A Cocktail and A Pie

Banish Pink Ladies?  I think not.  The elusive elixir has a stronghold on Blanchette Christmases as strong as any meat pie, and each generation seeks the endorsement of the older generation as to its perfection - in taste, consistency, and, yes, color.  Sometimes I've wondered, "If I topped Pepto Bismol off with Vernor's ginger ale, would anyone notice?"

With meat pies, the questions always get asked, "does it need more sage?" "why baking soda in the mix?" "should I add more bread?" - and this year, our adopted French Canadian, Annie Hoover, added "do you cook it before you freeze the pie?"

The answer to the sage question can only be judged by the older generation taste testing; baking soda cuts the richness of the pie; and enough bread to turn the liquid gelatinous are pat responses to the other. But do you cook the pie before freezing?  Annie did.  Perhaps Linda will be able to tell us which is better:  frozen pies precooked or not.

With Pink Ladies, the main question - which you can gather from previous entries - is usually, "who wants to make the Pink Ladies?"  Papére was a hard act to follow....

Papere making his signature drink

But my father did it pretty well.

Funny that a cocktail and a pie can invoke such insecurity in us all.  But truly Pink Ladies and Meat Pies are the Blanchette yard stick.  

So it was that this Christmas (we actually coasted past Christmas with everyone declaring they were too stuffed to have a Pink Lady, until Dec. 29th when tradition tugged at us) we proclaimed, "Uh!  We have to have Pink Ladies!  Who will make them?"

All eyes turned upon my daughter Emily's future father-in-law who was meeting the extended family for the very first time.  Something about Joel, both in demeanor and looks (check out the video toward the end), was so Papére that we suggested he prepare Papére's traditional drink, which - like a great sport - he did to much aplomb!  Minus once again the Vernors, Nana declared these the best Pink Ladies ever though they would have been made perfect with Vernors.  Check out the video below.

Of course, after the festivities and the company left, I began cleaning out my recipe files where I found my "can't leave home without it" recipe card for Pink Ladies, written hastily some 37 years ago before I left my family's home in Canada for the wilds of California.  I think it makes Papére's technique more clear and perhaps next year, we'll con Joel into another attempt at perfecting Papére's Pink Ladies one by one (with Vernors for sure!).  LOL as they say.

Hardy Appetit!

Dear Abby's Pecan Pie ...p89

My comment for Thanksgiving:  Make this pie. 

Delicious despite my error in not adding butter until I had already mixed in the pecans.  Oops.  I poured it over the top and stirred it in.  It was still perfect!  Combined with the Perfect Pie Crust, all agreed this was worthy of repeat!

My sister turned me on to this trick after years of my tearing thin strips of foil and wrapping pie crust edges to prevent over-browning:  just tear off a square a little bigger than your pie tin, fold in half and cut out the middle - voila!  a perfect foil circle to lay over the browning edges!

Hardy Appetit!

RASPBERRY TOPPED LEMON PIE ...p90

The closest comparison I can make to this pie might be Sour Skittles - a candy known to cause excessive salivation.  At first bite, I puckered my mouth at its tangy-ness (is that a word?), but then settled in to its sweet aftertaste.  The frozen raspberries completely broke up in the cooking and I think fresh ones might hold up better, or, perhaps after spreading the whipped cream, a colorful scattering of fresh raspberries on top would be nice.  All liked the rich pie well enough, but truth be told, I'd prefer cheesecake....

Hardy Appetit!

Pumpkin Pie Crunch ...p111

There in my cabinet loomed a large can of pumpkin yet unused from Thanksgiving.  This was the motivation I needed to make an almost unheard of treat in our home barring the holidays - dessert.

Except for slicing two sticks of butter

and chopping pecans with my favorite Uli knife,

this was a very simple "cake" to make - much like a dump cake (a term that causes my kids to squirm and question what the heck the ingredients are, while I pray that Nana doesn't mutter her favorite word during our exchange!)

But, of course, why would she with this wonderful variation on the pumpkin theme - pie or cake, whatever you call it, it's a rich, delightful dessert that will feed a crowd.

 

  

Not sure why - maybe my oven's off, or maybe the humidity was too high, but the 50 min. of cooking I anticipated turned into 1 hr. 30 min before my knife came out clean.....  Make it ahead if you don't wanna keep them waiting ;-) 

Hardy Appetit!

Pecan Tassies ...p102

After popping one of these in my mouth, I immediately flashbacked to my sweet Aunt Lynn's, a Roseville kitchen, during the Christmas season....  It was in my mom's and her kitchen where mustard sandwiches were born and fanciful paperbag creations were fashioned.   The fifties really were Ozzie & Harriet, Leave it to Beaver. And yes, my grandmother really wore Harriet dresses every day! 

I must confess that these "tassies" I began over Christmas - one of the recipes I never tried before.  However, I only got the pastry mixed and pressed into the mini-muffin tins when - for one reason or another - the filling wasn't completed, the tins were wrapped in foil and stashed in the freezer for future use. 

So after my quick look back, welcome to the future:  finishing pecan tassies in what might be freezer-burned yukka! 

My daughter Trish said it best:  "Wow!  These taste like mini-cheesecakes!"  And they did.  They were a bit crumbly (maybe a result of freezer burn?), so the 2nd tray I allowed to sit in the frig overnight - they came out easier, and were even creamier.  I think these will be a regular on my Christmas trays!

Hardy Appetit!