You suck, July 14

I really hate that I have a day of the year that I can't be happy on. At least for the time being. It's just a day. Something really sad happened to me and my family four years ago on that day, but it's still just another summer day. As the day approached, I actually felt like it wasn't going to bother me this year. Then I woke up at 4:00 AM to Bobby's R2D2 notification message on his phone, and then Franny was up using the bathroom at 4:30, and that was it, I couldn't fall back asleep. Neither could Franny, as it seems, because she thought it would be a good idea to wake Claire up at 6:15. I'm finally drifting off when I hear Franny saying over the monitor, "Good morning, Claire! Time to wake up!" And I knew it was game over. The worst day of the year for me had started four hours earlier than usual. (My kids have been sleeping in until 8:00 AM ever since we got back from California and it's awesome!)

I told Bobby that day felt a little bit like walking into a brick wall when you're not paying attention. And then you're flat on your back looking up and that brick wall thinking, "Man, I should have seen this coming." I also feel like summer betrayed me by taking my Mom in July. Summer is supposed to be happy and carefree! Something like this should have happened in January or February. I can't say this around Bobby or Franny because their birthdays both fall during this time, but those are my least favorite months. So cold, so quiet- a perfect time to wear sweats all day and no makeup and bake a lot of treats and do nothing.

This year July 14 started off kind of rough, but it got better. I took one of my pie crusts out of the freezer, rolled it out and filled it with raspberries and peaches and then put a crumb topping on it. Delicious! It felt to good to bake.
Then Claire went down for a nap and I put a movie on for the girls and gave them instructions not to wake Mommy up for anything less than an emergency. And not a bathroom emergency. Franny did come in once to tell me that Sophie pinched her but not before I got a good hour of sleep in, and I was satisfied with that. It made such a difference. Then we spent the afternoon outside eating popsicles and visiting with our neighbors Lydia and Amanda while the girls played in our inflatable pool.
The day just got better and better. After that we ate calzones for dinner- those really hit the spot- and off to Sophie's last T-ball game of the season. This was her first year and she did so well! I was so proud. This was our first time participating in a sports team of any kind. It was all very new to me because I never played sports of any kind growing up, aside from P.E. "I'm not very athletic." I felt a little nervous and awkward the first few games, but by the end, I felt pretty comfortable. I think for sure we'll do it again next year. Sophie payed close attention and chased after every ball and caught more than her share. We were very impressed. And by the end of the season we noticed she was hitting the ball much farther than at the beginning.
I am hoping that at as the years pass, it will get a little easier to face July 14. My cousin told me that they call the day his father passed away "Happy Deathday." He said because his Dad was such a fun happy guy, it made sense to get together for a party even if he couldn't be there physically. I hope I get there sooner rather than later. I know my mother would prefer that.
Raspberry Peach Pie with Crumb Topping
from Equal Opportunity Kitchen

For the Filling:

6-7 ripe, but firm white or yellow peaches, washed and chopped with skins on. (You can also remove the skins (if desired) by blanching the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds and then putting them in an ice bath. The skin should peel off.)

1 pint raspberries

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup brown sugar (depending on the sweetness of the fruit and your taste)

3 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

For the filling I chopped up 6 or 7 peaches. Toss them with a pint of raspberries and the lemon juice.

Combine the brown sugar with the cornstarch, salt and ground ginger in a small bowl. You want to mix all of these ingredients until they are well combined before sprinkling over the fruit.

Crumble Top

3/4 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Walnuts (optional – I didn’t add this)
1/2 Cup Oatmeal
1/2 Cup Butter (cold)
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

I just mixed the ingredients together with a fork and spread it evenly on top of the filling. Actually, I had too much crumble, so I only used about 2-3 of the crumble mixture for the pie.

I then put the pie in the oven at 350 F for about one hour. Serve with ice cream.

4th of July 2009

Despite unfavorable weather conditions, we still had a great 4th of July. It was the morning after Bobby's first on-call night. (Nobody died on his watch so that's good.) Franny came downstairs and asked where Daddy was. After I told her Daddy was at work, she said, "He needs to come home and go to sleep." We met up with him for a pancake breakfast at the church.

