Switch it up Salad

If you love salads you will LOVE this variation. A couple of summers ago my husband and I went through our JUICING phase. Only healthy juices and healthful salads passed our lips. HA! It did not last.

We did find some yummy juices and in doing so tried some veggies that we previously had not tried. I started experimenting with come salad combinations and this salad was born. It is very summery tasting. In fact, I was craving something that had some texture and grit the other day, and while browsing through my 'hand written' recipes I came across this one.

I have taken it to several dinners and get togethers and always get rave reviews. I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we have.


Salad
1/2 cup red quinoa + 1 cup water (follow directions on box, cook and set aside to cool)
1 large red apple cut into bit sized pieces
1 Asian pear
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 medium sized head of Romaine lettuce, chopped
2 large handfuls of Collard Greens, chopped
1 medium sized carrot shredded
12 - 14  cherry tomatoes quartered (cut the quarters in half width-wise if they are really big)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed


Dressing
In a mixer or bullet combine: (pulse 4-6 times until creamy)
1/4 cup olive oil (I use whatever oil is on hand)
juice of 2 small lemons (equals approximately 1/2 cup)
2 full tablespoons of Honey
3 cloves of garlic
Sea Salt and Pepper

Enjoy!
Kerri Downey

Freezing Rotel Tomatoes!

With the week I have had, I am super glad I had the fore-site to save my unused Rotel Tomatoes. I generally freeze my herbed butter this way. I guess I had never considered doing anything else. (Besides flavored ice-cubes which I do in the summer.)

I had left over Rotel and a clean ice-cube tray and I thought... "Why not?"

Now, I'm sure some of you are saying... why I've been doing that for years! But, I have not and that's why I was so pleasantly surprised when I started supper the other night. I wanted something easy and throw together. So one thing led to another and I ended up making Pan Fried Chicken Tacos. Yum!


Like a good lil-girl I was doing my mise en place. (French for: get your stuff together before you start so you are not running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.) In my desperate root through the pantry I discovered I had everything except Rotel. I had tomato sauce but I needed that for the Spanish Rice that goes with the meal so I couldn't use it for the chicken. I considered sending hubby to the store. (I do that quite often.) But hmmmmm.... wait! I ran to the freezer and pulled out the 'test' bag of Rotel Tomatoes. 


When I put them in the ice-cube tray, I measured the first one just to be sure. So far, with out fail everything I have frozen has equaled one FULL (or slightly rounded) tablespoon.  I didn't even spray the tray, I just spooned the left over Rotel into it. Covered it with saran wrap and put it into the freezer. A couple days later when I remembered it, I popped them out and put them in a labeled freezer bag. (Excuse my misspelling... heehee!)

I don't really measure-measure. I try to for this blog but for the life of me... I put a little of this and a little of that and it always turns out great! So here I was with my lil-cubes of Rotel and I wasn't sure how much to use. I started out with three and ended up using them all.

I just tossed them in and they melted, without any excess water, right into my chicken and was exactly what I wanted. Yay! I'm so glad I thought to do this. And I do hope you give it a try. I'm sure I can freeze way more stuff this way than I ever thought. What do you freeze in ice-cube trays? Leave me a note. I would love to give it a try! Until then....

Enjoy!
Kerri Downey

Meat-filled Noodle Rolls

If you like noodles and playing with noodle dough, then you will enjoy this filled treat. I generally pull out this recipe when I have left overs of a roast of some sort. You can make it with Filo-dough if you like crispy rolls similar to the Chinese egg-rolls BUT if you are like me and are looking for a MEAL with the left overs then this recipe if for you!

I made the mistake of asking my husband what Pork Shoulder-Butt was. Ha! That is some tricky doing as far as I'm concerned. Having a shoulder on your butt! Wow! Smart-allic that he is, the next day I came home from work he says, "I got that pork shoulder-butt you wanted." Umm... I didn't want any. I was reading recipes on line! So, Here I was stuck with a piece of meat I wasn't sure what to do with. I convinced him that it was his turn to cook so I could beg off and he tossed it in the crock pot the following day. Of course we couldn't eat it all... he bought a huge piece! After we worked on it a day or two I decided I had to spice it up some. (It just didn't have a lot of taste in my book.)

