Christmas Rolls

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1 bag of 24 frozen dinner rolls

1 3 ¾ ounce package butterscotch pudding mix (not instant)

½ cup butter

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chopped pecans

Arrange rolls in a greased, tube pan.  Sprinkle dry pudding mix over rolls.  Cook butter and remaining ingredients over low heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture bubbles; pour over rolls.  Cover tightly with foil and let stand on counter top overnight.  Next morning bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Then invert carefully onto serving dish.

June Dewey's Pie Crust RECIPE

June Dewey’s Pie Crust Recipe (Makes 2 bottom and 2 top crusts)

Ingredients:

·         3 cups flour

·         1 ½ cups shortening

·         ½ cup flour

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         ½ cup plus to 2 tablespoons ice water

Preparation:

Mix 3 cups flour and shortening and cut in shortening until there are pieces about the size of peas. Mix the ½ cup flour, salt and water to make a paste.  Pour over the flour/shortening mix and blend in lightly, adding just enough more water, if necessary, to hold dough together. Let dough stand for a few minutes.

Roll dough into a circle between two pieces of wax paper about an inch larger than the 9-inch pie plate.  Fit into the pie plate without stretching. Trim off excess edge, leaving about 1/2-inch of overhang. With fingers, build up edge and flute around entire edge. To flute, press left forefinger against inside of pastry rim and pinching the outside with tips of right thumb and forefinger.   Brush pastry with beaten egg white to prevent the filling from soaking into crust. Chill thoroughly while preparing filling. 

For just the crust -- bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 5 minutes and then increase the heat to 450 until brown (about 5 more minutes).  Use pie weights or tin foil to keep the crust in place.

Follow directions on recipes to cook crust with filling.

Perfect Pie Hints and Tips:  

·         Cold ingredients and limited handling are the key to preparing a wonderful pie crust.  The colder the better. All ingredients (even the flour) should be ice cold before mixing. It is especially important for the fat you are using (butter, lard, and/or vegetable shortening) to be very cold.

·         The pockets of fat make the flakiness in the crust. Use a pastry blender to cut in fat. Dough should still have some pea-size pieces. Handle as little as possible with your hands

·         Roll out the dough on wax paper or parchment paper, it makes cleanup easier. To keep wax paper from slipping, sprinkle a few drops of water on the counter top before arranging the paper.

·         Chill the dough for 30 minutes for easier rolling.

·         Use a glass pie plate or a dull metal pie plate for making pies. The shiny metal pans keep the crust from browning properly.

·         Brush the unbaked bottom crust of a pie with a well-beaten egg white before filling. This keeps the berries and other fruits from making the pie bottoms mushy.

·         Always make deep slits in the top crust of fruit pie. If you do not do this, the filling will be soft and soggy.

·         To prevent over browning of the crust, cover it with a strip of aluminum foil or a pie shield.

·         The pie's juices must be bubbling thickly all over to ensure that all of the corn starch or other thickening agent has absorbed the liquid and thickened the filling.

·         Allow the pie to cool on a rack to room temperature, or until barely warm, before slicing to ensure that the filling is set and will not run. This will take between 2 to 4 hours, depending on the thickness of the pie.