All Eyes on Me

Made a few little pie experiments last night. As you may know, pie is my favorite form of food-- basically, put it in a crust and I'm automatically going to enjoy it --and I like them even better when they're mini. But as much as I love them, I still haven't really figured out how to produce them reliably. I'm still toying with the proper procedure for tiny pies in my slightly-too-hot oven, so I bought some puff pastry and experimented.

For the first one, I chopped up two slightly overripe apples, mixed them in cinnamon and sugar, then put them in a two-cup ramekin. I cut a round of puff pastry, poked holes in it, and laid it over the top. For once I didn't forget to dot the apples with butter beforehand. Bernie tucked it down into the ramekin before I could stop him, so it the dough may have been slightly compressed.

I baked it at 350 degrees for thirty minutes. My oven, which runs hot, has a tendency to burn the tops of my pies, so I gently laid a piece of aluminum foil for the first twenty, which may have had the opposite effect of making it a little too pale. The pastry didn't seem too puff as much as I wanted it to, and there was a lot of liquid inside, but the flavor and texture of the apple filling was excellent.

Then I made some tiny strawberry pies. We sliced two cups of strawberries, mixed them with a quarter cup of sugar, a tablespoon on cornstarch, and a dash of frambroise, a raspberry liquor. This was inspired by the mixed berry pie filling my mother makes. This was enough to fill three of these tiny glass dishes. Again I cut rounds of puff pastry and laid them on top. To bake them I just followed the suggestion on the puff pastry box, fifteen minutes at four hundred, which seemed to work. The tops didn't even burn.

Still, I was more disappointed with the end result of them. They were way too sweet in my opinion, though Bernie liked them. Next time I won't use so much sugar. The interior was a lot less liquidy, though, probably because of the cornstarch thickening it. I never put cornstarch in my apple pies, the full-sized ones never seem to need it, but maybe a small one like that needs a touch to counter the fluid from the apples and the butter.

In both cases the puff pastry didn't puff as much as I wanted it to. Maybe my expectations are off, but I want high, flaky layers over the filling. I'm not sure if I poked too big holes, or didn't handle the dough correctly and squashed it too much for the layers to separate. I'll have to keep trying.

I love pie. I love puff pastry. I'm thinking of making a sautéed mushroom filling, maybe duxelles with marsala, and using it to fill puff pastry. I think that would be delicious.

I am now back from my lovely excursion, and smack back in the middle of work and responsibilities. Ah, well. Idle hands are the devil's workshop and all that. It was nice to have such a lovely break.

I have a number of things going on right now, but since Halloween is less than a week away, my preparations must buckle down in earnest. My costume is very nearly in order. I am pretty much just wearing the bellydancer outfit I assembled for Stars of Al-Ashtara-- I was not feeling particularly inspired this year and it saves me having to construct an extra costume. I could use a few more little details like a veil and maybe some bangles, but I can figure that out. I just need to finish sewing the waistband into the skirt I am making from the fabulous patterned blue muumuu I thrifted. It's a bigger job than I thought it would be, because there is so damn much fabric. I will put an elastic inside this case I'm sewing so that it will gather around my waist just fine, but that case has to be very long before the elastic can get in there to scrunch it up. Such is the nature of a muumuu, I suppose. I guess I could cut a chunk out of it to make it smaller, but I kind of like how full it is, and it wouldn't exactly eliminate a lot of sewing if I had to sew the side back up as well. So, I'm just going to keep on with the casing. I'm about a third of the way finished, so I should be able to get it done before the day.

I also need to plan the goodies menu. I want to have lots of tasty seasonal delicacies available, but I have yet to decide what they are. Pie is certainly desireable, and I will probably go with pumpkin but apple is a possibility as well. Cider is another fall favorite of mine. Besides apples and pumpkins, other foods I associate with fall are cranberries, squash, pears, ginger, and corn, so I will have to figure out what sort of things I can make involving those. Suggestions as well as the volunteering to bring dishes are welcome.

Whatever my spread, the centerpiece of it will be my newest acquisition, my beautiful skull bottle. In the liquor store on Main Street I saw that there is now a kind of vodka out called Crystal Head, which is sold in this fantastic bottle in the shape of a skull. I don't drink, and the stuff inside it was fifty bucks a pop, but I had to have one for this Halloween. So I stalked an empty one on eBay, nabbed it in triumph, and returned last night to find it already delivered and waiting!
 

Creepy little bugger, isn't he? I'm not sure what I'll fill him with-- kind of makes me wish I drank just so I could put some creative and brightly-colored cocktail in him --but I want him to serve a drink. Maybe cranberry juice, for the fall feel and the bright blood red. Ah, so much planning to do, and so much lovely cooking to get ready for! God, I love Halloween.

Goodness, but I have been a busy girl these last several days. Since my last post was on Friday, I will pick up from there. Cut into three installments to keep the number of tags for the entry from getting too absurd. I do love my tags, you know.

Friday night was a wonderful evening spent in the company of the lovely in_water_writ, in which she came over to Elsinore and we cooked a delicious dinner together. I made a pork roast, something I've been wanting to try for ages and finally could without my kosher boys around, and she made these fantastic stuffed mushrooms that I'm going to have to recreate myself sometime. I also made some mini apple pies in the new tiny pie plates my mom sent me, but they came out strangely-- I wasn't sure on the cooking time, and they came out with the apples not soft enough but also kind of dry, so I couldn't tell if they were overcooked or undercooked. Ah, well. I'll have to play around with it until I find a recipe that works. Having the time with Jenn was really wonderful; I loved cooking the meal with her and we talked so long we lost track of time. It's tough for me to open up to most people, but I really do feel comfortable confiding things in her. I'm lucky to have her around, aren't I? :-) We were talking about having a standing dinner date once or twice a month where she and I, or the two of us plus John and Jared, get together at each other's places to cook. Given how much I enjoyed that evening, I think that would be a lovely idea.

