Thanksgiving Greetings and More Hand Pies...

I took an unintentional 3 day blogging hiatus.

I'm sure that all of you have been as busy as me, getting ready for Thanksgiving, and have not been stressing about where I've been!

I've been grocery shopping, baking, and cleaning.

I've even been Christmas shopping, and am almost done!

My second born daughter and two oldest grandkids will be here tomorrow in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

My son-in-law will join them here closer to Christmas.

They will be staying with us through the Homabenase well project in Ghana, West Africa, (which has had to be bumped back to February), so I wanted to get things rearranged around the house to make it more comfortable for them and get as much done ahead of time for the holidays so I can enjoy those grandkids of mine.

That's why my blog fell by the wayside for a bit.

I thought I'd share a couple of new variations of my "hand pies" recipe that I made for a church baby shower last weekend.

It's probably too late for you to make them for Thanksgiving, but I do hope you give them a try in the future.

This crust is so yummy and flaky that it is now my go-to pie crust recipe.

It's the crust I used for the Thanksgiving pumpkin pies I just made, (recipe makes two 9 inch crusts or about ten 5 inch hand pies).

For the crust:

In a food processor pulse together:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Add 2 sticks, (1 cup) cold butter cut into small pieces

1/2 cup cold plain greek yogurt, (which is what I used), or sour cream

2-3 Tablespoons of icy cold water

and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Pulse in food processor just until dough is combined

Form dough into a ball on a sheet of wax paper and chill in refrigerator while you make the filling.

When filling is ready, roll out dough and cut into 5 inch circles.

For the baby shower I made apple hand pies and strawberry cream cheese hand pies.

For the apple filling I peeled and sliced 6 granny smith apples

Add 2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 

4 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add about 1/4 cup of the filling onto the pastry circle.

Fold dough over and seal edges with a fork.

Prick top of hand pie with the fork two or three times.

Brush hand pie with egg wash, (one egg beaten with a little water), 

and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes until golden brown.

 For the strawberry cream cheese hand pie filling I sweetened 8 oz of softened cream cheese with 1/3 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla blending it with a mixer.

Place about a tablespoon on pastry.

For the strawberry filling I cooked 3 cups frozen strawberries with 1/3 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons cornstarch until thickened.

Add a tablespoon or so on top of cream cheese.

Fold dough over and seal edges with a fork.

Prick top of hand pie with the fork two or three times.

Brush hand pie with egg wash, (one egg beaten with a little water),

 and sprinkle with plain sugar.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes until golden brown.

When the hand pies are done I drizzle them with a simple glaze made from powdered sugar thinned with milk and flavored with a touch of vanilla.

The apple hand pies were delicious,

 but the strawberry cream cheese hand pies were my favorite.

They tasted like a flaky, delicious danish.

They were good to the last bite.

I have so much to give thanks for this Thanksgiving,

and you are one of the blessings in my life!

God bless each of you.

I pray that your Thanksgiving is filled with faith, family, friends, and wonderful food!

(Will you join me in taking a minute to pray for fellow blogger, Tiffini at House of Belonging, who is facing a big challenge this Thanksgiving.)

Still following,

 
Also linking to Jennifer Rizzo's Fabulously Creative Friday