Paper Bag Apple Pie

This recipe is from an old church cookbook, and it's a great little twist on traditional apple pie!

You'll need a regular brown paper grocery bag, plus the following ingredients:

1 9" unbaked pie shell
about 7 cups peeled & sliced apples (for a deep dish pie I use about 10 small apples)
2 T lemon juice
3 T flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c sugar (I always include this because I use tart apples to make pie; if your apples are sweeter you won't need as much sugar)

Topping:
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c flour
3/4 c butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened

Combine apple slices in a large bowl, with lemon juice, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, & 1/4 c sugar.  Toss to coat evenly.  Put into pie shell.  Combine topping ingredients, which makes almost like a sugar cookie or a shortbread dough, and spread/pat it evenly over the top of the apples. 

Slide pie carefully into a brown paper bag, on top of a large cookie sheet.  I always make sure to invert the side folds of the bag so they're poking OUT, so that the paper doesn't absorb the butter from the topping & crust.  Fold the end and secure with paper clips or staples.  Bake at 425* for 1 hour.

Using a paper bag allows the pie to bake evenly and it turns out just right every time!  Also, one little note: I have made this pie probably 10 times and I've never had the paper catch fire in the oven.  It often gives off a burnt paper odor as it's cooking, but it's never a very strong smell and it's only for the first little while of cooking time.

Give this recipe a try; the cookie-like topping on the pie and the paper bag technique make it a winner!

Blueberry "syrup"

This morning, two things converged to become a lovely meal.  Number one: now that the kids are in school and I'm often at home by myself, I sometimes have a hankering for a delicious brunch-for-one.  Number two: I like blueberries, and since they've been on sale lately I keep buying them up to snack on.  After recently reading this paragraph from an article about blueberries, I'm especially sold on the awesomeness of them: Overweight rats fed the human equivalent of 1 cup of blueberries a day stored less belly fat than those that didn’t eat them, reports a University of Michigan study. The researchers believe compounds in anthocyanin, the pigment that gives blueberries their tint, may turn on genes related to fat burning.

Interesting, huh?  So -- I decided today to make Dutch Baby, and to incorporate blueberries in the form of a syrup.  YUM!

Here's how I made the syrup:

Rinse one container (one cup) of blueberries, put into a small saucepan.  Add about 3T sugar, about 1/8 tsp cinnamon, and stir til it's basically combined.  No need to add water!

Turn the burner on medium-high, stirring occasionally, until it starts to get bubbly.  As the blueberries cook, they'll break down and release their juices, and the syrup will soon start to look a little more syrup-y instead of a pan full of dry berries.

Simmer, uncovered, on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add 1/2 tsp vanilla. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

 The final result was about 2/3 c of a chunky sauce, more like a berry compote.  I went ahead and used all of it on my Dutch Baby, but half would've been enough.  I just figured, I was planning on eating that whole container of blueberries today anyway, so might as well!  It was yummy.

 Maybe it's weird that I'm posting a picture of the plate after I ate, but it's to show the very pretty color of the syrup against the white plate.  Cooked blueberries make the best color ever.

Enjoy!  (I know I did!)

Creamy Pear Pie

This recipe was recently featured on Our Best Bites and I couldn't wait to try it. I made it for a "pie party" we attended over the weekend and it was a big hit. It's peary delicious! The sweetness is just right; it tastes great plain without any whipped cream or ice cream... although, I wouldn't turn this pie down if it was heated up with some vanilla ice cream on top!

Ingredients:

1 double pie crust

About 1 1/2 lb firm (not too ripe, not too green) pears, peeled and sliced

(I used about 5 Bartletts)

1 T all-purpose flour

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

3 oz cream cheese

2 T milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

2 T butter, melted

sugar & cinnamon for sprinkling

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450. Roll the bottom of the pie crust into the pie plate.

Toss the sliced pears in the flour. Arrange them evenly over the pie crust in the pie plate. Set aside.

