Have you ever had weeks where you wanted to push "autopilot" and just function while all the stuff around you continues to accumulate (nice synonym for "pile up"!) that "needs" to be done, and you don't have enough hours or enough energy to do the tasks in front of you? Well, welcome to my life the past couple of weeks. School started in mid-August, and with that, I took on the wonderful new task of keeping my youngest grandchild, Samuel, three days a week. Really, we're "keeping" each other, I think... He keeps me laughing, and I keep him eating, so we make a good team.
The end of August, we had a family reunion on my (Casey) side of the family where we enJOYed getting to see lots of folks that we only have a chance to visit once a year. Food, food, galore is all I can say about that gathering. When the Casey family gathers, you can always count on a table (or tables) laden with lots of great dishes. I think more than a few recipes were exchanged that weekend. (I'll be sharing one item that I took to that get together in the last part of this post---below!)
On a sad note, just a week after our reunion, my great nephew, Army SPC Bryn Todd Raver, was killed on August 28 in Nangahar province, Afghanistan while on night patrol. Bryn was a military policeman assigned to 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion 1st Brigade Combat Team 101st Airborne Division Air Assault. A rocketpropelled grenade (RPG) went through the passengerside door of a vehicle he was driving killing him and Capt. Ellery R Wallace of Utah. We attended Bryn's memorial service this past Saturday (ironically held on 09/11) where hundreds of family and friends gathered to pay their respects and to honor his heroic service to our country. (For more:
http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=325075&shr=addthis ) Our family owes a great debt of gratitude to the law enforcement officers and to volunteers who formed the Patriot Guard Riders who sheltered and protected the funeral both at the church and all the way to the cemetery during his graveside service. What a blessing! And what an amazing testimony to the patriotism still present in the USA!
On a more JOYful note... the COOKBOOKS HAVE ARRIVED! Finally!! And so far, sales have been great! If you're interested in getting one, details are near the bottom of the blog. Just email me what you need, and we'll work it all out--autographs, personalization signatures and all!
The recipe I want to share today is in the cookbook and is one of the ones that I made to take to the family reunion. If you have any questions, you know you can always email or just comment with your question and I'll be happy to try to answer. If I don't know the answer, I'll ask one of my sisters! Ha!!! (hope they read this!)
Ok here we go. We're going to make Fried Apple Pies, so, get your rolling pins ready... Fall is ALMOST here, and I'm overJOYed, because the apple harvest has begun!
Pat’s Fried Pies
INGREDIENTS:
10 to 12 medium size Granny Smith Apples
3/4 cup water
2 cups sugar, (more or less, depending upon how tart you want the filling to taste)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (again, more or less, according to taste)
½ teaspoon cloves
3 heaping tablespoons cornstarch (You can use flour if no cornstarch is available)
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
Pillsbury Grands, or similar brand, canned biscuits (I like to use the “flaky layered” kind. Kroger or Wal-mart flaky-layered brands are good, too, and less expensive!)
Crisco vegetable oil
Butter flavor Crisco solid
DIRECTIONS:
Peel and thinly slice apples into a large heavy pan (I use a 5 quart dutch oven). Add water, cover and simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally until apples fall apart. This doesn't take very long, maybe 7 or 8 minutes.
While apples are cooking combine dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl (I use a wire wisk to mix the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, cloves, and salt). When apples have cooked sufficiently to fall apart, add the dry ingredients all at once. This will cause the apples to “thin” at first and get syrupy, then, as you continue stirring, the cornstarch will thicken the filling. Stir constantly over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Allow to cool before you store the filling in the refrigerator (leftovers keep well for at least 3 weeks in the refrigerator and indefinitely in the freezer).
When completely chilled, filling is ready to use. (NOTE: If you notice condensed moisture on the top of the filling when removing it from the refrigerator, use a paper towel to blot the excess moisture from the filling. If you don’t it could cause the filling to thin.) Your filling should look similar to this when ready to use:
To make pies, remove canned biscuits from container and coat each one with flour, pressing them flat with your palms and laying them aside until all are coated. Roll each portion to 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness on floured board or waxed paper.
These should be ovals.
Place about 2 tablespoons apple mixture on the lower half of each rolled biscuit, being careful to leave about a ¼ inch margin along edges.
