Blackberry Pie Bars

After making Raspberry Pie Bars using frozen raspberries, I was excited to try the original version of the recipe for Blackberry Pie Bars.  The next time I was at Costco I got some blackberries and whipped up these bars.  I love how the big, fresh berries keep their shape while baking.  I'm glad to have a great recipe for blackberries in case I ever find myself in the fortunate position of having an abundance of blackberries at my disposal.  

This time I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, since that is what I had on hand. I also left out the sliced almonds that I had used in the raspberry version.  I slightly overbaked the bars this time.  When prebaking a crust that will be baked again, I really have to remember not to overbake the first time they go in the oven!  

If I absolutely had to pick a favorite, I would have to choose the raspberry bars, but it's nice to know these will work with either berry that is available.

Blackberry Pie Bars

Ingredients:
For the crust and topping:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Zest of half a lemon
3/4 cup (12 tbsp.) unsalted butter, cold

For the filling:
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
6 tbsp. all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
16 ounces fresh blackberries (or frozen blackberries, thawed and drained)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line an 8x8-inch or 9x9-inch pan with foil and grease lightly.  Combine the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a medium-sized bowl.  Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a butter knife or pastry blender until only small pieces of butter remain and the mixture is crumbly.  (This can also be done in short pulses in a food processor.)

2. Reserve 3/4 cup of the mixture for topping the bars.  Add the rest of the mixture to the prepared pan and press to form an even layer.  Bake 12-15 minutes, until light golden.  Let cool 10-15 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, sour cream, flour, salt, lemon juice and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.  Gently stir in the drained raspberries with a spatula.  Spread the filling mixture over the pre-baked crust.  Sprinkle the reserved topping mixture evenly over the filling.

4. Bake until the top is beginning to brown and the bars are just set, 45-50 minutes.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.  Chill to firm up before slicing and serving.

Recipe from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather, via Pink Parsley, as seen on annies-eats.com

Homemade Root Beer

Like my family, my husband's family has a lot of fun when they get together.  In December there is a ceremony (accompanied by song) to put a particular homemade moose ornament on the Christmas tree.  On Christmas morning they go caroling to gas stations, hotels, and a hospital to bring a little Christmas cheer to people who have to work on Christmas.  And on the 4th of July they have a BBQ and make homemade root beer.

The recipe is very simple.  They call it 5-5-5.

5 gallons of water

5 pounds of sugar

5 pounds of dry ice

2 ounces of root beer concentrate

Words of caution:

 1. Take care when handling the dry ice that is not does touch your skin.  We used fairly thick gloves when handling it.  

2. Do not shut the lid to the cooler all the way.  Exploding coolers would definitely put a damper on a summer party.

First add about 5 gallons of water.  We are using a five gallon cooler.  Just make sure you leave some room for the other ingredients.

Then add a 2 ounce bottle of root beer concentrate.  I could not find it in grocery stores in my neck of the woods.  But it is available on Amazon.  I used McCormick Root Beer Concentrate.

Add five pounds of sugar.  Stir it together well.  We have three generations here working on this batch of root beer.  I love it!

Next add about five pounds of dry ice.  I could only find dry ice in one of the grocery stores in my area.  It is sold in prepackaged bags.  This bag was almost 8 pounds of dry ice, but it still worked just fine.  (Note the gloves to protect the hands!)

The really fun part is watching the mist!

See how the cooler lid is not shut all the way.  Give that mist a chance to escape!

The root beer tastes great plain, but it never hurts to have some with vanilla ice cream too!

Sour Cream Cucumbers

This is another family recipe that gives away my Eastern European heritage.  I don't know many other people who would mix sour cream and paprika with their cucumbers.  But it really works!

I remember my mom making this occasionally and I've never had anything else quite like it.  This makes for a creamy, crunchy side dish with a little kick of flavor from the vinegar.  Every so often nothing else will do, and I just want my fill of this tasty side salad.

Sour Cream Cucumbers
Ingredients:
2 cucumbers
2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. vinegar
3 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
Paprika, for garnish

Directions:
Peel cucumbers and cut in half lengthwise.  Slice about 1/8-inch thick.  Place cucumbers in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt.  Let stand 30 minutes.  Press the slices between your hands to release as much liquid as possible.  Discard the liquid and place the cucumbers in a bowl.  Mix the vinegar, water, sugar and pepper in a small bowl and pour over cucumbers.  Fold in the sour cream and sprinkle paprika on top to garnish.  Refrigerate until serving.

Recipe from my mom (Thanks, Mom!)

Raspberry Pie Bars

I have never baked with blackberries before, and this week I intended to make some Blackberry Pie Bars.  However, I just couldn't stomach paying almost $6 for 12 oz of blackberries at the grocery store, so I decided to give these bars a try using frozen raspberries.  I also added some sliced almonds to the top layer because raspberries and almonds seem to go together so well.
I brought them to a game night with some friends and got some rave reviews.  The bottom layer was plenty sturdy to hold up the middle layer, which burst with raspberry flavor.  The almonds on top got slightly toasted while baking, which made me very happy.  I can't wait to try these with fresh raspberries or blackberries someday too.

