I was so proud of my turkey! It came out of the oven and I was like, “The turkey is beautiful! Ryan look at the turkey! Look at it! It’s so beautiful! Take a picture of me with the turkey.” This was my first turkey done by me without the aid of a veteran (AKA someone who has done this more than a few times). You know how as you grow up there are lots of little things that make you feel like an adult? Well, cooking Thanksgiving dinner and preparing a really nice turkey made me feel like, “yeah, I got this, I’m an adult.”

Anyway, it was a really lovely evening. Our friends Alessia and Raffaello came over for their first Thanksgiving and they were the best sports. We were feeding them a number of foods they’d never had before and they tried everything. Having guests over meant I got to use these wine glass charms my friend Mala had sent me. They are little monster guys and they hang on to the stem by their mouth. It’s adorable and helps you keep track of your glass. Silly, but cute – see the picture below.

I made stuffing for the first time,and usually I don’t like it. And because I don’t like it, I thought why not lean in, so I put mushrooms in which I really don’t like. But it turned out to be amazingly delicious. I’m semi-converted. I also served cranberry sauce, canned shaped, cut into slices. I bought the can when I was in Raleigh. My family might correct me, but I have no recollection of ever having this kind of cranberry sauce as a kid. But, since the can shape with the lines on the side is an iconic American Thanksgiving image, I had to serve it.

We also all had to share what we were thankful for and we had to make trace our hands (with crayon) and color them in to be turkeys. I had such a blast, I went to bed full, woke up full, and went to work on Friday feeling all warm and fuzzy and aglow with the holiday spirit. Cheesy I know, but true.

Then over the weekend, we decided it was time to embrace Christmas so Ryan and I went to Hamley’s, which is a famous toy store in London. It dates back to 1790!! It was really crowded and felt a lot like going to FAO Schwartz in New York City. There were five floors of toys! They also had stuff on the floor doing demonstrations with the toys. I thought that seemed like a really fun job, until I realized that my job is the same just instead of demonstrating toys I demonstrate science. Ryan was into the the remote controlled cars and planes. I was into the Legos. I also go to toy stores, look at the Lego Star Wars items and sigh and wish they weren’t so expensive. People can do such cool stuff with Legos. Look at these AMAZING statues of the royal family!! Also, just fyi, the Santa and reindeer are all Legos, but they are in Covent Garden, not Hamley’s. We left Hamley’s with a present for Boden and a small toy for me and Ryan.

We then went over to Covent Garden to check out their Christmas scene. They had a nice big tree, a big silver reindeer, and some lights. I didn’t take a picture, but they also have ENORMOUS Christmas bulbs hanging from the ceiling. They are really impressive in size. It was a beautiful afternoon and I really nice way to kick-off the Christmas season. I even talked Ryan into stopping at Costa Coffee for a few holiday drinks. What could be better? Nothing, that’s what.

The post Tourist Tuesday: Thanksgiving Weekend appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

My solution was to start Tourist Tuesday. I’m going to attempt every Tuesday to post about what Ryan and I are doing in London or elsewhere. Sometimes it will also have something food related, sometimes it won’t. Also, the regular recipes posts will likely still have London photos too. Finally, I’ve also changed the layout a little bit. In the menu bar at the top you can sort through posts in the Recipes, London, and Travel sections. Hopefully that will make it easier to find what you’re looking for. Without further ado, here’s the first Tourist Tuesday post. 

This Saturday, Ryan and I went to the Tower of London to check out the poppies. Officially it is an art installation and it is called Bloodswept Lands and Seas of Red. Haunting title. The installation is comprised of 888,246 ceramic poppies made by artist Paul Cummins and designed by Tom Piper. The work commemorates the 100-year anniversary of Britain’s first full-day of involvement in World War I. Each poppy represents a British fatality from the war.

Already there are many, many poppies in the Tower’s moat, and there are still more to come. The entire moat is going to be filled, with the last poppy being installed on November 11.

