Southern Living at The Manor....(From here on, referred to as the "Manor" or the "Estate".)

Cooking at the "Manor Falls Estate" is always an affair.  One day, you may be cooking for yourself, the next...for 30. The Estate is quite a place. The average number of foodies/lushes at the Estate hovers around 6 on any given night. Last Saturday, most of my fellow lushes were heading to a pool party. However, I had sustained the burn (see the previous post) and as you can see, my arm is all ace-bandaged up.  I did not think that it would be wise to swim in a bacterial-laden pool with a fresh burn. A girl must have her priorities...so I decided to cook...again.

Jon got in the mood to try out a rib recipe, which was PHENOMENAL by the way. I had a little video that shows the meat falling off the bone, but I forgot to bring it. If you really want to see it, leave a comment and I will add it.

So while he was grillin', I was trying to figure out what went with ribs that wasn't slathered in mayo (i.e. no potato salad, deviled eggs, macaroni salad...or any other Southernfied "salad") Digression: Why do Southerns put mayo on everything and call it a "salad"? It makes no sense, especially since 1) there is no veggies in it really (unless you count chives) and 2) the temperature is already 100 degrees outside anywhere South of Oklahoma. Perfect thing for sweltering picnic. Nothing like a BBQ and botulism.

I settled on grilled corn on the cob, a grilled potato, and a homemade apple pie. I made the double crust from scratch using Crisco's recipe, but with the butter flavored Crisco. It turned out beautifully. But you really need to follow the directions, like slowly adding ice-cold water 1 teaspoon at a time. I dumped in all 10 of mine at once. Then I had to doff my engagement ring and stir it by hand to get it mixed thoroughly. Refrigerate in cling wrap for a few minutes (an hour really but I am impatient as you know) for easier rolling, and you get a beautiful pie crust like this.

Disregard the hellish state of the Manor Kitchen, "Winston-the-Butler" was off this week.

After you have the bottom crust in the pie pan, you are supposed to brush it with butter. Naturally, that step got missed because I was cooking. So, I only realized it after I had peeled 4 giant, Granny Smith apples, tossed them in a cinnamon-sugar mix, and filled the crust. I thought...what the hell, butter makes everything taste better anyway, so I just put the butter on top of the apples.

The tartest freakin' Granny Smith's I have ever eaten.

Bake something like 40 minutes or until the crust is about to burn into a firey disaster and whola! A beautiful, tasty, ever so decidant American Apple Pie. Oh, don't forget to vent the top. Probably should have mentioned that before the whole cooking part. Oh well.

"Woman, get me in the kitchen and make me some pie!"

-Eric Cartman, South Park

So what makes my pie so special then your avearge, 1st prize-at-the-county-fair pie you ask? My answer...

The Plating...Apple Pie, vanilla Blue Bell Ice Cream (only available in Texas) and a Shiner Bock. For all of you that are making faces, a ShinerBock Ice Cream Float is AMAZING! Just try it and you will see.

~Fin~