Pastry for a Single-Crust Pie

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Prepare and roll out pastry. Line a 9″ pie plate. Trim and flute edges. If you prebake, do not prick the pastry - prebake for 5 minutes in a 450 degree oven, and cool thoroughly. I don’t prebake. The crust always comes out moist and flaky - never tough or rubbery.

Filling:

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Cut in the butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

In a different bowl (I use a 4 cup measuring cup instead of a bowl, makes the pouring easier) combine the molasses, hot water, and baking soda.

Don’t panic … it will have a lively reaction when you put in the baking soda! :-)

Regular recipes usually call for pouring a liquid layer into the pie crust first, but I’ve noticed that this often leads to a leaky pie once it’s cooked. I usually put a small amount of the dry layer down first, then I gently pour some of the hot, “fuzzling” liquid over that, usually pouring it over the back of a spoon to keep it from splashing. Then another dry layer, thin, but enough to mostly cover the wet layer. Repeat layers, ending with a dry layer, and completely hiding the wet layer beneath. I can usually get about 4 wet/dry layers total per pie.

Cover the edges of the pie with tin foil, and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Remove the tin foil and finish baking until the center is firm. Cool on rack before serving.

Ovens are very different, so pay attention to the way the pie looks. It might take your pie less time than it takes mine … and as far as the tin foil goes, you just want to take it off early enough for the edges to be golden.

This is a lovely pie … nice served with vanilla or coffee ice cream … or fresh, sweetened whipped cream with a bit of vanilla extract. It’s the easiest and least expensive pie that I make out of everything in my regular repertoire. The flavor is not quite like anything else … and nor is the consistency. Addictive! :o)

Quick note …

Took my midterm today. Out of the 3 allotted hours, I used 2.09 … which included going back over all of my answers and double checking them. There were a few tricky questions, like naming “the” muscle that plantar flexes the foot … ayuh … which one of the 5 they taught us do they consider to be “the” muscle? Just love that sort of thing …

At any rate … I can now breathe easier!

Tomorrow I’m going to be making some pies for a Knights of Columbus dinner … I think I’ll make “Shoofly” … those always go over rather nicely. Saturday is the dinner itself … I’ll be helping to set up, serve,and clean up.. Going to be a busy couple of days.

Hopefully I can get back into my regular posting schedule this coming week …

And now … I’m going to go “celebrate” a bit before bed … *hic!* … >;o)

Wanted to drop in and say hello to everyone … I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet. There’ve been a lot of things going on - not the least of which are midterms this week. I’m frantically trying to stuff my little Moofie-brain full of lots of nice anatomy and physiology … *rolls eyes* … regarding which I was recently overheard saying: “Hey! It’s going to be a piece of cake! This is the third time I take it!” … *sigh* … I took it in nursing school, then in Corps School … about 100 years ago! It never pays to be cocky! I didn’t take into account how much like a leaky sieve my brain has become in my old age … ;o)

Just in case someone visits my blog who doesn’t know the famous Dr. Crippen of NHS Blog Doc, he’s hosting Grand Rounds this week, and has done a fantastic job. I’ve never seen so many pictures in one post before! I’ve got to say that he’s come up in the blogosphere like a rocket! He started blogging a month later than I did, and has made it to #1 in the BlogTopSites under the health category.

… and I can say that I knew him when he was just a wee one … erm, blogger, that is …

Congratulations Dr. Crippen! You’ve got one rocking blog!

And now … back to my studies. I’ve got to finish up the chapter on the Endocrine System before I can get some shut-eye tonight … what was I thinking when I decided to go back to school??? 0.o

PS … kudos and thanks to the Cheerful Oncologist for the idea of using pictures to illustrate various words in a post. He’s a very clever gentleman!

Clubis » PUNISHMENT

Alex: Not that he created them all the SAME… as in, ‘they are all similar’… But that, all the same, he has created them.

Eric: I understand, and I admit to misinterpretation.

Alex: Fantastic!

Eric: And in that God has created them, on that common fact alone, it is unjust to kill others. I agree with this.

Alex: Wonderful, wonderful. You are one of the few people that cause me to feel slightly wary upon beginning a philosophical and political discussion.

Alex: Agreements are beautiful.

Eric: Well said.

Eric: But yet, now that we have established God into our universe, we must ask the following question. What makes us think that God doesn’t want us to kill people?

An absolute must read over on Eric’s Blog: Clubis.

Lots of room for an interesting and lively discussion - from the existence of God … through capital punishment … abortion … and eugenics!

I think that perhaps our friend Eric has a real sense of his readers’ “soft underbelly!”

My regular readers might remember a post I made back in December about the Red Hat Society chapter I belong to. In that post, I said the following:

Yes, I confess, I’m a Red Hat. Among the many paradigms I’ve broken in the last two years, this is the one that amazes me the most! In fact, thanks to the Red Hats and a story which I might get up the gumption to tell you at a later time *blush* … I can say that I’ve lived long enough to be an embarrassment to my kids! But that’s another story … all I’ll say for now is: even old ladies like me can enter bathing suit contests … *smirk!*

Well, I’m ready to tell the story - for those who are brave enough …

Read the rest of this entry »