Celebration time!! Books, baptisms, and peach pot pie.

Hello everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is popping back in this weekend, taking a break from writing a new contemporary and all the craziness that summer brings.
 First, there's this!

On August 12th, a boxed set of historical fiction is releasing and I'm so excited to be part of it! It's been quite the learning curve and I feel so very blessed to have found this great group of historical authors. Everyone has pitched in with marketing, digital art, reaching out to reviewers/ bloggers/ magazines, etc. Instead of doing everything on our own, we divided and conquered! So, keep an eye out for TIMELESS, coming to an ereader near you!
 
But while getting this ready, we had another celebration.

Remember my MAGICAL babysitter, Cassey? She came to the cafe to help me make artisan savory pumpkin rolls way back in October 2012. 

Well, she had a baby (here she is, chillin') and Julianne is such a hoot!

Here's Robert, being the best big brother ever...

He's got mad skills at making the baby giggle.

 They asked us to be godparents and we were so thrilled! Here is Julianne in her baptismal gown. It was made by her great aunt and I searched her out at the reception so I could ask about it. She said it took her ten months and 25 yards of cotton batiste. The petal pattern is her own creation, and it has pintucks, lace inserts, smocking, and tiny pearl button. It was amazing!

I think is my favorite picture. Sure, the dress looks pretty but look at those CHUBBY BABY ARMS.

Robert was baptized, too, and it was so inspiring to see the entire family welcomed into the Christian tradition.

 Here's my husband holding Julianne over the font. (I spy a chubby foot!)

And of course, she started crying! (Looks like Fr. Dave is crying, too!)The water couldn't have been cold. It was about 105F in that little country church! It was way out in the farmland of Dayton, Wa. I'd show you a picture but there's really nothing much there but wheat and farmers and vineyards...

 And peaches! (See what I did there? haha) So, I had these peaches and wasn't sure what to do with them so I went to the source of all wisdom... facebook. I asked my friends what I should make and I got some amazing recipes! But one appealed to my almost (two days away) thirteen year old. So, peach pot pie it was!
This recipe is from Laura Weimer, and it is DELICIOUS. I'm just going to cut and paste her directions because I did it exactly as she said... which is really rare for me.

Peach Pot Pie 

Peach filling 

1 1/4 cups sugar 

1/2 cup cornstarch 

1/4 tsp. salt 

6 lbs ripe peaches (about 16-20 medium), 

peeled, pitted, and sliced 1/2 inch thick 

2 TBSP fresh lemon juice 

2 TBSP butter or margarine cut up 

 Biscuit Crust 

2 cups all-purpose flour 

2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/4 cup plus 

1 TBSP sugar 

4 TBSP butter cut up 

1 large egg, 

beaten 2/3 cup plus 2 TBSP heavy or whipping cream 

 Prepare Peach Filling: In large bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add peaches and lemon juice; toss to coat well. Spoon peach mixture into 13" by 9" glass baking dish and dot with butter; set aside. 

 Preheat oven to 400 degree F. 

Prepare Biscuit Crust: In medium bowl, with fork stir together flour, baking powder, salt and 1/4 cup sugar. With pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (Or to make it easier, like me, put the flour, bp, sugar, and salt in a food processor and mix; add the butter (cut into small pieces) a few at a time and pulse while adding. Make sure the butter is COLD. turn on or pulse for about 5 more seconds, then continue.

 

(For some reason I have no pictures of this!)

                                          

Stir egg and 2/3 cup cream with fork and add to flour mixture. (do this outside the processor) The dough will seem like it is not wet enough, but keep working it together with your hands and lightly knead it and it will all begin to come together and that way it remains flaky. Once it is all together in a dough, divide this into 12 pieces and flatten each one into a roundish shape and place on top of peaches. 

 They will expand as they cook, so don't worry about them covering the whole thing. Brush dough with remaining 2 TBSP cream, and sprinkle with remaining 1 TBSP sugar. Place sheet of foil under baking dish to catch any overflow.

 Here's the biscuit dough sprinkled with sugar and brushed with cream. It's actually more like a scone, I think.

 Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until peaches are tender when pierced with knife, filling is bubbly, and crust is golden. IMPORTANT: You will need to cover the dish with foil about 1/2-3/4 of the way through to prevent the biscuit from over browning.

 Here they are, half-way done. My house smelled so good I could have sold tickets.

 Cool for 1 hour but is best served warm with whip cream or ice cream!
Each serving: 385 calories/ 13 g. total fat 8 g. saturated 66 g carbs.

 I put on the whipped cream but of course I didn't really let the peach pot pie cool down so it started to melt right away. Just imagine it fluffy and light!

It tasted sooo good. Like fresh scones with peach pie filling. 

I hope you're all having a wonderful August and enjoying the sweetness of friends, family, faith and the bounty around you!

Mini Pies!

Pie needs to be it's own food group, don't you think?

After all, there are all kinds of pies: fruit pies, cream pies, sweet potato pies, pumpkin pies...and then there are the savory pies! I have a recipe for a chicken, sausage and leek pie that I'll be sharing soon, and let's not forget all the varieties of pot pies.

