Maple Walnut Pie

I was organizing some of my cooking pamphlets the other day, trying to keep them from getting torn up. (I need to find a good way to store them but also keep them accessible. Any suggestions?) Anyways. I found this one! I had originally put it aside because I didn't cook at that time. But now time to bring it out and explore. Since my last memories of my Grammie are from Vermont I had to go with something maple related. I'm guessing that the recipe is probably from the 1950s or 1960s but I have no way of knowing for sure. One of the last times I sat in the kitchen chatting with her we discussed her weekly trips to the hair salon to get her hair lacquered.

Luckily for Dylan we did not have to bust out the jello.

A simple recipe. I just happen to have a jar of real Vermont maple syrup on hand. I am spoiled. I cannot eat pancake syrup at all. It has to be real maple syrup or nothing.

You don't need a glass of wine but it may help.

Everything smells so sweet my teeth hurt.

This will make a pie. Or so I'm told.

I used an inexpensive, generic pre-made pie crust. It tastes great and is super easy. I highly recommend them.

My edging sucks. Oh well. I am predicting that this will end up like a pecan pie. Gooey and nutty. Kinda looks like it needs more nuts though.

Yeah! This baked up so pretty and smells amazing! Definitely similar to a pecan pie.

I got to baking a little late in the day for baking so I let the pie sit over night to cool. Then forgot to take a picture before I served it up.

This is a delicious pie! I would put more walnuts into it next time but yum! The texture is like a pecan pie but the taste is quite different. Despite the amount of maple syrup it has a fairly subtle maple taste. Just the right amount and not overwhelming. This would be amazing with whip cram or cool whip. 

My Rating: New favorite pie! This is going to make another appearance at Thanksgiving.

Dylan's Rating: "Very good. Needs vanilla ice cream."

Chicken Tetrazzini

I have a gorgeously obnoxious orange crock-pot. I used to have a matching avocado green one as well but somebody (thanks, mom) broke it. I love my crock-pot! My favorite things to cook in it are hot punches and soups. While cleaning things out, my mother found an original Rival Crock-Pot CookBook! There is no date but probably 1960's, I think. It matches so well!...It have would match my green one even better...

With an old school crock-pot I needed an old school recipe to try. I have fond memories of chicken tetrazzini, a great mix of chicken and pasta and cheese.

I used a rotisserie chicken because it's so damn easy and fresh mushrooms. I hate canned mushrooms! I used to think I hated all mushrooms but then I discovered fresh ones. and So many kinds! I'll never ever ever used canned.

Gather everything. Throw it all in!

Yum. Buttered pasta. Dylan hates it but I could eat a whole bowl of just buttered pasta.

So, the chicken tetrazzini ended up being a lot soupier than I remembered. Of course I remember it being a baked dish not a crock-pot one. This recipe calls for everything to be topped with cheese (yeah!) and put under the broiler. I don't think that will thicken things but we will see.

So beautiful...Don't measure cheese when putting it on top of something. There is no reason to have any shredded cheese left in the bag.

Broilers and me don't always get along. I probably was suppose to put in on low and really let the cheese get melty. I put it on high and took it out when Dylan asked "Is something burning?" The cheese did not burn! Some just got a little crunchy.

The inside stayed soupier than I wanted but it smells great.

I couldn't get a nice, picture perfect serving. Spaghetti doesn't do what you want it to!

I wished it had been thicker but all in all this was an easy and delicious recipe. I remember it having more ingredients but I feel that this is a good starting point. Next time I would add red peppers and less broth. You could add black olives if you want but I hate them. 

My Rating: Quick and easy for a busy day.

Dylan's Rating: "Not too bad. I like it."

Dill Rolls

Out of all the recipes I try, bread is the worst! I live with a penguin so it is already difficult to find a warm area for it to rise and nothing turns out right. I have tried several. I am ready to give up. I don't eat a lot of breads so it was more for the challenge than anything else. Then my mother found a great little pamphlet from the 1940's, I think, The Art of Making Bread...At Home put out by the Northwestern Yeast Company. The regular bread recipes all made 4-5 loaves. I do not need that much bread if it turns out and I don't want to waste all the ingredients. So let's try rolls! I have a beautiful dill plant in the garden so....Dill Rolls!

I don't know exactly what my mother was doing when she found this great pamphlet. Cleaning out something. She also gave me a 1970's Rival Crock-Pot cookbook to go with my beautiful bright orange crock-pot and a 1930's cake cookbook.

Rolls don't look too difficult but a bit time consuming.

First! Have to make the sponge. A quick online search to get the measurement of a yeast cake (2 1/4 tsp) and we are off.

Yeasties going to work! I've had such bad luck with breads that I actually tested the yeast before committing myself. 

Everything looks good so far. I waited until Dylan was out of town for the weekend since I needed to keep the kitchen at a warmer temperature. This lovely mix had to sit out overnight.

The next day...it's time to make the bread! I looked over several recipes online to get an idea on the amount of dill I should use. I ended up with about 1.5 Tablespoons.

I am so surprised! The sponge rose nicely. Looks much better than the water with melted shortening behind it.

Now I am getting concerned...looks soupy...

Still looking soupy with the dill... The dill smells amazing!

Time to knead! But this great pamphlet has step by step instructions with pictures on how to knead bread. I love this book!

It is starting to look like bread now. I'm already getting the feeling that I did not add enough dill.

The dough had to rise 2 more times but it looked great!

I decided to make crusty rolls instead of just plain rolls so I could keep several in the freezer for later. But first, they have to rise. Again.

They are finally ready to bake. I never knew bread could take 2 days to make!

Smells so good...I should have done a better job at making them the same size but I had already spent almost 2 days on the damn things.

They look so pretty! But hard to see the dill.

These were light with a slight crust and, sadly, almost no dill flavor. I definitely need to add a lot more dill! Besides that, they were great! Delicious sliced in half with butter, as a sandwich, or even as a hamburger bun. I kept catching Dylan sneaking off with them as a snack. I want to make these again but not as crust rolls. Put them close together in a pan and have rolls without sides like back in school. All in all these were very easy to make and, while they did take 2 days to do, not a lot of it was active. The only problem was keeping the kitchen warm enough to let the dough to rise. I will not be able to make these while Dylan is home and cranking the ACs up. 

My Rating: Keeper!

Dylan's Rating: "I love these! They were perfect to freeze and thaw out as needed. 10 minutes in the oven at 325."