PERFECT PIE CRUST HINT by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen

Though I've made homemade pie for years, making perfect pie crusts seemed like a goal I could never reach. I'd tried many recipes and followed several bits of' advice, but in every case, I could never move my rolled crust to the pie pan without tearing it--usually in multiple places. 

Eventually, I chose a recipe I now always use, because, in part, it promised perfect pie crusts, and one day, even though I continued to do the same things over and over again, I was going to get different results. Or so I told myself.

Finally, I had a pie-making break through: roll the dough on a piece of wax paper and move the paper to the pie pan! Ta da! It finally slipped easily into the pan, and I had a perfect pie crust! 

I'm sure there are a lot of you out there who say "Of course!" to that idea. Some of you probably even have pastry sheets. But for me, a person who didn't want to purchase a pastry sheet simply for those days I made pies, it was an answer to a life-long problem. And maybe, just maybe, it'll help someone out there. Someone like me. 

GREAT PUMPKIN RECIPE--PUMPKIN BAO

When my husband and I were in Shanghai, China,my pallet fell in love with what I called a "pumpkin roll," because I had no idea what its real Chinese name was. I loved it so much that even now, a couple of years later, I searched the internet for a recipe that looked like it so I could take it to a New Year's Eve party. Lo and behold, I found it! I also discovered that it is actually considered a dessert. I hadn't known that at the time, because in China, desserts are really different from the super sweet dishes I'm familiar with. It's real name is "Pumpkin Bao."  I didn't have all of the ingredients for the real recipe, so I substituted with similar, common ingredients. Below is the copied/adjusted recipe I actually used. Also, to save time, I dumped all the "Bao" ingredients into my bread maker and set it on the dough setting. My Pumpkin Bao's turned out REALLY good. Everyone at the party raved over them. One even tried to barter with me for more. 

Pumpkin Bao

Ingredients

Filling
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup whole milk
8 ounces canned organic pumpkin
1/2 cup whole milk

Bao
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon dried yeast
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 egg, beaten
Powdered sugar

Instructions

Filling
In a bowl, combine the butter, sugar, cornstarch, and flour. Stir in the egg and, when combined, mix in the whole milk.

Whisk the pumpkin purée in a small bowl until smooth. Add a third of the butter mixture to the pumpkin, then whisk the pumpkin into the butter mixture along with the milk. Pour the mixture into a double boiler and cook until the custard thickens, stirring constantly after the first 5 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Bao
Add the flour, yeast, milk, and sugar to the bowl of a food mixer and beat until combined. Add the butter and mix until the dough is smooth and comes away from the sides of the bowl. Add a little more flour if the dough is sticky. Cover the bowl with a cloth and allow the dough to proof for 1 hour, or until it doubles in size. On a floured surface, roll the dough into 1-inch-diameter logs and cut into pieces to form 1 1/2-inch-diameter balls. Flatten each ball of dough with a rolling pin, place about 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin mixture in the middle, and wrap the dough around the pumpkin, pinching the dough together to cover the pumpkin. Set on a sheet pan seam side down, about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Let the pumpkin balls proof again for 20–30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush egg over the buns. Place in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, turning the trays after 5 minutes, until the dough is firm and golden. Sprinkle the top of each ball with powdered sugar and serve warm.

MY FAVORITE PIZZA RECIPE By Ronda Hinrichsen

I frequently make homemade pizza for my family, however, depending on the preparation time I have, I use various crusts. The quickest is a loaf of French bread, cut in half. Next quickest is prepared bread dough, like Rhodes Dough, but the recipes I use most frequently are the regular, white bread dough I make in my bread maker or this one, which I also make in my bread maker.

Pizza Dough--adapted for use in a bread maker
1 cup + 5 T. water
3 T + 1 tsp. shortening
1/3 c. + 1 T. powdered milk
1 1/8 tsp salt
3 1/2 c. flour
2 1/4 tsp yeast

Roll out on greased pizza (or cookie) pan and bake entire pizza at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until crust is golden brown on the bottom.

QUICK RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM By Ronda Hinrichsen

Quick Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

3 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups sweetened raspberries 
2 cups whipping cream (I also use half and half with good but softer results)
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Mix the above ingredients in a blender.

2. Pour into an ice cream freezer and process until frozen. I use this model because it's always ready, and I don't have to deal with ice and salt. I love it! 

Note: If you do use an ice cream model similar to mine, do not add the chocolate chips until the last ten minutes of freezing time.

Enjoy!

HINRICHSEN'S SPAGHETTI SAUCE By Ronda Hinrichsen

My husband has developed this family favorite to perfection. So much so, that to us "spaghetti" without this sauce isn't spaghetti!

Hinrichsen's Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb. hamburger
½ lb ground sausage (optional)
1 or 2 green onions, chopped
1 small can mushrooms
(5) 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
(1) 6 oz. can tomato paste
3-4 garlic cloves (pressed) or ¼ - ½ tsp. garlic powder
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1½ tsp. smoke sauce
¼ tsp. red pepper
salt and pepper to taste

1.   Brown hamburger, onion and pressed garlic.
2.   Pour into crock pot then add remaining ingredients. Mix well.
3.   Slow cook for 2 or 3 hours.

Note: all seasonings can be adjusted to taste.  In fact, the above measurements are only approximate because we make this sauce so frequently we simply "eyeball" the amounts. Good luck and happy eating!

