Pie crust is a thorn in my side when it comes to baking! More often than not my pie crustruins a perfectly good pie! Anyway, every once in awhile I get a pie crust just right and I'm learning to WRITE the recipe down. Now recently I posted recipe for Fresh Strawberry Pie on eHow and it dawned on me (after the fact of course) That I have some really good variations for pie crust. So here they are! Enjoy!

Hydrox (Oreo) Cookie Crust

• 18 Hydrox (oreo) cookies crushed
• 4 tablespoons butter

Press into pie tin and chill

Vanilla Cookie Crust

• 25 vanilla wafers crushed
• 4 tablepoons butter

Press into pie tin and chill

Ginger Snap Crust

• 20 ginger snap cookies crushed
• 4 tablespoons butter

Press into pie tin and chill

Graham Cracker Walnut Crust

• 3/4 cup coarsely ground walnuts
• 3/4 cup finely cruashed graham crackers
• 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Combine walnuts, graham crackers and butter. Press into the bottom (and/or sides) of pie tin. Chill.

Perfect Pie Crust

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 4 to 6 Tbsp ice water

1 Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour (the longer the better) so that they become thoroughly chilled.

2 Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

3 Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

4 Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

5 Add filling to the pie.

6 Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

Egg Wash

A lovely coating for a pie can be achieved with a simple egg wash.

• 1 Tbsp heavy cream, half and half, or milk
• 1 large egg yolk

Beat egg yolk with cream and brush on the surface of the pie with a pastry brush.

So I like this for it's obvious weirdness! Unexplained science always gets the sci-fi juices flowing...
 10 Things Science Can't Explain
I liked this post because it's relevant to what I'm trying ( a little at a time every freakin' day) to do!
17 Principles of Building Good Relationships with Bloggers
Here's a psych. post geared towards women who find their ability for all types of pleasure diminished...
4 Belief Biases that can Reduce Pleasure

10 1/2 Amazing things to do with Baking Soda

So while I am rushing the monumental task of switching my blogs over to my own domains I have a good-y. I was writing before bedtime last night -as I often do. Just pen, paper, and mini reading light that I have rigged to my glasses (yes it is as dumb looking as it sounds, but it works). Anyway, sporadic memory that I have I remembered one of my favorite writing exercises and on the offbeat chance this might be helpful to anyone, here is the spiel and an example:

One of my favorite writing exercises I picked up in a writing class my freshman year of college. The challenge. Write a complete short story in 100 words of less. I tend to be quite wordy with my descriptions. This can be a good thing when writing a novel and a not so good thing when writing say a personal bio or even an email. This practice helps insure my writing is precise and tight without superfluous fluff. Below is one of the super shorts I came up with:



The Obituary of Albert Joe.

Albert Joe, beloved father and community businessman was found dead Friday. Upon returning home from Parent Teacher meetings that evening, Mrs. Joe discovered her husband, whom coroners say, had bled to death from self inflicted wounds to his genitalia. The following words were scrawled in red lipstick across the bathroom mirror above the body: "Remember me not as the man I was but the woman I could have been." In acknowledging Mr. Joe's final wishes he will be buried in the negligée he was found in. The family has opted for a closed casket funeral.
95
including title
100

...Now when you good at that. Try one at 50. Like I said, I'm wordy, so 100 words is good for me, 50 sends me into hyper-drive! But if you do some 50 word stories, let me know. I'm curious to see some examples...

5 years of fighting.  5 years of the UN screaming about the plight of people in Darfur.  5 years of supposed international support and aid. And what's the result? 

According to John Holmes -take a minute and go wild with the jokes... OK.  Better? 

Now, according to John Holmes, the Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, as of April 22, 2008 the situation in Darfur in the last 12 months has in fact worsened. 

Way to go international community!

The United Nations Humanitarian Chief informed the Security Counsel today that the world has yet to find a solution to the problems in the region and that as bad as the situation is, it will deteriorate further unless urgent measures are taken now!

And estimated 300,000 people are now believed to have died since fighting erupted in 2003. Those not killed in the fighting died from disease and malnutrition. More than 2.7 million have been displaced-with the lucky ones living in inadequately supplied camps.

In his briefing to the Council, Rodolphe Adada, the AU-UN Joint Special Representative for Darfur said it was "disturbing that while the region has remained near the top of the international agenda, this attention had not been matched with the necessary action to provide UNAMID with the means to accomplish the tasks assigned to it."

...This I have no problem believing. The other week I hosted a yard sale.  I actively pushed a petition addressed to local government demanding more support for the humanitarian aid in Darfur.  Next to no one wanted to read the informational packet I had provided and next to no one signed the petition.  The number one reason given:  "It was just too horrific."

By all mean people, stick your head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist.  That always works when dealing with genocide.  It worked for the US government in 2004 when it reported that Darfur was in fact not a genocide in progress!

I realize we don''t have anything to gain in Africa, there is nothing to further any agenda we might have. No direct benefit to the US. There certainly aren't any weapons of mass destruction.  People instead are hacked to death by machete's, child soldiers are mowed down by gunfire, and women are repeatedly raped at times to death.  The tactics are undeniably brutal and it is in my opinion the ugliest kind of war.  Which is all the more reason the worlds super power, the United States, with its profound belief in human rights has an obligation to interfere unconditionally on the behalf of people who are truly suffering and takes the necessary actions to end this conflict.  Without question and without hesitation.

I am a patriot.  A proud citizen and a good American.  And I am embarrassed that 5 years after this genocide in Africa began, the situation (with the help of the United States) is progressively getting worse instead of better.


