Pie Crust for the Pie-Crust-Challenged

Pie Crust recipe from the Longaberger Cookbook:

2 cups flour
1/2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup lard
1 small egg, beaten
1/2 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup water

Sift together four, sugar and salg. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the lard until mixture resembles course crumbs. Mix together egg, vinegar and water, then add to flour mixture. Mix until dough is moist enough to form a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 mintues. Divide dough in half and roll out just like any other pie crust.

I never use lard - I usually use Crisco, but sometimes butter. Also, I don't usually have small eggs on hand, so I just use what's in the fridge (usually large) and it doesn't seem to matter.

Happy Super Sweet Twenty Nine!

Today, lovely Ramona celebrates her super-sweet twenty nine. Hopefully complete with tiaras and fanfare!

Feeling like a 5-year-old

I grew up in Colorado. It's a wonderful place, and I love it! But now I live in Virginia, which has its own charms. I'm spending my first summer in the south and discovering all kinds of interesting things. For example, every few weeks, a new flower or tree will bloom and fill my neighborhood with a new scent. First it was the wysteria, then honeysuckle, then lilacs, then roses, and now magnolias. Oh, the magnolias are amazing. Spicy and sweet and seductive.

We also have lightning bugs here! There are no lightning bugs in Colorado that I know of, so I've only seen them a few times in my life. The past few evenings I've seen some flitting through the air and every time they light up my heart just leaps! I feel like a little kid! They are so magical and amazing to me! My friends laugh (kindly) at me to see my childlike excitement over these creatures. Most of my pals here grew up in this area, so they are used to the flashing green lights in the humid night air. But not me. To me they are mysterious and new.

I love moments like that. Moments that fill you with a simple kind of wonder and make your heart skip a beat at the sheer beauty of the world. Moments like that might just sustain me through this crazy heat and humidity.

Pesto

10-15 leaves of basil -- roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic -- gently browned over low heat in 1/4 olive oil
1/3 C pinenuts -- lightly toasted
1/3 C grated romano cheese

Toss every thing into the blender/food processor and give it a whir until it's the texture you desire. Yum!

I made this last night with basil from the garden! Yum.

Beloved Books on the Big Screen

So Nancy Drew hit the big screen last night. Could this book be loyal to the spirit of those Carolyn Keene stories without slavishly recreating them? I hope so.

Two of the bigger travesties in beloved book to movie making?
Casting fragile and delicate Winona Ryder as Jo March in Little Women (1994)
The slavish and boring page by page re-creation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Books to movies that are pretty decent:
Both of the bizarre and kookie versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The recent Lion, Witch, Wardrobe.

Fantastic?
Anne of Green Gables

Opinions?

Moratorium on Black Plastic Glasses

I was flipping around between a few different TV shows last night and it occurred to me: it seems that every man between the ages of 25 and 45 who fancies himself something of a hipster wears the same black, plastic, rectangular framed glasses. Like this:

It really has reached a ridiculous level. Note to all you men out there: your glasses are no longer funky or hip when EVERY OTHER MAN in your demographic with eye trouble is also wearing them!

Don't get me wrong, I love glasses as accessories. They can be fashionable and fabulous. But it's time to give the black plastic frames a rest, gentlemen. Try wire frames. Or brown. Or green! There are so many styles out there to choose from! Live a little.

Crunchy Bar Food

I need to get the recipe and ingredients for this!

One, Two, Three...

I read once that the 2nd movie in a trilogy is always the best. The first one is mostly exposition because it's setting up the scene and all the characters. The second one can build on it however it likes (Han Solo encased in carbonite, the *hint* of the Phoenix in the waters), but then third one must include the big pay off (giant explosions and victories) and people have to run around and tie off ALL the loose ends (Lord of the Rings was great but how many times did you think the movie was just about to end?).

Sadly, I feel like this summer's "thirds" are all pretty uninspired. Shrek 3, Pirates 3, Spidey 3, Oceans 1"3", and horrors upon horrors, Rush Hour 3 (I used to think I can enjoy Jackie Chan's American movies by ignoring the part of me that was the Asian American Studies minor, but no more!). None of them inspire me to step into the theater (except for our friendly neighborhood Spiderman), even to escape the 90+ degree weather here. And I like blockbusters and explosions and movies that deafen you!

So thus far this is the summer of smaller films: Hot Fuzz, Paris Je'taime, Waitress.

I've also stopped picking up books that are labeled "Book 1 of ..." unless I love the author and I'm also started watching self-contained show like CSI (the killer confessed!), Ace of Cakes (everyone gets beautiful and creative cakes!).

Maybe I'm just impatient and I want the payoff NOW (otherwise known as the "Lost" syndrome?). Maybe I just can't commit. Maybe I just want a brilliant told story that has a clear beginning, middle, and end. Somebody just tell me what happens!

Pie Thoughts and Feminist Theory; inspired by "Waitress"

Ramona, Suzaaku and I went to see the delightful movie Waitress this weekend (Nancy! We missed you!).

Ramona noted that amateur feminist theorists such as ourselves could go to town with this movie: gender; marriage; frienships between women; violence; class; the mystique of the feminine; motherhood as transformative miracle. The two things that stuck with me most from the movie were a) the insidious insecurity of the controlling husband Earl -- scary mostly because you couldn't actually predict what he might do next and b) the pie.

About the pie. Waitress should win a cinematography award for the pie camera work- what glorious images of pie-making. In the credits are listed Pie Gaffer and Pie Mistress - a slice of pie to them.

Mr. Mame's mamma makes great pies -- so when she comes for a visit, I'm going to ask her to put me through pie boot-camp. Last time I tried to make pie, I ended up in tears . . . the crust was just not RIGHT.

Chile Rellenos

Last night I made Chile Rellenos for a couple of friends and they were quite delicious! So I thought I'd share them with you! The recipe is from my pal Diana, who was inspired by Chile Rellenos she had at Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill. The version I made (below) made 6 rellenos, which I made for 3 people as the main dish. As you can see, the recipe is easy to expand or shrink depending on your crowd, or if you're making them for a side dish instead.

Diana's Fab Chile Rellenos

* Take your chile peppers (I used 6 Anaheim peppers, but poblanos would work too, I'm told) and roast them on the grill or under the broiler untill they are blackened, flipping them to get all sides.
* Remove peppers from oven and place in a paper bag to cool - the steam will help separate the skins from the peppers!
* When peppers are cool, carefully remove skins, then make a slit in each pepper and remove the membrane and seeds from inside.
* Combine 8 oz goat cheese with some cojita or jack cheese (or other cheese of your choice). I think I used about a handful of jack cheese for mine.
* Stuff the peppers with the cheese!
* Make an assemby line with your stuffed peppers, a dish of beaten eggs (D recommends one whole egg plus two egg whites), and a plate with cornmeal. (Season cornmeal to taste with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, whatever else sounds good to you.)
* Coat peppers in egg, then dredge in the cornmeal mixture, and arrange in a greased baking dish.
* Bake at 375 degrees 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is melty and heated through.

Stealing another idea from the brilliant Diana, I served my rellenos with a tasty chopped salad of romaine, red onion, black beans, corn, mango and avacado. I whipped up a simple dressing of lime juice, vinegar and olive oil, plus a little salt and pepper and just a splash of lemon juice. It was simple and quite tasty!

So, hooray for good food and terrific friends!