It was astoundingly beautiful to see. But also, it felt heartbreaking and staggering. It looks like blood and flowers and it is a little bit terrifying. It looks like it is slowly creeping towards you, which I guess in a way it is. Anyway, I keep thinking that it’s amazing what people can do. Amazing in an awful way – because look at how many people lost their lives, look at how awful war is. But also, how amazing to create an impressive work that brought flocks of people to see it and remember.

It was also incredibly, painfully, frustratingly crowded  by the Tower too. When we were done looking, we walked slowly through masses of other tourists, over the Tower Bridge and on over to Borough Market. We got there near the end of the day, which turned out to be great because the vendors were slashing price to get rid of food before the end of the day.

Ryan and I bought pies from Pieminister. We ate them along the edge of the market and people. The pies were so incredible good, that even when I was full, I kept eating. It was too good to waste. Ryan got some kind of steak and ale pie, but I don’t remember the cutesy name. I had the Heidi, which was sweet potatoes, goat cheese, spinach, and red onion. It was delicious.

We then headed back into the market and bought ingredients to make hamburgers. We bought beef patties made from Highland cattle, which are long-haired Scottish cows. You should look at this picture of them here, they are awesome looking. We also bought comte cheese, which I liked but Ryan didn’t. Ryan cooked up the burgers and they were so so good. Juicy, well seasoned, so flavorful. They were the kind of good that lasts through every bite, not just the first bite.

The post Tourist Tuesday: Ceramic Poppies at the Tower of London appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Photo from Bullycomics

Have you ever seen Love Actually? I have. Many times.

Do you know that scene when Juliet (Kiera Knightley) goes to Mark’s (Andrew Lincoln) apartment? She goes there looking to see if he has good video footage of her wedding. When Mark opens the door, she offers him banoffee pie. “What the heck is that?” I’ve thought to myself. So I googled it, and I immediately wanted to have some. And simple as that, I decided to make this pie for myself.

Banoffee pie is banana and toffee pie. Get it? Banana+toffee=banoffe. Doesn’t that sound delicious!?! I really liked this pie. The texture is creamy and silky. It’s cool, delicious, and both indulgent and refreshing.

Also, the technique for this recipe is simple to handle – but what makes this awesome is the transformation some of the ingredients go through. That might sound stupid because all cooking is about transformation. But, I was really blown away how simple things can change. With some heavy beating, cream transforms from a liquid to a semi-solid. I knew whipped cream was cream that was whipped, but I had never made it myself before. But the best transformation was the condensed milk! With heat, it becomes something completely different. It becomes toffee! Look at the pictures below and be impressed.

This recipe is a mix from Nigella Lawson, Brooklyn Limestone, and a graham cracker crust recipe I’ve used before.

Ingredients:

Crust-

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 10 full cracker strips)

3 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp unsalted butter (plus more if needed)

Filing-

3 large bananas

1 14oz can of condensed milk

2 cups whipped cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp brown sugar

chocolate shavings (or chocolate bar)

Directions:

1. Remove the label from the can of condensed milk. Place the can in a large pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Boil for 2-2.5 hours. Make sure that the can is submerged for the entire time! If you let the water level drop your can will explode and your kitchen will be a scary mess.

2. Once the allotted time has passed, take the pot off the stove. Let the can cool. You’ve just made toffee. How easy, yet impressive, is that?!

2. Preheat oven to 350°.

3. In a food processor, blend the graham crackers until you have fine crumbs.

4. In a medium bowl mix the graham crackers and sugar.

5. Melt the butter in the microwave, then add it to the graham cracker and sugar. Mix until the graham cracker crumbs are all moistened. You want a consistency of slightly wet sand – sand that’s been wet but is drying out. If you need to, you can add more than 4 tbsp of butter.

6. Press the graham cracker crust into your pie plate – bottom, sides and edges. If you want a thick crust use all the mix. I used about 3/4 of the mixture. If you’re not using all of it, set the remainder aside in case you need to do any patchwork later.