In a blender, combine the sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, milk, cinnamon, and ginger. Blend until smooth. Pour evenly over the pear mixture. Use the remaining crust to form the top of the pie (I liek doing a lattice top). Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with sugar & cinnamon.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the creamy mixture had thickened. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

I love doing lattice-top crusts on pies and soon I'll have a tutorial on here! So fun and really not as difficult as you might think. Guess what else is not that difficult? Homemade pie crusts! I've tried a few recipes for crusts over the years and they always taste better than store-bought. For this pie I used Our Best Bites' favorite crust recipe and it was lovely:

1 1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 + 1 T shortening (I used butter flavored)

3-4 T ice water

Combine flour & salt; cut in shortening with a pastry blender. Add ice water gradually and, with your fingers, gently turn over the dough until all the water is incorporated and it forms a ball. Be sure not to over-mix or over-work the dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until using. This makes a single pie crust, so you'll need to double this recipe for a double-crust pie.

Paper Bag Apple Pie

This is a tasty recipe I got from an old church cookbook; I have changed a few minor things about it. Cooking the pie in a brown paper bag allows for nice, even browning with no burnt edges. It bakes perfectly every time.

1 unbaked piecrust

5-7 Granny Smith apples, or other tart baking variety, peeled and sliced

Filling:

2 T lemon juice

1/4 c sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 T flour

Topping:

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c flour

3/4 c butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened

Combine apple slices (thin) with filling ingredients in a large bowl. Transfer to pie shell. Then, you can use the same bowl to combine the 3 topping ingredients; mix with a fork until it's the consistency of cookie dough. Pat the topping evenly over the apples; going all the way to the edges.

Open a heavy brown paper bag (grocery bag) and lay it on its side onto a large baking sheet. Slide pie into the bag, fold the end and secure with paper clips. Bake at 425 for 1 hour.

Orange Strawberry Scones

Easy and delicious! And, fancy-looking too. These would also be cute cut into different shapes, like hearts for Valentine's Day.

2 c flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 T orange zest
1/2 tsp salt
6 T butter, cut into 1/2" pieces
3/4 c heavy cream or half and half
1/3 c strawberry jam

Glaze:
1/4 orange juice
2 c powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (You can also do this with a food processor.) Stir in cream until just barely combined.

Flour a smooth work surface and roll out the dough to 1/2" thick. Cut out scones with a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter and put on a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper. Using the back of a small measuring spoon, make a shallow indentation in the center of each scone; then fill with jam.

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine orange juice and powdered sugar for the glaze. Drizzle over each scone and let set for about 30 minutes before serving.

Strawberry Shortcake Flag Cake

Since I didn't really follow a "recipe" when making this cake, I just posted the picture w/o recipe instructions. I made it on Sunday (the 4th of July) and brought it to a dinner with some friends. It got rave reviews and I thought about posting a recipe for it, but then tonight when one of the friends told me that she was so full from eating so much of my cake that she couldn't eat anything until 1pm the next day, I thought, okay, I'm posting this! :)

As usual, I didn't do much measuring of anything... but I do remember what I did. So here goes:


1 box white cake mix, plus eggs & oil to prepare
8 oz brick cream cheese, softened
4 T (1/2 stick) butter, softened
up to 1/2 c milk
powdered sugar (you will need less than one 2 lb. bag)
about 50 blueberries
1 lb strawberries
2 T white sugar
1/3 c shortening
Cool whip (or whipped cream)


Prepare one regular white cake mix into a 9x13 pan. Once it has been out of the oven for about 10 minutes, carefully dump it out of the pan upsidedown onto a cooling rack. May I recommend Pam for Baking! It's even better than regular Pam; has a little flour in it and is especially for greasing cake pans.


Prepare your berries: Wash, hull, and thinly slice all strawberries. Take about half of them and put into a small mixing bowl. Mix 2 T sugar into them and set aside. We'll use those for the inside of the cake. For the remaining strawberry slices, spread them out on paper towels to absorb their moisture. These are the ones we'll put on top for the stripes. Rinse blueberries and set on paper towels too.


