Apples and an Amazing Pie Crust

So, if you are like me, you might still have apples (from the tree) and carrots galore in your fridge or cold storage. My apples are begging to be used - they aren't holding up as well this year as other years.

I decided to make an apple pie a few weeks ago with my apples (and forgot to take a picture so enjoy the one posted ;). I am not a pie maker, normally. I usually make an apple crisp or someway to eat the filling and avoid the crust. I've never been good at making crusts. They just haven't worked out for me.... until.... (yup, there is a happy ending) I tried my grandma's recipe for an egg yolk crust.

The crust was easy to work with and it baked beautifully.

Do you know the real secret to a successful pie crust? Very few people actually know this secret - ready? You must have a pastry cloth and a pastry cover for your rolling pin. Doing it any other way... well... just doesn't work near as nicely. And once you use one, I dare say, you may never go back to your old ways.

Would you like the recipe so your apples can finally be used, too? (you can also use that wonderful apple pie filling you bottled this last canning season, or create whatever pie you would like - this is a very versatile crust. It is not only for apple pies.)



p.s. Credit goes to my grandma for this recipe

Pie Crust for Big Pies
(Egg Yolk Pastry)

5 cups flour
4 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1-1/2 cup Crisco
2 egg yolks
Cold water

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in Shortening. Beat egg yolks in measuring cup add ice water to make a 1 cup full. Roll out like any pastry. Make enough for deep dish big apple pie or 3 - 9" two crust pies.

Taking Applications

I cannot seem to keep up with blogging these days, so in order to keep up with our faithful readers, I am taking applications for someone to help me blog about food storage - at least twice a week.

If you are interested, we can discuss options on writing and making sure we work well together.

Contact me soon! Positions now available.

info@histakes-spelt.com
Thanks. I'm looking forward to this.

FREE Bread Class

I have had a few people ask, so I will publicly answer:

Question: Can I (Jamie) do a bread class at your house (meaning: you who are reading this)? Do I travel? Can I do a bread class for church enrichments or preparedness fairs?

Answer: Yes. All are entirely possible. It depends where you live to say if I will travel to your house. Maybe, if you have lots of friends that want to take the class, too, that might entice me to travel farther than normal... (hint, hint)


Question: How do I schedule a free bread making class?

Answer: Just ask. Send me an email or call me. Suggest a few dates that are good for you and we can figure out which days are good for both of us and voila! We have a class. Not hard and I'm pretty easy to work with. (Unless you live really far away and I am supposed to travel to where you are. I might have to wait for better weather! But I always love a good excuse to travel!)

IMPORTANT NOTE: At the class, you will get all of my secrets for making excellent bread as well as a copy of the best recipe for making any kind of whole wheat (including spelt) bread.


Any more questions? =)

p.s. I hope to see you in a class soon...

food storage talk and new to twitter

I was just analyzing my food storage. Wondering what I needed to stock up on again for a few months. Somehow, December was a good month and I put away quite a bit more food than I thought I would. I got my fats - shortening, oils, and cooking sprays - built up again. The stock isn't huge, I don't want them to go rancid, but I've got enough to last me until spring at least. That is a good feeling.

It is a great time to take inventory and assess what you need at this time in anticipation of a New Year.

What sorts of things are you succeeding at and what things do you need to focus on?

I need some dry powdered milk in my storage. (Just in case I find a good recipe that calls for powdered milk. I don't think I could ever drink the stuff straight.)

Happy New Year!!

And I just joined Twitter - feel free to follow me. (Click on the link in the top right corner.)

Dry Pack Canning

My sister-in-law got use of a dry pack canner the other day, so I took advantage and borrowed it for a minute to pack some oats and popcorn. (Shown in pictures is the packing of oats.)

First we filled the 10# cans full... we used the red bucket to easily catch whatever we spilled.

Oxygen packs were placed to keep the product fresh.


Next come the lidsThis is how we seal the lid on the cans - with this great canner machine. It spins around and seals the lid on.

Here is the final product - labels and all. Great, huh? I'm happy to have a few extra things in storage and safely packaged.
Have you ever used a dry pack canner before?

update

I am still here. We have been busy with craft fairs. My last scheduled craft fair is tomorrow - if you are in Jackson Hole, WY, please stop by the Virginian Convention Center and say hello. We are hoping the snow doesn't cause too much trouble tomorrow - if it shows up. There are several inches predicted.

