In financial news...

I consolidated my debt last month and refinanced my car loan after much debating (and an offer I couldn't refuse). What this meant was a reduced APR on the car loan by one percent, reduced credit card APR rate at 0% for a year (which will save me interest while I pay everything off these next few months), and an easier online website and phone app to navigate. Yay!

On another related note, I was able to meet my goal of reaching $10,000+ in my 401k account!

Next goal...$1500 in savings. This is harder than it sounds!!

Lattice-Topped Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

It was one of my goals this year to make my first pie from scratch A) because I love pie and B) because there is a stigma that comes with making a pie, which is to say that it's easy to mess up. Common pie blunders include a dry or burnt crust, overly wet filling, doughy bottom, etc. I felt ready to take on the challenge. 

To start, I found the perfect recipe on one of my go-to cooking websites, Smitten Kitchen. This recipe was adapted from Bon Appetit, April 1997. I did some adapting myself and found myself in the middle with how long I baked the pie. I used a glass baking dish, so that may account for the difference on why I needed to cook a little longer than the Smitten Kitchen recipe.


Lattice-Topped Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Pie crust ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (about) ice water

Pie filling ingredients:
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Step one: Make crust. Combine flour, sugar and salt in mixer. Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Step two: Make filling. Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in 
large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Step three: Assemble Pie. Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about another 40-60 minutes. [The original recipe suggested a total baking time of 1 hour and 55 minutes] Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. Serves 8 (approx).

Step four: Enjoy! 

{30 BEFORE 30}

I'm a huge listmaker...and I love the idea of accomplishing 30 things before I turn 30. While I typically would do this on my birthday (and fitting for new year's resolutions), I don't want myself to get confused between ongoing yearly goals and fun things to try at least once...but the list is full so I want to go ahead and get started!

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1. Bake a pie from scratch

2. Bake a loaf of bread from scratch (…that actually rises. My banana bread doesn’t count and the babka I made once before wasn't a huge success)

3. Treat myself to a spa day (mani/pedi and a massage)

4. Treat myself to a unique piece of jewelry from Etsy or online

5. Picnic somewhere beautiful

6. Hike somewhere new

7. Go on a retreat by myself

8. Go on a camping trip

9. Get new glasses

10.See a Broadway show (on Broadway)

11.Shoot a gun

12.Consider a nose piercing or tattoo

13.Retain $1500 in savings

14.Pay off debt with the exception of my car loan (that will be in 2013 hopefully)

15.Reach the $10,000 mark in my retirement account

16.Learn how to sew

17.Make a quilt

18.Learn the art of felting

19.Sell a piece of art

20.Invest in a camera

21.Get comfortable using my DSLR camera in manual mode

22.Take pics of downtown Nashville

23.Scrapbook my childhood photos, schoolwork, art projects that I currently just have in a box

24.Open an Etsy shop

25.Travel Abroad

26.Accept a marriage proposal

27.Adopt a dog

28.Try strength training

29.Run a 5k

30.Celebrate the last night of my 20s in style