Tag Archives: bake

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

This pie crust is easy to make and gives a personal touch when serving your favourite homemade desserts.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 1/2 cups – 360 mL Graham Crackers, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons – 30 mL White Sugar
  • 1 tablespoons – 15 mL Brown Sugar
  • 7 tablespoons – 100 g Butter, softened

MIXING & BAKING

  1. Heat oven to 375° F/190° C/Gas Mark 5.
  2. Crush 9 to 10 graham crackers, enough to produce 1 1/2 cups of crumbs.
  3. Add both sugars and butter to cracker crumbs then mix thoroughly using a fork.  When done, it should look similar to loose brown sugar.
  4. Pour crumb mixture into a 9” pie dish.  Spread and then press evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the dish using your fingers or the back of a fork.
  5. Bake for 7-10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool completely before filling.

TIPS & THOUGHTS

Making this crust takes 9-10 graham crackers – I find that 9 are usually spot on.  Also, as usual ‘fresh is best’, and a fresh box of graham crackers will help produce the tastiest results.

Crushing graham crackers is easy.  Place 4 or 5 in a large sealable bag, lay this on a hard surface, and work them over with a rolling pin.  The crumbs should look like coarse sand.  Open the bag and pour the contents into a measuring cup – repeat until you have enough.

I prefer to use softened butter.  Melted butter does not seem to make a difference, however the effect is easier to see during the mixing process.

Bake the crust for the shorter amount of time when the filling needs to be baked.  Use the longer time when making a dessert that does not need to be baked, as with a pudding pie.

You can also make this crust using ginger snaps and other cookies.  When using harder, commercial-made cookies, I use a blender to produce the crumbs.

PAIRINGS

Any pie filling you like!

Want more?  There’s more coming SOON!

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies
Wanna guess who’s my hand model?

Many folks know about my debut recipe book Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies”.  If you want some free samples from this book, grab a copy of Let’s Bake Cookie Squares and Biscotti! — available through most major e-book retailers!

Cookies … In … SSPPAAACCEE!!!

Pigs in Space
(Twitter @TheMuppets)

Do you remember The Muppets?  Do you remember “Pigs In Space!“?  If you do then you understand where the title of this post comes from.

Do you remember when NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren played Amazing Grace on a set of McCallum bagpipes from the International Space Station in 2015?  It was the first time Highland bagpipes were Played In SSSSPPPAAAACCCCEEEE!!!!  (Sorry, had to do that again… here’s a great article about it though!)
(Twitter @astro_kjell, @nasa, and @mccallumbagpipe)

Are you aware that the first cookies have been baked in space and were brought back on Earth?

© Christina Koch Twitter
Image © Christina Koch / Twitter @Astro_Christina

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (@Space_Station) baked dough brought from Earth just in time for Christmas 2019.  Five cookies were prepared over the course of 2 hours using an experimental Zero G oven — the first oven designed to work in the microgravity environment.  The astronauts’ mission was to figure out exactly how long it takes to properly bake a cookie in space.  The first four cookies baked at 300F (149C).  The first cookie was in for  25 minutes and came out underbaked.  The fifth cookie was baked at 325 F (165 C).
(Here’s an article about Space Cookies!)

Houston, we have a bake-off!

SpaceX Dragon
The SpaceX Dragon, on twitter @spacexdragon

Yes, we finally know what happens when you bake cookies in space!  The cookie dough and oven launched to the station in November on a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft and returned Jan. 7 on the SpaceX Dragon — possibly making these the most well traveled cookie dough, oven, and cookies in the history of mankind!
(@NGCNews)

SPACE …
The Cookie & Bagpipe Frontier!

BiscottiDon
Me as BiscottiDon @WIBakingCo

If you are not hearing the music to Star Trek, go back and read that again… (@StarTrek)

I would like to respectfully point out to both NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) and Elon Musk (@elonmusk) of SpaceX that they wasted money — and when it comes to space travel, that equals A LOT OF MONEY!  Trust me on this, I’m a small business owner, I cannot afford to waste money.

