Old Family Pastry Recipe

I have enjoyed baking as long as I can remember. I'm sure that a lot of us have similar memories of standing on kitchen chairs, honoured to contribute in anyway to the preparation and gleefully stalking the oven window while nibbling on the remaining bits of batter. I predominantly remember making snickerdoodles with my Mom and hearth bread and tea scones with my Dad. Kitchen memories are so cozy and heart-warming. 

My mother remembers pie making from her childhood. My Grandma had quite the hand at pie filling, but no patience for pastry, which worked great because her mother was an excellent pastry maker. I visualize my mother's stories of watching her mother and grandmother collaborate on pie making. I can imagine my Mom with her short golden blond hair and her striking freckles hanging out in a 1940's kitchen, waiting as anxiously for the pies as I did for cookies and tea scones.

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to create my own pie-making memories with one of my sister-in-laws. I was fortunate to get a copy of my Great-Grandmother's pastry recipe. Neither Marcy or I had ever made pastry. Both novices, we gathered our ingredients, prepared our pie fillings and gave it our best shot. I cooked up chicken-pot pie filling the night before, and she whipped up two different fruit pie fillings on the fly (one strawberry, the other raspberry). Though we said it ourselves, echoed by other willing taste-testers, our first stab at pastry making was indeed a success!

Strawberry Pie (left), Chicken Pot Pie (right)

I was very nervous as I scanned the recipe. I had always heard that pastry was supposed to be kept as cold as possible and that the lard is cut in rather than melted, but this recipe called for the lard to be melted on a stove top. I was left with two pots of translucent liquid. I called my mother in a panic before my sister-in-law arrived. Unfortunately, my Grandma is not around to give me tips and my mother had been too little at the time to recall. Feeling my nerves rising, I prayed that my baking date would not be a complete disaster. With a little Google research, I discovered that this was a "Hot-Water Pastry" recipe. Who knew? I learned that it was good to use with heavier pie fillings. That worked for me and my chicken pot pie, too!

By the end of the morning, we were chatting, rolling our dough, laughing at our awkward moments in handling our pastry, and trying to add nice details to our uncooked masterpieces. You can see by the picture that Marcy's has all the aesthetics that mine lacks! I was shocked at how easy it was to make such delicious pastry. With no experience or assistance, we pulled it off! After a quick clean up, we enjoyed some herbal tea and the wafting aroma of buttery pastry, herbed chicken and sweet berries. 
Of course, you are on this site to get a pastry recipe, aren't you? And some of you have probably scrolled down by-passing my paragraphs. Enough, then! Here is my old family pastry recipe for one shell.

•  ½ c. shortening (cut into 1 inch cubes)
• ¼ c. boiling water

1. Melt on stove or in a warm place.

2. Beat until cold & creamy.

3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

• 1 ½ c. flour (all-purpose)
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda

4. Sift into bowl and mix.

5. Beat shortening & water into flour with wooden spoon.

6. Stir until smooth ball is formed.

7. Refrigerate 1 hour.

8. Roll out dough on ample floured surface, taking care not to over handle.

9. Wrap ready-shell around the rolling pin and unwrap into the pie shell.

10. Spoon in filling.

       

The dough will keep for 8 to 10 days.

If you require 2 shells, double recipe except the baking soda.

**For fruit pies, making the boiling water ½ lemon juice and ½ water. Add 1 Tbsp sugar to every 1 ½ cups of flour.

As for the tasty pie fillings? I do not know Marcy's recipe. To my recollection, she used 2 cups of berries mixed with sugar and possibly water and heated it up in a frying pan. It made a thick, gooey berry mixture. The chicken pot pie filling is not my own recipe. It is from the Hillbilly Housewife's 
Freezer Cooking Made Simple E-book. I recommend the resource and the recipes in it; especially the Chicken Pot Pie. Not helpful? Well, the family heirloom I offer you is the pastry recipe, what can I say? :-) But now is the chance for you to find the recipe for the pie of your dreams, use this 100 year old recipe, and create your own proud to serve masterpiece!  

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Have questions or suggestions? There is a comment section waiting just for you!

Being Happy Where You Are

  

    I have to say that I have had a great week! Despite some rainy patches, we have had nice sunny, but slightly cooler days. We had opportunities to show hospitality to friends and family through surprise drop-ins, scheduled visits, sleep-overs & a baking date. I showed off my new town this week to two dear friends. I'm very proud of this quaint little corner of Wilmot Township. It is such a change from Hamilton, my home town of which I am also proud. There is truth to the saying that a change is as good as a rest. At some point or other, we are taught that there is great merit in being content with what we have in the location where we have it. Of course that is easier when you are in a great place in your life. It is another story when you are miles away from where you would like to be. Even still, although Kevin and I chose this place because we liked it, there are adjustments, drawbacks and details that need to be sorted out still. There are days when I feel isolated and resent that the Timmies is a 15 to 20 minute walk away, but not this week! This week, I got out, went into new shops, had conversations with new people and it was satisfying!