Raspberry Pie Bars
Ingredients:
For the crust and topping:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Zest of half a lemon
3/4 cup (12 tbsp.) unsalted butter, cold
1/3 cup sliced almonds

For the filling:
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
6 tbsp. all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
13 oz. frozen raspberries, thawed and drained

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line an 8x8-inch pan with foil and grease lightly.  Combine the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a medium-sized bowl.  Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a butter knife or pastry blender until only small pieces of butter remain and the mixture is crumbly.  (This can also be done in short pulses in a food processor.)

2. Reserve 3/4 cup of the mixture for topping the bars.  Add the rest of the mixture to the prepared pan and press to form an even layer.  Bake 12-15 minutes, until light golden.  Let cool 10-15 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, sour cream, flour, salt, lemon juice and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.  Gently stir in the drained raspberries with a spatula.  Spread the filling mixture over the pre-baked crust.  Stir the sliced almonds into the reserved topping mixture and crumble evenly over the filling.

4. Bake until the top is beginning to brown and the bars are just set, 45-50 minutes.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.  Chill to firm up before slicing and serving.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather, via Pink Parsley, as seen on annies-eats.com

Pita Bread

A couple of years ago I decided to tackle homemade pita bread.  After looking up recipes online and reading tips, I gave it a go.  This homemade version is much softer, chewier and tastier than most store-bought pita bread.  Plus, you get to watch it puff up into a ball while baking, which is pretty awesome.

I do not have a baking stone, so I turn a half sheet pan upside down and use that to bake the pita.  (Warning: using the pan that way did cause it to warp a bit.)  I bake two pitas at once, and it only takes 3-4 minutes for the magic puff to happen.  Once they have puffed up and are golden brown on bottom, they are done!  They will then deflate while cooling and are ready to be filled with your favorite sandwich fillings.  Sometimes I make a double batch and when they are completely cool I pop them in freezer bags to freeze.  Then I know an easy summer dinner is in my future.  They can be filled with lunchmeat and cheese, rotisserie chicken...the possibilities are endless.

Pita Bread

1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1 1/2 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 tsp. white sugar
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2-1 cup all-purpose flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir in the sugar and allow yeast to proof for 5 minutes.  (You can skip letting it proof if using instant yeast.)  Mix in oil, salt and 2 cups of the flour until well combined. Slowly add the last 1/2-1 cup of flour. Add only enough to make a moderately stiff dough that is just barely not sticky, and knead for about 10 minutes. Put in a lightly oiled bowl, turn once to coat, and cover with a towel to let it rise until double (30-60 minutes). Turn on the oven to 475 F with your pizza stone on the bottom or second to bottom rack.  If you don't have a stone you can invert a cookie sheet or use a piece of aluminum foil.  (It may warp your cookie sheet.)

Punch down and divide dough into eight pieces.  (I flatted the dough into a disk, then cut the dough into eight wedges).  Lightly flour counter top and rolling pin.  Roll out each piece into 6-inch wide circles, while sprinkling flour over the dough to keep it from sticking. Be careful to not overwork the dough at this point. 

Place disks of dough on floured wax paper, cover with a towel and let rise for 15-30 minutes. Carefully peel dough off wax paper and place on hot stone.  Bake 3-5 minutes, until puffed and the bottom is golden brown.   (Every once in a while I will get a dud that does not puff.  All is not lost.  It will still be chewy, delicious bread, just minus the pocket.)

Immediately remove from the oven and wrap in a damp towel (this makes them soft). Keep them in the towel until cooled and then transfer to a plastic bag.  Cut in half and carefully open up the pockets.

Recipe adapted from savoryseasonings.blogspot.com and allrecipes.com

Cheesy Grated Potatoes

Growing up, we called these "Grandma's Potatoes."  My grandpa's line comes from Hungary, so paprika is a prominent ingredient in some of our family recipes.  This recipe has been made by three generations and is comfort food at its best--cheesy, creamy potatoes that make a wonderful accompaniment to meat dishes.  

Cheesy Grated Potatoes

Ingredients:

8 potatoes

2-3 tablespoons cold butter

2 cups half and half

2 cups grated cheddar cheese, or to taste

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Directions: 

Boil potatoes (unpeeled) until easily pierced with a fork, about 35 minutes.  Drain and let potatoes cool.

Peel potatoes with a butter knife.  Peel will slip right off.

Grate potatoes into a 9x13 pan.

Grate cold butter over the potatoes.

Grate cheddar cheese over potatoes.

Pour half and half over the potatoes and cheese.

Cut cheese and half and half into potatoes with a butter knife.

Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.