The Bad, the Ugly, the Good

THE BAD I’ve never made pie crust from scratch. I always buy them frozen. I’d purchased a bag of fruit from ALDI. In a previous post I raved about the pear cobbler I’d had at Gabriella’s. Using the increasingly ripening fruit, I decided to make my own pear cobbler. I planned to use a plum cobbler recipe for the filling. I found a recipe for a No Roll pie crust.

NO ROLL PIE CRUST

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. In a 9 inch pie plate, sift flour, sugar and salt. make a well in the center and pour in oil and milk. Mix with a fork, then press into the bottom and sides of pie plate.

2. To bake: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C.) Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Assemble the crew, flour, sugar, milk (I used evaporated) salt, oil (I used olive oil) and a well used pie pan. I mixed all of these ingredients in the pie plate and began pressing it out around the sides and bottom. I poked holes in the sides and bottom before placing it in the oven to bake. When I took it out of the oven the sides were lacy looking and the crust was a golden brown.

THE UGLY Unfortunately, it didn’t hold together. It could easily be scraped into large crumbs. I think there was too much oil but, I’m not a chef so who knows? I scraped everything into the middle of the pan and threw it out for the birds. Low cholesterol bread crumbs so to speak.

That’s when I decided to stick with the tried and true. Gather the crew again .

In a bowl beat one large egg with 1/2 cup of sugar, 3 TBSP of melted butter and 1/3 cup of milk.

In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup of flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt. Stir into the first mixture until smooth and well blended. Peeled and sliced pears placed in casserole dish sprayed with Pam. TBSP cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup cold water. Pour over pears.

Add cup sugar (or to taste) 1/2 tsp each, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well into the pears.

Top with batter. Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until brown.

The batter will spread to make a sort of crust. Cool and eat. THE GOOD The moral of this story is to stick to what you know. THAT'S IT ***

Becoming Seasoned

To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill and a time to heal ...
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There’s something to be said about becoming seasoned. I know I have reached this place in life because I find myself beginning sentences with:

“I remember when…”
“It used to be…”
“That’s nothing new. We had that when I was…”

I also find myself talking about old times with my siblings. We have the best time laughing and talking about things that we experienced as youngsters and teens. The story may have been told 20 or more times but we still enjoy it.



In this season:

• The uglier the shoe, the more comfortable it is.
  
• To pick up anything from the floor, I bend at the waist and never at the knees.
  
• Must I be abused constantly by the loud boom, boom of what the neighbor across the street calls music?
  
• When I go out I’m not trying to get “chosen.”
• I honestly am happy with my life as a single person.
  
• I can say “No” , without making up an excuse, because I'm worried as to whether or not you'll be angry with me. Because, in the words of Rhett Butler, "Frankly my dear,....."
  
• On my PT job, I can put up with your rudeness because once I leave work, I LEAVE work. AND, you won’t be at home when I get there.
  
• I’m comfortable with what I’m wearing even if it is out of style. The important thing is that I don’t stink.
  
• In that same vein, I don’t care that you saw me in the same outfit at a wedding, concert, baby shower, etc. The important thing is that I have showered , my outfit has been cleaned, and I'm having a good time.
• I don’t have an I-POD. Those tiny ear buds irritate my ears. I prefer the big cushy ones. If and when I get an I-POD I will use the big cushy earphones.
  
• I don’t mind not being “cool"
• I don't care that my dress size isn't in a single digit
• The highlights in my hair just happen to be gray
• I'm happy

THAT'S IT***