Ahh, Netflix, one of my many love affairs. I remember when it first came out, I kept bugging my mom to sign up for it instead of renting a movie every time we wanted to watch something. I kept trying to point out how cheap it was compared to our current price bill at the movie rental shop. She wasn't buying it: "Ash, I'm not getting it. It's a waste of money for one movie a month." Her excuse made no sense to me seeing as we already did keep movies from the rental shop for months at a time and our bill would add up to almost $20 every time... for one movie... $9 a month was too much? What on earth was she talking about?!
After years of persuasion and and intellectual arguments on why we should get it, I got her like a used car salesman gets a dimwitted buyer; she was sold. No, I did not just call my mom dimwitted, I was merely trying to create a creative simile, but failed. Epically.... Anyways, I won. She signed up for it, but it took her another year to do so. In the end, she has fallen in love with it, so has my dad. I was already in love when I first saw the commercial. Who says "love at first sight" isn't real?
Thursday, September 23, 2010
2's The Magic Number
I walked into the kitchen this morning at roughly 10:30am. My stomach growls and my mind screams, "FOOD!" I look in the fridge, and what do I see? One slice of peach pie from the night before. Holy Crap! I knew my family was into my baking, but a whole pie in one night? Dang. Honestly, I have no idea why I was so surprised. I guess it was for the fact that when I put it away the night before, it was roughly 11pm, and the only person up at night is my dad who's coming home from work. So in conclusion, I totally thought it was my dad who ate the entire pie. Rest assured, he had two slices and my brother had two, so it wasn't just one dude who ate it :P
So seeing that one pie was gone, and there were still two peaches left, I decided: I'm going to try something wild!
I ran to the store to pick up some apples, (I bet you know where this is going) and once I got home, I created something I had never heard of before: Peach Apple Pie! I didn't know if it would turn out edible or if I'd end up poisoning my family with some toxic. I guess we'd soon find out.
I don't like to brag, but... It was pretty amazing :)
Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup water
Filling
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 peaches [skinned, pitted and sliced]
3 apples [skinned, cored, and sliced]
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp butter
3 tsp sugar
1 egg white
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425*F
Skin the fruits and cut them into slices. Set to the side.
In a medium sized bowl, add the 3/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar and the 1/4 cup flour, Stir together so it's evenly mixed. Add the sliced fruit. Pour over the 1 tbsp lemon juice and toss. Continue tossing until well mixed. Add the cinnamon and mix again. Set the bowl to the side.
In a large bowl, add the 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 2/3 cup shortening. Cut the shortening into the flour with either a fork or a pastry cutter [I used a fork myself]. Continue cutting until the bowl is filled with tiny clumps of shortening covered with flour. Add the water and mix together to get the dough.
Flour the work surface generously and plop the dough ball onto it. Form the dough into a ball, then divide it into two equal clumps. Put one clump off to the side, and start rolling out the other. Remember to flour your hands and the pin so the dough doesn't stick. Roll it out into a circle, or as best as you can.
Loosely roll the dough onto the rolling pin and drape over the pie pan. Gently push the dough down to form the pan. Dump the filling into the pan.
Roll out the second clump of dough into another circle, or as best you can.
Loosely roll the dough over the rolling pin and drape it over the top of the pie. Poke plenty of air holes into the pie.
With the egg, create a white wash and brush it over the dough. Sprinkle the 3 tbsp sugar over the pie.
Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes on 425*F, then lower the heat down to 350*F for another 40 minutes.
In the end, if you follow the recipe and add the 1/2 cup of water to the dough, rather than accidentally only using 1/4 cup like I did... then you're pie will look a lot prettier than mine haha.
So seeing that one pie was gone, and there were still two peaches left, I decided: I'm going to try something wild!
I ran to the store to pick up some apples, (I bet you know where this is going) and once I got home, I created something I had never heard of before: Peach Apple Pie! I didn't know if it would turn out edible or if I'd end up poisoning my family with some toxic. I guess we'd soon find out.
I don't like to brag, but... It was pretty amazing :)
Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup water
Filling
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 peaches [skinned, pitted and sliced]
3 apples [skinned, cored, and sliced]
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp butter
3 tsp sugar
1 egg white
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425*F
Skin the fruits and cut them into slices. Set to the side.
