Elanore's Classic Cherry Pie

This pie is absolutely delicious, and has even converted the cherry pie skeptics in my family!

I always make it using this Classic Pie Crust recipe (double-crust, of course).

Ingredients:

6 cups pitted cherries (I always use jars of pitted sour cherries in syrup, drained)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup sugar
5 Tbsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. cold butter, diced (to dot on top)
Double Pie Crust (see link above for my favorite)

Directions:

*Keep pie crust dough balls refrigerated while making filling to make rolling out easier*

1. Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon.

2. Drain cherries and mix with the lemon juice in large bowl.

3. Sprinkle sugar/cornstarch mixture over cherries and stir until everything is juicy.

4. Roll out your bottom crust and transfer to a deep dish pie pan. Pour the juicy cherry filling mixture into the crust.

5. Dot the filling with little cubes of cold butter; don't mix them in!

6. Cut top crust however you'd like and place on top of filling. (I have done lattice and full top crust, and both worked. I like lattice best, and it's not as hard as it seems!) Seal and crimp edges.

7. Spread softened butter all over top crust, and sprinkle with a generous amount of sugar.

8. Now, while your oven preheats, put the whole, unbaked pie in the freezer for 5-7 minutes! This helps the edges not to burn in the oven.

9. Bake in the lower third of the oven at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes. Then, reduce oven temp. to 350 degrees F, and bake for an additional 30-35 mins. You're looking for a perfectly golden crust and bubbling filling.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream!!! :)

Classic Pie Crust

Here is a great crust recipe for all your favorite pies!

This recipe is for a double-crust pie; for a single-crust, use amounts in parenthesis.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (for single-crust: 1 and 1/4 cups)
1/2 tsp. salt (for single crust: 1/4 tsp.)
2/3 cup shortening - *lard or cold butter also work great* (for single crust: 1/3 cups)
6-7 Tbsp. cold water (for single crust: 4-5 Tbsp.)

Directions:

1. Mix together flour and salt.

2. Cut in shortening until pieces are about pea-sized.

3. Sprinkle in one tablespoon of cold water at a time--mixing after each addition--until all the dough is moistened and can be formed into a ball of dough. DO NOT add more water than called for!

4. If making a double crust, split ball of dough into two.

5. Lightly flour a surface and roll out your dough. Then transfer to pie plate (both deep dish and regular work). Fill with favorite pie filling!

6. If making a double crust, roll out second ball of dough and cut into desired shapes/lattice, or place entire piece of dough over filling and cut slits to allow steam to escape. Fold bottom crust edge over the top crust and crimp edges as desired.

7. I like to spread my top crust with softened butter and sprinkle generously with sugar before baking! Follow directions on your specific pie recipe to see how to bake the pie.

Best Sourdough Pancakes (Gluten-Free or Regular) (Vegan)

We've tried several, and these are the easiest, best GF sourdough* pancakes we've found. First, they use a ton of spent sourdough starter at one time, which I like. Second, they're light and fluffy, with crispy edges—the test of a good pancake to me. Don't skip the baking soda step, and do it separately like the recipe says. Yum!

2 C. sourdough starter, room temp (straight out of the fridge will work)

1/4 C. milk if starter is very thick (use nut milk for vegan)

2 Tbsp. sugar (I use coconut sugar)

1 egg (or flax egg for vegan)

4 Tbsp. oil (I use aapplesauce)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda (reserve for later)

1 Tbsp. warm water

1) In a large mixing bowl, combine sourdough starter, sugar, egg, olive oil, and salt. Mix well. If batter is very thick, add 1/4 milk or to desired consistency. Set aside.

2) In a small bowl, dilute 1 tsp. baking soda in 1 Tbsp. warm water. Set aside until ready to cook your pancakes.

NOTE: Only add the baking soda/water mixture to the pancake batter just before you are ready to cook the pancakes. Make certain everything is ready to go and the griddle is hot, so the pancakes can be cooked while the air is still working in the batter. This will produce lighter, fluffier pancakes.

3) When ready to cook your pancakes, fold the baking soda/water mixture gently into the prepared pancake batter. (Do not beat it!) This will cause a gentle foaming and rising action in the batter. Let the mixture bubble and foam a minute before using.

4) Ladle batter onto hot griddle. (We cook them in butter!)

5) Cook as you usually do pancakes: 1-2 minutes per side, flipping once you see bubbles beginning to form on the top side. Remove from heat and serve immediately (or keep them in a warm oven until ready to serve). Enjoy!

* If you don't have a GF sourdough starter—and don't have a GF sourdough friend who can give you some—you can start your own! Follow the directions here.

