Best and easiest pie crust recipe ever

I used to think that the most intimidating part of making pie from scratch is the crust. The filling is easy, but for some reason, pie crust recipes always seem so complicated and easy to mess up. That's how I felt until my sister sent me this recipe, which is unbelievably easy and turns out delicious every time. The best part? You don't need to buy anything for it, because I bet all the ingredients are already in your pantry.

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Ingredients:
2 cups flour
Pinch of Salt
Canola or vegetable oil
Water

1. Combine pinch of salt in bowl with flour.
2. Fill measuring cup with 2/3 cup of oil.
3. Add 1/3 cup of VERY COLD water to measuring cup, and rapidly mix oil and water with fork for about 1 minute (until creamy).
4. Pour into the flour and combine immediately.  Do not over-mix or dough will be tough.
5. Roll out.

Makes enough for a 2 crust pie.

Enjoy!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Frank and I are not ones to make a big fuss on Valentine's Day. Instead of going out for dinner tonight, we're have a friend over, and our big plan for the weekend is a date to Chicago's Art Institute (which Frank has somehow never been to??!).

But I love any excuse to make yummy food and exchange presents, so this morning I pulled together a nice breakfast for us, and we exchanged some little gifts. It felt really special to sit down and eat together in the morning instead of rushing past each other on the way to work.

I used a few of the ideas from my post on Valentine foods. The heart-shaped cinnamon rolls were easy to make and turned out really nicely: 

I also made a bunch of "bacon hearts" but didn't photograph them because my fingers were all greasy from shaping them.

By the way, bacon and cinnamon rolls are really easy to make together, because they both bake at 400 for 12–15 minutes. I need to remember that!

I made a bunch of "strawberry hearts" by cutting the tops of strawberries off in a little V, and served them with Greek yogurt and whipped cream.

And finally, the heart-shaped toad in a hole! This was, surprisingly, the trickiest part. The heart-shaped cookie cutter made the bread fall apart. It took me a few tries and some quick patching (by squeezing the bread together) to get the bread to stay in place.

Here is the finished table with bacon hearts, cinnamon rolls, toad in a hole, and strawberries!

Taking pictures of everything this morning was an experience. The lighting in my kitchen isn't great, and it's harder than I realized to take pictures when your fingers keep getting covered in butter or icing or bacon grease. I kept thinking, "This is why I'm not a food photographer!" I have so much new respect for people who are.


From the archives:
Our first Valentine's Day
Favorite love poems
5 favorite love stories

Caroline's cupcake pies

Frank and I spent the weekend babysitting Joseph and Angela while my parents were out of town.

I tell you, our move to Chicago is the best thing that ever happened to my parents. They've been going on fun weekend trips every month and leaving the kids with us.

Saturday we took them to a pumpkin farm (more on that coming soon), and when we got home that evening, we were excited to find these "apple pie cupcakes" greeting us:

Courtesy of Caroline, the greatest baker of them all. I like to think she gets her skills from me, but really, she's a better baker than I am.

I put that picture up on Instagram and Sarah asked if I could share the recipe. So I got Caroline to write up this little "how to" in case you want to know.

Here's what she said:

"We used a box of confetti cake batter to make the cupcakes and put some frosting on top when they cooled. Then we put m&ms, all the same color, face down in the frosting so you can't see the m's.

We mixed white frosting with some brown food dye to make it golden brown and used 2 frosting squirters, 1 for the diagonal lines going across and another for the crust around the edges.

Then we ate them all up :) The end! Scrumptious!"

Oh yeah, did I mention they were funfetti? I love funfetti. It was basically the best cupcake experience ever, even if I kind of went into a sugar coma at the end. :)

Let me know if you get a chance to try these out. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Five Favorites + WWRW

I've hit a writer's block. Can you tell? I can't think of a lot to write about lately, yet I can't work up the motivation to work on my (stalled) Love Story series or a post about my wedding or honeymoon.

In hopes of kicking the writer's block, at least for today, I thought I would jump on not one, but two bandwagons that I've enjoyed for a long time from afar, but never participated in. (WWRW readers, feel free to skip to the bottom!)

Five Favorites

1. Pinterest is really killing it these days. I've been making a bunch of recipes from my Deliciousness board with stunning success. My sister Cathy came over for tea last week, and we made these brownie-cookie dough-Reese's bites. It was really easy and they turned out better than they sound ... if that's even possible.

