APRICOT HAND PIES-FAIL!

So, I came across this recipe for apricot hand pies.  I love hand pies and wanted to try these because I needed to use up 20 pounds of fruit they look amazing.  So, I prepared the filling like so:

Wash the fruit and remove the pits:

Cut each half into quarters and place in bowl:

Add lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon.  Then stir it up and place in refrigerator:

That part all went fine.  Then I made the pastry which is a very delicate pastry made with butter.  Here is what I did:

Place dry ingredients in food processor.

Cut cold butter into cubes and add it to flour mixture, processing about 10 second until it resembles coarse meal.

With processor running add ice water until dough comes together:

I thought my pastry looked great but when I went to roll it out and make the pies it did not work so well.  I discovered the recipe I used had several flaws (no cooking temp, double the yield the dough actually produced, no amount of flour to be added to fruit, too thick of specification for rolling the dough).  I followed the recipe and made up my own parts for the things that were missing or obviously wrong.  I was pretty bummed when my hand pies looked like this because the dough was far too crumbly and delicate:

I tried doing some non-folded over double pies but they still didn’t look too great:

I brushed them with cream and sprinkled them with raw sugar.  I baked them at 375 till they were golden brown.  They actually tasted pretty good.  My husband suggested putting some of the extra filling into some crescent rolls.  So, I tried that but my rolls were old and falling apart and this is how crappy THEY looked:

No one liked the crescent roll ones.  The crust on the pastry ones was very buttery…tasted like a not sweet shortbread cookie.  Which made me think that a shortbread cookie hand pie would be SUPER yummy because there is quite a bit of tartness to the fruit filling when you are suing fresh fruit.

Here are the baked pies:

SO, it majorly bums me out when recipes don’t turn out right.  I will never use a delicate crust like this for hand pies again.  I think I might have to try a sweetened pie crust or a cookie type crust next time…if I ever get up the courage to try again, that is!

APRICOT HAND PIES-FAIL!

So, I came across this recipe for apricot hand pies.  I love hand pies and wanted to try these because I needed to use up 20 pounds of fruit they look amazing.  So, I prepared the filling like so:

Wash the fruit and remove the pits:

Cut each half into quarters and place in bowl:

Add lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon.  Then stir it up and place in refrigerator:

That part all went fine.  Then I made the pastry which is a very delicate pastry made with butter.  Here is what I did:

Place dry ingredients in food processor.

Cut cold butter into cubes and add it to flour mixture, processing about 10 second until it resembles coarse meal.

With processor running add ice water until dough comes together:

I thought my pastry looked great but when I went to roll it out and make the pies it did not work so well.  I discovered the recipe I used had several flaws (no cooking temp, double the yield the dough actually produced, no amount of flour to be added to fruit, too thick of specification for rolling the dough).  I followed the recipe and made up my own parts for the things that were missing or obviously wrong.  I was pretty bummed when my hand pies looked like this because the dough was far too crumbly and delicate:

I tried doing some non-folded over double pies but they still didn’t look too great:

I brushed them with cream and sprinkled them with raw sugar.  I baked them at 375 till they were golden brown.  They actually tasted pretty good.  My husband suggested putting some of the extra filling into some crescent rolls.  So, I tried that but my rolls were old and falling apart and this is how crappy THEY looked:

No one liked the crescent roll ones.  The crust on the pastry ones was very buttery…tasted like a not sweet shortbread cookie.  Which made me think that a shortbread cookie hand pie would be SUPER yummy because there is quite a bit of tartness to the fruit filling when you are suing fresh fruit.

Here are the baked pies:

SO, it majorly bums me out when recipes don’t turn out right.  I will never use a delicate crust like this for hand pies again.  I think I might have to try a sweetened pie crust or a cookie type crust next time…if I ever get up the courage to try again, that is!

APRICOT PIE FILLING {Recipe}

We live in Las Vegas AND we grow fruit!!  Yes, its true.  A lot of people think you can’t grow anything in Las Vegas.  But, you can!  You can grow a ton of different vegetables and fruits.  We have an apricot tree and this was the week of harvest for it.  Well, I guess we started last week and finished this week.  We didn’t get to it quite soon enough and therefore lost a lot of the fruit to pesky birds.  But we did get about 5 cookie sheets of apricots.  So, I have frantically been trying to figure out how to use them all up because we just can’t seem to eat them fast enough.  Apricots get overripe very quickly.  But there is just nothing quite so yummy as a perfectly ripe homegrown apricot.  Store bought apricots are never very good.  So, even though dealing with the fruit can be a headache, I do love the tree and I’m glad we have it!

