Pie Crust

This is a simple, but flaky pie crust. To make a two crust pie, simply double the recipe.

9" Pie Crust

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 vegetable oil + 1Tbls.
2 Tbls. cold water

Stir the first two ingredients together. Stir in the oil with a fork. Add cold water. If the dough seems a bit dry, add a Tbl. more oil.
Mix with a fork until blended.
Roll out on a damp surface between two pieces of wax paper. (Saran wrap will work, also.)

To place the crust into the 9" pan (I recommend a glass pie plate), carefully peel the top wax paper off the dough. Holding the bottom wax paper, flip the dough onto the pie pan, and peel off the wax paper. Place the dough so that fills the pie pan by lifting, NOT stretching the dough. Stretching will cause the crust to shrink as it bakes. Prick the dough several times with a fork. If the crust balloons up while baking, prick and flatten it with a fork.

Bake at 425 for 12 minutes or until lightly golden in the center.

Baking Powder Biscuits

Baking Powder Biscuits (makes about 16) 425 degree oven

2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbls. baking powder
1 tbls. sugar
1/4 cup Crisco (can substitute butter)
3/4 cup milk
*Mix and handle the dough as little as possible for light biscuits.

Mix dry ingredients; cut in Crisco with pastry cutter or two dinner knives until the Crisco is the size of small peas. Make a well in the dough, and pour in the cold milk. Mix with a fork until just barely holding together. Place onto a lightly floured bread board, and about knead 16 times. Roll out with a rolling pin about 1/2" or more thick. (I use a 2.25" biscuit cutter.) The dough may also be cut with a sharp knife into 2" squares. Place on cookie sheet; bake for 12 minutes or until lightly brown.
Wrap in a cotton dishtowel to keep hot; serve immediately.

Pizza

I love this pizza. The crust is thick and chewy and holds up pretty well. The trick to good pizza crust is to heat its cooking area piping hot before adding the pizza. If you have a good, heavy pizza stone, place it in the oven to heat before preparing the pizza. I roll the dough out to the size I want, and then place it onto parchment paper over a pizza pan. After adding the fixins', place the pan near the hot hot hot pizza stone. Carefully pull the parchment paper, with the pizza, onto the stone. This will cook the bottom crust nicely. This makes two good sized pizzas.


Proof 1 Tbl. dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water with 1 Tbl. of sugar
Combine 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 tsp. salt and 1 cup warm water.
Add 1 cup of flour to the water mix and combine. Add yeast, and mix well. Add three cups more of flour and mix to make a stiff dough. Knead well until elastic and smooth.
Place into an oiled bowl, and cover. Let dough rise until double, about an hour or more.
Punch down, divide in two, and roll out the dough into the pans. Be careful not to tear holes into the dough. If you do, pull a little dough off the edge and patch the hole.
While dough is rising, prepare your toppings ~
1/2 pound of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 pound of mild Italian sausage, cooked and drained well (or Canadian Bacon, diced)
1 can of black olives, sliced
1 brown onion, sliced thinly
1 green bell pepper, diced
Several mushrooms, sliced

Scatter the cheese onto the dough first, then add your toppings. I generally use a can of tomato sauce, which I liberally sprinkle over the toppings before I bake the pizza. If you'd rather, you can dice the onion with minced garlic and combine that with the tomato sauce. Or use no sauce at all, but instead have sliced paste tomatoes with the toppings.
Sprinkle Italian seasonings over the pizza, and place carefully into the oven. Bake in a hot oven, about 450 for about 10-13 minutes until the crust is nicely browned.

To reheat pizza, place in a hot non-stick frying pan. This keeps the pizza crisp.

Coconut-Cranberry Chews

These are wonderful Christmas cookies. They hold their shape well in traveling or packing in boxes to give to friends. The tart cranberries give a fresh taste.
NOTE: Do NOT use Cranraisins. Those things are horrible. If you cannot find dried tart cranberries, substitute dried tart cherries. Both can be found at Trader Joe's.

