Shoo~Fly Pie after the 4th of July

   My daughters all celebrated the 4th of July so differently this year. My oldest daughter and her family reserved and rented a shelter at a park near their home. My daughter next in line and her family hosted an all American Barbecue at their home. This daughter has a major league baseball farm team close to her home. They ever so graciously provided a beautiful fireworks show for her and her guests to see right from her back yard. :-)  My youngest daughter and her family went to Hilton Head, South Carolina for the week. Jon and I however did something different this year. We took a drive and went to Amish Country.

Here are some photos my daughter sent me of things she put together for her 4th of July BBQ.

Front door decoration she made.

Cupcakes she made, we are a marshmallow family!

Her own pasta salad that she dyed the pasta in patriotic colors for.

Her twist on a how a Mason jar can show up 

at the celebration! Wish you could see the coffee 

bar it sits on she created from their home.

 

   Living in the Washington D.C. area as a child I had the opportunity to go to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where we visited Hershey Park and my favorite part of those trips, the Amish country. This Amish area of Pennsylvania had such beautiful country side, gift shoppes with beautiful trinkets, fudge and handmade toys like you would never find in a regular toy store, tours of farms with a tour to teach you about Amish life, farm animals, farm houses, farmer’s markets with cheeses, meats and beautiful vegetables and herbs (yes, I loved gardening as a little girl ~ should post on that sometime),... and the meal! I loved the food! Fresh homemade bread, soup, right out of the garden carrots, tomatoes, pole beans with bacon drippings, new red potatoes boiled with butter and chives, potatoes mashed with real and fresh butter, gravy, delicious cole slaw, amazing chicken ~n~ noodles and smoked ham, rhubarb!!!!, and there were cobblers yes.... but the pie.... oh the Shoo~Fly Pie!

   When we moved to Indiana, I was able to frequently visit Nappannee where there was an Amish settlement and a more commercialized area called, Amish Acres. There you would find along with other beautiful things like homemade quilts and fudge, the Thresher's Dinner. On the 4th of July this year Jon and I went to the Amish country in Eastern Ohio. We bought a game neither of had ever heard of, WORDICAL. We love word games, our whole family does. 

We drove and saw beautiful country and lovely Amish people.... and of course goats, cows and their young and as you would expect.....

...horses and their young everywhere. So beautiful and peaceful is the Amish life. Then it came time to eat and head home. For reasons beyond my understanding there was not a slice of Shoo~Fly Pie to be found ~ anywhere. One restaurant will does make it and if a days' notice is given they will make it the following day. Amish country without Shoo~Fly Pie just makes no sense to me. So.... the next day I pull out a cookbook my mother bought on one of our Lancaster County, Pennsylvania trips and went straight to the Shoo~Fly Pie recipe we used at home all those years ago. Here it is.

   Before I go any further I want to tell you I do not use shortening for this recipe. As always, except some pie crusts and rare bakers frostings, I never use shortening or lard, butter~REAL butter only. I also want to tell you that to make this pie you need to add the crumbs to the molasses mixture and fold in gently until the crumbs are somewhat blended in well. This recipe tells you to "add crumbs" after wet ingredients are in the crust. I did do it the way the recipe says this time. This method gives the "wet bottom" Shoo~Fly pie result. If you love molasses like I do that is fine. Adding the crumbs while the wet ingredients are in the bowl gives the true Shoo~Fly Pie result you really want, a coffee cake consistency. I will go back to doing it that way as I have in the past. This book is probably no longer available since Mom bought it in 1971 or 1972, I think. It is full of wonderful and authentic Amish recipes so I will give you the ordering page in the back of the book. The cover is no longer on the book, it was missing when Mom died so I can not give that to you.

Here is the process in piccies.

Simple ingredients. Amish are after-all known for their simple lifestyles.

Make sure your crumbs are fine.

I do boil the water as it gives a much better consistency. Can you see the steam?

You can see the aerated baking soda bubbles the boiling water caused. 

I started to add the crumbs and dropped a bit there, otherwise that is what this recipe looks like before crumbs are added.

Crumbs on top and settling in to the wet ingredients some.

Crust protected and oven ready.

This pie takes a while to cool.

High time for pie time!! It has been years since I have had Shoo~Fly Pie!

   I love the simplicity and pureness of the Amish life. True enough, I do not believe our faith is meant to be kept to ourselves, among ourselves. If there was only one church that fostered a clique mentality there would be too many. Our faith is meant to be shared. Amish do not do that, they do stay to themselves. However, I think people in general could learn much from them that would put feet on their faith. There is much to be appreciated about the Amish lifestyle.

   I am going to insert a link here. The recipe here for Shoo~Fly Pie is closer to the one I would prefer to use, and will I will try it soon. You will notice a woman, Phyllis Pellman Good, mentioned on that page in reference to her book, Amish Cooking. My next post will be another pie, savory not sweet, that I made last week from her cookbook, Favorite Recipes with Herbs. That cookbook is one of my personal favorites from my cookbook collection. 

But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

I hope you are enjoying your summer!

Light the fire, food fast and a movie.