Here is one of the trays:

I decided to use some of them to make some apricot pie filling to freeze for the holidays.  I made an apricot pie last Thanksgiving but I believe I made it out of apricots that I had frozen, not filling I had frozen.  It was tasty but if I remember correctly it was a bit watery.  I am hoping making the filling now and freezing it will help the texture to be a bit firmer. 

Here is how I did it:

Wash all the fruit well and remove the pits.

Cut each half in half again lengthwise and place in a bowl.

Add lemon juice, sugar and quick cooking tapioca.

Stir well.

Place in pie plates, cover with foil, and freeze.  Once frozen, remove from plates and vacuum seal into bags.  If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, wrap them well in foil and then place in freezer zipper bags.  Use a straw to suck out as much air as possible before closing the bag completely.

Here is what it will look like when I go to bake it:

Copyright © 2011 Sunset Publishing Corporation

And hopefully it will turn out looking something like this come Thanksgiving:

You can find the recipe I used for the filling HERE on Taste of Home.  I will probably top mine with a lattice crust although the crumb crust is yummy too!

APRICOT PIE FILLING {Recipe}

We live in Las Vegas AND we grow fruit!!  Yes, its true.  A lot of people think you can’t grow anything in Las Vegas.  But, you can!  You can grow a ton of different vegetables and fruits.  We have an apricot tree and this was the week of harvest for it.  Well, I guess we started last week and finished this week.  We didn’t get to it quite soon enough and therefore lost a lot of the fruit to pesky birds.  But we did get about 5 cookie sheets of apricots.  So, I have frantically been trying to figure out how to use them all up because we just can’t seem to eat them fast enough.  Apricots get overripe very quickly.  But there is just nothing quite so yummy as a perfectly ripe homegrown apricot.  Store bought apricots are never very good.  So, even though dealing with the fruit can be a headache, I do love the tree and I’m glad we have it!

Here is one of the trays:

I decided to use some of them to make some apricot pie filling to freeze for the holidays.  I made an apricot pie last Thanksgiving but I believe I made it out of apricots that I had frozen, not filling I had frozen.  It was tasty but if I remember correctly it was a bit watery.  I am hoping making the filling now and freezing it will help the texture to be a bit firmer. 

Here is how I did it:

Wash all the fruit well and remove the pits.

Cut each half in half again lengthwise and place in a bowl.

Add lemon juice, sugar and quick cooking tapioca.

Stir well.

Place in pie plates, cover with foil, and freeze.  Once frozen, remove from plates and vacuum seal into bags.  If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, wrap them well in foil and then place in freezer zipper bags.  Use a straw to suck out as much air as possible before closing the bag completely.

Here is what it will look like when I go to bake it:

Copyright © 2011 Sunset Publishing Corporation

And hopefully it will turn out looking something like this come Thanksgiving:

You can find the recipe I used for the filling HERE on Taste of Home.  I will probably top mine with a lattice crust although the crumb crust is yummy too!

BELGIAN BUTTERMILK WAFFLES with BUTTER SYRUP {Recipe}

Forgive the little hiatus I’ve been taking lately.  To be honest, I haven’t felt much like blogging and I’ve had a heck of a time getting any of my projects done with 4 boys constantly underfoot (my teenager isn’t around much).  I have several things that are started but not completed.  I am also waiting on a vinyl order to get a couple of them finished up.

But last week we had a little shower for my youngest sister who is having her second son.  She just wanted it to be a get-together with her best girls.  So we met at one of my other sister’s homes for breakfast and then we went to get pedicures together.  It was really fun.  We are going to have another get together after the baby comes when some of my other sisters will be in town.  For those who don’t know, I have 6 sisters (no brothers).  Five of us live here, one in Cedar City, UT and one near Dallas, TX.  We all have children (soon to be 26 total) except my one sweet sister Amanda who is dealing with infertility and hoping to adopt.  You can read her story by clicking on the button at the top of my sidebar.

Anyway, for breakfast we had a little bit of heaven:

I didn’t have my camera with me (I know, such an amateur) but luckily my sister was prepared with hers.  I also forgot to take a picture of the actual waffle I was going to eat so I had to assemble this one for the shot.  Everyone was full though so I went easy on the berries so we wouldn’t waste them and I didn’t pour syrup all over it either.

