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Showing posts from July, 2004

It's the Simple Things in Life That Matter — Perfect Piecrust

Simple things like pie crust. Yes, you heard me ... pie crust. Its always a touchy subject among cooks and I can't blame anyone for using the pre-made ones in the red box (Pillsbury?). I have to admit they really are the best commercial alternative to homemade. However, (you knew there had to be a "however", right?), in response to the comments for Apple Pie last week I had to post this recipe, which is the easiest and most foolproof I've ever found. When Rose was making it, she accidentally added an extra 1/4 cup of water and wound up with something like a thick batter. We improvised by sprinkling extra flour in until it looked right and ... voila! A delicious, flaky pie crust with no problem. Now that's hard to beat. It is from The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffry Steingarten. Marion Cunningham, baker extraordinaire, made about a zillion pie crusts while detailing every step along the way so Steingarten could get it just right. The beauty of it is that t

Apple Pie

I have been on a cooking moratorium for about a year now ... just doing what I must to get by. That's not what my family is accustomed to because I always have cooked a lot, stocked the freezer, etc. I think that my Christ Renews His Parish involvement took the extra energy and interest that I used to put into spaghetti sauce, homemade rolls, and salad dressings, to name just a few things. Anyway, Rose made apple pie yesterday. She loves it and loves cooking so I found the recipes for her and she launched in. Other than a little faux pas with the pie crust ... which we recovered from gracefully ... it all went smoothly. She did everything but I hung around for instruction and tips. Tom has never been interested in cooking so I have gotten used to it as a solitary affair, although my parents liked to cook together when I was young. We rediscover this every so often, Rose and I, that cooking together is fun. So we're doing it again tonight ... making Spicy Dan Dan noodles.