Michael1942's Blog

My favorite snacks have become home made pie. I prefer Apple and Pecan. Each one has no preservatives and  so far no huge amount of caloric content. The most time involved is the baking (50 minutes at 350). The  crust is a new recipe I found exceptionally easy, it takes about 10 to 15 minutes top put together  and roll out. I still use the vodka/ water mix but did not need to refrigerate the dough before rolling. This new recipe requires only the shortening and butter combination, mixing and kneading the dough until you form a soft ball, then roll it out and place in pie dish, the crust is a dessert by itself. The recipe makes a decent 9 inch pie but you would need to double it for a ten inch dish. Ingredients: 12 -14 oz package of whole pecans, 1/4 cup each of butter and shortening, 1.5 cups of all purpose flour. 1/4 cold water (half of this amount is vodka). Cut the butter and shortening into the flour until it is pea sized pieces. add water until it is moistened enough to form a ball. Roll out and put in pie dish, add pecan mixture (1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 cup corn syrup, 3 slightly beaten eggs, 1/2 cup sugar and pecans). Bake 55 minute until done. You can prevent the crust from burning by taking a 12 x 12 sheet of foil, fold in quarters, cut 3 in section from center, open and place over crust of pie and bake for 25 minutes, then remove and cook and additional 30 minutes). Good Pie.

A few days a go I made an attempt at Shrimp Scampi, I neglected to make a note on what I needed for it. I purchased the shrimp and made the basic dish and realized I needed angel hair pasta. I used thin spaghetti-not nearly the same. The angel hair when cooked is still substantially less bulky in the dish. The other thing I realized that the thicker pasta kills the flavor making entire dish pretty bland in spite of the amount of garlic required. I added in chopped green onions which helped but I am sure the wrong pasta is what made the dish as blah as it was. In Shrimp Sampi, the pasta is important.