[Jamestown1630]

This week: Fancying-Up our Pies, Sweet or Savory!

We had snow today, and it’s very cold tonight – am hoping against the forecast that we will have a proper White Christmas. I wish you all a very warm and happy one, full of the love of friends and family!

(If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking-thread ping-list, please send a private message.)

-JT

[beef]

I made a cottage pie today, and now I am making yogurt in my Instant Pot.

[topspinr]

Any one here using the NuWave Precision Induction Cooktop?

I bought one but haven’t used it yet.

[mylife]

Thank God you are here! I am so sick of #metoo gate and just want to enjoy the Holidays with family

[mylife]

I love savory meat pies

Here is a cheater recipe... mix a can of Veg all with a can cream of chicken/mushroom , in a cassoroule dish add your secret hobo spices and mix.

Top with bisquick.

Is it Yo Grannys Pot Pie?

NO! but its better than the Colonel or MCDodo

[ebshumidors]

I’m getting ready to make smoked Hungarian kolbasz.

[leaning conservative]

Hope you’re feeling better now. Bugs are the worst. That pastry is amazing, but just no. I do cut out hearts & stars from the pastry to decorate my pies. Because I love stars & have a tiny heart cutter.

[CottonBall]

Ok I made my first round of little village cakes! I chose the first recipe I posted because it had more flour than the others, so I figured it would be denser and might make a better cake for the molds.

The detail wasn't as good as I like - the doors and windows were just hints of indentations. But the roofs and chimneys were cute. And some of the buildings were leaning a bit - due to the flexibility of the silicone. But I'll just call it my little Italian village, LOL!

Here's the sequence: the pan, the pan filled, the cakes done in the pan, the cakes unmolded, the cakes with powdered sugar. The unmolding was especially easy - popped right out. The caked did have some holes in them, which messed with the detail. I don't know if it's from the Baker's Joy, which I never used and sprayed on a bit heavy. Or from the batter, which I thought would be dense but ended up normal for a cake. Without those, I think I'd like the detail better.

So tomorrow I'll try the orange cake batter and see.

click on the thumbnails for a bigger pic.

[Trillian]

What a beautiful pie. Only a few more days and I can cook again. Yippeee!

[Yaelle]

The historic British food link is so fascinating. Imagine taking one of those classes. Imagine the interesting people you would meet. Feeling jealous as some of my extended family will be in England for Christmas.

JT, I’d have paid money for the pie edge link! This is perfect, some good ideas for me. Several ideas I have never tried. I want to try them all. I’ve ,made 5 lattice pies this fall and each one looked better than the one before.

[miss marmelstein]

Love Clarissa Wright Dickson. I have several of her books but her autobiography “Spilling the Beans” is hilarious. What a woman!

I also have Jennifer Paterson’s book of ‘receipts” which follow her favorite saint days. She was a staunch Catholic and before she teamed up with CWD, she cooked for The Spectator Magazine offices. She was fired when, high on cooking sherry she dumped the lunch and all of its pots on the street below, striking several pedestrians.

If you have Britbox (or You Tube), you can watch the Hairy Bikers - two fat fellows on motorcycles who cook too. The male version of the Two Fat Ladies. They’re good too.

[momtothree]

Hi J! May I please put out a request to some of your cooking Freepers (it sort of fits into historic cooking a bit). My youngest loves jerky. She loves it to the point that if you offered her a candy bar OR jerky... she’d take the jerky each and every time. I recently purchased a dehydrator from Amazon (a decent one) but need some jerky tips/recipes. My concern is this: how do you know jerky is done because my concern is bacteria. Any advice/recipe/how to tips are greatly appreciated. (BTW... I don’t have access to anything exotic (I’m defining that as anything you can’t buy in the store like elk, deer, etc). Thank you, thank you, thank you. :)

[pugmama]

I made this for my husband’s birthday as he loves all things chocolate. It was wonderful with a glass of port.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/jennas-devils-food-chocolate-oasis-pie/15788/

[pugmama]

I love butternut squash. This is one of my favorite ways to eat it.I add lots of garlic and sprinkle red pepper flakes over. I drizzle a bit of honey over it when I take it out of the oven. This recipe is quite versatile-see comments for additional ways to make this.

https://food52.com/recipes/7329-butternut-squash-and-roasted-garlic-galette

[pugmama]

Growing up in Canada, we always had butter tarts in the house. My mom was a great cook but loved baking more than anything.
Here is a great twist on the tarts:

https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/butter-tart-pie/

[pugmama]

I really enjoy researching historical food. Thanks.

[pugmama]

Interesting article on the evolution of American pie:

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2015/03/history_of_pie_how_savory_meat_pies_evolved_into_america_s_favorite_dessert.html

[Freedom56v2]

Hi Freepers!

Wondering if anyone has good (and easy!) recipe for eggnog bread.

I usually buy several to have on hand for unexpected gift giving, snacking, etc. However, I called Great Harvest Bread and they are wanting close to $9 for a loaf! Spouse just took an early retirement (somewhat unexpected) so every purchase** is being scrutinized, and if I can make a good one myself for less, I would like to try. I don’t have a lot of time to experiment and I am not a huge bread baker, but thought perhaps some of you might have suggestions.

**I am still keeping instant pot on my Christmas list ~ not sure if I have been naughty or nice, but I sure would lke one of those pots! I think making yogurt in it would pay for itself in no time :)

[lizma2]

Thanks for the food history links! Love food history.
Have a British food history book that goes back to B.C. times. The Tudor period food is very similar to the recipes Martha Washington used.

[Deplorable American1776]

I love meat pies... especially homemade chicken pot pie with vegetables, cheese and chicken marinaded in pineapple juice, orange juice and rum...