I'm doing the happy dance for you right now. It gets easier everytime, so you'll be a pro in no time. Carol

Thank you again, Carol! I just ate a piece of it, IT'S SO GOOD! Good internal structure, springy without being too chewy!
I danced a little myself... LOL!
Now that I've actually made it, it doesn't seem as hard as I had made it out to be. I honestly feel just about like I did when my first plants produced veggies... VERY CAPABLE!
Made my day. :)

Beth

congrats on the bread, Beth! Pat yourself on the back and enjoy!
However, doing the happy dance within thirty minutes of eating bread may cause stomach cramps. careful.
:P
Dale

That's Awesome Beth! There's nothing better than warm homemade bread- except warm homemade bread you made your self.

I have made bread- but the discussion gave me a lot of pointers for baking. I would like to try a all whole wheat bread and I'm looking forward to trying biscuits over the holidays. Biscuits and pie dough- never given them a real try, but they sure intimidate me! Now with all the pointer's may be it will happen.

Mrsfrodo - Couple of things with whole wheat. If you are using the same recipe that you use for white bread, reduce the flour slightly because whole wheat has the bran still on and will absorb more moisture. For instance if your recipe calls for 6 cups of flour, reduce that by at least a quarter of a cup (maybe more). Put you wheat flour in first if you plan to use both wheat and white (that way you can adjust the white as you go).

In my opinion whole wheat bread requires more sweetener so I frequently add a tablespoon of molasses to mine.

I personnaly like bread made with about 3 cups whole wheat flour and the rest white flour. Good wheat taste, but still nice and light.

I make biscuits the easy way, from a homemade mix, and we discussed this on another thread.

I also don't make traditional pie dough. Just reading this, I am thinking that maybe I'm a weird cook. LOL

Congratulations Beth! I know just how you feel. You are on your way now. I am like Carol and like to just use part ww flour.

Congratulations, Beth, on your successful breadmaking!

Best of all, you had your first slice of your bread with your own homemade apple butter too. It just doesn't get much better than that.

Like several of the others here, we only use partial whole wheat flour because all whole wheat is too heavy for our tastes.

You have to be careful now. Once you're started making your own bread, you are on a slippery slope....the next thing you know, you'll be wanting to make more and more of your family's food from scratch.

There are a lot of food items that....well, once you're used to homemade, you won't want to go back to eating store-bought.

I'm that way now about spaghetti sauce, most jams and jellies, eggs (well, the hens "make" those but we do gather them) and pickles....among other things. Not only is making your own food satisfying for your body and soul, it is healthier, too, because you are not loading up your homemade food with artificial flavoring, dyes, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, etc.

Dawn

Dale,
LOL... no cramps. Just a happy stomach full of good bread. I did eat too much of it last night. :)

MsFrodo,
Biscuits and pie crust intimidate me too, but now that I've gotten this bread thing down, I'm gonna try those soon! The main thing that's been perplexing has been cutting the fat into the flour, but I've seen it done on FoodNetwork so many times now I THINK I can do it no prob. If it doesn't turn out, I'll use my circa 1970's food processor! :)

Carol,
You're not a weird cook at all! You're my hero! ;)
I am going to try a wheat/white mix on my next loaves. Gotta get me some molasses tho.

Thank you Glenda!

Dawn,
Did I tell you the story about the apple butter? Somehow before I put the pulp in the oven to reduce (didn't do it on the stove top), I THOUGHT you were supposed to add WATER TO IT. Not part of the recipe at all! It took FOURTEEN HOURS to reduce it all! OMG, I was a basketcase that weekend... LOL! But I didn't give up, kept on at it. Next time will be better, of course. I'm going to do another batch here really soon. I used a sweeter apple on the last batch, want to try it with a more tart apple now. And without the added water... ;).
OH, I'm hooked on making stuff from scratch now. You betcha! Yeast breads was the major hurdle to get over. In my life homemade yeast bread/rolls has been a treat of sorts. I only had them at special times of the year (Thanksgiving or Christmas), when my Aunt would make them. She's since stopped baking as much, so now I guess I'll pick up the torch on this.
Jelly does intimidate me a bit too. Once I tried to make grape jelly from concentrated grape juice like my Grandma used to make, and it didn't set. So I gave up and have only dabbled in jams since then. BUT, my Dad keeps telling me how he likes homemade apple jelly... so the thought of making it is still in my mind. Doing up a batch of apple butter and making jelly from the peels and cores is REALLY an attractive thought to me. Should probly get a jelly bag before I attempt that tho.