But these buttermilk Belgian waffles are sooooo good.  And my sister made us something called Butter Syrup which you pour on in addition to your regular maple syrup.  SERIOUSLY yummy stuff!  We used fresh whipped cream, which we make by whipping cream and adding powdered sugar to sweeten.  I do not add vanilla to my whipped cream because I like to taste the cream and not vanilla.  I LOVE the taste of cream, like the Sweet Cream ice cream from Cold Stone…my favorite!

Here is the recipe for the waffles and syrup.  Might be a good thing to serve on Father’s day!

Recipe: Buttermilk Belgian Waffles

Yield: 4 big waffles??

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ c. flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• ½ c. melted butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: Combine dry ingredients in large bowl with a wire whisk. In bowl of electric mixer combine wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients all at once and stir to combine. Batter will be lumpy. Cook in preheated waffle iron according to iron’s directions. Top with butter syrup, maple syrup, fresh berries and whipped cream.

NOTE: My sister said that she often makes these and reduces the amount of butter to ¼ cup.

 

Recipe: Butter Syrup

Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1 c butter
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 tsps. Vanilla
• 2 tsps. baking soda

Directions: In a large pot combine the buttermilk, butter, and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring often or continuously. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and baking soda. It will bubble up a lot so make sure you use a big pot. Serve warm over waffles, pancakes, or French toast.

BELGIAN BUTTERMILK WAFFLES with BUTTER SYRUP {Recipe}

Forgive the little hiatus I’ve been taking lately.  To be honest, I haven’t felt much like blogging and I’ve had a heck of a time getting any of my projects done with 4 boys constantly underfoot (my teenager isn’t around much).  I have several things that are started but not completed.  I am also waiting on a vinyl order to get a couple of them finished up.

But last week we had a little shower for my youngest sister who is having her second son.  She just wanted it to be a get-together with her best girls.  So we met at one of my other sister’s homes for breakfast and then we went to get pedicures together.  It was really fun.  We are going to have another get together after the baby comes when some of my other sisters will be in town.  For those who don’t know, I have 6 sisters (no brothers).  Five of us live here, one in Cedar City, UT and one near Dallas, TX.  We all have children (soon to be 26 total) except my one sweet sister Amanda who is dealing with infertility and hoping to adopt.  You can read her story by clicking on the button at the top of my sidebar.

Anyway, for breakfast we had a little bit of heaven:

I didn’t have my camera with me (I know, such an amateur) but luckily my sister was prepared with hers.  I also forgot to take a picture of the actual waffle I was going to eat so I had to assemble this one for the shot.  Everyone was full though so I went easy on the berries so we wouldn’t waste them and I didn’t pour syrup all over it either.

But these buttermilk Belgian waffles are sooooo good.  And my sister made us something called Butter Syrup which you pour on in addition to your regular maple syrup.  SERIOUSLY yummy stuff!  We used fresh whipped cream, which we make by whipping cream and adding powdered sugar to sweeten.  I do not add vanilla to my whipped cream because I like to taste the cream and not vanilla.  I LOVE the taste of cream, like the Sweet Cream ice cream from Cold Stone…my favorite!

Here is the recipe for the waffles and syrup.  Might be a good thing to serve on Father’s day!

Recipe: Buttermilk Belgian Waffles

Yield: 4 big waffles??

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ c. flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• ½ c. melted butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: Combine dry ingredients in large bowl with a wire whisk. In bowl of electric mixer combine wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients all at once and stir to combine. Batter will be lumpy. Cook in preheated waffle iron according to iron’s directions. Top with butter syrup, maple syrup, fresh berries and whipped cream.

NOTE: My sister said that she often makes these and reduces the amount of butter to ¼ cup.

 

Recipe: Butter Syrup

Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1 c butter
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 tsps. Vanilla
• 2 tsps. baking soda

Directions: In a large pot combine the buttermilk, butter, and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring often or continuously. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and baking soda. It will bubble up a lot so make sure you use a big pot. Serve warm over waffles, pancakes, or French toast.

PATRIOTIC BERRIES {Recipe}

I am sure you have all seen these already, but just in case someone has had their head in the sand I thought I would post these cute strawberries I made last year.  I actually made them for my 3 year olds birthday party because he LOVES red, white, and blue.  He also loved dinosaurs at the time so we had a red, white, and blue dinosaur party.

To make these, just wash your strawberries and allow them to dry on a towel.  Once dry, dip them in melted white chocolate chips or candy melts, then directly into a bowl of blue sprinkles.  These are not only cute and festive but they are super yummy!  You can do it with any combo of colors, as long as red fits in with your decor!

Here are a couple other pics from that birthday party last year.  It was a super easy, simple one at the park.  The kids had a great time!