Pie Crust Buddies

Pie crust and pastry dough is not a forté of mine, at least not yet.  I take the help of pre-made pastry dough when I can.  The trouble is, there’s always two rounds per box and pumpkin pie only requires one.  What to do with the second crust?  Make a handsome pot pie, that’s what!

Here’s what I did.

Cut up one washed bunch of asparagus and put them in a casserole dish with diced ham.  Then I made a roux.  Added thyme, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to the roux.  Poured in some milk and stirred until the sauce thickened up.  Pour this over the asparagus and ham.

Top the casserole with shredded aged cheddar (this was a Kerigold White Aged Cheddar), the stronger the cheese the less you need to use.  I could have used half and achieved a better balance, this stuff is pungent!  Top the cheese with the pastry dough.

Go ahead and make it presentable.  I even made leaves out of the trimmings, how cute, eh?  Egg wash the crust.  Bake at 350ºF for 45 minutes or until the crust is evenly brown and crispy.

I made the mistake of adding another splash of milk before putting on the crust.  Should not have done that because the sauce broke and there was all this liquid in the bottom (probably from the asparagus).  At least Hubby ate it, he actually finished the whole pot pie the next day.  That’s what makes me happy, a full Hubby and room in the fridge to store my next disaster!  So lesson learned: make a very thick sauce and use less asparagus.  Maybe mushrooms would work instead.

 

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Central Texas is on Fire

Hearing about the wildfires back home was torment enough, this time the disaster can be seen from my current home in Texas.

We have one of the worst droughts since 1925, as we surpassed that 86-year-old record many days ago.  Signs along the I-35 corridor flash EXTREME WILDFIRE CONDITIONS… CONSERVE WATER.  Over 500 homes have been destroyed by the flames, and there’s no end in sight.  This summer’s heat wave sucked the moisture out of the trees, grass and the Earth itself.  Everything surrounding the fires only feeds its fury.  Meanwhile firefighters from all across the state have converged to help fight these fires.  The plume of smoke can be seen for miles.

As we returned home from our Labour Day weekend, helicopters with water headed east and out of view from the car window.

Tomorrow we will return to the recipes you all tune in for.  For today, please keep our neighbors in your prayers.

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The Hare Never Wins

It’s 6:32pm. 

Baby is tired and crying after a bottle.  Husband is looking in the kitchen for a morsel to eat.  Boy is running around chasing the dog.  What’s for dinner?

This is a daily question.  You know it’s coming, and even about what time.  Yet I, like so many other moms I’m sure,  can’t fathom what to bring to the table as the minutes tick away on the wall clock in the kitchen.  Food is what I enjoy in life, why does it cause me such turmoil on a weekly basis? 

Pick up the baby.  Let the dog outside.  Get a glass of milk for the boy.  A moment to think, please!

It’s the end of the month so there’s not much in the fresh persuasion left in the fridge.  I look in the freezer.  Bingo! Perogies!!!  Luckily, there’s an onion and some butter in the fridge, exactly what you would use to brighten up lazy frozen perogies.  Any sausage or ham would have done wonderfully IF I HAD THEM.  I boil some water and drop in my hand-made potato-cheddar-bacon perogies (I will post the recipe later).  Meanwhile I throw butter and onion slices in a pan.  Drain those perogies and plop them on top of the onions.  I crank up the heat because everyone is waiting for dinner. 

Distraction.  Baby wants to go lay down.  Dog wants back inside.  Boy is pulling shirt and out of milk.  “What are you making dear?” 

The smell of something burning grabs my attention.  My onions!  I put down the baby and tell my boy to stand back as I race to the stove to find something rather disheartening.  This..

…had turned to this…    

Onions are scorched.  Perogies are dry.  Dinner in a hurry is a hard thing to ask for, especially during the week.  I should have kept the heat down or not turned around.  You’d think I would have learned this by now, the hare never wins the race.  I pick off the onions and add a little butter to the pan to try to salvage this disaster of an attempt to “quickly” prepare dinner.  Top them off with plain yogurt and dig in.  At least I didn’t have to start over with something else.

Next time I will be more like a tortoise.

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