Best-Ever Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

 

Pastry:
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. shortening
1/4 c. cold butter, cut into small cubes
6-7 T. ice cold water
Filling:
2 1/2 T. quick cooking tapioca (or all-purpose flour)
1/4 t. salt
3-4 c. fresh or frozen rhubarb, cut into 1/2″ pieces
3-4 c. fresh sliced strawberries
1 c. sugar

1. For the pastry, in a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture contains no larger than pea-sized crumbs. Sprinkle the water over the flour mixture until moist. Gather the dough into a ball, using your hands to combine it.
2. Shape the dough into a large log and divide it into two pieces, one with 1/3 of the dough and one with 2/3 of the dough. Shape the smaller into a 5×1 1/2″ log, and the larger into a 7×2″ log. Wrap both with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least two hours.
3. For the filling, in a large bowl, stir together the sugar, tapioca or flour, and salt. Add rhubarb and strawberries and toss until evenly coated. Let the rhubarb mixture stand for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally (If you are using frozen rhubarb, let the mixture stand for 45 minutes).
4. Preheat the oven to 375-degrees. Using a sharp knife, cut the 7″ chilled dough log into about 28 thin slices. Place 16 slices around the edge of a 9″pie plate. Place the remaining slices in the bottom of the pie plate. Using your fingers, quickly press the pieces of pastry together to fill the gaps. Shape edges as desired.
5. Stir the fruit mixture before pouring it into the bottom crust in the pie plate. Slice the remaining pastry into 15-18 slices. Arrange the slices on top of the fruit.
6. Place the pie on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 60 minutes. Cover outer crust with foil if it is getting too dark. Bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden. Cool.

Classic No Bake Cookies

I made these all the time as a kid. Here's to keeping those fun traditions alive.

Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies
1/2 C Butter
2 C Sugar
1/2 C Milk
4 Tbsp Cocoa
1/2 C Peanut Butter
3 1/2 C Quick cooking Oats
2 tsp. Vanilla
Add the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil, and boil for 1 minute. Stir in the next 3 ingredients and drop onto wax/foil paper. Let cool until set.

Yummy Energy Thingies

The kids will probably like too...

Energy Bites

1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ (I use ground Chia seeds, it's what I had on hand)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. I got 16 when I did this. Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week. They freeze well.

Found This! I See Bacon!

Loaded Potato and Buffalo Chicken Casserole:

2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cubed (1")
8-10 medium potatoes, cut in 1/2" cubes
1/3 cup olive oil
1&1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
6 Tbsp. hot sauce

Topping:
2 cups fiesta blend cheese
1 cup crumbled bacon
1 cup diced green onion

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Spray a 9X13" baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and hot sauce. Add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat. Carefully scoop the potatoes into the prepared baking dish, leaving behind as much of the olive oil/hot sauce mixture as possible. Bake the potatoes for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until cooked through and crispy and browned on the outside. While the potatoes are cooking, add the cubed chicken to the bowl with the left over olive oil/hot sauce mixture and stir to coat. Once the potatoes are fully cooked, remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Top the cooked potatoes with the raw marinated chicken. In a bowl ix together the cheese, bacon and green onion and top the raw chicken with the cheese mixture. Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the topping is bubbly delicious.
Serve with extra hot sauce and/or ranch dressing.

Caramel Apple Crisp

4 cups diced apples

Dry Ingredients

1 cup of flour

3/4 cup oatmeal

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

Caramel Sauce

1 cup white sugar

2 T cornstarch

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Cook white sugar, cornstarch, and water until thick. Add vanilla. Mix dry ingredients with butter until crumbly. Press half into greased 9-inch pan. Cover with apples, caramel sauce then the remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

One of My Favorite Recipes

I need to post this yet again. I got it from my friend, Kathi, and it's a family favorite. I have printed, reprinted, etc this recipe so many times. I decided, let's just post it on the blog so it's in one spot instead of bits of paper in corners of my kitchen. It is the best soup to cut the chill out of a fall or winter's day. Add garlic to the onion mixture for a bit of pep. Also, be flexible. I have used canned corn when frozen wasn't around. Use a spicy sausage for a kick as well. The lemonade in the background? What can I say... I have kids.

Corn and Kielbasa Chowder 

8 oz kielbasa, thinly slices
2 onions, finely chopped
1 T butter
1 14.5 oz can chicken broth
1 large baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup half and half (milk can be a substitute)
1 1-lb bag of frozen corn thawed (have used canned as a sub)
1 tsp marjoram
salt and pepper


Heat a deep skillet or a wide 4-6 quart pot over medium heat. Add kielbasa and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about mins. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.

Add the onions and butter to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 6 mins. Add the broth, marjoram, and potato and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer until potatoes are tender. About 10 mins. Add the half and half and corn and cook, stirring until heated through.

Using a blender or food processor, puree 1 cup chowder until smooth. Stir the puree back into the chowder along with browned kielbasa and season to taste.

Dig in! Prep time 10 mins, cook time 15-25 mins.

My Annual Favorite.....Heck My All Time Favorite

As always, it is Super Bowl time. While I may not care about who is playing, it is certainly a huge tradition for me to make this monstrous pot of chili every year. It takes me a few hours the night before or the morning of to make......but it's worth it!! Slow cooker lovers out there (I am one of them) will love how easy this is to just put in the cooker and let it go until half time.

Why does it take so long? There is a lot of meat to brown and a huge amount of veggies to chop. My recommendation--take your Pampered Chef chopper, or something like it and lay all the veggies all over the cutting board, and just start pounding. It will keep the onions, green peppers and jalapeno peppers off your hands too.

If you don't remember my history with this recipe, well then I'll tell you. This recipe comes from the Coors Cookbook shown in the picture. My parents had this cookbook when I was a kid and made this recipe several times in our cold Colorado winters. Many times a pot of this yummy-ness was waiting for us after a great day of skiing. It has many many fond memories for me. Then when I moved out as a college student, my parents divorced, and that was one of my losses in the divorce. The loss of this great recipe. I looked for the book, and it was out of print. This was also long before the resource we now know fondly as the internet. Back then, when a book went out of print, too bad so sad. You're out of luck unless you check Powell's books weekly, and trust me, they never had it.

Jump ahead a few years. I was married and my dad and his new wife were visiting. We found ourselves in a little second hand store. Both my dad and I found it.....THE Coors Cookbook!! For a buck! There was a small discussion about who would buy it, and who would share the recipe and make sure the other was supplied the recipe on demand. I got the cookbook. I made sure my dad had copy of the recipe. I also make sure when he visits to this day, an awesome batch of chili goodness is made.

As you watch half time commercials, you will know I'll be digging my spoon into this stuff. I hope you are too.

5 slices of bacon
8 ounces hot bulk pork sausage
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove of garlic
1 or 2 dried red chili peppers, seeded and crumbled
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
two twelve ounce cans of Coors beer (okay, we cheat a lot and use Hefeweizen,
or a good amber ale)
one 12 ounce can of tomato paste
one 16 ounce can of pinto beans, drained

Cook bacon till crisp; drain and set aside. Brown sausage. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of drippings, set aside. In reserved drippings, brown the ground beef, onion, green pepper and garlic. Add bacon, sausage, pepper, chili powder, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir in beer and tomato paste. Bring to boiling; simmer, covered for 1 1/2 hours. Add beans, simmer, covered, 30 more minutes. Serve with shredded cheese and chopped onion.