My Great-Grandmother's Fresh Peach Pie

This is a very special recipe to my heart - I was lucky enough to know all 4 of my great-grandparents on my grandmother's side until I was pretty old, so I remember baking with my great-grandmother, and this is one of my favorite recipes of hers that I have (and make quite often).

IN A SMALL BOWL, MIX:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca (it comes in a box usually on the baking aisle and looks like little pellets - NOT tapioca pudding lol)
small shake of salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

IN A LARGE BOWL, MIX:
6-8 cups fresh peaches peeled, seed removed and sliced
1 cup blueberries (if desired)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, cut into bits

COMBINE the mix in the smaller bowl into the larger bowl, mix together with a wooden spoon or your hands and then let stand while you make the pie dough.

TO MAKE THE DOUGH:
2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup crisco (add to the flour and salt mixture and then use a fork or your hands to mash and mix together)
after that, add 4-6 tablespoons of ice water (sometimes it might take more than this to make the dough the right consistency, but start out conservatively)

Now, preheat oven to 400. Mix a few grains of sugar and a bit of flour together and sprinkle over the bottom of the pie dish (I like using glass dishes the best). Separate your dough into two equally sized balls (this is where you may need a bit more water or a bit more flour, depending - whatever gives you a ball that will remain formed and not crumble). Roll out one ball and drape it over the bottom of the pie dish. Put the peach mixture into the pie plate on top of the dough and spread evenly. Roll out the second ball of dough and cover the peach mixture. Pinch around the edges to seal up the pie by pinching together the top and bottom layer of dough. Put a few slits in the top of the crust with a knife. Now gently whisk an egg in a small dish and brush over the top of the pie (probably won't use the whole egg, just enough to brush the top), then sprinkle sugar and nutmeg over the top. The egg will give your pie a nice brown color and a shine.

Bake 40-50 minutes and then enjoy :) I hope you love this as much as I do!!

Check out my other blog too!

oh, and for those of you who don't know, I also have a blog at http://acreedandapsalm.blogspot.com! That one is about our lives as a military family :) Go check it out!!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT MY OTHER BLOG!!

Quesadillas

Super quick recipe for a night when you don't have a lot of time for dinner! You can change them up and add whatever you like (one recipe I have seen adds black beans, I'm just not a fan).

1 package of tortilla rounds (7 or 8-inch ones work perfectly)
1 pack of either ground beef or ground turkey
chopped peppers (I use a red and a green)
half of a chopped onion
1 small can of tomato paste
5 tbs pico de gallo (or chopped tomatoes with a bit of cilantro works too!)
mini pepperonis (not necessary, but a nice touch of spice)
salt and pepper
cheddar cheese (shredded)

First, brown your meat in a skillet, then throw in the peppers, onion, pico, and mini pepperonis. Stir those around for about a minute, then add in your can of tomato paste, making sure that it gets distributed evenly throughout the meat. Once it is done, add your salt and pepper to taste. Now lay out your tortillas, and evenly divide the meat among them (only putting the mixture on one half of the tortilla - you will fold them over later). When I made this tonight, I got 6 tortillas out of the amount of mixture I had made. Then add some cheese over top of your meat, and fold each tortilla in half. When I was to that point I just washed my skillet and used it again (less clean-up later). Spray cooking oil (or my personal fave, PAM) into the skillet and put two folded tortillas at a time in there. Use your spatula to flatten them, and after about a minute over medium heat, flip them one time. Once both sides are browned, remove them from the skillet and place onto a plate. Continue until all your tortillas are cooked!! Then, cut each tortilla in half to have your yummy quesadilla wedges :)