1887 Pie Crust Recipe

I found a pie crust recipe from 1887.  I haven't tried it yet. But I love how they explain to add enough water to work the dough. Most recipes call for 4-5 tablespoons of water, which never seems like enough. So reading this makes me feel better about how much water I use in my crust and how I don't really measure it! This recipe also uses baking-powder, so I'm not really sure what that would do to the structure of the crust, so it might be fun to try.

http://www.rubylane.com/item/508881-2133/c1887-Cook-Book-Meat-Poultry

Chess Tart!

For Christmas I got a Tart Pan. It's the kind where the bottom comes out. So I thought I would try it out. I'd been wanting to make a tart for at least a year now since I got Martha Stewarts Pies and Tarts book. http://www.amazon.com/Martha-Stewarts-Pies-Tarts-Old-Fashioned/dp/0307405095 I originally bought it for the pie recipes, but the tart images made my mouth water!

This chess tart was very simple to make. I think I even had all of the ingredients in the kitchen. It has sugar, brown sugar, eggs, cornmeal, vanilla... It turned out pretty good. But I think the next time I make a tart, I'll try one with a fruit filling. Cheers!

A good trick for Apple Pies and other fruit pies with a top crust.

I read on the Cooking Light site about a good trick to help your apple pies from making a lot of air between the apple filling and the top crust.

http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/cooking-questions-tips-00400000064986/page51.html

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie!

I haven't made a pie for a while. "Life stuff" has been getting in the way. But what better time is there to make a pie than for Thanksgiving. And of course I went with the classic pumpkin pie. I read recipes for sweet potato/pumpkin pie, strudel pumpkin pie… but they just aren't classic enough.

So, I'm not sure how it tastes yet, because tomorrow is Thanksgiving, but the little lick I tried tasted divine!

I did read that taste testers can't tell the difference between the canned and fresh pumpkin after it has been baked. But the waitress at the Cafe said she could(she makes pie too). BUT, I didn't feel like going through all of the trouble with the fresh pumpkin so I used Libbys canned, and that always works for me.

I cookie-cuttered some leaves and baked them separately so they wouldn't sink in the filling while the pie was baking. I like how it turned out. But next time I will probably just use the leaves for the edge of the crust. I just wanted to practice my crimping technique. And as you can see, it still needs more practice. =) Happy Thanksgiving!

Ham and Cheese Pie

Today I made ham and cheese pie for dinner. It ended up being more of a quiche but it was still really good. I made it to use up the rest of my pie dough from the coconut cream pie. This pie called for parsley but they didn't have any at the store, so I added dill. I knew everyone I was making it for really likes dill and it turned out really well. 

This pie had eggs, ham, provolone cheese, mozzarella cheese, green onions and DILL. Yum! It turned out really well.

Auntie Sharon's Coconut Cream Pie

Today I made my aunt Sharon's coconut cream pie recipe for my cousin Ryan's birthday. (Trying to keep it all in the family.) It turned out really well. Even though the recipe called for coconut in the crust and I forgot to put it in. But my crust looked good and the filling was very creamy. 

I also added some toasted coconut on top because Ryan really likes the combo of savory and sweet. All you do is get a sauce pan to medium and put a little butter in the pan and add coconut. Cook it slow and in a couple of minutes it will turn golden. Yum! I had some left over toasted coconut and I've been putting it on my yogurt parfaits in the morning. Super Yum!

Apple Pie for Web Development Class

Today I made my yummy apple pie recipe for my web development class. I haven't gone to class yet, so the pie is cooling on the kitchen counter. I hope it tastes good. It makes me a little nervous that I can't try it before I take it to class. At least it looks pretty. 

This pie turned out really well. The curst did not shrink. I refrigerated the crust before I baked the pie, and that seems to be the trick for shrinking crusts. Some of the web students in the class even had seconds!