I love to cook and am one of those people who read a new cookbook like most women read a trashy romance novel: front to back and the good parts twice!
There are cookbooks in several rooms of my house, including the bathroom. *** I figure a cookbook is kind of like the Three Minute Bedtime Story book. A recipe is something you can read in a just a few minutes and there's no reason to waste that time in the john!***
Well, I gotta quit reading those recipes.
Today is a great example. I read a recipe for fried pies and decided to make some. Fred and I both enjoy them and it's something I haven't done in years. My favorite flavor is apricot, with pineapple being a close second. There were no apricots in the pantry so I sent Fred to the store to get some while I was making the pie crust and preparing a pineapple filling to use.
Since I haven't done fried pies in so long I did a little research online for a crust recipe suitable for fried pies and found one that sounded a lot like my regular pie crust recipe so I decided to give it a try.
The online recipe was a disaster! I managed to get two pies done and cooked before I scrapped that idea. The dough was so stiff it just would not roll out! The two pies I made with it never did get the golden brown color I wanted so, I scrapped that idea and made a batch of my regular pie crust.
My crust recipe is evidently not intended to be fried! I prepared two pies, dropped the first one into the hot oil, and watched the crust literally disintegrate! Fruit filling spilled out into the hot oil and made a wonderful sizzling and popping sound while the hot oil splashed all over the stove top. I managed to get most of the filling scooped out and tossed the pie onto a paper towel.
By this time I'm totally frustrated with the whole fried pie idea. But, I have a pan of apricot filling as well as a pan of pineapple filling that I don't want to waste. I decided to salvage what I could and just make traditional pies with the fillings instead but there's not enough of either to make a full sized pie. So I had to search the cabinets to find dishes that could be used to bake small pies.
I had just put them into the oven to bake when Fred came in and asked if I'd given up on making fried pies. I think he was a little worried when I told him, "Yes, I gave up and just made one big apricot and one big pineapple pie and they're in the oven." I'm pretty sure he envisioned fried pies the size of a medium pizza!
So, another afternoon was spent on a kitchen adventure. It wasn't the first and hopefully it won't be the last!
