Pie Crust Dough

I made pie crust dough this afternoon and it was actually really easy to make. I haven't got around to rolling it yet, but so far so good.

Today was my first attempt at making my own pie crust. I don't know the merits of the different fats that could be used for crust, but I had vegetable shortening on hand so I went with that. I also used the recipe on the side of the shortening box because I am not fussy.

Mix 2.5 cups of flour with 1 tsp of salt. Add 1 cup of cold vegetable shortening, cut into cubes. Mix with a pastry blender.

Mix until the dough looks like pea sized pebbles. Add 3-6 tbs of ice cold water and mix until the dough forms a ball, but is not sticky. I used 5 tbs to achieve this.

 
Shape balls into discs and store in fridge for 1 hour or more for ease of rolling.

I might make my pie later today or early tomorrow. Can't wait to show you how it turns out! 

Family Day and Roll Up The Rim

It's Family Day here in Ontario and also the first day of Tim Hortons Roll up the Rim to Win! I spent today sleeping in, reading, writing, going for a walk in the (cold) sunshine, and stopping at Timmies for some Roll up the Rim fun. Not quite sure why this ad campaign works so well on me, but I got a medium decaf and a box of 20 timbits while I was there. And a chance to win!

There are two parts of the rim to roll up this year. Here is how I did:

I won a frickin' doughnut!!!

And a "Please Play Again" on my bonus roll.

Alma's Meal Deal #FoodPicFriday

It's been a long while since we picked up food from Alma's Family Restaurant in Elmvale, but we recently stopped in for their burger and fries meal deal. The burger is tasty and the fries satisfy. On this occasion the pickles that were served on my burger were thick and tangy. Really, really, good. This meal deal always reminds me of eating food at the Fair.

Twitterversary

I got an email from Twitter this morning wishing me a Happy Twitterversary.

I didn't really start using it actively until March and I'm happy for all the friends I have made on there. A year later and I'm still pretty into it. Lots of fun and things to see and opinions to share in 140 characters or less.

If you have been thinking about joining, go for it! Then we could have the same Twitterversary!

@myadorableblog stats at 1 year:
Tweets:  2101 (and counting)

Following: 434

Followers: 326

Time spent on there daily: hours and hours and hours...

Peanut Brittle Pie

Sometimes I make a baking choice based on the ingredients I have on hand. Last week I had a pie shell and corn syrup and casually asked Google what I could make. I then spent an hour surfing through recipes (so much fun!) and finally decided on Southern Peanut Butter Pie.

The recipe is pretty similar to a pecan pie (but with peanuts) and there is some peanut butter mixed in it as well. 

It is a simple recipe: beat together corn syrup, peanut butter, sugar, salt, and eggs. Fold in peanuts and pour into a pie shell.

The recipe said to bake at 375°F for 40 - 50 minutes, and by 20 minutes in it was already really browned. If I was to try this recipe again, I would probably start it on a lower temperature. The pie was really wobbly at 40 minutes, so I turned it down to 325°F and kept cooking, checking every five minutes. I overcooked it, I'm sure, but at least it set.

This pie ended up tasting a lot like peanut brittle. The first bite almost tastes a little too peanutty, but then it kinda evens out for the rest of the slice. Not sure if I would make this one again, but for the next few days I will enjoy it.