Ol'Sante Claus: July 2008

My Best Recipes

Best Pie Dough

Makes enough dough for one double-, or two single-crust pies.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 16 tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold
chilled water

Gather your ingredients: Fill a one cup liquid measuring cup with water, and drop in a few ice cubes; set it aside. In a large bowl — I like to use a very wide one, so I can get my hands in — whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. Dice two sticks (8 ounces or 1 cup) of very cold unsalted butter into 1/2-inch pieces. Make your mix: Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour and begin working them in with the pastry blender, using it to scoop and redistribute the mixture as needed so all parts are worked evenly. When all of the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas — this won’t take long — stop. Yes, even if it looks uneven; you’ll thank me later.
Glue it together: Start by drizzling 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water (but not the cubes, if there are any left!) over the butter and flour mixture. Using a rubber or silicon spatula, gather the dough together. You’ll probably need an additional 1/4 cup of cold water to bring it together, but add it a tablespoon as a time. Once you’re pulling large clumps with the spatula, take it out and get your hands in there (see how that big bowl comes in handy?). Gather the disparate damp clumps together into one mound, kneading them gently together.
Pack it up: Divide the dough in half, and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. I like to use the sides to pull in the dough and shape it into a disk. Let the dough chill in the fridge for one hour, but preferably at least two, before rolling it out.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Old Sante Claus has just returned from a 20 day trip to Turkey. I spent 8 days in Antalya which is located on the southern coast of Turkey. I visited the Museum in Antalya to see the relic of Saint Nicholas of Demrie, Turkey. It was a great experience and I took many photos of the town and of the Saint that is the original Santa Claus. It is an interesting story, his life, his works, and his legends. He was a real person according to public records. I will be posting information about him and his life.

The balance of my trip was in Istanbul, a city of intrigue and beauty. A city and country woven like a tapestry with many beautiful colors and sounds, smells, and tastes.

BaBa

Santas Mountain Lubatin-Sar Mountain Range

This is the sight I see out my front door. I have taken many photos of this wonderful view. I never tire of looking at the Lubitan. I love this place. Ljuboten peak although not being the highest peak of the range, is certainly the most attractive and bewildering peak of the Sar Mountains. It is somewhat isolated from the rest of the mountains making it stand out as far as Pristina. It in turn it may be called the 'Matterhorn' of the Sar Mountains. Ljuboten is best viewed from its northern face in Kosovo.

Apple Butter/Jus Like Aunt Ada's

CROCK POT APPLE BUTTER

Put 3 quarts of apples, sliced thin, in a crock pot and cook overnight on high. Next morning, add 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3 cups sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cloves. Cook all day on low. Tastes like old-fashioned apple butter that is cooked in copper kettle.
You can use applesauce if you do not have time to prepare the apples. The crock pot makes it possible for apples to cook a long time without being stirred.
I love this recipe and have made it a number of times. It is delicious, easy, one bite and I am instantly transformed to my youth, when my Great Aunt Ada cooked this on a wood stove. She had an old copper pot that she used for canning, makeing apple sauce, applebutter, and all sorts of candy. I also remember the stack cakes she cooked in a cast iron skillet. She would spread each layer with jelly, jam, or apple sauce. A hot, steaming cup of cafe au lait, (half hot coffee/half hot milk) from the old blue enamel pot, always on the back of the wood stove. My mind races back to Flow Blue Platters, Blue Willow Dishes and Mason Jars of Marmalade.
Grace Please! Baba

Ol'Sante Claus

Light from Light

My Best Recipes

I Believe!

About Me

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Blog Archive

One Little Candle

Search This Blog

Santas Mountain Lubatin-Sar Mountain Range

Dash Away Force

In the Chimney

The Old Stocking Stuffer

Old Sante Claus

St. Nicholas of Myra

Welcome to Babas Blog

Apple Butter/Jus Like Aunt Ada's