I decided it was noodle-roll time. You can stuff them with absolutely anything and I mean ANYTHING! I usually start with a trinity. What is a trinity?! lol... it is a mirepoix. What is a mirepoix you ask... it is 2 parts onion, 1 part celery and 1 part carrot or bell pepper depending on the part of the South you are from. I make both interchangeably... Since I was using pork and because I had some handy I used carrot (already cooked) with this.

Toss all three into your iron skillet with 2 TBS of real butter and saute. When the onion are translucent add 2-cups of any shredded meat and 1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese. Season the combination with 1 TBS of Italian seasoning (or what ever you think might go with the meat you are using) a shake or two of red pepper flakes, and some salt and pepper to taste, turn the mixture off and set it aside. I'm a great proponent of tasting as you go. Add a little seasoning, taste and see if you need more. Better to not have enough than to have to much! Set your pan aside its time to work on your noodles.

For this recipe I made a 1/4 recipe (basic noodle recipe here) that would be 1 cup flour and 2 eggs a 1/2 teaspoon salt. I follow the same procedure by mixing and letting it rest covered for 15 - 30 minutes and then rolling it out as needed. I try to roll as thin as I can get it since I am going to roll my noodle up in the end.  Each quarter of your noodle ball should make 2 or 3 rolls. 

Your meat-filler should be plenty cool by now. Using CLEAN hands take a handful of the mixture and shape into a football, placing it in the middle to lower-third of your piece of dough. and roll it up. The last 1 1/2 to two inches wet with water (I keep a cup of water handy) on the incoming and reviving parts of the roll so that they stick to each other. Using your fingers reach inside the end of the roll and tamp down the mixture so that you can fold it over. Using water to glue it together, I push in a side, dab with water, push in another side, dab with water and work my way around. Usually I fold 3 or 4 times before I finished with that end... then I turn it over and repeat the process on the other end. Line them up on the counter and turn them occasionally. I like mine to be a little dry to start with. However, it doesn't really matter in the end they taste the same. 

In a pot of salted boiling water drop ALL of your rolls. Boil them until they pop up to the top. Add another couple of minutes - they will come to the top and puff up slightly. Take them out and let them drain. While they are draining, in your largest iron skillet add an inch to and inch and a half of oil and heat it until a small piece of dough bubbles when you drop it in.

Working in small batches fry your boiled rolls until crispy on each side. Remove and place on a cooling rack to drain as oil as possible before you serve them.

These freeze well. I place them on a cookie sheet and put them uncovered into the deep freeze for about 1 hours. I then place them in a freezer baggie, label and date them. They should keep for about a month in the freezer. After thawing them, reheat in the toaster oven. Microwaving makes them a little to soft for my taste.

Recap: (for the list-ers in the group

• 1/4 recipe of Basic Noodle Recipe
• 1 soup sized pan of boiling salted water
• 1 large fry skillet with an inch to an inch and a half of canola oil
• Trinity (2 cups onion, 1 cup celery, 1 cup carrot or bell pepper)
• 2 TBS real butter
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 TBS Italian Seasoning
• Red Pepper flakes, to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• a cup of warm water, to glue noodle roll together 

The picture here is of Oven Roasted Squash and Meat-Filled Noodle Rolls. Yum! 

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Basic Noodle Recipe

Basic Noodle Recipe:  (see video here)

4 cups flour
8 eggs
Lots of muscle

Combine flour and eggs. Divide into 4 balls and set aside with a hand towel to cover for 15 - 30 minutes. Roll and cut noodles to desired thickness and width.

Dry on the counter like grandma used to do; put in the oven between low and off (leave the oven door ajar to allow for the air to move; or put in a dehydrator on 35C/65F... until dry. 