With a hand mixer, mix 8 oz softened cream cheese with 1/2 stick of softened butter. Add 1 tsp vanilla and a splash of milk (2-3 T). Once that's well-blended, add some powdered sugar until it's a good consistency for spreading. I would say 2-4 cups; just keep adding 1/2 cup at a time until you like the consistency.


Now we're going to split the cake. You'll need a very sharp, very long knife for this. I like to put the top side down on a 9x13 cake, so I put the whole (cooled) cake upside down on my serving board, the carefully cut off the top layer and move it (with both hands underneath for support and spreading out your fingers so it doesn't break!) to another surface.


Evenly spread about HALF of your cream cheese frosting on the inside of your cake (split layer). On top of the frosting, spoon your macerated strawberries (that means they've been soaking in their own juices & sugar and getting nice and juicy for you) evenly. Don't let the berries & juice go too close to the edges. Go ahead and spoon all the strawberry juice on there; it will only make the cake more yummy! Carefully place the other half of your split cake on top of the berries.


Now, you'll need some more frosting to cover the whole cake. Starting with your leftover cream cheese frosting, add about 1/3 c shortening and mix well. Add 1-2 T milk. Add some more powdered sugar (maybe 1-2 cups) until it's the consistency of a nice buttercream.


At this point I decided I wanted the frosting to be lighter... in color and in consistency. So I folded in about 1/3 to 1/2 a tub of Cool Whip to the buttercream/cream cheese frosting. After doing that, frost the entire outside of the cake.


Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before serving, AND... shortly before serving, make your stars and stripes with your berries. I had drained my sliced strawberries on paper towels but they still bled by the time of the party; I'd put them on about two hours beforehand.


So there you have it! It was very yummy.

Apple Topping

5 medium Gala apples, peeled and sliced
6 T butter
1/2 packed brown sugar
cinnamon

In a saute pan, heat butter until melted. Add apples and saute until apples become tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add brown sugar and toss to coat. Sprinkle in desired amount of cinnamon and stir. Cook until sugar dissolves to make a caramel-like syrup. Serve over waffles, pancakes, ice cream, or whatever else you like! The last time I made this for my family, there was a little leftover which I stirred into a bowl of oatmeal the next day... delicious!


Recipe and photo courtesy of realmomkitchen.com

Apricot Chicken (or peach)

Doesn't that sauce look pretty?

I got this recipe from my mother-in-law, and my husband loves when I make it! I don't make it very often because the ingredients are not ones I usually have on hand. However, I have found ways to substitute ingredients so that we can have it more often (like tonight) as a last-minute dinner idea.


6-8 chicken pieces (I use about 4 boneless/skinless breasts)
8 oz Russian dressing
1 cup apricot jam
1 pkg (1 3/8 oz) dry onion soup mix
2 tsp curry powder (optional)

Mix dressing, jam, soup mix, & curry. Pour over chicken in a casserole dish. Bake at 350 for an hour. Serve over rice. Easy peasy!


NOW... tonight I did something a little different and was so pleased with the result. As I am about to can a bunch of peaches (four boxes of which arrived at my house today), I've been trying to eat up more of last year's canned peaches. When it was time to consider tonight's dinner I thought, "What can I make for dinner that will use up some canned peaches?" and I thought of apricot chicken.

As a substitute for the apricot jam, I took a little less than half a quart of canned peaches, along with juice for that amount, and put them in a small saucepan. I mushed up the peaches with the back of a fork, added a little more sugar since jam has tons of sugar in it (about two tablespoons) and put it over medium-high heat. I let it boil for a little while, stirring occasionally; about 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, I didn't have any onion soup mix on hand (which is weird; I normally do) so I found a recipe for it online, and I already had all of the necessary spices for it. Tonight I did happen to have Russian dressing in my fridge, but I have made from-scratch Russian dressing out of other ingredients before, when I've needed to. (There are about a million Russian dressing recipes online, and so many of them are VERY different. When I've made it before I used some ketchup, some mayo, a little Worchestershire, and some spices. This one online is close enough.)

