Pie

October is my favorite month of year.  I don't know if there is a place on earth, where it is constantly 65 and sunny during the day and drops down into the 50's at night ("good sleeping weather" we call it here in the Northland).  Where Haralson apples are always in season, the leaves are always vibrant colors and the mosquitoes & wasps are mostly dead.  If there were, I would move there. 

Since I am unaware of this heavenly place, here I live, in Minnesota, where I get to live this glory but for thirty days or so.   So this is the month that I make pie.  I have never tried to bake and freeze pie, so I could enjoy a bite of October in mid January, I just bake it and eat it.  Hopefully with family and friends.

You will notice in the photos of my recipe cards, I don't exactly follow my own instructions.  The instructions I typed herein are what I do, now, after using these cards for 16 years! 

I have two versions of crusts that I bake with.  The following recipe I got from my Aunt Linda when Stella was young.  Linda described it as "forgiving" for novice (child) pie bakers.  I still find I rely on its forgiving nature!  You can roll it out a couple times if needed and it still tastes great!  You can also freeze it in balls or in a pie tin to pull out and use.  

Makes 4 crusts

Mix together: 

     4 scant cups of flour

     2 tsp. salt

     1 T. Sugar

Cut in with pastry cutter or fork

     1 and 3/4 c. Butter

Beat together

     1 egg

     1/2 c. Water

     1 T. Vinegar

Combine all ingredients, split in half and refrigerate 1/2 hour.  Roll out.  Don't be afraid to handle the dough!  Store in fridge for up to three days, freeze indefinitely.

Try not to add too much excess flour, a pastry cloth and rolling pin sleeve can help!

The other is Pillsburg All~Ready pie crusts.  Seriously good and fast.   Never make the mistake of saving a few cents and buying the off brand of store brand.  They are hard to use and don't bake well.

Once I tried to make pie using the "Americas Test Kitchen" methods of par baking crusts and pre- cooking and cooling apples to get them into a stable pectin state in order to prevent falling or soggy crusts and a gap between the crust and apples...God forbid.  It took me about six hours to bake a pie and I decided that I could live with a messy pie.  If I ever enter into a State Fair baking contest, I will work on my skill level. For now, if the pie is less than perfect looking, I follow the advice of my friend Ruth, "just cover it up with ice cream!"  

I think "good pie" is highly subjective.  Here is my pie recipe.  I made it up, and wrote it down.  If you like a tart, sort of gooey, spice filled pastry concoction that ends up looking like cobbler in a bowl...try it!

I use the Pampered Chef Deep Dish stoneware pie pan.   If you use a smaller pie tin, use less apples.  You might be able to make two standard 8" pies with this same recipe.

9-10 c. peeled, cored and sliced apples. I use Haralson, Cortland, Macintosh (only if I need pie out of season will I use Granny Smith)

Mix together

1 c. Granulated sugar

1/3 c. Flour

1 T. Cinnamon

Dash of salt, nutmeg, mace, allspice and clove 

Coat apples with dry mixture then drizzle 2 T. Melted butter and 2 T. Lemon juice (fresh or fake will do)

Fill pie crust and cover with second crust.  Vent and flute and add egg wash if desired.  I make a tin foil crust edge cover and bake at 350 for about 20 min. with the crust edge covered.  I remove the cover and continue baking for 20-40 minutes.  I use a cake tester to make sure the apples are done.  

Let cool for as long as you can and serve up with ice cream.  If your pie is a mess....use more ice cream!

Snowman Soap

My gift idea for my toddlers this year was snowman soap. I saw it in a few different places online.  

Ivory soap has an interesting chemical make up (air bubbles apparently) that allow it to be blown up in the microwave and reconstituted with water and molded into any shape you want. Colors can be added too. 

I bought a 10 pack of Ivory soap for $5.99 at Walgreens. 

I started unwrapping the soap to find IT STINKS.  Luckily it was a 30 degree day so I could open windows...and doors.

Using a large tub, I placed the soap inside

I put it in the microwave for one minute.  It takes about 2 minutes to get all the soap "fluffed".   There can be a little blob if hot lava soap inside the fluff mountain, so I shook the container to set it free and microwave again at 30 second intervals until it was all fluffy.

Once it cools a little, I broke it into pieces and put it in the Cuisinart.  My food processor might smell like soap forever.  