But sometimes we don't need a big pie. Or sometimes we want something a little fancier.

This stuff makes it SO EASY!

I bought these Puff Pastry sheets for Seekerville's New Year's Eve bash. In case you missed that recipe, it was Brie en Croute. I'll share it here soon - it would make a great Super Bowl snack.

But I only needed one of the pastry sheets for that recipe, and I had one left over. What better way to use it than to make little mini pies?

The first step is to let the puff pastry thaw in the package at room temperature for about three hours. Just enough time to watch the AFC championship football game (won by the Denver Broncos, by the way!)

Take the pastry out of the packaging and lay it on a lightly floured surface. Don't try to unfold it - just take your rolling pin and roll it into a rectangle approximately 18" by 12"...or even a little larger.

Cut the rectangle into six squares.

Put each square into a muffin tin.

Now you need to decide what kind of mini pie you want to make. If you want a pudding filling, or a meringue, bake the pastry shells before filling them - about 20 minutes at 400°. After the shells are baked, fill them with whatever you want.

If you want to make a fruit pie, then fill the pastry shells with pie filling before baking them.

I chose to make peach pies (since I had peaches in the freezer)....

To make peach pie filling for six pastry shells, mix 1 1/2 cups frozen peaches with 2 Tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/3 cup sugar.

Fill each pastry cup with the mixture, making sure to include some of the sugar and flour in each cup.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 400°, or until the pastry shells are beginning to turn brown.

Doesn't that look like an elegant dessert?

Of course, you can use any kind of frozen or fresh fruit, or a canned pie filling.

And don't forget the savory options! For a quick, fancy supper, just fill your pre-baked pastry shell with your favorite pot pie filling (also pre-cooked), and pop it into the oven for 10 minutes or so to heat it up.

By the way, let's not forget that today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Most of us who hang out here at the cafe are old enough to remember Dr. King, and what life was like during the Civil Rights Era. Would you like to share your memories? That's how we keep history alive.

Peaches and Cream Pie (long awaited!)

Okay, here it is, as promised!  I can't believe I didn't post this a few weeks ago. We are to say NOTHING of Ruthy's memory lapses from this point forward, 'kay????

'Kay!

:)

So here is the basic pic of recipe ingredients:  

 Of course, you need pie crust so go HERE and use my Country Tearoom recipe that has won awards all over the place. I know this because the magazine said so a gazillion years ago when dinosaurs made pies.

Basic recipe with Ruthy flair:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
2 Tbsp. quick cooking tapioca
Dash salt  * Note for you purists.... Add it. Look at what Lindt has done for dark chocolate by adding a hint of sea salt???? Chocolate covered pretzels??? Delish, right? Trust me, adding incidental hints of salt and savory tastes will not (most likely) end the world. And it gives a background pizzazz.

1 1/4   cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon  or nutmeg or both (if desired)  It's great with or without the spices, but I love the scent and taste of fall.

Peel and slice 6-7 cups of fresh peaches, or use frozen peaches, thawed and drained

Combine all dry ingredients. Mix all but a tablespoon or two of the heavy cream with the vanilla. Save the extra bit of cream for brushing the top crust...  Add to sugar mixture.   Add peaches. Toss lightly. Let sit for 10-15 minutes while you do the crust.

Take two sections of pie crust, either fresh or frozen. Roll one out to fit a deep dish 9" pan. Don't roll top crust yet...

Once peach/sugar/cream mixture has sat a while and maybe you've had a cup of coffee or a glass of tea, roll that top crust out. Using a sharp knife or 'ruffle edge' cutter, make a bunch of 1" (one inch wide) ribbons of crust. To do a lattice crust, start in the middle of the pie with the longest pieces. You usually only use about 10-12 pieces of crust, and if you start in the middle, you can easily raise the piece below up enough to "weave" the next piece of crust. It's like making a potholder only more delicious than any stretchy cotton yarn I've ever eaten. And I've had my share!

Tuck the edges under, then flute the edge by pinching. Brush remaining cream over the pie crust and sprinkle with sugar. When the little boys help me sprinkle with sugar we get LOTS OF SUGAR.

They were nowhere to be found today, so we have a NORMAL amount of sugar.

I use aluminum foil strips to prevent the edges from over-browning. I'm fussy that way. I like them golden, not brown. But then, I like wimpy toast, too. Clearly, I'm a wuss.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-55 minutes, until crust is golden brown and filling bubbles up between the lattice slats. Cool on wire rack. Store in refrigerator.

Eat. Eat. Eat. Truly, this is by far the best peach pie I have ever eaten. I'm not a peach pie person, although I love peaches. I hate soggy pies. I get SO MAD when a pie crust is ruined by day 2 because the crust is soggy. Obviously I'm a little OCD when it comes to pie, but this pie????

Oh.... THIS PIE doesn't do that. It's just perfect, even several days in.

'Sall I'm sayin'.