These socks, which my mom asked me to knit for a friend of hers, reminded me of Dreamsicle ice cream bars, my favorite when I was growing up. She asked for socks similar to the ones I made for her a couple of years ago, but in orange yarn. They're knit from Opal Prism sock yarn over 56 stitches on #1 dpns.
Every now and again I get an unexpected day off. C comes over from the shop and asks the boys if they'd like to run errands with him or go with him to take measurements at a job site. Suddenly, I find myself with free time alone. What to do? There's usually too many things to choose from. Friday it was: tune into Pandora, can up some more jars of salsa, and bake a peach/huckleberry pie.
In the middle of it all, a friend called and asked if I wanted to go huckleberry picking with her? YES! We picked for 6 hours straight in drizzly, wet bushes. Even with rain pants on it was a damp and chilly on the mountain side so our fingers weren't so nimble. I only came home with a gallon and a half, despite the loaded bushes.
Arriving back home at the same time as C and the boys at 8:00 pm, we got the boys off to bed and then I sunk myself into a steaming bubble bath with a spicy, hot bowl of chicken noodle soup (I'm trying to kick the summer cold that's been hanging on viciously for almost 3 weeks now). So, the pie didn't get baked until after everyone was in bed. I borrowed a playdough cutter from the boys' toys to make give a go at a lattice crust. A little fiddly, but nice enough results.
Several people have asked about my pies and crusts. I use a crust recipe out of one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks, Breadtime Stories, A Cookbook for Bakers and Browsers, by Susan Jane Cheney, published by Ten Speed Press, the same as the Moosewood cookbooks. The title is deceiving as there is so much more than bread recipes in here, including soups, salads, desserts, spreads, and sauces. Many recipes have alternatives and substitutions to make them vegan. The bread recipes for breads include yeasted and quick breads, pancakes, muffins, flat breads, etc. My copy is torn to shreds at some of the recipes I use over and over: Whole Wheat Pastry Crust, Light Lemony Pancakes, Sesame-Maple Icing, Whole Wheat Tortillas, Corn Bread, Peanut-Banana Bread, Spiced Squash Bread, and Cranberry-Nut Bread. I've really only barely delved into this cookbook. It just occured to me recetnly that I could find a used copy of it online to replace my ratty copy. It's on its way for only 73 cents + shipping. This time, I'll laminate the cover and scan copies of my favorites.
Unfortunately this book is out of print, except I suppose that makes it all right to share the pie crust recipe (my abridged version) here:
For a single crust pie: 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, well chilled. Pinch of salt. 5 Tablespoons unsalted margarine or butter, well chilled. 3-4 Tablespoons cold water, unsweetened apple juice, or vegetable stock.
For a double crust pie: 1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour. Pinch of sea salt. 8 Tablespoons unsalted margarine or butter. 6-8 Tablespoons cold water, unsweetened apple juice, or vegetable stock.
Mix flour and salt. Cut margarine or butter in. Drizzle liquid a tablespoon at a time and stir until the dough forms a ball. Wrap and chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour (if you have time). Roll out and make pie!
I like apple juice as the liquid when I have it on hand unless it's a savory pie. I either use w.w. pastry flour or unbleached white flour. Since C is lactose intolerant I use margarine or shortening, but rendered bear fat makes the best pie crust EVER, as well as the best deep-fried sweet potato fries and french fries.
As for the fillings, I've discovered Minute Tapioca recently as a thickener. There are recipes for different types of pies on the back of the box and online. Depending on my mood, I sweeten with sugar (reducing the amount by a quarter to a half) or else just drizzling a spiral of honey over the top before putting the top crust on. Mmmmm!