BROCCOLI WITH GARLIC--A GREAT RECIPE By Ronda Hinrichsen

As I've said before, my husband and I went to China last summer. While there, our eyes, noses, and taste buds were awakened to many new senses. Sometimes we liked what we saw, smelled, or tasted, and sometimes we didn't, but there was one dish my husband tried (I wasn't there at the time) at one of his favorite restaurants in Shanghai which he loved so much that when he got home, he searched the internet until he found a recipe that seemed to contain all the flavors he remembered. Then, he went directly to the store, bought the ingredients, and soon after cooked it up. His first try wasn't quite right, he said, so he experimented with the cooking time and the amount of garlic, salt, and cayenne pepper until he finally found his--now our--favorite combination. My family LOVES this dish. Including the kids. We've even had a few family, late night snacks of just this broccoli, so I thought I'd share it with you. I've copied this recipe directly from sneakykitchen.com. I hope you enjoy it. Actually, I bet you will!
Broccoli with Garlic
1 1bunch of broccoli, OR 1 lb. frozen chopped broccoli (we only use fresh broccoli)
6 garlic cloves
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional--we use it!)

1.  Wash broccoli and cut into small florets.  (We do not use the stems.)

2. Steam in a microwave steamer or over boiling water until barely tender and still bright green (about 3-1/2 to 5 minutes in a microwave, depending on the volume of broccoli and water). Don't overcook: with all cruciferae, this is a very important guideline!

3.  Place olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Chop or mince the garlic. When the oil is hot, add the salt then the garlic. Sauté, stirring frequently, just until the garlic starts to soften. Quickly add the water, and the cayenne pepper if desired. Turn heat low and simmer for a couple of minutes. Place the broccoli in a large glass or crockery serving bowl. Pour the garlic mixture over it, mixing gently to coat. 

ARMENIAN MEAT PIES By Ronda Hinrichsen

When I was young, my grandfather, an Armenian, used to bring "meat pies" to our family whenever he came to visit. It was a dish we all loved, and a tradition my mother has continued, now that she's the grandma. So, a week ago when she came to visit, she brought us a freezer bag of Armenian Meat Pies. In fact, I just finished eating a couple of them. Here's the recipe, in case you'd like to give them a try; and if you do, I'd love to hear how you liked them.

Meat Pies--Makes 18 to 20 individual "pies"

Ingredients:
Bread or Roll dough--I use Rhodes dough balls to make it easier.

Meat Filling:
1/2 lb. hamburger (raw)
1/2 lb. patty sausage (raw)
1 green pepper, chopped
16 oz. can of blended tomatoes or juice
1 clove garlic or 1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 bunch parsley, chopped

Directions:

1.    Combine meat filling ingredients (like when making meatloaf).
2.    Roll out the 2 to 3 inch balls of dough, flat, like small pizzas and place on a greased cookie or pizza pan.
3.    Spread 1/4 cup of the meat filling on each rolled out dough ball.
4.    Bake at 375 degrees for about 18 minutes, or until the meat is cooked and the dough is lightly browned.

ENJOY!

CUCUMBER BREAD By Ronda Hinrichsen

You know how necessity is the mother of invention? Well, here's one of my crazier inventions that worked!

Each year, my son plans, plants, cares for, and harvests our garden--I know, I'm soooo lucky! Anyway, in that garden, he plants zucchini with the express demand that I make zucchini bread with every zucchini he gets. My children love my zucchini bread (it was my mother's recipe) and eat it almost as fast as their Halloween candy. 

But I digress . . . His zucchini is usually very prolific, and as requested, I spend much of my summer making and freezing zucchini bread. But this year, if you can believe it, the zucchini DID NOTgrow, and my kids were not happy. Not the quiet kind of unhappy. The moaning and groaning kind.

My son did, however, grow way more cucumbers than any one family can possibly eat, especially one whose members don't like relish, so I thought--now picture the light bulb here--zucchini are long and green, and  cucumbers are long and green. Hmmm. I wonder if I could replace the zucchini with--you guessed it--cucumbers!

And you know what? It worked! My kids ate the cucumber bread as voraciously as they ate the zucchini bread. At first, seeing their nervous-turned-to-delighted faces, I felt like a genius. And even now, I still feel pretty clever; but the truth is, I wonder if it truly is the cucumbers that did the trick. Do you think--perish the thought--it could be the chocolate chips I put in it? You know, kind of like "smothered in ketchup" is the only way to eat venison?

I actually don't think so. But then, I'm partial to zucchini/cucumber bread, too.

ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 c. cooked & mashed zucchini--this is what the recipe says, but I just grate it (or cucumbers) fresh--about 5 c. fresh, grated "squash"

3 beaten eggs
2 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. vegetable oil
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 c. flour
(1) 6 oz. pkg. chocolate chips (It calls for semi-sweet. I use milk chocolate.)

1)- Mix together "squash," eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil.

2)- Add salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and flour. Mix well & add chocolate chips.

3)- Pour batter into greased bread pans (2 or 3 regular sized pans).

4)- Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. I check for "doneness" with a butter knife at about 30 minutes and determine the remaining time by that.

5)- Remove bread from oven and let cool for approximately 15 minutes before removing from pans.