   Partly why I am in such a good mood is because I had an awesome bake date with my sister-in-law. It is common to have more recurring chances to spend time with people over others. We both have a love for the good ol' days and, I dare say, a streak of Betty Crocker flowing through our veins. I will write more about our baking day featuring our "masterpieces" under the section In Her Footsteps later on. Suffice to say, it was such a comforting and natural feeling to be in a kitchen with my red polk-a-dot apron on, rolling pastry dough. I was nervous at the beginning because I had never tried this recipe and had never made pastry. Fortunately, neither had she. It's an elating feeling to try something new and for it to come up just as you had hoped. After some herbal tea and a nice chat, it was time for her to pick up the boys and I decided to go into town.

   New Hamburg has there sidewalk sale this week. Shop owners display their cheapest items on a sidewalk stand. I must say some deals were better than others. All in all, between two days of shopping, I have done well. There was just something so relaxing about walking into town through a shady neighbourhood. I strolled past all the store fronts with all the time in the world to spend. 

  There are some  tables that I stalked, weighing the costs and analyzing the greatness of the deals. I surveyed the books in the Upper Case Bookstore. It is a pity that the internet is slowly causing cozy little book stores to close their doors. I don't often buy my books online, but I do like to go where I can get a good price. I wonder if there is a way to balance deal finding and supporting your local merchants. Hmm... that is another topic all together. While I was in the store, I had in mind to spend a few hours in town and really make an afternoon of it. After all, I had freshly baked chicken pot pie and strawberry pie ready and waiting at home for dinner. Based on my friends synopsis, I decided that I wanted to read Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. Deep down, I want to find myself in farm city. Up until now, I have always had a strict diet of city living, so I have had no exposure to the more traditional rural ways. I hope to change that. While I was browsing, I had it in mind to check out the kid's section. They had the book I was looking for: Anne of Green Gables. It's a Canadian classic and a treasured story from my childhood! It was the 100th Anniversary edition for $10 and I was having it!

   I finished my shopping and decided to pick up a snack. Pop, that is sugary drinks, are without question my top dietary downfall. I was in a particularly self-satisfied mood, so I thought I would increase the unhealthy factor up a notch. I bought a snack-sized bag of BBQ chips. Please note, I NEVER eat chips, so there will be a blue moon rising tonight. I should also add that by the time I got home, I felt as crappy as the junk food I consumed. But back to the nicer scenario I am trying to paint.

  Laden down with bags, I made a bee-line for the Nith River. I had a design for the highlight of my afternoon. I lugged one of the picnic tables under two trees where I could see both the dam and the little land mass in the middle of the river. I took out my snacks and flipped open one of my books. The bright summer sun made the water dazzle and sparkle. How could I not stretch out under a tall tree and read Anne of Green Gables by "shining waters"! 

   It was lovely. I felt such peace. I am in my element here in New Hamburg. In this area, regardless of what town we happen to be in, I love going out for drives and walks because the landscapes are natural beauties; rain or shine they refresh my soul. I'm under the umbrella of God's blessing. This is the season where God will give back the land destroyed by locusts. I have entered a season of joy and peace. I'm still unpacking, rearranging the house, and I need to obtain a job, but all in God's perfect timing. As He daily reveals more of His design for Kevin and I here, I am at complete rest being happy where I am.

Check out more blogs from other Christian women on the web

Cornbread & Peaches

Yesternight's meal was chicken pot pie. I made it a couple of weeks ago on my make-and-freeze-it day. On choosing a side, I figured the cornbread would be best! After all, I only have 4 lbs of cornmeal in the pantry! I found this recipe on Pinterest linked from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. So credit where credit is due: Cornbread Recipe. 

It was really easy to make. It's very moist and a tad rich. It won't take too many bites before you start to feel full! While I was at it, I opened a can of peaches, left a little bit of the juice in the bowl and seasoned it with allspice and extra cinnamon. I put my dessert right along side my chicken pot pie on my plate. Salty creamy chicken, crispy pastry, butter melting on the fresh cornbread topped with the light pie filling peaches and washed down with homemade iced tea...MMM! Wish I had pics of that meal because it was darn good!

I wanted to have the leftover peaches and cornbread for my breakfast this morning, but Kev beat me to the bowl! I can't complain though as triple fruit jam (peaches, apricots and passion fruit) made an excellent substitute!

It's a great late morning snack while I do my blogging! Check out this recipe and more at "Mel's Kitchen Cafe."