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash with Roasted Seeds

I love a good squash. Any squash will do. So when I sent my husband to the store for Spaghetti squash and he came back with Butternut squash, I couldn't complain... I just changed gears. My favorite quick veggie fix is to roast in the oven. Weather it is to put in a stew, a soup or just as a side, the taste is like no other. I hesitate to say "burnt," but it has a outdoorsy charbroiled taste that is just too yummy for words.

Begin by cutting off the top-woody stem and pealing the squash. If you have a compost bin this kind of stuff is great for that! It adds lots of nutrients to the compost.

Remove the seeds but DON'T throw them out. Put them in a colander and gently wash them, removing as much of the membrane as you can. Don't over think it. If it won't come loose, it won't come loose. When you put them in the oven to bake, the seed will either come apart from it or it will become crunchy and deteriorate on it's own when you start flipping them over in the pan. In a smaller iron skillet (I use a 6 - 8 inch skillet) add 1 TBS canola oil. Roll the pan to coat the bottom and add your seeds, turning them over once or twice to make sure they also are coated. Sprinkle a dash or two of salt on your seeds and set them aside for the moment.

Cut your squash into 1 1/2 - 2 inch square pieces and place in a large cast iron skillet. (I use a 18 inch skillet) Add 2 TBS canola oil, a dash or two of salt, a dash or two of cayenne pepper, 2 or 3 finely shopped garlic cloves and stir to coat. Making sure that all the salt and cayenne are mixed around. The cayenne pepper is to give it a little and I mean a little heat. If you get to generous with it, your squash will become HOT and you don't want this hot. In fact, your guests (or hubby) won't even know it is in there unless you rat on yourself. BUT they will know something is missing if you decide not to add it. (We took this to JOY FELLOWSHIP at church and they had no idea that cayenne pepper was in it.) There is something about the combination that is absolutely PERFECT!

Place your squash skillet on the top shelf of your pre-heated oven and your seed skillet on the lower. Baking for approximately 40 min at 400F, Stir your seeds often. Only flip your squash when it starts to brown. If you flip it a couple of times you should be okay. Don't stir your squash! Your seeds should finish just before your squash but watch them just the same. Ovens differ in heat and you don't want burn seeds. Booooo that is not good!

Seeds from one squash make enough to top your squash dish, a side salad and slip your hubby a small handful to keep him out of your hair. 

Just to recap: (for those of you that want a list and not a story)

• Pre-heat oven to 400F
• 1 Butternut squash, cut into 1 1/2 - 2 inch cubes
• seeds from the squash
• 3 TBS canola oil, divided
• 2 - 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Salt, to taste
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• 2 heavy skillets (one small, one large)

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Yummy Cauliflower Pizza Crust

If you are like me you never do a recipe the same more than once or twice. I like recipes that have a "basic" style and then I can tweak it how the mood hits me. This is one of those recipes.

What is even more fun about it, especially if you are watching your pennies... this one head of cauliflower can stretch to two, three or even four meals.

When we fix this pizza, my husband and I both fix our on lil-pizza differently. He is a carnivore, I am not, so for obvious reasons we put different things on our pizzas. We always end up with some left overs for lunch the next day. AND in the freezer I have the other half of my head of cauliflower! I can make more pizzas some other day or use it to make mashed cauliflower, or add it to some other creation. It really goes a lot further than you realize when you grate your cauliflower. It's also fun to do especially if you have lots of aggression to get rid of...ha!

AND! Best of all this is gluten free! 

I made this one at the end of the summer when we still had all the awesome veggies left from the garden. It makes me sad to think I have to wait for the FRESH version but until then, I can glean from my local grocer.... lol! I will have to be happy with my dried basil and doctor it up a little differently. Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Believe me you will really enjoy this recipe.