7. Put the crust in the oven and bake until it just begins to brown, about 8 minutes.

8. Cut the bananas in slices and layer them on the bottom of the crust.

9. Open the can of toffee. Use a knife to stir the toffee until it is smooth.

10. Pour the toffee over the bananas. If need be, use the knife to smooth any uneven spots.

11. Using an electric mixer beat the whipped cream, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Beat until the texture is thick and whipped.

12. Spread the whipped cream on top of the toffee. Sprinkle chocolate shavings over the top.

13. Put in the fridge and let set for 2 hours.

14. Slice and serve!

Messy level: For a pie, this is actually a really easy and low-mess recipe. The only part that is messy is the graham cracker crust because crumbs get everywhere during assembly. Everything else is really straightforward and there is so little baking to make such a great pie.

The post Banoffee Pie appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

I’ll be honest with you, the first time I made this I was grumpy and I had mini melt-down. Ryan had to step in and help because I was being pouty and said things like “I quit,” and “it’s ruined.” The reason for all this drama is that I didn’t give myself time to make a new recipe slowly. I didn’t have cold water to make the pie crust. The kitchen was hot and the dough wouldn’t roll. I was hungry. I thought the steps were easy, and I wanted it to be done right now. 

The steps are easy, and even with my hissyfit, everything came out nicely. Although today’s photos are from the second time I made the recipe. But what I’m trying to advise, is that when you’re cooking be patient, give yourself plenty of time, and it’s ok if it doesn’t come out perfect. Even the recipes we know how to make well can be a pain when we are rushed, hungry, and grumpy. When you’re cooking, take your time and enjoy it. If you want to rush and are too hungry to wait, then definitely defrost something or get take out.

This recipe is fairly straightforward and very flavorful. It’s roasted root vegetables wrapped in a free-form pie crust. No pie pan is required! You can use whatever pie crust recipe or store-bought version you like. As well, pick whatever root vegetables you prefer, but I’ll let you know what I chose below. What makes this recipe is the thyme and balsamic. It makes the whole thing fragrant and delicious. Even though pie crust isn’t so healthy (at least the way I make it), I think this is such a great way to eat a bunch of vegetables.

Adapted from the Gourmet Housewife

Directions

Pie crust:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp shortening

cup of cold water (you won’t need it all)

Filling:

2 parsnips, peeled and cubed

1 turnip, peeled and cubed

2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 medium carrots, peeled and cubed

1 red onion, cut into chuncks

thyme (about 4-6 sprigs)

salt

pepper

balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the vegetables on top, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme leaves.

3. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool just a little bit. Turn oven down to 350°.

4. While the vegetables are cooking make the pie crust. In a medium bowl mix together the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening. This means use two knives and chop up the shortening until it is pea sized. Then, add 1 tbsp of cold water and mix it with a fork, into the flour mixture. Keep adding water and mixing until you get a dough that sticks together (about 4-5 tbsp).

5. Take your dough, put it on a floured work surface, and roll it out until it’s 1/4″ thick. If you’re having trouble rolling out your dough, put it between two pieces of parchment paper, then roll out it out that way. This worked for me because then the dough didn’t get too hot and it held its shape.

6. Now, put the vegetables in the middle of your pie crust. All of the vegetables might not fit just yet. Drizzle with balsamic. Then scoop up the edges of the pie crust and fold them on top of the vegetables. You aren’t trying to cover them entirely, this is more of an open face pie. Then, if you have any extra vegetables you can spoon them on top in the open part. Drizzle with more balsamic if you’d like.

7. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the pie crust is light brown.

8. Slice and serve.

Messy level: I’m giving this three spoons because of the pie crust. Ordinarily, I don’t think pie crust is that hard. But, pie crust gets mushy when it’s hot and spooning hot vegetables on to pie crust leads to a little bit of a mess. It’s not unbearable, but it’s kind of annoying. Otherwise, chopping and roasting is pretty mess free.

