Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Pasty Making

Pasties have a long history in my family, and for the Cornish people. Miners from Cornwall spread their popularity all over the world among the mining communities. (For the full history of the Pasty  visit the Cornish Pasty Association.) The pasty tradition has been passed down from my father's mother, but since we have a lot of miners on the family tree, I have no doubt that both sides ate lots of pasties.
Our Grandma loves to tell the story of being sent to school with money for "Pasty Day". During lunch break she would walk down to the church and buy pasties for dinner for the whole family. Her Grandma would usually be there peeling bunches and bunches of onions for all the pasties.

Pasties are a very simple food, meat and root vegetables held together in a hand pie by crust. In our house they are pure comfort food!
We really don't have a recipe it is so simple. Our rule of thumb is just about equal proportions of ground beef, peeled and chopped potatoes and grated carrots, plus a few chopped up onions. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl and add generous amounts of salt, pepper and garlic powder. Using your favorite pie crust recipe, roll dough in 12" by 12" pieces. Place about 2 cups of filling on each piece of dough, fold in half and crimp edges. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are soft and meat is done. Serve with ketchup or gravy or plain.

We anxiously await cooler autumn weather so we can have a Pasty Day! The stove always ends up being on for at lest three hours as we don't like to skimp on pasties! Once we get started we might as well make enough to go around a few times. Our usual output ranges between 4-5 dozen. But we have a system and once started, it doesn't take long. The hard part is waiting the hour long baking time! With the wonderful aroma filling the house, it is hard not to be hungry.

7 comments:

  1. Yummy, we love Pasties. My husband went to college in the UP, and they are very popular in the Houghton/Hancock area.
    Fun post, brings back memories of when I first dated my husband and he shared the world of pasties with me. Yummy. They make a breakfast pasty in the UP, it is so good, ham, cheese, potato. Yummy!

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  2. Heidi,

    Oh my mouth is watering........weekend comfort project. My Mom made with her piecrust, so good! And you cannot go the UP without enjoying 1 or 2 or 3..... :) Thanks

    Mary

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    1. Lol! I know once you start eating it is hard to stop. That is why we always make a bunch!

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  3. Looks like a tasty idea! Perfect for the cooler weather. : )

    -Sarah

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  4. I have never eaten a pasty in my life, but it sure sounds good. Anything with a pie crust can't be bad. I can see that it would be pure comfort food. Yum.

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  5. I'v e never had one but they look great and comforting too. Do they freeze well like before cooking? They would be nice to have on hand in the freezer.

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