Give the gift of pie!

Last year, my husband’s coworker gave out quart jars of homemade apple pie filling as her Christmas gift. I think that’s a fantastic idea. A one quart jar will fill an 8″ or 9″ pie for a fast, homemade dessert—but the possibilities go way beyond that. My favorite use was as a topping for pancakes. Just heat in a pan until thick, hot and bubbly and voila! Give the gift of pie!

It only takes one county extension class to have the importance of using a tested recipe in home canning. Seriously. They’re tested to make sure that the food quality is as good as it can be while still reaching the temperature to kill of the botulism that may be lurking in the middle of your jars. Botulism, in case you can’t tell, does NOT make a good neighbor gift.

Fortunately, other cooks, like the awesome people behind Our Best Bites, understand the importance of tested recipes. She used a recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. And here it is:

	Quantities of Ingredients Needed For
	1 Quart	7 Quarts
Blanched, sliced fresh apples	3-1/2 cups	6 quarts
Granulated sugar	3/4 cup + 2 tbsp	5-1/2 cups
Clear Jel®*	1/4 cup	1-1/2 cup
Cinnamon	1/2 tsp	1 tbsp
Cold Water	1/2 cup	2-1/2 cups
Apple juice	3/4 cup	5 cups
Bottled lemon juice	2 tbsp	3/4 cup
Nutmeg (optional)	1/8 tsp	1 tsp
Yellow food coloring (optional)	1 drop	7 drops

A note about ClearJel: it’s a modified cornstarch that stands up to heat, freezing and/or acid from fruit, unlike plain old cornstarch or other thickeners. The NCHFP says (emphasis mine):

Before assembling the other ingredients, including fresh fruits, to make the pie fillings in Extension canning recommendations, check to see if you will be able to get ClearJel®. There is no substitution for ClearJel® that can be made in these recipes. This means do not use other corn starch, flour, tapioca, or other thickener in our recipes. You also must use ClearJel® and not Instant ClearJel®, ClearJel A®, any other form of ClearJel®, or any other modified corn starch.

However, Sara at Our Best Bites contacted her local extension office and they said that Ultra Gel is the same product and it’s a bit easier to find than ClearJel. (But still—call ahead.)

And as with any home canning, double check the steps, especially the processing time for your altitude. If you don’t have a lovely water bath canner like the one above (and I don’t either), I’ve canned a few things without expensive equipment. I have to use pint jars and at least one site I looked at said to leave the processing time the same. Of course, this might affect the food quality, but I do believe in being safe rather than sorry.

Once your pie filling is done, tie it up with a bow and give the gift of pie!

What do you like to give your friends and neighbors?

Photos by Kurt and Sybilla

Batching to perfect your pie recipes

With summer coming up, it's time to perfect that peach, apple or other favorite pie recipe. But how can you possibly try out all the variations you want to—and most importantly, get rid of all of those pies without gaining too much weight?

The answer is two-fold: mini-pies and batching. We’ve already talked about adapting a pie recipe to a miniature pie pan. You can go as small as muffin tins for your mini pies. I’m told a 9″ pie recipe will fill 12 regular muffin cups (but I think the sample size might be a bit too small to tell what tastes best to you). I used my 5″ mini pie plates to batch the chess, buttermilk chess, transparent and vinegar pies.

In this case, batching your pies means starting with a set base of the individual recipes’ common ingredients—such as your basic apple mixture—dividing that base into several dishes and mixing in the different ingredients.

I went about it an analytic way: I set up a spreadsheet and listed the ingredients and amounts for the four recipes I wanted to try out. Then I highlighted the ingredient amounts that were the same or nearly so. I took that amount and multiplied it by 3/4 to get the amount for four 5″ mini pies. That became my base (highlighted in yellow below).



After that, I added the extra columns between the recipes to multiply the non-common ingredients by 3/16, the adjustment for one individual pan.

In this case, the base was 1 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar, 2.25 eggs (or 2 eggs + 1 Tbsp beaten egg), and 3/4 tsp vanilla. Since eggs are roughly 1/4 cup in volume, I figured the total volume of my base was 1 1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp = 27 Tbsp. Dividing that up for four pies yields a little less than 7 Tbsp (8 Tbsp = 1/2 c).

Since this base isn’t complete, we don’t want to pour the plain base right into our prebaked pie crust! No, first we pour the individual mini pie amount of base into a bowl. Then for each pie we mix in the non-common ingredients. Then pour the pie into the crust and bake.

As you’re mixing, pouring, baking and tasting, it’s vital to keep your pies straight. For me, a dry erase marker was invaluable. I used my cooktop as an operations base and labeled each burner with a letter for the pie as I was mixing. Then I labeled the oven door and put the pies in the oven matching their labels. When they were done, they went back on their still-labeled burners.

