So it started at 6:30 a.m. this morning when I went to make the pie crust for our pumpkin pie. I was especially diligent - even chilling the flour in the fridge before cutting in the butter. Now I use the pie recipe from Zingerman's Bakehouse and although for the most part it works out beautifully for me - I sometimes think it's a tad dry. So I added 3 extra T. of butter to it (not realizing that this was actually nearly double the amount of fat called for). Anyway - I made the crust - and put it in the fridge to chill, then went to bake it off. Imagine my surprise 5 minutes later when I took a peek in the oven and I saw the crust sinking into the center of the pie plate and OOZING butter. But here's the kicker - it wasn't surprise that I felt but DEJA VU. It occurred to me that months ago when I made the pie I did the exact same thing and had to throw it out and start over. Aaargh! But before I threw it out I thought I would taste that soggy mass (hey - we're are talking butter here). And it tasted not so good - very different than what a pie crust normally tastes like - and not because of the butter. And then my eyes rested on the bag of flour I had used - bread flour (by mistake). Then I had another 'aha' moment as to why the malted chocolate chip cookies I took to my parents in Florida last week elicited a 'honey - these aren't very good - do you leave something out'from my father
Okay - made crust number two - following the directions and all turned out fine. Then I went to make the filling (I tried CI's latest recipe) and was a bit worked up at that point. The recipe called for using canned yams and I guess I didn't look at the picture on the can (hmmm...do you see a pattern here) and expected them to be mashed (um...I've never had a canned yam before) and I was so irritated and didn't want to dirty another pot to mash them in that I literally just put them in my (clean) hands and squeezed the daylights out of them. Until I had enough to make 1 cup, as the instructions called for.
As I continued to make the filling I noticed that the recipe called for 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of milk. But I hadn't noticed the latter item the first few times I read the recipe and didn't have any on hand. Just an extra 1/2 cup of cream. To which I topped it off with 1/2 cup of water.
The rest went well - we'll see tomorrow how it tastes. But I must tell you - I'm buying the pumpkin pie next year!
Deb
Okay - made crust number two - following the directions and all turned out fine. Then I went to make the filling (I tried CI's latest recipe) and was a bit worked up at that point. The recipe called for using canned yams and I guess I didn't look at the picture on the can (hmmm...do you see a pattern here) and expected them to be mashed (um...I've never had a canned yam before) and I was so irritated and didn't want to dirty another pot to mash them in that I literally just put them in my (clean) hands and squeezed the daylights out of them. Until I had enough to make 1 cup, as the instructions called for.
As I continued to make the filling I noticed that the recipe called for 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of milk. But I hadn't noticed the latter item the first few times I read the recipe and didn't have any on hand. Just an extra 1/2 cup of cream. To which I topped it off with 1/2 cup of water.
The rest went well - we'll see tomorrow how it tastes. But I must tell you - I'm buying the pumpkin pie next year!
Deb