Ya'll are a good influence on me... LOL! :)

Beth

Beth,

I had to go out to the root cellar (aka tornado shelter) to count jars so I could tell you how many jars of jelly and jam are sitting down there, and the answer is......80!

Jams and jellies are as simple as can be, and you can get good results practically every time if you use pectin--some recipes call for powdered and some for liquid. You also can make jams and jellies without purchased pectin, but their results are a lot more erratic. And, you can make your own natural pectin from apples, but that takes more time than I have, except in the non-gardening season, and by the time the gardening season ends, all the jars are full.

And, yes, 80 jars of jams and jellies sounds like a lot, but it won't be enough. They're almost all half-pint jelly jars and we're giving them as gifts at Christmas. By the time I give a jar to each of the members of our volunteer fire fire department, that will take 20-25 jars. And, by the time I put one in the Christmas 'goodie bag' (along with holiday cookies and candy) for each of the police officers Tim supervises on his shift--and for the other lieutenants and for their captain, that's another another 30 or so. So subtracting those 50-55 jars from the 80 I have, you can see there won't be a lot left for us.....but I can and will make more as we empty out some of the jars.

I'm down to my last dozen empty jelly jars, so now I am hoarding them......saving them for cranberry-pepper jelly and something else 'special' for the holidays. We're using about 2 half-pints a week, so I'll be adding more 'empties' to the dozen I'm hoarding now.

I had only one batch that didn't set this year, but I'm ordering some Pomona online so I can re-batch it and fix it. I don't know what I did wrong....it was a hectic day and I had oodles of things going on all at once....made salsa and pickles and then the strawberry jam was last and it was late in the day. I know I put the pectin in it, but now I wonder if I hadn't boiled the strawberries and sugar long enough...or if I didn't bring it to a full rolling boil after I added the pectin or what. I just don't know why it failed to gel, but reprocessing it with Pomona will fix it.

If I can make jam and jelly, you can too. And I did make the Quick Grape Jelly using bottled grape juice, sugar and pectin and it was easy and set up fast. Everyone says pectin gives 'iffy' results, but except for that one batch (the only one in my life that has ever failed to set up), I've never had any trouble.

Most of the giveaway jellies are Habanero Gold Confetti Jelly because (a) it is unique and (b) it looks beautiful in the jar and (c) it is tasty. For us to have here at home, I have Habanero Gold, Jalapeno Gold, Grape Jelly, Apple Cider Jelly, Apple Pie Jam, Banana Jam and Strawberry Jam (the one that messed up). Tim likes jelly on his toast and also on PBJ sandwiches (some kids never grow up, LOL) so it doesn't matter how much I make--he'll eat every bit of it and want more.

I think my goal for 2010 is going to be to make as much of our food as possible from scratch.....along with growing all of it that I possibly can. The more we eat of our own, the less we appreciate the food from the grocery store. I think we're getting spoiled.

Dawn

Miss Dawn, I am NOT surprised that you have 80 jars of jams and jellies in your root cellar/tornado shelter! After hearing how many you've been working on, I'd have actually guessed at more! You do have alot of people to make gifts for, I just have a few family and friends I'd like to make some as gifts for. I'm thinking a new batch of apple butter (done up with a tarter apple), and the pepper jam recipe out of my "Putting Food By" book... maybe a loaf of bread to go with it.

Couple of questions...
Do you strain your jelly thru a jelly bag? I'm wondering if I could rig something up to do the job of that without having to buy one.
Do you reuse the lid part of your jars any? Or buy them new each time?

I really need to start collecting jars in all sizes. I have some little 4 oz. jars right now to do the pepper jam. I REALLY want to have a bunch of shelves in my dining area just PACKED with jars of soups, sauces, broths, AND veggies, jams and jellies! (My idea of pretty decor... LOL!)

My grape jelly? I'm really not sure what I did wrong, being a novice and all. I did use pectin, but obviously something happened wrong. Maybe I didn't boil it enough... ehhh.

"I think my goal for 2010 is going to be to make as much of our food as possible from scratch.....along with growing all of it that I possibly can. The more we eat of our own, the less we appreciate the food from the grocery store. I think we're getting spoiled."

