Tag: baking

Perseverance–and Happy Thanksgiving

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

I had decided not to do a super fancy dinner for Thanksgiving but that I was going to make everyone in our family their favorite pie. I am a pretty good pie maker. My family raves. The neighbors talk. One time, when I met my neighbor’s sister, she said, “Oh my gosh! You’re the amazing pie lady!”

I have been cooking from scratch for so long now that I pride myself in being able to know what is going to happen as I put ingredients together. I know how to adjust even a new recipe to make it better, and I have been growing more confident in my cooking skills.

Yesterday, I had a busy day with work. I am working on some sports articles for my local newspaper, and I am not much of a sports person. The research has been intensive, but the articles are about girls basketball, which I adore. I grew up playing basketball, and I learned so much about myself as a person thanks to that sport. Anyway, I have been on the phone with girls’ varsity basketball coaches all over the state of Maine the last two days. I thought I could handle it though. I’m a good pie maker. I could finish my interviews during the day and make five pies in about four hours in the evening, I thought.

Oh, my arrogance! I decided to try a new recipe for butter pie crust that I had read about earlier in the year but hadn’t tried. I was also making key lime pies for my daughter’s partner and my teenage son. Fruit pies are my specialty, but I can usually make a pretty good key lime pie. The issue is that both of my customers do not want graham cracker crust, so I have to find a pie crust recipe that is “just right” for key lime pies.

It turns out that my new recipe wasn’t right at all.

I was in the middle of getting the blueberry filling ready when my timer went off for the key lime pie crusts, which have to be baked before the key lime filling goes in. They both collapsed! I was in a kind of shock for so long that I just stared. Then I swore. A lot. Then I cried.

Ron said surely they could be fixed, and he tried so hard to unroll them. Then he said, “well, just put the filling on top of them. It will be a unique key lime pie.”

But the Virgo rising in me would not allow it. I collected my humbled self and went online to find a better recipe for key lime pie crusts. I had to dig deep, as my old recipe was lost, but I found one.

And so I started again.

At 1:30 in the morning last night (or this morning, depending upon how you look at it), I finished those pies after seven hours of leaning over the counter. My back was on fire. I stretched before bed. Ron was already asleep. He had tried to stay up with me but gave up about midnight.

Friends, I am happy to report that the pies are beautiful! They will be beautiful gifts for my family. I want them to forget their troubles and the worries of the world for just a little bit when they taste a beautiful pie, their favorite, made with so much love just for them.

I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving. I am sending love and good energy. The holiday is problematic for sure, but I am not going to think about that right now. Right now, I am just going to think about how much I love my family and how lucky I am to have the ingredients, the skills, and the perseverance to make five beautiful pies–two key lime, two blueberry, and a pumpkin pie for Ron. That middle blueberry pie is for my daughter, and it’s so perfect. I can’t wait for her to see it!

Making Your Own Vanilla

~ Crystal Sands ~ 11 Comments

Day 246 of 365

I did not know until recently that there are different types of vanilla. Last year, unable to locate some Madagascar vanilla extract (this is the vanilla usually in the stores), I tried some Mexican vanilla extract. I like it a lot. There’s a richness to the flavor, but I found that I missed the Madagascar vanilla when I was looking for a lighter flavor in something I had baked. Additionally, Mexica vanilla is darker and richer in color, which can be great, but is tough when you are working with white frosting or glazes.

I decided I would make some vanilla extract myself. I had always heard it was fairly easy but just took a long time. In the summer, I bought vanilla beans and beautiful bottles for making vanilla. My plan was to allow about six months and then give some beautiful bottles of vanilla away as gifts for the holidays.

Today, somehow, in the middle of January, I am just now making that vanilla, but I figure it will be perfect for holiday gifts next year. I have labels too. I just have to find them. But the bottles are so beautiful I am going to have to think hard about putting labels on them. Aren’t they lovely?

In additional to being far more beautiful than the bottles of vanilla I have always bought at the grocery store, making vanilla is practical, it turns out. The vodka was pretty inexpensive, and the vanilla beans that I ordered from an online company, were on sale. The bottles were a splurge, but you can use a mason jar. And it turns out that your homemade vanilla can kind of have an infinite life–at least this is what I read. You can use some and just add some vodka as you go. Then, periodically, add a new bean to your bottle. This seems like a wonderful plan to me.

To make your own vanilla, you just need 3 to 5 vanilla beans, depending upon the size of your bottle or bottles. I used 5 in each of my bottles because these bottles are pretty big. I wanted to make LOTS of vanilla. You simply split the beans and remove the seeds by scraping them out (save the seeds for baking something else). I read in one place to rinse the beans, so I did; however, I read other recipes and instructions that said this was not necessary. Put the scraped beans in your jar or bottle, fill with vodka, close it all up. Store it in a relatively cool, relatively dark place and shake every few days.

I have read it can take as little as 2 months for your vanilla to be ready, but I am in a Facebook group for vanilla (I know, there’s a Facebook group that does nothing but talk about vanilla), and some people there said to aim for 6 months and longer to ensure best quality.

I’m going to see how it goes with mine. Right now, I am just admiring the beauty of it and feeling thankful I finally had the time to make this. I am planning to make a few more, but I need to get more vodka.