Black Friday?

My grandmother and I decided to press our luck and go shopping on Black Friday. Technically, she decided that's what we were doing, but I gladly went along. We decided to go to only a few stores and not start until 11am. We had a wonderful time, with almost no signs of it being a crazy shopping day. We ended up not really buying much of anything. However, it was so much fun spending time together. We even got to have a quiet, calm lunch at the Octagon. They offer a great and reasonable lunch menu. So happy to have been able to have this time with her!

Deep Dish Cranberry Apple Pie
adapted from goodlifeeats.com

2 prepared pie crusts
6 Gala or Honey crisp Apples
102ounces fresh cranberries
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons (1/2 of a stick) of butter, sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F with the rack in the lower third.Peel, core and slice the apples. In a large bowl, combine the apples, cranberries, brown sugar, maple syrup, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and lemon juice. Place the filling inside the prepared pie shell. Sprinkle top with sliced butter. Place other pie crust on top, making sure to vent. Bake 35 minutes. Then cover pie with foil, reduce heat to 375 degrees F and bake for an additional 45-60 minutes (or until apples are tender). Let cool 2-3 hours before serving.

Apple Overload

 

I was invited to a apple picking and baking party this weekend. I wasn't able to go to the apple picking since I was tutoring. However, I did partake in the baking portion of the festivities.















We made 4 different types of apple pies (apple rum raisin oatmeal, traditional apple pie, apple cranberry pie with a graham cracker topping, and apple rum raisin pie with pecans), 2 different types of breads (apple zucchini bread and apple coffee cake bread), 2 different crisps (apple pear crisp and apple berry crisp), an apple torte, and a caramel apple cheesecake. It was apple overload!












 It was the perfect way to really welcome fall! My favorite dessert that we made was the cranberry apple pie with graham cracker topping. We adapted it from a recipe that someone had written down and given to the hostess awhile ago.














Cranberry Apple Pie with Graham Cracker Topping

Filling:
4 Macintosh Apples (peeled, cored, sliced)
1 cup fresh cranberries
5 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 premade pie shell (just the bottom)
Topping:
1 1./2 cups crushed graham crackers
4 tablespoons butter or margarine








Preheat the oven to 375. Mix all filling ingredients in a large bowl, making sure to coat all apple pieces. Pour into pie shell. Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl using fingertips to create a crumb topping. Put on top of the apple filling. Place in oven for 30 minutes. Let cool on rack before serving.
 

New Twist

I thought I'd share some things that annoy me:
1) Walking by the same person you've already walked by in the dairy, produce, and frozen food aisles.
2) An open parenthesis that is never closed (like this
3) When you're paying for something in a store and they ask you what ZIP Code you live in.
4) When the driver pushes the unlock button, but you pull the handle at the same moment, and remain locked out.
5) When a stranger asks you for the time, and your fear that you won't be able to answer in an appropriate time span causes you to blurt out, "9:17. No, 10:17! No! 9:17!"
6) When you thank the cashier for packaging your groceries but your attempt at brightening her day elicits no discernible reaction.
7) When the car driving behind you has a ski rack attached to the top, making it look like a police car in your rear view mirror.

(from "Don't You Just Hate That?" by Scott Cohen)


Pumpkin Pie with Cinnamon Roll Crust
adapted from foodchannel.com
Oven 350
**MORE PICTURES COMING SOON!**

Cinnamon Roll Crust:
Enough Pie Crust for a 9 inch pie
ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter/margarine





Roll out pie crust on a lightly floured surface. Brush with butter and sprinkle evenly with cinnamon. Roll up tightly and slice into 1/2-inch rounds, like miniature cinnamon rolls.
Press miniature cinnamon rolls, flat side down, evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch glass pie plate, making sure there are no spaces between the rolls. Set aside.

Pie Filling:
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Whisk eggs, egg yolk and sugar in large bowl until blended. Mix in flour, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. Stir in pumpkin and butter, then buttermilk. Pour filling into crust. Bake until set (center will puff slightly) about 45-60 minutes. Cool completely.

