Fail Proof Pie Crust

On Friday, Little Momma and Company wrote about her pie-making woes. In response to that, I offered to post my mother-in-law's pie crust recipe. Unfortunately, she was out of town this weekend and I just now got permission to publish her secret. Here it is:

Fail Proof Pie Crust
3 Cups Flour
1 1/4 Cups Crisco
1 egg
4 Tbsp. cold water
For golden double crust:
Milk
Sugar

1. Cut the Crisco into the flour.
2. Mix the egg and water together.
3. Mix egg mixture into the flour/Crisco mixture until just combined (handling as little as possible).
4. Divide into 2 equal pieces.
5. Immediately, roll out on floured surface to desired size. Do not chill this dough! Roll in one direction and keep the dough moving so it doesn't stick to your surface.
6. Fill as desired.
7. For double crust recipes, coat top crust with milk and spinkle with sugar for a golden crust.
8. Bake according to your favorite filling recipe and enjoy.

Yield: 1 9-inch double crust or 3 8-inch single crusts.

Homemade goes Semi-Homemade

According to my Homemade blog title, it is obvious that I love to bake. However, it may not be so obvious that I also love to cook.

Unfortunately, sometimes my life as a momtrepreneur/caretaker/wife gets ahead of dinner. So, I often resort to the semi-homemade concept. Necessity is the mother of invention and this mother has incorporated a new feature: "Homemade Goes Semi-Homemade" to share with you all. I hope you will find something you like to cook for dinner.

Coming soon:

Garlic Chicken Risotto
Grilled Citrus Salmon with Lemon Rice and Cucumber Salsa

When Baking Goes Awry

I found this on Blondie and Brownie and I almost pissed my pants laughing. My favorite is the "caken' smusher". Hee, hee, hee.

http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com/2008/07/this-one-is-for-bez-my-little-bezorilla.html

Pomegranate Mango Champagne Cocktail

I am adding a new feature to my blog. After entertaining or contributing food or drink to a party, I will write about what went right and/or what went wrong and what I would never do again and/or what I would totally do every time. Since I just threw a party this weekend, I will start with that.

As I mentioned in my previous, the 20th high school reunion party went really well but, there is always room for improvement. One area is my bar tending skills. I made Pomegranate Mango Champagne Cocktails however, I made a huge mess making them and they were kind of pusty. So, in the future, I am going to serve them as a toasting beverage and then offer lower maintenance beverages for the remainder of the party.

Another goal I have is to publish at least one new recipe a week (Thanks Sydney for the inspiration on that one:-). So here is the recipe for the Pomegranate Mango Champagne Cocktail that I served this weekend:

Ingredients:
1 glass of your favorite champagne or sparkling wine
1 oz of pomegranate juice
splash of Rose's Cocktail Infusions Mango Twist Mix or any Mango liquor

Directions:
1. Pour champagne into a champagne flute.
2. Add pomegranate juice and the Mango Mix.
3. Garnish with fruit skewers as desired and enjoy.

Happy 20th High School Reunion!!!

Tonight, my friends and I celebrated our friendships from high school. It was a blast! We had some great food, a fun cocktail and lots of great memories. It was great to get together and laugh and tell stories like we were 18 again. And I think we look just as hot as we did 20 years ago.

And of course, I did dessert. This Barbie Doll Cake is "wearing" a replica of the uniforms we wore at our all-girl catholic school.

South Shore Frolics

In the neighborhood I grew up in, the weekend after the 4th of July is always South Shore Frolic time. Everyone gathers at the lakefront for food, music and fun and a great parade. It was always one of my favorite parts of growing up on the southside of Milwaukee. Since my brother owns the house we grew up in, I am still able to partake in the festivities.

Of course, I usually offer to bring the desserts. Thanks so much Bakerella for the idea for these guys. They were a HUGE hit and perfect for a summertime lakefront party!

A Sweet Story

So, I am not writing about chocolate today but about a different kind of sweet.

My aunt and uncle celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary on July 2nd. On July 5th, my aunt succombed to colon cancer and today, we laid her to rest. They were the cutest couple and devoted to each other. When my uncle touched her face, like he had for 59 years before, it was the last time and their wasn't a dry eye in the house. As hard as it was to witness that, it was kind of beautiful. To love someone that strong for that long is something to behold.

The sweetest part of the story happened at the reception afterwards. My uncle said that he went through some old photos in preparation for today. He asked if we wanted to see a picture of his girlfriend. At that moment, he held a picture of my aunt that was taken when they first started dating. How sweet life was for them. After 59 years, he still thought of her as his sweetheart. That is something that I want a piece of.

My First Award!!

The Musings of a Mom has given me an award! It is my first! Thanks so much, Therese! I am flattered that you thought of me!

Now I get to pass it onto 5 people that I think are worthy. Here are the rules:

If you already have the award just accept and that's all you have to do.
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award.
4. The award winner and one who has given the prize have to show the link "Arte y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. Show these rules.

Now for the fun! Here are my winners:

1. The Hostess with the Mostess. She has the best ideas and sources for entertaining.

2. Bakerella. She has the absolutely cutest baking ideas that I have ever seen! She was even featured on Martha Stewart! What an inspiration!

3. The Secret is in the Sauce Recipes. I just found this community and I think it is a great way to exchange recpies.

4. Spit-Up and Stilettos. She is hilarious!! I just love her voice.

5. Diapers and Deadlines. I met Syd at book club and she is still one of the best writers that I know.