Chivalrous

 

This weekend we watched our very talented niece Laura dance in the ballet Sleeping Beauty. It was a local production but had all of the sets, costumes, and pyrotechnics a larger production would typically have. We've been planning to see this show for a while so have been prepping Nate for the evil Maleficent. He doesn't usually like any tension in plots and avoids watching any show with a bad guy so we were a bit worried how he would handle the ballet.

Nate's really good friend Elise came with us to the show. Right before the curtain went up Nate turned to Elise and said "I will protect you from the scary parts."

Wow.

There are moments where he just melts my heart. That was one of them.

Apparently it melted Elise's too. After the show, they were chasing each other when she suddenly fell to the ground "asleep." She would only wake up with a kiss from Nate. (Seriously wouldn't mind if they got married one day...can arranged marriages come back into fashion?)

Apple Pie

Apple pie is by far my favorite type of pie. I will eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack time in between!

A good apple pie is all about the apples. I prefer apples with a little tartness and some firmness. Braeburn apples are typically my pie baking apples of choice.

Start by peeling, coring and slicing about 9-10 apples thinly.

 

Sprinkle on top the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Toss together and set aside.

 

Take out one disc of dough that you had in the fridge. Roll out so there is a 1-inch overhang for the bottom crust.

 

Set into a pie dish.

 

Pour the apple mixture into the pie dish. Dot a couple of tablespoons of butter across the top.

 

Roll out the top crust and cover the apple mixture. Pinch together the top and bottom crusts so they seal.

 

To make a pretty edge, simply use your thumb and forefinger to pinch the dough all the way around the rim of the pie dish.

 

Cut vents in the top of the dough.

 

 

Cover the edges with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning. Bake in the oven at 425 for 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional  10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm!



 

Apple Pie

 

Ingredients:

 

Pastry for two-crust pie

1/3 to 2/3 c. sugar (depending on the tartness of your apples)

1/4 c. flour

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

dash of salt

9 c. thinly sliced & peeled apples

2 T. butter

 

Directions:

 

Heat oven to 425 degrees and prepare pastry.

 

Peel, core and slice the apples. Place in a large bowl. Sprinkle the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt on top. Toss to coat. Pour into pastry-lined pie dish. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Seal edges, cut some heat vents on the top crust and cover the edges with aluminum foil. For some reason the edges cook faster than the rest of the pie so if you don't cover them they will come out burnt!

 

Bake 30 minutes. Remove the foil edges and put back in the oven for an additional 10-15. My mom and sister like a slightly crunchy apple pie. If you are the same, take out the pie before juice begins to bubble through the slits in the crust. Serve warm or cool.

Doodle Cuteness

My niece Maddie is a doodle queen. She makes funny little comics up in her head and scribbles them down on anything and everything. I knew her drawings would make fun artwork for the kiddos' bathroom so provided her with a pad of neon Post-It notes and this is what I got back.

Here are close-ups of some of my favorites:

Pie Crust

I love pie. I could eat pie everyday. Sweet. Savory. Dessert. Dinner. It doesn't matter, I'll eat it! A key to good pie is the crust. I've tried probably 30+ recipes over the years using shortening, butter, fat or a combination of them. This recipe is the easiest and tastiest I've come across, it's a combination of my favorite recipes.

 

First, have all of your ingredients chilled. Flour too! In a bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add in the cubed butter.

 

Using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour fixture mixture.

 

Continue until the butter is about the size of peas. Drizzle in the ice water, tossing with a fork. 

 

The mixture should be shaggy and loose but will hold together if you pinch some of it together.

 

Dump the mixture onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a ball. Don't actually knead the pastry as you do not want to over handle the dough. This warms the butter and makes your pastry less flaky.

 

 

Divide the dough into two equal parts. Form into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

 

The dough will roll well and stick together yet still come out flaky and tasty. Best recipe yet!

All-Butter Pie Pastry

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 T. sugar
3/4 t. sea salt
1 c. cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 c. iced water

Directions:

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Refrigerate for 10 minutes until chilled.

Cut in the cold butter until the butter is about the size of peas.

Stir in the iced water, 1/4 cup at a time, tossing with a fork to distribute the water.

Turn the pastry dough onto n a lightly floured work surface. Press together into a cohesive ball. Do not handle more than necessary to avoid overdeveloping the dough. Divide the pastry into 2 equal parts. Shape into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for one hour before rolling.

Rice Pot Cuteness

 

My Aunt Bonnie gave me this rice cooker charm for Christmas. It is so cute and perfect for me!  I especially love the funny little rice scoop at the bottom.

She got the charm at a holiday bazaar near her house in Southern California from a booth called Clayvision.

Check out their website, they have so many cute things like this:

and this:

and this:

I'm not sure but I think these are little blocks of tofu with a bottle of soy...hilarious!
 

Kale Salad

 

Kale is a vegetable that seems to be garnering a lot more attention in the last couple of years for its health benefits. We cook it often but never thought of eating it raw as it seemed too tough. My friend Holly introduced me to this simple salad and now we make it regularly.

 

Chop the kale stems and all and add to a bowl.

 

 Chop a couple of handfuls of raw almonds and dried dates. Add to the top of the kale.

 

For the dressing use equal parts freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil, then whisk in half the amount of honey. For a small salad I use 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/8 cup honey.

Pour the dressing on top and enjoy!

Bonus: Since kale is so fibrous the salad works very well as leftovers!

Happy New Year

Over here in the Rice Pot Mama household we're popping out to wish you a very Happy New Year! This picture was actually taken on our Hawaii vacation. There is no way we would be wearing shorts today...it's a cold a frosty start to the New Year at a whopping 28 degrees. Brrrrr!

Each year I make several New Year's resolutions and am pretty good at sticking with them for a good 6-7 months. One of my resolutions this year is to stick them out for the full year. The rest are:

1. Try a new recipe at least once a week
2. Lose the extra 5 pounds I've managed to gain over the holidays
3. Listen more attentively to the kiddos. I've noticed I'll sometimes acknowledge "yes" that I know what they are saying and then have no clue what was just said.

I don't know whether any of these resolutions will stick but part of the New Year is to start fresh with a hopeful and positive outlook.

Whatever 2013 brings I hope your year is filled with joy.

Happy New Year!
-Rice Pot Mama