Groundhog, Ben, recipes and more bread?

Today is Groundhog Day, and I do believe that Punxutawny Phil probably saw his shadow this morning, so I think that means there are 6 more weeks of winter.  It is also my youngest Grandson's birthday.

Meanwhile back to the kitchen... boy is my quilting feeling neglected.  Many years ago I ran into a recipe for an unusual bread.  I may have made it back then, but I don't remember ever getting around to it.  Today I am going to give it a try.  Dough is rising right now, so no finished product to show for my efforts yet.  This bread is called Anadama bread, and supposedly the recipe originated in the New England area.  As you can see it has molasses, butter and cornmeal, which are not typical in the bread recipes I make.  Don't get me wrong, I make an awesome cornbread, but that does not involve yeast, rising and all the stages of the normal bread procedure.

I had a request for a couple of my recipes.  First one is the apple pie... I have to confess that I do not really use a recipe for the filling part of the pie, but I can tell you how I make it. I peel and slice the 6 apples with my apple peeler.  It is a spiral cutter/peeler with a handle that turns the apple.  Reason to mention that is the slices end up quite thin.  When I take the apple off the spindle, the apple is peeled and cored, but I have to remove any remnants of the peel that are left.  Once the apple is peeled and spiral sliced, I cut it in quarters.  My usual is to use two different kinds of apples, 3 Granny Smith and 3 of another... red, sweeter apple. It would be okay to use all Granny Smith or all of another apple, but two different is what I aim for. My pie pan is 9".  I distribute the slices, alternating the Grannies with the other apple. I sprinkle on top about 1/2 cup of sugar which is two scoops for me.  I also sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of flour and maybe a teaspoon of cinnamon over the apples.  Final is 2-3 pats of butter, cut into quarters and dotted over the top of the apples.  I find it easier to slit the top crust when it is folded in half on the counter.  I preheat the oven to 400 and bake for 10 minutes then turn it down to 350 for the last half hour.  I check the pie as it gets close to the end.  One of the slits on the top is usually big enough that I can test how done the apples are.  Sometimes I need to add up to 10 minutes to my time. I want them to be done, but not mushy.  It is hard sometimes to wait, but I try to let it cool enough for the pie to hold together before I cut into it.

The pie crust is easy.  I call it Anna's Pie Crust, named for my Grandma Hattie Anna. 
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 cup of lard, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of  Apple Cider Vinegar in the cup before measuring 1/2 cup of whole milk.

The Oatmeal bread can be found at this link Pennies and Pancakes.

Happy baking... stay warm!

Treats for a cold winter's day

I learned a very long time ago how to make pie crust like my Grandma used to make.  It probably isn't very different than so many other recipes, but I almost always know that even if my pie doesn't turn out the way I hope... my pie crust is a winner every time.  My Grandma gave me the recipe when I was maybe 13 or 14.  I did not tell my Mom where I got the recipe for a very long time... it was my secret between me and my Father's Mom.  The secret to the recipe is essentially buttermilk... but my Grandma used whole milk with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in it.  I have tweaked the original recipe a little over the years, but the vinegar in the milk remains a constant.

For a while I used Crisco only, then I wanted to take it up a notch and made it half Crisco and half butter... not to be confused with margarine.  That worked fine until I started questioning exactly what Crisco was.  A couple years ago I threw away my last can of Crisco. I now use lard in place of anything I would have used Crisco for.  In reality, it is in the same category as margarine and I swore off margarine years ago.

My recipe typically makes enough dough for 2 two crust pies.  If they aren't very large pies I have enough dough left after the last crust to make some roll-up treats with the remaining dough. No dough goes to waste.  Those roll-up treats usually have butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and sometimes nuts.  Yesterday I took it to a new level, I added some dried cranberries with the nuts.  Made a really yummy treat.

Should you be interested in the recipe, I have no issues with sharing.  Leave me a note in the comments and I will post it.

Apple pie is done

 

The quilt is done... after many votes for red and several for green, I decided on a red and green binding.  With just the binding in question, it probably would have looked good either way. 

On the status of my brother... Praise the Lord, I was able to talk to Tim today, and he actually sounded pretty good considering what he has gone through in the past week.  He is definitely not out of the woods yet, but his progress is moving along in a positive direction.  His daughter said that he went for a walk with her a couple times already.  He will still be in the hospital for another week, but with the number of people who have been praying for him I know he will be home soon.  He again told me that "God is in Control". 

Apple border is done

I made a big dent in my apple pie quilt project today.  All of the apples have now been appliqued onto the border.  I now have to decide what color to make the binding... whether I will repeat the red from the first border or pick up the green color from the darker leaves.  That is probably not an option because I am quite sure there isn't enough left.  Actually the quilting will have to be considered before the binding gets applied, but once I start the quilting, I'm going to be ready to finish the quilt, so knowing what fabric I will be using for the binding really does come before I begin quilting. 

Apple pie anyone?

It has been few days since I last posted and I thought I would take a picture of one of the projects that I am working on so you can see the difference when it is done... hopefully in the not too distant future.

First, this is the recipe for my apple pie, including my crust.  I don't do alot of measuring sometimes, but this is close for the filling part.  The pie crust was my grandmother's recipe. The pie in the picture is an applique that was part of the embroidery process. 

I have had this center block for a wall hanging embroidered and ready to add some borders for a very long time... like a couple years I think.  I have finally found the apples that I want to applique on the border, and I now have them ready to start stitching on.  I was going to do turned edge, but I think a raw edge applique will work nicely.  Yesterday I trimmed the center block and added the red border.  The next 6" border will have the apples on it.  I'm kind of creating as I go on this one. Once this is done, I have to decide whether my daughter or my son would appreciate it more.

On another front, I have added to my garden.  A lady from church brought me some more plants.  I still had 5 more black bins, so I had to start digging again.  It is not real clear in the picture, but the pepper plants and tomato plants have really grown in the one week since I planted them.  I even have beans that are popping through already.

I decided a couple days ago that if I was going to plant a garden, I should take the time to add some color to a flower bed that has not had any flowers in it since we have been here.  Not sure whether it is a good place for petunias under the tree, but in the sun here is really hot.  For now it is already pretty... let's see if it lasts.