Hello My Friend

Ten years ago today, my husband and I started talking again, after being apart for over a year. I had just started my freshman year of college and didn't quite grasp what was happening as I got ready for my classes that day. Thankfully, neither of us lost anyone in the events of that day. However, we gained a deeper understanding of the love that we shared and missed so much. We began talking everyday, sometimes for hours using calling cards. We didn't have cell phones then! Although the events of that day will forever be in all of our minds, I will also always remember it as the day I got my best friend back.


After four days of school, I have high hopes for the school year. I have primarily freshman (algebra and geometry) and one senior level math (advanced mathematical decision making). So far, I've really enjoyed being back. I don't necessarily enjoy being up so early, but it's good to be teaching again.

I also started my administration (6th year) classes. The one class I've been to was great. I felt that the teacher had so much insight into being an administrator and being in a classroom.My Monday class is the one I'm a bit stressed over. Having not actually met the teacher or had class yet, I already have five chapters to read and many reviews/assignments to write. I'm always up for a challenge, but does it have to be so great of one?

As far as the house goes, we have been primarily still dealing with cleaning up after hurricane Irene. My husband has really been stepping up to the challenges of new home ownership. He even went so far as to get out on the roof and clean out gutters! It seems like something so little, but it's a whole new thing for us!


Peaches and Cream Pie
from food.com
Oven 350

Pie:
3 cups fresh peeled and chopped peaches
1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie pastry
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter

Place 3 cups fresh peaches into pie pastry.




In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and salt. Add eggs and sour cream.Blend well.
















Spoon mixture over peaches.

















In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.A pastry blender works well, but two forks or two knives will also work.















Sprinkle meal mixture evenly over pie. Bake 60 minutes or until golden.












Refrigerate leftovers.

Pink and Flowers

We are officially HOME OWNERS! We closed on Wednesday and started taking down wallpaper on Friday. We are a bit overwhelmed by the amount of flowered wallpaper and pink walls, but it's been a learning experience. We've talked to people at Home Depot (least helpful, despite the good paint prices), Lowes  (helpful but they take forever), and Sherwin Williams (most helpful). We've been scraping down wallpaper, backing, and glue for the past couple of days. If anyone needs advice I feel like an expert now. We've also been testing paint colors after the glue is all down. We slept in the new house last night on the guest mattress in the guest room. Having a ceiling fan was nice and so were the stars on the ceiling, leftover from the previous owner's daughter. I can't wait until we can officially be all moved in and sleeping in our bedroom. Our goal is to get all the main rooms done before we move in furniture.
Our pool has also been opened, thanks to a lot of support from family and friends, and two days of hard work. On a good note, when the cover finally came off the water was crystal clear!
I've been taking pictures of the whole process....enjoy!

    


 

More to come next week!

Sorry there's no pictures of the dessert, I'll add those soon!



Strawberry Strawberry Pie
from The Really Good Food Cookbook
1 pie crust, pre-baked
1 pint ripe strawberry
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry Jell-O gelatin dessert
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup hot water
1 cup cold water
1/2 cup sugar
whipped cream

Pre-bake pie crust. Cool. Slice the strawberries into the pie crust.

In a medium saucepan mix the package of jello with the cornstarch.

Add the water and the sugar. Cook over medium heat until boiling. Stir occasionally.

Pour the boiling mixture over the strawberries.

Place the pie in the refrigerator. Chill for 3-4 hours until the jello glaze sets. Serve with big dollops of whipped cream over the pie.

Cheering for my Runner

 No news on the house right now. We're basically in a waiting period until the closing, at the end of June.
We've been talking a lot about improvements we'll make and what are favorite parts of the house are. Our vacation this year will not be to a European country or to Disney world, instead we will be having a "stay-cation" at our new home. At least we'll have a pool!

