Berry Pie

Here is a recipe that I just made up. Okay, not totally from my head but from different recipes and advice. Thought I'd post it but I will have to wait 20 more minutes to taste the final product.

Filling:
3 cups fresh organic raspberries
2 cups fresh organic cranberries
3 T white flour
1/2 C sugar
1/8 t salt
1 T lime juice
1 T butter (the real stuff, no margarine for me!)

In a large Ziploc bag, mix flour, sugar and salt. Add fruit and lemon juice. Zip closed and shake until fruit is covered. Set aside.

Crust:
1 1/4 C whole wheat flour
1 C white flour (unbleached)
3/4 t salt
2/3 C coconut oil
about 7 T water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix flours and salt thoroughly. Add coconut oil and use a pastry blender to cut the shortening until the pieces are very small. Sprinkle 1 T at a time over mixture; gently toss with a fork and then move the moisturized dough to one side of the bowl. Do this until all of the dough mixture is moistened.

Use your hands to form dough into two even balls and place in refrigerator.

Sprinkle alittle whole wheat flour on the table and begin to roll out the dough into a circle. Make sure that the dough will fit the bottom and sides on pan. Place it into the pan and cut the edges around the outside; mix leftover dough with 2nd dough ball and repeat.

After the second dough ball has been rolled out, pour the fruit from the Ziploc bag into the bottom pie crust. Place the butter on top of the fruit and cover with the top crust. Cut away the extras and fold sides under, being sure to pinch the upper and lower crust together so that the fruit mixture doesn't leak. Cut a design in the top to allow airflow and throw it into the oven!

Cook pie at 425 degrees for 10 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue cooking for 30-40 minutes.

Now, what should you do with the extra dough? My favorite thing is to make mini cinnamon rolls! Melt 1 t cinnamon, 1 t sugar and 2 t butter in the microwave for 15 seconds. Roll out extra dough in a rectangle and then spread sugar mixture all the way to the sides. Roll up and cut into small pieces. (usually makes 5-6) Put into the oven for 10-12 minutes (with the pie of course) and you have a great snack while waiting for your pie to finish cooking!

Note: the pie smells somewhat like coconut but the taste is minimal. I use coconut oil rather than shortening for many reasons:

1. it's all natural
2. it's melting point is 75 degrees so it's just as easy to mold
3. no hydrogenated oils!

Of course, when using coconut oil, the only way to go is extra virgin, organic coconut oil. Let me know if you want more into and I'll make another post! Also, let me know if you try this recipe and tell me how it tasted or how you made it better!

God's Guidence

I was amazed last weekend at the grace that God showed towards me as I was heading back to Chicago from my week stay in Colorado.

I flew into Denver on a buddy pass (meaning standby) and was able to have great conversations with friends and family during the 4 hour drive to Grand Junction. The week was very good. Relaxing. Seeing my family was very fun, it was hard to be away from my husband but also provided much more time to sit and talk with my mom. (one of my favorite things)

I was planning all week to get a ride back to Denver on Saturday evening in order to spend the night with my friends Mike and Aimee. As Friday rolled around, there was a surprising change in plans: Michael and Casey were going to bring me to Denver but we would leave on Friday to spend the night in Breckenridge with really good friends. Very exciting to me.

Saturday afternoon, Michael and Casey drove the 2 hour drive from the mountains to Mike and Aimee's house and I was very anxious to arrive and see Aimee and the baby.

After spending 45 minutes talking to Mike (Aimee was taking a nap), I decided to call the airport to change the Sunday light from 1:30 to 3:00 in order to join M&A at church the following morning. The Frontier employee was very kind and helpful but eventually let me know that all of the flights on Sunday were booked and that it would be unlikely that I would be able to make any of them.

Scared for a moment, then I asked if there were any Saturday night flights. Fortunately, there was a flight in 2 hours and I made it there on time (thank you Mike). I got to see my Mike a day sooner and all was well.

On the drive home, I was thinking about what would've happened if the circumstances were just alittle different...

What if the original flight was already after church? Then I wouldn't need to call and confirm. What if I had decided to drive up on Sunday or I had made that phone call just 30 minutes later?

I wouldn't have been able to be home in time for work on Monday and it would've been a miserable day at the airport.

Thank you Lord for guiding my steps and allowing me a safe flight back to Chicago.

biggest knitting project yet!

I just finished my fingerless gloves for Nancy! I got the pattern from pretendingsanity.com.

I followed the pattern exactly except a "few" mistakes. It is my first time with gloves, what do you expect?

I used Misti Alpaca Chunky in an egg plant color and they're so soft!

babies everywhere!

So, my week in Colorado is almost finished. It has been a very fun week to hang out with my family and friends. Here are the adorable little boys that I'm staying with:

Joseph

and NoahHere are the cute beanies that I knitted them. GO BRONCOS!

And we can't forget Isaiah!

It has certainly been a fun week to see my family but I am very excited to get back to the windy city and see my husband again. Though, I will miss the saldal weather that we still have here in Colorado!

Happy knitting!! I will begin to post Christmas presents soon for your enjoyment! :)