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!

Chili Relleno Casserole ...p67

I must apologize for the quality of my photos.  My camera was left on an airplane and, unfortunately for me, but fortunately for the thief, it was finders keepers.  I am using my cell phone now for photos, which does an okay job.  I'm disappointed though as I was just learning how to use f-stops and get creative with the camera - I may just have to experiment now with instagram and the creative apps for shooting with an i-phone!

Back to cooking!

I fell in love with this egg recipe the first time my mother-in-law cooked it up.  You can serve it for any meal of the day, dress it up, or just reheat all week long for a quick breakfast, and it's so much easier to make than a quiche with the time threatening crust, (unless, of course, you make the Bisquick quiche or buy premade crusts...).  I have doctored it up at times with cooked, crumbled sausage or bacon.

I like to top it with sour cream and hot sauce, maybe a few sliced jalapeños, and accompany with fresh sliced tomatoes. 

Layer the whole green chilies on the bottom of pan.

Top layer of cheese adds a golden crust.

Hardy Appetit!