We're four days past the due date and have nothing planned besides waiting for our little one to arrive this weekend. I already got to watch the two latest episodes of Grey's Anatomy today, skyped with my family, and even got some laundry and cleaning done. Add another blog post to the list and I'll call it an accomplished day!
Last weekend was the opening weekend of my favorite farm in the area. They have a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo, a corn maze, and lots of other things to do for kids. The best part is that all the things Noah cares about are free, so it's a great place to spend time for us and see some animals. We were there last Sunday right at 10am when they opened and they were already super busy. It's a popular place for families and great for people watching; many families looked like they had just realized it was fall and dressed appropriately for a family outing on a farm - hunter boots, scarves, cute hats, the most fashionable baby carrier, etc.
Anyway, we strolled around a bit, took some family pictures ourselves, said hi to all the animals, and even picked up two pumpkins from the field which we turned into pumpkin pie that same day. I do love pumpkin pie but it's a lot of work so what you're seeing here is probably going to be the one and only this year. It did turn out great though and because I made mini pies, they were a great mid morning snack last week.
Tony's brother and his girlfriend have been staying with us so that someone is here to watch Noah when the baby arrives and because Kaylee can't have gluten, I've been experimenting with gluten free flour a bit. Pancakes didn't turn out so well (too dense and they didn't quite taste right), but my pie crusts turned out really well - I used the same recipe I have for regular pie crust and just used Red Mill gluten free flour instead of all purpose flour. It was a lot different to work with than regular pie crust and wasn't as flaky and crisp baked, but inn terms of flavor you couldn't really tell the difference.
Pie Crust
For the pie crust, I use a standard basic KitchenAid recipe.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour (all purpose or gluten free as in my case)
3/4 ts salt
1/2 cup shortening, well chilled
2 tbs butter, well chilled
5-6 tbs cold water (for the gluten free version I needed a bit more)
Directions:
Place flour and salt in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater to mixer. Turn to Stir Speed and mix about 15 seconds. Cut shortening and butter into pieces and add to flour mixture. Turn to Stir Speed and mix until shortening particles are size of small peas, 30-45 seconds.
Continuing on Stir Speed, add water, 1 tbs at a time, mixing until ingredients are moistened and dough begins to hold together.
Divide dough in half, pat each half into a smooth ball and flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. (I like to make some extra and store some in the freezer just so I have some handy when I feel like baking a pie).
Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness between sheets of plastic wrap and gently work into a pie pan.
I found the gluten free crust to fall apart and break even easier than normal pie crust, but it was at the same time a lot easier to mold and put pieces back together. I felt like I didn't have to be as careful as I normally am with regular pie crust, so once I got used to it, it actually worked out pretty well.
Pumpkin Pie Filling
For the pie filling, I used two medium sized pie pumpkins and had some left over (which I turned into pumpkin butter). Preparing the pumpkin puree took a while and was a lot of work, but definitely worth it.
I cut the pumpkins in half, removed the seeds, and placed them upside down on a baking sheet. I baked them for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees until they were soft (just check with a fork).
Then I scooped out all of the flesh.
It was still pretty stringy and you all know I love my KitchenAid hand mixer, so I pureed everything until it was smooth.
Ingredients for pumpkin pie filling (I doubled the recipe)
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups pumpkin puree
1/4 cup milk
1 ts vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbs flour
1/4 ts salt
1 ts pumpkin spice
Directions
1. Mix together wet ingredients (eggs, pumpkin puree, milk, vanilla)2. Combine dry ingredients (sugar, flour, salt, pumpkin pie spice)
3. Add sugar/flour mix to pumpkin puree mix; stir until well combined and smooth
Then you fill the mixture in your pie crusts, add some decoration if you feel like it, and bake it at 375 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean.
Mine were done after about half an hour because I made them in mini pie pans; the original recipe calls for baking them for 25 minutes with the edges covered with foil, then another 40 minutes. Each oven is different, so I recommend just checking every once in a while and calling it done when the toothpick comes out clean.
What's your favorite pie recipe?
No comments:
Post a Comment