Hot Apple Pomegranate Cider

3 C apple juice

1 ½ C pomegranate juice

½ lime squeezed

3 cinnamon sticks

Warm on medium heat on the stove or in a crock pot to let flavors infuse together and serve at desired temperature.

Recipe is 2 to 1 apple juice to pomegranate juice

It must be the time of year for PIE

Last night I got stuck up late watching the food networks Great Pie Bake-off! I have always wanted to bake a pie from scratch and since I am now 25 and have yet to attempt it I decided that a competition with the top 5 pie bakers in the country would be a good place to study. One baker from Oklahoma City kept getting rave reviews for his crusts from all of the judges. Since creating a delicious pie crust has been the most intimidating part of baking a pie, and since I felt a kin-ship since I am an Okie from birth myself, I went searching online and found his perfect crust recipe and would love to share it here.

Ingredients for the crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter flavored shortening, chilled (recommended: Crisco)
1/2 cup ice cold water (plus 1 tablespoon)

Directions for the Pie Crust:
Place flour, salt and shortening in a bowl. Cut in shortening using a pastry blender until pea-sized pieces form. Add water and toss with a fork until mixture holds together. Refrigerate until chilled. Cut in half and roll out bottom crust to fit 9-inch pie pan. Roll top crust and cut spokes with serrated cutting wheel. Fold spokes to center and set aside.

I hope that it is as easy as it looks.

If any of you have a good recipe and it is different from this one, please let me know!

On Studio 5 this morning a Lion House baker was showing how to make great rolls and how to stay ahead of holiday feast prep time with rolls and pies.

Her suggestion is to place the pie (homemade or store bought) in a freezer Ziploc bag and stack in the freezer.

When it is time to eat take out the pie and bake in the oven at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Let cool slightly for better cutting and serving.

Nothing is better than hot, steamy pie . . . add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and call it a day!