Pumpkin Pie

Can she bake a pumpkin pie, Billy boy, Billy Boy? She CAN bake a pumpkin pie, she's the apple of our eye, she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother!

This year Miss Abigail made the pies for our Thanksgiving dinner --her first attempt. The crust was the obvious challenge. She used a recipe titled "No-Fail Pie Crust" but it proved to be a real trial. The recipe called for oil instead of shortening and it was too flaky to bend --at all! So fluting the edges was impossible. At one point, we were tempted to throw it away and begin again. But, in the end, Abigail poked and pieced and made it work. Our traditional Chocolate Praline Pumpkin Pie was delicious!

If you would like the recipe, follow the link to our family food blog --Mower Cookin.

More Canning

Thanks to a wonderful friend who brought goodies to us, Miss Abigail and I enjoyed another canning day. I was hoping to reinforce what she learned in July. I also wanted to help Abigail have a more normal canning experience. Canning is obviously different with the attitude of production rather than trying to make everything "just so" for exhibiting and judging, plus trying to fulfill all the requirements for the 4-H project.  This time we used my steamer canner, instead of the water bath, so that was different and we had two jars burst in two different batches during the processing and visitors during the day - so I guess it was a fairly normal experience. ;o) We ended up with nine quarts of peaches, twelve quarts of pears and twenty pints of tomato salsa.

We had great fun working together and I am so glad to have such a willing and now capable helper.

Canning - Peaches, Tomatoes, Pickles

Miss Abigail and I are canning today. Last October we canned apples and this week we are canning everything else. But, I had to come out to the store to get more peaches. When we took the jars from the water bath, the sliced peaches were floating halfway to the top of the jar. I think Abigail was so careful to pack the peaches without bruising them that she didn't get enough fruit in the jar. I've always canned just for the family and never had to worry about making everything look perfect. Alas, we will have to do another batch. Abigail isn't sad about that. She thought it was wonderful fun to blanch and peel the fruit. We also did a batch of tomatoes this morning that were perfect. She's pretty good this! I'm glad that I will have such a good helper for canning.

Coming out to the store was really only an excuse to come to the library to look for pictures of my brand new grandson! Little Eric is our first grandchild and he is so beautiful. Born on July 21. I'm pretty excited to see him - soon, I hope.

Favorite Food Contest

In our area, 4-H offers a fun contest called the Favorite Food Contest. This is Miss Abigail's favorite contest! The Favorite Food Contest tests the children in their knowledge of the FDA food pyramid by challenging them to create a nutritious menu plan for a day, with the proper number of servings from each food group, and then to chose one of the dishes from the menu to cook. The children create a place setting with a theme if they want, or at least a centerpiece, and all the proper dishes, untensils and linens to serve the meal on the daily menu which includes the "favorite" dish. Then the children have to actually cook that dish in an on-site kitchen and serve it to a judge.

Abigail was judged on a number of things. She had to be prepared to tell the judge which food groups were represented by her dish, the nutritients in each of the various ingredients in the dish, and how these nutrients function in her body. She was prepared to describe the food pyramid and explain how many servings of each group she needed and how many calories she needs each day. She was prepared to answer questions about her table setting and how she prepared the dish and she had to demonstrate knowledge of food safety and kitchen safety as well. This year, as a junior contestant, she also had to understand and calculate cost per serving for her dish. Then the judge tasted the food and scored her on how well it tasted and whether it was colorful, etc. Plus, there was a kitchen monitor who watched  her as she cooked and scored her on food safety, independence in the kitchen, getting the food to the table at the right time, etc. She was given a judging time and the food had to be ready at that time. The contest can be pretty rigorous, but she seems to have fun! She continues to want to do it every year. You can see the table setting and recipe from last year's contest here, if you are interested.

This was Miss Abigail's fourth time to participate in this contest and I think it was easier for her in many ways. Abigail is now quite independent in the kitchen and she understands more and more about timing the preparation. She thoroughly understands the food pyramid and making the daily menu is no longer so difficult. She still gets worried about remembering the functions of the nutrients and speaking to the judge, but she always does so well. This year she brought home the red ribbon and is happy that she can compete again at the district contest later this year.

Abigail's food was an ordinary week-day main dish called "Southwest Spaghetti Pie". If you would like to try it out, you can find the recipe here on the Mower family food blog.