8 February 2018 - Love Me Some Pie

How to Make Perfect Pie Crust

"The frozen pie shells and graham-cracker crusts available at the grocery stores are good and worth keeping on hand. But nothing beats a pie you have made yourself, including the crust."

Oh yeah

Pies

Apple, Peach, Pumpkin, and Chicken Pot Pie.

I love sugary, fatty goodness surrounded by a flakey bread-like casing.

The onslaught of calories just ensures the food coma that follows when you enjoy a piece of pie.

Now our Almanac gives a recipe for a pie crust that is pretty standard.

But

Today I am going to share a recipe that I have been using courtesy of All Recipes.

This recipe is literally called "Grandma's Secret Pie Crust Recipe"

I have used this recipe for both savoy and sweet pie recipes. They have consistently been a hit.

A couple of pie crust tips from a culinarian expert

Tip 1

Invest in a pastry cutter. Inexpensive tools great for cutting butter or shortening in to flour. Also great for mashing up avocados for guacamole.

Tip 2

Follow the recipe steps. You need to add ingredients in the right order, using the correct techniques to make a flakey crust.

Tip 3

Use ice cold water. Pie crust stays flakey when the fat you add (butter or shortening) stays solid or soft. You don't want the fats to melt before you bake. The cold water helps control the temperature of your dough.

Follow these tips and enjoy that recipe link and you will be a pie superstar!

Comments

7 May 2018 - Mary Had a Little Lamb.....Had...

Tips on Buying Lamb "A reference to "spring lamb"may make your mouth water - and well it should." Lamb is typically thought of as a seasonal meat with celebrations of Passover and Easter where lamb is usually eaten. A spring lamb is usually 3-5 months old so that the meat is very tender. Anything at the store that is labeled "LAMB" is a sheep that is a year or younger. These lambs are sometimes only milk fed. So keep these in mind as we keep talking about how to choose meet from a baby sheep. Meat from a lamb is taken from one month to one year. Lamb Chops, Leg of Lamb, and Lamb Shank are the most popular cuts. These cuts are perfect for dry-heat cooking, broiling, or roasting. You can find some delicious recipes here! Go ahead... Take a peek and eat one of these adorable babies You monsters.

30 January 2018 - Scotch Woodcock Two Ways...and more

Scotch Woodcock - Two Recipes "From Mrs. Beeton's nineteenth century homemaking guide: Spread hot buttered toast thinly with anchovy paste. Pour over a sauce made by stirring three beaten egg yolks into 1/4 pint cream, bring to a boiling point, but do not allow to boil or the sauce will curdle." This is a traditional Victorian recipe as you can tell because we get a return from Mrs. Beeton in today's Almanac post. Basically this becomes a creamy scrambled egg on toast with anchovy paste. This is the second recipe for today "Add finely chopped hard cooked eggs to a white sauce that has been seasoned with anchovy sauce and paprika. Pour over toast." If you are wondering what eggs has to do with the title of the recipe just know that most Scottish recipes that contain chicken in it will have the word "Cock" in there too. (Don't blush you prudes) I'm not trying to be silly. (Get your head out of the gutter) ...

8 May 2018 - Join the Club!

Your County Agents Offer a Lot of Good Help "How much use have you made of the free services offered by your county agent? Today is the anniversary of the Cooperative Extension Service, established May 8, 1914." The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture. Our Almanac says that your County Agricultural Agent offers many free publications about lawn care, gardening, shrubs, trees, flowers, food and cooking, clothing, home furnishing, and house hold money management. Here is my take... I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE! Seriously! I got on the Google to see if my county has a County Agricultural Agent and we really have one! You can find your agent by following this site. Pick Your Own My county agent even has a Facebook Page! Most of these agencies do. Except you may not know them by their title above. You may recognize the title 4H . ...

Almanac for Homemakers

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