I have LOVED Ree Drummond ever since I first started blogging and discovered her blog, THE PIONEER WOMAN.
She is funny, smart and talented beyond belief in so many ways!
She has turned her blog into a wonderful business. She has written cookbooks and childrens books....has a line of kitchen products....and her latest endeavor is the restoration of an old building in a small Oklahoma town that she's turned into a deli and gift shop. A journey to this business of hers is definitely on my bucket list!
I have made a few of the dishes from this particular book of hers....among them the cinnamon rolls! They turned out great and I'm terrible at making such dishes.
Yesterday, I decided to try making this pie.....where you roll out the crust, put the filling in the center, then fold the edges of the crust up to the top of the pie....it's a rustic look and I love it! I had visions of of taking a few of these to our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day gatherings!!
I used the recipe for the flakey pie crust that's also included in this book.
Just look at Ree's beautiful finished pies!!
So, here's the first one I made.
I'd call it a tad more than "rustic", wouldn't you? :)
Disregard how nasty my pie pan looks....it's ancient. There have been a lot of pies made in it over the last 30+ years. I'd like to call it seasoned.
Actually, Ree bakes her rustic pies on a baking sheet, but by the time I'd wrestled the pie crust around, there were lots of holes in it....the juice from the filling was oozing out...and I fear I'd have an oven fire if I just plopped it on a sheet. Thus, I contained the oozing mess in pie pans.
I also added fresh cranberries to the fruit mix.
Here's my second attempt.
By then I'd wised up (I thought) and lined the pan with foil...hoping to make the clean up easier. The edges of the first crust were pretty well adhered to the pan by the time the baking process was complete....a real challenge to remove a "slice".
However, on the second pie there was just as much "crust sticking" going on.....and, sadly, trying to remove the pie from the foil (in one piece) didn't happen. I ended up just peeling the foil off as best as I could and piling the "pie" in a dish.....it took on the look of a cobbler.
I have to say, while the finished dishes were not worthy of an entry in a fair because of how sad they looked, they were definitely "blue ribbon material" in taste!! Such a flakey crust....and the filling was yummy!
So.... I will practice working with the crust recipe. It's not gonna happen until after Christmas cuz I need to bake some of my "go to " dessert recipes . They are the ones I have repeated so much over the years that I could make them in my sleep!! Well, now that's an exaggeration!!
This morning, THE STONE RABBIT, Twiggy and I have been wrapping presents!! I don't know why I procrastinate doing the wrapping, but I always do!
Thankfully, that's all done. Now we are gonna pop a couple of things in the oven to cook while we take a little nap and recharge .
Please visit Beverly's blog HOW SWEET THE SOUND for a long list of other bloggers who are ready with their Pink Saturday shares!
Merry Christmas to all of you!!
DANA