So, tonight's canned peaches concoction served as my jam (they had cooked down to roughly a cup of "jam"), and I mixed it with the dressing, and about 5 teaspoons of the onion soup spice mix. (I never use curry with this.) It turned out so tasty; just as good as the original recipe!

Also, I don't usually put it in the oven for an hour. Tonight I used a covered electric skillet; I cut up the chicken into large chunks and mixed the sauce with it and cooked it all together and cooked it on medium heat, stirring occasionally. It was done before the rice was, probably in 15 minutes. Using 5 teaspoons of the onion spice mix was pretty mild; next time I'll do 6 teaspoons (which is the same as 2 tablespoons, FYI). Delish!

Berry Jam

I just finished making this fall's batch of other-than-strawberry jam. I use the same recipe for freezer jam that I do for strawberry, and it turns out great. This year I made raspberry jam, blackberry jam, and as special bonus treat raspberry-blackberry syrup! We haven't eaten the syrup yet but I can't wait to use it the next time we have our new favorite pancakes. I used this recipe and I'll let you know how it tastes once we eat it...

Making any berry freezer jam is easy, but the procedure is a tiny bit different for different types of berries. For strawberry, I wash & hull them, cut them in half, and put them in the blender - pulsing until they're the consistency I want. Usually I completely puree some of them and leave some of them chunky, then mix together for the way I like jam. Raspberries and blackberries are easier because they just need to be rinsed and then mashed in a big bowl with a potato masher, so you can skip the blender step (of course you can still put them in a blender or food processor if you want it; it's probably a little faster but it isn't necessary ~ one less thing to wash). Since raspberries and blackberries are so seedy, this year I strained out part of the seeds. After mashing, I poured about half of them into a wire mesh strainer and forced it through with a spatula. This takes some time and is kind of a pain, so sometime before the next go around I'll buy something like this, which I can also use for homemade applesauce (which I made last year and we LOVE it). Anyway, after straining out some of the seeds (you're left with a nice lump of pulp afterwards to throw away) just mix the strained part back into the mashed berries and continue with the recipe. I took more seeds out of the blackberry since they're bigger. I would say I strained 1/2 of the mashed blackberries and 1/3 of the mashed raspberries and both kinds of jam turned out just right.

Frozen Fruit Sherbet Dessert

This is one of my favorite treats in the summertime! It's so easy and so delicious. For special occasions my family eats it with Aunt Jessie's Buttermilk Cake, which I will post soon...



1 carton (1.5 qt) pineapple sherbet (I've only seen it at Fry's/Kroger's)
1 16-oz container of frozen sliced strawberries (sweetened is fine)
3 bananas, sliced or chopped

Leave sherbet out to thaw, just soft enough to mix the other ingredients in. Also, let the strawberries thaw out (or they may need a little help in the microwave). In a large bowl, mix strawberries (along with the juices) and banana slices into the sherbet. You can return the mixture to the freezer in the original sherbet container or use a slightly larger container... if you use the original container you'll have a little extra that won't fit; perfect for a hot afternoon treat to reward yourself!

This freezes quite solid and is hard to scoop right out of the freezer, so get it out a little while before serving.

Fancy From-Scratch Strawberry Shortcake

The recipe for the cake is from my Martha Stewart cookbook, but I couldn't find it online to link to. I halved her amounts and baked it in an 8" round and split it into 3 layers; she calls for two 9" rounds splits into 2 layers each. The amounts listed below are what I used for one 8" cake round.

The Cake

1/2 c flour

1/3 c cornstarch

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 large egg yolks, room temperature

1/2 c white sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/3 c canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 and spray the bottom of an 8" cake round with non-stick spray. Sift flour and cornstarch together into a small bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat on high speed until the mixture is thick and holds a ribbon-like trail on the surface when you raise the whisk, about 5 minutes. Turn mixer to low and slowly add flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Add oil and continue to mix until just combined (for me it didn't really combine; see next step). Turn off mixer, remove the bowl and detatch the whisk. Using the whisk, fold mixture several times (this will get the oil mixed in well).