The girls and I headed to Walmart for some groceries and by the time we got home, Daddy was fast asleep. The girls spent the morning watching cartoons and playing while I prepared some 4th of July food for the Wilson's BBQ that night. I made the creamiest lime meringue pie and a Dill Potato Salad. (recipe below)

We watched the shortest parade I've ever seen- and that's not necessarily a bad thing- and the kids were able to collect some free candy and SWAG.

Apparently this is Sophie's "pretty face" because that's what I asked her for when I took this picture.

Mad dash to catch the parachutes. Franny loved watching the fireworks.

And Franny's Daddy loved lighting the fireworks.

Especially these.

Potato, Cucumber and Dill Salad adapted from Bon Appétit | July 1992

Yield: Serves 4

2 pounds baby red potatoes, sliced
3 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons country-style Dijon mustard
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
3/4 pound pickling cucumbers, sliced
Fresh dill sprigs

Cook potatoes in pot of boiling water until just tender. Drain. Transfer to large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar to hot potatoes and stir gently. Combine remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar, mayo, oil, and mustard in small bowl. Add chopped dill. Mix into potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.) Mix in cucumbers. Garnish with dill sprigs.

Prize-Winning Pies and Cupcakes

Whenever we visit the Eastern Idaho State Fair- which is considerably often, considering we live in Missouri- my favorite displays to look at are the prize-winning pies. It's a facet of small town America I didn't get to witness first hand growing up in Southern California, but I remember reading about in books like Charlotte's Web. So I was thrilled when I found out that Kirksville was having an apple pie contest and a cupcake contest the weekend of the 4th!

It all started when my friend Marie told me she and her daughter were going to enter cupcakes in the contest and would we like to as well? Uh, yes please! There's a blog I love to poke around at called Bakerella- have you ever tried her Thank you Betty bars? I thought I'd check her blog out for any great 4th of July themed cupcakes. Instead I found these hamburger cupcakes she made for Father's Day. Could you just die?! It was so easy. I knew those were the ones.

I baked a yellow cake mix in the cups (2/3 full), as per the suggestion of her highness, the one and only Bakerella. I sliced them into thirds and kept only the top and bottom pieces as the buns. I used my 1/4 cup measuring cup to cut brownies (mix) into circles. Hamburger Patties! So brilliant! I bought vanilla frosting, mixed yellow, green, and red food coloring into three separate portions of it and piped them onto the top of the patties using only ziplock baggies with small tips cut off. Then a little water brushed on the tops with a pastry brush and few sesame seed shakes and we achieved the most adorable cupcake I have absolutely ever seen.


The girls had fun. Well, Franny and Corrinne had fun. Sophie was only interested in eating Corrinne's jelly bean corn kernels. Isn't this idea adorable as well? It comes from a book called Hello Cupcake that I went ahead and ordered for my best friend Annie for her birthday. I'm glad you like it!!

Then we patiently waited for the results. A couple of brothers took 3rd place, Corrinne's corn on the cob took 2nd and WOOHOO, Franny took 1st. It was so exciting. She has not been able to stop talking about it since it happened. "Mommy, did they give me a "congratulations" (first place ribbon)?" "Mommy, did they call my name?" "Mommy, did I win first place at the cupcake contest?" "Mommy, what does hamburger cupcake mean? So it's not real?" It's been a good opportunity for us to help her with skills at recalling events. She keeps going up to people and saying things like, "They called my name!" And that's it. So we can say, why did they call your name? where were you when they called your name? etc. It was a great moment, except I felt so bad for Sophie. Corrinne's name was called, Franny's name was called and she kept asking for her turn. It was so sad. She was too young to enter the contest, but of course she helped with the cupcakes. She was so upset I had to take her out when they were taking pictures of the winners, so thank you Marie for snapping this shot for me.