After pulsing the processor, the soap becomes powder. (~do not inhale!~)

To reconstitute the soap, add water (approx 2-3 tablespoons) one tablespoon at a time, until it looks like this.  If you add to much water, you'll need to add more soap. It is similar to powdered sugar.

I poured it out onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet and using a circle cookie cutter I was able to make three snowmen from one bar of soap. 

I needed 24 soaps for my kids.  The process took all afternoon.  I had two extra bars, one of which I followed all the above instructions but added orange food coloring to the water that I added, making orange soap for the carrot noses.  

I used a tiny bit of water to adhere the noses to the snowmen.  The instructions I was following here:      http://kixcereal.com/kix-cereal-snowman-soap-experiment/

say to use a small amount of purple and red food coloring to create black, poke a hole and add food coloring to make the eyes.  With my experience with food coloring, I figured if a kid used the soap and got it wet, the food coloring would bleed out ~ everywhere~!!!  I decided to just use a craft paint that will wash away after a couple uses and not make a mess.  (I added the mouth, I thought it would be cuter)

I wrote a little poem and bagged them up.  

Not sure this is a project I would do again for this many kids. Super putzy and super smelly!  Making a few with your kids or grandkids would be a fun afternoon activity!  The expanding soap is fun to watch, crumbling it up is a mess, but a cool sensory experience and you could make any cookie cutter shape or color you wanted.  they would make neat gifts for friends, or just to have in the tub!  

OCD Sugar Cookies

so, I did promise this blog update three years ago.  My, how the time flies.  My cousin asked for the recipe for my sugar cookies today, and I thought I had it posted here.  I owe you a story.

I believe the recipe is taken straight from Betty Crocker!  I have the NEW Betty Crocker published in 2011 and it says this recipe is "lower calorie"  but it appears to be the exact same recipe I have been using for 25 years....with ZERO weight loss.  In  fact these cookies possibly gained me a pound or two over the years.

Sugar Cookies:

1 1/2 c  powdered sugar
1 c.butter (softened)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 egg
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar

In a mixer, cream butter and sugar adding vanilla, almond and egg beating until fluffy. Add flour, soda and cream of tartar, and mix well.

Refrigerate dough at least three hours.

Roll 3/16" thick on well floured pastry board, cut with desired cutters.  Bake on un-greased cookie sheet for 7-10 minutes.  Light brown edges indicate doneness.

Allow to cool completely, Ice and decorate.

Icing
3 c powdered sugar
1/3 c butter (softened)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 T. milk

Mix well, keep covered and refrigerate any unused icing.

So....this all sounds SO simple....unless you live with me.  I had always made sugar cookies a "certain way".  Stella never complained, helping me, following explicit instructions.

The year it came to a crisis point was in 2008, when I  was forced to return to work, full time, at the bank.  Randy was recovering from his second hip surgery and Stella was in an auditioned youth choir preforming with Bethel University in their Christmas concert, "Night of Wonder, Christmas Through a Child's Eyes."

I was physically and emotionally exhausted and some of my wonderful, lifelong friends came to help me get my holiday baking complete.  It truly was a gift of their time and presence, but it also was how my sugar cookie psychosis became public knowledge.

Sara was left alone in my kitchen with the icing, and unbeknownst to me, separated the icing into five bowls and added food coloring.  My icing is, has been and always shall be....WHITE.  She then proceeded to get all the children involved, icing the cookies any color they desired with any sort of sprinkles. My whole idea of how sugar cookies should be done was thrown into chaos.... Stella had more fun making cookies that year THAN ANY OTHER.

I did not think my guidelines for sugar cookies was that unreasonable....all cookies are iced with white icing and then sprinkles are added to create realistic effects.  Stars are white with yellow sprinkles.  Candy Canes are white with red sprinkle stripes.  The sprinkle stripes are allowed to vary by type of sprinkle.  Nonpareils, sugar crystals, or jimmies may all be used...but they, of course, must be RED.  Bells can vary in color and circle ornaments can vary in color as long as they are iced with white icing.  Now when we venture into trees, snowmen and reindeer...I simply lose my mind. Snowmen need circle buttons, orange jimmy nose,  reindeer have a cinnamon red-hot nose and trees have brown jimmies trunk, while the decorations on said tree can vary....as long as they are iced in white.  

The year I bought the mitten cookie cutter, was the year Stella quit being my cookie assistant.  I did not think it was unreasonable to have right and left mittens...that match in decoration.  I was apparently wrong.