THIS. This is my goal. The whole gardening thing stemmed from my fascination of cooking from scratch. You can't get much more "scratch" than growing the produce you're cooking with! Remember my garden plan? Well, it's evolving allready... LOL! Once I get it thought out a little bit more, I'd sure appreciate it if I could run it by ya for a more expert opinion... :).

Well, it's friday! My oldest has gone running around with his friends, so me and the DH are having food that WE like for supper. Red beans and rice, brussel sprouts and OF COURSE... some slices of homemade bread! LOVE IT!

Ya'll have a good weekend!

Beth

Never mind on the jelly bag question! I found out how to make one myself, and luckily have a Hancock Fabrics within walking distance of me... Me and my little guy will be doing an outing tomorow! :)

Beth

Beth,

I use a jelly bag if I have solids to strain out, but this summer I got a Roma/Villaware strainer that has 4 different-sized screens, so you can run the fruits or veggies through it and strain out everything that way.

I don't reuse the flat lids because they are meant to be used only once for safety reasons. I usually pick up new boxes of flat lids when canning stuff goes on sale at the end of the canning season, which varies from store to store. Lowe's had all their flat caps on sale in August or September, but Wal-Mart has only cleared out the widemouth ones so far and hasn't yet put the regular ones on clearance. Our Wal-Mart here seems to put one canning item on clearance at a time, so I just watch and wait for the item I want to go on clearance. The rings can be used endlessly as long as they aren't rusty and I reuse them. I am careful to hand-dry them and make sure they are completely dry before I store them when they aren't in use.

When you're ready to run your gardening plan by us, we'll be here to comment on it....and likely working on our own garden plans as well.

Y'all enjoy your dinner. It sounds like a yummy meal for a cool autumn evening.

We're expecting to go to about 36 degrees tonight, so I just came in from picking what might be the last tomatoes, peppers, cukes and green beans. As much fun as it is putting food up for winter, I'm about tired of it.

Oh, and there should be more jams and jellies, but the huge oversupply of peppers required tons of jars for canning bread-and-butter jalapenos, jalapeno pepper rings, and jars of mixed pickled peppers. I feel like we have a two-year supply of pickled peppers, at least a year's supply of cucumber pickles and relishes, and at least a year's supply of salsa. DS always says I don't make enough salsa, but I think maybe this year I did. There's also some jars of tomato sauce and pasta sauce, and then oodles more containers of frozen stewed tomatoes and tomato puree.

If I put one more set of shelves down in the tornado shelter to hold all the produce, we may have problems putting people into the shelter if a storm comes our way. (At least we'll have lots of food down there in the event the tornado drops a big tree on the door and we're trapped in there.)

Dawn

I think this will surely be the end for us since I picked beans with my coat on this afternoon. It is windy and feels very cold for 48 degrees.

Carol,

I think it may be for us as well. I picked all I could that was of a decent size, then covered up the two rows of bush green beans and four fall tomato plants that have pretty good-sized green tomatoes. The green beans are covered with a lightweight floating row cover that may or may not be enough to keep them alive, and the tomatoes are covered with sheets. I didn't drag out the heavy blankets.

The Weather Underground hourly forecast shows us at 36 degrees here from 1 a.m. to 10 a.m. (I kind of doubt it will stay that cold that long) and the wind has died down...and it is clear....so I would expect at least a patchy frost here....three weeks early. Oh, well, you get the weather you get--regardless of what the average first frost should be.

The beans have been producing up a storm this week since they finally have had several days of sun and I hate to see that end, so I hope they squeak by and survive the cold. The okra is to tall and unwieldy to cover, which is a shame because there were about 20 new flowers open today that would be pods in a couple of days, but if it freezes we'll lose them. Still, it's been a great okra year.

It isn't as cold here as it is there. I noticed on the mesonet temp maps tonight that y'all were cooling down really early this afternoon.

It did stay chilly here all day compared to the kind of weather we usually have in mid- to late-October.

In a way, when it comes, a hard freeze will be a relief because then it really will be 'over' and I can just quit worrying about the warm-season stuff. I don't worry about the cool-season stuff for some reason, either they make it or they don't.