So if you haven't read A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.  I really recommend it.  It's a hard read, but I do believe that if things are going to change, remaining ignorant of the situation should not be an option.  This is the worst humanitarian crisis in the WORLD... 

So I wish I could say I was a vegetarian because of all the health benefits and so forth.  But really I don't eat meat because of the guilt factor.  Serious.  I like cows, I like pigs, and when I was in college I had a pet chicken named Oscar.  I feel like I'm eating someones pet!  I just can't cut the guilt.  What I do believe is you should eat whatever you can kill and prepare yourself.  That's right, if you can kill, chop up and freeze an entire cow -chow down my friend. As for myself, well, in a pinch I could probably take down and gut a fish.  Yes I would probably cry.  The point is I don't really want to -so I eat my fake meat and like it!  ...Besides my mother sent me this series on over fishing and red tides and how its killing the manatees and for CRYIN' OUT LOUD!  I don't want to be a sea pig killer!  Do you?

  There's a sucker born every minute.-Phineas T. Barnum

It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous.-Robert Benchley

I got to thinking about the point in every freelancer's life where he has to decide whether he wants to A, have a social life, and do art in his spare time, or B, do art, and have a social life in his spare time. It has always seemed to me that if you have any hope of making a living as an artist – writer, musician, whatever – you absolutely must learn to tell people to leave you alone, and to mean it, and to eject them from your life if they don't respect that. This is necessary not because your job is more important than anyone else's – it isn't – but because a great many people will think of you as not having a job. 'Oh, how wonderful – you can work whenever you want to!' Well, yes, to a point, but generally 'whenever you want to' had better be most of the time, or else you won't have a roof over your head. -Poppy Z. Brite

Most writers can write books faster than publishers can write checks.-Richard Curtis

Writing is turning one's worst moments into money. -J. P. Donleavy

Stories may well be lies, but they are good lies that say true things, and which can sometimes pay the rent.
-Neil Gaiman

There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money either. -Robert Graves

Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man wanted to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion. -L. Ron Hubbard

I never had any doubts about my abilities. I knew I could write. I just had to figure out how to eat while doing this.-Cormac McCarthy

Writing is its own reward. -Henry Miller

Writing is the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.-Olin Miller

Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.-A. A. Milne

In the same way that a woman becomes a prostitute. First I did it to please myself, then I did it to please my friends, and finally I did it for money. -Ferenc Molnar
...after asked about how he became a writer

Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money. -Jules Renard

Writing isn't generally a lucrative source of income; only a few, exceptional writers reach the income levels associated with the best-sellers. Rather, most of us write because we can make a modest living, or even supplement our day jobs, doing something about which we feel passionately. Even at the worst of times, when nothing goes right, when the prose is clumsy and the ideas feel stale, at least we're doing something that we genuinely love. There's no other reason to work this hard, except that love.-Melissa Scott

The only two kinds of books could earn an American writer a living are cookbooks and detective novels. -Rex Stout

A woman should always have:

... A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.

... A good piece of furniture, not previously owned by anyone else in her family.

... Eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored.

... One old love -she can imagine going back to.  And one new love -who reminds her how far she has come.

... Enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to.

... Something perfect to wear if her employer or the date of her dreams wants to see her in 20 minutes.

... A past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age.

But most of all.

A woman should always have

... A feeling of control over her destiny.

Where were we.  Oh yes, my need for nicotine had superseded my fear of the giant like rodents invading my front porch.

So I fearlessly braved the dark, picked up my now dirty cell phone, assumed the position on the step and lit up my favorite hobby. 

I should mention, wild animals (for some reason) have absolutely no fear of me.  It's pathetic and I blame my curly hair.  No fear.  Squirrels tell me off, birds land on my shoulder -you get the picture.

So I was expecting critters.  What kind of critters who knows.  Personally I was hoping for anything but skunks.  And for once I got my wish.  Halfway through my first fag I saw it. 

One pointy little twitchy nose poking out from around the side of the laundry room.  This was how I met Gomer.  He wiggled around the corner -cautious eye on me and ran right for me.  Veering at the last minute into a tiny hole in the very porch I was sitting on!     

Two beady little eyes and one little gray body had followed the little twitching nose and suddenly I was looking at the little itty bitty body of a baby opossum.  I mean a tiny little baby.  Where oh where could mommy be.
This was a question I never could conclusively answer.  What I came up with was this:
Mommy opossum had had her babies in my garage -unbeknownst to me.  Anyway, recently I had cleaned out parts of my garage.  I believe some of the baby opossums had gotten separated from their mommy in their mad dash from my garage.  For some reason instead of following mom, the babies had run into the first hiding place they had found.  A tiny hole right under my front porch!

As I watched the opossum I would come to know as Gomer, I couldn't help but smile.  It had to be a boy.  Moments after it's little tale had disappeared in the whole I saw it's little nose peaking out.  Apperantly it was as curious as me as I was of it.

So, I had planned to write Part two of the intro to me Baby Opossums.  However after a fitful night tossing turning and coughing with allergies.  I just don't feel like it.  Instead I feel like having a night similar to the night I had in this picture.  Party Monster 2006.  A huge colorful gala held in an old historic theater in Hollywood.  Full of themed costumes and great characters -myself included.  Having delayed for weeks decided what I wanted to be at the last minute I decided to go as my favorite color -Pink!  It helped that I had my boss and long time best friend on hand to tend to my makeup.  He's an Oscar nominated makeup artist!  Wow, this picture seems like ages ago.  It was certainly at the peak of my "Hollywood Days."  Today, I just felt like reliving it, if only in memory, if only in pictures...