Day 89 - Best-Of-All Pecan Pie

     I had to stick my hand into the garbage disposal this morning.  The other day it made a funny sound, like a piece of metal was jumping around in there. 
     And yes.
     I admit it.
     I put it off because I just don't like to deal with things of that sort.  Yes, I could have asked my husband to (using my very deepest man voice) do a manly job and "fix" the disposal (GRAWRRRRRRR).  I'm sure he would have readily accepted the challenge knowing how he likes to "fix" problems even though sometimes when he "fixes" he likes to takes things completely apart and then they cannot be fixed for good unless we pay to have them repaired.  If you know my husband, a mechanic he is not, but he is extremely gifted in his profession.  He has and continues to help many people and I am very grateful and very proud of what he does.  He's awesome.
     To be honest, I truly don't know if his hand would have fit into the mouth of the disposal anyway.  Forgetting that that mystery piece of whatever it was was still in there, I put something down this drain this morning, flipped on the switch and heard it again. 
Doggone it!! 
Son of a gun!!
Oh, ALRIGHT ALREADY!!!
I actually started whining in my head, "oh, I don't want to do this...why do I have to be the one to do it?  Who was it that put this thing down here anyway and why can't THEY get it out??!!  WHY ME??!!"  My husband wasn't home to ask even if I had wanted to.
I don't have a fear of the thing turning on and shredding my hand to bits although the thought has crossed my mind.  No, what really scares me is reaching in there and touching all things SLIMY and DISGUSTING and not being able to SEE what they are.  EEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!  It grosses me out just thinking about it!  I can handle mice, rats, creepy crawly things and snakes, but touching yucky stuff?  Unh Uh!
No gloves to be had, so I unplugged the thing, closed my eyes ('cause I can always feel things better with my eyes closed, especially if I can't see what it is I'm touching to begin with!) and ever so gently emerged my hand into the abyss.  Ok, it was a very small abyss, but that's the word that comes to mind. 
Abyss. 
Going into the...
Unknown.
Feeling around I could feel the culprit!  A piece of metal something or other.  Wait, no.  That's attached to this other piece of metal which rotates, slices and dices.  Hmmm...wait, what's this?  Something that feels small and it could be...AHA! (as I pull my hand out to view the little devil)

This isn't the actual piece, the real one was chopped up.

Ok, I admit it.  I'm the one who is at fault for this one.  It must have fallen in when I was cleaning up from the Easter Egg Hunt Cookies the other day.  I knew there was a cake decorating piece missing!

You know what?  I'm tired of indenting and I'm not going to do it anymore and it's wasting precious blogging space.  So, I apologize to any English teachers out there who may now have a problem reading this because it's not in correct form.  But hey, isn't that what blogs are about anyway, literary freedom?
I used my trusty Fannie Farmer Cookbook for this one, pages 639 (crust) and 648; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.
Best-Of-All Pecan Pie

Pastry Shell - 9-inch pie shell
     1½ cup flour
     ¼ teaspoon salt
     ½ cup shortening
     3-4 tablespoons cold water (I ended up using about 7)
  
Mix the flour and salt.  Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two knives.  Combine lightly only until the mixture resembles coarse meal or very tiny peas:  its texture will be uniform, but will contain crumbs and small bits and pieces.  Sprinkle water over the flour mixture, a tablespoon at a time, and mix lightly with a fork, using only enough water so that the pastry will hold together when pressed gently together.  Roll the dough out 2 inches larger than the pie pan.  Fit it loosely, but firmly into the pan.  Crimp or flute the edges.

Pie Filling

3 eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup (I used light - didn't have dark)
½ cup dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1¼ cups pecan halves or coarsely chopped pecans

Topping

1 cup heavy cream, chilled

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Set aside the prepared, unbaked pie shell.
Beat the eggs in a bowl with a fork or wire whisk until the yolks and whites are well blended.
Add the corn syrup, brown sugar, melted butter and vanilla, and blend well.

Stir in the pecans, then pour the mixture into the pie shell.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are set and the center quivers slightly.  Don't overbake!



Let the pie cool a bit, and just before serving whip the cream, then spread it over the pie or pass it separately.

I've only ever had Pecan Pie once before and thought it was good.  This one was equally as good and earns a rating of 3½ rolling pins.  My rating system is on a scale of 1-4 with 1 being the worst and not worth the money or effort.  I'm enjoying the process of making the pie crusts!  I'm thinking after I'm done with 365 that I will maybe do a 365 of Pies.  I'm kidding.  I really don't know if I could bake a pie every day for 365 days straight.  Wow, that would be a big undertaking.  Haha.  Yeah, listen to me, as if this isn't.  I don't know.  We'll see.  I'm open to suggestions.

