Pumpkin Pie

Are you ready to make some pie?

First things first....please take off your rings. You will thank me later! Ever worked with a bunch of flour with your diamond ring on your finger and did not get it off until a few hours later? If not, just take my word for it, you don't want to make that mistake because it is a pain to get clean. I like to take a cup of water and put some dishwahing detergent in the water and drop my ring in it. That way as I cook my ring gets clean. If you happen to leave your ring on and get it caked with gunk just soak it for a few hours in warm soapy water.

The first thing we need to make is the crust. If you are not going to make the crust then just skip on down to the recipe. Personally speaking, I make my crust all the time. I do not care for the premade stuff...it taste like...well.....canned crust. The trick to the perfect crust is ice cold water. So, take some ice and pour some water over it and let it sit out on the counter as you start the process. FYI this is the longest process of the entire pie making process -- the crust.

For a single pie crust you are going to combine 1.5 C of flour, 1/2 C of Crisco (I keep mine in the refrigerator which I think helps make the crust flaky and yummy) and a pinch of salt.

Use two knives to cut shortening into the flour.

Add a little water...not much...just a splash. You want the crust to barely hold together. It is going to look like lots of little pieces of dough.

Cut some more....

Almost, but not quite right yet. Add a little teny tiny bit more water.

Now it is ready. It is just able to hold together.

Shape it into a ball.

Flour your surface that you are going to roll the dough out on.

Flatten the dough out with your hands. Kind of pull it as much as you can making sure you shape it in a circle. We don't want to overwork it to much because then it gets tough.

Now roll it out.

Now we need to transfer the dough to the pie pan. The easiest way to do this is fold it into fourths. First fold it like so.

Fold it again in half.

Transfer to pie plate (mine is a deep dish) and start to unfold making sure it is centered.

Unfold and cut away excess dough along the edges. Take a knife or fork and poke it a few times as well. We do not want bubbles as we cook.

I like to take the excess dough and roll into a big snake and place that over the edge of the crust.

Now, make a shell.

Flute the edges or take a fork to it and press in. You can also simply take two fingers and press dough down to make an edge as well. I like to kind of pinch my pointer finger between my thumb and pointer finger on my opposite hand to make this kind of edge. I also set some dough aside and used a cute little cutter to make pumpkins.

Now it is time for the easy part -- making the pie guts! You are going to need the following for two regular size pies or 1 deep dish pie. 2 cans Pumpkin, 2 Cups heavy cream, 1 cup whole milk, 4 large eggs, 1.5 packed brown sugar, 2 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend, and 1/2 Tsp. salt.

Add the pumpkin and cream...

Milk....

Eggs....

Brown sugar...I would like to just say that I used Organic brown sugar from Trader Joe's and it is by far the most beautiful sugar I have ever seen. I did not know brown sugar could be beautiful, but this stuff was!

Pumpkin Pie Spice and salt

Now give it a good mixing.

Move your prepared pie crust close to the oven because the guts are gonna be runny and you do not want it spilling out of your pie. Pour the pie filling into the pie shell and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about an hour. start to check it about every 5 minutes or so after 45 minutes. You want the pie to be set, but a little wiggly. It sets as it cools ;-)

Tada! Yummy pie! I did not add the cute little pumpkins until the last 20 minutes or so because they would have just sunk to the bottom of the pie. I did forget to put my crust shield on the pie and am not happy with the edges :-( Oh well...my family will still eat it and won't even know the difference.

One can not have pumpkin pie without whipped cream, right? Let's make some! Take 16 ounces of heavy whipping cream and pour into a bowl.

Add about 1/2 Cup of sugar (you will add more later if you want...I always add another 1/4 Cup)

Now whip it....whip it good!

All done!

Wait for pie to cool and serve with a nice dollop of whipped cream.

