I don’t use the aunts’ original recipe for orange rolls — I’ve found one that’s lighter, fluffier and more to my liking.

Warm a quart of whole milk, a cup of sugar and a cup of vegetable oil over medium heat. Heat to steaming, then remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Sprinkle two packets of fast acting yeast over the milk. Add 8 cups of all-purpose flour and mix to combine. Cover with a clean dishtowel and let rise for an hour.

Come back and add a tsp. of baking powder, a tsp. of baking soda, a tablespoon of salt and a cup of flour. Mix well.

Roll half the dough at a time into a big rectangle. Pour a cup of melted butter over the dough and spread with 8 tbsps. of orange marmalade, a half cup of brown sugar, a couple of tbsps of orange rind and a half cup of white sugar.

Roll up and slice — put about six slices in a buttered cake pan (should fill about six pans total). Set aside to rise for about 20 minutes.

Heat oven to 375. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

While baking, mix 2 lbs. powdered sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 cup whole milk and 1/2 cup orange juice. Pour icing over hot rolls when they come out of the oven.

Enjoy!

For more information, contact:
Marijean Jaggers
(434) 336-7078

Marijean.Jaggers@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

C’ville Pie Fest

A celebration for a community that likes its pie.

WHAT: The 2011 C’ville Pie Fest is free, public event of pie auctions, pie judging and a pie baking competition.  Pies must be registered by Wednesday, October 19 to be entered into competition. Bakers of all ages are encouraged to enter the judged pie competition.

New to the 2011 Pie Fest is a live competition. The top pie makers will compete live at the Pie Fest to determine who can make the best pie. Also new to Pie Fest is the addition of a “pro” category. Restaurants and bakeries are encouraged to enter as a business, rather than as an individual baker, providing the business with the opportunity to market itself through the event.

The pie competition will be led by head judge and one of the founders of Pie Fest, Brian Geiger, The Food Geek.

Proceeds from the sale of donated commercial pies via auction will support People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry (PACEM) an interfaith collaboration of congregations and community partners providing winter shelter for the homeless of Charlottesville.

WHEN: Saturday, October 22, 2011 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Competitors must register pies on http://cvillepiefest.com/ no later than Wednesday, October 19, 2011.

Registered pies must be dropped off at The Haven between 10 a.m. and 11a.m. Saturday, October 22, 2011

WHERE: The Haven at First and Market, 112 West Market Street, Charlottesville, Va. 22902

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About The Haven

The Haven at First & Market is housed in a beautifully renovated church on the corner of First Street and Market Street, across from Lee Park, one block from the downtown site of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library and around the corner from the Downtown Mall. This building is a gift to the community by Tom Shadyac, who purchased and renovated the building to create a safe place for the homeless to get services.

About PACEM
PACEM is a community homeless shelter – a grassroots organization using available spaces and volunteers to provide shelter and compassionate support for the homeless in our city. Through PACEM, Charlottesville area congregations of many faiths welcome homeless “guests” for 1-2 weeks at a time – offering a safe, warm and welcoming place to sleep for neighbors who would otherwise be out on the streets. All donations to PACEM are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

I really think I have some sort of pie baking dependency.

I can’t seem to stop myself.

I can always think of someone to bake a pie for, or somewhere to take a pie. There’s really no shortage of people willing to accept a pie. Pie is also a sort of currency. I bribe thank friends with it. I use it to celebrate.

Also, I use pie as therapy. It’s relaxing for me to create pastry; to roll out a crust. It’s therapeutic to find a new recipe challenge, tweak and perfect it.

It’s a stress reliever to have completed pies cooling in my kitchen, and something to write about here, on the pie blog.

Key limes were fresh off the boat, truck or airplane (not sure how they arrive) and so I bought lots this morning and kind of went nuts baking pies this afternoon. Five, I made, a few promised to people before they even went into the oven. I also made this set with graham cracker crusts; not my favorite to eat or make, but the popular vote had some sway.

A LOT of people have told me that Key Lime Pie is their favorite. For the recipe, head on over here. Look closely at the finished pie above; the finely shredded, microplaned lime zest is what makes this pie truly Key Lime. Accept no substitute.

My friend Lauri and the goofball she’s married to had a baby on Saturday. Lauri had been wishing for a Key Lime Pie and since their little angel needs to stay in the hospital for a bit, I whipped one up to deliver to the NICU.

One thing I love about making Key Lime Pie is the teeny tiny limes. I have learned that with most cooking and baking projects, the best results come when you have the right tools. I bought a lime juicer several years ago. It works pretty well for regular limes, but when it comes to Key Limes, it’s the perfect tool to squeeze the living daylights out of those little guys.

I think the pie turned out better than most of the Key Lime Pies I’ve made. Traipsing through the hospital with a pie in hand is a fun adventure. I was probably stopped a dozen times on my way up to see the baby (and oh, her parents, too). Everyone wanted to know what kind; Key Lime seems to be a favorite of many.

I adore babies and am lucky enough to have friends with a sweet newborn.

Of course, I rarely need an excuse like a brand new baby just to bake a pie.

