Sweet Potato Pie Part 1 - first, the pie crust

Pie crust can seem kind of daunting, huh? But it really doesn't have to be as long as you pay attention the the "why" of the process. Pie crust is flour covered in fat, then lightly moistened with liquid to bring the dough together. The fat if kept chilled, will produce a tender and flaky (if you use shortening) crust. Some people add a bit of vinegar or vodka to their crust because the two liquids prevent gluten from forming. What's gluten? Gluten is the protein in flour that forms long stretchy strands when kneaded with liquid. Great for bread, not for pie crust.

I don't get complicated for pie crust. I use Martha Stewart's pate brisee but I use half butter, half shortening since I prefer a little flakiness in my crust. It's also an easy to recipe to remember and that means I make it more often. I like making a bunch and freezing the discs so that I just have to thaw them out when I want to make a pie or quiche.

Although I use the food processor, you definitely don't need one to make pie crust. Here's the King Arthur flour method for making the crust the analog way. Oh and if you prefer an even easier crust with no solid fat, there's an olive oil crust that's easier to work from Clotilde.

Pate Brisee - Basic Pie Dough
adapted from Martha Stewart

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar - If you like a sweeter crust I recommend increasing this to a couple of tablespoons.
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup shortening - more on that below

1/4-1/2 cup cold water

First, mix the flour, salt and sugar in the food processor.

Now for a little bit about the shortening. I'm not one to preach about nutrition, organics, etc. but did want to mention that I use this non-hydrogenated shortening. That just means I'm using palm oil which is solid at room temperature, thus not hydrogenated. You can find this online at amazon, most healthfood stores and I found mine at wholefoods. I use it for pie crust and greasing baking pans since I find it does a better job than oil and spreads easier than butter.

Back to the pie crust. Add the shortening and the sliced stick of butter then pulse about 10 seconds until the larger pieces of fat are no larger than a pea.

That elusive "course meal" stage. There are still chunks of butter and shortening but not huge chunks. When you roll out the pie crust those chunks of fat melt in the oven and create steam which = flaky pie crust. So don't go hog wild with the food processor pulse button.

Drizzle in the 1/4 cup of water while pulsing for about 20-30 seconds. Obviously this is just a stunt photo since I'm not coordinated enough to pulse, pour and shoot.

The mixture won't look like a dough but there's a great way to test once you've added the water and pulsed for 20-30 seconds.

Grab a bit of the mix in your hand and squeeze it together. If it comes together and stays together (not dry and floury) then your crust is done. If not, add a bit more water until the crust holds together. Just don't overpulse and definitely don't overwet.

Dump the mix onto some plastic wrap, smush together into a disc using the sides of the plastic and then wrap up tight. Chill the crust at least for an hour in the fridge although I prefer to just make it the day before.

Once your crust has been chilled, unwrap and get ready to roll. See those bits of shortening and butter? That will make for a flaky crust. Now, Martha's instructions say to roll out straight from the fridge. I find that if I do that, the crust tends to crack and is difficult to work. So just let it sit out on the counter 5-10 minutes and you won't have these issues.

Assemble your rolling out tools. A bit of flour, a large spatula and a rolling pin. I've had this french style rolling pin longer than I've been married. Yikes.

Lightly flour the counter and then the top of the dough. Begin to roll out the dough from the center and out. Turn 1/8 of a turn and roll some more. Repeat. Use the spatula to make sure the crust doesn't stick to the counter and to help you turn it. Another way to roll out the crust is between two sheets of plastic wrap which helps avoid adding too much flour. I go back and forth between both methods.

Once the crust is rolled out to approximately 14" diameter, gently place it in your pie pan. You can fold the crust in quarters or roll the pie crust over your rolling pin in a tube to transport it. Either way, fit it into the pan gently and fold the overhanging dough under the edge of the pie. Now crimp in your preferred method. I went with the good 'ol three knuckle peak. It's so classic.

I'm sorry I don't have more action shots of the rolling/crimping process but I'm still getting the hang of shooting in the kitchen and a little gunshy of getting flour all over the camera. I would set up the tripod but who am I kidding. Setting up the tripod would inevitably set off the curiosity meter in my boys to overload and I'd end up with no pictures at all. However, I couldn't leave you hanging so here's Deb rocking the rolling/crimping over at Smitten Kitchen.

Notice that I have some patched areas. That's perfectly normal. If you have any cracks, holes, etc. just grab some of the excess outer edges and use them to patch in the holes. I had plenty this time around since I rolled the crust straight out of the fridge forgetting I keep my fridge pretty cold.

Once your pie crust is crimped, stick it in the fridge or freezer until the filling is ready. This chilling helps the crust keep it's shape in the oven and again makes for a flaky crust.

