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| A typical grocery store run this year... |
It's not all bad. I've been lucky enough to have a job, if not a high paying one, as well as some wonderful friends who are pretty much always up for epicurean adventures. This adds up to a year of subsisting on school cafeteria breakfasts and lunches and a lot of dinners out. Professionally, this year can only be described as a whole big thing. Personally, though, I couldn't be happier. Phoenix is a great city, I love everyone I've met here, and I can't imagine wanting to leave at the end of my two year commitment next May. I figure, if after the year I've had I still like it here, there must be something to it!
Heading into year two, with all the perspective 3 weeks of summer vacation has given me (thank god there's a least a few perks to teaching!) I've realized several things:
1. I really do miss cooking and want to do more this year.
2. Even in Phoenix, leading the trendy life requires more money than a new teacher makes, so as my friend and I have declared for the last several days, we are Greece. And yes, we are referring to austerity measures, not the musical.
3. I want to settle into my new house more than I did with my apartment this past year. I think that means playing hostess to dinner parties and drinks, something that I'm more than happy to do!
4. I miss writing a lot. Running the Food and Drank section of The Mac Weekly was by far the best job I've ever had, and being a casual critic of the PHX food scene isn't filling that void.
Basically, this is all an elaborate set up to something pretty simple: I'M BACK! Well, that's the plan. I'm sure I'll get sucked right back into the grind come August, but for now, I'm coasting on the bliss that is summer break and am full of good intentions. So we'll see.
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Tonight's entry should have been called "Instead of packing to move to my new house, I organized a cook out." Grilling has always been a favorite pastime of mine. The prepwork isn't bad, it goes so quickly, and clean up is minimal. What's not to love? After a morning wandering around the farmer's market, I came home intending to start packing up my apartment so I can have the movers come early next week and start getting settled in. Instead, I got super domestic and pulled together a barbecue. My friends Peter and Meredith came over and we had a bit of everything: (turkey) hot dogs, (veggie) burgers, and kabobs with chicken, pineapple, and onion. I've become obsessed with Rocco's Dinner Party on Bravo, and the last episode I watched was all about doing healthier versions of summer food. Mer and Peter hadn't watched it, but apparently we were all on the same wavelength. It all turned out pretty well, despite the mini dust storm that kicked up while I tried to wrestle the grill into cooperating. We were all concerned it was going to turn into another haboob situation, but luck was on our side and there was no giant dust storm tonight.
I also made triple berry pie, one of my favorites from the summer before senior year. We used to make berry and apple pies and give them to our neighbors after they a) helped us with household or furniture assembly issues or b) didn't call the cops on us after a party. I'm not usually much of a baker, but this is so easy, and even if you mess up, as I invariably do, it still tastes good!
Triple Berry Pie
Pie crust:
I do not have the patience to make pie crust from scratch. Meredith is a better baker than I am, and I'm sure that when we open a pie shop I'll figure it out, but for now I cheat on this part.
I usually use Betty Crocker Pie Crust Mix, but they didn't have any at the sketch grocery store I go to, so I resorted to premade pie crust. I wouldn't use the Marie Callendar one again, but it's the only one they had and it worked in a pinch. If you get it together to make a real crust, more power to you!
Filling:
-1 16 oz bag of frozen mixed berries -- this is the part you can play with. I've used various combinations of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. You can't really go wrong. You can also go nuts and use fresh fruit, but being on the Greek austerity plan and all, frozen berries work just fine for my purposes, and to be honest, no one is going to tell the difference.
-A dash of almond extract. I usually do a couple teaspoons, it adds nice undertone to the tartness of the berries.
-1/4 cup sugar
-3 tbsp corn starch. This is important to hold the filling together and help it gel. As I did tonight, I invariably forget this part or don't have any on hand when the berry pie making mood strikes, so if you forget this, the inside of your pie will be more liquid than it should be, but it's far from the end of the world.
Assembly:
Whether you're making or thawing your pie crust, get that business in order.
Preheat the oven to 400.
After that, mix together the filling ingredients. If you are using frozen berries, let the mixture thaw to save you time once you pop your pie into the over. Trust me, no one wants the oven running longer than necessary in Phoenix summer heat.
Spoon the mixture into your pie crust. I have left it at that, with no covering, but if you want to get fancy you can throw some lattice work on top. Real Simple a few years ago suggested layering cutouts of dough on top of the pie instead of fussing with getting the strips of crust to overlap, which always seems tempting.
Put the pie in the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.
When it's done, let it cool. I like to serve it with cool whip or ice cream. It just screams summer!
Bon appetit! Besos,
Amy
Hey! Trader Joe's, Pappy's, and Pillsbury are all good frozen pie crusts! But you really should make your own. Get a food processor, keep everything really cold, find a good recipe, and you're set!
ReplyDeleteAlso, you should try tapioca for a thickener.
Love and miss you, darling!