I hope you were able to gain some insight into pie making from this post. If nothing else the crust is the best crust recipe I have ever used. I got it from my sister in my early 20's and have used it ever since then. My mom has a good one to that is as follows: 2 C flour, 1 C Shortening, 1/2 C water and 1/8 C salt. I must state that my mom makes it well, but my sister and I can not quite get it down. It ends up to salty and tough for me :-(

I do have another recipe for pumpkin pie that is made with real pumpkin, but that one is my cookbook that is coming out in a few weeks. However, I use organic canned pumpkin when I use this recipe because it taste more authentic....if that makes sense. Anyways, if you are interested in my cookbook, drop me a line at: betsiemorris@yahoo.com
Thanks for visiting and stay tuned for some upcoming changes here on "The Home Front"

Simple Things that Make Me Happy

Ah, beautiful bulk! Is this not the most awesome thing ever?!?!?!?!?! I have a small confession to make....and that is that I thoroughly enjoy grocery shopping now. I love looking through the ads and clipping coupons. Then shopping two to three times a week at my favorite stores around town. Walmart Market place is naturally the most practical and money saving store in my neck of the woods (well Costco, but I don't do that more than once a month), therefore I frequent it often. Then there is Sprouts. By far Sprouts is my favorite store around. I mean it has this totally awesome super duper yummy bulk section that takes up 4 isles. Something about using a scooper to to fill up my bags brings a smile to my face. I will get to my third favorite store in a minute, but first look at the yummy stuff I got from bulk section.

 First up I found a candy mix for my dish on my coffee table. True, you can find bags of this like Walgreens, but what fun is that? Plus this was cheaper!

I just about peed on myself when I found Australian black licorice. I am making treat bowls for each of my kids' classes and I needed something black to filll the jars that I am making the owls out of. This could not be any more perfect. Of course, I will post pictures of the treat baskets once I get them done.

 Peanut Butter Cup trail mix for the kids.

 Wild West Trail Mix...could this look any yummier?

Carmel Turtle Trail Mix. I never knew carmel and trail mix could co-exist, but I am so glad they do.

In honor of Friday, I put together a snack bar for the kids after school

Last, but not least Trader Joe's is a great place to shop. If for nothing else the yummy pumpkin stuff. I will be making pumpkin pie and posting the recipe as soon as I get it made. This recipe is a little different then the one in my cookbook (it will be available in a few weeks) because I use canned pumpkin in the one I am making this weekend. In my cookbook the recipe calls for real pumpkin.

Come back soon to get the pie recipe and some upcoming developments and changes online in regards to this blog :-)

Hey.......go check out....

my other blog in which I have my scrap crap on!

http://scrappycafe.blogspot.com/

The Facebook Challenge

Over the past few years I have noticed that my time on Facebook has gotten out of control It seems like I pop over there at least a dozen times a day. Before I had my Droid it was not so bad, but now that it is on my phone I find myself on that site while I wait in line at the store, wait for the light to change, wait for my kids to get out of school, and whenever there is any down time in my day. I like that I can keep up with people I care about who are local and not local through the cyber coffee house of the world. However, occasionally I feel like it is junior high all over again -- drama. I wish I could say that I don't participate in the drama, but that would be a lie. Sometimes I get my gut full of it and let the person know which leads to break down in relationships.

It dawned on me about 6 months ago that most of my relationship break downs started because of FB status updates. I wish I could say that it was the other person, but that would be false. Although I do tend to keep my status updates general, funny, or just random occasionally I do post things that are emotionally charged. This is wrong and I have been working really hard to not do this anymore. I used to read through the status, see something that seriously irritate me and reacted on my status. So mature right? NOT!

I have come to the conclusion that if it is not directed at me then I am just not going to react to it. Even if the person is posting something that offends me and the majority of people I know, it is not my job nor responsibility to call them out on it. I simply just pass over it. After all I have far to many flaws of my own to get caught up on the postings of another. However, if something is posted that is about me and they say (Betsie....this or that) then I do address it, but not in my status -- with the person.

The last two or three months I have been spending far to much of my precious time on being non offensive and not getting my panties in a knot over FB. It is not like I don't have anything better to do -- because I do. I then decided about a week ago that I would just step away from my beloved cyber coffee house -- FB for a month or so. Don't get me wrong, I do not think that FB is bad. In fact, I love FB because it does keep me close and active in the lives of those I care about. It makes the world so much more smaller and offers up a way to communicate with those we care about and see pictures of them. I love that  I have friends all over the world that I can interact with on a daily basis. It is great! However FB was starting to take more of a main act in my life instead of the supporting role that it should have. I have to put it in it's place again and that means stepping away for awhile and focusing on the main acts of my life.