The post Root Vegetable Galette appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

[Note: some photos and recipe formatting updated in October 2016]

This apple pie is my favorite dish during the holidays. I will eat this pie for dessert, breakfast the next day, and then again for lunch if there’s any left. I want to make sure I get as much of it as possible so that when the slices run out, I have no regrets. I am jealously possessive of this pie in a way that goes against the holiday spirit.

When I was a kid, my mom would make an apple pie for me and a pumpkin pie for my brother. Dessert time would come around and she would ask, “what do you want?” Sometimes, Eric said apple and I would boil with rage. That was my pie and he was doing this on purpose to infuriate me because he knew I wasn’t going to eat his pumpkin pie. I have no evidence to prove this is true, but it’s how I felt at the time.

I love this pie so much, that in college my mom would make one pie for the holiday meal and one pie for me to take back to my dorm.

Last year, we hosted Thanksgiving for Ryan’s family and I just had to make this pie. It would not be Thanksgiving otherwise. I had helped my mom make this pie before, but usually I just mixed the apples and sugar. Then, I’d eat the apple slices until she told me to stop. Last year was my first year doing it by myself. So the week before, my mom helped me make the crust. The day before, Ryan and I had an apple coring-peeling, slicing sweatshop where we produced a giant mountain of apple slices. All was going well…until it wasn’t.

2012 Thanksgiving pie that I burnt (this is before I tried to fix it)

I made the rookie mistake of not checking on the pie. When I finally took it out of the oven, the crust was a little bit burnt. I was hysterical and inconsolable.

“I’ve ruined dessert!” I cried to Ryan.

No he assured me, I hadn’t. The pie would still be good (and it was). And even if it wasn’t, Ryan’s mom brought a pumpkin pie and I had made cupcakes, so there was still plenty for dessert. But even so, I was disappointed that I’d burnt my pie. So I called my mom to whine some more.

“Mom! I’ve ruined dessert!” I moaned, while Ryan stood nearby shaking his head.

She was sympathetic and then came up with the brilliant idea of scraping off the burnt part, adding new crumbs, and then when I reheated it the new crumbs would cook to the perfect brown. I wasn’t able to remove all of the dark spots, but her scrape and re-apply method really worked out (so keep that in mind if yours gets too dark).

My mom’s well loved, ripped, and beat-up cookbook

Anyway, Thanksgiving arrived and the pie was devoured. I felt pleased with myself not only for making the pie, but being adult enough to share it with others.

This year, I’ll be eating my mom’s pie. But I made my own a few days early so I could be sure get enough (and so not have to share too much).

This recipe is adapted from my mom’s recipe, which is adapted from the oldest and most beat-up Betty Crocker cookbook. That book is so old, I have no recollection of the cover ever being attached to it.

[Update: Hi all! I’ve added the easier to read and print format of the recipe below. Keep scrolling if you want to see the original writing with step by step photos.]

Apple Pie with a Crumb Top

 

Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Author: Cooking is Messy

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients

Pie crust

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup+ 1 tablespoon shortening (or butter, or ⅓ cup lard)
• cup of cold water (you won’t need it all)

Apple filling

• 8 medium sized apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (Gala or McIntosh are recommended)
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Crumb topping