Dawn

I make a quick bread out of 7 grain flour that I grind myself from the 7 grains. I make it with buttermilk, butter, soda and salt in addition to the flour. I don't really have a recipe. Just dump a couple cups of flour into a bowl, grate in 1/2 cube of chilled butter with a handheld grater, add a couple tsp of soda and 1 of salt and then add enough buttermilk to make a thickish dough.(about a cup) Don't knead it as don't want gluten to clump. And don't handle it much as don't want butter to melt. Roll it onto a floured pie pan and cook it til it's firm. This is a very dense bread. Could be made with some white flour I guess and would be lighter. But we're used to it.

Girl - if you wanna tackle the pie crust next, I've got a "no-fail" recipe for you! My Gramma (rest her soul, please Lord) laughed when I shared it with her! She thought it was pretty funny that her oldest grandchild finally taught her how to make a pie crust!! I miss her so much. She was my best friend and best Mom!

Paula

I'm doing something wrong with my jelly too. Jelly was the first thing I tackled while learning to can and my results were mixed. I tried the grape juice into jelly thing and had runny purple juice. My strawberry jam was so thick the kids (who are picky) wouldn't eat it. DH didn't have a problem with it though.

I'm going to try the wheat flour/white flour combos. My wheat bread really has turned out dry and dense in the past and I've stopped making it. Guess I will try again.

Have been accomplishing good white bread for a while now since my guys have all these allergies and can't eat anything store bought.

The allergies were what started me making bread and starting my own garden. Now I'm experimenting with making grain milks :-)

Mandy

Dawn,
I forgot you got that strainer thing! Sounds like such a neato machine!
Dawn and Carol,
I'm thinking we're about done with the garden this year here too. Our temps have been a bit higher than yours, but the tomato plants aren't looking good and the peppers... well, I've got enough peppers. :) My OKRA tho... still keeps putting on! Every other plant on the outsides of the row falls down, but the middle ones still have blooms and pods growing. I'll take out everything but that. I want to get it done this weekend, next weekend is Little Bryan's Halloween/birthday party! (Four years old!)
I've allready told Chance (my oldest) that we've got alot of work to do this weekend, and he's just thrilled about it (note the sarcasm).

Dorothy,
Now THAT sounds like a good bread to me! My husband has problems with a more complex bread, says his teeth aren't good enough to eat it. (His teeth are fine, he's just grumpy...:) ) I've done a soda bread before, too. If I can find a good grain flour I might try recreating that!

Paula,
Lay it on me girl! I've got some peaches that are just dying to get into a pie!
I know what you mean about missing Grandma's... I had me a good one too. :)

Mandy,
My sister makes soy milk for her youngest, who's allergic to EVERYTHING (bless his heart). She bought an expensive rig to make it in too... but in the long run it's better than buying it all the time.
Don't give up on your jelly! I'm not! :)

Ya'll have a good weekend! I've got so much to do, I honestly don't DARE sit down at the computer... I've been on this thing way too much this past week... LOL! :)

Beth

Beth, that's wonderful!! Yay!!

I do love wheat bread more myself but the kids much prefer the Amish white at the moment so that's what I usually make.

Diane

Congrats for the good bread! My brother & sisters could always make it, and it was a great feeling when I could, too, although it took awhile, so I know where you're coming from. I generally use 1 part whole wheat to 2 parts white when I bake, and that gives me a good loaf. And, I gotta bake tomorrow!

Dawn - would you share your recipes for your habanero jellies? I've looked around online, but would prefer to have your tested recipes. I have lots of ripe fruit and would like it put it to good use. It was be awesome to give it as gifts this holiday time.

Thanks!

I use the Habanero Gold recipe discussed often on the Harvest Forum. There are two recipes and both are safe. The small batch makes about 3 half-pints, and the big batch makes about 6 half-pints. I've linked the 'Big Batch' thread below. I believe the recipe for the original batch and the big batch are both on this thread. I have both recipes copied onto recipe cards and hanging on the fridge with a refrigerator magnet....although I think I know them both by heart now.

I even have chopped up peppers for winter-time batches and have them frozen in zip-lock bags in the right quantities needed for the Big Batch. So far, I've only made it with dried apricots, but one day this winter I am going to make a batch using dried peaches.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Habanero Gold Thread With Recipes

Thanks Dawn. Looks great, and I'll give it a try.

You're welcome.

