Apple Pie

I met a girl in the supermarket I often see walking around town who confessed that she had no idea how to make a pie. She told me she'd made an apple pie once, but it was crunchy. I was floored. It's such a staple in my life I can't imagine not knowing how to make one! So if you are out there, and you don't know how to make one, I'm going to share the secrets....

I always start with the Perfect Pie Crust from Martha Stewart. It's incredibly easy to make in a food processor! There really is no need to buy a crust. Patrick likes to help make it, it's that easy!

Start by putting 2 1/2 cups of flour into your food processor. Chop up 2 sticks of cold butter (sometimes I actually use 1.5...it actually makes a denser crust you won't be disappointed with!) and put it into the flour and pulse. You'll have a coarse mixture now. Then, I slowly add ice water until the whole thing comes together into a ball of dough. It's THAT easy! I'm not even kidding! Chill it for an hour or so in your fridge.



Then there is the apple mixture. I use about 8-10 apples, peeled and cored. This time, it was Golden Delicious and a few Honey Crisp. I like a good mixture and I change it up often. Then I throw in a cup of sugar, a teaspoon of allspice, a teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon (depending on how cinnamon you like!) I mix it all up and put it into the rolled pie crust.

I then roll another pie crust out and cut it into strips with a pizza cutter. I begin laying strips parallel across the pie and create a lattice effect before rolling up the edges. Put it in the oven on 375 and bake it for an hour.

I promise, you won't be disappointed. Everyone will love your pie!

Pinteresting Cat Cookies!

So I'm pretty sure most of you have discovered Pinterest by now, but in case you haven't, you must! It's so much fun! I've been doing a lot of cooking via Pinterest. It's good because a year ago, I was so not into food in the midst of first trimester lack of appetite that I feel like we didn't eat chicken for months! But Pinterest...oh Pinterest! It has so many many delicious choices! And crafts! It's quite addicting, I must say!!



I found this neat little cat cookie recipe and thought I'd give it a whirl for a Halloween party we were venturing to.



I thought I would be slick, and turn them into icebox/slice the roll cookies...but I didn't slice em thin enough, and before I knew it, all of my cats were running into each other in the oven! They were fine, but they didn't quite look like the picture...

So I decided to follow directions...and I'm not sure what was worse...the cookies running into each other or the eyes (candy corn) running off the cookie!!



None the less, a quick fix of cutting off some melted candy corns and replacing them with new and before you know it, they were cute little cats! I'm definitely keeping this dough recipe. It really was great. It reminded me of my aunt's old chocolate pixie cookie recipe from her cookbook. I dunno if I'll do cats again though.

What Pinteresting things are you doing lately?

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day

After seeing recommendations for this book in several blogs, I decided I needed to get my hands on it. I have no regrets and I haven't even made it past the master recipe or pizza dough! There are so many many options in this book that look absolutely delicious!



We started with the basic bread...just a staple for meals. It really comes together nicely, although we don't own a baking/pizza stone (ours cracked!) I do own a cast iron oven and it works really well in there! It browns just slightly across the top, but oh, the taste!! It's truly magical! Homemade bread straight from your oven! I don't think it gets any better with a dab of butter!



We've also made burger rolls out of the bread dough, which worked extraordinarily well in a pinch when we didn't have rolls and the weather got nicer. It was so well I don't think I'll be buying a lot of burger buns this summer!

The pizza dough was a success as well. As big fans of pizza, especially GRILLED pizza, we have been working hard to find all the perfect touches for our pizza. This dough was a nice compliment!

What have you made from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day that you loved? I'd love to hear about it!!

Joe likes to make me breakfast. There have been countless times this summer that he's gotten to the kitchen to make a nice batch of pancakes for all of us..so on Saturday, our last Saturday before school, I decided to make him something special. I was inspired by Erin, over at House on Hill Road, when she made her raspberry scones! I decided to give the recipe a whirl. They were a huge hit! Joe really enjoyed them, and I'm glad..afterall, I might not make the best pancakes, but I can still make special breakfast for him!

Secret Kisses

With all the snow, there has been a lot going on in our kitchen! This week is Caring Week at school, and we have secret buddies. I decided to make some of these delicious cookies for my secret buddy...you know, so I didn't have to eat all the Hershey Kisses in the bag all by myself, or the cookies I made with them.



I tried to plan accordingly, but somehow I forgot the almonds the recipe calls for when we were at the store and the local pharmacy/liquor store just didn't have almonds for me! So I did without, and they actually came out really well!



I wonder how they'd be different if they had the almonds...perhaps enough to make them again soon!

Marshmallow Fluff!




There is this wonderful little place in Princeton called The Bent Spoon. They really do make the most amazing ice cream imaginable from scratch, and as an added bonus, they also make the most AMAZING hot cocoa in the whole wide world. It's creamy and thick, reminiscent of drinking a chocolate bar. I know, who has? But there really is no better way to explain it! They also make their own marshmallows and Joe recently put in a request to recreate this joy. We were sitting around one chilly evening and I offered some cocoa to which he said that nothing could possibly top the Spoon's cocoa and that he couldn't possibly have any. Ooook..that's a challenge! I was in Whole Foods last week and came across the most amazing drinking chocolate..close, but not quite..perhaps it's the fact that we use fat free milk. This cocoa calls for more, perhaps a whole milk. But the marshmallows. Now that was the real challenge. I've never made real marshmallows before. In fact, I'm relatively afraid of making candy besides chocolate. Perhaps it's the scientific danger of melting sugar down, but the whole concept scares me to death! I overcame my fears! They were relatively easy. This is the recipe I followed. They cut up easily enough and made for some amazing cocoa this evening as we decorated the tree!

As American as Apple Pie



It's become a tradition. We go to Joe's family for Thanksgiving, and I show up with an apple pie. There was a point in my life where I used your standard Pillsbury roll out crust, but I felt guilty when anyone would compliment me on it. I mean, after all, the filling is simply apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. Not much to it, not much work!! How could I possibly take credit for an amazing apple pie when the piece that holds it all together wasn't even mine? So a few years ago, I started making my own crust. This was, perhaps, when I received a glorious Cuisanart for Christmas. After all, it's just about absolutely necessary for pie crust. I've since made some changes and really mastered it.

Joe may not be a cake or pastry eater, but he sure does love pies! I'm glad I can oblige!