Cherry Pie

We keep Valentine's Day pretty low key at our house. We actually focused on it a little more this year than usual. I planted a little sweet treat on everyone's pillow, which thrilled Aubrey. 

We had a good breakfast then Tyler, Aubrey and I headed out to City Arts for a Heart-y Party. Ha! They did a little crafting.

We were downtown, so we stopped at the Nifty Nuthouse to let the kids pick out a few treats. 

Then, because the weather was so beautiful (I think it was 60 degrees), we went to Buffalo Park and played for awhile.

Tyler and I headed to the YMCA for awhile in the afternoon. He did his orientation to the youth weight equipment and surprised me by wanting to stay on the equipment for nearly an hour. We followed it up with a few laps around the track. I hope this means that we'll be able to go together which I think will be fun. And I could use a little motivation to get there more often. :)

After some Saturday cleaning, it was time to make dinner. We grilled steak and also had asparagus and these cheesy potato fries. It was a heady, happy meal. The only "recipe" was for the potatoes which we will definitely make again! I used 5 red potatoes, and only used about half of the ranch sauce and 1/2 c of cheddar. Cheesy and delicious! 

For dessert, I made a cherry pie. My friend, Michelle, makes a killer cherry pie and I've made her recipe once before, but I wasn't sure where the recipe was. So I decided to try another recipe that I found this week. The crust was great, but the filling was not what I was after...it tasted good, but was much too runny. So, this morning I scrounged up the recipe that I should have made again last night. (It was on a post-it note stuck inside a folder of recipes). I'm posting this here because this will be my go-to from now on...and I don't want to lose this recipe. It's simple and so good!

Cherry Pie

-Crust adapted from Artfulparent.com  -Pie recipe from Michelle Pankratz

Crust (for a 2-crust pie):2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 T sugar
12 T butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/2 c coconut oil
1/2 c ice water, approximately

1. In food processor, mix flour, salt and sugar. Add butter and shortening and pulse to combine. Add water slowly and pulse until it comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill. 

When ready to use, divide in half. Roll out dough between wax paper. Press into a 9-inch pie plate leaving about 1/2 inch hanging over the edge of the plate. (While preparing the filling I returned the dough to the refrigerator to chill).

Filling 
4 c tart cherries
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c all-purpose flour

2. Mix filling and pour into pie plate (over the unbaked crust).

3. Take the other half of the dough and roll out. If you want to make a lattice crust, cut into strips and do not look at the photo above for the correct method...which was merely a random laying down of crust pieces and putting some over and some under as it was easiest to do. :P Pinch the top and bottom crust together.

4. Brush top crust with cream (or beaten egg white) and sprinkle with sugar

5. Bake at 350 for one hour.  Let cool for several hours before eating.