Here Comes The Sun!
Spring is a little problematic in my corner of the world. Early spring is known as “Mud Season” in New Hampshire. The snow melts slowly, the frost comes out of the ground, loosening the soil, the dirt back roads, such as the one I live on, become rutted obstacle courses. People who don’t know each other wave to each other on these roads, a silent acknowledgement of the shared ordeal. By about April 10, the snow is out of the woods. As patches of yard melt out, we rake and thatch the brown grass as it is...
Read MoreNew for 2013 – Art Nouveau Flower Stamps
I just posted the following over at shortbreadpans.com. These are our latest Cookie Stamp Designs. Lucy Art Nouveau Flower Stamps Around the turn of the last century, a new style of art was born in reaction to the academic art of the 19th century, Art Nouveau. With beautiful forms and elegant curving lines, this “New Art” celebrated flowers, all of nature and the ideal of man’s harmonious place in Nature. With our series of Art Nouveau Cookie Stamps, we have carved some of these beautiful and stylized...
Read MoreGluten Free Shortbread, yes it is possible.
Dear All, The internet in general and my blog in particular has opened up ways and channels of communication that I never dreamed possible. A woman with whom I have become friends over my blog has worked out some gluten free recipes for shortbread, and here they are! How wonderful that she can share with all of you who are gluten-intolerant, too. NO ONE should have to go without shortbread! Happy baking, Lucy From Cara Aileen: I have really enjoyed creating these recipes! What an adventure, and to know they will...
Read MoreWords of Winter
There’s an old saying that goes “If you have a job that you have to do a lot of, get really good at it and figure out how to enjoy it”. In New Hampshire in the dead of winter, that would be snow shoveling. Admittedly, this is a picture that was taken 5 years ago when we had more snow, but I love it, and I wanted to share it. That year, we had tons of snow, literally. All of the hardware stores, Home Depots, tractor supply stores, etc. were completely sold out of snow blowers, shovels and roof...
Read MoreNovember – Perfect Pumpkin Pie
This is my favorite pumpkin pie, big, not too sweet and full of pumpkin. I developed the recipe for the 11” deep dish porcelain pie plate that we used to make, so you will need to take this into account. If you don’t have a large, deep pie plate and you are using a 9” pie plate, why don’t you use a small pie plate too? This way you can have a pie for the “grown-ups’ table” at Thanksgiving, and a special pie for the “kids‘ table”, too. Or you can have a nice big pie for your family and a...
Read MoreFall Update
The weather has been beautiful here in New Hampshire, my garden hit full late summer glory at the end of August, and all of the biting bugs seem to have packed it in for the season. As a result, it has been well nigh impossible to make myself stay indoors long enough to update my website for fall. I didn’t even write the August and September installments of A Pie For All Seasons until writing out the October recipe. But the Cortland and McIntosh apples are just now ready to be picked. September’s recipe...
Read MoreOctober – Crustless Cranberry-Walnut Pie
As soon as the cranberries appear in the grocery stores, I stock up so that I can make this delicious pie often. Actually, it can’t truly be classified as a pie, but I’m not sure what else to call it. It is quick and easy to make, and delicious. 2 cups washed cranberries ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts 1 ¼ cup sugar, total ½ cup melted butter, cooled somewhat 2 eggs 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon almond extract additional butter for pie pan Butter your pie pan liberally, then pour in the washed cranberries. ...
Read MoreSeptember – Classic Apple Pie
I was fortunate enough to grow up with a twin sister. Though we are very different, we did almost everything together, including making apple pies. She is more meticulous than I, so she always made the crust, and I have very fast hands, so I always peeled and cored the apples for the filling. This is our tried and true recipe. 1 recipe Basic Pie Crust 6 or 7 large tart apples – Jonathan, Cortland, Northern Spy, Granny Smith, MacIntosh all are good juice of 1/2 a large lemon ½ cup sugar, or a bit more,...
Read MoreAugust – Blackberry Pie
Blackberry Pie (or Blueberry or Raspberry) – I learned to make Blackberry Pie because my grandfather loved it so. It was his favorite, and since I adored him, I proclaimed that anything he liked, I loved. Picking the berries with him made it all the more special. I had wooden quart boxes to pick in to, but he had a little metal pail with a bale that he could hook to his belt so that he could use both hands. He liked his pie hot and soupy. I have added a little corn starch to the recipe to thicken the...
Read MoreJune – Cherry Pie
Tart cherries, the first of the summer fruits, make one of the prettiest pies of all. It is absolutely delicious hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, the perfect pie á la mode, but it’s great all but itself at any temperature. 1 recipe Basic Pie Crust 1 1/2 quarts fresh tart cherries or 1 quart frozen tart cherries 1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar, depending on the tartness of the cherries 3 Tablespoons corn starch 1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional) 3 Tablespoons cold butter. Line your pie plate with one half...
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