Basic Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe:
preheat oven to 425F
2 1/2 cups grated cauliflower
1 egg
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

• Grate head of cauliflower and divide in half. A medium sized head should give you about 5 cups. 
• In a medium sized mixing bowl place 1/2 of a head of cauliflower (or 2 1/2 cups of cauliflower) and microwave for 8 minutes or until soft. Let it stand until it cools enough to add the egg.
• While you are waiting for it to cool in a separate bowl mix the egg, one cup of the mozzarella, the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. 
• When the cauliflower is cool enough combine the cauliflower and egg mixture.
• Divide mixture into two parts.
• On a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with parchment paper, loosely shape each of your pizzas and bake for 10 - 15 minutes (until it begins to turn brown around the edges.
• Remove the cauliflower crust and top with whatever you like. Since this is supposed to be a healthy version I always opt for lighter type toppings. Easy on the sauce, easy on the cheese, lots of veggies, etc... you get my drift.
• Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Watch closely, you don't want to burn your creation!
• Right before you serve, top with fresh basil if you have some! Yum!

This is such a versatile recipe! If you like you can sprinkle with parmesan only and return to the oven without adding anything else. Serve it with garlic bread and you have simple-awesome. Doctor it up and you have super-awesome. It's a win-win! Can't get any better than that!

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Garnishing 101

Today, as I was looking back at all my pictures and thinking about a possible post I ran across these pictures I took when my student Amy was in the Culinary 1 class. I'm game for anything so I jumped right in with the kids. Okay, I have to admit my forays into garnishing left a lot of wiggle room. (A LOT since I had never done any.) My idea of a garnish is a spritz of something cute on top or a splash of color on the side. The instructor had other ideas. After watching a video that I think was made in prehistoric times everyone received an apple, a pear and a radish and a very sharp knife. We started with the pears.

MOUSE

1 pear preferably with a stem
2 Cloves
3 toothpicks broke in half
1 whole toothpick

• Find the flattest side of your pear or the side that is not the cutest and cut about an 1/8 of an inch off so that your "mouse" sets flat. 
• Cut that piece in half so that you that you have 2-ears.
• Give your pear a good look at the narrower end of the pear. Can you SEE the face? Make two slits at the top of the face for the ear pieces you cut from the bottom and slide them into the slits. You may have to widen the slice by just a smidgen to allow for the ear pieces. 
• Using your cloves place your eyes.
• Using 3 halved toothpicks place 3-whiskers on each side of the "nose."
• Using the stem or another tooth pick, insert the tale just above the indentation for the stem.

Wa-La! You now have a cute lil-mouse!

The Apple Swan seemed harder. We had a lot of smooshed apples. Someone, (rolling my eyes) was humming the funeral dirge. I can't imagine who would have done such a thing since we were all trying so hard. (hee-hee) 

APPLE SWAN

1 med - large apple is all you need

Keep everything in the order that you remove it so that replacing it is easy. Otherwise all you have is a big mess.

• Find the flattest side of your apple or the side that is not the cutest and cut about an 1/8 of an inch off so that your apple sets flat. You don't want your bird taking flight. Set that aside. 
• Look at your apple. Where will you put the head? Right behind where you envision the head, make a small V shaped cut about an inch long. This will be the tiniest cut. Leave it in place other than to check that it is free and movable. 
• Working in threes, make two more V cuts. Making sure not to break your V. Keeping it in contact... OR at least in order, remove your 3 pieces and set them aside. 
• Look at your apple from the front view. See the head placement. Immediately to the left and right will be your wings. Repeat the process of slicing 3 V's on the left and right sides. Keeping your pieces in tact or at the very least in order.

Yes                                                          NO!

Lastly, we made flowers out of radishes... well, the ones that didn't disappear into our mouths.

Radish Flowers

Radishes different sizes

Ice Bath (Cold water in a bowl, filled with ice)

• Starting on the outside make a half moon type, thin-sliced cut, 4 or 5 times around the outside. DO NOT pull on it. Leave it be for now.
• Working at the corners, or the V of the outside slice... work in making small slices until you get to the center. The goal is to look like a rose. Obviously, some look better than others. AND practice makes perfect. 
• When your radish is finished, plop it into an ice bath. The ice will cause the "flower" to open up.

All done! What do you think? Easy? Wait until you try them. You will feel like you are all thumbs. Ha! Good luck!

(Thanks Todd!)