To seal pies, very LIGHTLY moisten lower edges with water (a basting brush works nicely for this), then fold top half over filling, making sure edges are even.
Press with FINGERTIPS first to seal,
then crimp edges with a fork dipped in flour. Brush excess flour from completed pie and set aside on a plate or platter.
Repeat the process until all pies are ready to fry.
Pies can be stacked one on top of the other on a plate until ready to fry.
Fry in a mixture (equal amounts of each) of CRISCO oil and butter flavored CRISCO solid in a large skillet so that pies are almost covered with the hot mixture. Heat Crisco mixture until it sizzles when a pinch of flour is dropped into it.
Fry pies until golden brown on both sides, turning once or twice, if needed. CAUTION: It only takes a minute to fry these, so be careful not to burn them. When you see the edges turning golden, flip the pie so it can cook on the other side, then remove and drain well on paper towels. You can make as many or as few of these as you like, since the filling stores very well in the refrigerator. ENJOY!
I made a total of 32 for the family get together and didn't come home with a single pie. (I think a few "sisters" or "cousins" may have sneaked a sample to take home as "leftovers"...)
Here's what our potluck table looked like that day (this was only one side of the room... another table was full of desserts on the other side of the room):
Of course an Irish family can't get together without a little bit of good Irish music. We had that, too, thanks to my niece, Hannah. She even sang a song she wrote herself that had some yodeling in the chorus! I was quite impressed!
Next post, I plan to do a Chicken PotPie! and maybe a contest to win a free cookbook... stay tuned! :-) Until then, here's the Fried Pie Recipe, all together, so you can copy and paste it to your Word Processor and keep it filed away all for yourself!
Pat’s Fried Pies
INGREDIENTS:
10 to 12 medium size Granny Smith Apples
3/4 cup water
2 cups sugar, (more or less, depending upon how tart you want the filling to taste)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (again, more or less, according to taste)
½ teaspoon cloves
3 heaping tablespoons cornstarch (You can use flour if no cornstarch is available)
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
Pillsbury Grands, or similar brand, canned biscuits (I like to use the “flaky layered” kind from Kroger or Wal-mart brand---they are cheaper!)
Crisco vegetable oil
Butter flavor Crisco solid
DIRECTIONS:
Peel and thinly slice apples into a large heavy pan (I use a 5 quart dutch oven). Add water, cover and simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally until apples fall apart.
While apples are cooking combine dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl (I use a wire wisk to mix the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, cloves, and salt). When apples have cooked sufficiently to fall apart, add the dry ingredients all at once. This will cause the apples to “thin” at first, then as you continue stirring, the cornstarch will thicken the filling. Stir constantly over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Allow to cool before storing filling in the refrigerator (leftovers keep well for at least 3 weeks in the refrigerator and indefinitely in the freezer).
When completely chilled, filling is ready to use. (NOTE: If you notice condensed moisture on the top of the filling when removing it from the refrigerator, use a paper towel to blot the excess moisture from the filling. If you don’t it could cause the filling to thin.) To make pies, remove canned biscuits from container and coat each one with flour, pressing them flat with your palms and laying them aside until all are coated. Roll each portion to 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness on floured board or waxed paper. These should be ovals. Place about 2 tablespoons apple mixture on the lower half of each rolled biscuit, being careful to leave about a ¼ inch margin along edges. To seal pies, very LIGHTLY moisten lower edges with water (a basting brush works nicely for this), then fold top half over filling, making sure edges are even. Press with FINGERTIPS first to seal, then crimp edges with a fork dipped in flour. Brush excess flour from completed pie and set aside on a plate or platter. Repeat the process until all pies are ready to fry.
Fry in a mixture (equal amounts of each) of CRISCO oil and butter CRISCO solid in a large skillet. Heat Crisco mixture until it sizzles when a pinch of flour is dropped into it. Fry pies until golden brown on both sides, turning once or twice, if needed. CAUTION: It only takes a minute to fry these, so be careful not to burn them. When you see the edges turning golden, flip the pie so it can cook on the other side, then remove and drain well on paper towels. You can make as many or as few of these as you like, since the filling stores very well in the refrigerator. ENJOY!
Pat's Fried Apple Pies
