Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! We are celebrating at my house with Homemade Marshmallows and Hot Cross Buns!


Enjoy the rest of your Egg Day!! ;D

It's the Grape Pie, Charlie Brown!

Wow! Halloween seemed to go by like a blur! My mom and I spent days upon days decorating our house and preparing food for our annual "Super Awesome Halloween Party Deluxe." This was our third year throwing a big "h-ween" party, and I'm positive that it's been the best so far. We had a great turn out, and everyone had a great time! They loved the food and said our decorations were awesome. Thank you, thank you very much! After all our hard work and anticipation, I was asleep by 10:30! Haha, yeah that's how I roll. I'm a pretty fierce party animal! Anyway, here are a few pictures from the party, followed by an INSANELY good recipe for grape pie... yeah I said it, GRAPE PIE! ;D

Our kitchen... before all the food hit the table!
(Let's play a game called "I spy Josh somewhere in this picture!")The graveyard in the backyard by the fire pit!Me, my dad, and my mom! Desserts from left to right: Honey-Orange Marshmallows, pumpkin-shaped Spritz Cookies, Red Velvet Truffles

For the marshmallows, I added 1 teaspoon orange extract and some orange gel color to the recipe after the link. Our Halloween parties get better and better every year. And I'm pretty sure this year our collection of Halloween decor outgrew our Christmas stuff!!! :D :D

Now on to the grape pie! I made this pie a few weeks ago, and I meant to post it before Halloween, but time got away from me. Anywho, if you've never had grape pie before, you are SO going to be blown away! It got thumbs up from all the girls at work, and mom and dad said it was awesome. It was a bit of work skinning all the grapes for the filling, but the crust recipe was so freakin easy that it made everything worth while. Not only was the crust the easiest one I've ever made, it was pretty darn good. I think next time I'll add a bit of sugar for some sweetness, but other that it's a dream! The filling was a bit soupy, but it thickened a little in the fridge. I even cooked the pie for 10 extra minutes hoping to thicken the filling, but it didn't work. Maybe some cornstarch in the mix will help next time. We'll see, because I'm definitely gonna be making this again! If you like the taste and tartness of Welch's grape juice, you will LOVE this pie!

Cooking the grape pulp and mashing the grape skins...

"Easy-as-pie" crust (yeah I had to go there!)Ain't she purdy???It definitely could've used some refrigeration before the first slice, but it was still delicious as grape soup!!After being in the refrigerator, the slices were a little neater, but still pretty wet. Oh well!

Prizewinning Concord Grape Pie (from "The All-American Dessert Book" by Nancy Baggett)
Makes 1 9-inch pie (books says 8 servings, but we easily got 10 or 12)

Filling
1 cup sugar, plus a little more if grapes are very tart
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups stemmed Concord grapes (about 2 pounds)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into bits

Pastry
3 cups pastry flour, or 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 cup cake flour, plus extra all-purpose flour for dusting pastry
Scant 1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup corn oil or other flavorless vegetable oil
1/4 cup cold water, plus more if needed

About 2 teaspoons half-and-half or light cream for brushing on dough top
1 tablespoons sugar for sprinkling on dough top

In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together the sugar and flour. Holding each grape over a heavy, nonreactive 2­-quart saucepan (to catch the juice), squeeze until the pulp portion pops out into the pan; reserve the grape skins separately. Gently squeeze the excess juice from the skins and add it to the saucepan. If a fine texture is desired, coarsely chop the grape skins; otherwise, leave as is. Thor­oughly stir the grape skins into the flour-sugar mixture and set aside. Bring the grape pulp and seeds and butter to a boil over medium-high heat. Adjust the heat so the pulp simmers gently. Cook, stirring occa­sionally, for 6 to 9 minutes, or until the pulp is soft and mushy and has boiled down slightly. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Care­fully turn out the pulp into a food mill or fine sieve set over a bowl. Press through as much liquid and pulp as possible; discard the seeds. Stir the strained pulp into the grape skin mixture until blended; you should have about 3 cups. Set aside. The filling can be refrigerated in an airtight con­tainer for up to 3 days. Let come to room temperature before using.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. In a large bowl, thoroughly stir to­gether the flour and salt. Stir in the oil with a fork just until incorpo­rated. Add the water, gently stirring with the fork until the mixture is moistened and holds together. It may look streaked, but don't overmix. The pastry should not be at all dry; if necessary, add a bit more water until the mixture is evenly moistened but not wet. Lightly knead and shape the dough into a rough ball with your hands. Divide the dough in half, then shape each half into a smooth disk. Wrap one disk in plastic wrap.

