A STORY OF PIES

This is a story of pies - Thanksgiving pies. For the love of  Gluten, who doesn't like pie?

I love pies, and I committed to baking two of them for the family Thanksgiving feast.

I am a Queen of Pie Crust, but this time I decided to try out a "new" pie crust recipe that involved two things I had never used on pie crust before:  my food processor (always made pie dough by hand with a pastry cutter); and vodka.

Yes, friends, I said "vodka"!

Apparently, water binds the floury bits and the fatty bits, but it can cause the crust to be tough when that gluten stuff forms. I had always solved this problem by making certain I didn't "work" the dough too much.

According to this new recipe I found, you can also solve this problem by making half the moisture (2 tblsps) vodka. The vodka is 60% water which will help bind the ingredients, but it's also 40% ethanol which burns off during cooking - and of course, it's virtually flavorless and colorless. The ethanol part is the part that keeps all that gluten-ey stuff from toughening up.

Hey, I was game, so I tried it.

I'm here to report that the dough was tasty and tender. I'll let you know tomorrow (after we cut and eat the pie) if it was also flaky and good after cooking.

If they taste as good as they look, I think we're in for a treat. :9

Here's what we have:  1) apple pie filing, then with the top crust on, then the finished product; and 2) cherry pie filling, then with the top crust on, then the finished product. That stuff on top is cinnamon/sugar sprinkled on when they came out of the oven all piping hot. Yum!

Now on this happy note, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Polla Filia,
J.F.

THE QUINTUPLE WHAMMY OF ALCOHOL

Yeah, there are the calories:  worse for mixed drinks than for beer, or whisky, or wine. So, from a straight calorie perspective choosing from one of those three categories with no mixers is the best choice.

Unfortunately, no matter the choice, here is what one drink can do for you for 48 hours:

•    Increases your output of cortisol (this is the infamous "stress" hormone), which, among other things, encourages belly fat and decreases your body's production of testosterone. This is bad for both men and women, because, while the male gender requires more testosterone, both genders require it for libido and lean muscle tissue growth. Bummer on the low sex drive combined with flab.

•    Increases your body's fat storage rate.

•    Decreases your body's overall metabolic rate - the Resting Metabolic Rate, or RMR.

•    Decreases your body's fat burn rate.

•    Increases your appetite - because when you're taking in more calories, burning fewer calories, burning less fat and storing more fat, this is what you want - more food.

Does this mean you shouldn't drink? NO.

I drink, and I enjoy it, thank you very much. I am a huge fan of beer and ale (none of the "lite" crap for me, thank you), great wine and neat scotch. So, no, the above is not here to lecture anyone or tell you not to drink.

I write the above because you and I should know these things if we are in weight loss mode, so we make informed decisions about our alcohol consumption, and we can avoid alcohol when we want to accelerate our ability to carve off the pounds.

It also means that armed with knowledge, we can select a better alternative off the drinks menu, and drink in moderation at times so we can better maintain our fitness goals.

Yes, wine is supposed to have some benefit for our hearts, and beer has some nutritional benefits, too; but, all of this information needs to be taken together to achieve whatever goals we each have for our fitness and nutrition. No one thing is an absolute to be applied without balance.

Knowledge is power, people!!

Polla filia,
J.F.