"Farm Chicks" in the Barn and Kitchen

Junk Refurbishers Show How They Make Trash Treasure, and Serve Up Their Favorite Dishes on Their Antique Finds

(CBS) 

Baked Pie Shell

The classic piecrust, essential for a great pie. We recommend using this recipe for all single crust pies, as the high butter content in our Grandma's Pie Dough recipe causes single crusts to shrink when baked.

MAKES 1 SINGLE CRUST
WORKING TIME 15 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME 1 HOUR AND 25 MINUTES

11/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter (1 stick),
1/4 teaspoon salt cut into small pieces

Make the dough: Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle 4 to 6 tablespoons of ice water over the flour mixture and mix with your hands until just combined. Transfer the mixture to a clean work surface, and gently press together until a dough begins to form. Gather into a ball and flatten slightly to form a disk.Wrap in plastic; chill for at least 1 hour. Bake the shell: Heat the oven to 450°F. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan and trim, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold the 1/2-inch excess under and crimp along the rim using a fork or your fingers. Prick the bottom and sides of the dough with a fork. Bake on the center shelf of the oven until lightly browned-10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before filling as indicated in your recipe.

Nutrition per one-half single crust-Protein: 2.1 G; Fat: 12 G; Carbohydrate: 15 G; Fiber: 0.5 G; Sodium: 75 MG;Cholesterol: 30 MG; Calories: 171.

Farmhouse Apple Pie

This is our all-time favorite pie and is probably our most-often used recipe. Our favorite pie apple is Golden Delicious, but any mixture of apples can work just fine. We recommend experimenting with different apple combinations to discover your favorite pie varieties.

MAKES 1 NINE-INCH PIE (ABOUT 8 SERVINGS)
WORKING TIME 15 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME 1 HOUR AND 5 MINUTES

2 disks Grandma's Pie Dough (1/2 recipe)
21/2 pounds mixed apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into 3/4- inch pieces
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Heat the oven to 375°F. Roll out one of the disks of dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness; transfer to a 9-inch pie pan. Set aside in the refrigerator. Roll the remaining dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Set aside on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in the refrigerator. Toss them chopped apples, flour, 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and lemon juice together and mix until combined. Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pie pan and top with the remaining dough. Trim, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang; fold under and crimp the edges. Sprinkle the top with the remaining tablespoon of sugar; chill for 10 minutes. Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the crust is golden brown-50 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

APPLE PREP
When cutting apples for pie,we peel and core each apple and then cut them into quarters. We cut each quarter in half, lengthwise, and then thinly chop into bitesized pieces. Each bite of pie is easily cut into with a fork, which we think makes it just a little more special.

Nutrition per serving-Protein: 4.5 G; Fat: 21 G; Carbohydrate: 65.7 G; Fiber: 2.9 G; Sodium: 264 MG; Cholesterol: 68 MG; Calories: 456

Grandma's Pie Dough

MAKES 4 SINGLE CRUSTS
WORKING TIME 10 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME 1 HOUR AND 10 MINUTES

You can't judge a book by its cover, but you can judge a pie by its crust. This is hands-down the best piecrust ever, adapted from my mother-in-law Mary Jane's recipe. It's rich, flaky and unforgettable. You can make the dough, wrap it, and freeze for baking later. ~Serena Thompson

4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
13/4 cups cold unsalted butter (31/2 sticks),
cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 extra-large egg

Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.Whisk the vinegar, egg, and 1/2 cup of ice water together and mix into the flour mixture with your hands until just combined. Transfer to a clean work surface, and gently press to form a dough. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Shape each into a ball, flatten slightly to form a disk, and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour. Roll out as indicated in your recipe.

Nutrition per one-half single crust-Protein: 2 G; Fat: 10 G; Carbohydrate: 12.7 G; Fiber: 0.4 G; Sodium: 59 MG; Cholesterol: 34 MG; Calories: 150.

Big & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

These are my son Ethan's favorite cookies. They're extra peanut buttery in flavor, accented by a hint of honey, and perfect for those who prefer a big, chewy peanut butter cookie over a crunchy one. I personally love the dough! ~Serena Thompson

MAKES ABOUT 20 FIVE-INCH COOKIES
WORKING TIME 20 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME 55 MINUTES

1 cup unsalted butter
(2 sticks), softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup salted peanuts, for topping (optional)

Make the batter: Heat the oven to 375°F. Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Beat in the brown sugar, peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and eggs, mixing until well combined. Stir in the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, and salt with a wooden spoon, stirring until completely incorporated. Bake the cookies: Drop the batter by 1/4-cupfuls onto baking sheets, spacing about 3 inches apart. If you like, press at least 4 peanuts into the top of each cookie, or press a crosshatch pattern into each with the tines of a fork. Bake until lightly browned-12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the cookies from the baking sheets to a wire rack to cool. The cookies will appear slightly undercooked in the center, but will firm up once they've cooled. Store in an airtight container.

Nutrition per cookie without peanuts-Protein: 6 G; Fat: 16.3 G; Carbohydrate: 34.5 G; Fiber: 2.1 G; Sodium: 166.5 MG; Cholesterol: 45.6 MG; Calories: 299.

[emmerae]

It was exciting to see the farm chicks this morning on National TV! I think they did great and i cant wait for their next show. Has anyone read their cookbook? It is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

[es321]

I totally agree with the first comment! Serena was incredibly rude, although I was excited to see this segment, the farm chicks have no chemistry.

[LisaSouers]

If anyone knows the Farmchicks like we do in Washington State do, we are all so proud of these gals! The Early Show, cooking on National Television is so amazing, we are so proud of Serena and Teri and what they stand for! Congratulations on doing an amazing job!

[jrscrappy]

Terri and serena you did an awesome job today! You are girl's after my own heart! I love everything you do!

[stessielou]

Yes, the first post could not be further from the truth! I've been to the Farm Chicks show in both Fairfield, WA and in Spokane, WA, and have met both of these lovely ladies..have a few pictures of them, etc. They are the most humble, down to earth folks you would ever want to meet. Both looked a bit nervous to me, and who could blame them? National TV! I am a forever fan, and think sunnymeadow should spend some time spreading sunshine, rather than dumping gloom where none is needed.

[farmchicksfan]

The first comment posted is far from anything the Farm Chicks are about. They are truly both great women, business partners, and friends. I didn't think Serena came across and rude at all. Check out their web-site and blog...it gives you a true picture of what they are all about. Congratulations to Teri and Serena on a great job. Looking foward to your next Farm Chicks Show.

[sunnymeadow]

I enjoyed seeing the creative transformations from junk to cool, useful items. However, I think Serena Thompson was extremely rude to her partner, Teri Edwards, when they were being interviewed by Harry Smith. Serena interrupted Teri three or four times, and even answered questions that were posed to Teri! Although Teri was a class act, acting as a true team member, I believe I would have slapped some duct tape on Serena's rude mouth if I'd been in Teri's shoes! Serena needs to grow up and learn some manners. Or maybe Teri needs to find another farm chic to work with? I really couldn't stand 30 seconds with S.T. But you rock, farm chic, Teri!!!

[TheGatheringGal]

You are absolutely wrong! I know both these women personally and they are both a class act! You are incorrect in your assumptions and your comments appear to be somewhat 'RUDE'.