In a medium sized bowl, add the 3/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar and the 1/4 cup flour, Stir together so it's evenly mixed. Add the sliced fruit. Pour over the 1 tbsp lemon juice and toss. Continue tossing until well mixed. Add the cinnamon and mix again. Set the bowl to the side.
In a large bowl, add the 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 2/3 cup shortening. Cut the shortening into the flour with either a fork or a pastry cutter [I used a fork myself]. Continue cutting until the bowl is filled with tiny clumps of shortening covered with flour. Add the water and mix together to get the dough.
Flour the work surface generously and plop the dough ball onto it. Form the dough into a ball, then divide it into two equal clumps. Put one clump off to the side, and start rolling out the other. Remember to flour your hands and the pin so the dough doesn't stick. Roll it out into a circle, or as best as you can.
Loosely roll the dough onto the rolling pin and drape over the pie pan. Gently push the dough down to form the pan. Dump the filling into the pan.
Roll out the second clump of dough into another circle, or as best you can.
Loosely roll the dough over the rolling pin and drape it over the top of the pie. Poke plenty of air holes into the pie.
With the egg, create a white wash and brush it over the dough. Sprinkle the 3 tbsp sugar over the pie.
Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes on 425*F, then lower the heat down to 350*F for another 40 minutes.
 |
| I don't know what I did... but it still tasted good :D |
In the end, if you follow the recipe and add the 1/2 cup of water to the dough, rather than accidentally only using 1/4 cup like I did... then you're pie will look a lot prettier than mine haha.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
My First Pie Tasted a Little Like Peach
I woke up Saturday morning with the urge to go to the farmers market, purchase some fresh peaches, and make a peach pie. There was only one problem: I've never made a pie in my life. Sure, I've made cheese cake with a store bought crust and a 3-step recipe I found on the back of the cream cheese, but does that really count as a pie, or baking from scratch? No, not really, no. From basic knowledge of watching the Food Network and various cooking shows, all I really knew was I definitely needed flour for this task. Just like all my other cooking spurts, I headed to the first place I always go when I need help: Google. I looked up a Peach Pie recipe and found one instantly! Man, you gotta love that Google.
Compliments to TexasCooking.com, this was the first recipe I came across and decided it was the one to try. Turns out, it was super simple, and produced an amazing pie! Now, I only had an 8'' pie pan instead of a 9'' or 10'', but it still worked perfectly.
This is basically the same recipe and instructions from the website, but I altered it a bit to sound like me and to incorporate the steps that I added.
The original recipe can be found here!
[Psst! If the link fails, just copy and paste this url into the url box:
http://www.texascooking.com/recipes/freshpeachpie.htm]
Fresh Peach Pie
Filling
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 ripe fresh peaches, peeled and sliced (about 5 cups)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (or ground mace, for an old-fashioned flavor)
Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Crisco or other good shortening
1/2 cup cold water
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 Egg
2 Tablespoons White Sugar
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Instructions
Remove the skin of the peaches with either a vegetable peeler, or boiling water: dump the peaches in boiling water for 30-60 seconds, remove them and place them in ice water, then remove the skin. [Note: I used a peeler... perhaps I should have tried the boiling method first...]
Cut the peaches in half and take the seeds out. Cut them into slices or as best you can.
To make the filling, mix white sugar, brown sugar and 1/4 cup flour in a large bowl. Add the peaches, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg or mace and toss well. Set aside. [Note: I only used cinnamon, no mace or nutmeg.]
To prepare the dough, mix 2 cups of flour and salt in large mixing bowl. Measure shortening and drop on top of flour mixture. Cut flour into shortening with fork or pastry blender until mixture becomes small bits of shortening coated with flour. Add water to the mix. Stir with a fork to make the dough.
Generously flour work surface and hands. Scoop dough out of bowl, plop it onto work surface and pat into a rough ball. Divide into 2 equal portions. Roll out 1 portion into circle about 12 inches in diameter, lifting dough and sprinkling additional flour onto work surface as needed so that dough doesn't stick.
To transfer to 9- or 10-inch pie pan, roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll, starting at far side of pie pan, so that dough drops into pan. Avoid stretching dough. Let about 1-1/2 inches of dough hang over outer edge of pan. Dump the fruit filling into the pan. Scatter bits of butter over fruit. [Note: I used an 8" pie pan and it worked fine.]
Roll out the second lump of dough. Cut into strips about an inch thick. Lay and weave them into a cross pattern on top of the pie. Roll up the excess dough at the edge of the pan into a crust around the entire pan.
