Friday Night Foodie: Christmas Style

Ok, so I'm a day late again, but I've been sick so I'm excusing myself and I hope you will too.  My recipe for this week is not very exciting because I'm pretty sure I've shared the pie recipe I use before, but I tried a new crust this time so I hope you enjoy it.

I tried to make pie for the two major holidays around the end of the year and since my mom loves cherry and my dad apple, I always change it up.  This year, I made apple for Thanksgiving (not sure why since my dad didn't get home until the Saturday after but it still tasted good!) and cherry for Christmas.  The purist in me would prefer to use fresh cherries with butter, sugar, and flour but my mom prefers the canned kind (not sure we're related).

I make most of my crusts with lard and only use butter if I'm out of it.  Unlike Thanksgiving, we were prepared at Christmas.  When you make pie crust, be absolutely certain you have a cold surface, cold lard (or butter), and cold flour.  If any of these ingredients are room temperature the crust will not turn out right.  I tried making a quiche on a card table once and the whole thing ended up rubbery rather than flakey…blah!  You also need super cold water, which you'll add by the tablespoon until the dough is just right.

I left my recipe at my parents house in Fulshear, so I'm going to have to share the ingredients etc. later, but for now, I'll show you what I did with the top crust.  I hate doing the same thing twice, even though I need to practice my lattice work, and so, as I usually do, I did a google search for different crust designs.  Here is the one that suited my fancy Christmas day:

See, how pretty.

You roll out the dough, cut long strips, and then twist each strip starting in the center and curling out until you reach the edge of the pie.  Obviously, whoever did the above crust has some kind of pie fairy who makes them brilliant at making pie crust because mine didn't really turn out quite the same...

Pre-oven

Because it was Christmas, I didn't think leaves would be quite right so I used a Christmas tree instead.  I think the leaves looked better and next time I might try to find something like holly, but it still worked I think.  I totally ate the tree myself (yes I ate the regular flour pie and yes, I thoroughly regretted it…I believe the correct terminology is: severe intestinal disturbance :P).  I brushed the top with melted butter  which makes it turn golden brown and improves the flavor in my opinion.

Post oven

I need a lot more practice with my pie crusts but I think this one turned out fairly well!  Do you have a favorite Christmas dessert?