Picnic Pie

This Christmas I wanted to do something very English to celebrate my heritage.  I used to make sausage pie when the kids were young but haven't made it for a long time because I couldn't find the same sausage in this country.  It was exciting because I could use our own homemade sausage from pastured pork.  I studied different recipes and asked around on Facebook and came up with the following recipe:  You don't have to make it this shape.  I used to make it in a pie shape with only a bottom crust. But a two crust pie in a deep pan would work great too.  Chill it for a take anywhere savory treat.  Or serve hot with a side of veggies.  You could also cut this recipe in half for a smaller version.

Here are some pictures of the process.

I served this picnic pie cold on Christmas Eve.  It was a hit.  At least it was
with me.  Mark liked it too.  The two of us ate that all the next week.  I will
definitely make this again.  I hope you try it and enjoy it.

Here is a recipe for the pastry I make.  Just double it for a two crust pie.

Joanna's Green Bean Casserole

Thanksgiving is a time for food and tradition.  One tradition among many is the 'Green Bean Casserole'.
It hasn't been a tradition so much for me as I was only introduced to it in the last decade.  My first introduction however was at a Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws.  Everyone seemed to love it and one or another always made it or brought it.  I think I made it once.  My memory of the process includes a bag of green beans, onion, cream of mushroom soup and a can of French fried onions.  As I progressed into our 'unprocessed, non-additive', real food lifestyle, 'Green Bean Casserole' kind of fell to the wayside until Joanna came for Thanksgiving this year.  Joanna is our daughter, number four of our grown up children, and she loves to cook real food, from scratch.  Well, she wanted 'Green Bean Casserole'. " I suppose you can make it real." was my reply.  We haven't done this before but now would be an excellent time to try and also to learn a new thing together with my daughter.  I jumped at the opportunity.

I referred to www.100daysofrealfood.com for a real food recipe and this is what I learned.  Green Bean Casserole can be broken down into 3 recipes.  I used lard instead of butter.  Butter usually makes things soft and lard makes things crispy.  So we went with lard. Pastured pork lard.  Old fashioned, no additives.

Joanna loved this so much that when she went home, after Thanksgiving, she made a Thanksgiving dinner of her own complete with Green Bean Casserole.

She's actually cooking sausage for the stuffing, but this is Joanna cooking on my stove.

Cream of Mushroom Soup:  make ahead, like the day before.

French Fried Onions: best to make last minute

Putting it all together.  Green Bean Casserole