I even photographed the pies with the letters visible so I could identify them later: I took a picture of the pie on the burner with the letter in the background, then sliced the pie (photo), took out a piece (photo) and sampled it (photo). If you’re good, you’ll take notes (I learned this eventually). And soon you’ll be able to narrow down your favorites and taste them head to head.

Batching pies is a little bit of work—and sometimes more than a little bit of math!—but to find the perfect pie, it’s a step you won’t want to skip!

Don’t forget to check out my mini-pie article for more tips!

Have you ever used batching to perfect a recipe?

Not so delightful S'mores Delight Pie

Two years ago, I embarked on a PieQuest. My PieQuest began with reading magazines. This recipe comes from Spirit magazine from Southwest Airlines but unfortunately, it didn’t quite turn out like it did in the picture.

S’mores Delight Pie is originally from Perfect Pies: The Best Sweet and Savory Recipes from America’s Pie-Baking Champion by Michele Stuart. Unfortunately, when I made it following the recipe instructions, it didn’t turn out even close to the intended result.

This pie is almost a s’more cream pie. The idea is a graham cracker crust coated with hot fudge sauce and filled with marshmallow-flavored-and-studded custard. On top, hot-fudge-dipped graham crackers, whipped cream/marshmallow cream and toasted mini marshmallows.

If that sounds like a lot of work—it is. The hot fudge sauce is made from scratch and requires 5 hours’ cooling. The custardy filling, which you can make while the hot fudge sauce cools, has to be refrigerated for an hour and a half before assembling the pie. And then you refrigerate for another 12 hours. And then you top it and broil it.

So basically this is an 18-hour pie. That might be worth it—once—if it turned out amazing. Or even turned out at all. It didn’t.

For starters, I don’t think the hot fudge sauce was supposed to actually be chilled before you poured it in the crust. The directions do say “pour” not “scrape out of the bottom of the bowl and spread,” as fully chilled hot fudge sauce requires.

Another problem with this recipe was in the “marshmallow vanilla cream.” How long do you think it would take just over six and a half cups of a cold liquid to heat to bubbling on medium heat in a medium saucepan, while whisking constantly? Here’s a hint: not four minutes.

However, the directions said, “Place saucepan over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly until the cream starts to bubble and thicken, about 4 minutes.” (And yes, my stove was already warm.) After 10 minutes of constant whisking, the milk had barely begun to froth. Was that what they meant by bubble?

I’ve made puddings before. I know what it means for something to bubble and thicken. This wasn’t it. And yet I’d diligently followed the directions, and I’d cooked it for two and a half times the recipe’s direction. Torn, I decided to pull the “marshmallow vanilla cream” from the stovetop. It was the wrong decision.

I cooled the filling with an ice bath and stuck it in the refrigerator for as much time as I had (another error: I only allotted an “insignificant” 14.5 hours to making this pie). Then I assembled the pie. Because the graham cracker crumb crust apparently isn’t enough graham, the hot fudge layer on the bottom of the cake is topped with graham crackers. Do you know what happens when you pour a not-thick-enough pie filling on top of graham crackers?

I’ll tell you: they float. I was too afraid to find out, but I worried that not only did the graham crackers float, but that they’d pulled up the hot fudge sauce and the graham cracker crust underneath. I closed my eyes, spread the hot fudge sauce on the top layer of graham crackers (again, chilled hot fudge sauce isn’t something you can dip a graham cracker in, at least not to coat it for a pie, so this looked pretty ugly already), and stuck it in the fridge to hope for the best.

The next day, I took a peek at the pie-fail I was hoping to bring to a potluck. I tilted it to one side—and decided to make cookies.

After nearly 24 hours in the refrigerator, I knew it was time to give up hope my s’more pie soup would magically turn into a cream pie. Unwilling to throw good food after bad, I decided to forgo the “fluff whipped cream” (another 30 minutes of effort and cream and marshmallow fluff) and just top with the mini marshmallows and broil.

It looks good here. I’m creative like that. Just take a look at this filling:

This is what we call a “Bake Fail.” I think “epic” is overused in Internet slang, but it might actually apply here. The only part of the pie that actually worked out was the store-bought crust. And you know what? That’s probably good, since the other recipe from this book featured in the magazine was a traditional pie crust: and it called for so much shortening that it crumbled at the slightest touch.

Could this pie work? Yes, if you have two days before you want to eat the pie, and you trust yourself more than the directions. But barring that, make this s’mores pie, which is faster (and tastier in my experience), or try this alternative: s'mores delight. Not only easier, but faster and foolproof. What’s not to love about this?

Announcing I, Spy!

I think I've shared this almost everywhere except here, but I'm very excited to announce that my first novel will be published in less than a month! Yep, because last month wasn't busy enough with having a new baby ;) .

Don't worry—this won't be the only thing I blog about. But I'll keep you posted on the biggest book news  . . . and keep your eyes peeled for a brand new pie recipe next month that I created myself, inspired by my book!

