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It's Friday again. Enjoy your weekend!

All the lovely color--fall in Michigan---FALL IN THE UP!

Good morning :) Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
Fran and Alex: So how many pasties do you have left over from last weekend? Tee hee. Are you sharing your recipe? I pulled an all nighter working on a case, and I kept viewing the pics of your pasties. Ok, so it started the hunger pains ...but it gave me incentive to finish this case...cuz if I win, hubby is taking me home to da UP for Thanksgiving. :)

Saw Ken & Mimi's post about the large flock of sandhill cranes going over. That would be so cool to see! I saw a flock of herons flying over last night when we were coming home from dinner by Clarkston.

Saw a rerun on Great Getaways last night with Dan Urbanski in the Porkies. My feelings were bittersweet, and I'm so glad I caught most of the show!

Good afternoon to all persons.. .

Pictures from Finland.:

http://www.rupuranta.net/

Scroll and click with the mouse in text so pictures to open!

FRAN & CINDY- those sure were some nice looking pasties. Wish I had a good recipe for crust.
Would you care to share your secret with the Pasty Cam audience???

Hi sur5er,I only had a half of a pastie left and it is in the freezer. We had made 9 and we had them for supper on Sunday and then for lunch on Mon just before they left to go home. I don't actually have a recipe! I just make them from memory of how my Mom made them. I used 6 pkgs. Pillsbury(unroll type),a 5lb bag of potatoes, about 3or 4 good size carrots, small amt of rutabaga(about I/2c or so),good size onion, garlic and approximately 1 1/2 #lean ground beef,salt and pepper to taste. All of the vegetables have to be cut in small thin slices.Cut and slice the veggies(except the garlic and onion) into a large container with water in it.Afer they are all cut I drain them WELL and then add the chopped onion and the minced garlic. Add the ground beef,salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands. The meat shouldn't be in large clumps. I took the easy way and used Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts.The kind you unroll. I use a pyrex pie plate to form the pasties in. Simply lay the crust in the pie plate and use a measuring cup to scoop out the filling- about 2 cups.It should fill 1/2 of the crust.There should be a pretty good mound.Then flap the other half of the crust over the filling. Kind of tamp the crust around the filling on the edge by the rim with your fingers. Next trim the excess crust off, even with the edge of the dish. Now you sort of roll the edge up and pinch the edges with your 2 index fingers to seal the edge and so it will look nice.Then turn plate over so the pasty come out upside down on your hand.Place right side up on a large cookie sheet. Repeat with each crust. As you finish each sheet cut a few slits(abt.1")on the top of each one.Spoon a little margerine or butter into each slit.Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for about 15-20 min and then turn oven to 350 and bake for approx 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours. Check them periodically to see if the veggies are tender when you poke in the center slit. They should look nice and brown. You can start one sheet on the bottom shelf for awhile(15 min or so) and then move it up to the middle shelf and put your second pan on bottom and cook till done.After first pan is done remove from oven and move bottom pan up. Any questions e-mail me.Good luck.My advice is don't leave out anything as they will not taste the same. You cannot taste the rutabaga but you need some to blend with the other flavors. Enjoy, Fran
P.S.As I put the first pan in, work on the second pan.

fran in georgia. Just wanted to thank you for sharing your pasty recipe with all of us.I am going to make a big batch this weekend to freeze for hunting season for the guys.

Pasty Crust by Grandma-Flour, lard, pinch of salt, cold water. Mix by hand. Roll with rolling pin. It's like this, a cup of this a pinch of that and a little water. Form a ball of dough and roll. I've been doing it this way for years. Sorry I don't know the exact measurements, I go by feel. Makes for some great crust!!! Typical finnlander recipe. lol

Fran,
Thank you for your recipe! You are just so awesome to share it with all of us. I think the idea of using Pillsbury biscuit dough is great...cuz I could never quite get pasty dough, right.
First cool weekend we have, I will make a roast in the crock pot on a Saturday...and then use the broth on Sunday to make gravy for pasties. :)

joanne,I am glad to help. It looks long but they aren't difficult to make. E-mail me and let me know how they turn out!

Cindylee,
Yep, my old recipe for pasties, includes the lard...but I could never get it quite right. I either got the dough too thick...or had problems with it cracking. Hmmmm....

Sur5er....Tazewell appears to be about an hour west of Jonesborough and a hair south. We stay in Kingsport which is really the NE tip...get lost in town and end up in Virginia! Jonesborough is about a 20 minute backroad drive from Kingsport.

Susan,
Too funny about you ending up in Virginia. I know there is a look out point in TN, where you can see three states. My one of my friends is from Tazewell...and when her parents moved back there, several years ago, I would go with my friend to visit. Matter of fact, my friend had wanted me to go to Tazewell over Labor Day weekend, but I had gone back home to Michigan, that weekend.
My daughter and my friend's daughter, still remember all our weekend trips down to Tazewell, when they were growing up. ;)

Have a super duper day everyone!!!!

sur5er, the lookout point you are talking about is on the top of Lookout Mt.here in Chattanooga.It is a nice place to visit. Check it out on the internet. Tazewell is not too far from Chatt. Actually Chattanooga has some Pretty neat tourist things! Near where I live is Chicamauga Battlefield which is really nice. Geez,I sound like the tourist bureau!!LOL

Sur5er,
I know where exactly where you are talking about Look out Point in Tennessee, there is also a place called Ruby Falls. That whole area is beautiful. I can remember walking through a real skinny part of the mountain. Just rock all the way around everywhere you look.

Fran and Lahelo, Isn't that something that we all know where that look out point is? And Lahelo, I remember a trail skinny through the mountains, by the lookout. Isn't that where the one cave is at, that has tours?
I remember my friend and me being in awe over how the pioneers made their way through the mountains, back in the day, with wagons...definately no easy task.
Fran, yep, I also sound like a tourist bureau for Michigan...and now the National Shoreline in Indiana, at times.

Sur5er and Lahelo, that skinny trail between the rocks is called "fat man squeeze.It is VERY"narrow. There is also a swinging bridge that I have NEVER been on--too scary for me. At Christmas they set up all sorts of Christmas displays with lights outdoors.My son said it is just beautiful and from what I have seen on tv I agree. There is another place up there called Ruby Falls.It is underground and just beautiful.It is all lit up. In the Civil War-the South marched from further souththru N.Ga and up the side of Lookout Mountain.In fact they actually went right by where I live.My son found mini balls when he was little. There used to be a make shift hosp(I heard) by a lake that is now in Lake Winnepahsaukee(sp?) It is about a block from here. Did you know that this whole area except for the top of Lookout MT was underwater? I was amazed!!

Me again,It should read "it was under water many,many years ago when there were glaciers etc. Our County Newpaper publishes these large booklets once a year on the history of this area.They are very interesting. Fran