Be Real

 

I’ve seen this floating around Pinterest, and was reminded of it last night after a conversation with friends about pie crust. Interestingly enough, the conversation took place in the context of a small group get-together, which is all about being real with each other and helping each other live out day-by-day our walk with Christ.

 

 

(I don’t have anything to say about fake cheese beside this: just don’t. It’s not worth it.)

 

 

But back to pie crust. I love pie crust, which also translates into my loving pie, and the best pie crust I have had so far is Food Loves Writing’s all butter pie crust. If you’re going to make pie crust, make it with all butter. Life’s too short, people.

 

 

On the topic of butter, I made these biscuits again last night, another all-butter recipe. If you’re feeling somewhat guilty at this point, feel free to use water instead of milk in this recipe. I did it once when I had no milk in the house, and we couldn’t tell the difference. You could also try eggnog, but I wouldn’t really recommend it.

 

 

Perfect Pie Crust (from Food Loves Writing)

 

Note: She uses this crust for both savory and sweet. I’ve used it to make her chicken pot pie, but I haven’t tried her pumpkin pie recipe. It’s now on my list!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup flour (I’ve used white spelt, whole-grain spelt, wheat, all-purpose, sprouted wheat)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (i.e., 1 stick) butter, chopped into cubes, kept very cold

1/4 cup cold water

 

Directions:

Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add butter and cut in with a pastry cutter or two forks until the batter is crumbly, with pea-sized butter chunks throughout. Add water and stir together; then use hands to form the dough into a ball. Flatten dough on flour-lined parchment paper and roll out into the size of your pie pan; set aside.

 

 

Drop Biscuits (from Real Simple)

 

See my notes on the recipe in this post.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup whole milk

 

Directions:

Heat oven to 400° F. In a food processor, combine the flour, butter, baking powder, and salt; pulse until pea-size clumps form. Add the milk and pulse just until moistened. Drop 6 large mounds of the dough (about ½ cup each) onto a baking sheet. Bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.