 My husband ran in his first 5K yesterday in under 26 minutes. I am so proud of him! There weren't many bystanders/cheerleaders out that early in the morning, on a Saturday, but I got to see him at the 1/2 mile mark and at the 3 mile mark. He kept a great pace and I know he appreciated the cheers. I even had a few runners ask to trade places during the race (sorry folks, I'm not a runner), two people that were driving by asked for directions, and a bicyclist asked why I was sitting on the side of the road with a folding chair and book (because I love my husband).










Blueberry Sour Cream Pie
adapted from Bon Appetit June 1995
Oven 400

FILLING
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries


TOPPING
6 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup chopped almonds
2 tablespoons sugar


FOR FILLING:
Mix first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Mix in blueberries. Spoon into pie crust. Bake until filling is just set, about 25 minutes.










FOR TOPPING:
Using fingertips, mix flour and butter in medium bowl until small clumps form. Mix in pecans and sugar. Spoon topping over pie. Bake until topping browns lightly, about 12 minutes. Cool pie to room temperature.

Orange you glad?

Happy Easter! I hope everyone had as great of an Easter as we did. Lots of family, friends, and good food. I enjoyed my April break this week visiting with my grandmother, sister, and friends. Also this break my husband and I started looking at houses to buy! We've seen eighteen so far, some duds, some nice. It's getting exciting as we walk through and see all the things we want in a house (big kitchen with plenty of counter space!). I'll post more about our walk-throughs next time.

Orange Meringue Pie
from The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen

2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cups orange-juice concentrate
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine
4 eggs, separated
1 Baked Pie Shell
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar




•Make the filling:
Whisk 1 1/2 cups sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt together in a large saucepan. Add the orange-juice concentrate, lemon juice, and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking continuously. Whisk in the butter, and remove from heat.








Lightly beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Stream in 1/2 cup of the hot orange-juice mixture while whisking the egg yolks. Whisk the yolk mixture with the orange-juice mixture in the saucepan over medium-low heat until very thick and glossy -- about 5 minutes. Pour into our Baked Pie Shell, and set aside.







•Make the meringue:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Beat the egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar to soft peaks using an electric mixer set on medium speed. Continue to beat while adding the remaining 1/2 cup sugar until stiff peaks form, increasing mixer speed to high.








Gently spread the meringue over hot filling to the edges of the crust. Use a spoon to make dips and peaks. Bake until the meringue is lightly browned -- about 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Tip: To prevent the meringue topping from "shrinking," make sure it touches the crust. It will "grab" the edges while it browns.

No Calculator Needed

Despite the many snow days we've been having, midterm exams have come and gone! I found myself having a bit of a pity party after grading some of them. I know the failures do not indicate a direct failure on my part, but I still can't seem to shake that it does. Many were good, and I need to focus on those. It's the failures that make me consider how much is my fault and how much is the student's fault.
Sometimes I feel that I care so much more then the student does. It's hard to understand those that lack initiative to do anything. Why are you here? What are your goals? Is there a reason that  you sit in that seat and blatantly refuse to even lift a pencil? I don't even care if you like math, it's not about that. I care that you are learning general problem solving skills, communication skills, reading skills, and life skills.
If you show up to your job late every day, or walk out every time you have an issue, or decide to not do any work, or threaten to slap your boss, or use the excuse that you were never taught that ( which you 99% of the time were).....do you keep your job? Are you going to be able to support yourself, your family, your "cool" lifestyle? When you get a bad tip from a disgruntled patron will you even know?  When the power goes out and you're ringing out a customer, will you be able to figure out how much change they are owed? When a recipe calls for 1/3 cup of something and you're doubling it, what do you do? When your 5 year old comes home with addition problem homework, will you need a calculator to help them?

Blackberry Custard Pie
Oven 350

1 (9 inch) pie shell, unbaked

2-3 cups blackberries (or any berry)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar



Place berries into the pie shell.















Beat the eggs, then add the sour cream, sugar, flour and vanilla.






















Pour over the berries.

