Tips for making mouth watering pies

If you are like me, I get very frustrated when my pie crust is tough. I am listing some of the ideas that my Mother and Grandmother gave me.

1) Mix a pastry flour and solidified shortening for a tender flaky crust. Be sure the ingredients are thoroughly chilled.

2) The lightness of the pastry depends on the amount of air it contains. For this reason use a pastry blender for mixing the flour and shortening. Blend until mixture resembles a coarse meal.

3) Use only enough water to form the mixture into a mass. Chill the mixture before rolling out.

4) Roll mixture on lightly floured pastry cloth to same thickness (about 1/8") all over and about 1" more in diameter than pie plate. Roll the crust out with light strokes from center to edge until desired size. Fold pastry in half with fold in center and carefully transfer to an 8" or 9" pie plate. Place in pie plate loosely. Do Not Stretch. Fold edge of crust under into an upright rim. Crimp the edge decoratively, using thumb and forefinger. Moisten edge of lower crust (of all dough crust pies) before sealing.

5) Be careful not to over work the pie crust. Reserve a small amount of the flour/ shortening mixture before adding the liquid ingredients and use it in place of extra flour when rolling out a pie crust. Too much flour can make a tougher crust.

The Benefits of Cayenne Pepper Powder

Cayenne pepper is a spice some people would happily put in their meal to spice it up, while on the other hand, some would avoid it, afraid not to burn their tongues. No matter which type of person you are, the capsicum (its other name) has undeniable advantages for your health. That is why including some cayenne pepper powder wouldn't bring any harm, right? The result would actually be the other way around because the cayenne is full of vitamins, as well as magnesium, calcium and many other useful substances.

What is cayenne pepper powder useful for?

7 layer salad - easy recipe

I have a favorite salad recipe I serve for Thanksgiving. I also fix it in the summer months when I want to eat something light but filling. It is a simple salad to make and all it requires is a glass dish.You want to see how pretty it looks with the entire layers stacked on top of each other.

The wonderful thing about this salad is it makes a great side dish for fried chicken. The salad I'm referring to is a 7 layer salad. My mother taught me how to make it. I want to share it with you and you can pass it along to somebody. Here is my recipe for 7 layer salad.

Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies

Most people like to use self-rising flour. I never use self-rising flour as it tends to always make recipes different than what is expected with the finished product. Some people are fine with having less than perfect results but I am not one of them. Instead, go with an all-purpose flour and add your baking powder or baking soda or both if the recipe calls for it. This ensures that you have the correct of amount ingredients for the recipe.

Baking soda can also cause issues with the rising in the dough. Make sure you store your baking soda properly. Store it in a dry and cool place. After I open mine, I pour it into a plastic bag and keep it in the cabinet with the rest of my baking ingredients. This ensures that the humidity in the air does not cause it to go bad.

Butter, butter, butter! Never use margarine. Margarine and vegetable spreads have more oil in them and can cause your cookies to come out with a burnt bottom or will have an oily consistency and texture in the end. It usually leaves you with burnt bottoms and mushy tops. When making cookies from scratch, always use creamed butter aka stick butter. I personally like to use salted cream butter (stick butter in the grocery that is either salted or unsalted). Most recipes call for salt in them with unsalted butter but using the salted butter tends to make them taste superb with that extra added umph to them.

How To Boil And Peel An Egg Flawlessly

For an absolute newbie, learning how to boil an egg should definitely be the first port of call when learning how to cook. This can boost your self-confidence. You can now have a complete breakfast along with some cereals and a glass of cold milk. When I first learnt this, I felt really proud that I could make myself a simple breakfast without any help and without "wasting" even five minutes. This eventually opened my eyes for further experimentation.

This also proved to be a foundation for making many more recipes. You can make your favourite sandwich or your salad by acquiring this simple skill.

I hope mastering this art (which is hardly an art) would give you the same amount of pleasure and assurance that it gave me and would encourage you to try making many other recipes.

How Should You Boil an Egg

How to Make Perfect Sauerkraut

It is almost impossible not to make great sauerkraut. To make any good food we have to start with good quality fresh material. Here, Mother Nature has created a vegetable that is perfectly suited for fermentation. Cabbage contains plenty of minerals, vitamins, water and sugar and all those nutrients are a ready to eat meal for bacteria. Even fermenting bacteria are present in sufficient numbers to start fermentation. There is no need for starter cultures or chemicals, cabbage has all that is needed.

The Importance of Adding Salt

In simple terms, fermentation is spoilage of product by bacteria. Cabbage like many moist foods will spoil if left unattended. Although lactic acid producing bacteria (fermenting type) will start fermentation, nevertheless the amount of acid that is produced is insufficient to inhibit the growth of spoilage bacteria and the cabbage will rot, unless it receives help from us. All that the cabbage needs is around 2.5% salt in relation to the cabbage weight.

All bacteria hate salt, but friendly lactic acid bacteria can tolerate elevated amounts of salt much better than spoiling bacteria. This small amount of salt inhibits the growth of spoiling bacteria, yet allows lactic acid bacteria to ferment the cabbage. The process is controlled now and the cabbage should ferment well. Salt is not added for flavor, but to save the cabbage from rotting. Another benefit of adding salt is that it immediately draws juice from the shredded cabbage.

How To Create A Quick Healthy Meal In Less Than 30 Minutes

One major obstacle to cooking is that most of us do not have enough time. We have to rush to our office or college or gym, prepare for tutorials or hang out with friends. In the process, cooking becomes a chore and a casualty.

Most college students live by themselves (probably for the first time in their lives) in self-catered dorms, hostels, halls of residence, apartments, whatever. They either starve themselves or survive on street food--- sandwiches from supermarkets, instant noodles that you can have straightaway (that you don't even need to boil), etc. In the process, they become deficient in vitamins, minerals, proteins and a lot of other good stuff, which is not really a good state to be in when you need to muster all your resources for excelling in your chosen courses of study.