  This is from a dinner we had a while back and I just never posted it. Jon had the day off and we ran errands and got things done, but it took up most of the day. By the time we returned home it was late in the evening. It was a dark and stormy night, no kidding. Rain, thunder, and lightening, everything I love in a perfect autumn night. Hot creamy soup, you know the comfort kind you would never dream of eating in warmer weather?, and warm bread were just what we wanted. It was already supper time so after a quick assessment of the time I wanted to spend and the ingredients I had on hand, I made my way to the basement and grabbed this little cookbook. 

1998

I do not know how many of these little cookbooklets, is that a word???, I have but they take up nearly two feet of my cookbook shelf area. I have some amazing tried and truly great recipes in those pages. I am not swayed by just any of these, I really have picked and chosen a select few it's just that I have been at it for almost thirty years.  This one was published in, 1998.

1949

   This gem I bought at a yard sale a long time ago. This cookbooklet is a little taller and wider than its more contemporary companions, but has the same quality of recipes in its pages. It was published in 1949.

$50,000.00  winning recipe for the Pillsbury's Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest held at the Waldorf~Astoria Hotel in New York City, December 13, 1949.

   I enjoy vintage recipes so much. While those $50,000.00 Nut Rolls are tremendous, there are equally wonderful recipes in that book. There are recipes that feature ginger such as Danish Ginger Roll, Ginger Tea Bread and Ginger Cake Apple Fluff. Ginger is not something you see as the predominant flavor in baked goods today like it was years ago. Gingerbread and maybe the odd Ginger Snap cookie recipe, but that's pretty much it unless you live in the Britain where Scones and Oaties do get to sport ginger. I love ginger and have made it a part of my baking. The other recipes in this book are very interesting and delicious as well.

Creamy Bacon~Spinach Soup is the entrée for this evening's supper.

   Here is the photo of the recipe for this evening's repast.  Since it may be a little frustrating to work off of the photo I will set it out below in a more workable format. This soup is very good as well as fast and easy to prepare. The next selection from this cookbooklet will be this next week and I am thinking it will be the Creamy Reuben Soup on page 28... yumminess right there!!

Eight simple ingredients. The pre~sliced mushrooms and bottled minced garlic are my version of "fast food".

50% Whole Wheat One~Hour bread ingredients for the bread machine. I would like to make the Whole Wheat dinner rolls dough, let the dough rise and then bake but tonight is food fast so one~hour bread it is.

Bacon cut and sautéing.

Spinach squeezed.

The leftover bacon and mushroom will reappear in an omelet for lunch tomorrow.

Bacon nearly done so mushrooms and garlic added.

Broth added. Only need to whisk flour into milk and stir into soup, stirring until thickened.

Bread done. Cool for ten minutes while I ladle soup and Jon starts the fire... 

...and pops a movie in.

No need for place settings because the fire is going, the movie is in and paused where it begins and it is supper by the fire.

Here are the recipes for both the soup and bread.

Creamy Bacon~Spinach Soup

6   slices bacon, cut into 1~inch pieces

1 1/2   cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1/4    cup chopped onion

1   garlic clove, minced

2 (14.5 oz)   cans ready to serve chicken broth   

1 (9 oz)   package frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain well

1 1/2   cups milk

6   tablespoons all purpose flour

In Dutch over, combine bacon, mushrooms, onion and garlic; cook over medium~high heat until bacon is cooked and vegetables are tender. Drain.

Add broth and spinach; simmer 5 minutes.

In small bowl, combine milk and flour; beat with wire whisk until well blended. Stir flour mixture into soup. Simmer until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly.

4 (1 1/2 cup) servings

50% Whole Wheat Bread

12 ounces, 1 1/2 cups   water, 115-125°

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups bread flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons dry milk

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons 

Add ingredients to bread pan in order listed, making well in center of dry ingredients for yeast. Program for one~hour bread setting. Turn on. When done, turn off, unlock pan and remove with oven mitts. Shake bread out and allow to cool on rack before slicing.

   Just a little word here. This will make a two pound loaf so if your machine will not make two pound loaves you could halve the recipe, no promises on outcome though. Do not let the salt and yeast touch, it will kill the yeast. Making that well for the yeast is important. If you are using a one~hour feature the water temperature is crucial; too cold you won’t activate the yeast properly, too hot you will kill it. Either way you will get flat bread and not the nice little round loaves we buy to make wraps and lovely pizza pies. If you are tempted to use 100% Whole Wheat flour you need to use your "Whole Wheat" setting. Whole wheat has the entire wheat kernel which means all of the germ and bran are there. This makes for heavier bread that needs more time to rise. Use exact increments. I am not a stickler for exactness in a recipe, in fact I like to go outside the box and customize recipes. In a bread machine you really are better off sticking with the ingredient list and their increments though.

With a little cheese added the mushrooms and bacon provided a delicious omelet, some leftover bread made great toast.

   I hope you are enjoying your autumn. Autumn is quickly giving way to winter so enjoy every minute of it as we welcome a time for Thanksgiving.

   I am an avid soup fan and would love to see your soup, chowder, bisque, stew and chili recipes. It would be fun to organize a Bloggers baking and or cooking cook book, choose a cause and donate proceeds toward it with the funds. Any takers?