Chicken Pot Pie Please!

I made chicken pot pie without a recipe the other night! It turned out super delicious and I was very proud of myself. I'll even share my recipe with you so you too can have a fast and yummy dinner some night.

Pie Dough (you can use your own recipe but if you don't have one this is the one I use):
#1 - Cut in 2/3 c. shortening (make sure it's cold and stiff) into 2 c. flour & 1 tsp. salt with a pastry blender or fork until you have pieces of shortening the size of peas or hazelnuts. (leaving bigger pieces will make it flaky).
#2 - Blend in a small bowl 1 egg, 1/4 cup of cold water and 1 tsp. vinegar. Poor into the flour mixture and mix until all the flour is moistened. (Do not over mix or knead your pie dough).
#3 - Place in fridge for 30min to cool and harden you can put it in the freezer to hurry this process and you don't have to have in the full time length. This is just to get the dough stiff so it's not soft and sticks to everything when you try to roll it out. (Make your filling while you wait.)
#4 - Divide your dough in half and roll out onto a floured pastry cloth or counter top.
*To get your dough off the counter without tarring roll it up onto your rolling pin and then unroll into the pie dish.*
#5 - When you go to slash the top crust, slash it while it's still on the table then roll it onto your pin and place it on the pie.

Filling:
1-In a sauce pan put 3 T. of butter and melt.
2-Add 4 T. flour mix with whisk
3-Stir in a 14.5 oz can of chicken broth and let warm on medium to low heat.
4-Season with onion powder, salt, and pepper to taste (or in my case to what ever looks good).
5-Then add 2 cans of chicken and almost half of a 16oz bag of mixed frozen vegetables.
6-Take off the heat and let cool while you roll out your pie dough (If your filling is too hot when you put it in the pie shell the bottom of your shell will be soggy and won't cook.)
7-Once your pie shell is done pour in the filling, it'll be a tight squeeze so go slowly.
8-Place your top crust on and pinch the sides.
9- Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30min depending on how long you can wait for it to be done.

ENJOY!

'C' is for Cookies!

These wonderful little goodies are called fancy icebox cookies and they are super delicious and fun to make! They are similar to sugar cookies. Also you can switch up the colors depending on the time of year and make them white and red, chocolate and orange and any thing else you want. So here is the recipe so you can enjoy!

Fancy Icebox Cookies
Vanilla Dough -
8oz of butter or half butter half shortening
4 oz granulated sugar
0.15 oz salt or a little over 1/2 tsp.
Cream the above ingredients
Add one at a time mixing in completely
2 oz eggs (probably a small egg)
0.15 oz vanilla extract or a little over 1/2 tsp.
Then add in 12 oz of pastry flour (regular flour works just fine).

Chocolate Dough -
8 oz butter or half butter half shortening
4oz granulated sugar
0.15 oz salt or a little over 1/2 tsp.
Cream the above ingredients and while the beater is going pour in
4 oz melted semisweet, dark, or milk chocolate what ever you prefer
Add one at a time mixing completely
2 oz eggs (probably a small egg)
0.15 oz vanilla extract or a little over 1/2 tsp.
Then add in 12 oz of pastry flour or regular flour.

After the doughs are mixed let them sit in the freezer for 20min
Then on a lightly dusted counter top shape the dough into a rectangle with your hands. Then roll out with a rolling pin into a rectangle try to make them both the same size.
To make Pinwheel cookies (A.): Roll your rectangles to about 1/8 of an inch thick. Egg wash the top of one of the rectangles and then place the other rectangle on top. Start to roll the two together and when the diameter of your log gets to 1 inch think cut the dough and set that log aside continue until the rest of the dough is gone. Place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to harden. Once hardened, take a sharp knife and cut evenly sized slices, place on baking sheet and cook at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Watch closely, if sides start to brown they are over done.

To make checkerboard cookies (B,C,D): (Save behind enough for a thin 1/8 of an inch rectangle)Roll your rectangles to about 1/4 of an inch thick. Cut both rectangles down the middle to make 4 squares. Lay the squares on top of each other alternating vanilla dough and chocolate dough making sure to egg wash in between the layers. Place this in the freezer for 10-20 minutes so it will harden. Once hardened cut strips from your "log" of dough. Roll out your saved dough to an 1/8 of an inch rectangle and egg wash it. Place one strip of dough at a time on the short side of the rectangle alternating colors. Place a strip with a vanilla side up then place a strip with a chocolate side up. Do this until you have 4 strips side by side. Roll this "log" up so the thin rectangle you placed it on encompasses the strips. Cut it free once all sides are covered, and place in freezer for 20minutes. Continue this same pattern until all the dough is gone. Once the "logs" are hardened cut into evenly sized slices, place on a baking sheet and cook at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Watch closely, if sides start to brown they are over done.