My Mom’s Pie Crust

This is the recipe for the pie crust my mom has been making for over 30 years. There are no tips or pie crust secrets because I don’t know any. I only made this crust for the first time last week. But it turned out great, rolled out easily and didn’t give me any trouble. I had such a pie crust phobia that I wrote out this recipe before we got married over 20 years ago and finally made it last Thursday…

It makes enough crust for 2 double crust pies 9” or even 10”. The crust can be stored wrapped in plastic wrap for 1-2 days but needs to be frozen for longer storage and taken out to thaw before using.

Mix in large bowl:

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

Cut in:

1 3/4 cups shortening (you can also substitute 1/2 cup softened butter for some of the shortening)

Beat together and add:

1/2 cup water

1 egg

1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

  

Divide into 4 portions and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 15 minutes to 2 days before rolling out or freeze for longer storage.

 

Roll out on floured surface and use in your favorite pie recipe as directed.

Miso Soup

My youngest son has fallen in love with miso soup. So I bought all the ingredients to make it and whipped up a batch last week for lunch.

There are so many things you can add to miso soup: gr onion, spinach, seaweed, buckwheat noodles, tofu chunks, shrimp, carrots…

Here is the ratio of water to paste that I liked for our soup, but you can change it to taste:

4 cups water

3 Tablespoons miso paste

salt, to taste

With this amount of soup you only need to reconstitute about 1/2-1 teaspoon of seaweed. Unless you REALLY like seaweed! ;o)

I also learned that miso is fermented soybeans and has many health benefits. You can read about them HERE.

“As they say in Japan, a bowl of miso a day keeps the doctor away!”

Old Fashioned Apple Raisin Pie

For my second all by myself pie attempt, I decided to really go out on a limb and make up my own recipe. While paging through some vintage 1930s to 50s cookbooks, I found several versions of raisin pie. My mom said that they reminded her of mincemeat. Really??? Apple mincemeat is one of my favorite pies!

So I pieced together a few of the recipes, threw in some apples and spices and came up with my own apple raisin pie. And I have to admit that it turned out pretty incredible! I know what I will be making next Thanksgiving…

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 Tablespoons instant clear gel (if you don’t have this, you can try cornstarch in the hot liquid but I can’t promise the results)

grated zest from 1 orange

1/2 cup orange juice

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/4 cup cold water

dash salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1.4 teaspoon cloves

1 cup raisins

1 cup peeled, chopped apples

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix brown sugar, clear gel and orange zest in a small bowl.

Combine water and juices in a medium sized saucepan. Whisk in sugar/clear gel mixture until smooth and thick.

Stir in raisins and apples.

Aren’t these gorgeous raisins?

 

Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (it will probably already be pretty thick), stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes while stirring.

Remove from heat.

Then roll out pie crust and line a 9” pie plate.

Pour hot filling into pie crust. Roll out and place crust on top. Cut vents into the crust.

Cover crust edge with foil (I LOVE the pie shield I bought!!!) and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for another 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Serve pie slightly warm or room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream.

If you are keeping your pie more than a day, store the leftovers in the fridge.

Blueberries & Cream Instant Oatmeal

I posted the recipe for homemade instant oatmeal almost 5 years ago and have made countless batches of the stuff. I have not, however, varied much on the kind. Apple Cinnamon has been the favorite and the one variation I have made every single time but once when I made Maple & Brown Sugar out of my homemade maple sugar.

This time I made more Maple & Brown Sugar and really went out on a creative limb and made Blueberries & Cream.

I put the blueberry oatmeal in blue jars… Wasn’t that clever of me??? LOL

I’m the only one who has tried it so far, and if it stays that way it will be just fine by me! :o)

Take one cup quick oats and blend on high in a blender or food processor until powdery. Mix with 2 cups of plain quick oats and 1 tsp salt.

Add  the following:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 - 1 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup powdered milk

Store in an airtight container.

 
Pour desired amount into a bowl. Add boiling water until it is the desired consistency.

Coconut Orange Granola

This is hands down the best granola I’ve ever made or had! It was so hard to not eat the whole pan while standing there waiting for it to cool! The coconut oil no only makes for a delicious aroma but also gives it a sweet tropical flavor that is so well matched with the orange. Even hours later, my mom walked into the house and asked, “What is that wonderful smell?” Yup, it was this granola… :o)

6 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup coconut
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup powdered milk

Add grated zest from one orange. Mix together in a large bowl.