I bought a cookie cutter shaped like an old fashioned tree light bulb.  I struggled getting all the bulbs the right bright colors while getting the part of the light that screws into the fixture part silver.  They were cute, but Stella still would not help.

After a few years of happily decorating cookies in solitary confinement, I thought I could get Stella to help me again and relieve some of my sugar cookie OCD by choosing just one style of cookie cutter.  I decided upon a circle.. and white nonpareils, white jimmies, white coarse sanding sugar, white snowflake sprinkles, white pearlized sugar sprinkles.... only.  SNOWBALLS!  How hard could that be?

Well, it would have been simpler if I had only ONE size circle cutter, instead of five.  Trying to get the exact same number of each sized cookie with the same type of sprinkles was harder than I thought.  Stella once again bailed on me after a dozen or so cookies.

This year I have not decided what I will do.  I would really like to do this job with my daughter, since she will be off at college next holiday baking season.  Maybe it is time to let her put food coloring back into the icing....

Watch for an update...in three years or so.


Addendum:  My friend Kathy from church thought she was being kind when she gave me a cookie cutter in the shape of Minnesota.  I told her it would be really difficult to get 10,000 lakes, the coniferous and deciduous forests represented on one cookie  I tried... but this is the ONLY cookie I made.

Toddler Time

I am always creating curriculum for the toddlers I teach every day. As I research other blogs for ideas, I think I should post my own projects and ideas!  Today I begin with fishing poles.
I found a few cute ideas, but none of them were truly toddler friendly.  One idea was to use chair leg cups and fill them with glue and little round magnets. I did use this general idea, but the toddlers I care for would have those rubber legs disassembled and be eating magnets before I could stock the "fish pond"!

Magnets are tough to find, that are not choking hazards, made of lead or very expensive!  If you have any links to find them, please let me know!  The magnets I used were the back of a "wreath hanger" which was in the magnet section at Michaels craft stores.  I cut the plastic plug that held the four magnets in place and used them individually.

Along with the magnets, I purchased the following stuff at Home Depot; blue tubing  called sharkbite, loctite super glue for plastic, 32 mm round cups, and 1/8" braided nylon cord.  I used a hacksaw to cut the sharkbite into four- 15" lengths.  The cord was cut to about 36" lengths and i threaded it through the magnet and then both ends back through the cap and tied with a square knot. I added a touch of glue so it would not come untied inside the tube.  I did not want to leave an open circle of cord so the children could "catch" each other with a friends head in the loop and choke them...so I tied the cord into knots evenly along the doubled length.  Using the two step super glue for plastics, I attached the caps to both ends of the tubing and ended up some cute fishing poles!

Let's Go Fishing!

Holiday Baking

Crispix Caramel Crunch  (AKA Christmas Crack)

Legend has it, people have left Crispix boxes on my porch with notes asking it to be turned into crack!  It is a favorite of many, and highly addictive. it is easy to give as a gifts in holiday ziplock bags!

You'll need:

20 oz. Crispix cereal ( use the real stuff, the generic tends to crumble!)

2 sticks of butter

2 cups brown sugar

3/4 c. light Karo syrup

dash of salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Pour cereal into a heavy duty, clean,  paper grocery sack.  In a 3-4 qt sauce pan, cook butter, Karo syrup and brown sugar over low/med heat until the mixture boils. Boil until it reaches 250° . Remove from heat and add baking soda and dash of salt. The mixture will swell.  Stir well and pour over the cereal and stir gently.  Roll down the top of the bag and microwave on high for one minute. Remove bag from microwave and shake. Repeat the microwave and shake process three to five times.  2-3 minutes make s a softer, chewier batch.  Pour cereal onto greased cookie sheets and stir to break up the clumps.  Cool and store in an airtight container.

Toffee

You'll need:

1 lb. butter (cold) 

2 c. granulated sugar

6-12 oz. pecans (optional)

6 regular Hershey bars

Butter a jelly roll pan or large cookie sheet and cover with broken pecans (optional). Cook cold butter and sugar over low/med heat until it reaches 305° on a candy thermometer. Stir constantly. (30-40 minutes!) if the mixture separates you can sometimes get it back together by adding 1T. of hot water and stir vigorously!  pout the mixture onto cookie sheet and place unwrapped Hershey bars evenly on the top.  Spread the chocolate as it melts.  The pan and the toffee will be HOT! Sprinkle crushed pecans over the top if you want. Let it cool at room temp for several hours.  (overnight is best).  Break into chunks and store in an airtight container.  DO NOT REFRIGERATE.