If the origin of the recipe isn't mentioned in the thread I linked (and it may be, I don't remember and I didn't go back and re-read the thread), it came from Canada's Bernandin Foods.

The Habanero Gold is wonderful on crackers, especially with a little cream cheese spread on the cracker before you add the jelly. It also is great on cornbread or corn muffins, and on cheddar thumbprints. You can melt some of the jelly in a cup and brush it onto grilled or roasted chicken as a glaze.

If you want to make the Habanero Gold even hotter, you can add more habanero peppers, but just be sure to decrease the amount of sweet bell pepper added in an equivalent amount. I've made Extra Hot Habanero Gold by adding another 1/4 C. of habaneros and reducing the sweet pepper by 1/4 C. If you like the idea of an apricot-pepper jelly, but habaneros are too hot for you, you can substitute a less hot pepper for some or all of the habanero. I did that this summer with jalapeno, thereby making a batch of Jalapeno Gold.

FYI--if you like to enter your products in county fairs and such, the Habanero Gold has won quite a few blue ribbons for folks. Not only does it taste great, but the tiny pieces of habanero, red onion and red bell pepper suspended in the golden jelly is very attractive.

Have fun making the jelly!

Dawn

That Habanero jelly is so tempting to me to try! I'd have to buy the Habs tho... maybe I'll grow some next year. Just another plant to add to my ever evolving garden plan... LOL!

Dawn - I have to admit that I grew the habaneros by mistake. Some late night seed sorting last winter must be to blame because these beautiful habanero plants emerged in place of what should have been eggplants. I knew from the start they were they most unusual looking eggplant plants, but couldn't resist growing them out to see what would develop. They did make very beautiful plants and when the fruits developed there was no doubt what they were. I used last years habaneros to make several bottles of hot sauce, of which we still have plenty, and hadn't intended to grow more, but here I am with beautiful orange fruits. Your recipes are perfect, so thank you.
Carol

Beth,

As Carol just mentioned, the beautiful almost glowing orange habanero peppers on the plants are reason alone to plant habaneros, and it is just a bonus that the peppers are tasty too. When I am in a pepper mood--about once every three years, I'll plant Fatali (resembles a yellow hab), Caribbean Red, Red Savina, regular orange habs, white habs and choc habs and we'll have a rainbow of impossibly hot peppers. This year, I only planted Caribbean Red and orange habs though.

Carol,

Sometimes those sorts of garden surprises are just the most fun even if they mess up the 'plan' you had for the garden.

This year I had ornamental pepper plants pop up here and there in the garden, most likely planted there by the birds that ate some of last year's fruit. Since they are so pretty, I left them where they were, even though it was odd to see a pepper plant in the middle of a row of potatoes or tomatoes. Tim kept wanting to eat the ornamental peppers (it's not like we didn't have PLENTY of other peppers to eat) but I convinced him the peppers were too hot to eat.

I like happy mistakes that give you something worthwhile.

If you don't use all your habs, you can freeze them too, you know!

I even dried some this year and crumbled them up into flakes....but when you reach for 'red pepper flakes' you have to be sure you don't get those 'orange pepper flakes' by mistake because they are a whole lot hotter!

Dawn

And now more about bread. DH came home last night and said, "Let's make pizza for dinner. It's been ages" knowing I had planned to throw a hamburger into a skillet for him when he got home. So I made homemade crust with 1/2 7-grain and 1/2 white flour and rapid rise yeast. I used the 7-grain only because right now I am out of whole wheat. It tasted different, but rose well and did just fine. I liked it well enough to do it again. There's not enough gluten in the 7-grain to use more than 1/2 in a recipe.

Dorothy, A few years ago I went through a phase of making 7 grain breads but I don't remember what I used. Would you mind listing your product in the order on the bag so I can look at it. I think I may be able to find the mixture I used in one of my cookbooks and I would like to compare. I probably have most of the seven anyway. That's the good thing about having a grain mill, I never run out of whole wheat because you can keep the berries forever and it only takes minutes to grind.

Carol, It has hard red wheat, hard white wheat, pearled barley, brown rice, triticale, rye & millet. It is packed by Walton Feed Co in Idaho and marketed by Paulasbread.com. She's in Skiatook and orders only a couple times a year and people have to pick it up from her. My daughter in Collinsville picked it up for me.

I think I have everything except the white wheat. Walton Feed is a good company and they sell a lot of neat things. My daughter lives in Utah and buys white wheat in bulk but I have never been able to find a source here. I think that food co-op thingy that Ilene told us about has it but I didn't see anything else I would order so it wouldn't be worth it to join. Thanks for the info. I have clipped this post so I can find it again after I find my book.

Beth - sorry I'm so late in getting back here! DH has been away deer hunting all week and the world found out! I've been so busy! I'm ready for him to come home so I can rest!

Here's the Pie Crust recipe. I was told originally (some 30 years ago) that it was "Tupperware Piecrust"

3 c. flour
1 & 1/4 c. shortening
1 teaspoon salt

Put in a tupperware bowl(or something similar), seal and shake, shake, shake! I usually have to take a fork and finish cutting in the shortening. Make a "well" and add the following that have been mixed together:

1 egg, beaten
6 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Seal the bowl again and shake it all up until you hear it "thump". Bwalah! Ready to roll pie crust. Dust out some flour and roll it out!

I was told it makes crust for 3 9" pies, but I've usually only gotten 2. I've also made this in a food processor and a kitchenaid mixer. All ways turn out great! It also freezes well. I make up a couple of batches around the middle of November and freeze in balls "per pie". Never had one not work even after freezing.

Good luck and let me know how it works for you?!

Paula

Paula - Too funny. That is the exact same pie crust that we made for the dutch oven pie except it had 6 tablespoons of water instead of 1/3 cup. I think a 1/3 cup is about 5 tablespoons. I think I said in an earlier thread that it was the hardest pie crust recipe that I had ever made. I think it is funny how we all cook and garden so differently but still have good results. LOL Carol

I have been watching with interest as Dawn and others made habenaro jelly. I have never made a pepper jelly and, in fact, have never grown a habenaro pepper, but I probably will next year.

I have had a grain mill and ground my own grains for about 35 years and now it is becoming popular. I have always bought my grains but next year I am going to try growing my own corn for grinding since corn seems to be the hardest thing to find.

I spent most of my adult life working and still cooked a lot with good ingredients. I now find that I would rather be growing it than cooking it. I just love being outside. I have extended my planting area and am trying to the the soil ready for spring.

Back to the bread.....When I really want something good to eat and almost nothing will satisfy me, I go make a good loaf of artisan type bread. I like the nice crusty kind that you can just tear off and eat. That is comfort food for me and I find that to be one of my favorite things.

Paula,
I understand busy! Look how long it took ME to respond... LOL! Between dental and doctor appointment, school things, and people just wanting my attention, I'm a tired chick right now! :)
I'll try the crust tomorow and let ya know how it goes. Bought shortening today just for it!

Carol,
I actually made my first attempt at a hot pepper JAM recipe today... and it gelled! I'm on a roll! LOL! I haven't tried it yet, giving it untill tomorow before I do. I've got another box of sure jell and more jars... but can't decide what to try next. Having fun with it tho! Definitely! :)

So far I'm liking the growing AND cooking, tho the cooking can get old every once in awhile. Lucky for me, the DH cooks some great red beans and rice.

I actually tried to make some challah bread yesterday! I say "try" because I'm not sure what it's supposed to actually be like... LOL! It rose! That's a good sign it worked, huh? LOL! We like the Amish bread better, will be making more soon.

Beth

Beth - Google "Artisian Bread in 5 Minutes" and read the threads and watch the video. I use this method a lot instead of making a loaf for slicing. Then just put what you don't want to cook into the refrigerator for another day.

That's my piecrust recipe too, except that I never heard of putting it in a bowl and shaking it. Before I got my Cuisinart, I just mixed the shortening and flour with a pastry blender, added the liquids and stirred with a wooden spoon.

I got the recipe from the County Extension Agent, Mrs. Truax, in Wichita KS, over 40 years ago. I was learning to cook and had made a lemon meringue pie that bombed in every way that a lemon meringue pie can. She took me step by step, from crust to meringue.

