I’m not really blogging about the pie I made for Christmas as much as this crust. Who would think you could make pie crust with boiling water? Who would think you could roll this crust till the cows come home and it would bake up flaky?

I found this crust recipe in an old Southern Living magazine, Sept. 1995. They gave the credit to a lady, Eloise Pope.

Thank you Southern Living and Eloise Pope. I will never again make my conventional pie crust.

Water Whipped Crust

3/4 cup shortening
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup boiling water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Place first 3 ingredients in deep mixing bowl and whip at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy and incorporated.

Add flour and salt and beat at lowest mixer speed until all ingredients are moist. Shape into 2 balls and place in refrigerator for 4 hours.

Remove and roll on wax paper coated with a bit of flour.

Fit in pie plate as desired. Without filling bake at 350 for 18 minutes. Filled follow pie directions

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The filling is great also. Not as amazing, but wonderful.

Lemon Chess PIe

2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon fine yellow cornmeal
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter — melted
2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice with pulp
1 unbaked pie shell — (9-inch)

Directions
In a large bowl combine the sugar, flour and cornmeal. Blend well, then add the eggs and combine well. Add the milk and mix then stir in the melted butter, lemon rind and juice. Pour this filling into the crust and cover then edge of the crust with foil to prevent it from burning, taking care not to touch the filling. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes, removing the foil after 30 minutes. Cool and serve or refrigerate overnight but let sit out 3 hours before serving to warm up slightly.

If you have extra almond bark to dip something else, peanut butter between two Ritz Crackers makes a wonderful cookie.

Easy Peanut Butter Balls

1 18-ounce jar peanut butter
2 pound powdered sugar
1 cup butter, melted
chocolate almond bark
Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together except for chocolate. Shape into 1-inch balls. Melt chocolate in microwave and dip balls in being sure to cover completely. Put on wax paper to harden.
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But alass the drought has made our crops scarce.
I did manage to put up green beans, and we are getting a few tomato and peppers.

The corn is not looking promising and it just makes one realize how blessed we are that we can run to a store for what we need. Makes me really appreciate our ancestors and the hard times they must have lived through “living off the land”.

On a up note we did have some great vacation time this year.

I just hope 2011 is a better year for Virginia gardens.

Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 40 – 45 minutes, until topping is browned and filling bubbly. Cool and serve at room temperature, or slightly warm.

served with fried eggs and bacon

I love leftover Mashed Potato Cakes for breakfast.

Just take leftover mashed potato and refrigerate it overnight (must be real potato and not instant!).
Form cakes in the morning with the cold potato.
Dredge them in flour and fry in hot bacon grease, turning once (I keep them two at a time, makes it easier to fry and turn)..not the healthiest thing in the world, but oh so good.

Blackberry Jam Swirl Cheesecake

Pumpkin Pie

I was thinking about how much of our ingredients we grew this year.

The pumpkin for pie, blackberries for cheesecake, green beans, potatoes for mashed potatoes, the chard for wilted greens, the corn for corn salad, all the onion, green pepper, and herbs that will be used.

We didn’t grow the brussel sprouts, yams, flour and yeast ( although I could have used my starter but don’t plan to) or any of the meat, eggs or milk.

My food bill for this Thanksgiving was still out of this world, counting all drinks and the few above items.

Next year I need to try and grow the brussel sprouts and yams. I also might look into some chickens for eggs. I don’t wish to be tied to a milk cow however..lol.

A homegrown Thanksgiving takes a lot more than one can imagine offhand. I appreciate the pilgrims a lot more…

– FOR TORTILLAS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water

They are easy, but this day I felt I wanted to try something else with them.

I just used the dough as a crust for this casserole.

Make up the tortilla recipe, then roll it into a well sprayed 9x13x2 pan. Bake at 350 about 10 minutes to crisp.

Cook 1 cup rice according to package directions.

Brown 1 pound hamburger and drain.

Add cooked rice, 1 packet of taco seasoning, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, some minced onion and green pepper, and 2 eggs.

Spread the mixture over the baked tortilla in pan. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and cover.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes then uncover and bake another 5.

Chop some tomato and spinach, or lettuce, to spread on top. Serve wedges with salsa and sour cream.
Most of all..enjoy!

Hot Wings

2 lbs chicken wings
3 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp bottled hot pepper sauce
1 Tbsp paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Create a marinade with the melted butter, hot pepper sauce, paprika, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper.

Pour all but 2 tablespoons of the marinade over the chicken pieces in the plastic bag. (Reserve marinade for coating after the pieces come out of the oven.) Seal bag and let marinate at room temperature for half an hour.

Place wings on a sprayed broiler pan.
Roast in a 350 oven for 25-30 minutes turning once. Remove from oven and baste with reserved marinade.

This was adapted from a Campbell Soup recipe, although I used an off brand soup and added onion and some milk.

You could make more that one layer, but I never do for any lasagna that isn’t for a large crowd.

If I want lasagna layered higher on a plate, I just double two pieces on top of each other.
Just one of my lasagna quirks I guess.

Creamy Chicken Lasagna

1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
16 ounce fat free cottage cheese
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
ground pepper to taste
10 oven ready lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded low fat cheese (4 cheese blend)
1/2 cup skim milk

Mix together the first 7 ingredients. Spray a baking pan then layer 5 noodles on bottom.
Top with half the soup mixture then half the shredded cheese.

Layer that with the remaining noodles, then remaining soup mixture and end with remaining cheese.

Pour the milk evenly over everything and cover tightly with foil.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes then remove foil and bake another 15.

Allow to stand a few minutes before cutting.

We will be leaning toward a more low fat agenda for the next several months.
I know once Thanksgiving is upon us, I will be glad I cut back a few months before.

Tuna Mac Veggie Casserole

olive oil spray
1 can corn
1 red or green bell pepper, diced (I mixed the two)
1 onion, diced
4-5 mushrooms sliced
1 can reduce fat cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup skim milk
3-4 dashes tabasco sauce
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 can tuna, drained
1 1/2 cups cooked macaroni
2 slices wheat bread crumbled
4 tablespoons parmigiana cheese
2 ripe tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350
Spray a iron skillet with the olive oil spray and saute the first 4 items until onion is translucence.

Add the mushroom soup, milk, tuna, tabasco, salt and pepper, parsley, and cooked macaroni. Stir well.

Top this with the bread crumbs and parmigiana cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until bread crumbs are browned. Slice tomatoes on top and sprinkle with more parsley.