Teatime with Cathy // homemade bread // nutella, honey, cookie butter

2. I've been making this sandwich for lunch a lot lately—it's amazing, amazing.

3. This list of one-tray dinners will change your concept of after-dinner clean-up. I made this one last night with some chicken, potatoes, and zucchini we had lying around. The meal was good, and the zucchini may have been the best I've ever had.

4. Ok, last one about food! Frank and I made toasted marshmallow shakes on Monday—highly recommend—they turned out great. And I promised him I will make this dark chocolate Guinness cake some time soon. Maybe next time Cathy comes over? (She's my designated dessert-baking partner).

5. I've been really enjoying my walk to work lately. Hyde Park has some really pretty houses with glorious front porches.

Front porches are kind of the greatest. I dream of having my own wrap-around someday. Porch swing and rocking chairs included, of course.

*Thank you to Hallie for hosting!

What We're Reading Wednesday

I'm reading two books right now, and loving them both.

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Both of these books have been on my "Want to read" list for years. I'm glad I'm finally getting around to them—both are well worth it.

What are you reading this week?

*Thank you to Jessica for hosting!

The Great Banana Bread Bake-Off

Frank and I have this bad habit of forgetting to eat our bananas, so eventually they go brown on the counter. Except I don't really mind that much, because that means I get to make banana bread.

^^Thanks Mary for the pretty blue and white loaf pan, and Sukie for the wonderful "Made in USA" metal one!

Yesterday I was flipping through my cookbooks trying to decide which recipe to use for the four very, very ripe bananas in front of me. Should I use the Williams Sonoma recipe? Or the Betty Crocker one? Each recipe only called for two bananas, but I had four...

A lightbulb went off in my brain. What if I made both recipes?

I consulted with Frank, who loves banana bread. He was game. So last night I went on a banana bread baking frenzy. The things you do to keep busy when your husband is studying for the bar exam.

This morning I sliced up about 2/3 of each loaf and put them on a plate to bring to work. I needed a larger sample size than just Frank and me. We liked them both equally.

I put the plate out in the office conference room and used Post-it notes to label them "Recipe 1" and "Recipe 2." Then I wrote in big letters, "Which do you like better?"

You can see that they look pretty different in this photo—the Betty Crocker recipe is on the right.

My co-workers are being so awesome about it, discussing the merits of Recipe 1 and Recipe 2 as seriously as though it were the presidential election. I love my office.

The jury is still out, although so far the Betty Crocker recipe is winning. I'll keep you posted!

Update: Everyone voted for the Betty Crocker recipe—it was a clear winner. Recipe here, just substitute chocolate chips for the nuts. Let me know if you get a chance to make it!

Wisdom Wednesday: Tasha Tudor's Hot Cross Buns

I've been lucky over the years to benefit from amazing advice given by people who know a whole lot more than I do. In honor of all the advice I've received - some great and some not-so-great - I'm starting a new little tradition on my blog: Wisdom Wednesdays. Every week I'll share a piece of thought-provoking advice for you to think about, talk about and enjoy.


This week's wisdom is a little unusual. Instead of telling a story, I'm posting my "famous" hot cross buns recipe, from the Tasha Tudor cookbook. We make them every year on Good Friday.

These buns take a while to rise but they're pretty easy to make. And they always turn out absolutely delicious!

Photo from here

Tasha Tudor's Hot Cross Buns

Double the recipe if you desire more than 12 buns. I always do, as these have a tendency to disappear when guests or family are about! Also, when I double the receipt i use a total of 3 packets of yeast for 24 buns; the extra yeast makes them lighter.

1 cup milk, warmed to 110 degrees F
1 packet yeast (or 3 if doubling the recipe)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
*1 cup currants
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

*We never use the currants and they still taste delicious.

In a small bowl, stir the milk into the yeast to dissolve, adding 1 teaspoon of the 1/2 cup sugar. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, the remaining sugar, the cinnamon, and the currants. Add the milk and yeast mixture and mix well. Cover with a warm towel, set aside, and allow to rise in a draft-free place for 30 minutes.

Add the salt and melted butter, being sure that the butter is not too hot, so as not to destroy the live yeast. knead the dough lightly on a generously floured surface, then place in mixing bowl, cover again, and let rise until double in size, 1 hour or so.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees F.

Shape the dough into 12 buns and place on a parchment-paper-lined-baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.

Bake the buns in the preheated over for 15 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from the oven and cool on racks.

When the buns are cool, make an X on top of each one with a pastry tube filled with the mixture of:

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons light cream or milk, or enough to make the icing easy to spread

This recipe makes 12 buns.