Generously dust the unwrapped pastry disk on both sides with flour. Roll it out between large sheets of baking parchment into a 13 1/2-inch round. Occasionally check the under­side of the dough during rolling and smooth out any wrinkles. Gently peel off the top sheet of paper. Center the round, dough side down, in the pie plate. Gently peel off the remaining paper. Smooth the pastry into the plate and patch any tears, if necessary. Using kitchen shears or a paring knife, trim the overhang to 1/4 inch. Turn out the filling into the pastry.

Generously dust the second pastry disk with flour, then roll it out into a 13 1/2-inch round as described above. Gently peel off the top sheet of paper, then pat back into place. Flip the dough; peel off the bottom sheet. Center the round, dough side down, over the filling. Gently peel off the remaining paper and patch any tears, if necessary. Trim the overhang to 1/4 inch. Fold the overhang under the bottom pastry to form an edge that rests on the lip of the plate. Press the layers together, then flute with your fingers or press with the tines of a fork all the way around. Brush the dough top (not the edges) with the half-and-half, then sprinkle with the sugar. Cut steam vents in the top, using a sharp, lightly greased par­ing knife.

Set the pie on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until nicely browned all over. If the edges begin to brown too rapidly, cover with foil (or a pie shield) during the last few minutes of baking. Transfer the pie to a wire rack. Let cool for at least 2 hours and preferably 4 hours (for neater slices) before serving.

The pie will keep, lightly covered, at room temperature for up to 24 hours or refrigerated for 3 days. Let come to room temperature before serving.

Homemade Honey Marshmallows w/ Toasted Coconut

There are no words to describe the satisfaction of sinking your teeth into a soft, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth, homemade marshmallow! Literally, I don't even know what to write about them other than they are SO good! My brain is flustered just thinking about them! Okay, let me try to get my thoughts together and attempt to write a coherent post.

One of my grandma's favorite sweets are those toasted coconut marshmallows. I've always wanted to make my own marshmallows, so I decided to make some for her and all of my aunts for Mothers' Day. I checked around the blog circuit to find a recipe, but instead I found which recipe NOT to use. The TWD ladies made Dorie's marshmallows, and a lot of people said that the egg whites made them disintegrate and become goopy after a while. Thanks to their advice, I chose a recipe from Nancy Baggett's "The All-American Dessert Book." Her recipe doesn't use egg whites. And it uses honey, so they have a nice flavor. The recipe is perfect! The marshmallows were SO easy to make. I rolled most of them in toasted coconut, and I tossed the rest in confectioners' sugar so they wouldn't be sticky. I packaged them in pretty little jars with the recipe attached. When I gave them to my aunts and grandma, everyone went crazy over them! They loved them so much, they made me make another batch while I was there! If you've never made homemade marshmallows, I definitely suggest you add this recipe to your "recipes-to-try" list! You will not be sorry. :D

Homemade Honey Marshmallows (from The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett)
Makes 96 1-inch marshmallows

2 1/2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin (3-4 packets)
Generous 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons water (divided)
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup honey (or 1/4 cup more light corn syrup)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup powdered sugar for dusting marshmallows

Line a 9x13 baking dish with wax paper, allowing the paper to overhand the ends by about 1 inch. Evenly coat the paper with nonstick spray.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the ½ cup cold water. Let stand, stirring once or twice, until the gelatin softens, about 6 minutes.

In a heavy 3 to 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together sugar, corn syrup, honey, 3 tablespoons warm water, and salt until well blended. When the sugar dissolves, raise the heat and bring the mixture to a full boil, stirring. Boil for 20 seconds. Stir in the gelatin mixture and vanilla and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds longer. Remove from heat and continue stirring until the gelatin completely dissolves.

Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, gradually raise the mixer speed from low to high; beat until the mixture is stiffened, lightened, and very fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes.

Using a rubber spatula coated with nonstick spray, scrape out the marshmallow mixture into the baking dish. Tap the pan on the table to spread the mixture and eliminate air bubbles. Coat another sheet of wax paper with nonstick spray, then pat it down on the marshmallow surface. Let the mixture cool and firm up, at least 6 hours and preferably 24 hours. (The mixture will become firmer and easier to handle if left for the full 24 hours.) (The second time I made these I only let them set up for 4 hours and they were already easy to cut. I used scissors, and I didn’t need any powdered sugar while cutting them.)

Sift about one third of the powdered sugar on a cutting surface. Lift the marshmallow slab out of the pan. Peel off the top sheet of paper. Invert the slab on the sugar and peel off the other sheet. Sift about one third of the remaining sugar over the top. Using lightly greased kitchen shears or a lightly greased, large sharp knife, cut the slab crosswise into twelfths and lengthwise unto eighths to form generous 1-inch marshmallows. As necessary, clean off and regrease the knife. Generally dust all the cut sides with powdered sugar to reduce their stickiness. (Optionally, toss the marshmallows in toasted coconut or other desired toppings.)