49 Pies to Go!

Like I said 49 pies to go. And this is quite a pie story.  My first pie made was the Dark Chocolate Pudding Pie with the Peanut Crust.  Well, unfortunately, I spilled about 1/2 cup of the peanuts on the floor, so that left me with only 1 cup of peanuts, but you make do when you have to. 
Dark Chocolate Pudding Pie with a Peanut Crust
1 1/2 cups chopped peanuts (how finely chopped is up to you)
2 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
1/4 cup sugar
2 boxes Royal Dark & Sweet Chocolate Instant Pudding (1.7 oz each)
3 cups milk
The Crust:  Mix the chopped peanuts with the butter and sugar and place in a 9-inch pie pan, bringing the peanut mixture up to the top of the pie pan.  The crust will shrink a little when baked.  Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 8-10 minutes.  Let cool.

Pie Fillling:  Add 2 packages (4-serving size) mix to 3 cups cold milk in medium bowl.  Beat with wire whisk or electric mixture at low speed for ONLY 1 MINUTE.  Pour immediately into pie crust.  Refrigerate at least 3 hours or until set.  Top with whipped topping if desired.  Tastes like a hot fudge sundae!

So now I had to make the Strawberry Pie, but first I had to find the recipe.  And it had to use a pastry crust.  For about 3 hours I had a anxiety attack, trying to find the perfect recipe and a really easy pie crust.
Recipe selected, breath exhaled and I put off making the pie crust until the next morning.

The next morning comes, I take a deep breath, get out my pie placement board-shows you the exact diameter of each pie size.  Follow the recipe-everything looks great, add the flour to the cutting board.   Roll, roll, roll.  Sticks, sticks, sticks.  Start over again, lots of flour, both on my rolling pin and board and the same thing happens.  Well, the crust is shot by now, too much flour and rolling.  Luckily, I had a frozen store-bought deep dish crust in the freezer to use.  Tomorrow is another day, but maybe you will have better luck with the crust than me.  And the strawberry filling was trementdous.

Strawberry Pie (by Betty Crocker's Best In Baking)
8 servings
Heat Oven to 475 F.  Mix 1 cup all-purpose flour with 1/2 tsp salt with fork..  Cut 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp. shortening into flour mixture with pastry blender until pieces are the size of small peas.  Sprinkle in 1 tbsp at a time 2-3 tbsp. of cold water, tossing with fork untill al the flour is wet and pastry almost leaves the side of the bowl.
Cover a breadboard with a pastry cloth.  Sprinkle flour lightly voer cloth.  Shape pastry into a ball on floured cloth.  Roll pastry with floured, cloth-covered rolling pin until pastry is 2 inches larger than pie palte turned upside down. 
Fold pastry into fourths.  Put pastry into pie palte.  Unfold and fit pastry into plate, pressing firmly abgainst bottom and side.  Trim edge of pastry that hangs over pie plate to 1 inch from rim of pie plate.  Fold and roll pastry under, even with pie plate then press around edge with fork dipped flour.  Poke bottom and sides many times with fork.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes until crust is light brown.  Cool completely on wire rack.

Strawberry Filling:  Wash 6 cups whole strawberries in colander and then remove stems.  Mash 2 cups of the strawberries in medium bowl with potato masher or fork to measure 1 cup mashed strawberries.  Save the rest of the strawberries for later.
Mix 1 cup sugar with 2 tbsp cornstarch in saucepan with wooden spoon.  Stir in the mashed strawberries and 1/2 cup water.  Cook strawberry-sugar mixture over medium heat, stirring all the time, until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil and stir 1 minute, then cool.
Beat 1 package cream cheese (3 ounces), softened with wooden spoon until smooth.  Spread over bottom of pie crust.  Pile whole strawberrries on cream cheese in pie crust.  Pour cooked strawberry mixture over top.  Refrigerate about 2 hours or until set.   Cover and refrigerate any leftover pie.

Mashing with a potato masher-didn't work-the strawberries were too firm.  Same goes for a fork.  I ended up using a knife and slicing and dicing until they could finally be mashed.

All of my pies were a big hit at my dinner party-try them some time.  Only 49 pies to go.

The 12-hour layover

A short layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Staying at the Caribe Hilton, which is located on the beach.  Just enough time to have a drink and dinner at Morton's Steakhouse. and to watch the sun set over the ocean.  Perfect.

Friday night is my next Family Style Dinner and it is Italian night.  Spaghetti and meatballs, as well as a meatless marinara sauce and everything else.  The pies I'm still trying to figure out.  One will be a pumpkin pie which is frozen and not homemade, but cost me only 99 cents and that's a great deal.  My second pie  will be a dark chocolate pudding pie with a homemade penaut crust-it's like eating a hot fudge sundae.  The third pie will be a fruit pie.  Probably Strawberry pie, since they are in season and pretty expensive to buy.  Maybe I'll make a homemade crust.

We won't count the pumpkin pie against 52 pies.  Recipes to follow on Thursday or Friday.

Redundant Pie Crusts

The piecrust was redundant.  Totally unneccesary for this Breakfast Casserole and it could have used some salt and pepper and 2 more beaten eggs, to bring a total to six.  My sister said it made her throw up.  I didnt throw up.

I have  a Meet-Up Group in Las Vegas.  Every month I feature a family-style dinner that includes appetizers, salad, bread and real butter, a meat dish, a vetegaarian dish, bottled water, red & white wine and dessert is two to three pies.  The pies are the best part.  I love to watch my new and old friends as they ponder how big their pie slice is going to be.  They always say they will try only one slice, but in the end, they have to have a slice of each pie.  No pie shall be left untasted!

July 29th, I have set up a class on my Meet-Up to learn how to de-bone a chicken in 5 slices and then stuff it.  My new friend, Mariza is going to teach this.  De-boning chicken looks scary

I have a fear of making pie crusts and writing blogs

I just did my whole blog and I was wiped out before I started.  That's not fair.  It takes a lot to inspire me to write and than to wipe it out and start over is not fair.

Anyway, here I go again.  I re-watched Julia & Julie last night and was inspired to start writing my blog again.  Maybe not 354 recipes in 365 days either.  But I like making pies and so I'm commiting to 52 pies in 52 weeks.  And maybe not every week either, because I'm out of town a lot, but 52 pies.

I admit I'm scared of making pie crusts.  It takes a tender, light touch and I always seem to be in a hurry.  It's not liking falling off a bike and getting right back on.  It takes courage and tenacity.

I cheated today.  I made my first pie-a breakfast pie with a store-bought pie deep dish pie crust from Ritz.  I'm working up to the real flour and water deal.

Potato-Bacon Breakfast Pie (by Marsha Konken of Sterling, CO with Gooseberry Patch Publications)
1 lb. bacon, crisply, cooked and crumbled bacon                   1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
9-in pie crust                                                                         4 eggs, beaten
2 cups frozen, shredded hashbrowns, thawed                         1/4 cup milk.

Arrange bacon in pie crust; layer evenly with hashbrowns and cheese.  Combine eggs and milk; pour over cheese.  Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes, until center is set.  Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing into wedges.  Serves 4-6.

Mine is still cooking and I think I used too many hashbrowns, but I think it will still be good to eat.

I commit to regularly making dessert pies, but not today.  And tomorrow, I will be gone for 4 1/2 days, but I'll be back.  With better, juicier, more flavorful pies.  And someday, I will make the flakiest pie crust ever.
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