 
2/3 cup agave syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp water
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
Mix well and pour into bowl of dry ingredients. Coat well.

Pour into 2 9x13 pans.

 
Bake at 300 for 25-35 minutes, stirring about every 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown.

Cool, stirring occasionally to break up the granola.

Store in airtight container. Freeze for longer storage.

Lemon Glazed Bubble Cake

I adore anything with lemon! So tonight’s experiment was a variation of our traditional favorite Bubble Cake. And since everything lemon is just that much lovelier with a lemon glaze, I threw some of that on top, too…

Take your favorite yeast dough, I use my Easy Peasy Bread dough, and roll it into about 20 golf-ball sized balls.

Roll them in melted butter followed by a dip in a sugar-lemon zest mixture. I used about 3/4 cup sugar and the zest from 1 lemon.

Place them in a buttered 9” cake pan. I put mine in an 8” pan and it wasn’t big enough. I discovered this unfortunate fact when the top ones rolled off onto the oven rack/floor and started a grease fire! Oops!

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the bottom ones are no longer doughy.

Let cool for about 1 minute and then turn over onto a serving plate.

While they cool for a bit, make a lemon glaze from 1/2 cup powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to make it a drizzling consistency.

Separate the pieces just a bit before drizzling with glaze. You want to make sure they all get some!

Eat immediately! A cup of tea is nice with this one…

Coconut Ice Cream

This ice cream is delicious by itself or covered in dark chocolate syrup. But it is an extra delicious dessert when paired with Fresh Pineapple Sorbet. You can make this with or without the shredded coconut, depending on how you are about texture. I’ve made it both ways now, and think I prefer it without…

1 cup whole milk

1 can cream of coconut (14oz)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened (optional)

Mix milk and cream of coconut together well with a whisk. Stir in heavy cream.

Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's directions. Add coconut during the last 5-10 minutes of mixing time.

Enjoy however you desire!

I enjoyed mine with a few scoops of pineapple sorbet, a shot of vanilla rum and a bit of orange juice. Mmmm!!!

Fresh Pineapple Sorbet

This is the pineapple sorbet I made for our Ladies’ Tea at church. It is so refreshing and sweet! I love it on a hot summer’s day! And when it’s not hot and sunny, it reminds me of hot summer days and makes me smile!

1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

 

1 1/8 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon or lime juice

Place pineapple and lemon/lime juice in food processor. Blend until pureed.

 

Add sugar and process until sugar is dissolved. This only takes about 1 minute or so.

Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's directions.

Freeze and enjoy!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

This recipe really hit the spot, was super easy and still tasted good the second day! What could be better, right?

1 cookie crumb pie crust (I used Nilla wafer)

1 8oz box cream cheese, softened

grated zest from one orange

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tub strawberry glaze

fresh strawberries, halved

Beat cream cheese, sugar and orange zest until smooth. Spread into pie crust. Top with strawberries. Pour glaze over top. Chill for a couple of hours before serving.

Yup! That’s it…

Strawberry Canning Day

After a long hiatus, I got back into canning again for the season. I drug everything I would need up from the laundry room…

including my chicken apron. Somehow it seems to get me in the canning mood. :o)

First I made a couple of batches of jam. One plain and one with 3 teaspoons of crushed dried lavender mixed into the sugar. You could easily do it with your favorite strawberry jam recipe. It has such a delicate floral aroma that would be lovely on a scone with a cup of tea.

 

I also made a batch of strawberry honey lemonade concentrate using the recipe from the Ball Blue Book and some honey sugar I picked up bulk at the grocery. It’s a little bit different, but I really like it on a warm spring day!

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

6 cups strawberries pureed in food processor or blender

 

 

Pour puree into a large saucepan. Add…

4 cups lemon juice (fresh or bottled)

6 cups sugar

 

Heat to 190 over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.

Pour into prepared jars with a 1/4” headspace. Top with prepared lids and bands.Process for 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Turn off heat and let jars rest for 5 minutes before removing from canner. Let sit for 12-24 hours before checking the seals.

Add 1 to 2 parts water to 1 part concentrate.