We grew up in a pie-baking household; Mom is a great baker who loves to bake pies. She rolled out the dough, placed it in a Pyrex pie plate and added the filling. Then we got to pinch the edges. We savored the aroma of a baking pie; and counted the minutes after it was removed from the oven, when it would be cool enough to cut.
While pie-baking seems a snap to us, a recent national survey by Crisco (which Mom loves in her pie crusts) revealed that:
59% of Americans say that pie is the hardest dessert to prepare from scratch
Nearly two-thirds (65%) agree that making the crust is the hardest part of baking a pie from scratch
Only 12% say choosing a recipe is the hardest part of preparing the classic dessert
What’s your favorite pie? Bake it today!
Photo courtesy American Egg Board.
O.K., then; you know what kind of pie you’d like. Whip one up today for National Pie Day. The typical pie recipe requires just 30 minutes of prep time and 30 to 40 minutes in the oven.
Try making this apple pie recipe from Crisco. We love how the pie crust is rimmed with little stars, cut with a cookie cutter.
Here’s a video that shows how easy it is to make a pie crust.
If you have questions, call the experts at The Crisco Pie Hotline, Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET. The phone number is by calling 1.877.FOR PIE TIPS (877-367-7438).
BLOOD ORANGE PRODUCTS
We absolutely love the blood orange-infused olive oil from Sonoma Farm and Stella Cadente. No matter where you use it, it adds magic.
Robert Lambert makes a delectable blood orange syrup, easy to use in anything from tea to pound cake to sorbet; as well as a marvelous marmalade of blood oranges.
Have a bloody good time digging in to these bloody-orange-good foods.
Blood oranges—also called blush oranges and Maltese oranges, among other names—are in high season now. We look forward to them all year, contenting ourselves with the excellent bottled blood orange juice from Italian Volcano (organic and kosher) when we can’t squeeze our own.
Blood oranges are believed to be a mutation of the sweet orange that occurred in Sicily, around 1850. It was brought to the U.S. by Italian immigrants and now grows in California and Florida.
With growing popularity, blood oranges are planted in different areas of the orange belt. They are harvested from October to January in Florida, from December to March in Texas and from November to May in California. There are three types of blood oranges. You can learn more about them; then scroll to the bottom of the page for related cooking videos.
The “blood” color comes from a red pigment and powerful antioxidant called anthocyanin.* The hue can range from red to rose to deep purple, depending on the climate where the oranges are grown. Blood oranges are also packed with high levels of carotene, dietary fiber, potassium and vitamin C.
Some varieties of blood orange have a lovely
blush on the rind, while others have a solid
orange peel like conventional oranges. Photo
courtesy Melissas.com, where you can order
blood oranges for yourself or as gifts.
*Anthocyanin neutralizes the effects of free-radical chemicals that are believed to cause cancer and other ailments (diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, liver disease and ulcers) plus the general impact of aging. Research shows that they fight and preventing cancerous tumors and ulcers, and improve vision.
Spring your spices from their sealed jars and
add them to a new recipe. Photo of
star anise courtesy Wikimedia.
There are some spices in the cabinet that you use more often than others: chili powder, cinnamon, garlic powder or paprika, for example.
And then there are those that were bought for a recipe—like cardamom for Christmas cookies or cloves for the Easter ham. After you’ve made the recipe, the bottle of spice just lingers on the shelf.
Certain wines age well as they sit; but not spices or herbs. So use them up before they age out. Here are examples of how to expand your perspective:
Cardamom is a popular ingredient in India (its home), as well as in Middle Eastern and Scandinavian dishes. You can use it every day to flavor tea or coffee, curries, desserts (including rice pudding) and mulled wine. Steep it with your tea—add some cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and peppercorns—and you’ll have made masala chai (spiced tea). Perhaps it’s time to make chai rice pudding.
Cloves, whole or ground, cloves can be add to soups, stews or curries. Whole cloves are either steeped or studded into an ingredient (ham, leg of lamb, onion, potato and oranges, for example—in fact, if you have too many cloves, make pomanders). Add a bit of clove to marinades and sauces. Steep a few cloves with your favorite tea. Use ground cloves to season fish and seafood. Bake a spice cake with cloves, cardamom and your other “holiday spices”—delicous flavors that should be enjoyed year-round.
Star anise is perhaps the least known of this trio, but it’s very versatile—try it in anything form pork dishes to teriyaki. It gives a bit of Asian flair to everything, including soups and stews. Our chef pops one star into just about everything—even when he’s just sweating onions. In the drinks department, it’s the perfect season to add star anise to hot cider, mulled wine and tea.
Want suggestions for how to use up your spices? Just ask!
Have you checked your spices for freshness lately? See how.
Earlier today, we challenged you to make rabbit-shaped dumplings to celebrate the Year Of The Rabbit. The new Chinese lunar year begins on February 3rd.
While the secret to making the rabbit shape is not in this video, you will see how easy it is to make boiled Chinese dumplings.
You can use the filling of your choice (chicken, beef, lamb, pork, vegetables, seafood, etc.), or click for recipes at the end of the video.
