An August Gathering

 Our church has welcomed our new pastor and his lovely wife by inviting them to a number of small group suppers, hosted in homes.  And so toward the end of August John and I hosted the final scheduled get-acquainted meal. Nine of us gathered around our table and we really did have a lovely evening.

I made much of the meal ahead of time. I've found that turkey breast can be baked and frozen in a plentiful amount of seasoned broth, and if heated gently at low temperatures on serving day (about 275 degrees) it comes out moister and more flavorful even than on the day it was placed in the freezer.  This has worked well for me with roast beef as well.  I made the mashed potatoes and gravy well ahead of time on the day of the meal and kept them hot in crockpots on the serving table. As our family has grown we nearly always serve food buffet style, and that's how I chose to serve this meal as well.

Some neighbor kids had sold me a 40# box of beautiful Colorado peaches, and from the portions I didn't package for the freezer, I made the dessert below for our gathering.  Our pastor avoids added sugar and my mother-in-law has type 1 diabetes, and so I sweetened the slab pie with Truvia baking blend.  It was yummy with no aftertaste in the finished pie.  And--I wrapped it well in saran and then foil and froze it before baking, another convenient make-ahead. 

The menu was pretty simple; turkey breast, sliced roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted green beans, my mother-in-law's famous potato salad, peach/almond summer salad, a colorful fruit platter, garlic bread, peach slab pie and frozen yogurt.  To my vast relief the food turned out well, and we enjoyed our evening greatly.  

Peach Slab Pie

 Grandma Irma's Never Fail Pie Crust:

5 cups flour

2 and 2/3 cup chortening

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt

Cut shortening and 5 cups of flour together. Make a paste of the last three ingredients and stir into the first mixture.  Roll half the dough out and place in bottom and sides of a half sheet pan (jelly roll pan).  Roll the other half out and set aside between sheets of wax paper.  Cover pastry to keep it from drying out while you prepare the filling.  You may have extra pastry, not a bad thing. Freeze it or make cinnamon piecrust for the kids (add butter, cinnamon and sugar to rolled out dough, bake about 10 minutes at 375 degrees).  

Filling

Stir together: 

1 cup Truvia blend

12 medium/large fresh peaches, blanched, peeled, and sliced

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring

1/2 cup flour

3 Tbsp. melted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

Place filling into prepared bottom layer of pastry, cover with pastry and crimp edges, do not cut vent holes if you are putting it into the freezer.  When people don't mind a little sugar, I pat about a tablespoon of water on top and then sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of sugar. Can be covered well with saran and then foil and frozen.  I wouldn't leave it frozen over 2 months.  On day you plan to serve it, it can go straight into the oven from the freezer.  Cut vents in the top pastry, bake at 350 degrees about an hour, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly.