I took a vacation and stopped by to see family on my way back south (aka where life is normal). Since I’ve been back I have been baking and cooking up a storm.
I got home late Thursday night and ran out to my beloved Winn Dixie Friday morning. My kitchen was nearly devoid of fresh food and my freezer was particularly empty of meat. Sigh. Taking advantage of the Labor Day sales I stocked up.
I made a nice pork Boston butt roast Friday afternoon. I made a glaze of olive oil, brown sugar, and minced garlic for it. Slow cooking it at 300 for just over 2 hours made it a nice medium rare. I’ve been eating on it throughout the weekend. The dog has been helping.
Fried yellow squash is thing I really like and rarely make. I decided to spice it up for something different. I mixed 1 egg with 1 cup buttermilk, then 1 cup flour with some salt and chili powder. I dumped those in as I usually do. The squash turned out fantastic.
At home, I always tend to wash my dinner down with some wine. My typical choice is Barefoot”s Sweet Red Blend.
Aside from that and the bbq chicken I made, I commenced on making funfetti cupcakes with hot pink frosting thanks to Pillsbury. I found it buried in my cupboard.
I also made freezer corn for the first time. The ol Winn Dixie had a 10/$3 deal and, as a trucker who’s rarely home, I had to take advantage. I blanched them for 6 minutes then plunged them in my sink in cold water. Since my ice maker has been broken I had to rely on the cold water out of my fridge. I forgot to buy ice. LOL
Once they were cooled, drained, and dried I wrapped each cob in cellophane before putting them in a gallon zip loc. I don’t even know how to properly thaw them, so I will simply throw them in a pot of boiling water and then eat em.
My mom had sent me home with a carton full of items. I found photo albums and my grandma’s recipe box (Dad’s mom). I haven’t even gone through the rest of it yet. I found Grandma’s recipe for Shortenin’ Bread and decided to try it.
The recipe is this:
1/2 c butter (I used unsalted)
1/4 c lighy brown sugar packed lightly
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
In a medium bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add flour and mix thoroughly – dough will be crumbly. Roll or pat out to 1/2″ thick on slightly floured surface. Cut into squares of desires size and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until they are lightly browned on the edges.
I found that 1/2″ is too thick as I used a cookie cutter for fun. Theyre good, but too crumbly. I recommend 1/4″ thick which is what I plan to do next time.
My mom had given me a brand new Pampered Chef pastry mat. It is one of those that is made out of silicone and can roll up. I had been going on for months about how I wanted to learn to make a pie crust from scratch. My goal was to use lard, but I never did buy the organic leaf lard like I intended. Instead I ended up using shortening, but it was still tasty.
I found that the Betty Crocker pie recipe works pretty darn well. I plan on sticking with that one, but will be trying others. It made me so mad on my umpteenth time of rolling out the crust that I called upon all the grandmas of the world to help. LOL
I made sure everything, including the rolling pin, was floured. Yet the flour on the rolling pin couldn’t stop the dang dough from sticking to it and ruining my crust. In the end, I managed to get the crust in the pie dish. I had to use some extra dough to bring the edges up which meant I didn’t have enough dough to do a lattice design. I ended up using a heart shaped cookie cutter and kind of covered the top.
I followed the Betty Crocker recipe for the apple filling using granny smith apples. They were perfectly tart.
I won’t be putting the recipes down as the Betty Crocker recipes are easily found.
However, this is my pitiful before picture:
And here is the after:
It was particularly tasty (whew, thank God) especially with a large dollop of my homemade cool whip on it.
Homemade Cool Whip:
1/4 c cold water
1 tsp unflavored gelatin (Knox)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 3/4 c whipping cream
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pour water into a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over water and let sit 2-3 minutes. Place pan over med-low heat and stir until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Once cool, pour in bowl with whipping cream, sugar, and cream of tartar. Beat on medium until it begins to thicken. Add vanilla and continue to beat until it becomes the consistency of cool whip.
Keep refrigerated. Can be frozen.
themeanbeagle 