Shawny's Day

Today was our day together. We woke up early and he made me pancakes.... He definitely knows what makes my heart happy! I sent him to get his hair cut while I got ready to go. We drove to Avila Beach and walked down the pier... I doubt I'm the only person who feels this way, but I hate walking down piers that cars are allowed to drive down! Freaks me out completely. Well, afterwards we stopped at Avila Barn so Shawn could feed his favorite cow. And then we were off to lunch at Garlands in Grover Beach. Shawn had wanted to go to Splash Cafes, that was until he saw how long the line was... Haha.. On our way back home we stopped by Windmill Farms right off the Los Berros/Thompson Rd exit. We had never been there before so we figured we'd check it out. It was a lot like Avila Barn other than the fact it was like a ghost town. No one was there except ourselves and one employee. On the way home I fell asleep zzzz... I was so tired all day and had been fighting it for a while. When we got home I ended up taking a 3 hour nap. Not such a great idea because now I'm going to have problems sleeping. I felt really bad for falling asleep so I helped Shawny make the Black Berry Turnovers I had been promising him. He tried to make them last week, but he wouldn't listen to me when I told him the pie dough was too moist. He told me he knew what I was doing. It turned into a mess and he got so frustrated that he completely gave up. Tonight I made him a pie crust that worked perfectly. I think he learned his lesson.. Always trust the baker. ;-) Well the one store I love more than any other is Williams Sonoma. I <3 it! Last time we were there I got this.

I hadn't yet had an opportunity to use it so this was perfect.

Pie Dough

• 2 1/2 cups AP Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 2 sticks Unsalted Butter, cut into dice
• 6 - 8 tbsp Ice Water

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, salt and the 2 tbsp sugar until combined, about 5 pulses. 

Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses.

Add 6 tbsp of ice water and pulse 2 times. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers.

Divide into two portions and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While that was chilling we started the blackberry filling. We don't really have a recipe we just kind of go by taste. We used a whole clamshell of blackberries and about 3/4 cup of sugar.

Let it simmer and gently mash up the berries just a little bit. We also added about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and made a slurry of 2 tbsp cornstarch and 1/2 cup of water to help thicken the mixture up. 

Once finished we transferred that filling to a bowl and put it in the refrigerator. I then began rolling out the pie crust and cut it with our mold. 

The next step was to fill the mold and close it up with both egg wash and using the mold to crimp the edges.

Before baking place on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and egg wash the tops. Shawn also sprinkled the tops with sugar. The final product before baking....

And here is the final product after baking....

MMM.... 

Product reviews... 

The pie mold - my only complaint is that the lattice side sometimes doesn't completely cut through the dough. :-( 

Kitchen Aid food processor - Love it. So glad we got the bigger size, it even came with a small bowl to put inside if you only want to do a small quantity.

All Clad measuring cups, spoons, and sauce pan - I love All Clad! Don't have any complaints at all. Very sturdy stainless steel. Definitely worth the high price tag!