No Folks... This Ain't Kristabel's Kitchen!

Kristabel's kitchen pumps out stuff that mine never will. Her cooking makes my mouth water, and my stomach growl just reading about it. She tells how to make Marshmallows, limoncello, nectarine tarts, and other treats that few can even ponder. ( Link to Kristabell )

Nectarine Tart and photo by Kristabel

Her posts are neat and organized. She has enough of a sense of humor, she can include a photo of her pie crust all over the floor, where she spilled it. I’ve also spilled pie crust on the floor. I cover my clumsiness by pretending that I was feeding the dog. I hate when that happens, the dog doesn’t meet my standards for cleanliness, I have to stop everything clean up what the dog leaves, wash and dry my hands, and start over. The last time that I did that I forgot to put the salt in my pie, and I ended up with a flat pie. (humor, get it? Flat pie?)

Anyway, I made some pies last night and I thought, “hey I should do a picture post, like Kristabel”! Rather than use a good camera like her, I just use my cell phone. I soon found out, that slows things up considerably. Each time you take a photo, you have to stop and wash and dry your hands. I imagine that a camera would soon be ruined with flour and other food orts if you didn’t. (now, the next time you do a crossword puzzle and they give you a clue for three letter word for “Food Scrap”. The answer is “ort”, and now you have actually seen it used in a sentence.

I just included the photos below. Anybody that is going to make the pie will know what order that they belong in, so figure it out yourself. Included in the photos is a clue for one of the commenters here. See if anybody can figure out that one of the pies is a “pay-up” for some work done on the Laytonville history. And who it might be.

This is a pie made from the recipe in a previous post. I should tell you that the pie is made EXACTLY like the recipe said. So don’t come whining to me if your pie doesn't turn out. The only thing that might confuse you is the amount of apples. Store bought apples are larger than the average local tree apple, so cut down to FIVE store apples. I used I/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon of ginger. I cooked the pie at 350 for 55 minutes. The pie should be bubbly, and have a nicely browned crust. Some like their pies well done, if you are one of those, reduce the temperature down to 300 until the pie is done to your satisfaction. Don’t over-cook, or let the crust burn.

The other thing that I should tell you is, you can use a food processor if you like. I do everything by hand, it reminds me of the old folks that came before us. Their pies were remarkably tasty achievements. My 3G grandmother was famous for her pies, and her legend lives yet today. My recipes include things like acorn muffins. I cook mostly as a remembrance of the Old-timers.