This pie was good.  The crust collapsed a little as you can see in the picture.  I have no idea what that was about.  I also left it in the oven an extra 7 minutes because it wasn't set and when I went to cut it, it still wasn't set, so make sure you keep an eye on it at the end.  Do I have any friends nearby who would like to share some Pecan Pie?  I have plenty!  Help me eat it!

Happy baking!

 



Day 82 - Buttermilk Pecan Muffins

    
     I'm going to keep today's post short because I'm feeling a little achy.  We have a bug that has invaded our home and has some of us quite under the weather.  So I'm going to make this a quick one and retire for some much needed slumber. 
     I adapted this recipe from my Fannie Farmer Cookbook, p. 541; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

     Buttermilk Pecan Muffins - makes 12 muffins

     2 cups white flour
     1 tablespoon baking powder
     ½ teaspoon salt
     2 tablespoons sugar
     1 egg slightly beaten
     1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (for sour milk - use 1 tablespoon vinegar for 1 cup of milk and let sit for 10-15 minutes)
     ¼ cup melted butter

     Preheat oven to 375ºF.
     Butter muffin pans.
     Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
     Add the egg, buttermilk, and butter, stirring only enough to dampen the flour; the batter should not be smooth.  Spoon into the muffin pans, filling each cup about two-thirds full.

     Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

     Pecan Muffins.  Use ¼ cup sugar.  Add ½ cup chopped pecans to the batter.  In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and ¼ cup chopped pecans. 

After filling the cups, sprinkle sugar, cinnamon and pecan mixture on muffin tops.

     I printed the full recipe which will make 12 muffins, but I halved it because I only wanted 6 of them.  I liked these, as did my son.  My husband hasn't had one, yet.  I have a rating system based on a scale of 1-4.  These muffins earned 3 rolling pins.  They were moist on the inside and I really liked the chopped pecans throughout the muffin.  I also really liked the topping.
     Happy baking!

Day 77 - Chocolate Pecan Wafers

     Mmmmm...chocolate and pecans or chocolate and pecahns, however you choose to say it. I'm falling asleep, so I'll make this a short one. 
     My husband said something to me today.  I can't even remember exactly what it was, but we were talking about the kids, their activities and his work, and he said, "and you just keep baking".  I thought it was funny because immediately what popped into my head was Dorie from 'Finding Nemo" and all I could hear was Ellen Degeneres singing, "Just keep baking, baking, baking".  I think I'll now use this as my theme song.  Have I told you that I drove Ellen to her hotel in my little Hyundai Excel hatchback? 



It was this little tin cup of a car, but it was white.  Wow, $5,700, that'll buy you what, 2 wheels now and maybe a full tank of gas.  Anyway, this was back when I was working as the assistant stage manager at an extinct Rhode Island icon, the Warwick Musical Theatre, otherwise known as, "The Tent" back in 198...5 or 6.  Ellen was opening up for some comedian, but for the life of me, I can't remember who, and she needed a ride back to her hotel, so I took her.  It was fun.  I also did that for Yakov Smirnoff.  Remember him?  Where the heck is he now?  Oh, nevermind.  I just did a google search and saw that he does stand up in Branson, Missouri.  And we all know where Ellen is.

    
Today's cookies come from The New Doubleday Cookbook, p.831; authors, Jean Anderson and Elaine Hanna; publisher, Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-385-19577-X.
                                      Chocolate Pecan Wafers - 4 dozen

     ½ cup butter or margarine
     1 cup sugar
     ¼ teaspoon salt
     1 teaspoon vanilla
     2 eggs
     3/4 sifted flour
     4 (1-ounce squares semi-sweet chocolate, melted
     3/4 cup finely chopped pecans

     Cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy, add vanilla and eggs, and beat well.
     Slowly mix in the flour and remaining ingredients.

     Chill mixture in bowl for ½ hour.
     Preheat oven to 350ºF.
     Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2" apart on greased baking sheets and flatten with bottom of a glass dipped in sugar (resugar glass for each cookie).

     Bake 15 minutes until tops retain almost no impression when touched.
     Transfer immediately to wire racks to cool.

        Alright, these were really good.  They were thin and chocolatey, and a little nutty.  I still have some dough sitting in the fridge, so I have to bake those up tomorrow morning before I move on to my next endeavor.  I think with that batch I'll only keep them in the oven for 13 minutes because I'd like them to be chewy and these were crunchy.  The men in my life loved them and thought they should be given a rating of 3½ rolling pins.  I rate everything that I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being "da bomb", so these cookies fared pretty well.
     Just keep baking, baking, baking!