A Good, Very Good, Pie Crust Recipe

Makes 2 13'' pie size crusts.

I have been searching for a good pie recipe and after some researching and trying out different ones, I came up with my favorite so far.

 Ingredients:

3 Cups of Flour

1 Tsp Kosher Salt

1 Tsp Baking Powder

½ Cup Lard (or butter)

½ Cup of Butter (total of 1 cup butter if you are substituting some for lard)

2/3 Cup Ice Cold Water

Directions:

Mix together salt and baking powder into flour. Cut butter and lard into flour mixture until it forms small misshaped pea sized balls, then slowly add in ice cold water. Let sit in refrigerator for 1/2 an hour to cool.

Roll out with the aid of sprinkled flour.

If you need to pre-cook the crust, do so at 350 degrees, checking for golden brown after 10 minutes.

Works for sweet or savory pies

Deviled Egg Chicks

Directions:

Boil 9 eggs
Peel Eggs
Cut off tops & take out yokes
Dye in food coloring mixtures (2 cups water, 5 drops of food coloring, tsp vinegar)
Make Yoke mixture* (see below)
Pipe back into egg whites and use olive pieces for eyes and a piece of grated cheddar cheese for the beaks.

Yoke Mixture:

9 Egg yokes

2 Tbl mayo

1/2 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp mustard

dash of garlic

dash of salt and pepper

dash of papricka

dash of any other seasonings you might like (e.g. Cumin)

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

A super simple pie crust

Crush 1 pkg of Graham Crackers

Mix in 4 tablespoons of Melted Butter

Press into Pan Form & put in fridge while making filling.

For a sweeter crust, add ¼ cup of brown sugar to melted butter before mixing with the graham cracker crust.

Can be cooked in the oven with any pie or be used as a no-bake crust. If cooked in the oven, line exposed crust with tin foil.

Chicken & Quinoa Stir Fry

2 cups of cooked quinoa (cooked w/ broth instead of water)

1 thawed bonless skinless chicken breast sliced

1-2 cloves of garlic diced

2 tbl olive oil

1/8 cup of soy sauce (or to taste)*

2-3 cups of vegtables (stirfry mix or fresh peas, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots etc.)

Sautee garlic cloves with vegetables until they just start to brown on med-high heat

Add chicken, soy sauce and cooked quinoa and continue to cook on medium until chicken is done.

Enjoy!

* For a variation, add teriyaki sauce.

Honey-Butter Lemon Fish with Spinach and Wild Rice

Simple Recipe for when your "to-do" list is long. This one leaves lots of time to get stuff done while dinner is cooking.

Part 1: (50 min before it's time to serve)

Preheat oven to 400, put wild rice with a tsp of butter and pinch of salt on the stove
Mix together 2 tbl of melted butter, 2 tbl of Honey and 1 tsp of Lemon Juice and glaze on frozen fish (trout, salmon etc..)
Bring water with rice to boil, cover and simmer for 45 min
TURN OVEN OFF (don't forget this part!) Place prepped fish in oven

Part 2: Get stuff checked off the next 30-35 minutes on your to do list!

Part 3: (10 min before it's time to serve)

Slice up mushrooms, bring to high heat on stove top and sauté with a pinch of salt and a little butter, add two cups of fresh spinach and a tbl of water, cover with lid and let simmer for 3-5 minutes

Walah! Time to eat! Bon Appetite!
Servers 2 (can be doubled, tripled...)
Yes, calls for butter often but use in small amounts so it doesn't add up.

Derek's Best CC Cookies

Extra Chewy and Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies. It took me 3 years living in  Utah to find the best CC Cookie recipe for the altitude and lack of humidity. Not knowing this, Derek introduced this to me on our first date. No wonder he's now my husband! The good news is that they are delicious as well in other climates and at other altitudes.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 CUP BUTTER
- ½ CUP WHITE SUGAR
- 1 ½ CUP BROWN SUGAR
- 2 EGGS
- 2 ½ TEASPOON VANILLA

- 2 ½ CUP ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
- ¾ TEASPOON SALT
- 1 TEASPOON BAKING POWDER
- 1 TEASPOON BAKING SODA
- MILK CHOCOLATE CHIPS
- EXTRA FLOUR AS NEEDED

DIRECTIONS:

-Pre-heat oven @ 350 degrees. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. Mix together and add chocolate chips and extra flour as needed* (1/2 cup extra for more humid areas). Cook in oven for 9-10 min until golden on bottom (tops may not look quite done for extra chewiness. Makes approx. 3 dozen cookies.

*If your cookies turn out more flat like these, don't worry! They are still delicious, they just needed that extra half a cup of flour.

About This Blog

A few years ago, my friends and I started a dinner group, each taking a turn every Wednesday night. The only rule? It had to be something we hadn't made before or a new variation of an old favorite. Every Thursday, my co-workers would ask, what did you make last night? Can I get a copy of that recipe? Thus was born this recipe blog. Although the dinner group has long died out after we moved on  in different ways, I continue to try new recipes for family dinners, guests and just when my husband (who loves to cook as well) feel like splurging.

I've tried to create a few different categories of recipes and label them as "Simple", "Just a Little Work", and "Exquisite". That way if you are looking for a quick recipe or something fancy to impress guests, you will know how to find it. Both my husband

and I are strong advocates of all natural foods so the recipes often follow this pattern. We also believe that while some should be tasty and healthy (Honey-Lemon Chicken with Spinach and Wild Rice, or Quinoa Stir-fry), some should be wroth the calorie splurge (Bread-Pudding, Ivar's Clam Chowder and Cheesecake!)

Hope you enjoy!