Like I said, I take advantage when making pie crust and just mix up a bunch. This time I made eight, two of which I fiddled with a whole wheat recipe to see how it turns out. I'm hoping to put together a yummy quiche this week. However, as promised tomorrow we move onto the sweet potato pie filling. Yum.

A simple bouquet

Did you know moms can get cranky too? I know, the horror! I remember being in utter shock when I first learned that my mom had feelings too and could get cranky. The other day I woke up on the wrong side of the room, not even the bed. It involved caffeine withdrawal and not enough sleep but needless to say the boys were tiptoeing around me and whispering to each other. After heading outside to play they each brought in a bouquet of dandelions. How could I not feel a bit better after this (and a little caffeine of course)? In order to extend the mood lifting benefits of a child gifted bouquet I placed them on my kitchen windowsill, right where I do the dishes.

Ahh, that's better. I think they're getting used to me saying, "wait, do you mind if I take a picture?" On the crafting front I have been knitting up a muslin of a slouchy winter hat for me. Yes, I like to think I'm early but really I'm late since I wanted this hat last year.

Coming up next - pie! Yes, the best ever sweet potato pie.* Other than that, I'm running around tidying a bit since my Mami is coming to visit and the kids are in a tizzy wanting abuela to be here yesterday. There will definitely be food and possibly a bit of crafting but most of all just lots of talking.

* "The best ever" is determined by Mr. Maricucu, being the lone original southerner in the household.

Anyone up for a little more dance/fighting?

My sister and I must have watched Breakin' 2 - Electric Boogaloo a hundred times. We loved the hokey dance-fighting, the fashions and the story line. Half of it was probably over our heads at the time but whoah talk about a flashback when I saw the trailer. I'm old enough to remember the the kids at school breaking out the cardboard boxes in the park for some break dancing.




And of course who can forget the dance "battling". Oh gracious.




Since my mom was very encouraging of us wearing anything fashionable as long as it was modest I think I can remember at least a dozen items shown in the movie that sis and I wore during the 80s. Oh and I'm pretty sure I have the pictures to prove it, which likely has my little sister quaking in her boots.

A little garden for the weekend

I hope I'm not boring anyone with the garden updates but considering that come winter the only green will be my oldest's cactus it's hard not to get excited. So, remember my furry vine? Oh yeah we have watermelons! As of this morning we have three - two orange sized ones and then a smaller one. From what I remember (why did I throw that packet away?) these are seedless smaller fridge sized melons. I'm just hoping that we'll a) get to the ripe melons first before the animals and b) know when the melons are actually ripe. I'm told it's a fine art and I've only got three melons on which to practice.




Of course, I don't even eat watermelon but I'll give these a try simply because we're growing them. On to this little guy. Turns out all that luscious yellow flowered vine in the kids' garden is really cucumber. Go figure. If those three vines all produce we'll have a ton of cumber. Must look for recipes now.




The herb garden is flourishing too. I pinched off several last week and look the oregano and lemon balm are growing back with a vengeance. The lavender has me a bit worried. I keep waiting for it to shoot up and give me those long beautiful blue tipped spikes for some lavender wands but I'll settle for keeping it alive this year.








Finally, something I haven't mentioned before. By the deck the previous owners had a 10x10' dog pen that we took out. It's pretty much been a dirt pit since then. This year I decided to toss a bag of wildflower seed in hopes of a temporary meadow. Well we don't have a full fledged meadow but the boys have been spotting these beauties in our dirt pit.








Hope you have a happy weekend!

Random tips

Friends have heard me say before that I consider myself a repository for useless or trivial information. Somehow I forget mundane things throughout the day but if you wanted to know that hydrogen peroxide is great for treating stains or how to use freezer paper to applique fussy fabrics, I'm your gal.



So today I figured I'd share two random tips that have been rocking my world this week. Admittedly it doesn't take much to rock my world but these are still pretty neat. Fruit flies are definitely a pain in home right now. Sometimes they come home with a piece of fruit or are let in by the kids opening and not closing the back door. Either way they reproduce quickly and are annoying.

I usually set up this simple fruit fly trap in each affected room. Just pour in about 1" of either apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar or wine. Then dribble in about 1/8" of vegetable oil. The fruit flies are attracted to the vinegar and are caught in the vegetable oil.




Not to gross you out first thing in the morning but just some photos to show that it works. When you've caught them, dump out the liquid. I save a few of these jelly jars to use for this purpose.

My second tip is using automatic dishwasher detergent to flash soak pots and pans. Not the handwashing detergent but the stuff you put in your dishwasher. One of the ingredients that loosens food is so effective that adding a teaspoon to your pan and then filling with water loosens everything up in about 5-10 minutes no matter how crusty and dried up the food.

