Apple Pie

My sister was here a couple weekends ago and we got very ambitious one Sunday afternoon and baked the following

• 8 pie crusts
• 3 apple pies
• 20 english muffins
• 24 rolls
• a whole sunday dinner -- roast, mashed potatoes -- the works

Here is the pie stuff -- other recipes to follow!

Pate Brise (I have no idea why Martha Stewart call the pie crust this???)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 sticks cold butter (cut into small cubes and keep in fridge until needed)
1/4 cup ice water (maybe a little more or less)

In a food processor combine the flour and salt. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs.

With the machine running add in the water just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not process more that 30 seconds.

Divide in half and place on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into disks and refridgerate (at least 1 hr) (or you can freeze it for a month)

Apple Pie

1 recipe of the pate brise (1 disk for the crust, the other for the top)

Roll out the crust and place into a glass pie plate, Trim the overhang to about 1/2 inch.

In a large bowl toss together the filling
3 pounds peeled cored, sliced apples (1/4 in thick)
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
3 Tbs flour

Arrange in the chilled pie shell -- take 1 1Tbs of butter, cut into small pieces and place dots throughout the top of the apple filling.

Roll out the second pie crust and place on top. Push together the edges. Cut 3 slits in the top for venting. Brush the top of the crust with

1 large egg yolk and 1 Tbs heavy cream mixed together

Dust with sanding sugar.

Place in freezer for at least 30 minutes (up to a year probably)

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes then at 350 for 40 more.

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies and Royal Icing

Sugar Cookies
4 sticks butter
3 cups sugar

Cream together for a while

2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix in well

5 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Add half the flour first and when it is all mixed well add the other half (I don't know why -- that is what the directions said, but be prepared for all that flour to fly at you!)

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes (but check often-- as soon as the edges are slightly gold take them out! )

Royal Icing
2 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar

Blend until stiff peaked

Add 1 cup powdered sugar

Mix for 10 minutes (use an electric mixer or go crazy)

Add 1 cup powdered sugar

Mix for another 10 minutes (see what I mean)

Use water to thin to the right consistency (a ribbon of it will absorb into the other in 5-7 seconds)

Divide and color. Put into FREEZER ziplocks (the storage ones just don't hold up.) When ready to decorate, snip the corner and use like a piping bag.

I did these over a couple of days lest I go nuts trying to help all the kids. When done, just put the ziplocks in the fridge and tackle the project again when your patience with small children has returned. (or do the rest later all by yourself and find that it is really fun)

Apples

We got this idea from a suggestion my Aunt Kellie left on facebook. We used a melon baller to make little mini apple balls and then dipped those in chocolate, caramel and sprinkles. They were just the right size for the kids -- and you really don't waste much apple!

For dinner we had Chicken salad.
1 can chicken breast
1 TBS mayo
1/2 a large apple
2 ribs of celery

We served it over a bed of lettuce and on english muffins. It was delicious.

Retro meal

My kids had home-made egg mcmuffins (toasted english muffins, bacon, cheese, and a poached egg) and for dessert Orange Julius. I hadn't had one in years. It was delicious and the perfect complement to a breakfasty dinner.

Orange Julius
1 can orange juice concentrate
2 cups milk (I used some half and half cuz I had it and I am sure it helped make it so creamy)
2 cups water
1 tsp vanilla
16 cubes of ice

BLEND.

Add more ice if necessary

Homemade Taquitos

Trent helping to plate them.

Here they are pan frying. (Can you guess who ran out of toothpicks and had to use skewers to hold the tortilla rolls closed?)

You can fill the flour tortillas with anything. This time I filled them with pulled Sweet pork and cheddar cheese. They were delicious!

Pulled Sweet pork is just a pork loin or tenderloin cooked all day in a crockpot until you can pull it apart. I cook it with Blended pace picante sauce and brown sugar.

Chicken Fried Steak

Here it is. Doesn't it look good? After watching "The next food network star" and seeing them plate a "beauty" plate. I decided to also. I think Trent will think we were all fancy when he gets home and goes to heat up his save plate . . . OH wait, because of the gold edging on the china if you stick it in the microwave it sparks . . . Oh well, I will show him this picture so that when he wonders why his food looks like I have scraped it off someone elses plate I can assure him he is not eating the kids food left on their plate (cuz I would NEVER do something like that, put the food my kids don't touch on his plate????)

• Buy the pre-tenderized cubed steak.
• Make a seasoned flour mixture (flour, Lawry's seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic powder, ranch dressing packet . . . anything you like)
• Dip the meat in the flour and then dip into a beaten egg and then back into the flour.
• Have a skillet with about 1/8 inch of oil hot. Place the meat in the skillet. Allow it to brown on one side for about a minute. Turn and do the same to the other.
• Once both sides are browned, remove from skillet (allow the oil to drip off) and place in an oven safe dish.
• Bake at 350 for 20-30 more minutes.Tips, don't crowd the meat in the oil or oven.
• When finished with the skillet, pour off the oil, but leave the drippings. Add more of the seasoned flour and 2 TBS of butter and stir with a wire whisk to make a roux. Add 2 cups of milk and whisk continually until thickend. Country Gravy!!!!

Now, here's reality. I get to "plate" 5 plates all at once -- not because I am on the next food network star, but because it is my only shot at being able to sit and eat with my kids for more that 2 minutes!!!!!

Friday Pizza

Every Friday, we have Pizza. I know it sounds boring, but we all love it.

It is always homemade, and it is absolutely the best pizza -- yes, better than delivery, take-out, frozen, or gourmet.

First, sometime around 3:30 in the afternoon I make the dough. It takes roughly 2 minutes. Here is the recipe.

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbs yeast (I always use the rapid rise, bread machine yeast)
1 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs vegetable oil
4 cups of flour (I often do slightly less -- like I just don't fill the 4th cup all the way since I know I will use 1/4 cup of flour when I roll out the dough)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder (this is optional, but I nearly always add it)

Add those things in that order as fast as you can. I put it in my Kitchen aid with the dough hook and let it run for about 2 minutes. Then you leave it alone. I am sure you could remove the dough hook and let it rise in a nice separate bowl covered nicely with a pretty dish towel, but I never bother. I turn off the kitchenaid and leave it in there (dough hook and all) until it has risen double in size. (In a rush I have let it rise for as little as 20 minutes without noticing any change in result).

When you return, divide the dough in half and flour the countertop. Roll it out and place onto a pizza pan (sprayed with cooking spray). This recipe makes 2 large pizza crusts. As you can see from the photos, I doubled it.

Then top with sauce (I always use Prego traditional). Add cheese and other toppings. Bake at 475 until the crust is done. (About 12-15 minutes)

What kind of weird angle is that????

Now, I must share my quick tip.

Often, as soon as I finish rolling out one pizza crust, I place it in the oven to start baking. Then I roll out the next and place it in the oven. If I am only making 2 pizzas I let them cook while I clean up and get out all the toppings. If I am making 4 pizzas I just keep rolling the dough and putting them in the oven and by the time the 4th one goes in, I pull the 1st one out to get all of its toppings.

I don't let the crusts cook all the way, just until they start to change color (slighlty golden). Then you add the toppings and finish in the oven for only about 5 more minutes. It really helps you get pizza on the table fast. Also, many times I add the toppings to the cooked crust and then freeze the whole pizza to be used at a later date or I take it to someone and let them pop it in their oven for just 5 minutes and they can enjoy oven fresh homemade pizza!