Pour batter into prepared 8" cake pan; bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the center springs back when you touch it. Immediately turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile...

The Berries

I used about a pint and a half of strawberries. Remove tops and cut into bite-sized pieces. Put into a medium saucepan with 1/2 c sugar and about 1 tsp cornstarch. Cook over medium heat until bubbly, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. You'll want to do this well ahead of time so they can cool off completely. I was in a hurry for the strawberries to cool off, so I filled a large mixing bowl about halfway with ice water, then put the strawberries in a smaller metal mixing bowl on top of the ice water. I stirred them occasionally and they cooled off this way much faster.

The Whipped Cream

For heaven's sake, don't use Cool Whip. It's not much trouble to whip your own cream! For this recipe I used about a pint of whipping cream, about 1/4 c sugar, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. The trick with whipped cream is to not whip it too fast. Start out on low speed, after a couple minutes increase to medium, and ideally leave it on medium until it's finished (stiff peaks). Yes it will whip faster on high speed but the consistency is nicer & more creamy when it's been whipped on medium; also, whipped cream that has been done on high has a greater tendency to break later on, and you do NOT want broken whipped cream. Trust me. Take the few extra minutes.

The Assembly

Using a long serrated knife (a bread knife is good), split the cake into 3 layers. This cake is dense enough to handle it. On a cake plate (or in my case tonight, a dinner plate) layer: cake, then 1/3 of the strawberries, then 1/3 of the whipped cream, then the next layer of cake and repeat. Next time I would use a slotted spoon so as not to get as much of the strawberry juice, but the cake was dense enough to handle it and it wasn't too much of a problem. The juice soaked into the cake just a little and didn't make it soggy. I assembled the cake about an hour before dinner and let it chill in the fridge and it was perfect. Although it was a little messy, it looked so pretty when we cut into it and of course it was delicious!

Don't you just love strawberry season? I'll be making several batches of jam again soon...

post script... the leftover assembled strawberry shortcake sat in my fridge overnight and tastes even better!! Next time I will assemble this several hours before serving; it gives everything a chance to firm up and it becomes more like a regular layer cake, easily sliced. The cake held up well and I love the consistency. It's like a dense sponge cake; not biscuit-like but also not too light. I will definitely make this again!

Blueberry Muffins

From the New Good Housekeeping Cookbook

1 3/4 c flour
2/3 c sugar
1 T baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 T butter (3/4 stick)
1 egg
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs (if the pieces are bigger, like the size of peas, that's okay too). In a small bowl mix egg, milk, lemon peel, and vanilla with a fork until blended. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold blueberries into batter.

Spoon batter into greased muffin tin. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan; serve warm.


Tips:

• If you use frozen blueberries, don't thaw them before adding to batter. Fresh turn out a little better because they don't bleed as much into the batter and the muffins turn out looking "cleaner." But they are tasty either way!

• For these muffins or for any quick bread or cake, I never use a toothpick. I check for doneness by lightly pressing down on the center of the muffin/bread/cake with one finger. If it springs back, it's done. If a depression remains, it's not cooked through.

• My muffin tins are dark metal and these muffins are always done in 20 minutes; check after 18 or so to see if yours are done.

• And I can't believe I forgot to mention; I always sprinkle a little regular white sugar on top of each muffin before putting them in the oven -- it gives them a nice crunchy sweet top! A friend of mine puts brown sugar on top of hers; I haven't tried that but I bet that would be tasty too.

Lemon Squares

I got a good recipe from a friend and then made some changes to it... I made four batches over the weekend and I have figured out exactly how I like it!