About the Book

Canada is probably the last place you'd expect to find an American spy. But even idyllic Ottawa has its deadly secrets—and so does CIA operative Talia Reynolds. She can climb through ventilation shafts, blend in at the occasional diplomatic function, even scale buildings (small ones). But there’s one thing she can’t do: tell her aerospace engineer boyfriend Danny about her Top Secret occupation.

It worked for a year, keeping Danny in the dark, keeping him away from danger, keeping her secrets. And then Talia finally catches a hot case: Fyodor Timofeyev. Russian. Aerospace executive. Possible spy?

She can make this work, too—until Danny needs her at the same time her country does. And when Fyodor targets Danny? Suddenly her schedule isn't the only thing suffering. Now to save her secrets and her country, Talia must sacrifice the man she loves.

Add I, Spy to your Goodreads to-read list!
Join my mailing list for a chance to get a review copy!

Advance praise

The edge-of-my-seat undercover operations kept me turning pages, and just when I thought the story would go one way, plot twists sent it down another path. Thrilling, adventurous, and romantic, this book has it all for an Alias fan.

— Jami Gold, award-winning author

Jordan McCollum’s debut novel is a delightful combination of mystery, action, and romance. Talia’s CIA training and almost OCD caution feed her quirky humor while exposing her very human fears and insecurities. Add in her boyfriend Danny, and it's enough to twist your heart.

— Donna K. Weaver, author of A Change of Plans

Clever, suspenseful, and charged with political intrigue and romance, I, Spy is the perfect combination for a fun and captivating read!

— Michelle Davidson Argyle, author of Monarch

About the author

An award-winning author, Jordan McCollum can’t resist a story where good defeats evil and true love conquers all. In her day job, she coerces people to do things they don’t want to, elicits information and generally manipulates the people she loves most—she’s a mom.

Jordan holds a degree in American Studies and Linguistics from Brigham Young University. When she catches a spare minute, her hobbies include reading, knitting and music. She lives with her husband and four children in Utah.

Add I, Spy on Goodreads and join my mailing list for a chance to get a review copy today!

Mother's day round up!

Mother's Day is coming up! Here are a few crafts for kids to make for Mother's Day that we've shared over the years:

Two Mother's Day Pop-up Cards for Kids to Make

Ribbon flowers for Mother's day

Mother's Day Stacker & and Book-style card kids can make
This craft is one of the most popular on our blog!
To date, it's received hundreds of pins and over 30,000 views!

Peanut Butter Oreo Truffles

Also, we have several Father's Day ideas that could work for Mom, too:

17 Last-minute Gifts Kids Can Make

Father's Day Coupon Books, a play on Mom's stacker card

Spring Blogger Buzz

Last weekend I got to go to an awesome blogger meetup dinner hosted by Ashley. Lauren spoke to us. I felt like I was in the presence of blogging royalty :) 

We got an awesome goodie bag with stuff from these companies:

and I was very excited to win a giveaway to Silpada I was thinking of getting this necklace (if it's not coming up search for Wish Necklace). What do you think?

It was super fun and I can't wait to go to another one!

Moving Week- Day 5 Leaving behind your house

If you missed any of the posts this week you can catch up here. We've talked about supplies needed for moving, Pinterest ideas I tried out while moving, general tips and tricks, and home showing preparation.

Today I have a list of a couple suggestions for when the day comes to move out of your home.

• For our buyer we left a packet of instructions for our home. Inside of the packet we included the instruction booklets for the appliances that were staying, a parks and recreation fall schedule we had recently gotten in the mail, the trash schedule mailer which included what could be recycled and curb side yard waste pick up, and a list of quirks about the house. The list of quirks included how the dishwasher sometimes needs an extra click to start but it works great, what light switches go to what, and when we replaced the roof and other important dates. 
• We were close friends with our neighbors. We had helped each other out with projects. We had learned valuable skills about maintaining our home from them and we had developed a friendship. Leaving was hard for us so we got them little treats to show them we would miss them. I went to the dollar store and loaded up on candy. I wrote little poems to go along with each stack of candy. Here are the three different poems I used. 

Dear _____ Family,

You are such Sweethears (tarts)

Who were our Lifesavers

and help us our a Good and Plenty

Big (Red) Thanks, The ____ Family

The ______ Family,

Sometimes we were Goobers

and we got ourselves into a Buncha Crunches

You were our  Lifesavers

that helped us out a Good and Plenty!

-Big (Red) Thanks, The ______ Family

Dear ______ Family,

You all are such Sweethears (tarts)

that we are going to miss Bunches (Crunches)

-Big (Red) Thanks!  The _______ Family

I hope you enjoyed the week of moving posts! If you're moving good luck! I would love to hear from you all about tips that you have! Have a great weekend!