BagpiperDon
Me as BagpiperDon @BagpiperDon

As we all know I am both a skilled baker and published author on the subject and established Highland bagpiper who has published albums playing my instrument.

Okay — we can all see where this is going — TWO BIRDS, ONE STONE!!!

I’m not one to hold grudges*, therefore I wish to make the offer to both NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Elon Musk of SpaceX that they may compete — as they already are — to be the first entity to send a Highland bagpiping baker into space.  As an added skill I can even eat cookies in space.  My contact information is below.  I am willing to bring some of my own baking equipment and I already play a set of McCallum bagpipes (sponsorship?).  Let’s make “The First Biscotti In Space”!
(*Okay, that’s not 100% accurate, but this is how I’m spinning it.)

Respectfully ~ Don

BakerDon Contact & Press Kit (@WIBakingCo)

BagpiperDon Contact & Musician Resume (@BagpiperDon)
(Please note that I have performed in front of a US President — I am an ideal candidate!)

PS — I need employment.

TIME TO TAKE CARE OF SOMETHING

Something that came to my attention earlier today… FREE

Make Your Own Darn Good CookiesBefore the Fall 2018 launch of my book I redundantly and obnoxiously told everyone about a link on my website — a link where you could get FOUR FREE RECIPES that were going to be and are in my book. I found out today that not everyone caught that.

Yes — if you go to WhidbeyIslandBaking.com and look under “Products” for “Free Stuff” you can download these FOUR FREE RECIPES — better yet, OR JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

FOR FREE (or FOUR FREE)

You can download my recipes for…

Please try these recipes. Please enjoy these recipes. Please share these recipes. If you have questions about these recipes please ask me. If you don’t have questions then I did my job right in writing these recipes. If you like these, then please buy my book on Amazon. If the book is bigger than your budget, it’s also available as a save-a-tree e-book for about a quarter of the price.

ENJOY!
~ Don

PS — Thank you Rachel for bring this to my attention 🙂

New Year – New Endeavours!

HAPPY 2019!

New Years can be a bit funny — because what is it really?  Another 365 days and 6 hours* past and another to go … a December 31st and January 1st is just the difference of a day … and yet it is also something many of us use as an opportunity.  We look to the past to make changes or try something new with the future — and sometimes it’s not so much about the past as it is about trying something new to enjoy.  So what does 2019 hold for you?  I know a few of the things I’m looking toward…
(* Yes, 6 hours — this is how we get leap year AKA the bissextus or a or bissextile year)

It’s harder to show a picture of the e-book version…

This past October I published my first book — “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” — then in mid-December I followed with publishing the e-book version.  I’ve had the pleasure of getting to present my book a few times during late 2018, and with the New Year I aim to get more speaking dates.  I thoroughly  ENJOY getting to talk with other people about baking — getting new-bakers turned on to the idea and talking with old-hats at baking to find out about their ideas!

On the heals of releasing Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies I was compelled to get to work on 2 new books — yes, “compelled“!  These were not the next projects I thought I would do, but they were the two that chewed on my mind the most — I was just drawn to them…

But what are they?

I both can and can’t tell you you that…

Yours truly in my other superhero persona… (you can also find me on FB as BagpiperDon BTW)

YES, 2 books, not just 1 …. because that’s how I do things.

One of these books is an ‘official’ Highland bagpipe sheet music book for the local-chapter of a Scottish military origination I’m a part of.  The aim of this is not just to create something for my group but ultimately to offer this to the national organization to become all of our ‘official’ bagpipe sheet music book ….. SO, potentially producing and publishing a book for a national (actually international) organization … it’s kind of a big deal!

As for the other book…
(I’m really excited about this project!)