This recipe is adapted from this original wheat sourdough pancake recipe, which is delicious and is our very favorite! The regular wheat sourdough starter makes thinner pancakes, almost like crepes. Yum!

Aunt Kim's Baked Beef Chimichangas

2 pounds beef roast (Aunt Kim uses a chuck roast)
2 pkg. fajita seasoning
2 Tbsp garlic, diced
1 large onion, sliced in half moon rings
1 can diced green chiles
1/4 C. fresh cilantro
1 can refried beans
1 pkg. colby jack cheese
2 pkg. soft taco shells, 10-count
sour cream for garnish
vegetable oil or cooking spray

1) Heat skillet on high heat with a  drizzle of olive oil.
2) Place roast in pan and sear on both sides. (Be sure to wear a trash bag like Aunt Kim!)
3) Place seared roast in slow cooker on high heat.
4) Slice onion and place on top of roast with garlic, fajita seasoning, and 1/2 C. water.
5) Let cook for 4 hours or until you can shred the beef with a fork. (It takes longer!)
6) Shred the beef with two forks. (Aunt Kim's meat-shredder claws are great!)
7) Add the green chiles and chopped cilantro to a bowl. Mix together with the shredded beef.
8) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
9) Heat refried beans on stove until heated, creamy, and easily spreadable.
10) Warm soft taco shells in the microwave about 30 seconds, just until warm.
11) Spray baking sheets with cooking spray.
12) Assemble chimis by spreading beans, cheese, beef mixture on tortilla shells, then fold.
13) Eyeball how much to put in each shell, which will be tri-folded.
14) Place on baking sheet, seam side down.
15) Using a pastry brush, brush finished chimis with oil or spray them with cooking spray.
16) Heat in oven for 15 minutes. Keep on eye on the bottoms of chimis so they don't burn.
17) Remove chimis from the oven. Top with cheese and place under broiler for 2-5 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Keep a close watch so they don't burn.

NOTE: This original recipe came from Just a Pinch Recipes.

Beach Week 2020

Aunt Kim's Coconut Cake

This recipe appeared originally in Just a Pinch Recipes as "Coconut Brunch Bread." With the glazed icing, it is delicious but very sweet... every bit a cake!

6 eggs
3 C. sugar
1 1/2 C. oil
3 tsp. coconut extract
4 1/2 C. flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C. buttermilk
1 1/2 C. flaked coconut
1 1/2 C. chopped walnuts

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Beat first four ingredients together and blend well.
3) Mix dry ingredients.
4) Add dry ingredients to egg mixture, alternating with buttermilk, coconut, and nuts.
45 Spoon into 3 large loaf pans or 1 10" bundt pan.
6) Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes if using loaf pans, or 1 1/2 hours if using bundt pan.

ICING:
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. water
2 Tbsp. margarine (I always use butter)
1 tsp. coconut extract

1) While bread is baking, combine sugar, water, and butter in small saucepan.
2) Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add coconut extract.
3) Remove warm breads from pan(s).
4) Place back in pans and pour hot syrup over top of the warm cake.
5) Let stand 4 hours or more before slicing and serving.

Beach Week 2020

Rainy Day Egg Drop Soup

One of Molly's favourite kinds of dishes is the warm noodle broth, but in college she would often just opt to cook noodles in a water and soy sauce mixture in between study sessions, which isn't very nourishing.

Since it's cold and rainy, I whipped up this much heartier version for our dinner. She asked me to make it another time, so I'm writing it down here for future reference. If you make it, let me know what you think!

Note that this recipe only makes enough for two as a main dish, but could easily feed more as a side to another Asian-fusion dish.

Ingredients:

• Water
• Chicken bouillon powder
• Soy sauce
• Powdered garlic
• Powdered ginger
• Sesame seeds
• Whole prickly ash pods
• Chili bean paste
• Sesame oil
• Black pepper
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Somen noodles

Directions:

1. Boil 3 cups of water. Add a heaping tablespoon of chicken bouillon powder, stir, and let boil for a couple minutes.
2. Add a splash of soy sauce, a generous dash of garlic, a few fingerfuls of the prickly ash, a good dusting of sesame seeds, a teaspoon of the chili bean paste, a generous dash of black pepper, a generous dash of sugar, a little bit of sesame oil, and as much ginger as you'd enjoy (I put in just a little less than the garlic).
3. Stir everything together, then let the mixture boil for a couple minutes until it becomes a nice broth.
4. In a separate bowl, mix two eggs with a quarter cup cold water. Pour the egg mixture into the broth, stirring the whole time with a fork. Boil for a good three or four minutes, until the eggs have cooked into lots of little visible chunks swirling in the broth.
5. Add a packet of somen noodles and boil for two minutes, stirring at intervals. (Our somen noodles come in a package with several individually bound sections of noodles. I used one of the individual sections, not the whole package.)
6. Let sit for a couple minutes, then serve up into two bowls and enjoy!

