Comfort Food

Once upon a time I knew how to do this.

Make pie dough.

We discussed this last year around Thanksgiving time,

and not much progress has been made.

I've been busy.

(Man that's embarrassing to look at!)

My Daddy had some great blackberry patches, 

 He would pick those berries and freeze them, 

knowing that sooner or later

I would come down and bake him a bunch of pies.

I made pumpkin pies too and froze them whole

and have since read that 

pumpkin pies do not freeze well.

Whatever.

I have just finished the best book.

American Pie

by 

Pascale Le Draoulec

It is about so many things,

things that I love and think I would love...

pie.

girls in an old car

on a road trip 

searching for pies

and junk.

and recipes!

It has just turned cold and rainy here,

and I am in a mood.

A mood for pie!

What I am about to share with you is two recipes.

The pie one I made up.

I wanted the taste of my Mom's apple dumplings,

but without having individual apples wrapped up in dough.

I found a GREAT recipe on the Internet

that involves taking a frozen pie, thawing it, and placing the pieces in a 9x13 baking dish,

then pouring this heavenly sauce over it all and then baking.

I have taken this to several church dinners and turns out, it serves more folks than

a regular pie would, especially if you sit a container of good vanilla

ice cream right by it!

It is out of this world!

One day I wanted this stuff BAD, 

and wouldn't you know it....

no frozen pie in the freezer!

If you have issues with cutting up a perfectly good frozen pie

and redistributing it in a pan,

then this recipe's for you!

It's also cheaper this way, even though it doesn't serve as many.

Seriously, have you noticed how expensive frozen pies have become?

I use Plush Pippin because it's the cheapest and in my humble opinion,

the best out there!

They use tart apples, which is good because 

the sauce you are going to add is very sweet!

It just so happens that I had a refrigerator crust 

and placed it in a square pan, which was a little smaller than 

my deep dish pie pans.

I peeled and sliced 6-8 Jonathan apples

placed those in a large saucepan,

added  this heavenly sauce and 

cooked the apples for about 10 minutes,

or just until tender.

Pour the apples and sauce into the 

pan and let the dough kind of fall over the apples

around the edge, giving it kind of a 

Rustic Tart look.

 Sprinkle generously with walnuts or pecans

Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350

Keep an eye on it, you don't want this thing to burn!

Voila! 

Apple Dumpling Tart!

Here's the recipe for the sauce:

1/2 cup water

1 stick butter

2/3 cups sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Heat these all together til the butter is melted

add 1 tsp vanilla and blend it in

Add the apples and simmer gently til apples are tender

OR

Pour over the pieces of frozen apple pie in a 9x13 dish 

and top with 1 cup nuts.

I'm not actually making this pie today.

I have about worn this recipe out already

and am moving on to something

more like pumpkin or sweet potato or chocolate.

I am pledging to make the crust from scratch.

None of this refrigerator stuff!

Seriously!

While the pie is in the oven,

I will whip up some of this magic

Facebook Soup

(you have to try this!)

1-2 lbs hamburger, browned and drained

2 cans Minestrone soup

2 cans Veg-All, or store brand equivalent

2 cans chili beans

1 can RoTel

Brown meat, drain; Dump all the other ingredients into pot

Simmer 20 minutes. Eat! Enjoy!

It sounds kind of boring, but 

it is gooooooood!

Comfort in a bowl!