My mom just sent me MINI PIE PLATES. MINI PIE PLATES, I TELL YOU. I LOVE HER SO MUCH.

Because it's my wonderful mother, the package contained, in addition to the MINI PIE PLATES, chewable immune supplements, a mini-DV of her riding her horse Braveheart, a couple of chocolate kisses, and a humorous short story parodying Lovecraft fandom entitled "The Eldritch Pastiche from Beyond the Shadow of Horror."

I love packages from my mom.
 

Today was a day for Phoebe to be alone. I needed to take care of a few things, but I also just needed some space and quiet so I could just think.

Tomorrow lots of things are happening. A game of Twilight Imperium will be going on at Elsinore. I have rehearsal all the way in Duxbury starting at noon, so unfortunately I won't be able to be there for the first part of the game. It's a shame, not because I have any interest in playing, but because there's a chance that the awesome Mr. Mike Hyde may be attending, and it would be cool to get a chance to hang out with him. I should be back before the end, though. And then, the second session of Burn Notice goes on. I think I'm ready, though I should probably go over things one more time, just to be safe.

I baked three pies for the company, two pumpkin and one apple. I enjoyed it, but it was more work than I expected it to be; the whole process, including the massive amour of cleanup that always follows pie-baking, took three solid hours of work. I've never made that many pies without help before, and it was particularly challenging to roll out and lay on all the crusts without a second set of hands. I'm actually kind of exhausted. But there are now three beautiful pies cooling on he stove for everyone coming tomorrow, so enjoy the fruits of my labors.

I look down and my feet are covered with flour. I look behind me and see little powdery white footprints. I see I have more cleaning to do.

I should go take a shower. Or clean more. But my flour-feet are tired.

Today Constantine goes into the shop to get serviced. It's just a routine thing, so he's okay, but he needs his tires rotated, I think. It occurs to me that I actually don't know how long he'll have to stay there, but I hope it's just for a couple of hours and then I can take him home again.  

While my car is being worked on, I will be making my monthly Target run. I'm thinking of taking a look around there for any possible vessel options for making my mini-pies. Target has lots of interesting crockery pieces for relatively cheap, but I'm concerned that to get as many as I'd like will come to a little more than I'm interested in paying. So I will probably prefer to go with the disposable aluminum stuff. Still, it will be fun to look. I do love crockery so, even the junky stuff. :-) I looked up a couple of recipes for mini pies, just for the baking time; I plan on using my own recipe for the actual pie, but I didn't know how the size would affect the temperature and time in the oven. It looks like for four-inch tins, bake for twenty minutes at 375 degrees. That is a lot quicker than a full-sized pie. It also suggested serving with a melon baller scoop's worth of ice cream on top; I like the idea of using a melon baller to make tiny garnish for a tiny pie.

I also want to get my suede jacket dry cleaned. It's a really nice jacket, but it's looking pretty grungy right now. Maybe I can get that done as well. I should make a to do list, to keep all my chores and assignments in order.

Savory Artichoke Pie:

To make crust:

Combine 1 1/2 C flour with 1/2 tsp salt. Cut in 1/2 C margarine. When mixture resembles coarse crumbs, drizzle with 2-3tasp cold soy milk. Press dough with fingers until it starts to hold together in large clumps. Shape int oa ball, then spread in a greased pie pan, pressing with fingers. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degree and bake for 8 minutes longer, until slightly golden.

For filling:

2tbsp olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp shopped basil leaves
14 oz canned artichoke hearts, drained, gently squeezed, and cut into 6 wedges each
12oz firm silken tofu, lightly drained
1 cube vegan vegetable bullion

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 8 minutes or until lightly browned and soft. Add garlic and basil and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in artichokes.

Puree tofu and boullion cube. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spread half of tofu in baked pie crust. Arrange half of artichokes on top. Repeat a second layer with the rest.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until topping is lightly browned. Let cool 5-10 minutes before eating.

I love the shower at home. It's gorgeous black marble, it gets so hot, the pressure is great, and I LOVE IT SO VERY MUCH. I want to live in there and never leave.

I took my shower while on break from my duties as kitchen slave. I kid, it's been very enjoyable making stuff. My dad dragged me out of bed at nine, laughing at me for my "laziness," then brought me downstairs to help cook. We made the stuffing first, then Dad stuffed old Tom Turkey, and put him in the oven at 9:36AM. Next I made a pumpkin pie while my mom rolled out the crust. It was kind of hilarious; I was like a little kid being all "I can do it! I can do it ALL BY MYSELF! Let me do it!" with the pie, because I'm still unsure enough of my cooking abilities that I feel like I need to constantly test and retest them. Then I peeled yams and potatoes for a while until shower time.

My dad heard a joke on Letterman-- "I made these two pecan pies. I have licked one of them." --that he found so funny he's been repeating in variations all morning. By this point, all three of us have declared licking various things so we will be able to have them all to ourselves. By the end of this meal, no dish will go unlicked.