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Lovely Toasted Flour - Roux

Toasted Flour is the thicker for many of my soups, stews and sauces. I do not add any oil other than what is already in my cast iron skillet. I keep the flour moving constantly with a metal spoon and don't let it set to long in one place. This is a blonde dry roux - what I use the most. But you can continue to brown your flour until you have a dark rich wood color. Roux's date back several hundreds of years in the use of French cuisine. I first saw my mom's mom use the technique and was intrigued when I later saw my mother do it. I assumed that it was a "Southern" thing since my mother was born and raised in the deep south. We didn't eat a lot of Creole which use both dry and wet Roux but boy-buddy we ate a lot of good ole southern cooking. Yum! I'm sure that my incorporating it into my "Northern" cooking style was a given. Is there a term for those of us that are influenced by so many different regions of the U.S and beyond? Eclectic is the only term I know to use.

Tortellini in White Sauce

Tortellini, better known at my house as: "the little round pasta's" were the side this week. I was just hungry for something different. I wasn't up for making spaghetti. I'm saving the last of the tomato sauce for my son and his family when they come up for a homemade spaghetti night. (You are coming soon right David?)

I've warned my husband with a stern look, that this summer's garden needs to be half again as large and all in tomatoes! Last years batch just did not make it far enough AND it totally cripples my ability to create! I have to have tomatoes!!! PLEEEZZZEEE!

So, this week I fell back to an old stand by: White Sauce and what better to make with it but Tortellini!

When my son David was tiny we had to forgo anything with red dye #7 and #40. You can't imagine how many things that red dye is in! Thank God, he outgrew it. He would seriously bounce like Tiger out of the Winney the Pooh stories. Nothing could hold him down and the only solution was to let him outside to run it off when he accidentally got a hold of something. Then he would end up with a headache or a tummy ache and I would feel like a failure. Soooo! I got creative. In the beginning I made a lot of white sauces and later began experimenting with red sauces. I think I got pretty good at it if I do say so myself. (patting self on back)

If you haven't experimented with noodle dough you are missing out. Seriously! There are so many things you can make with the basic noodle dough recipe. (For this recipe I used 1 cup flour and 2 eggs plus one teaspoon of salt.)

White Sauce:
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup chicken/vegetable broth
2 - 3 tablespoons flour (toasted if you have some)
1 stick real butter (unsalted)
dash (or two) of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Over medium heat, combine milk, broth and butter. When butter is completely melted add in toasted flour, continuing to whisk until completely incorporated. Taste. Salt, Pepper and taste again. Add a dash or two of cayenne pepper. This is just to give it a little heat not make it hot. Hot is NOT the goal. Lovely, creamy, warm sauce is the goal. Watch this closely, the milk can and will scorch. Take it off the heat when it is thick enough to hold up over a noodle.

Tortellini: I've eaten them round and square. Both are filled with whatever you want to put in them. Both are folded basically the same way. So what is the difference? Time - kind of.

Cutting, Folding and stuffing the round tortellini - Roll your basic noodle dough as thin as you can with out tearing the dough as you flip it. Use a 3 inch biscuit cutter to cut your noodle dough into little rounds. Set them aside as you roll and cut your remaining dough. Wet your fingers in a cup of water and dampen one side of your round cut dough and place a pinch about the size of a garbanzo bean of whatever filling you have in the center. Fold over one side to meet the other and pinch lightly to close around the cut side. Using your index finger lightly against the filling side, bring the 'wings' to meet, squeezing slightly to create a solid contact. (You might need to wet the dough slightly to make it to stick.) Place them on a lightly dusted (flour) plate or tray as you continue your tortellini making.

Cut square tortellini - with a cutter or knife in to 3" length strips. Cutting again width wise at 3" so you end up with a 3 x 3 square. After wetting and filling as above, fold corner tip to corner tip to create a triangle. Using your index finger lightly against the filling side, bring the 'wings' to meet, squeezing slightly to create a solid contact. (You might need to wet the dough slightly to make it to stick.) Place them on a lightly dusted (flour) plate or tray as you continue your tortellini making.

