floated halves of 5 lemons on top to release the oils from the peels.  Make sure to scrub your lemons well if you're going to do this.  Using organic is that much better.

Review:

Sweet Mother of Abraham Lincoln!  Make this.  Make this right now!

'Cuz then you get to drink it!

For dessert, I made Pecan Pie and used that cream cheese crust recipe I promised you a while ago...  So let's get to that crust, shall we?

This recipe came from the now defunct recipecard.com. Can I just say how glad I am I got this recipe before the site disappeared?

Cream Cheese Pie Crust

12 T unsalted butter, divided
1 2/3 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
4.5 oz cream cheese
2 T ice water

Divide butter in 1/2 and cut into small cubes.  Wrap each 1/2 separately and chill 30 min.  Process or sift flour and salt for a few seconds to combine.  Add 1/2 butter cubes and all the cream cheese and process (cut together) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the rest of the butter and cut together until mixture resembles small peas.  Be careful not to over-process.  Add the water and pulse (stir w/ cold spoon) twice.  The dough will look dry, but should hold together when processed.  Pour crumbs into plastic bag and gently knead dough until it holds together and can form a ball.  DO NOT OVER KNEAD!  Remove dough and divide in 1/2. Wrap each 1/2 in plastic and flatten into a disk.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours.  Roll crust on cold surface w/ cold rolling pin.  Crust freezes well.  To freeze pie, don't bake first, put in freezer raw.

My substitutions/additions:

Because I'm a giant dork and totally forgot the first rule of pastry (always work cold) I softened the butter and cream cheese on the counter.  Not to be deterred, I forged ahead anyway.  I did refrigerate the butter after cutting it into cubes, but only for as long as it took me to measure and combine the flour and salt.  I don't have a food processor big enough to do a whole batch of dough, and I actually like to make pastry by hand, so I cut it together with a fork as quickly as I could.  I also forgot the ice water.  And I kneaded the dough on my counter instead of the baggie kneading thing.  The result was quite possibly the most tender, delicious crust I've ever made.  So there you go.  I don't suggest you try this method unless you're stupid, and/or a Pastry Rawkstar like me!  Oh, wait, maybe I'm the stupid one...  God helps the little children and the idiots.

Review:

Oh.  My.  Laws.  And then, you can use one of the crusts to make this:

Oh.  My.  Laws.  Again.

This little beauty also came from The Treasury of White Trash Cooking.  Page 253.

Nellie Gray's Pecan Pie

1 T butter
1 C brown sugar
3 eggs
1 C Karo syrup
1/4 t cinnamon
1 C pecans
pinch salt
1 unbaked pie shell

Cream butter and sugar.  Beat eggs lightly and throw in the rest of your ingredients.  Mix the ingredients well and pour them into an unbaked pie shell.  Bake at 450° for 10 minutes.  Then reduce heat to 350° and keep baking for another 35 minutes.

My substitutions/additions:

• I wanted the nuts to be whole, so I didn't chop them, and I used 1 1/2 C (one whole bag) if pecans.
• 1 tsp vanilla

Notes:

It really makes just enough to fill a packaged pie shell.  If you 're going to use my dough recipe, keep an eye on the crust during baking.  If it gets too brown, cover the pie with aluminum foil.  Also, when done, this pie will not be firm.  Don't worry if it's a little jiggly when you take it out of the oven.  It should be jiggly like firm jello, though, not jiggly like soup... Jiggly's a fun word.  hehehehe... ~jiggle~jiggle~...

Review:

I was afraid this would be too eggy the first time I made it, but it's fantastic!

And now, your reward for sticking with me through this marathon post.  A recipe I made up that didn't make it to the party.  Because we ate it.  Totally gone.  Not even a crumb.  You know how that pie recipe makes 2 crusts, right?  Well, I couldn't let that other crust go to waste, right?  No... of course not...

The first time I ever saw a rustic pie like this, I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.  So simple.

Rustic Three Berry Pie

1 pt strawberries, hulled, whole
1 pt blueberries
1 pt cherries, pitted
4 Tbs sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 pie crust recipe

Mix berries with sugar and lemon zest.  Let rest and sweat while you're making and/or rolling out the dough.
Roll out the pie crust to about 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.  Place dough on baking sheet.  Fill the crust with the filling and fold over the edges until they meet, pressing lightly to secure.  Bake at 375° for 20-30 minutes, checking the dough for doneness.

Serve with a sprinkle of sugar, drizzle of cream, or dollop of ice cream.

Review:

Mr. CotC said it was the best pie I ever made.  He loved the lemon zest.  The boys were too busy shoving it into their faces to say much of anything.

I'll take that as a compliment...

A super huge "Thank You!" to all our friends who came and were gracious enough to help out trucking all the food and dishes up and down the mountain and help with the washing up.  We're so glad you all came!  We had so much fun!  Let's do it again next year, 'K?