I had always rolled out my piecrust between two pieces of waxed paper, because it is normally kind of fragile and a little bit "tacky". Mrs. Truax told me to do this instead of using flour because it would be more flaky. Somewhere along the way I quit using waxed paper, and started using a large food-grade plastic bag, which is larger and heavier than a gallon zip-lock, that I cut in two pieces. I drew a circle on one side in indelible ink to use as a guide. It's still a little hard to get the rolled-out dough off the plastic and into the pan, but I found popping it into the freezer for a few seconds solved that problem. Peel off the plastic and lay it across the pie pan and let it relax before easing it the rest of the way in. After all these years, I think I might try a little flour during the roll-out process and see if Mrs. Truax was actually telling me the truth. It would certainly be easier! I freeze this dough in a ball sometimes, and I have found that it needs to be double-wrapped and then while you work, that portion of the dough that is waiting to be rolled out should be kept zipped up in the bag so as not to dry out.

Really good pie crust must be hard for lots of people to make, as evidenced by some mighty awful stuff we've had in certain restaurants and at church dinners and so on. Good pie crust should not taste like salty, greasy flour, and it should not be real thick.

I always use a little trick my grandmother used when she baked pie. Before I put the top crust on the pie, I cut a hole in the center of the crust using a small cookie cutter. Sometimes it's a heart-shape, but usually I use a star. After the top crust is on and the edges have been crimped, sprinkle sugar all over it, especially on the crimped part. No one ever leaves any of the crust on their plate when it's made like this. My grammy used to brush the crust with milk before putting on the sugar but I don't find that the milk is needed, the sugar sticks to the crust just fine without it. But I guess if the crust was rolled out with extra flour you might need the milk.

Oh, and one other thing. My rolling pin is one of those marble ones. I used to have a Tupperware one that you filled with ice water and it was OK. But the marble pin is so nice and heavy that I don't have to press down with my hands while rolling and this is easier on an old lady's wrists.

Paula, Thanks for sharing the pie crust recipe. I haven't made it yet, but I am going to. So many projects, so little time.....

Carol, Had I known you wanted to make Habanero Gold, I gladly would have mailed you a box of habaneros back in the summer when I had 1600 assorted peppers sitting on my countertop! That is the week that will be known forever around here as my week of "pepper hell".

Isn't it funny that something you've been doing forever is now so 'trendy'? I do think a whole lot of the credit for the recent breadbaking mania can be credited to the "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day" book (and to Mark Bittman's recipe in the New York Times for a similar bread some time back).

Beth, I love cooking too, but that doesn't mean I want to do it every day. Everyone needs a break now and then.

If you really love baking bread, you need to ask Santa to bring you a copy of the Artisan Bread book, or the latest book by the same authors, which is "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes A Day....."

I've linked the authors' story that appeared in one of last winter's issues of Mother Earth News because it has their basic boule' recipe, and then many variations of other recipes made from the basic recipe.

Congrats on the jam success. I think success like that is addictive because it just makes you want to make more and more and more.

Ilene, I do think making good or great pie crust does seem elusive. We've had some awful pie crusts (and awful pies too!) in some restaurants and at some covered-dish dinners and I just don't get it.....have those people not tasted their own pie crust?

I sprinkle my crusts with sugar too.

I'm putting a marble rolling pin on my 'must have' list.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Mother Earth News: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes

Now that we have two Carols, I will say I am not the one making jelly. It has probably been 20 years since I made jelly and since we probably use 4 jars a year, I'm not likely to become a big jelly maker. I was, however, intrigued with the pepper jelly being made after Dawn said how good it was spread over cream cheese. Now I might like to spread that on something, so I will probably try growing a few habanaros next year and give that a shot.

I have to jump in on the pie crust issue though. Mine may not be the "most perfect" piecrust in the world but it is very good and oh, so easy.

I call the flour measurement (scant) because I probably use about a tablespoon less than the measurement. This will make a regular size double crust pie or two one crust pies if using those disposable pie pans.

2 cups (scant) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup buttermilk

Mix the dry ingredients together then mix in the wet ones. This is soft crust and you can stir it with a spoon. When you have a big ball, put half between two sheets of waxed paper and roll it out. Lift the top sheet of paper to release it from the paper, then put it back on loosely. Lift the entire crust with both sheets still attached and turn it over on the counter. Your can pick it up by the back and it doesn't fall off (on this turn). Now release the second sheet the same way except DON'T put it back on. Now this is the hardest part. Put the pie plate close to you and lift the pie crust and paper together. You need to put your hands 2/3 of the way back on the crust (and bottom paper) and let the back 1/3 fall over the back of your hands and the 2/3 in front of you hands. It will still be attached to the paper, but only lightly, so put it onto the pan, paper side up and slowly release the paper from the crust after you have it all placed in the pan. If you get a hole in it, no problem, just patch. Make the edges pretty and it is ready to bake or use depending on the pie.