Take your egg and make an egg wash. Brush it on top of the dough. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of white sugar on top of the pie.
Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F, and bake until juices bubble around edges on top of pie and crust is lightly browned, about 40 minutes more.
In conclusion, I must say, I'm pretty proud of my first pie. It may not look too pretty just yet, but with some more practice, I'll get it down. Hey, which would you prefer though: An ugly pie that tastes like heaven? Or a pretty pie that tastes like a cow made it? I think I've made my point.
Compliments to TexasCooking.com, this was the first recipe I came across and decided it was the one to try. Turns out, it was super simple, and produced an amazing pie! Now, I only had an 8'' pie pan instead of a 9'' or 10'', but it still worked perfectly.
This is basically the same recipe and instructions from the website, but I altered it a bit to sound like me and to incorporate the steps that I added.
The original recipe can be found here!
[Psst! If the link fails, just copy and paste this url into the url box:
http://www.texascooking.com/recipes/freshpeachpie.htm]
Fresh Peach Pie
Filling
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 ripe fresh peaches, peeled and sliced (about 5 cups)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (or ground mace, for an old-fashioned flavor)
Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Crisco or other good shortening
1/2 cup cold water
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 Egg
2 Tablespoons White Sugar
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Instructions
Remove the skin of the peaches with either a vegetable peeler, or boiling water: dump the peaches in boiling water for 30-60 seconds, remove them and place them in ice water, then remove the skin. [Note: I used a peeler... perhaps I should have tried the boiling method first...]
Cut the peaches in half and take the seeds out. Cut them into slices or as best you can.
To make the filling, mix white sugar, brown sugar and 1/4 cup flour in a large bowl. Add the peaches, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg or mace and toss well. Set aside. [Note: I only used cinnamon, no mace or nutmeg.]
To prepare the dough, mix 2 cups of flour and salt in large mixing bowl. Measure shortening and drop on top of flour mixture. Cut flour into shortening with fork or pastry blender until mixture becomes small bits of shortening coated with flour. Add water to the mix. Stir with a fork to make the dough.
Generously flour work surface and hands. Scoop dough out of bowl, plop it onto work surface and pat into a rough ball. Divide into 2 equal portions. Roll out 1 portion into circle about 12 inches in diameter, lifting dough and sprinkling additional flour onto work surface as needed so that dough doesn't stick.
To transfer to 9- or 10-inch pie pan, roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll, starting at far side of pie pan, so that dough drops into pan. Avoid stretching dough. Let about 1-1/2 inches of dough hang over outer edge of pan. Dump the fruit filling into the pan. Scatter bits of butter over fruit. [Note: I used an 8" pie pan and it worked fine.]
Roll out the second lump of dough. Cut into strips about an inch thick. Lay and weave them into a cross pattern on top of the pie. Roll up the excess dough at the edge of the pan into a crust around the entire pan.
 |
| I have just now realized... I messed up the weaving process... |
Take your egg and make an egg wash. Brush it on top of the dough. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of white sugar on top of the pie.
Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F, and bake until juices bubble around edges on top of pie and crust is lightly browned, about 40 minutes more.
 |
| This was the final product! |
In conclusion, I must say, I'm pretty proud of my first pie. It may not look too pretty just yet, but with some more practice, I'll get it down. Hey, which would you prefer though: An ugly pie that tastes like heaven? Or a pretty pie that tastes like a cow made it? I think I've made my point.
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Other Guys (2010)
All I have to say is I was extremely bored with this film. I'm one who enjoys Will Ferrell's style and humour, but I couldn't find myself to laugh at any of his moments in this movie. As for Mark Wahlberg, I would just like to say: please stick to the serious roles. Both men are amazing, just not in this film.
In the beginning, opening up with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson, it seemed to be a promising feature film. I think the only time I laughed was when those two were on the screen. I don't mean to bash this film and the actors at all, but man, I don't think I have ever been so bored with a movie as I was with this one.
In my opinion, just wait to rent it; you're not missing anything except an expensive nap in a theater.
In the beginning, opening up with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson, it seemed to be a promising feature film. I think the only time I laughed was when those two were on the screen. I don't mean to bash this film and the actors at all, but man, I don't think I have ever been so bored with a movie as I was with this one.
In my opinion, just wait to rent it; you're not missing anything except an expensive nap in a theater.
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