Posted in Favorite Recipes

Double Crust Apple or Peach Pie

Posted on by Tony

Who doesn’t like Apple pie with vanilla ice cream? Even better, Peach Cobbler (pie)? I learned to make both of these at The Culinary Institute of Charleston. This is a great recipe. I couldn’t believe how well it turned out the very first time we made it in class. I know you will be pleased as well.

Ingredients:

Pie dough 2 twelve oz discs, chilled
5 oz granulated sugar
0.5 oz Tapioca starch
1 oz cornstarch
2 grams salt
1 gram ground nutmeg
1 gram ground cinnamon
.5 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz butter, melted
24 oz Apples or peaches, peeled, cored, sliced 1/8 thick

Egg wash (1 egg, tbs water, slightly beaten) as needed.

Directions:

1) Roll both discs of dough into 1/8” thick circles. Line the bottom of a pie pan with one crust. Chill both crusts.

2) Combine the sugar, tapioca starch, cornstarch, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice, and melted butter and toss with the sliced fruit.

3) Fill the chilled, unbaked pie shell with the fruit mixture.

4) Egg wash the edge of pie shell. Top with a second rolled piece of pie dough(or lattice).

5) Crimp the edge to seal. Vent if not making a lattice top.

6) Egg wash the top crust or lattice.

7) Bake pie on a paper lined sheet pan at 375°F (non-convection) until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden approximately 45 minutes.

8) Serve warm or cool to room temperature.

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Posted in Favorite Recipes

3 – 2 – 1 Pie Crust

Posted on by Tony

Here is a simple but tasty pie crust (pastry). It is worth a little effort to get a better crust than you might find at a grocery store in frozen foods.

Ingredients:

8 oz flour
4 grams salt
5.5 oz shortening
2.75 oz water

Directions:

1. Combine flour and salt.
2. Mix flour mixture and shortening together by hand until it forms pea size pieces.
3. Add water and mix just until dough comes together (should still be able to see pieces of fat in the dough)
4. Scrape out onto a floured table; knead slightly.
5. Portion out dough mix into 8 oz pieces (shape into a hockey puck)
6. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill.

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Posted in aging, my Appearance

What The Hell is Up With mY Hair?

Posted on by Tony

For nearly 25 years I have kept my hair extremely short – bald – and lately, I’ve even been shaving it. About 2 weeks ago I decided I would try and grow it out just to see if I still could. This morning I was checking it out in the mirror to see if I had begun to lose even more hair than when I first realized it was happening about 9 years ago. I AM!

What I saw in the mirror was excruciating. Does anyone remember Sanford & Son? Red Foxx was the old man (Pops) in that show. There is only one way I know of to describe what his hair looked, raggedy. I knew I was losing hair at the crown of my head, but it is not happening at an even rate. It is very spotty and it looks EXTREMELY raggedy.

I didn’t think to take a picture before I cut it all off. And it is not likely that I will let it grow out again. I refuse to be seen out in public with such a mess. Needless to say, I am even more motivated to get myself into shape. If I can’t have my hair I at least want to look better in my clothing.

I’m really starting to hate the aging process. It hurts, threatens my good looks, and is very hard on my self-esteem. That’s right ladies, it sucks for men too.

By the way, I have not gained any weight. Yet, I haven’t lost much either; maybe a pound. I am constantly fluctuating with a 1 pound loss or gain. And that is mostly because of my lack of discipline.

Anyone else out there having similar problems? What’s your deal? I told you mine.

PS, I am still waiting to see a specialist about the issues mentioned in my health update.

Posted in family stuff

My Youngest has Graduated

Posted on by Tony
DSC_1635
L to R Me, K, Step-dad, and Mom

It was a busy weekend. My daughter graduated from high school on Saturday. Last week on Tuesday we were in Gaffney, SC for her orientation at Limestone College. From there we did a lot of preparation for the graduation weekend.

DSC_1607
Grandparents

We had friends and family gathered, including  K’s grandparents. She graduated with honors and she was in the top 10% of a class of nearly 400. She was awarded several scholarships, including an athletic scholarship from Limestone College. So we are all very proud of her.

After graduation, we went to a restaurant called The Bohemian Bull. There was some great food. They also had some great appetizers. I have never had fried okra the way they prepared it. It cut lengthwise instead of the usual rounds. And instead of being breaded with cornmeal, it was dipped in a tempura batter. It was quite delicious.

There was cake and ice cream afterward at a close friend’s home, a true family gathering. All of our friends here are like family. I am glad to have them in my life. We are all very proud of our K. She is soon to be off to college and she is looking forward to her new beginning.

Posted in Health

Health Update

Posted on by Tony

This morning I awoke with the usual numbness in my hands. When I finally got out of bed my legs were shaky and maybe even kind of weak. I walked a lot yesterday so I expected a little soreness. But the weakness was a little different and somewhat scary.

I am afraid I may have reached a point where I need to really, and I mean, really watch my blood sugar levels. I was already insulin resistant. The next stage is diabetes. I’m afraid that the next time my doctor does my next blood test I will get the sad news that I am diabetic.

In addition to my the weak feeling in my legs, I just didn’t feel right. I immediately thought of the pop-tarts I had for breakfast yesterday and the pizza for lunch. I was out of town with my daughter and son and their mom. We were at Limestone College where my daughter will be attending next year. I always seem to disregard my way of eating when traveling. And yesterday was an exceptional mishap in my diet.