Combine the butter, sugar, and the flour to make a crumble topping. Sprinkle crumble onto the top of the pie.

Bake for 50-55 minutes.

Clear Expectations

Is it too much to ask that a teacher teaching teachers have clear expectations?!?!? I found myself in a bit of an emotional breakdown after my second graduate class this week. In both classes I asked the teachers to clarify their expectations for projects/assignments due next week. In both cases the teachers dismissed my request as if I was more of an annoyance then they wanted to deal with. I wanted to say, "It's not my fault that you don't know what you want. You assigned this project, so clarify what is due?!?! No need to give me an attitude and act like I forgot what you already said. You never said anything!!!!"

Then to top it all off, one of the teachers assigned an obscene amount of homework (about 80 questions - a paragraph long each, and a lesson plan in a new format). I stressed myself out getting it all done for Wednesday, spent way too much time on it, and then I get to class and she doesn't even look at it! She doesn't collect it, we don't talk about it, and then she has the nerve to say that she is going to go over how to write a lesson plan for the last hour of class. What?!?! The lesson plan was due that day, why are you going over how to write one on the day it is due? And then I look around and only two of us have actually done all the homework. Everyone else wrote in chicken scratch on notebook paper a few answers and a rough lesson plan.I was beyond upset and beyond overwhelmed. Is this what being a graduate student is? Someone needs to tell these teachers that they needs to practice what they preach!

Luckily, my weekend class went better. The teacher was upfront with everything that would be due over the next three weekends and what his expectations were. I even got to ask questions that he actually answered. He modeled perfectly during his lessons the way that teachers should teach.


Rum Raisin Apple Pie
from Gourmet Magazine November 2006

3 tablespoons dark rum
1/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 medium apples (2 Gala, 2 Granny Smith, and 2 McIntosh)
Pastry dough for double crust pie (homemade or premade)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons milk
1 tablespoon sanding sugar

Bring rum with raisins to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour. * This can be done 1 day ahead, cooled completely, and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.




Put oven rack in middle position with a large heavy baking sheet on rack and preheat oven to 425F.

Rub together brown sugar, flour, zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt with your fingers in a large bowl until no lumps remain.




Peel and core apples, then cut into 1/2 inch-wide wedges and add to sugar mixture, tossing gently to coat. Add raisins with any liquid and toss until combined.






* If using homemade crust: Roll out larger piece of dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate and trim edge, leaving a 1/2 inch overhang. Chill shell while rolling out top crust. Roll out smaller piece of dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into an 11-inch round.




Spoon filling evenly into shell, then dot top with butter. Brush pastry overhang with some of milk, then cover pie with pastry round. Trim pastry flush with edge of pie plate using kitchen shears, then press edges together and crimp decoratively.

Lightly brush top of pie with some of remaining milk and sprinkle all over with sanding sugar. Cut 3 steam vents in top crust with a small sharp knife.




Bake pie on hot baking sheet 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375F and continue to bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes more. Cool pie on a rack to warm or room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours.








* Pie can be made 8 hours ahead and kept, uncovered, at room temperature.

Quick, quick, quick....

It's amazing how things can change so quickly! We have a place to live! A cute cape with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We can't wait to move in and make it our own (as much as you can make a rental your own).

I've never really done a lot of packing. I've packed, but this is intense packing. Sometimes it feels like I'm part of an extreme game of tetris. Not only am I trying to fit as much as possible in each box but then I have to find a place for the box to go. Five years of stuff sure adds up!

Quick Candy Bar Pie

6 bars Hershey chocolate (with or without almonds)
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz whipped topping
1 premade pie crust (oreo crumb or graham cracker)

Break up chocolate bars and place in microwave-safe bowl. Add vanilla. Melt in microwave for about 3 minutes (or until smooth). Stir halfway through. Once melted, fold in whipped topping. When mixed well, pour into pie crust. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours. If you're in a hurry, freeze for 1 hour. Just take out of freezer to thaw somewhat before serving ( this will help when cutting).