We had a bread class today. A good time was had by all. One of my favorite moments was the cinnamon roll treats we got to sample at the end - I always love a good cinnamon roll.

Though, don't get me wrong, the company and conversation was good, too.

I'll talk to you again soon - after this next craft fair.

-Jamie

FREE Bread Classes Available

I've decided to teach {FREE} bread classes to all who want to come and refine their bread techniques, or who want to learn about different kinds of wheat, grinders and flour, or who just need a social outing!

Wanna come?

We just had a class last week. We had a LOT of fun and learned lots of tricks. It was a hands-on class, so you know how to "feel" when the bread is ready when you try this at home. It was a totally custom class. We chose to work with hard red wheat and spelt. We learned to make bread and then voted to make cinnamon rolls with the extra. We swapped recipes, talked and shopped while the bread rose and then when the cinnamon rolls were done baking, we each got to eat one.
They were DELICIOUS!!

More classes are available upon request.
I have a few scheduled and would be happy to work something out to fit your schedule.

It is a lot of fun and I hope you'll join us for a class sometime soon.

Treadin' Water & Fats

Does anyone else feel like you are just treading water when it come to keeping up with food storage?

Some people really think I am the expert. I guess, in a way I can be an expert - I have great advice, but right now, I need to follow it better. My three boys are growing and eating SO much more everyday I am starting to wonder if I'll have enough food for the time frame that I'd planned. I can't imagine how it will be when they are in their teenage years! It already seems like the eat all day long. Maybe it will be better because they will be able to make their own food instead of needing my constant supervision for every little thing? But then, they will just inhale more, right?

I think I need to recalculate. Or maybe just start praying for miracles - like that miracle in the Bible where the oil and flour never quite ran out for that lady who shared all that she had - that last cake that was supposed to be for her son.


HAPPY THANKSGIVING WISHES
On another note... I do hope everyone had time to be grateful and celebrate the harvest on that wonderful Thanksgiving Day. I am so grateful {this year, especially} to be able to get together with family and enjoy all the time spent with them. I love being with family.
And I can't wait to decorate for Christmas at my house. Christmas means magic to me.


FOOD STORAGE FOCUS:
I am focusing on oils right now. I finally went to WinCo today and decided to finally stock up on oils - I got 4 cooking sprays (big ones), 2 cans of shortening (with no trans fat!) and 1 bottle of canola oil to add to my collection of stored fats already downstairs.
(Does stored fats sound funny to anyone else but me? I'm laughing really hard about it right now.)

By the way - I use the cooking spray oils a LOT in my bread making, so I go through it really fast.

Until later...
Jamie

Upcoming Holiday Wishes

The talk this week is of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Black Friday.

I am very excited for Thanksgiving and getting even more excited about Christmas.
What about you? Are you getting excited? Is it going to be a happy holiday season for you and your family?

I worry about what the economy is doing - I am hoping that my blogging friends find all well during these holidays and that you are all permitted to celebrate as you please.


On a side note, if you need ideas for Christmas gifts, don't forget to check out my favorite websites for bread ingredients and tools for making excellent bread (HiStakes-Spelt.com) and of course there are some great Christmas deals if you need a grain mill or a Bosch - or better yet, a combination of the two!
And then everyone can give/receive the best hand cream I've EVER used in my life! (See GenevaSpringsOnline.com) I'm working on putting together an excellent holiday special - any suggestions? ;)
I'd love to hear what you would like for Christmas.


FOOD STORAGE SHOPPING LIST:
Have you noticed that $0.99 a can for large cans of pumpkin is a deal? It is on sale for only a few more days. If you use pumpkin at all and didn't bottle it yourself this year, you might want to check that out.

Otherwise, I've been trying to restock my personal supply of yeast (I like to keep at least 2 one pound bricks of SAF yeast on the shelf) and other bread making ingredients (such as dough enhancer and honey).

Happy Shopping...

I have been in craft fair mode for several weeks now. I've done a few already and am now getting ready to do one of the biggest ones in the Idaho Falls area (in Idaho, of course).

So, if you can make it, come see me on Saturday, Nov. 22 at Bonneville High School. I'll be in a hallway somewhere (not the gym) peddling Geneva Springs (Skin Cream) products.

I am looking forward to it. It really is a great craft fair.

p.s. Heather - are you still looking for Clear Jel? I bought some extra if you need it. I got it in Utah last weekend and really, I am working on becoming a vendor for it. (I just found a decent source to work with.)
Let me know - we could meet up at the craft fair.