Aunt Nita's Spaghetti

1 large onion, diced
2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic (2-3 cloves)
3 lbs. lean ground beef
chile powder (hefty sprinkling)
salt and pepper to taste
1 large can tomato sauce
1 large can tomato paste
1 can mushrooms (stems and pieces)—optional
parmesan for topping

1) Sauté onion and garlic in oil until clear. (Add garlic after onion has cooked a little bit to avoid burning it.)

2) Brown ground beef with onion and garlic.

3) Add seasonings.

4) Add tomato sauce and tomato paste. Then fill each can almost full with water and add to sauce.

5) Simmer until flavors are well-blended and sauce is right consistency.

6) Add mushrooms toward the end and simmer until warm.

7) Serve over al dente spaghetti noodles with a nice Italian salad and good crusty Italian bread.

8) Serve Mumama's Banana Pudding for dessert! :)

Elanore's Favorite Chicken Salad

This is a knock-off of the very delicious rotisserie chicken salad from Fresh Market. It is so simple, and very delicious. 

The secret is to shred the chicken and make the chicken salad while the chicken is still warm.

1) Tear/shred the flesh of one rotisserie chicken by hand. Don't chop it!

2) While it is still warm (this is important), rub in the following ingredients:

Hellman's mayonnaise

sea salt

celery salt

cracked black pepper

celery, finely diced 

Everything is to taste, and quantities are according to your preferences.

Zucchini Bread

I received this text from our son, Philip, today: "I'm really hoping to find our nice childhood recipe for zucchini bread, since it's not on Sharing Recipes." So, as requested, here it is!

3 eggs
2 C. sugar
1 C. oil (I use light/"regular" olive oil, but not EVOO)
1 T. vanilla extract
2 C. unpeeled zucchini, coarsely grated
2 C. flour (gluten-free one-to-one blends work fine)
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. soda
1 C. pecans, chopped
8 ounces cream cheese (optional, for serving)

Beat eggs until frothy. Beat in sugar. Add oil and vanilla and beat until thick and lemon colored. Add loosely packed, grated zucchini. Sift together dry ingredients and add to egg mixture. Fold in pecans. Pour into 8x4-inch greased and floured loaf pan, or 3 small loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Bake 45 minutes for small loaves. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Serve plain or with cream cheese.

This recipe originally appeared in a favorite cookbook, Well Seasoned: A Southern Classic.


I'm really hoping to find our nice childhood recipe for zucchini bread, since it's not on Sharing Recipes

Anita's Creamy Tuscan Chicken (Instant Pot)

This is my mom's delicious recipe! It was fun to make it on Mother's Day in Virginia Beach and feel like she was involved in the festivities from nearly 5,000 miles away in Hawai'i! Serves about five.

Ingredients:

8-10 chicken thighs, skinless & boneless
4 garlic cloves, minced
Fresh mushrooms, sliced
Oregano
Marjoram
Herbes de Provence
2 tbsp. soy sauce (or liquid aminos to make it GF!)
3/4 cup chicken stock
Sun-dried tomatoes, to taste
Spinach, to taste
1/2 to 1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
A bit of cornstarch to thicken the sauce

Directions:

1) Salt and pepper chicken thighs. Put Instant Pot on "Saute" mode; once it is hot, coat bottom with olive oil and add chicken thighs to brown. After 3.5 minutes, flip to brown the other sides for 2 minutes. Do this in batches, so as not to crowd the pan.

2) Add minced garlic. Saute for 30 seconds, then add sliced mushrooms to saute for another minute or so. Add oregano, marjoram, herbes de Provence, and any other desired spices.

3) Deglaze bottom of pot with soy sauce and chicken stock, scraping browned bits off bottom of pot. Mix.

4) Add browned chicken, along with any accumulated juices. Pressure cook on high for 5 minutes, then allow 10 minutes of natural release. Release remaining pressure.

5) Set chicken aside. Bring liquid back to a boil by switching to "Saute" mode. Add spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Mix. Add cream and parmesan cheese.

6) Mix cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Add mixture to pot in increments until sauce is thickened to desired consistency.

7) Add chicken back to pot. Serve over pasta.