As a performing musician and recording artist I have learned to play certain things close to the vest.  I have something in excess of 30 album ideas which I would LOVE to record — and have every intention to produce ….. HOWEVER … I generally don’t reveal those ideas to many if any people beforehand.  Why?  Simply because I want to make my albums — as opposed to someone hearing my idea, swiping it, and beating me to the punch.  This other book is along these lines, but I will tell you this…

  • So far as I know there is only one other recipe book at all similar to it currently on the market &/or ever before made; it involves cookies which I am developing new recipes specifically for this project.
  • I may be partnering with another writer for the content of this book.
  • To fully and correctly publish this book I will have to learn and do things that I previously have only been familiar with however have not otherwise done.
  • This will probably be a coffee table book.  I would like this book to have its own t-shirt.  I may not make an e-book version however I definitely would like to make an audiobook version.  AND it is my preference to release all of these at the same time.

AND two other things I’m working on…

Well …. not quite like this.

As an extension of being a professional musician I like to record things — and I do mean ‘things’ being not-music however are sounds I find interesting.  I do this under the project name of Archive Of Resonance.  I have been a busy boy over the last number of years — both getting things done and sometimes having to put a few things on the shelf.  One such thing …. or moreover four such things … are AOR recordings.  While there are recordings I have wanted to make*, I have captured four sets of audio which I have wanted to turn into albums …. just that finishing this work has not been a priority.  By my guesstimate, each of these need about 20 hours of work.  My aim is to work on these over the course of 2019, publish them, and make them available on Amazon.
(*mostly couldn’t because I lacked transportation — but that’s changed now!)

AND LASTLY 

With pivoting WIBC from production baking to writing and publishing books and other products, I knew that I would need to get an Author’s/Musician’s Day Job.  I got an initial start on my job search in the fall of 2018 and will be getting back at in during January 2019.  This previous start was a decent beginning — I have some leads that look interesting and a decent idea of what my skills apply to.  So the future looks …… interesting!

Going Forward!
~ Don

My Book PUBLISHED & Shirts Available!

WHOO — WHAT A WEEKEND!!!

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies by Donald P. ScobyNearly 3 years of work and a number of speed-bumps along the way, and my debut recipe book is finally PUBLISHED.  I finished the submission to Amazon on Friday and Saturday morning it had GONE LIVE!!!  I was part way through breakfast when I found out the news — then the web and my phone EXPLODED with activity.  Congrats on getting published, questions about my book, someone bought a copy, someone else wants 3 signed copies as Xmas gifts, keeping up with the comments, posting on Facebook and Twitter …. and about 4 or 6 hours later things calmed down and I turned to find the rest of my cold, uneaten breakfast sitting next to me.  Really, coffee shouldn’t be treated that way.

Later that day my new WIBC Logo/URL t-shirt when live on Etsy via Stitch 6 To 6.   Within the next hour the first shirts were ordered! book

Things stayed busy, and come Saturday evening I got some time to make my new Author Profile on Amazon and update my website. book

It took me a while, but I finally figured out where and how to order copies of my book.  I’m getting about 60 on this first go-around.  I have around 20 people to give copies to who contributed to the project and were amazingly supportive along the way — I am grateful to get reminders of how incredible people can be*.  There are also two people seeking around 5 copies each (WOW!) for Christmas gifts — 10 copies already sold!
* One among them is this guy — Tom Trimbath!  He also has an impressive collection of books he’s written available here.

Yeah, things started moving pretty quick — and finally, now … late Sunday evening, I’m getting to make a blog post about the highlights of what’s gone on.  It’s been an amazing ride so far — testing my stick-to-it and gumption, giving me challenges to use my resourcefulness to resolve, and numerous new things and lessons learned — I love this stuff!  And now…? book

Now I go from being a writer to being a published author. book
Now I get to work on converting the manuscript for my book into an e-book — and likely an audio-book too, narrated by yours-truly!
Now I remember that I need to get new business cards made.
Now the pivot of WIBC from being a company that makes food to being a company about good food and people connecting with people is complete. book

And now … now I go to bed and get some sleep!

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