Crust:

1 1/2 c flour
2/3 c powdered sugar
3/4 c butter, softened
dash salt
2 tsp fresh lemon zest (optional)

Filling:

6 T flour
2 c sugar (regular white granulated)
3/4 c lemon juice (fresh is the best!)
6 eggs
1 T fresh lemon zest (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine ingredients until dough-like (I use a fork); press evenly into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 350. While this is baking, prepare filling: first combine flour and sugar to make sure all the lumps are out of the flour. Mix in lemon juice and eggs (and zest if you want) and whisk until well-combined and a little frothy. Taste the filling mixture; everyone has a different opinion of the correct sweet/sour ratio of lemon squares! If it's too sour, add another couple of tablespoons of sugar. If it's too sweet, add a little more lemon juice and/or zest. After the crust has baked for 20 minutes, take it out of the oven and pour the filling over it while it's hot. Return to the oven and bake for 25 minutes more. After it has cooled, sprinkle powdered sugar over the top.


Tips:

• The key (at least for me) to making this turn out best is the baking pan. I have found that my very favorite 9x13 works the best... it's aluminum and has very straight sides and square corners and I bought it at a cake decorating supply store. Looks just like this one. It's perfect for cake-baking and has turned out to be miraculous for brownies, lemon squares, etc. because the whole pan bakes evenly; no overdone edges, etc.

• I am a nerd about eggs... you know those little white stringy parts that connect the white to the yolk? Have you ever noticed biting into a firm little chunk in a cake or brownie and realized it's that little part of the egg baked in there? For something like lemon squares, I want the filling to be smooth and flawless, so I strain the eggs. Just break them into a wire mesh strainer over your mixing bowl, and use the back of a spoon to push the egg through the strainer. It takes a while; in fact if you just scramble the eggs and the walk away for 10 minutes, a lot of it will ooze through on it's own, but then you'll still need to push the rest through. When most of the egg is through you'll be left with those gross white stringy parts in the strainer, and you can rest assured that your lemon squares will be smooth and lovely.

• The best way I know to squeeze fresh lemons without a juicer: cut a lemon in half, stick a fork in the middle of it and squeeze it around the fork, twisting the fork so that all the juice comes out. Putting each lemon in the microwave for 10 seconds or so (before cutting) can help get more of the juice out, but I have found that using a fork is the best trick. Do it over a strainer into a bowl or large measuring cup. If you want to use the lemon zest, zest your lemons before cutting/juicing.

• There's no need to dirty up two mixing bowls; just use the same bowl for the filling that you did for the crust. Aside from juicing the lemons, this recipe really doesn't mess up your kitchen too much.

• I use one of these for dusting lemon bars (or anything else) with powdered sugar. So handy! And this is my favorite zester, fyi. I love it.

• These lemon squares will stay good and yummy for a few days, covered (no need to refrigerate) but they will get a layer of moisture on top and will need to be re-dusted with powdered sugar before serving.

Banana Nut Bread

I have tried different recipes over the years and this one is my favorite!

1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c butter
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 c flour
1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped nuts

Cream together sugar and butter; add eggs and blend well. Dissolve soda in buttermilk. Mix flour, salt, soda & buttermilk with sugar/butter/egg mixture, beating well. Add bananas, vanilla, and nuts. Pour batter into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 and bake for another 30 minutes. To prevent top from browning too much, cover loosely with foil for last 20 minutes, or, put a cookie sheet on the rack above the banana bread. It may not be cooked completely after an hour; to check, gently touch the top middle of a loaf to see if it is semi-firm. If not, continue cooking and check every 5 minutes until it's done.


Tips:

• For quickbreads I always spray the loafpans with Pam, and only on the bottom on the pan. Spraying only the bottom will prevent the batter from creeping up the sides as it bakes, and will result in nicely-shaped rounded loaves. After baking, let cool for 10 minutes and run a butterknife around the edge to loosen and they'll come right out of the pans.

• There are a few recipes I use regularly that call for buttermilk, but I rarely buy buttermilk. To "cheat" just put 1/2 T white vinegar in a 1-cup measure, and fill the rest of the way with milk. This will make 1 cup of sour milk; a great substitute for buttermilk!

• Don't throw away bananas whose skins have turned a little too brown; make banana bread! OR - if you don't have time to make banana bread today, just put them in the freezer. Their skin makes a great container! Leave them in there up to a few months and get them out when you're ready to make some banana bread. Let them thaw partway before peeling. Thawed frozen bananas are very mushy inside but will still be yellow and just perfect for banana bread!

