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Pie Crust

December 1, 2008 by Tiffany

Making this crust is as easy as pie Sorry, I couldn’t resist that. I made two cherry pies on Thanksgiving Day to take to my in-laws the next day. They were very yummy!

Here’s what you’ll need for one crust:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup (less) solid crisco or butter
1 tsp. salt
2Tbs. + 1 tsp. water

I always use butter in my crusts and I soften it a bit. Notice that you’ll use a bit less than 1/2 cup. I use about 1 Tbs. less. If you’re making a two crust pie, don’t forget to double the recipe.

The basic directions are to cut the butter into the flour and salt. Add the water and stir with a fork until it forms a ball. Roll it out and put it in the pie pan.

Here are some pictures to go with the instructions.

Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour. The above picture looks like feta cheese crumbles to me, but it’s not.

It will form a ball like this after you add the water, just keep stirring with the fork.

Roll the crust out thin on a floured surface. I use the pie plate to measure if the crust is big enough, like this:

Like the pie plate? It’s Bybee Pottery. It’s available in several shops in Kentucky, but you can buy it here. The pie plates are wonderful, as are their other products. Okay, back to our crust.

As you can see, I didn’t get the crust in there straight and was a little short on one side. No problem. I pinched off an extra piece and patched it in. Just like working with play dough!

If you’re making a single crust pie, at this point you would pinch around the edges and finish it off. Since I was making a two crust pie, that step came after I added the filling and the top crust.

The cherries were a gift from a friend. She has some awesome cherry trees in her backyard.

The filling was really hot and was making the pie crust soft. I should have cooled the filling first.

There it is before I baked it. Here it is after.

And with the left over crust scraps you can make these yummy cinnamon snacks. Roll out the scraps, spread with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, roll, cut and bake.

My husband thinks these are the reason to make a pie in the first place.

Filed under: Dessert, Pie Tagged with butter, flour, salt, water10 Comments

Biscuits

October 30, 2008 by Tiffany

These are the real deal. Recipe passed down through my mom’s family in Kentucky.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 cups of flour, several shakes of salt (I never measure this), and a heaping Tbs. of baking powder. Make sure you have as much baking powder as that Tbs can hold; really pile it high.

Cut in 1/4 – 1/3 cup of butter. I cut a stick to a bit more than 5 Tbs. and then soften it in the microwave. Put it in the bowl with the flour ingredients and cut it in with a pastry cutter or a fork.

Add nearly one cup of milk and stir together with a fork. The dough will form a ball like this:

Scatter a heavy layer of flour over your counter and put the dough on it. Using your hands, pat the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick. You can use a rolling pin, but I like to use my hands.

Grab your fancy biscuit cutter, or if you’re like me and don’t have a fancy biscuit cutter grab a glass or cup that has an opening about the size you want your biscuits. I like my biscuits on the small side. Don’t laugh at the cup I use to cut them out. It was all I could find.

Place the cut biscuits on a baking stone or cookie sheet. You may notice some of my biscuits aren’t perfectly round and the one in the middle looks like a blob of dough. Two reasons for this: first, I’m not perfect, neither are my biscuits. I’m okay with that. Second, my husband really likes the “mut”, just the dough scraps stuck together. I don’t know why he likes it, but he does.

Bake the biscuits for 10 minutes, until they begin to lightly freckle on top.

Slather with butter. Add your choice of apple butter, jam or honey and devour. Don’t forget to lick your fingers.

Biscuits
2 cups flour
salt, a pinch or two
heaping Tbs. baking powder
1/4 – 1/3 cup butter
milk, nearly 1 cup

Stir together the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter. Stir in the milk to form a ball of dough. On a floured surface, pat or roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into circles and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.

Filed under: Baked Goods, Breakfast Tagged with baking powder, butter, flour, milk, salt10 Comments

Egg Salad Sandwiches

October 22, 2008 by Tiffany

Groceries are getting low and I need to pack a lunch tomorrow. No lunch meat. No peanut butter. Only half a loaf of bread left. Luckily, I had plenty of eggs and egg salad makes my 14 year old son very happy. Since it’s his lunch that needs packing, that works out great.

If you’re looking for low calorie, low cholesterol foods, run away from this sandwich. All it’s creamy goodness will do nothing for your hips or heart.

Place the eggs in a pan and cover them with cold water. Bring them to a boil and then time them for 10 minutes. I love it when my eggs come out with the centers just cooked and still yellow. I did them right this time.

Rinse the eggs in cool water and then peel them. How many eggs you use is up to you and how many folks you’re sharing your egg salad with. I used half a dozen because 2 of my kids think egg salad is a real treat. The other 2 gag when I mention it. Six eggs is plenty for the 4 of us who like a sandwich that might cause our ateries to slam shut later in the day.

Dice up the eggs pretty fine. This reminds me of the time my dad decided to boil an egg for his lunch. He rinsed it off after peeling it, but was disturbed that the egg was wet. So he grabbed a tissue to dry it off. I came in while he was rubbing wet tissue off the egg. Yeah, my dad is not much of a cook.

Anyway, after you dice up the eggs, put them in a bowl with plenty of salt and pepper and a giant glob of mayo.

Stir it up and spread it on your bread. Yum! I like my egg salad sandwich with carrot and celery sticks. It tastes good and balances out the fat with some veggies!

Filed under: Sandwich Tagged with eggs, mayonnaise, pepper, salt8 Comments

Cornbread

October 19, 2008 by Tiffany

corn bread done

Cornbread is a staple at our house. It comes together fast and goes with lots of meals. This version was passed down to me by my mom who learned it from her mom. The iron skillet is key, because it creates a crust better than a regular baking pan.

Here’s what you’ll need:

corn bread ingr

Cornbread

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
3/4 cups flour
heaping TBS baking powder
salt
1 egg
enough milk to make a batter (about 1 cup)

Instructions

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the skillet in the oven to heat (mine is 10 1/4 inches).
Stir together the dry ingredients.
Add the egg and milk and stir till well blended.
Pull the hot skillet from the oven and add oil or spray with cooking spray.
Pour in the batter and bake for 15-20 minutes.

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I’m showing this recipe off at Tasty Traditions hosted by Coupon Cookin’.