One bowl, one spoon and the rolling pen never touched the dough. It is also oil which I feel is safer than shortening. I know, I know, it sounds too easy. I have been doing it this way for around 15 years and have not once made a different pie crust, except for fried pies and one dutch oven class. I sent pies to Uniroyal with my DH once and five people asked for the recipe. I carefully made five typed copies and sent back with him the next day. He said they had it at the copy machine making more copies last time he saw it. LOL

I never, ever, use sugar in the crust, but for a two crust pie I mix a little cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle over the top crust just before it goes into the oven because it makes it pretty.

When I make fried pies I use a recipe with an egg in it because I want the crust to be tough enough so the filling doesn't come out during cooking. I assume that was the reason for making that other crust recipe in the dutch oven because they wanted to be able to let it cool and lift the entire pie out using the parchment strips underneath the crust.

Don't laugh until you try it. I will be very surprised if you don't like it.

We have two Carols? Ya'll please don't get offended if I get confused on names... :).

Soonergrandmom CAROL,
Now that I've gotten four loaves to rise, I'll try the five minute bread way again and see what I can come up with. The only thing that bothers me about that bread is that most recipes don't have salt or sugar. I'm thinking when I tried that before, hubby said he'd had liked it better if it had sugar and/or salt in it. Could I add a little?

While searching bread recipes last night I came across an onion bread that just looked YUM, will be trying it next. One reviewer said it tasted like a fully loaded bagel, and that's something I just can't pass by! I'll link the recipe.

My jam gelled perfectly, but there's no hot to it! I added 3 tablespoons of jalapenos to it too! I'm gonna try it again, but with a different recipe.

So... my cooking projects are more bread, another batch of hot pepper jam or jelly, AND piecrust! LOL! I'm busier now than I was this summer! I've got to get my projects done soon, next week I've got to think about a birthday cake for my oldest... he'll be sixteen soon. I bought a cake for my youngest on his birthday (Halloween), and it was just so gross... stale cake with nasty icing. I'm gonna try a homemade cake for my oldest. THEN I get to think about Thanksgiving.... never a dull day in the fall!

Ya'll have a good day!

Beth

Here is a link that might be useful: Handmade Onion Bread

Beth, All bread recipes should have salt in them as it has an effect on the rising. I'm surprised you found one without salt, unless it was one for a special diet.

Some people think that yeast has to have sugar to make it work, but that is not completely true in my opinion. I think the 5 min recipe has one teaspoon. I really don't like bread that taste like cake, but some people do. If I gave you a recipe without salt, it was a mistake. In fact, my loaf bread recipe (2 loaves) has one tablespoon, which sounds like a lot.

Some of the best breads that I have ever made had the fewest ingredients. It just doesn't take much to make good bread once you learn the technique.

Carol,
Hmmm.... maybe that's what was wrong with my bread before? Something in my head wasn't remembering the salt? I don't think YOU gave me a recipe without salt... not sure where I got that now!

Kinda like when I made that apple butter and added water to the recipe when it didn't call for it... LOL! I can really be goofy at times. :)

Now I feel more confident about the 5 minute bread thing!

Beth

Beth,

Did you taste the jalapenos for heat before you added them to the jelly? Every jalapeno is different and the ones produced in cooler weather often lack the 'kick' of those produced in hotter weather. Be sure you only use as many jalapenos (by volume or weight) as the recipe specfies in order to keep the recipe 'safe'. If you want more heat, you can leave the seeds in instead of removing them from the peppers before you make the jelly. Leaving the seeds in will crank up the heat quite a bit, unless the peppers are just duds in terms of heat.

Dawn

Dawn,
I'm thinking it was weaker jalapenos now... didn't taste them before using them. They were the "end of season" ones tho. I had made some hot pepper relish out of those peppers too, and it's not hot at all. That jam only tastes of lemon juice and green pepper. Blah. :)

I used the proper amount tho. The recipe said use two tablespoons and another one if you're hardy. I thought we were hardy enough for it... LOL!

I do have others frozen, will be trying it again with them. WITH seeds added. I ain't giving up yet! :)

Beth