MIXED FRUIT PIE - PERFECT FOR SUMMER

This is a great time of the summer

to make a nice Mixed Fruit Pie.

I used 4 peaches cut up, 2 cups of

blueberries and 1 cup of raspberries.

Actually, you could do any combination of

ripe and fresh fruits such as blackberries

or strawberries, peaches, plums or blueberries.

I substituted lard for crisco in my pie crust.

You will need:  4 cups of of fresh, ripe fruit chopped in a large bowl with 1 tsp lemon juice.  Add 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/4 cup of  flour and 1/4 cup of cornstarch - mix through.  

Pour into a pie shell bottom and add the lattice top.  Brush with egg yolk and bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes

Pie crust recipe:  2 cups sifted flour, cut in 3/4 cup crisco (or lard) using a flour kneader.  Add 5 - 8 Tb ice water to form a nice ball of dough.  Divide dough as 1/2 will be used for the lattice top.  Roll out on floured pastry cloth with a covered and floured rolling pin.  Press into pie shell.  After adding peach mix, cut the lattice strips and weave across the top.  You could use this recipe for other pies.

AFTERNOON TEA WITH SOME CF LADIES

I am pleased to share photos of an

Afternoon Tea I had on Sunday

afternoon.  We were glad to be down

 in the cool tea room and not out in

 the hot, sunny garden.

There were 27 ladies from
  "Christian Fellowship" who came to
relax and enjoy Afternoon Tea.

Gredia (pronounced Sha-re-tah) offered to
sing and we loved her two beautiful songs.

We had mature women and young women
and our new "Tea Baby" Adalea!

We were honored to have 2 women who were
refugees from the Congo and Caritas Habimana
who was a refugee from Rwanda.

I do things different ways for different 

teas and this time I decided to use my

 3 tiered servers at the table rather than a

buffet.  A few ladies enjoyed hot tea but because

of the heat most of the ladies chose iced tea.

Here is what I served:  the scones

were Mixed Berry Cream, the tea

was Decaf and Regular Ginger Peach,  Yorkshire

Gold and Blackberry Sage.  The Savories

were Cheese Asparagus Quiche, Hot
 Pepper Peach Ham Biscuits, and 2 types of Cheddar Cheese crackers.  The sweets were Chocolate Peppermints Brownies, Miniature Lemon Pound Cakes and Lemon Fruit Tarts.

I used the recipe for the lemon pound cake given in the link but poured the batter into mini muffin tins and shortened the baking time......they worked perfectly!

One last idea for you here today:  I baked the
 Cheese Asparagus Onion Quiches in shells.
 Instead of using Crisco - I used lard in the 
dough - yes lard.  I have been wanting to do 
this for a long time and I DO LIKE the crust 
better!  You can buy it at the marked
next to the Crisco. (use the link to the recipe
 above just change the cooked asparagus, etc) 
 Instead of a large quiche - I made mini ones
 in the mini muffin tins)

Out in the garden some hydrangeas are

blooming and others are starting to

bloom.  Monarda and Cone Flowers

are in abundance and then miscellaneous

flowers.  I am so enjoying having a garden.

I baked pretty much all day on Saturday
 and early Sunday morning and love, love
 my new convectional oven. I also did one
thing wrong by putting my crackers too close
together in baking them - so now I learned
that lesson the hard way which seems to be
my best teacher always!

Here is one of 2 cheese cracker recipes I baked.
This one was the White Cheddar Cheese Recipe from the July/August issue of Victoria.  I put
springs of Rosemary on top of mine.

READY FOR BAKING

I am feeling happy and spoiled this week

as I just got new kitchen appliances.  Last
summer we got the counters and sink replaced.

When we moved into our house three

years ago, the appliances were less

than desirable.  The stove in particular

was "on it's last leg".  Now I have my
first ever convection oven.  Everything
came in handy last week for company.
My husband's friend helped him put up the
"fake" tin accents too and we really like them.

Our home is casual - not formal.

My refrigerator was a major upgrade too
and having a nice dishwasher.
For the last 3 years I have had none but me.

So I am celebrating because I
love to bake and cook but doesn't something
that actually works properly help us much.  
I appreciate the convection oven and Bosch
dishwasher that actually gets things clean!

CRAB STUFFED MUSHROOMS

Last week I had company and made all
sorts of things so I thought I'd bring this
recipe forward from 10 years back
as it was one of the items I served:


Here is your recipe which will make
 delicious mushroom appetizers:

Purchase 36 medium white or 18 large
 portabello mushrooms. I did only 18 
medium so I froze 1/2 of my "stuffing" 
after I made it!

You will also need:

 1 12 oz package lump crab meat, 1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs, 2 shallots or cut up 2 green

 onions, 1/2 of a diced green pepper, 1/2 of

 a diced red pepper, 2 eggs, pinch of black

 pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic salt, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 

1/4 cup Romano, and mixed together: 1/4 cup

 lemon juice and 1/4 cup of melted butter 

which will be poured over the tops at the end.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees......in a medium
 bowl place clean diced crab meat, add peppers, onions, bread crumbs, pepper, garlic salt, eggs and Parmesan and Romano cheese. After stuffing mushroom caps by hand, pour lemon juice and butter over all. I like to finish with a cup of shredded Mozzarella and Colby cheese. Bake in oven for 20 minutes.

You've had them in restaurants....make them at home!

SATURDAY IN THE GARDEN

After days of rain and rain

 we finally

see sunshine again:

I do have some Queen Anne's Lace in my

front yard and I hope to "manage" it.

So far, our weather hasn't been as

hot as usual for June but we have had

 a lot of rain.

This morning it poured so I hope

the ground will dry out and I will

try to do a "Tea In The Garden"

photo shoot this next week.  If I

see any others I will include 

a link to them.

The fences have a lot of

bittersweet growing on them.

This fall the berries will turn

colors and be pretty for fall!

Have a lovely weekend.