Pie Crust

It really isn't that hard to make a pie crust from scratch. It takes longer than grabbing one out of the freezer, of course, but it is fairly simple and definitely tastes a whole lot better! I use the recipe out of my Better Homes and Garden cookbook my mom gave me years ago. This recipe creates enough dough for an 8- or 9-inch pie. This is the same crust recipe I used for the Coconut Cream Pie, Chocolate Meringue Pie, Chess Pie, Quiche Lorraine and Spinach Pie. The crust is flaky and light and quite delicious!

1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp shortening

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 to 3 Tbsps cold water

Place the shortening, flour and salt in your bowl.

Using a pastry cutter, cut the shortening into the flour until it is a crumbly texture and you don't see any white left. You can test the dough by pinching some between your thumb and forefinger. It should hold together.

Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of cold water, and using a fork, toss the dough with the water until it begins to clump and form most of a ball. The dough will clean the sides of the bowl. Gather pastry into a ball. 

Roll on a lightly floured surface 2 inches larger than your pie plate. Fold dough in half, then in half again and gently place in pie dish and open back up. Follow directions for what you are making. If you need a baked pie crust, bake at 475 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden.

Orange Salad

My family has been making this Orange Salad for special events such as Thanksgiving and Christmas since I was in school. I've had several people ask me about the recipe, so I've decided to blog it so that you can make it with your family and maybe start a new tradition! I'm now passing this one to my teenage daughter. She's made it the past year or two every time we've needed it. The new expert actually made this one in the photos as well. I wish I could give a credit for the recipe, but it was passed down from my grandmother and I have no idea where she got it from - but I've altered nearly every quantity in it since I first made it, so not sure it would matter much. lol

1 large container of Cool Whip
3 ounce box of orange Jello
8 ounce container cottage cheese
2 medium cans of mandarins
1 large can of crushed pineapple
1/2-1 cup of chopped nuts to taste

Pour Cool Whip into large bowl, and add orange jello powder and mix completely.

Add cottage cheese and mix until blended. Drain mandarin oranges and crushed pineapple completely (any juice left with make the salad runny). Mix until blended.

Add nuts and mix until combined. We used pecans in this making of the Orange Salad, courtesy of my mom, but I usually use diced walnuts.

Chill for at least an hour or two before serving.

Gingersnaps

For many, many years, I never even thought about gingersnap cookies as something other than what you get in those brown bags at the store. While searching online for recipes several years ago, I came across a recipe for gingersnaps, and when I read it, I knew that this was a very traditional and very good recipe. My copy is now covered in butter, flour, and molasses splashes. Lovingly used you might say. But I don't make these often throughout the year. These are winter and Christmas cookies. And they are always a hit! Pure perfection in a cookie.

NOTE: the ingredients are for a batch of cookies. The photos I took was when I was making a double batch!

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon in small bowl.

Cream shortening and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg and mix completely.

Gradually add flour mixture to ingredients and mix well.

I chill my dough for about an hour before shaping them into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar.

 

Place balls on cookie sheet. Recipe calls for 2-inches apart, but I've never put mine that far. They don't spread too much. I lightly flatten mine with my forefinger and middle finger before baking. I think it helps form the perfect shape that I get with mine. Bake for about 12 minutes.  I actually bake mine for about 8.5 to 9 minutes, but my oven is crazy old and temperamental. With a normal oven, I think they baked about 9.5 to 10 minutes. Just watch them. They should not look fully cooked, but should be fairly flat and look like a cookie and not a doughy mass. They will finish cooking after you remove them from the oven. I let mine sit for a couple of minutes before I try to move them or they will fall apart. Enjoy a few of these warm and you will never buy another bag of gingersnap cookies again!