Key Lime Pie

Key Limes (24 or so, squeezed for 1/2 cup of Key Lime juice)
One can of sweetened condensed milk
Zest of one lime
Four egg yolks

Prepare pastry for a single-crust pie. Juice limes (I like using a lime juicer) and make sure there are no seeds in the juice. Mix juice and condensed milk in a mixer till blended. Add the egg yolks and zest, and mix at medium speed. Pour filling into pie crust. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Cool completely and refrigerate for three hours before serving.

Apply the Dewey Decimal system to the family’s collection of books.

What are YOUR kids doing this summer?

My mom, who really isn’t a pie baker, baked my future dad a cherry pie and shipped it to Germany. As I remember this story, the pie wasn’t terribly recognizable when it arrived, but that didn’t stop my dad and his Army buddies from devouring it.

Some time after that, my father bought a diamond ring and mailed it to my mother, telling her she could take it as an engagement ring or a birthday gift. They were married in 1957.

True Love Double Cherry Pie

Pastry for a double crust pie

4 cups fresh cherries, washed, de-stemmed, pitted and sliced in half

1 cup tart dried cherries

1 cup sugar

4 tablespoons quick-acting tapioca

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons butter

Make the pastry for the crust and refrigerate. Wash, de-stem, pit and slice the cherries; set aside. (This is a messy, tedious job that leaves your workspace looking like a slasher flick. Recruit someone to enjoy the mess with you.) Mix the sugar and tapioca together and add the pinch of salt. Add the almond and vanilla extract to the cherries and mix gently with a spatula. Add the sugar mixture in, folding the cherries to incorporate. Set the cherry mixture aside for at least 15 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Roll out your bottom crust and place in a deep, 9″ pie plate, leaving plenty of overhang for crimping. Pour in the cherries. Chop the two tablespoons of butter into small chunks and scatter over the top. Now, roll out your top crust and upend over the filling. Crimp the edges together, removing any excess. Cut several vents in the top of the pie, brush with milk and sprinkle generously with sugar.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, rotate 180 degrees, then bake for another 30-35 minutes, until the filling bubbles. If the crust begins to get too brown, pop a piece of foil over the top for the last ten minutes or so of baking.

Eighth grade girls are some of the most difficult, meanest, most emotional people on the planet. Throughout the year she dealt with bullying, shunning, gossip and lost friendships. She fought back and faced some punishments; lessons that are hard to learn, but valuable nonetheless.

Throughout it all this girl kept her spirits up. She made the best of her situation and didn’t succomb to the pressure, or lose her temper over it, often. Her grades were spectacular throughout and she stayed engaged with basketball, volleyball, chorus and drama.

I don’t know that I would have handled myself as well at her age. She’s an amazing kid; I admire her confidence, her spirit and her persistence.

At the eighth grade graduation, a fellow mother who knew about all the drama among the girls in this year’s class referenced the fact that it had been a tough year, in particular, for my daughter. Even though I swore I wouldn’t cry, my eyes welled up at that, thinking about the months of lunches my daughter ate at a table alone, rather than interact with people who would get her into trouble. Mostly, I’m glad it’s over and we can all move on to the next stage.

The cherry pitter I bought a few months ago worked like a charm. I’m still on the road to recovery, so this pie is being completed in stages. I pitted cherries — I rested. I mixed up a batch of pie pastry; I rested. I made the pie filling, and now I’m sitting here doing this.

This is a double cherry pie so those are fresh cherries, mixed with dried. If you’re not a baker you may not know the secret ingredient that gives fresh cherry pie it’s spectacular flavor: almond extract.

The filling is in the refrigerator, as is the pastry. It’s too dang hot out to bake and heat up the kitchen so again, it’s a pie in stages; I may not bake until tomorrow morning. I’ll post the finished product and the recipe then.

It irks me when someone this visible, this beloved and admired for so much talent spews hate. I’m delighted at the public reaction to Morgan’s remarks, but realize that even 20 years ago an incident like this would not have made news.

Growing up in the seventies, I heard gay slurs often; the negative phrase, “that’s so gay” was common enough for daily life and use in front of one’s parents. Gay relatives weren’t discussed; they were “confirmed bachelors” — a phrase that honestly, still makes me chuckle. The lack of acceptance, in my white, middle class, suburban upbringing was nonviolent, but also an impenetrable wall.

Lack of acceptance bubbles into hate, and hate begets violence. It’s incredible to me that in this era we have had to push forward into law legislation like the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and simultaneously, struggle to allow two people who love one another to marry and commit to one another for life; that we have to chip away at that state by state. If you were to explain these concepts to a five-year-old child, she could tell you that none of this makes sense.

It troubles me that there are so many so uncomfortable with homosexuality; that there really are people who believe being gay is a choice, or a “sin.” I often forget that is the case; I live in a fairly liberal community and have surrounded myself with people who share the same values. So it shocks me to learn or remember that parents still reject children, that adults are still afraid of coming out to friends and family, that people live in fear of being harmed for being attracted to someone of the same sex.

In the U.S., we have a history of judging people on the color of their skin. Judging on sexuality is just as inane.

This post is going to piss some people off, but I honestly don’t care. It pisses me off that anyone would think it’s OK to insult a person because of their sexual identity. Tracy Morgan, you’ve lost a fan.