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 stick cold butter

Instructions

1. Put a small cup of water in the freezer.
2. Start with the pie crust! In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt.
3. Cut the shortening into the flour until you have what looks like pieces the size of small peas. To do this, use 2 butter knives and cut through using an "x" motion or use a dough blender.
4. Take the water out of the freezer. Add 1 tablespoon to the flour. Mix it into the flour with a fork. Keep adding 1 tablespoon and mixing with a fork until a dough forms and it isn’t sticking to the side of the bowl. For me this can sometimes be up to 5 tablespoons.
5. Gather the dough into a ball and put it on a well-floured counter. Roll out the dough until it’s about 2″ larger than the size of a 9" pie plate.
6. To get the crust in the pan, I find it easiest to fold the dough into quarters and place it into your pie plate. Gently unfold the crust and press it into place on the pie pan.
7. Gently pull off dough that is overhanging the edge of the pie pan. If you’re feeling fancy, roll the excess crust into snakes, put it on the crust on the rim of the pie plate, and them crimp it to make a pretty edge.
8. Put the crust in the fridge while you work on your filling.
9. Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C.
10. If you haven't already peel, core, and cut your apples into thin half-moon sized slices.
11. In a large bowl mix the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Pour the cut apples into this mix and stir it all together. Snack on a few apples, it's worth it.
12. Take the pie crust out of the fridge, put in the apple filling that you just made.
13. Now for the crumb topping! In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup of flour and ½ cup of brown sugar. Cut in 1 stick of cold butter (just like you did earlier with the shortening). You should have some big peas and some little pea sizes. Sprinkle this generously over the top of your pie filling.
14. Put the pie plate on a cookie sheet. This is important for two reasons. 1. It makes it easier to take in and out of the oven. And 2, it will catch any juices that drip out of the pie and so your oven won't fill with burning sugar smoke.
15. Put the pie in the oven for about 30-35 minutes.
16. Cover the pie with tin foil. This is to keep the exterior color golden brown while the interior continues to bake.
17. Cook for 15-20 more minutes (so a total of 45-50 minutes). The pie is done when you can easily stick a knife through the pie and it meets little resistance from the apples.
18. Let cool then serve!

3.5.3208

Pie Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup+ 1 tbsp shortening (or butter, or 1/3 cup lard)

cup of cold water (you won’t need it all)

Filling:

8 medium sized apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (I used a mix of Gala, Fuji and Cameo)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

Crumb topping:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 stick cold butter

Directions:

1. Put a small cup of water in the freezer.

2. We’re making the pie crust first. In a large bowl, mix the 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp salt.

3. Cut the shortening into the flour until you have what looks like pieces the size of small peas. (Cut the shortening/lard/butter using 2 butter knives or with a dough blender)

4. Take the water out of the freezer. Add 1 tbsp to the flour. Mix it into the flour with a fork. Keep adding 1 tbsp and mixing with a fork until a dough forms and it isn’t sticking to the side of the bowl. For me this was almost 5 tbsp, but the recipe book says it should be 2-3 tbsp.

5. Gather the dough into a ball and put it on a well-floured counter. Roll out the dough until it’s about 2″ larger than the size of your pie plate.

6. To get the crust in the pan, I find it easiest to fold the dough into quarters and place it into your pie plate. Gently unfold the crust and press it into place on the pie pan.

7. Gently pull off dough that is overhanging the edge of the pie pan. If you’re feeling fancy, roll the excess crust into snakes, put it on the crust on the rim of the pie plate, and them crimp it to make a pretty edge. I used a spoon and pinched a little point to make it look pretty.

8. Put the crust in the fridge while you work on your filling. Now preheat the oven to 425°.

9. Peel, core, and cut your apples. This year instead of an apple-prep sweat shop, I used what I call an “apple crank.” It does all three jobs in one, all you have to do is turn the handle and it pushes the apple through the corer, peeler, and slicer. I think it’s awesome, and I felt like it made good slices. After cranking, I cut the apple in half so I had half-moon slices. This is a divergence from my mom, who likes her slices even thinner, so she cuts the apples by hand.

10. In a large bowl mix the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix that with your cut apples. Mix until everything is coated. This is MY FAVORITE PART. I love eating the apple slices, so be sure to save yourself a few to snack on.

11. Take the pie crust out of the fridge, put in the apple filling that you just made.

12. Now for the crumb topping! In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Cut in 1 stick of cold butter. You should have some big peas and some little pea sizes. Sprinkle this generously over the top of your pie filling.

13. Put the pie plate on a cookie sheet. It makes it easier to take in and out of the oven. Then, put the pie in the oven for about 30-35 minutes. If at this point it is your desired golden brown, put a tin foil cover gently over your pie.

