Here I am!

I'm back from my long week off! I had a great time in the U.P. with the fam! I went pontooning, saw some fireworks, ate some GREAT food and collected some iron ore pellets. I was trying to figure out what to bring back as souvenirs for my work peeps and I came up with two different things. I decided to go with the Pastie magnets and recipe postcards. And no, this is not something that strippers use to cover there tatas. That's a much different and somewhat inappropriate souvenir!

So, what's a pasty you're wondering...well it's only the best food in the world! (Well, second to Congress pizza in Ishpeming, MI...and white cheese dip...and my mom's red velvet cake.) Here's a recipe if you want to try to make it yourself, but I must warn you, the crust is very very difficult to make!

U.P. Pasty       (makes 3 smallish pasties)

1.   To make crust, mix together:

–   1 ¼ C flour

–   ½ C Crisco

Add 5 Tbsp COLD water.  This should be pliable to work with; if it seems too crumbly add a little more water until it is easy to work with. But the water must be very cold!

2.   To make filling, mix together (all vegetables should be peeled and shredded with food processor or hand-crank-grinder-thing like my gramma still does): 

–   ½ lb hamburger

–   2 medium potatoes

–   1 carrot

–   ¼ of a small rutabaga (optional, or extra potato)

–   ½ small onion

–   Lots of salt and pepper (potato will suck up the salt so don't skimp on on the salt)

3.   Roll out the crust like for a pie crust and put filling on one side and top with ~1 Tbsp of butter in center. Fold over and seal the edges. Put on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake 400° for 1 hour or until lightly brown.

4.   You've worked hard, and probably cried a little when making the crust so ENJOY!

Tips for the crust: My gramma said that when she rolls out the dough she uses lots of flour on the surface she’s rolling on and the rolling pin. The crust should be completely sealed with no holes. If your crust gets a little split take a small piece of the crust and dip it into water and place over the split and press it down on the sides to seal it. 

Also, if you make more you can freeze them after baking in tin foil.  To bake frozen ones, open foil and bake at 400° for about 45 mins to an hour.  They taste just like fresh made.

This is making me hungry!

FLASHBACK! I thought this was appropriate for the cooking theme!