Mission Impossible...A Pie!

I come from a family of pie makers.  I also married into another family of pie makers.  Unfortunately, I have never had much luck making a good pie.  Banana cream is my husband's favorite, and of course he loves it with a homemade shell.  He loves my Mom's homemade cherry and he even gravitates toward the Hostess pies on occasion.  I love this man, so for years I have tried to make a pie.  I have watched skilled family members who tell me, "you'll know the crust is right by touching it,"  yeah right. I have read cook books, magazine articles and tutorials, but always ended up with a mess in my kitchen and failed crusts in the garbage.  Well I am here today to let you know, I have finally figured it out!!!

Last week, I had an abundance of fresh strawberries.  My neighbor had an abundance of rhubarb.  The perfect solution to this excess is a delicious homemade pie.  I had some time on my hands, so I decided to give pie making yet another try.
I can't tell you where, but somewhere I remembered seeing pie crust made using the food processor.  I decided to use this method, and I highly recommend it if you are pie crust challenged like me.  Here's my method and recipe for a highly successful and yummy strawberry rhubarb pie.

Pie Crust makes top and bottom crust

2 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup lard
1/2 cup butter

ice water

Mix flour and salt together in food processor.  Cut cold lard and butter in to pieces and add to the flour, pulsing the food processor as you add.  The fat and flour should combine and look kind of like small pebbles or sand.  Carefully dribble ice water in as you pulse, until the dough starts coming together. Do not overmix.  Take the dough out of the processor and separate it into 2 balls.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator to chill.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 pound fresh rhubarb chopped
2 pints fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon coarse sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large bowl mix, flour and sugar.  Add strawberries and rhubarb.  Toss with flour/sugar mixture and let sit for 30 min.

 Pour into pie shell and dot the butter over the top.  Then make a lattice for the top of the pie. Brush milk over the lattice and sprinkle the coarse sugar on top.
Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  Allow to cool before cutting.

Bacon Artichoke Dip

I have sampled a fair amount of artichoke dip through the years and this is by far the best! My neighbor Heather Anderson made it for recipe club and I have been making it ever since. Try it, you'll love it and so will your family and friends.

Ingredients

8.5 oz. can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

8 0z. sour cream

1/2 cup Miracle Whip

3/4 cup chopped spinach, thawed and drained

3/4 package bacon, fried and crumbled

1/4 cup green onions chopped

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated sharp cheese

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all ingredients and place in greased 8X8" pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Serve warm with firm tortilla chips or artisan bread.

End of the Year Teacher Treat

Cupcake jars seem to be all the rage lately. I just couldn't resist trying to make my own little version. I knew right away these would make a fabulous little treat for my kids teachers. They were so easy and so tasty! Plus they are packaged perfectly to enjoy without the mess of a regular cupcake:)



The hardest part of this project is deciding what flavors you want to play with. I decided on chocolate cupcakes and peanut butter frosting, YUM! I thought about making it all from scratch... yeah right. This is the last week of school and I have four kids. I used my favorite boxed cake mix and I totally cheated on the frosting, (mixed vanilla frosting and some peanut butter together...WAA LAH, gourmet frosting.

So if you want to make some of these here is what you do:

1. Go and get yourself some cute little jars with lids. Mine are Kerr brand, half pint size.
2. Make cupcakes, but do not use the papers in your cupcake pan, just spray them with cooking spray.
3. Pop them out of the pan, cool and then freeze them.
4. Next make, or buy some frosting and put it in a Ziploc bag, cut the tip off and pipe it into the bottom of the jar.
5. Take your frozen cupcakes and slice them in half horizontally.
6. Layer cupcakes and frosting.
7. Add the lid and ring and start decorating!
8. Cut a circle out of cute paper for the top, (2.5 in.)
9. Add a ribbon, tag, spoon and any other embellishents you like.
10. Eat or Share.... these can also be frozen for a later date.

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