Fantasy Fudge

 

This one is different every time I make it. The key is to not overcook the chocolate and it will be like velvet!

You'll need:

3/4 c. Butter ( can use margarine, but why?) 

3 c. granulated sugar

1~5 oz. can evaporated milk

1~7 oz. jar of marshmallow fluff

1~12 oz. pkg semi sweet chocolate chips (Ghirardelli are best!)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

In a large bowl or mixer, place chocolate chips and fluff.  Combine sugar, butter and milk in saucepan and heat to a full boil.  Boil to soft ball or just to 234° on a candy thermometer, and remove from heat. Stir constantly to prevent scorching. Pour sugar mixture into mixer bowl and add vanilla and optional nuts. Mix until well blended.  pour into a well buttered 9x13 pan. Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container for up to a month...but it never lasts that long!

I am now a two mixer house.  

When we remodeled the kitchen, the new cabinets could accommodate a beautiful 6qt lift bowl in brushed nickel! I almost sold my old white 4.5qt mixer at a garage sale.   A friend suggested I keep it until I got through a holiday season and then decide.  Smart friend!  A week before Christmas (just when my procrastination hits full force) the brand new mixer started making a terrible screeching noise.  Warranties are wonderful! They sent a new mixer, and once I got it, I had a week to test it out and return the broken one. That last week of crunch time, I used both mixers for three nights and might have used all three, but I was baking until 3am and the screeching was loud!

 Forgotten Kisses

My all time favorite holiday treat.  My grandmother taught me to make these and I remember making them with my mom who always told me I was adding the sugar too quickly!  Over time I have learned that, as long as the sugar is not just dumped int the egg whites, it is not critical how slowly it is incorporated. 

You'll need:

2 egg whites

3/4 c. granulated sugar

few grains of salt

1/2 scant tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400°.  Beat eggs until frothy, add salt and cream of tartar, beating the egg whites to stuff peaks.  Add sugar "slowly".  Once the sugar on completely incorporated add  a few drops of food coloring* and mix. Fold in chocolate chips.  Place by spoonfuls on greased cookie sheets. Place sheets in oven and turn off heat. Let dry in oven for five hours without opening the door.


*I always make three batches, one green, one white and one pink for the holidays.  If you are only making one batch, you can split the egg white/sugar mixture into three parts, color and then add chips.

 I have tried to use a 2 tsp. scoop to make these, but the meringue sticks to the scoop, and they don't get the nice spikes and whirls, they look like mini ice cream scoops.

Peanut Butter Kisses

I am all about ensuring a proper chocolate to peanut butter ratio with these!  The cookie can't be too large so I always use the 2 tsp. scoop.   I also make sure I have twice as many Hershey kisses on hand than actually needed, depending on who is recruited to help unwrap all the kisses.  My helpers (Randy & Stella) have an "one for baking, one for me" unwrapping philosophy.

Cream together:

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. peanut butter (creamy or chunky, your preference)

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

Add:

1 egg

2 T. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Sift Together:

1 3/4 c. flour

1 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp.salt

Mix everything until well blended. Using  2 tsp. (small) scoop, or roll dough and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven, add Hershey kiss and return to oven for one minute. I like to "drop" the cookie sheet on the stove top to flatten the kisses for easier storage! These ones remained pointy!

This holiday season I will update the blog with a glimpse of Heather's OCD Christmas sugar cookie spectacular.  Stella reluctantly helps me accomplish the daunting task of icing and sprinkles to my exact specifications.  It's worthy of it's own blog post!

As I write this post, I wonder why it is I only make these recipes at Christmas......

I'm a "pinner"

I started "pinning" this week.  A verb I never thought I would use other than in reference to sewing and hemming.    I found Pinterest, a bulletin board site where I can share with the whole wide world, all the things I find to be cute, entertaining, and utterly uplifting.


While creating new boards and adding personal touches of baking and craft objects I have created, it was pointed out that I need to have some substance behind my pins.  My original pins go nowhere, which is less than ideal.


This blog will be my substance.


How I will find time to keep up with pinning things from others, while also adding substance to my own, is unknown. I have already learned that "Pinning" is easier than actually "Doing".


I will start with compiling my favorite holiday baking and gift giving recipes accompanied with photos and THEN pin them to my board.  I find the task of unpinning and re-pinning to be a bit daunting.  Just like in sewing, I would rather create something new than do alterations.