Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Family Support Group Resources



Dear Sisters,

This Tuesday we began the family support group at my home.  If you were unable to attend, but are interested in the material that was covered, you can download the manual we will be using and follow along with us.  The twelve step program is designed to bring us to Christ and to make the atonement active in our lives.  And for those who have watched a loved one struggling with addiction, it can help us bind up the broken heart.

The link to the manual:

Love,
Merilee Clay

Friday, July 12, 2013

Triple Berry Pie Recipe


Triple Berry Pie

Triple Berry Pie recipe
time
prep:
20 min
total:
1 hr 10 min
servings
total:
8 servings

what you need

2
cups  halved strawberries
1
cup  blueberries
1
cup  raspberries
1
cup  sugar
1/4
cup  MINUTE Tapioca
1
pkg.  (15 oz.) ready-to-use refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts)
1
Tbsp.  butter or margarine

make it

MIX berries, sugar and tapioca in large bowl. Let stand 15 minutes.
PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Prepare pie crust as directed on package for 2-crust pie, using 9-inch pie plate. Fill with fruit mixture. Dot with butter. Cover with second pie crust. Seal and flute edge. Cut several slits in top crust to permit steam to escape.
BAKE 45 to 50 minutes or until juices form bubbles that burst slowly. Cool.

Cheesecake Recipe

Here is the Cherry Cheesecake Recipe from our Enrichment activity:


Cheesecake  (Wanda Franklin’s version)

Crust
1 ¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup melted butter

In 9” pie pan, stir together graham cracker crumbs and sugar until well mixed. 
Stir melted butter into crumb mixture until well mixed, then press crumbs evenly on bottom and sides of pie pan with the bowl of a spoon.
In an oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees, bake pie crust for 10 minutes.

Filling
8 oz. cream cheese
1 large egg
14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh or bottled)

After pie crust has baked for five minutes, start making filling. 
Cut cream cheese into four or more pieces and put into blender with egg, milk, and salt.
Blend until smooth.
While blender is running slowly, add lemon juice in center and blend until mixed well.  (Lemon juice starts firming up the filling, so it’s easier if you add the lemon juice just before you pour the filling into the pie crust.  If the pie crust is not done yet, you can let the mixture rest in your blender.  When the pie crust is ready, start the blender back up and add the lemon juice.)
When pie crust has finished baking, remove it from oven and turn oven down to 300 degrees.
Pour filling into baked pie crust.
Bake cheesecake in 300 degree oven for 50 minutes or until top is very lightly browned and mostly firm.
If you don’t have a blender, you can let the cream cheese soften, then use a mixer to make the filling.

Topping
1 can of any kind of pie filling or you can use any kind of fresh fruit with or without a sugar glaze or you can make your own topping, such as the following:

2 cups blueberries or pitted sour cherries (pie cherries)
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup fruit liquid and/or water
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring  (or ½ tsp. vanilla plus ½ tsp. almond is nice for cherries)

If using frozen blueberries or  cherries, let them thaw completely, then drain off liquid into a measuring cup.  Fresh pitted cherries may also have some cherry liquid that you can use. 
If you don’t have ¼ cup of drained liquid, add water to make ¼ cup.
If you have more than ¼ cup of drained liquid from the two cups of fruit, use all of it.
Put fruit liquid/water, sugar, and cornstarch in saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly until cornstarch starts losing some of its milky color.  Add half of fruit and continue stirring constantly but gently.  When mixture starts becoming firm, add remaining fruit and stir gently until mixture is the consistency of pie filling.  The purpose of adding the fruit by stages is so that most of the fruit will retain its shape.
After removing pie filling from stove, stir in flavoring.
Let cheesecake and topping cool to room temperature, then spread filling on cheesecake.
If some cherries are showing the side where their pit was removed, turn them over with a spoon to show their best side.
Keep refrigerated.

Note: When I freeze blueberries or cherries for pie filling, I mix 2 cups of fruit with ½ cup of sugar and freeze the mixture in individual containers.   Sugar helps the fruit freeze better.  When I cook the pie filling, I don’t add more sugar.  I just add cornstarch to the sugary liquid that drains off the fruit before I cook it.

Key Lime Pie Recipe



Here is the recipe for the Key Lime pie at the Food Preservation activity:

Key Lime Pie VII
 
recipe image

INGREDIENTS:
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
3 cups sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup key lime juice
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.
3.Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. DO NOT BROWN! Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.

Food Preservation Night

Our Food Preservation Night was a great success!! 


 Elizabeth Grange taught us how to prepare canned butter (information at the end of this post for those who are interested). We each got our own jar of butter to shake and shake and shake.


 Becky Harms taught us about freezer jam, apple butter, different canning methods, and little tricks and tools to make it easier. Then we got to sample the jams and apple butter!


After the classes were finished we enjoyed ice cream and homemade pies (while still shaking our butter jars).

Special thanks to Carolyn Friberg for coordinating all the details and for the lovely decorations. A big thank you to Elizabeth Grange and Becky Harms for teaching. Thank you to all those who made pies and thanks to all those who came.



CANNED BUTTER


by Elizabeth Grange
Canned butter is shelf stable for 5 to 7 years. It requires no refrigeration either before or after opening. It is great for food storage, camping, or emergencies.
Tips: When processing a lot of butter, the more people you have to shake the jars, the better. This would be a fun family activity.  Any brand of SALTED butter will do.  Unsalted butter will work, but has a toffee-like texture.  Each pound of butter does slightly more than a pint. 11 pounds of butter will do 12 pints.  
Sanitize the jars and lids.  Meanwhile, unwrap the butter and put them in a saucepan or large pot to melt.  Stir often to prevent burning.  A double boiler or small pan balanced over a pot of boiling water works best for me since butter burns quickly and I tend to get diverted easily.  

When jars are sanitized and butter is melted, pour butter into jars using a sterile funnel.  Be sure to leave 1 inch space at the top of the jars.  Place the hot, sanitized lids on top of jars and screw on the rings.  

Shake, shake, shake the jars of butter, holding them with a dish towel since they will be hot.  If, like me, you are working alone, you can shake one jar for a minute, then another, rotating the process. I wouldn't can more than 4 jars at a time unless you have a lot of energy, or someone to help you with the shaking.  After the butter solidifies and the jar is cool to the touch, refrigerate it over-night, or until it is completely solid. Now it is ready for long-term storage.