So now it's your turn to share. What tips have been rocking your world? I just love adding new ones to the arsenal even if I can't remember what day of the week it is.

Green beans and origami

No, I haven't started folding our green beans into swans. Although my children would be thrilled to see that. The boys were playing in the backyard the other day and I told them to check their green bean plants to see if there were any more ready to be harvested.

Tada!




Do these plants give a one time harvest or do they keep producing throughout the season? I promised my oldest I'd saute them that night for dinner along with the ones his brother picked. Ironically the younger boy doesn't like to eat them but loves to pick them.




Only hitch was me cooking while distracted. Never a good mix. I kept going back to the stove in spurts, throwing in a pinch of salt to the green beans, not tasting because each time I thought it was the first. My oldest asked me gingerly, "momma how much salt did you put in the green beans?" Ummm, they tasted like a salt lick. Garlicky, well caramelized salt lick green beans.


Oh well. On to the origami. The other night I remembered a transforming star/octagon that I used to make in middle school. We had small humanities classes with plenty of free time once our writing was done so I'd chat up my friends and make these.



They're as addictive as when you learn to make friendship bracelets. I figured the boys would find these interesting but I couldn't even begin to remember how I used to make them. Google to the rescue.


Origami: Origami Star & Moon (Eight Pointed Star)

I made a classic notebook paper version and a construction paper multicolored version. I swear I do clean my table once in a while but with two boys who use it as their staging ground for meals and projects, I give up until the end of the day.




The stars open up into octagons. Pretty neat feature but to a 5 year old and 3 year old the only thing that matters is how well they fly across the room. So I taped the joins and let boys have at 'em. Momma was trying to fly them like frisbees when Mr. Maricucu stepped in and showed the boys a proper ninja star fling.




And once again, a former time wasting skill makes me, "the coolest mom ever" according to my five year old. At least for today.

Outtakes from the father's day photo session

I don't for a minute think that I'm a professional photographer but the fact that I don't chop off heads anymore or zoom in by pushing the camera far away from my eye means I've improved just a little. However, there's nothing like shooting children, your own children to bring you back to reality.

The DAD photos I showed the other day were part of the second attempt. My first attempt was a total flop. I was prepared. I got everyone fed and dressed early, picked a slightly overcast day to avoid the "I'm hoooootttt" complaints and set out with the expectation of shooting the two older boys for about 10 minutes, then the baby and finally 5 minutes to see if I could get a group shot. Oh my goodness it was a hysterical failure.

I'm not going to look at you. It's so hotttt. The sun is too bright.

Are we done yet? Mind you, these were the first two shots.

I finally get him to look in my general direction while engaging his firefighter talk and he keeps furtively talking while looking down. About 35 shots of him furrowing his brow while asking me how various things can "get on fire".

Second verse, same as the first. Oh wow momma look at this letter. How about you look at momma instead?

Not as long as I'm three years old. Ooooh, it's a mask! Of course this couldn't be easy.

Baby was just interested in eating the letters.

Once she realized that the letters were not edible she moved onto the grass. Apparently she needs more roughage.

Finally, I attempt to get a group shot. It's mayhem at first.

Look momma, I can pat the baby like a dog.

What's my second son doing? Apparently this is his way of protesting the unwanted photographs.

Finally get the second boy to sit down and the baby lets all heck break loose because she's tired of being touched. Poor thing to have been born third.

I'm outta here.

Momma please let me take picture? Okay kiddo, if you sit down and let me take some nice pictures of all of you together I'll let you snap a couple of pictures. I'm not above bribery once a year.

It looks like the group photo might just happen, but seeing that he's going to throw his little sister off on a touchy fit again I tell him to keep his hands to himself.

He's offended, baby's giving me the evil eye and my oldest sneezes.

Can he look any unhappier? Older brother wisely informs me, "momma, I think he's upset you told him to stop touching our sister." The baby is d.o.n.e.

I let them hang out on the grass for a while to see if I can at least get some interesting candids. Baby is looking off into the distance at the younger brother who wandered off.

He returns and streaks in front of the camera.

Momma, me play duck, duck, goose. After this, I finally threw in the towel and headed back inside. We did go out later on and shot a slew of nice group shots that were beautiful.

Too bad I forgot to put my memory card back in the camera.

The second photo shoot, they did so well for the individual shots that I attempted to take another decent group shot. Lookee here, they're all smiling. Too bad they're all looking down.

Another moment where I did something to offend him and I can't even remember what.

Finally! Success. A halfway smile from the three year old, baby looking in the general direction of the front and a cropped head of the oldest from another shot artfully photoshopped in place. Phew! I think photographers that shoot siblings are geniuses and worth their weight in gold.