I went online to read about the Kirksville holiday events and the cupcake rules and I discovered that there was an apple pie contest as well. HOT DOG! I love baking pies. There is something so gratifying in making your own crust and having it lay perfectly in the pan and crimping the edges decoratively with your fingers. And then the way it makes your house smell while it bakes. The salty, flaky crust paired with the sweet filling. I just love pies. I usually only make apple pies in the fall, though, when there are better apples to choose from. But I went for it anyway. If Granny Smith are good enough for Ina Garten's recipe, then they're food enough for me too. I actually tried a new recipe. I looked for one that was similar to my friend Bill Brady's, though, as he is naturally the master apple pie-maker. His crust recipe uses all shortening and doesn't call for any sugar. I really like the absence of sugar, but I am a true butter snob. So I turned to 101 cookbooks. I trust her recipes, they have never done me wrong. Actually, what really sold me on her recipe was the butterfly cutout on top of her pie. I started looking for a good summery cookie-cutter, and found this star that came with a set that Annie (BFF who I gave the cookbook to) gave me for my birthday last year. Perfect! The recipe is nothing fancy. I brushed an egg wash on top of the crust and dusted it with cinnamon sugar. I followed the recipe pretty closely except I used only a dash of allspice instead of the 1/4 tsp or so the recipe calls for.


So after the cupcake contest results were given, they auctioned off some donated pies and we continued to wait for the apple pie contest results. My pie took second place! I was thrilled! Franny was thrilled for me, too. The rest of the night she was making up songs about it. Waving her little ribbon around and singing, "Katherine and Franny, you did a good job, congratulations!" We had to bring two pies- one for judging and one for auctioning off. My pie was sold for $22.50. The first place pie, an apple pecan streusel pie, sold for a whopping $90! Ninety bucks for a pie! It was Bobby's first night on call at the hospital, so it was a girls' night out. After the contests were over, we were walking to the car and passed Pagliai's, a local pizza joint. We ducked in and shared a small pizza and a big root beer. (Jayne, you were right. That is kid's pizza for sure. Although I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. It reminded me of my youth and I found myself wanting to order a side of ranch for dipping like I used to at Chuck E Cheese's.) Franny wanted me to take pictures of her making these scary hand gestures accompanied with varied emotional faces. You'll find happy, sad, scared, surprised... Sophie wanted in on the fun, too.

Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie

I am so happy to be done with dieting (for now) and back to baking decadent, indulgent desserts. I missed my butter and cream! This was AWESOME! It was a a big hit with Sunday dinner tonight.

My sister's sweet mother-in-law, Sheryl, sent me this amazing cookbook. Dorie Greenspan is a genius. You'll be seeing more from her book on this blog- I can promise you that. Thanks Sheryl!!

Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie
- makes 8 servings -

Ingredients

For the Filling
1 9-inch graham cracker crust, fully baked and cooled

1 cup sugar

Grated zest of 3 limes

4 large eggs, preferably at room temperature

3/4 cup fresh lime juice (from about 6 limes)

A 1-inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces, at room temperature

For the Meringue
4 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

Procedure
1. Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or a food processor at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

2. Put the sugar and zest into a heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest between your fingertips for few minutes, until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lime is strong. Whisk the eggs, then whisk in the juice, ginger and cornstarch.

3. Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lime cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As whisk—you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling—you'll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point—the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don't stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience—depending on how much heat you're giving the cream, getting it to the temperature can take as long as 10 minutes.

4. As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain the cream into the container of the blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let it cool until it reaches 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

5. Turn the blender to high speed (or turn on the processor) and add the butter a few pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. After all the butter is in, continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If you find the machine is getting really hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.

6. Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface and refrigerate the cream for at least 4 hours, or overnight. (The cream can be packed airtight and and frozen for up to 2 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.)

To Finish the Pie with Meringue
1. Preheat the broiler.

2. Whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the pie shell. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet.

3. Working in a clean dry mixer bowl with the clean whisk attachment, or in a large bowl 1ith a hand mixer, whip the egg whites at medium speed until opaque. With the mixer running, add the sugar in a slow stream and continue to beat until the whites are glossy and form firm peaks.

4. Spread the meringue over the lime filling, swirling it if you'd like. Make sure the meringue comes all the way to the edges of the crust, because it will shrink when it bakes.

5. Run the pie under the broiler until the meringue is golden and the tips are dark brown. (Or, if you've got a blowtorch, use it to brown the meringue.) Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Graham Cracker Crust
- makes a 9-inch crust -

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

Procedure
1. Butter a 9-inch pie plate.

2. Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the pan and use your fingers to pay an even layer of crumbs over the bottom of the pan. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven. (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)

3. Center a rack in the over, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack.

Mmmmm.... rib-eye steaks for dinner. Rib-eyes could quite possibly be my new favorite cut of meat. We used Daddy Hinkel's southwest rub and sauce. (I'm pretty sure it's a favorite of the Codd family. Now it's a favorite of the Fields family, too.)