14. Cook for 15-20 more minutes (so a total of 45-50 minutes). The pie is done when you can easily stick a knife through the pie and it meets little resistance from the apples.

15. Serve with vanilla ice cream!

Messy level: This is pretty messy because there are so many steps. The crust can stick to the counter and tear which can be mess number one. I feel like the apple-crank really keeps the mess down when making the filling because it makes preparing the apples most efficient. Still, the sink was filled with ribbons of apple peel. And finally, a crumb top is just asking for me to drop things everywhere. However, it’s worth it. It makes the kitchen smell and feel festive.

The post Apple Pie with a Crumb Top appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Rhubarb from Star Hollow Farm

I’ve wanted to bake with rhubarb for awhile. The thing is, I always remember rhubarb in September when the summer is almost over and rhubarb season has long passed. The one time I did notice rhubarb at the farmer’s market it was mostly green and I got nervous because I thought it was supposed to be mostly red. So I’ve let forgetfulness and fear stand between me and rhubarb.

But this year, my lovely friend Anna came to the rescue! She got me some rhubarb from her family farm, Star Hollow Farm, which means I can be sure it’s in season and I didn’t have to worry about choosing which stalks of rhubarb to get.

I’ve been curious about rhubarb in part because I’d never had it before and also because it pairs well with strawberries, which are my absolute favorite fruit. But honestly, I’ve also been drawn to rhubarb because I really like Garrison Keillor and A Prairie Home Companion. I get the bebop-a-reebop song stuck in my head because it’s just silly and happy. If you know what I’m talking about, thank you for being a part of my nerdy community. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a video. The song isn’t until about 4:50, but you should watch the whole video because it’s a great example of Garrison Keillor’s storytelling and the great sound effects of the show.

Anyway, I was so happy with the way this pie looked and tasted. I didn’t know what to expect because I had never made this pie before, but I was really please and impressed with myself. I went to work and brought a big piece to share. And I made my coworkers look at pictures of how pretty it was. Excitedly, I told my coworker I made a pie. He was skeptical.

Me:  I made a pie this morning

Him: What do you mean you made a pie?

Me:  I made a pie.

I mean seriously, when I say I made a pie, I flipping made it! When someone says they made a pie, the first question should be what kind, followed by can I have a slice? But, after some questioning about if I made the crust, and did I brush an egg mixture on top, he seemed sufficiently satisfied that I had in fact made a pie.

And you can make one too. People seem intimidated by pies – especially crust – but it’s not a crazy mystery. It’s not too hard and it took me about an hour and a half total time (maybe less), which includes the 40 minutes of cooking time. One thing more before we get started, this pie is super juicy. It oozes out delicious goodness, but because of all the liquid it doesn’t hold the pie-slice shape very well. It doesn’t bother me because it tastes good. And all the juice goes really well with vanilla ice cream. So don’t feel discouraged if it looks like a ruby-red lump on your plate because it will be heaven in your belly.  So, if you’re interested let’s get baking so you can make impressive, beautiful, delicious, and old-timey pie worthy of Garrison Keillor song.

Ingredients:

Filling:

3 cups strawberries – chopped in quarters if larger, in half if small

3 cups rhubarb – chopped in ¾-1” pieces

1 cup sugar

¼ cup + 1 tbsp cornstarch

¼ tsp salt

Crust:

[Note: I made two pie crusts; one for the top and one for the bottom. If you only want to make one crust, then use the numbers in the parenthesis. If you’re making both then use the numbers not in the parenthesis.]

2/3 cup + 2 tbsp shortening (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)

2 cups all purpose flour   (1 cup)

1 tsp salt (1/2 tsp)

4-9 tbsp cold water (2-5 tbsp for 1 crust)

Other:

1 egg white

1 tbsp butter cut in small pieces

Directions:

1. About 10 minutes before you want to start baking, put a cup of water in the freezer.

2. Preheat oven to 400°.

3. Mix the flour and salt in a medium bowl.

4. Cut the shortening into the flour. If needed, mix gently with hands. You want the particles to look like small pea-sized clumps. [When adding the shortening do not just dump it all in and then mix it with a spoon. Cut the shortening usually means using a pastry blender to cut up the shortening into clumps. If you don’t have a pastry blender, add the shortening then use two knives. Hold the knives in an x and cut the shortening into small pieces.

