What We Did for the 4th of July

It was quite a full day!

First I sewed all my stars and stripes together to finish this quilt top, "Ohio Stars and Rails" from Quiltville.com.

Sweeet!

Then I worked most of the rest of the day on a job I had making senior activity aprons for a client...

Meanwhile, my daughter, Chloe, decided to cook and really prepared a beautiful dinner for the holiday.

She made shortcake for strawberries and peaches and also 2 batches of pasties (that's a short "a" in that word, which distinguishes it from the long "a" pasties that strippers use!)

They are quite a project to make, but are sooooo good!  It's an old family recipe, which I am happy to share!

Here it is:

Pasties (Meat pies)

Filling:
1#  round steak or chuck steak, cut into approx ½” cubes
5-6  medium-sized russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1  large onion, finely chopped
2 T  Chablis or any white wine that you like.  Flat champagne is fine too.
2 T  dried parsley
1 ½  t  salt
½  t  pepper
¼  t  thyme, crushed

Crust:
4 ½ c  flour
1 ½ t  salt
1 ⅞ c  shortening
1 egg, well beaten
4 ½ t  vinegar
6 T   water  (1/4 c + 2T)

Divide crust into 16 pieces (about the size of a big golf ball or a handball) and roll out individually to around 10” diameter.
Scoop onto one half of the rolled out dough approx. 1/3c of filling, fold over the other half and pinch the edge closed.  Pierce the top in a couple of places with a knife or fork.  Place onto baking sheet.  I use parchment paper to line the pan.

Bake @ 350 for 55 minutes.

When the pasties are done baking and cooled down, I like to wrap each one in foil and keep them in the fridge.  They are great for picnics as they don’t have to be hot to taste great. Of course, you can eat them right out of the oven too, which is what we did. With a fresh salad and lots of watermelon and iced tea, they make a great light meal when it's hot outside!

Chloe made a vegetarian filling for another batch, with leeks and potatoes, sauteed together with a pinch of poissonade. Since that filling was already cooked, we baked them about 10 minutes shorter than the beef ones. Absolutely delicious!

We sure got a lot done in one day and had so much fun, too! And in time to enjoy the fireworks off the front deck!


Hugs,
Sarah