A bit about... whatever's on my mind. ;)

A bit about... whatever's on my mind.  ;)
Hello Friends, Family, and Peoples, Welcome to My Blog. :)
Now I only post when time will allow me to do so, and it's all very random. So add yourself as a follower, down and to your right. This way you wont miss a thing...

Enjoy!

Monday, July 30, 2012

Strawberry Pie with my Bro

This past week started out with a twist of fun in my pie making!  My brother came to visit!  And had this great idea.. Strawberry Pie!  Strawberry Pie is a Favorite!  Especially with fresh berries!
So we measured, cut, mixed, and baked!

Fred pouring in ingredients!
Covering the baked crust in the better homes version of yummyness! I think they call it, glaze.  : ) 
A better look at this Strawberry Glaze!
Layering our strawberries!
This makes me hungry for it!  I'll have to make this one again!
As you can see, I had more hands this time, and was able to take more pics!  : )
All Baked!
The blurry look of Yummy Home made Whipped Cream!!  mmmm!
Home made whipped Cream is the only way to go!!  It is far less sugary  and soo SO much better!  The taste is amazing!  It is best to use a refrigerated mixing bowl and refrigerated whipper to whip this Cream into shape!  And let me tell you, Fred sure can whip it!

 Whipped Cream Recipe:
1 Cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon of my brothers home made vanilla extract (It is the best for baking)
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar 
The Finished Project!
Lesson learned:  SIFT FLOUR!!!  My pie crust was totally lame!  It was my very first baked crust.. And well I opened up a new bag of flour.. and all lazy like I told my brother to just measure it out in a plan old measuring cup and dump it in the mixing bowl.  Instead, I should have found the sifter, I had hidden inside one of these kitchen cupboards, and sifted it in the mixing bowl!  
Also I didn't poke any holes in the crust- SHOULD HAVE! It raised all up all bubbly in spots..Plus I learned I have to get some pie weights or beans to place in ten foil that I would line the crust with.  This is suppose to keep it from rising.  Oh, and I forgot to put ten foil around the ages AGAIN!  UGH! UGH! UGH! 
Well lesson learned!
Besides the crust.. it was absolutely delicious!  The home made whipped cream really topped it off!!  SOOO GOOOD! 

Sunday, July 22, 2012

chicken pot PIE

I decided to sway a bit away from the fruit pies this week and try something a little less.. fruity. 
A Pot Pie!
I found a recipe I thought sounded worth trying on www.allrecipes.com, my favorite site, when it comes to cooking and baking! 
Here's the link to it, in case your interested: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-pot-pie-vi/detail.aspx 
And believe me you should be interested!  So easy to make.. Pretty much just like any pie!  Not anymore difficult than the other's I've made thus far.  Only thing is.. I had to double the baking time. besides that, I wouldn't change a thing!  This recipe is Wonderful!

Now for some pics:
Cooking my chicken in some very yummy seasoning!  I just love my Princess House cookware!
Me rolling out my pie crusts!
A look at the yummy filling, before I put the top crust on. : )
All done and ready to eat!!  - I forgot to put tinfoil around the edges while baking, so my crusts edges came out a little more brown than Id prefer.  : / oops!

Even my picky little eaters loved this one!!  Definately a winner!



Saturday, July 14, 2012

My Rhubarb Pie

I had herd of Rhubarb before, but I had no idea what it actually was.  I had no idea when it was in season, or what it looked like, and I had no idea what it tasted like! - So I called my Mom.  She informed me its season is usually at its end by now, but that she was on her way to the local out door Farmers Market and would see if she could find any.  -Well she found some! Yay for Moms!!  So I placed it in the fridge and procrastinated a day or two.. I was a bit nervous to bake something that I had never even tasted before! 
Here's a picture of some I found on the Internet.. I completely forgot to take pictures while baking this time!
It looks just like celery, but red.  When I finally did get it out to bake.. I thought I should probably taste it.  -Oh My Goodness is that stuff  SOUR.. not just sour but TART!  My husband should have got a picture of my sucked in face and puckered lips as I tried to swallow the dang stuff!!  
At this point, I wasn't too sure about this whole Rhubarb pie stuff!  But my husband promised me it was Delicious.. "especially with strawberries", he said. So I went and pulled out the strawberries I had bought for a smoothie the day before!  No way was I gonna eat that plan! 
Then I did the usual Baking, But this time I got a pot out and cooked my strawberry Rhubarb filling over the stove till it started to thicken up a bit.  -By then my youngest son, Richard, had found the pie crust and decided to help me make the edges prettier... (yay!- not!)  By smashing it down and rubbing his fingers all over it! ugh!  So I tried my best to quickly fix it, so it at least looked like a pie crust! 
Then tossed the filling in, sprinkled a crumb mixture over it and slid it into the oven.
I was so nervous while waiting for it to bake, I could hardly get the stuff down my throat raw! My only thought; "That rhubarb better improve while it was in that oven!"   
 
Well I had a very pleasant surprise!!  It was SOOO  and I mean SOOOO GOOOD!!  I could hardly believe it!  The taste was almost like war head candies all melted together.  Oh We loved it!!  The strawberries, were definitely a good idea!  And Richard must have really helped out with that crust.. it came out so fluffy and nice!! YUM! YUM!!  And the filling.. Perfect consistency!!  Not runny and not too thick!  YAY!  I think I finally figured it out!  Thank-you everyone for your advice!  I am so excited and can't wait to bake my next pie!
mmmm!

Here's one more picture.. I just could not resist sharing! Meet our newest additions to the family!  Are they not adorable!! I am completely in love!!  The Bunny on the left is named Pretty (by William) and the one on the right is named Kitty (by Richard).  Aren't they Pretty kitties!  ; )

Saturday, July 7, 2012

4th of July Pie (#3)

For the 4th Of July I decided to do something a bit patriotic and fun. I had seen a flag pie on Pinterest and was just living to try it!
So, I pitted some more cherries and bought some blueberries! I was all out of butter so I used margarine- big mistake.. it worked, but butter tastes soo much better!
I made one bowl of cherry filling and one bowl of blueberry filling. Then I spooned them onto the crust to look like the flag we all know and love..

The Blueberries are snuggled up against one corner and Cherries spread through out the rest.
Next, I cut out stars and stripes for the top crust.
Here I am Putting my Stars and Stripes on.
Then Wallah!:
A Pie Flag!
Now this time I used Tapioca to help my filling out a bit.  If you read my past blog you know I was having problems getting my fresh fruit fillings to set up.  My fillings were always coming out watery.  Well, I didn't like how the tapioca turned out.  Although it did set up much nicer with the Tapioca.. its texture was much to tapioca-ey for me.  And although I do love Tapioca pudding.. I found out I totally do not like Tapioca pie!   - I was looking for an easy way out.. yeah,.. never a good idea.  Now I know, I am definitely cooking my fillings half way on the stove top, before putting them in my crusts.
If you look close you can see the Tapioca.
  My Mother and Father were having a little Independence Day get together, so I brought over my pie. And although it didn't have butter in it and was tapioca-ey, I got tons of compliments and had two pieces myself. mmm good! - I really need to make time for exercise now that I've taken on this Pie Challenge. lol