continued

These are the cute little boxes I made to give Harald and Kirsten their pie!

As mentioned, here is the recipe:

Just make sure you realize the crust recipe is for three pies, but the filling is only for one! 
I made two blackberry pies and an apple.

Crust: (makes 6 crusts, enough for three two-crust pies)

6 cups flour

3 cups butter

2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup sugar (optional)

Mix flour, salt and sugar together. Cut in shortening using pastry cutter until mixture starts forming small, pea-sized balls. Add water and gently combine with fork until just mixed. Gather dough with hands and make into ball. Refrigerate while making pie filling.

Blackberry filling: (for one pie)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

4 cups fresh berries

1 1/2 tbsp. butter

Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon.

Lightly mix in berries. 

Roll out dough on flour-covered surface.

Tips: roll until you can place the pie pan upside-down on top of the dough and have about an inch or two of dough border.

Gently fold in half, place in pie pan, then unfold.

Pour filling into pastry-lined pan and dot with butter.

Cover with top crust with slits in it. Press edges of crusts together. Bake at 425 for 35-45 minutes, until crust is browned and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Check half-way through, as you may want to cover the edges with foil to prevent burning.

Sunday grubbin

I've recently started a new addiction for myself: Waffles, whipped cream, berries, and syrup. I'm ashamed to say that I've had this probably five times in the last week, even at 10 at night...

Every time I hear that voice in my head saying, "Hey Kelli, how's that half-marathon training coming?"

HA.

But really, I should get back on track.

Sunday night I was sitting around and thought, "Hey! Why don't I make rolls?"

So I pulled out my grandmother's old Betty Crocker cookbook. It's one of my favorites.

It's a little worse for the wear, but that means it's well-loved, right?

I cannot tell you how much I love being home with a Kitchenaid. Oi. Don't make me go back to hand mixers!

Betty Crocker Sweet Roll Recipe (updated for kitchenaid)

Measure into mixing bowl: 

1/2 cup warm water (not hot)

Add, stirring to dissolve: 

2 pkg. active dry yeast

Stir in: 

1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup softened butter/margarine/shortening

6 cups flour

Mix with bread-hook attachment until dough starts to form. The dough should start to pull away from the edges of the bowl and stick to the hook when it's ready. You may need to continue adding flour to reach that point (I ended up adding about 2 cups more).

Place in greased bowl, cover with damp towel, and let rise in warm environment until the dough doubles in size (about an hour).

Punch dough down and let rise for another half-hour.

Make rolls into desired shape, 1/3 of the size you want the finished rolls to be. 

Place in lightly greased pan.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes until tops and edges are golden brown.

Personal preference: Spread a little butter on top of rolls right when they come out of the oven.

homemade calzones

Dough recipe and white sauce recipe from here.

I'm in love with this dough and this sauce. Delicious, easy, and fast as far as homemade goes. And it made a lot more than I thought. I probably got five or six large calzones out of it. It could also be used for pizza or breadsticks, I'm sure.

Since I had so much dough, I had some fun playing around with different combinations. Pictured below, Chicken, white sauce, spinach, avocado, and corn calzone.

Other combinations that I tried and would recommend:

Chicken+broccoli+white sauce

Pulled barbecue chicken (that my dad made)+broccoli+corn+mozarella

And of course the classic red sauce+mozarella+pepperoni+basil sprinkled on top of the crust

Spinach Avocado Grilled Cheese

Hope you all enjoy my lovely purple running shorts.

when you give a dillan a sherbet...

Blackberry Sherbet from my home girl, Betty.

Mix in Saucepan:

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin

stir in gradually:

2 tbsp. lemon juice

3/4 cup blackberry juice (or whatever fruit you desire)

Bring to boil. Cool. Stir in slowly:

1 cup milk

Pour into refrigerator tray. Freeze to a mush (about 1 hr.) Beat in chilled bowl with hand mixer until creamy. Fold in:

1 egg, stiffly beaten

Return to tray. Freeze until firm (2-3 hrs.), stirring occasionally.