Brown Bag Apple Pie

I was checking my cousin Megan's blog and found this recipe she posted for her grandmother/my great-aunt's recipe for brown bag apple pie. I have always wanted to make a brown bag apple pie. By always I mean ever since last month when my brother-in-law Wes told me about the one he saw on the Food Network. This recipe is delish! And I loved it more knowing that it comes from my Aunt Betty, who could knit like nobody's business and play a mean game of Peanuts.

I'm not sure it's like this for everyone, since I'm so obsessed with cooking and food, but I love using old family recipes. When I prepare my Mom's recipes, it helps me to stay connected to her. And when I happen to know that I'm using a recipe that her mother used, or one she got from her Aunt Nell or her Aunt Edna... well, that's even more cool.

How cute is this Le Creuset apple dish my mother-in-law picked up for me at Tuesday morning? I just love her and it worked perfectly for the pie.

In a paper bag! Fascinating!

Staple the bag shut.

MMmmmmm.....

I've been a crappy blogger. I've been working on some Christmas projects that I'm giving away as presents. One was a cookbook for my Dad with all of my Mom's recipes and some of our other family favorites. I've been rummaging through old pictures that my Dad sent me. It was an exhausting process but one I thoroughly enjoyed. Here's one I found with my Aunt Betty at my parent's wedding luncheon:

Aunt Betty is second from the left, sitting next to her husband Sy. My Grandma's brother Craig and his wife Karen are sitting across from Sy and Betty. I believe that's Reba sitting next to Betty. Or is it Dorothy? I also see Aunt Marinette back there. Here's another cute one of my parents at their wedding luncheon:

Let's see, from left to right I see Tracy, Jeff, Cole and Marianne, Jill, Gayle, and Becky. I also see some old guy trying to steal a stack of plates. Wedding crasher, probably. I just love old pictures.


I made just a couple small changes to the recipe:

Recipe: Paper Bag Apple Pie

(I used the barefoot contessa's perfect pie crust recipe)

Filling

8-9 granny smith apples large ones

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbs. Flour

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbs lemon juice

Topping

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 stick of butter

Instructions

cut apples into small chunks and place in bowl then pour lemon juice onto the apples. Combine filling in separate bowl mix and then toss with apples. spoon into pastry shell just pack them in. mix the topping and then sprinkle on top of all the apples. (this is the interesting part) Place into a paper bag and staple shut. place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 1 hour 5 minutes.

Day 3 of cheap raspberries

Natalie gave me a couple boxes of this a while back and I was always planning on using it or my next strawberry pie. I've tried making my own strawberry glace before and not loving the results. I'm not sure I did it right by this box either. The consistency seemed like that of jello rather than a glaze to me. Oh well, I didn't get the look I was going for, but it still tasted great! :)

I decided to make this one a strawberry raspberry pie. It's not really much of a recipe, just a pre-baked pie crust filled with 1 1/2 16 oz cartons fresh hulled strawberries, and one carton fresh raspberries. I tossed them in the pie glaze/jello and then placed them carefully so the ends of the strawberries pointed up. After talking it over with Jessica, I think next time I would just try adding more boiling water to the mix so the consistency would be thinner and the flavor not as strong.

Pre-baked Pie Crust
(Pie recipe from barefoot contessa, enough for 2 pie crusts.)

• 12 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
• 6-8 tablespoons ice water (about 1/2 cup)

Directions

1. Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture.

2. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.

3. Add the butter and shortening.

4. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas.

5. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball.

6. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball.

7. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

8. Cut the dough in half.

9. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board.

10. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan.

Okay, so after you're through with step 10, flute or pinch the edges as desired around edge of pie plate. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stick the pie in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. The chilling will help the pie to retain its shape during baking. Take your pie out of the refrigerator and line it with a large piece of aluminum foil. Fill the pie with unbaked beans or pie weights. (I just have a container of beans that I keep in my pantry for such occasions. They're my pie beans. :) Put in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove foil and turn heat down to 325 degrees. Bake another 15-20 minutes until desired shade of golden brown.

one smitten kitten

I just fell in love with a new cooking blog: Smitten Kitchen.