Peach Pie

Crust:

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 c butter (two sticks)

Mix dry ingredients together. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until it's about the size of peas. And 4-8 T ice water, one T at a time, mixing with a fork, until the dough will form a ball when you squeeze a handful of it. Divide into two equal portions, flatten into 1/2" thick discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Ideally, make this the day before and store in the fridge. To make your pie right away, put the dough discs in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

1/4 c flour
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6-7 peaches, peeled and sliced, or about 4 1/2 to 5 cups

Mix dry ingredients and then add peaches. Mix well, but not to the point of smashing your peaches!

Cover your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Unwrap and roll out one dough disc, making a circle about 3" bigger on all sides than your pie pan (a 9" pie pan is ideal). Carefully roll the pastry halfway onto your rolling pin and drag it carefully onto the pie pan, centering it. Carefully press pastry into pie pan. Now put in your filling, spreading and being careful not to get any filling on the edges. Take about 1 1/2 T butter and make several dots on top of the filling.

Re-flour your work surface and pin; unwrap and roll out second disc, again making it amply bigger than your pie pan. Roll onto pin and then onto pie. With a paring knife, cut away extra crust around the pan, leaving at least 1" overhang of both layers all the way around. Turn the crust under, making an even ridge around the pie. Using your thumb and forefinger, pinch the crust together -- the motion I use is similar to untwisting a bottlecap. You can use a different design or even crimp with a fork; the important thing is that the top and bottom crust get pinched together in some way so as to be sealed together.

Cut a few slits or small shapes out of the top crust (this may also be done before putting the top crust on) so that steam can escape as it cooks. To make a pretty, crispy, sweet crust, brush the top with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Then, cover edges of the crust, reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30 minutes more. If you don't have one of these, cover the edges with strips of foil.

Although the temptation will be great, let it cool for at least half an hour before cutting into it! If you cut into it too soon, the filling will run; it needs time to cool and set up.

When you do cut into it... serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

• 2 c sugar
• 1/4 c Instant Clear Gel (it's a powder)
• 1 pkg strawberry Kool-Aid (also a powder)
• 5 c whole or 3 1/2 c crushed strawberries
• 1/2 c Karo syrup (light corn syrup)

Mix dry ingredients together well (first 3 ingredients). Mix wets & add to the dries. Mix well -- until sugar is dissolved. Put into jars and freeze, leaving 1/2" headspace.

My tips: ~I always, always double-batch (but never triple). A half-flat of strawberries (or 4 1-lb containers) makes about 7 cups of mashed/pureed strawberries; perfect for a double-batch. A double-batch yields about 11 to 12 cups of jam, so you'll need 11 to 12 half-pint jars or 6 pints. Crush/puree the strawberries by pulsing in the blender. My kids prefer "no chunks" so I do a total puree. If you want "chunks" I would puree part of them, then do a rougher blend on part, then mix those together. Cutting the berries in half after washing/hulling makes them blend more evenly. ~Really mix the dry ingredients together well. I pour them into a big bowl through a sieve and then I mix them together with a whisk or a slotted spoon. Instant clear gel is a modified cornstarch and will make lumps in the jam if not first mixed well with the sugar. You can get instant clear gel (note: has to be called Instant! Not the same as regular clear gel! I learned that the hard way!) from some specialty food stores but I order mine online; Amazon has plenty of vendors. Order a couple pounds of it and it will last you for the next few years' worth of jam. ~How do you know when the sugar is dissolved and it's time to put it into the jars? When you rub a little drop between your fingers and you can't feel the sugar granules anymore. It only takes a few minutes of good mixing. This is SO easy to make! ~This turns out more runny than other freezer jams or cooked jams. But that's okay with me! It's excellent not only on sandwiches or toast but also on pancakes, french toast, crepes; even ice cream. Mmmm.




Recipe courtesy of my mother-in-law Ruth