Coffee or tea with that?

It is with tears of exuberant joy that I announce


the Sockapalooza socks are done.


I haven't taken pictures yet - very busy today - but I will have them ready soon. I can't tell you how happy I am to have this job off my back. I never did get my hands on more yarn, so I had to rip back to the ankle and reknit... but at least it's over.



And, this is how I spent my Saturday. Recipes this time (and pardon me for thinking, last time, that you wouldn't be interested in the hows and whys).



Tenderflake Pastry Recipe
(from the box, and the best recipe out there)
6 cups pastry flour (or 5 1/2 cups all-purpose, but pastry flour is better)
2 tsp salt
1 pound lard
1 egg, lightly beaten in a 1-cup measure, with
1 tsp vinegar
add cold water to make 1 cup


Mix flour and salt. Cut in lard til crumbly. Stir in liquids lightly, divide into 3, press into rounds. Freeze or chill for 15 minutes or so. Roll out on floured board. Makes 3 pies, give or take, depending on the size of your pie plates.


Peach Pie
8 large ripe freestones, blanched, skinned, and sliced in 1/2 inch pieces
Mix together:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 T flour
2 T cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch salt (if desired)


Toss peach slices in above mixture, then add 1 T lemon juice and 2 T cold unsalted butter, cut into bits. Turn out into pie plate. Make lattice top if desired, using 1" strips (I use a pizza cutter and a straight edge to make the strips)



Weave lattice top (not pictured due to no help and using both hands to weave pastry strips) and glaze it with a beaten egg yolk mixed with 1 tsp cold water.


Sprinkle with coarse sugar.



Bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes, then at 350 til golden brown and bubbly. (I sometimes have to wrap strips of aluminum foil around the edge of the crust after 15 or 20 minutes in the oven, to keep it from getting too brown.) Try to restrain yourself from cutting into the pie until it's cooled to barely warm. Good luck with that.




Rhubarb Pie

Toss 4 cups sliced rhubarb in the following mixture:
1 1/3 C granulated sugar
1/4 C flour
1 1/2 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon (or replace both of these with Poudre Douce)
pinch salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 T butter in bits


Lattice top this one, again, if desired. If not, just top with a round of pastry out of which you have cut several vents. Glaze as above, and bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then 350 for 30-45.