Coconut-Cranberry Chews from Challenge Butter co.
The mixture may look dry until it comes together as a dough. If it's too crumbly to form into balls, mix longer. It should be smooth and homogeneous. This makes about 6 dozen cookies.

In a large bowl, beat 1&1/2 cups butter, at room temperature to beat with 2 cups sugar, 1 Tabl. grated orange peel, and 2 tsps. vanilla until smooth. Beat in 1 egg until well blended.
In a medium bowl, stir together 3&1/4 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt.
Add to the butter mixture and stir to mix. Beat on low speed until dough comes together, about 5 minutes or so. Mix in the 1&1/2 cups dried tart cranberries and 1&1/2 cups sweetened, dried flaked coconut.

Shape dough into 1" balls, and place about 2" apart on a buttered 12 x 15" baking sheets. (I use parchment paper instead of buttering the sheet.)
Bake at 350 until cookie edges just begin to brown, about 11-13 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Mother's Whole Wheat Bread

This recipe is from a book I received with my Bosch Mixer and Magic Mill wheat grinder.
I foolishly lent it to someone who never returned it to me. I was heartbroken to discover it is no longer published and is impossible to find in any used book stores. : (
You'd think I'd learn a lesson from this, don't you???

Foolproof Whole Wheat Bread
This makes 3 or 4 large loaves of bread

2 Tbl dry yeast; proof in 1/2 cup warm water with a tsp of sugar
Grind 9 cups of hard winter wheat; this should give you about 12 cups of whole wheat flour.

In a Bosch mixer, combine 5 cups hot water with 7 cups of flour. Mix on low until blended.
Add 1&1/2 Tbl salt, 2/3 cup vegetable oil and 1 cup brown sugar. Mix until blended.
Add 1 cup of flour, and proofed yeast; mix to blend well.
Add 3-4 more cups of flour. Knead about 10 minutes, or until dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl and is the consistency of cookie dough.
Grease 9x5" loaf pans (3 or 4) Grease hands and divide dough. Mold into loaf shape, and place into the pans. Let rise in bulk about 40 minutes, or until dough reaches the top of the pans.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or so, or until bread sounds a bit hollow when rapped on top. It should also pull away from the sides of the pan a bit.
Remove from pans and cool on a rack.

This bread is also good with 2 or 3 cups of high gluten white flour to replace the wheat bread.
It can be frozen well; to simplify things, slice the bread first.

When John would come home from kindergarten, he could eat a good half loaf of this bread. : )

Cheesey Mexican Casserole : )

This makes a generous 9"x13" casserole, which can be made ahead of time.

Crush tortilla chips to cover the bottom of the casserole about 1/4" deep.

1# lean hamburger, cooked with one small diced onion and two garlic cloves.
Add (2) 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce to the meat and heat through.

In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups cottage cheese, 2 cups sour cream, one can of olives, sliced and a 4oz or 8oz can of diced green chiles (NOT jalapenos!)

Pour hamburger mixture over crushed chips, then layer the cheese mixture over that. Grate about 1/2# of Monterey Jack cheese over the top of the casserole. Heat until bubbling, about 45 minutes, in a 350 degree oven.

Cut an avocado into slices and arrange on the top before serving.

Strawberry Pie

The secret to a really good strawberry pie is to use smaller, delicious berries.

Glazed Strawberry Pie
5-6 cups washed/hulled strawberries
1 cup or less sugar
3 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch, packed down
1/2 cup water
1 9" baked/cooled pie shell
Whipped cream

Mash 2 cups strawberries. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a 3 qt. saucepan. Stir water into mashed berries, and add to pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 2 minutes (the glaze should become clear), and remove from heat. Cool.
Carefully fold remaining berries into cooled mixture. Pile into pastry shell and chill for at least two hours. Serve with whipped cream.