Home is where the heart is

Thanksgiving can feel like a drudgery for the cook no matter how fearless she/he is. Luckily, every Thanksgiving, our dear friends Joy & Terry, host the event. I usually bring a salad or vegetable side dish. This year I’m bringing a pie as I stocked the freezer with pie fillings from fruit of the summer and fall bounty.

I have this book to thank for my pre-planning this year.I met Kate McDermott the author of The Art of the Pie, in June 2012 when I went to a food blogging conference in Seattle. She was a lovely and humble woman who sat next to me,  told me about her story and food blog, Art of the Pie.  I have followed her baking career since our meeting and feel so privileged to have met her and so happy to own her beautiful cookbook. Thanksgiving is all about the pie when it comes to dessert. I took a tip from Kate’s book on page 155 on Pre-Cooking and Freezing Apple Pie filling. Partially cook the apple pie filling, allow it to cool, then place plastic wrap on the bottom of a pie plate, the pour the filling inside.Wrap up the filling in the pie plate then place in the freezer. Once frozen, you can remove the plate and wrap the filling more securely with aluminum foil if you wish.When you are ready for a pie, make the crust and pop in the filling. The filling can be partially thawed and then you would bake it an additional 10-15 minutes at the lower temperature.  I was so happy to have discovered this I froze peach, peach-blueberry and cherry pie fillings from the summer harvest to have ready for the next party.I generally have issues with managing the dough. I made Kate’s Traditional Art of the Pie Butter and Shortening Dough, which has worked well for me in the past. My problem is the timing of chilling the dough, then rolling it out. For today’s pie I chilled it overnight, sat it out for an hour, but it was still a chore to roll it out. One crust rolled out well but the other did not.
One thing about Kate’s book, is that she is not perfect, nor does she profess to be. She admits that baking can be troublesome and she talks about how to to roll with it.

I scrambled around in my pie box where I store items and found some cookie cutters. This was my opportunity as a baker to make a signature crust.  Patty’s Points:

1. The crust rolls out best for me, when chilled after one hour. It is more pliable.

2. I loved making the filling in advance, completely separate from making the crust. This works for me until I have managed making and rolling out the crust with great skill.

3. It takes practice to make pie crust as it is more art and skill than anything.

4. Make the pie crust topping your own. Be creative.

Happy Thanksgiving – Enjoy your family and friends during this American Holiday.

Advertisement

My little dumpling

Image by None via CrunchBase

Today’s post is an accidental adventure.  I was making a clean-out-the-refrigerator quiche and had an extra single pie crust.  I didn’t have enough apples to make a full pie, then remembered I  had an apple dumpling for the first time  about a year ago.  I gave it a try.

Dumplings are balls of dough wrapping meat, fruit, vegetables, and cheeses; they are baked, fried, boiled or steamed. I never realized how versatile they are!

I chose my recipe from AllRecipes.

Patty’s Points

1.  AllRecipes.com is a great website. You can develop a profile and have a box of saved recipes to go back and refer to. You can also adjust the number served on the recipe and the website will automatically change the ingredient measurements. Very cool!

2. I never realized how differently apple dumplings are made. I made mine for a couple of people.  The Pioneer Woman Apple Dumplings version is a big casserole dish to serve a big family or a crowd at a potluck.

3. I learned from a Martha’s New Year’s Celebration DVD  how to make the leaves for my dumpling crust. I found a “how-to”  from this Pear Dumpling video from Martha Stewart’s website. That is my tiny bit of creativity 🙂

All I can say is EASY. What a nice way to do something with leftover scrapes of pastry dough, especially with all the upcoming pies that will be made during the holiday season. Enjoy!

Related articles

• Apple Dumplings (cantstayoutofthekitchen.com)
• Apple Dumpling Days! (centralumchurch.wordpress.com)
• Apple Dumplins (barnkidscalledjessieandjuice.wordpress.com)

 

Julie’s Apple Butter

The cooking club members gathered at Julie’s house this past week to relax and enjoy the beautiful fall we have had this year.

We had a fall assortment of dishes; tomato bisque, mini pepper appetizers, apples with salted pumpkin caramel sauce, fresh grapes, pumpkin bread, and sweet potato pie. We also got an lesson on how Applejack liqueur is made from fermented apples that freeze in the winter. I mixed my 1/2 shot of Laird’s Applejack with warm apple cider. My legs got a little warm and numb with that 80 proof concoction.

Afterward, we commenced to making Julie’s family apple butter recipe. She cut the original recipe down for an easy undertaking.  Julie likes using Pink Lady apples.

Julie’s Apple Butter

6 C diced apples (about 6 medium to large apples)

1 2/3 C apple cider

1/4 C apple cider vinegar

1 1/3 C sugar

2/3 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp allspice

Peel, core, and dice 6 medium to large sized apples to make 6 cups.

Place in cooking pan and add the cider and cider vinegar.  Place on high heat until boiling for about 20 minutes, stir occasionally. Reduce to medium heat and add the sugar and spices, mix well and stir occasionally.  After another 20-30 minutes reduce the heat again to medium-low and cook for another 40-45 minutes. The apples will be soft and with a brown syrupy liquid. Remove from heat then mash the apples to eliminate the lumps. Place into jars and either process for canning or place in refrigerator for up to one week (if it lasts that long :))

Patty’s Points:

1.  Since the cooking process is 1 1/2 hours, we had to leave Julie’s house before seeing the final product. I made a batch at home tonight. It was easy to let it cook on the stove while I did other chores around the house.

2. I couldn’t find Pink Lady apples at my local supermarket. I found this website on the best apples for making apple butter. I chose Fuji apples from the list. The apple should be a softer type apple

3. I used my apple corer-slicer-peeler and the process went very quickly in prepping the apples.

4. I used my hand emulsion blender when the apples had cooked through to mash the apples into butter.

5.  It is a very sweet butter with the sugar and the apple cider combination. You could easily decrease the sugar to one cup or less to your taste. I also substituted the spices listed in the recipe with 1 tsp of apple pie spice. What a yummy, smooth and sweet butter. It was yummy to top on buttered, whole wheat bread.

I had never made apple butter before this week. I felt my midwestern roots when making this classic recipe. A  flashback to childhood.

Related articles

• Autumn Recipes – The Alchemy of Apple Butter (kitchenexcavation.wordpress.com)
• Practically A Miracle – Crock Pot Apple Butter (theinvoluntaryhousewife.com)
• Apple Butter Milkshakes with Bourbon (sweetswithsara.com)