You may stuff them with just about anything your heart desires. It just so happened that I had left overs from the lasagna I made a week or so ago. I combined the meat and cheese and used that as the filling. I only used a portion of it. Reserving the rest for another something that is TBA. (actually I don't know what that might be yet... lol)

When you have finished rolling all your tortellini place them in a soup pan of boiling salted water. They need a minute or two more after they pop up, and stay up, at the top of your water. I say taste one to see if its done enough for you. If not let it boil another 30 seconds to a minute and check again. Too done is not fun to eat and neither is underdone. So watch them closely. Drain well before serving. Top with sauce and enjoy!

Do you have a variation of white sauce you would like to share with me. I would LOVE to try it. 

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey

Eggplant Spread

I've been cataloging all these cookbooks for the school and I came across this one: Jennie Grossinger's The Art of Jewish Cooking. I was very interested when I saw recipe after recipe on noodles and noodle variations that I was familiar with by way of my dad's mom. Grandma Eva was the noodle making queen in my book. I have fond memories of noodle and pie making with her.

I know some but not enough of my family history so as I was browsing this book my questions began mounting. I know that my dad's dad was Jewish-German. Hence the name Klein, or Small in German. But, I wasn't so sure about his mom.

I finally got a hold of an uncle that is still living and started asking questions about the Haydens. Seems the story is not so glamorous as I had thought. Grandma learned to cook in a home economics class in high school. Hmmm... Well, truly it doesn't matter. She passed her love of cooking on to me as did my mom's mom, and my mom. Put them all together and rolled all into one LOVE for the kitchen and all things yummy.

One of the recipes that grabbed my attention was this Eggplant Spread, featured above. Now, I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE eggplant. Generally we throw it on the grill in the summertime. I do have some in the freezer but I sent the hubby to the grocery for some the other day anyway.

The recipe is not explicit whether or not you halve the eggplant and clean out the seeds or not. So since it lead me to think it was to be baked whole that's what I did. After peeling it and coming across the baked seeds I was a little grossed out. Baked eggplant seeds are... well... yuck is the best word I can come up with and pulling them out was just ewww..... I was unable to "chop" the eggplant into smoothness so I threw it into my bullet and beat it into submission. It came out looking somewhat like baby food. Of course I tasted it and believe it or not the only taste was - warm. That is if warm can be a taste, more like it was tasteless.

There seemed to be quite a bit of oil, SALT, pepper and lemon juice enough to kill a horse BUT, I was in to see what it was like and boy-buddy did I find out. Let's just say in the end I DID-NOT add the amount of salt the recipe calls for. I just couldn't. I ended up with about 3/4 of a teaspoon. Only because my husband dared me to put the entire amount in.

The warm version of the spread left a lot to be desired. Jeff and I were both making faces. But the recipe called for chilling so I covered it and placed it in the fridge. Two hours or so later we pulled it out and tried it again. We used warm tortilla chips in loo of dark bread. All in all, it wasn't bad. It actually kinda grew on me. Hubby said the same thing. It has a bite that was something different and that was the goal, to try something different. So, having reached the goal, I hate to say it but I probably won't make this again. Ha!

If you can't read the recipe is goes like this:

Eggplant Spread
1 medium eggplant
3 tablespoons minced onion
2 tablespoon salad or olive oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sugar

Bake the eggplant in a 475F oven until skin turns dark brown. Cool and peel. Chop the eggplant until very smooth. Stir in the onion, oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and sugar. Chill. Serve with dark bread and wedges of tomatoes. Serves 4-6

Let me know if you try it. Or better yet, if your family has a variation of this spread I would LOVE to hear it. And, yes! I will try it.

Enjoy!
Kerri Downey

Easy Lemon Pie with Meringue

I know I have posted my 'creation' pictures on FaceBook but I have yet to add it to my blog. I was at my grand daughter's first birthday party this weekend (in a snow storm) and was asked about the pie. It seems my ex-mother-in-law makes the same pie, same ingredients, it sounds like.. the same everything. I can't tell you where exactly I got the recipe but considering the similarities it's a safe bet I got it from her. (Thank you Karen!)