5. Add 1 tbsp of cold water to the mixture. Mix with a fork or your hands. [I have better control and can tell when it’s “finished” when using my hands. The problem with using your hands is that it can warm up the dough too much.]

6. Repeat the above step, adding water 1 tbsp at a time until the flour is moistened, and dough has formed. The bowl should be pretty much clean and most of the flour should be incorporated in your ball of dough.  I usually need to add 4 tbsp of water.

7. Gather dough into two balls (if you’ve made enough for two). Generously flour a work surface. Flour your rolling pin. Be generous with your flouring!!! You don’t want the dough stuck you the counter, rolling pin, or your hands. Seriously! The dough can get too warm and flouring really helps it stay together.

8. Roll out both of your dough balls so that it is about 2” larger than an inverted pie plate.

•  The dough ball that will be your top can be rolled out on a piece of parchment paper. Once it’s rolled out to your desired size cover it with another piece of parchment paper. This is done so it keeps its shape until you’re ready to use it.

9. Place one of the rolled out crusts into the pie plate. I like to fold the dough in quarters, place in the pie plate, and then unfold the dough, and finally press it into shape. What’s great about making your own dough is that it’s really malleable. If you rip it, or if you have one side that’s too short, you can tear a bit from somewhere else and patch up your problem area.

10. Place the pie plate crust and the parchment crust in the fridge while you prepare the inside of your pie.

11. In a large bowl mix your chopped strawberries and rhubarb

12. In a small bowl mix the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Mix until there are no lumps.

13. Add the sugar mix to the fruit. Mix until combined and all the fruit is coated.

14. Remove pie plate from the refrigerator. Gently pour the fruit mix into the pie plate.

15. Dot the fruit with your small pieces of cut butter.

16. For the top you have options:

•  Cut a few slashes in the rolled out crust dough. This is to vent the insides. You can make the cuts pretty and decorative if you want. Then place the dough on top of the fruit mixture. Press the top of the crust to the edge of the pie pan (so it seals with the bottom crust.)

• You can cut strips of dough and make a lattice (which is what I did).  I’m not crazy about crust so I made big strips with big spaces between (you can make a tighter weave). My way looked pretty, but it didn’t hold its shape well when I cut a piece. Anyway, cut some strips (whatever size you like) and weave them together.

17. Once you’ve assembled your top you also have some styling options:

• You can use a fork and press the tines down all along the sides of the pie plate. This will bind the top and bottom crusts and also make a nice design

• Remove overhanging crust dough and roll it into a long “snake.”  Put the snake around the on the edge of the pie plate. Pinch the dough to make a zig-zag pattern. This will make a “crimped” looking edge to your pie. (This is what I attempted to do, but it didn’t zig-zag as much as I hoped).

See the edge of the pie? That’s my attempt at crimping the edge.

18. Put your egg white in a small bowl. Add a few drops of water. Whisk until a little foamy.

19. Brush egg white mixture on to tops of the crust.

20. Place pie plate on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes. Or until the crust is golden and the juices are bubbling.

21. Isn’t it the most gorgeous pie?! If yours is gorgeous, GO YOU! Hold yourself back and let cool for about an hour before serving

Messy Level: Medium-High. When I turned around to look at the kitchen, I was a little shocked by the mess. The messiness comes from making the dough. Shortening is greasy and sticky and gets on everything. And flour is just messy. It gets into every nook and cranny of my kitchen – but to do this right you need a lot of flour so I just have to accept it. And finally, the pie is super juicy.  You really need the cookie pan under the pie plate because juices will drip over. And, once you let it cool and cut it, there will be delicious juice everywhere. Don’t be afraid to get a spoon and slurp it up.

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