I made a strawberry rhubarb pie, the first one I've ever made or even tasted, on Saturday and I loved it. My sister-in-law Jen told me years ago how much she loves strawberry rhubarb pie and I've been wanting to try one ever since, so I'm dedicating this pie to her. Jen takes the most beautiful pictures of my girls. I so wish that we lived closer so that 1.) we could hang out more because she's awesome and 2.) I could cook for her and pay her back for all the awesome pictures I have hanging in my home. My Dad called the other day and said, "Hey I need more pictures of your girls. Has your sister-in-law taken any more recently?" I am so not a photographer and he knows it! Check out Jen's flickr page and website. She's in the Kansas City area and she is so talented!

So back to the pie- I got lucky and the strawberries at Walmart of all places were perfectly sweet. It was all I could do not to eat the whole lot of them before getting them into the pie. I got a sweet deal on rhubarb at the farmer's market and you better believe I'll be heading back Saturday morning for more. I followed the Smitten Kitchen's recipe almost exactly, except I used the Barefoot Contessa's pie crust recipe. Why mess with perfection?

I ended up with a really wet filling, too, so I actually took the pie, tilted it slightly over the sink, and poured about 1/4 or more of pie juices down the drain. Not very sophisticated for a "domestic goddess", but I think it was a smart move. :)

For filling
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Make filling: Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Assemble Pie: Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish [er, I used a metal one and it was just fine]. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about another 25 minutes. [The original recipe suggested a total baking time of 1 hour and 55 minutes. No joke. Mine was done in just shy of an hour.] Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

I served it with my friend's recipe for vanilla ice cream. Oh it's so good! Here it is:

Sandra Zeigler’s Vanilla ice cream
for 4 qt. ice cream maker.

4 Eggs
2 1/4 c. Sugar
5 c. Milk
4 c. Heavy Cream
4 1/2 tsp. vanilla (I use Mexican Vanilla)
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together eggs and sugar until stiff. Add other ingredients and mix well together.

Pour into container of ice cream maker, and freeze as instructed.

Chicken Pot Pie a la Martha Stewart

Praise the day I found this recipe for chicken pot pie. I love this recipe. It's one of my top 5 recipes I found in 2006. What sets it apart for me is the fresh thyme in the flaky crust and the hint of lemon flavor provided by the lemon zest. Also I like the leeks. The pictures I took didn't turn out very well, so I'm posting just one so you can see my cute leaf cut-outs and the other picture is from Martha's site.

I do make a few changes with this recipe. I add a little more of everything and double the crust so I can make two pot pies. Then I freeze one or make it when I'm bringing someone dinner. For Bobby's sake, sometimes I cut out the mushrooms and onions and add more potatoes. Make sure the potatoes are starting to turn golden like the recipe suggests. Once I made this and the potatoes were still a little too raw by the time the filling was supposed to be cooked. It was so disappointing!

McIntosh vs. Honeycrisp

The best apple pie I've had to date was made by our good friend Bill Brady. His apple pie is flawless. He is the one who taught me that McIntosh apples are the ideal apples for a pie and to settle for nothing less! Unfortunately for me, McIntosh apples are nowhere to be found in the place where I live. Thanks to Jordan and Natalie, I recently discovered the wonder of Honeycrisp apples. Though a little pricey, they make a for an excellent choice as a baking apple because of their tartness and how they can maintain their shape after baking. Looks like McIntosh has met its match in Honeycrisp. This was my first attempt at a lattice pie crust. I have always wanted to do one and finally took the time to figure it out the other day. It took a lot less time that I thought it would. Maybe next time I do it, I'll take some pictures as I go and post some instructions on the blog.

My favorite pie crust comes by way of the Barefoot Contessa. Here's her recipe:

1 1/2 sticks very cold unsalted butter
3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 T sugar
1/3 c very cold shortening
6-8 T ice water

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8-12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out onto a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.

Apple Pie

8-9 large apples, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks (McIntosh or Honeycrisp recommended)
1 1/2 cups sugar
lots of cinnamon
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup flour

Mix together just until apples are coated with dry mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 - 1 1/4 hours. (If the top crust is beginning to burn, you can put a sheet of foil over the top.) Let cool for at least a couple of hours. Serve with vanilla ice cream, OF COURSE.

Thanks to Bill Brady for teaching me everything I know about apple pie!