I can't wait to go back and catch up with my friends. I miss them a lot! However, I am totally enjoying getting back to the simple things in life-- like scrap booking and  walks without my phone stuffed in my bra (yeah...that is where I keep my phone when I exercise so that I can check it with ease). The break from FB is nice to say the least. I can't believe how much more time I have in my day and how I am not irritate with those that I care about most. Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss. When I go back I will be modifying my behaviour. I will continue to keep my status updates light, fun, and thought provoking from time to time. However, I will be limiting my time on FB and putting it back in the proper role and that is of support.

Geeks, Freaks and The All American Past TIme

I titled that with a lot of love because we are part of that group. Well, at least the "Geeks". So, you are wondering what I am rambling on about? This past Sunday it was Star Wars Days at the Diamondbacks game. It was bitter sweet for me. See, I grew up as a Giants fan and that is who the Diamondbacks were playing. However, when Arizona finally got the D-Backs I was overjoyed an became a fan right away...well...I really don't follow baseball. I am more of a football gal, but if I had to pick a team it would be the AZ D-Backs. Then, throw in a tribute to Star Wars which my kids are totally into it was bound to be a great day. Oh, and just so you know, the D-backs have won our division and are in playoffs. Finally, we don't suck :-)

The boys were in heaven! I could not figure out if these folks were hired or if they came in costume because they were so nice and wanted to pose for the pictures.

 Annie was a bit shy and did not want to take pictures with any of the characters, but she gladly posed with the Statue of Liberty.

 See Parker's shoes? Notice how the laces are a different color? I did that to help him get them on the right feet! It worked!

 What is this? Did you not know that the D-Backs won the World Series in New York against the Yankees in 2001? You didn't? Well, we were really good and at the time our uniforms were purple and white ;-)

 They put on a Freak.....er.......I mean Star Wars parade. I got to admit it, but it was Lame-O! I was kind of shocked because usually Star Wars nerds show up droves at events like this. How do I know? Because we are those Star Wars fans...blushing.....no I did not dress up, but just about the rest of my family did.

 Then the game started and they opened it with a Star Wars opener.

 Let's play some ball!

 If you have not noticed from how tiny the players are in these pictures, we are in the nose bleed section. The seats were to small for my bum. Seriously, I needed some oil to grease my arse out of them. I went numb from the hips down.....circulation cut off from the chairs.

 Every time one of the D-Back players came up to bat they showed his picture on the digital screen as a Star Wars freak.....I mean character. They showed the player as a Star Wars character and Parker LOVED it!

 This was our vendor and he was cool! He sang to us and threw our snacks our way. Of course we had a hot dog, Cracker Jacks, and peanuts. I was so proud of my Logan. I taught him the art of eating a peanut. First you put the whole thing in your mouth and suck all the salt off. Then you crack it open. Make sure your fingers are covered in spit. Then throw the husks on the floor as you chew up your peanut.

 This is the mess from our peanut sucking, spitting and eatting.

 This is the crowd after the game. Oh, we totally won! The Giants kind of sucked arse. I also am not a fan of their pitcher. He is a long haired butt head. He purposely threw the ball and hit our best batter. Our best batter has had balls thrown at him and been hit more than any other player....all in this season too. I so wanted to watch him go ghetto on their  jerk of a pitcher. The funny thing is we still won and they still sucked even  with their dirty play :-D

Ready to Run....Well....Walk

I have been wanting to take up running for about 6 years now and have not gotten around to it. Partially because I always had a kid with me and could not be consistent with it. See, I work out at the gym 4 - 5 days a week alternating between cardio and weight lifting. However, the gym provides child care so it was really a no brainer. Running is a different story! I can't use the gym child care if I am out pounding the pavement. Well, now that the kids are in school at the same time from 8 -3 everyday I am gonna finally do it! Today I bought this:

Yep! It is a year long running journal. Now don't get me wrong there is no way that I think I can just hit the road running. I predict that I will be walking for at least 6 weeks before I can even jog. Let's face it I got a big butt and the last time I raced my kids down the street it went numb. I was just running along and I could feel my junk in my trunk shaking. It then started to burn and sting. It really hurt. Finally my whole rear just went numb. I really want a butt bra because I think that would help, but regardless I can't let my fat arse stop me from my dreams.

Now, don't get it twisted. I am a T&A woman. I love tits and arse to say the least and I love mine! I have no intention or desire to lose them entirely. I just want to run for no other purpose then it has been a desire I have had for a long time. Sometimes (okay ALL the time) when something is nagging at you in the pit of your stomach it means you should give it a go. Like Nike says "JUST DO IT!"