Toddler approved!

blackberry fever

there is a bag of blackberries in our freezer that was given to my mother. So prepare yourself for blackberry concoctions. This morning it was muffins, tonight it was sorbet.

I'm going to say something bold, here.

THESE ARE THE BEST MUFFINS I HAVE EVER HAD.

I was swooning the entire time I was making them.

It's the browned butter. And the magical spice mix I found in my parents' cupboard.

Recipe:

Topping: 

1/4 cup brown sugar

5 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon (side note: I found a little container of cookie/cake spice blend in the cupboard, which I used in place of cinnamon. It has like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and some other random things blended together.)

2 1/2 tbsp melted butter

Muffin batter:

2 cups of flour (I used oat flour. Better for you. And you can get away with it in muffins.)

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 egg

6 tbsps browned butter (to brown butter, place in a saucepan over medium heat until it starts to bubble and brown flecks appear. Once the brown flecks start appearing, remove from heat so it doesn't burn.)

1 cup buttermilk

blackberries

Directions: 

Mix together topping ingredients. Use your hands, use a fork, whatever floats your boat. Set that baby aside for later.

In one bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt. Stir 'em up.

In second bowl: egg, browned butter, buttermilk. Whisk together and add to the bowl of dry ingredients.

Stir everything together by hand until just mixed.

Fold in blackberries.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line or spray muffin tin. Fill cups to about 3/4 full. Sprinkle (or completely bury) the muffins with the topping mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes! Woohoo!

let them eat cake!

Antoinette never actually said that, you know.
Although, if that had really happened, and she was talking about this cake, I bet the revolution would have never happened.

Say hello to red velvet+chocolate+raspberries. Cue, "these are a few of my favorite things."

Recipe here.

I've made this twice, now. It's time consuming, but that never really bothers me when baking. Other than that it's pretty fool-proof. Just with the whipped filling, make sure you let the gelatin sit long enough and that you whip everything long enough for it to not be a runny mess like it is in these pictures.

i am giving everyone diabetes.

I really have a baking addiction.

MINT BROWNIES:

Brownie: (feel free to use any recipe you would like. even the boxed mix. it'll be our secret.)

1 c. margarine

1/2 c. cocoa

2 Tbsp. honey

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

12 oz. chocolate icing (scratch. store-bought. whatevah. i just used the recipe on the back of the cocoa container.)

Mint Icing:

5 Tbsp. margarine

dash of salt

3 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

2 1/3 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

1-2 drops green food coloring

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.

Let them eat pie!

 Happy Pi Day, folks! If I remembered how to integrate I would do it right now. Alas, all that calculus was wiped from my brain the minute I heard the words, "You never have to take math again!"

To celebrate this holiest of days, I made a strawberry pie for my German class (recipe to follow). This pie is brought to you by several grocery runs by Melanie and myself and my procrastination to do schoolwork.

Strawberry Cream Pie

Cream Filling:

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons enriched flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups heavy cream

1 slightly beaten egg

½ cup sour cream

Mix first 4 ingredients. Gradually stir in cream. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil (seriously, the first bubble you see. If it gets to hot the cream will separate. ew.); reduce heat and stir until thick. Stir a little of the hot mixture into egg; return to remaining hot mixture. Bring just to boiling (again, remove from heat as soon as bubbles form), stirring constantly. Cool, then chill. Beat well; fold in sour cream

Other Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie crust (I just went and bought the frozen ones because honestly who has time to make a crust from scratch?)

1 recipe cream filling (above)

3 cups fresh strawberries

½ cup water

¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Pre-bake pie crust using pie weights or dried beans. (Or according to directions on pacakage if you bought a frozen one).  Let cool. Fill with chilled Cream Filling. Quarter two and a half cups of the strawberries, place in large bowl. Crush remaining half cup berries (I used a potato masher); add water; cook 2 minutes. Mix sugar and cornstarch: gradually stir into berry sauce. Cook over low heat, and stir until thick. Cool slightly; pour over bowl of quartered strawberries, mix well. Arrange over cream filling. Keep refrigerated until served.