I need to do better. I must do better. Diabetes is a killer. My mom had it. It made her life miserable. She had a real problem keeping her blood sugar under control. I had a cousin who’s blood sugar got so out of control she ended up in a coma. She died after only a few days.

It has been stressful knowing that there is a cyst on my kidney and a spot on my lung. I have received authorization to see a specialist. I just have to schedule the appointment. I guess I am stressing a little about my health. Now every time I feel the slightest abnormality my mind goes to the worst possible scenario.

So I guess I should make my appointments with my various doctors and get some updates on my health so I know where I stand. I will let you all know when I have news.

Posted in Favorite Recipes

Classic Lemon Meringue Pie

Posted on by Tony

This is one of my favorite desserts. And if I have never said so, pies of all types are my favorite desserts. I don’t eat pie very often because they are also some of the most sugary desserts created. Lemon Meringue Pie was one of my Mom’s specialties. She usually made them at Christmas time. This isn’t her recipe but it is a very good one. It comes from BettyCrocker.com

Ingredients:

Pastry
1 cup Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

Filling
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water SAVE
3 tablespoons butter or margarine SAVE
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 drops yellow food color, if desired
Meringue
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Direction:

  1. In medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
  2. Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry flakier. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.
  3. Heat oven to 475°F. With floured rolling pin, roll pastry into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pie plate. Fold and roll pastry under, even with plate; flute as desired. Prick bottom and side of pastry thoroughly with fork. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown; cool on cooling rack.
  4. Reduce oven temperature to 400°F. In small bowl, beat egg yolks with fork. In 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch; gradually stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.
  5. Immediately stir at least half of hot mixture into egg yolks; stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 2 minutes; remove from heat. Stir in butter, lemon peel, lemon juice and food color. Pour into pie crust.
  6. In medium bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat. Beat in vanilla. Spoon onto hot pie filling. Spread over filling, carefully sealing meringue to edge of crust to prevent shrinking or weeping.
  7. Bake 8 to 12 minutes or until meringue is light brown. Cool away from draft 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate cooled pie until serving. Store in refrigerator.

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Posted in Health

Today’s Doctor Visit

Posted on by Tony

Well, I finally went to the doctor today. Actually, I ended up at the emergency room on this past Saturday for a very sharp pain in my left side. They initially thought I might have a kidney stone, so they did a CT scan. There were no stones, but they found a cyst on my left kidney. And that is why I was in the doctor’s office today following up.

I think we’ve determined that I had a muscle spasm as far as the pain in my side which stemmed from an area in my lower back. However, my doctor has scheduled a full work up of my kidneys to determine if there is something serious is going on there. I think it is probably nothing and hopefully, the test will bear that out.

The CT scan on Saturday also showed something on my left lung. We will be checking this out as well. Both items are very very small. They just want to make sure nothing serious is going on.

So, I covet any prayers. But again, I’m not worried that they are going to find anything serious going on.

Posted in Diet

200th Post

Posted on by Tony

This is my 200th post. Unfortunately, I am reporting that I have been off my diet for a couple of days. Ever now and then I get these urges for high carb sugary foods. I can’t seem to resist when the urge comes. I have learned not to get upset when it happens. It’s just a thing that happens sometimes.s

So 200! This is actually the first time I have made it to 200 posts, and this is my newest blog. ToneLovette may seem newer, but, it just took me some time to decide what the blog would be. Faithlovengrace is my oldest blog. However, as I’ve grown in this area of my life my mind has changed about a lot of things. Many of the post I have removed because I no longer believe what I had written. Faithlovengrace had been online since 2005 on its own server but has recently been moved to wordpress.com.

I had hoped I would be reporting more success than I have accomplished in my 200th post. However, I have a long way to go to reach my goal. Perhaps by post 300 things will be different. Until then I will keep working.

Tomorrow I will be back on track with my diet. Even though I have been fairly consistent with it I still have not lost any more weight. I will have to make some adjustments somewhere. And I definitely have to figure out how to get more exercise.

 

 

Posted in Favorite Recipes

Marinated Skirt Steak

Posted on by Tony

Marinated Skirt Steak is one of my favorites. I mainly use it for fajitas. This marinade recipe comes from Epicurious.com. I used it a few days ago and it is quite tasty. Here it is:

Ingredients

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup corn oil or other neutral oil such as grapeseed or canola
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 shallots, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 pounds skirt steak, cleaned of all exterior fat and connective tissue

Directions

1) Put all ingredients except the steak in a blender and blend until smooth.

2)Pour the marinade over the skirt steak in a nonreactive pan.

3)Break Point

4)Marinate, refrigerated, for 3 to 4 hours before grilling, but no more than 10 hours.

5)When ready to cook the steaks, prepare your grill for grilling.

6)Remove the skirt steak from the marinade and clean away any excess marinade with the back of a knife.

7)Grill the steak over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes per side to serve it rare to medium-rare.

8)When cooked, slice the steak thinly against the grain, starting at one corner and cutting on the bias. Serve either hot or at room temperature.

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Posted in Diet

Extreme Pain

Posted on by Tony

I may end up in a doctor’s before too long. This morning something in my lower back moved, and I have been in pain ever since. I don’t know what it is but hurts. It is a deep but vague pain. And if I move the wrong way it is a very sharp pain.

I am really irritated.