my grandma made pie making look easy… her and my grandpa ran a restaurant in Three Hills, Alberta that was called ‘The Coffee Break’… I was still in Elementary school when they had it so my memories of it are a bit foggy, but the pies I witnessed her make have always stayed in my mind… that a cinnamon buns…
these two items are apparently go well with coffee…
my grandma used lard… Martha Stewart uses butter… I’ve used both and find the lard easier to work with but the butter taste is better in my mind…
pie takes patience to make… and it is messy… if you can get over these two elements it is quite relaxing and enjoyable to make…
a friend of mine has this magical solution that gets rid of the nastiness on apples so I don’t have to peel them! I read somewhere (by that I mean Facebook) that most of the nutrients in fruit and veggies are in the skins… this is why I zest everything I can and don’t peel if I don’t have to… but the chemicals my farmer husband sprays on things are also in the skin so it is nice to at least pretend to myself that I am removing the harmful bits off!
bacon has made a re-appearance in the house for seeding and the family is very excited to see it again… there are only a few things I miss being a vegetarian… bacon is one… chicken skin is the other…
I added bacon and cheddar cheese to the pie crust to give it a savoury taste
look at how beautiful it looks in the crust… and look at the mess I am making!
I remember when I used to watch Martha Stewart and her constant words about pie were ‘keep everything cold’… the more you can accomplish this the better your pie crust will be…
apples with sugar and cinnamon… oh and lemon zest… cuz I love zest
apple pie with cheddar/bacon crust
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 8 slices bacon, cooked and shredded
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (more if necessary)
Filling:
- 7-8 granny smith apples, washed, cored and sliced into small chunks
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, with zest
- 1/2 cup packing brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- vanilla ice cream
Directions:
- for the bacon, preheat oven to 375 degrees
- line a baking sheet with tin foil and place bacon on it
- bake for 15-18 minutes
- transfer bacon to paper towel to cool, finely chop the bacon
- in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt
- add the butter and cut into the flour
- add cheese and chopped bacon
- pour in the buttermilk and combine into a ball
- divide the dough into 2 portions and knead into a disk
- wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least an hour
- preheat oven to 400 degrees
- for the filling, in a large bowl combine the apples, lemon juice and zest, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cornstarch
- roll out the bottom pie crust until it is 1/8 inch thick and 12 inches in diameter
- transfer to a pie dish and trim the edges almost even with the edges of the pie dish
- roll out the top crust
- place the apple mixture in the shell, dot with butter and top with top crust
- trim the edges again and crimp the border with a fork
- brush the top of the pie with the egg and sprinkle generously with sugar
- put the pie on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees
- reduce the temperature to 350 and continue to bake for 35-40 minutes until the pie is bubbling
- transfer to a rack to cool for around 4 hours
- serve warm with vanilla ice cream
I used to be able to take the farmers vanilla ice cream to put on their pie when we would do the type of meal in the field where everyone gathers around my vehicle to eat it… but alas they all had to eat their apple pie without ice cream… which is a sin…
I just never know, when I pack their suppers up in bags to take out, when they will get around to eating it so I can’t put a dollop of ice cream on a warm pie slice…
this winter I really got into spiralizing and my favourites are zucchini, sweet potato and butternut squash… this sprialized butternut squash is the perfect addition to this salad…
butternut squash asian pear salad
Ingredients:
Salad:
- 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, spiralized and trimmed
- cooking spray
- salt and pepper
- 2 large asian pears, sliced thinly
- 1 bag baby spinach
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds or pecans
- 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
Dressing:
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp white sesame seeds
- pepper
Directions:
- preheat oven to 400 degrees
- line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- spread out the butternut squash noodles
- coat lightly with cooking spray and season with salt and pepper
- roast for 10-12 minutes
- to make the salad, add the ingredients and top with the dressing
- serve immediately as the pear will brown
lastly, because I had spent so much time making pies, it was a quick and easy burrito that I decided to go with for the main course…
the kids and I love eating at Mucho Burrito and this was my quick version of it…
I sauted some peppers, used ground beef (because that was what I had), white rice, shredded cheese and salsa… I gave each guy two big burritos and the farmer, who can eat just about anything, could only get down one burrito and saved the other one for his lunch today…
happy seeding!!! here’s hoping it is a time to try out some new fun recipes and perhaps get to make some pie!
i feed a farmer 
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