It's still dark out, and raining, and I've already had a pie disaster! The first crust was made of shortening and cracked out in the bottom, and that was the end of the shortening. Googled crust with butter, made a second crust. I know it's the right way to do it but it's even harder than with shortening. It looked great going into the pan and I thought I was a pie champion at last, but it SHRANK- you would have thought I put it in the dryer, not the oven. So I have to break bits off the crappy first crust and slug them into the second crust, and hope the meringue will fool everyone. Hope your cooking or eating goes better. We used to leave a plate of anchovies out for the Christmas penguin. Our menu, and the state of preparation:
Toasts with red pesto
Fruit Cup (done)
Turkey
Gravy
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
String Beans
Fresh Peas
Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Chopped Salad (stray g recipe done)
Roasted Asparagus
Carrots with Mint
Squash Pudding (done)
Spicy Cranberry Sauce & Plop Sauce
Lemon Meringue Pie (EEK)
Huguenot Torte
Gingerbread (done)
9 comments:
Great menu. How did everything else turn out? Was it a fun dinner? (Plop sauce?!)
p.s. You think you have pie problems. Suddenly Tom cannot eat gluten (anything that contains wheat.) Have you ever tasted cherry pie made with rice flour? I hope not.
What a spread! So many different vegetables -- fun! wow, another friend told me gluten intolerance runs in his family. did tom have to get tested for that? were there symptoms?
Stray: can't talk about the symptoms at the table.
Sally, what I want to know is, after cooking all that--I mean after all that hard work (to me it sounds so hard), can you relax & enjoy it?
Wow, that's a lot of work you put into Christmas dinner. Do you like cooking?
That's weird that the crusts were acting up. I didn't know they were so touchy. Then again, I haven't made many pies.
I know several people who can't eat gluten. I wonder if it's becoming more common, or if it's just being diagnosed more?
You have to make pies often if you expect them to turn out alright, I'm convinced. However, the rebuilt crust I assembled worked just fine. I had a really good time. It wasn't as hard as it sounds, because roasted vegetables do their own thing, and Jon does some of the cooking.
Poor Tom with the gluten allergy. There's a nice pancake mix made for gluten allergies in a yellow bag, with a woman's name on it. We bought it by mistake and have been buying it ever since.
Your dinner sounds divine. I love meringue! I'd eat it on chipboard. Our menu was brie w/crackers, wine, steamed asparagus w/lemon, Yorkshire puddings w/gravy made from the drippings of the rib roast, cherry tomatoes, yule log. BUT...we were at the Florida daughter's house and the oven picked CHRISTMAS NIGHT to start malfunctioning. Had planned on eating at 6 and ended up eating at 8.
Mean Jean, when I was a kid, Yorkshire Pudding and Popovers were served often, and people didn't seem to stress about them. But these days they're rarely eaten, and if cooked, rarely rise from their slimey batter state. I remember popovers especially as being so darned tasty. It may have to do with gas ovens versus electric ovens.
you can use dried beans (kidney beans are usually heavy enough) or buy some pie weights from Williams Sonoma - to keep your pie crusts from shrinking in when you par-bake them - it really works!
Thanks Lara Elizabeth. Got to try the pie weights.
Post a Comment