pie crust

Pie crust can be finicky. Sometimes I am lazy and just buy the frozen pie crusts from the grocery store. When I'm baking more than one pie I try to use my great-grandmother's recipe. She made wonderful pies all of the time. My mom has perfected the pie crust recipe and every year I try to get better at it. The trick is to have a light hand and try to only roll it out once. The more you play with it and roll it out, the tougher it gets.

Nana’s Pie Crust

*makes 2 pie crusts

2 cups flour

¾ tsp salt

1 cup shortening

6-8 Tablespoons ice water

Before starting, put ice and water together in a cup, so that it will be cold enough when you need it.

Mix flour and salt, cut in shortening with pastry blender or knife, add 6-8 tablespoons of ice water. Mix gently till water is absorbed, will be slightly wet and soft.

Spread flour onto counter; roll out ½ of the dough into a circle for one pie, and the other ½ for a second pie. After setting rolled pie crust into pie pan, trim edge with knife, create design around edge with fingers.

Fall is my favorite :)

Fall is the best time of the year as far as I am concerned... and apple pie is a big part of what makes fall so wonderful! I have a great apple pie recipe. I love it because it is relatively easy (especially if you have a food processor to slice the apples) and the crumbly top is so good! Enjoy it Lori!

French Apple Pie

6 cups slice peeled apples, thinly sliced

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 uncooked pie crust

Directions:

Place pie crust in pan.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Toss with the apples until they are evenly coated. Arrange apples in the pie pan.

Crumb topping:

½ cup flour

½ cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons butter

Use pastry blender or knife to cut until it is crumbly. Top the apples with the crumb topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for an hour, check to the top of the pie around 45 minutes and cover with foil if top is getting too burned.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

Lemon Cupcakes

To say that I haven't been baking for a while is an understatement! It seems like it has been FOREVER! The good news is that I have successfully moved to California and my internship is going well so far. Now I can bake again!

This is actually I recipe I tried out before I moved, for one of my dear friend's baby showers. The lemon cupcakes were so fresh and spring-like, and I think they were a big hit. Honestly though, this is just for the lemon lovers out there, as they are pack a big lemon punch!

Perfect Lemon Cake
From My Kitchen Cafe
via You Got Served

Cake:
1 package lemon cake mix
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
1 small package lemon instant pudding

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix with electric mixer on medium speed for about two minutes. Pour into a greased 9x11 pan or two round pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Don't overbake or the cake will be too dry!

You can also make cupcakes and bake them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. The cupcakes will fall after they come out of the oven, but this is normal. Just fill up the indentation with more frosting.

Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, very soft
6-8 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of sugar, then the juice and the zest. Beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency (I added about 6 cups total). Use and store at room temperature. (Don't refrigerate and it will last in a covered container for about three days.)

Garnish with berries, if desired.

Cinnamon Bun Cookies

Yum! I love cinnamon rolls, so when a friend of mine shared this recipe with me, I knew I had to try it. These cookies have a shortbread dough that you roll out, fill with cinnamon and sugar, roll up like cinnamon rolls, then slice and bake! After they are cool you ice them with a very yummy cinnamon icing. In fact, I liked the icing so much that I think I'll try it for the icing the next time I make cinnamon rolls. So the verdict is that these babies are delicious, and I think quite pretty!

Find the recipe HERE.

Enjoy!

Inspiration and good news!

I made this for dinner the other night. It was a hit and I absolutely love the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog! She has step by step photos and great commentary to her posts. Go check it out! It may inspire you to cook something new tonight.

So.. I have good news! I got an internship and will be moving to California for the summer! I'm excited to be trying something new, and I'll be lucky enough to live with my aunt during the internship. She's a great cook and I'll be able to learn a lot from her!

Busy Day Chocolate Cake

Here is an idea for when you want to make a pretty cake.. but have very limited time :)

I used a chocolate cake mix to make two 9'' layers and then filled the layers with an easy peanut butter filling. I just got a bowl, dumped some peanut butter and powdered sugar in.. then mixed and added a little bit of milk for desired consistency (make sure you taste it to test if it is sweet enough). It was tasty and made the cake seem less ordinary. Then I used some store-bought chocolate frosting to frost the cake, and topped it off with some sprinkles.

If I were to do this all over again, I would have made my own chocolate buttercream frosting. But not too bad for store bought ingredients and limited effort on my part :)

I promise to post something from scratch soon!

I'm still alive!

So, I bet that no one looks at this anymore.. since it's been so long since I've posted. I've just had a really busy semester! The good news is that I'm almost done with college! I am finished with coursework in April and am looking for an internship for the summer. I can't wait to know where I will be going. My goal is to keep posting recipes on here every once in a while :) I hope everyone out there is doing well and is enjoying a fresh start with 2009!