I don't care for lemon flavored things so much myself, but my husband does and that is why I dug out the recipe and began making them with regularity. It is one of the simplest pie recipes I have ever made and aside from the prep work of zesting your lemon and squeezing your lemons it's a cinch. I usually do my lemons way in advance so that I can make several pies before I need to redo anymore lemon. I store my zest in a zip-lock baggie as well as the juice. In each juice baggie I add 1/3 cup, flatten and freeze. It only takes a minute under running water to thaw, or, just set on the counter for a few minutes and it's ready.

While Karen and I were talking about the pie, she mentioned that her daughter Terri liked her pie more tangy. So it seems that she adds up to 3/4 cup lemon juice and up to a teaspoon more corn starch. I will be trying this the next time I make my own. Both Jeff and I have wondered how to make it tangier without sacrificing the pies consistency. (I guess you can say that was my blonde moment, even though I'm not blonde.)

Filling:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tbs flour (all purpose)
3 Tbs cornstarch
3 eggs
2 Tbs butter (I use real/cold butter)
1 1/2 cups water
2-3 Tbs finely shredded lemon zest
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
a dash of salt

Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/3 tsp. real vanilla
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
6 Tbs. sugar

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan add: Sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt, butter and water. Whisk continually until combined and butter is finally absorbed. (The cold butter keeps you from walking away from it to soon. :-) Soften butter makes a greasy pie too.) After butter is absorbed, add lemon and zest.

Using a prebaked crust add filling and top warm pie with meringue and place in preheated oven at 350F for 15 - 20 minutes. Pull out when meringue peaks are nice and toasty brown.

Enjoy!
Kerri Downey

Dried Apple Rings

I know you have seen those little bags of dried apples in the market or at the gas station. They are so expensive and yet I buy them. I have used my dehydrator to make lots of things but until this last year never fruit. I'm kinda picky about dried fruit. I don't care for the gummy texture of some of them. Therefore, I don't do it.  I woke up one Saturday to the overwhelming smell of apples. Normally not a bad thing.. but considering they had been on the counter for at least a week, I needed to do something with them ASAP! I decided the easiest thing for me was to put them in the dehydrator. The only bad thing about dried apples is that they are so good you have a tendency to eat them all. Not good when a serving size is typically 8-10 rings. After much trial and error, (I took a bag of dried apples, the equivalent of 6 or 7 apples and ate them all in two days - FAIL) I decided to put 10 pieces of dried apple in little sandwich bags. I then double bag them by putting all my little bags into a large gallon Ziploc baggie and keep them in the pantry. That way when I'm packing my lunch or just need a snack they are prepackaged and I don't feel the need to "cheat." Oh, I always have the "need" but I am less likely to because I've already bagged them.

• All you need is an apple corer
• A sharp knife
• A dehydrator or oven/non-stick cookie tray
• Set your dehydrator to: 58C/135F or your oven to 200F. A dehydrator will take about 12 hours and an oven 4 hours. (I like they dehydrator better for multiple reasons but the biggest being there is no or very little heat.) 

If you cut your apple and immediately begin drying you do not need to use an acid to keep from browning. Any type apple works. My favorite is Granny Smith because of the tartness, but any apple will do. In this picture I have used a Cortland, it just happened to be what was on sale at the time. Frankly, I'm not a big apple eater, but my husband is. So if I eat them at all it is usually in an apple salad or dried. Either way, this is a quick easy project and the rewards are AWESOME!

Note of caution: Cut your apples thin but not too thin. To thin and they will stick to each other, to thick and they take for ever to dry. Also if you plan on storing your apples for more than a day or two, make sure there is no moisture left in your apple rings. Moisture = mold. If you have gone to all the trouble of cutting and drying your apples make sure to store them properly. I find double bagging them works well for me because our pantry is cool year round. However, you might find it easier to use an air tight container. In the end the less moisture you leave in the apple the better. Not only will the retain their crunchiness they will taste better.

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey