Dip That Fruit!

I made some fruit dip because my oldest son asked me to. He really wanted to dip his green grapes into some fruit dip. So, heck, why not!?

 
Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme

Directions:

Using an electric mixer, blend cream cheese and marshmallow creme until mixed thoroughly.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by Crystal Gossett. You can find it here.

Notes: Simple and sweet...and a crowd pleaser, especially with the kids.

 

 

Brown Sugar Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) container sour cream

Brown sugar, to taste

Directions:

Stir brown sugar, to taste, into sour cream until smooth. Use as a fruit dip or serve a dollop on top of some fresh berries.

Source: I found an idea in a cookbook where strawberries were served with sour cream that had brown sugar sprinkled on top. I tried it, but I thought the sour cream was a little too tart and the brown sugar was a little too few and far between. So, I tried mixing in the brown sugar and discovered that I really liked the dip that way. 

Notes: It is great with all fruit, but particularly good with berries. This one isn't as popular with the kids. Even with the brown sugar mixed in, it is a tad too tart for little taste buds. However, I really love it and perhaps you will too.

Standing the Test of Time

 

Some recipes can fade in and out. Sometimes you're in the mood for them, and other times you're not. Some recipes, while fantastic, can somehow be forgotten. Other recipes, you just keep going back to because they become tried and true favorites. They stand the test of time. This is one of those recipes for me. It is so flavorful and versatile, and the leftovers are fantastic.

I have already posted it before on our blog here, here, and here, but it always gets lost in the shuffle of the other recipes that I have posted with it. This time, I'm posting it all by itself so that it can shine and get the recognition it deserves.

Mexican-Style Shredded Beef

Ingredients:

1 boneless beef chuck shoulder roast (about 3 pounds)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 cup salsa or picante sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:

Place roast in slow cooker. Combine cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt, and red pepper in a small bowl. Place beef in slow cooker. Pour spices over beef and top with salsa.

Cover; cook on low 8-10 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove beef from slow cooker. Trim and discard excess fat from beef. Shred meat with two forks.

Let cooking liquid stand 5 minutes to allow fat to rise. Skim off fat. Blend water and cornstarch until smooth. Wish into liquid in slow cooker. Cook, uncovered, 15 minutes on High until thickened. Return beef to slow cooker. Cover; cook 15-30 minutes or until hot. Adjust seasonings.

Serve as a meat filling for tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, quesadillas, or burritos. Leftover beef may be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 months.

Source: This recipe came from a cookbook called "Simple 1-2-3 One Dish" ISBN-13: 978-1-4127-2323-7. You can find the cookbook on Amazon here.

Saucy!

 

Sometimes what you really need to make something really special is homemade sauce. This is one awesome barbecue sauce, and it won't take long to whip it up from scratch.

Coca-Cola Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup Coca-Cola
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
3 tablespoons A1 Steak Sauce
1 teaspoon onion flakes
1 teaspoon garlic flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a heavy nonreactive saucepan and gradually bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat slightly to obtain a gentle simmer. Simmer the sauce until reduces by a quarter, 6 to 8 minutes. Use right away or transfer to a large jar, cover, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate. The sauce will keep for several months.

Source: You can find it online here. It's from Steven Raichlen's Barbecue! Bible Sauces, Rubs and Marinades, Bastes, Butters & Glazes.

Yummy Shredded Pork

 

This pork is great on its own or served in sandwich form. Don't forget to top it with the amazing sauce. Don't be overwhelmed by the huge list of ingredients. More ingredients just means more flavor! This is another recipe that requires a smoker. You could make it in a slow cooker, but just be aware that the flavor won't be the same.

Peach Pork Butt

Ingredients:

Dry Rub:

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon turbinado or raw sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Injection:

3/4 cup peach juice (drained from the canned peaches used in the sauce recipe, below)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 (6-8 pound) bone-in pork butt

Sauce:

2 cups Memphis-Style Championship Red Sauce (recipe below)
1 can peaches in natural juices, drained (juices reserved) and chopped

Directions:

Build a fire (wood or a combination of charcoal and wood) for indirect cooking by situating the coals on only one side of the grill, leaving the other side void.

In a small bowl, combine the dry rub ingredients. Mix well and set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, combine all the injection ingredients and blend until the sugar dissolves. Using a meat syringe, inject the meat evenly at 1-inch intervals from the top side, using the entire amount of the injection solution. Coat the pork evenly with dry rub, patting gently until the mixture adheres to the meat.

When the heat reaches 250 degrees F, place the pork butt on the void side of the cooker, close the lid, and cook over indirect heat for 7 to 10 hours, until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 190 degrees F. Continually monitor the grill temperature and add hot charcoal or wood coals as needed to maintain the cooker temperature of 250 degrees F. Remove the pork to a cutting board and let it rest for 20 minutes.

In a saucepan, combine the barbecue sauce and chopped peaches and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Slice, pull, or chop the cooked meat into bite-size pieces and serve drizzled with the sauce or serve the sauce on the side.

Source: Recipe by Chris Lilly from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book (Clarkson Potter). You can find it here.

Notes: This was really flavorful. As mentioned above, it is great on its own or served as a sandwich.

 

Memphis-Style Championship Red Sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup ketchup
1 cup water
3/4 cup vinegar
3/4 cup tomato paste
3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons molasses
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons Worcestershire
1 tablespoon applesauce
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes. Let cool; transfer to a jar and store, refrigerated, for up to 2 weeks.

Source: Recipe by Chris Lilly from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book (Clarkson Potter). You can find it here.

Notes: The picture above shows the peaches added into the sauce for the Peach Pork Butt recipe, otherwise it is a smooth barbecue sauce.

Pie Night 2016! Part 2

 

 The Pie Night 2016 recipes continue!

Chocolate Chip Funny Cake Pie

Ingredients:

Top Layer:

1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk

Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/3 cup hot water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Additional Ingredients:

9" pie crust
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar, butter, and egg.

In a separate bowl, mix together the baking powder and flour.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture alternately with milk.

Mix just until combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the sugar and cocoa. Add the hot water and vanilla and mix until combined completely.

Use a store bought single pie crust or your favorite pie crust recipe and press it into a pie plate.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the pie crust, then spoon the cake batter over the top of the chocolate. Use the back of the spoon to gently spread the batter over top. Be careful while doing this, but don't worry if it doesn't cover the whole top. It will spread as it bakes. You want the fudgy chocolate to stay on the bottom of the pie and not get mixed in.

Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the pie.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 27-30 minutes, or until the cake is set.

Source: Tastes of Lizzy T's. You can find it here.

Notes: If you can't help but miss having cake--even on Pie Night--then this recipe is for you!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cherry Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:

1 (16.5 oz) roll refirgerated chocolate chip cookie dough
2 pkgs. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cans (21 oz.) Lucky Leaf Regular or Premium Cherry Fruit Filling, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Press cookie dough evenly into bottom and sides of a deep dish (2" deep) 9" pie plate.

Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool completely. While crust is cooling, prepare filling. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in 1 can of cherry fruit filling.

Pour filling into cooled crust.

Bake 55-70 minutes (or until filling is set and golden brown at 350 degrees F.

Cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Top with remaining can of cherry fruit filling.

Source: Lucky Leaf website. We found the recipe in a mailer. You can find it here.

Notes: My mom substituted raspberry pie filling because she doesn't think enough of us like cherries. This was good, but it would have been better with the cherry pie filling as called for in the original recipe.

Raspberry Peach Pie

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
1/4 cup cold water

Filling:

4 medium peaches, peeled and sliced
1 1/3 cups sugar
5 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup water
3 cups fresh raspberries

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Roll out pastry to fit in a 9-in. pie plate.

Transfer to pie plate; trim and flute edges. Line unpricked pastry with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Fill with dried beans, uncooked rice, or pie weights.

Bake at 450 degrees F. for 8 minutes. Remove foil and weights; bake 5-7 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large saucepan, combine the peaches, sugar, and juice. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir into peach mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from the heat; cool to room temperature. Fold in raspberries. Spoon into crust.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 8 servings.

Recipe Note: Let pie weights cool before storing. Beans and rice may be reused for pie weights, but not for cooking.

Nutrition information: 1 slice equals 333 calories, 8 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 149 mg sodium, 63 g carbohydrate, 39 g sugar, 5 g fiber, 3 g protein.

Source: Taste of Home, recipe by Jean Boelsma, Bethel, Maine. You can find it here.

Notes: Our pie ended up a lot juicier than the recipe pictured. It was still tasty though. You can also substitute a frozen 9" pie crust.

Snickerdoodle Pie

Ingredients:

1 single unbaked pie crust
1 tablespoon raw or coarse sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll out single pie crush and line a 9" pie plate with the crust. Crimp edges as desired.

In a bowl, combine the tablespoon of coarse or raw sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Brush the 2 teaspoons of melted butter on the bottom of the pie crust, then sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, water, corn syrup, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the brown sugar. Let the mixture boil for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat the 1/4 cup softened butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Beat in the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, powdered sugar, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar. Beat in the egg and the remaining 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Slowly beat in the milk, just until combined. Add in the flour, and beat to combine.

Spread the cookie mixture evenly into the pie dish. Slowly pour the syrup over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.

Cover the edges of the pie with foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue to bake until the top of the pie is puffed and golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 20 more minutes. Cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. If desired, serve with cinnamon ice cream or vanilla ice cream dusted with cinnamon.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 16th Edition, found on a blog called Taste and Tell. You can find the blog post here. You can find the cookbook here.

Chocolate Banoffee Pie

Ingredients:

One 9" pie crust, baked (or you can use a chocolate or graham cracker crumb crust)
1/2 cup good quality dark chocolate or chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 or 2 firm, but ripe, bananas
Lemon juice for bananas
One (14 oz) can of caramel flavored condensed milk or dulce de leche
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
Chocolate sprinkles, optional

Directions:

Place the chocolate in a small pan along with 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream. Stir constantly over low heat until the chocolate melts and becomes a smooth, thick sauce (ganache). Remove from heat.

Slice the bananas and toss with a little lemon juice, then arrance slices on the bottom of the pie crust.

Pour the caramel flavored condensed milk or dulce de leche over the bananas.

Pour the ganache over the condensed milk, and smooth evenly. Place in fridge for at least an hour.

Whip the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form, but be careful not to over whip. Pipe or spoon the whipped cream over the top of the pie, leaving the center open, if desired. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Source: Chocolate Chocolate and More. You can find it here.

Notes: This was really good and so easy too. You could also make it without the bananas, if you prefer.

 

Caramel Custard Pie

Ingredients:

Pastry for single-crust pie (9 inches)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs
2 cups 2% milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry; trim and flute edges. Combine brown sugar and flour; press into pastry.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt; pour over brown sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 55-60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cover edges with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning, if necessary. Cool on a wire rack; sprinkle with nutmeg. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition information: 1 piece equals 277 calories, 10 g fat, 89 mg cholesterol, 201 mg sodium, 41 g carbohydrate, 28 g sugar, 0 g fiber, 6g protein.

Source: Taste of Home, recipe by Roger Clapper of Delavan, Wisconsin. You can find it here.

Notes: I'm not sure why this has such a low review on the Taste of Home website. I thought this was fantastic. My caramel was not gritty (as some people complained theirs was) and my custard was not curdled. This is a great pantry friendly pie.

Old-Fashioned Custard Pie

Ingredients:

Pastry for single-crust pie (9 inches)
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Unroll pastry sheet into a 9-inch pie plate; flute edge. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line unpricked pastry with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice. bake on a lower oven rack 10-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove foil and weights; bake 3-6 minutes longer or until bottom is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Whisk in remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into crust. Cover edges with foil. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Source: Taste of Home. You can find it here.

Notes: This is another recipe with surprisingly low reviews, but it it is so easy and absolutely fantastic. The confusion for many reviewers was because they didn't read the recipe carefully enough and didn't bake the pie crust prior to filling it with the custard filling--and THEN complete the baking of the pie. It's so important to read the whole recipe all the way through before you start making it!

Sugar Cream Pie

Ingredients:

Pastry for a deep dish single-crush pie (9 inches)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Roll out pastry to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 inch beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Line unpricked pastry with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice.

Bake 8 minutes. Remove foil and weights; bake 5-7 minutes longer or until light brown. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven setting to 375 degrees F.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; stir in milk until smooth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Transfer to crust; sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack; refrigerate until chilled.

Yield: 8 servings.

 Source: Taste of Home, recipe submitted by Laura Kipper, Westfield, Indiana. You can find it here.

Notes: I used a frozen pie crust. I used a regular 9" pie crust the first time and I had way more filling than I could fit in the crust and what I did get in there overflowed. I made it again using a deep dish pie crust and it worked so much better. This pie was absolutely delicious and so, so easy!

Ladyfinger Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients:

2 packages (3 ounces each) ladyfingers, split
3 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
1 jar (16 ounces) hot fudge ice cream topping
1 package (8 ounces) toffee bits
3 cups chocolate ice cream, softened
3 cups coffee ice cream, softened

Directions:

Arrange ladyfingers around the edge and on the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray.

Spoon vanilla ice cream into prepared pan. Top with a third of the ice cream topping and toffee bits. Freeze for 20 minutes. Repeat layers, using chocolate and coffee ice creams (pan will be full). Freeze overnight or until firm.

Yield: 16 servings.

Nutrition facts: 1 slice equals 365 calories, 16 g fat, 57 mg cholesterol, 184 mg sodium, 50 g carbohydrate, 35 g sugars, 1 g fiber, 6 g protein.

Source: Taste of Home, recipe by Barbara McCalley of Allison Park, Pennsylvania. You can find it here.

Notes: I love Tiramisu and I am always on the lookout for a caffeine free version. Kroger has a Private Selection Coffee Ice Cream that is fantastic (and uses coffee extract, so it is caffeine free). I would suggest putting the coffee layer of ice cream on the bottom though because it is very strong and that would help to even out the flavors a bit.

Above: Dishonorable Mention: Fruity Pebbles No-Bake Cheesecake Pie. We made this for the kids, but it was awful. Too, too sickeningly sweet. Not sweet in a good way, just sickeningly sweet. The kids liked the looks of it, but not the taste of it. However, if you still want to brave it, you can find the recipe here.

2015 Pie Sunday! Part 1

 

We like our pie. We like our pie so much that we usually have a summer pie night and a fall/winter pie night each year. I have combined our summer and fall 2015 pie discoveries for the next few blog posts.

 

Lemon Chess Pie with Berry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

6 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons cornmeal
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, melted

Berry Sauce:

2/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 package (12 ounces) frozen unsweetened mixed berries, thawed and drained
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions:

Place the flour, coconut, and salt in a food processor; process until blended. Add butter; pulse until mixture is the size of peas. While pulsing, add just enough ice water to form moist crumbs. Shape dough into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 1/8-inch-thick circle; transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 inch beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Line unpricked pastry with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice.

Bake at 400 degrees on a lower oven rack for 8 minutes. Remove foil and weights; bake 6-9 minutes longer, or until crust is light brown. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven setting to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, buttermilk, lemon juice, cornmeal, lemon peel, salt, and nutmeg. Gradually whisk in butter. Pour into crust. Cover edge with foil to prevent overbrowning.

Bake at 325 degrees F. for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove foil. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate, covered, for 3 hours or until chilled.

For sauce, in a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil. Cook until syrup is reduced to 1/4 cup; transfer to a small bowl. Cool completely. Just before serving, stir in berries and lemon juice; serve with pie. Yield: 8 servings.

Source: Taste of Home. You can find it here.

 

Notes: This was really good with and without the sauce.

 

Crack Pie

Ingredients:

Pie:

Store-bought or homemade graham cracker pie crust
1 recipe Crack Pie Filling (recipe included here)
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting


Crack Pie Filling:

1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups white sugar, granulated
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup corn powder (corn powder is defined as freeze-dried corn, ground to a fine powder--1 1/2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour may also be used)
1/4 cup milk powder
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
8 large egg yolks

Directions:

Graham Cracker Crust:

Prepare your own favorite recipe for two 9" graham cracker pie crusts, or use a store bought graham cracker pie crust.

Crack Pie Filling:

Mix the dry ingredients for the filling on low speed. Be sure to keep your mixer on low speed during the entire process of preparing the filling. If you mix on a higher speed, you will incorporate too much air and your pie will not be dense and gooey. Add the melted butter to the mixer and mix until all the dry ingredients are moist. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and mix until completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the egg yolks to the mixture until just combined. use the filling immediately.

Pie Assembly:


Place both pie shells on a sheet pan. Divide the crack pie filling evenly over both crusts (the filling should fill the crusts 3/4 way full) and bake at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. During this time, the crack pie will still be very jiggly, but should become golden brown on top. At 15 minutes, open the oven door and reduce the baking temperature to 325 degrees F. Depending on your oven, this will take 5-10 minutes. Keep the pies in the oven during this process. When the oven temperature reads 325 degrees F, close the door and finish baking the pies until they are still slightly jiggly in the center, but no longer jiggly around the edges, anywhere from 5-15 minutes or more.

Gently remove the baked pies from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool at room temperature. You can speed up the cooling process by transferring the pies to the fridge or freezer. Freeze your pie for as little as 3 hours or up to overnight to create a more dense final product. Just before serving, finish with a dusting of confectioners' sugar.

 

Source: We found this recipe on a blog called Averie Cooks.  You can find it here. She adapted it from a recipe in a book called Momofuku Milk Bar, which you can find here. Her version of the recipe is long, verbose, and very detailed. I am including the recipe here only as we made it.

Notes: Averie Cooks suggested skipping the homemade oatmeal cookie pie crust and using a store-bought graham cracker pie crust and just using the recipe for the filling instead. That is what we did--which is why the crust recipe is not included here. If you would like to see that, be sure to check out the link for Averie Cooks above. She also didn't use corn powder and just used 1 1/2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.

My personal suggestion is to skip the homemade pie crust from the original recipe (it sounds good, but waaaaaay too involved and there are a lot of better things you could do with your time), and instead of going the easy route like we did with a store bought graham cracker crust, meet in the middle with a homemade graham cracker crust.

 

Easy Dulce de Leche Pie

Ingredients:

One homemade or store-bought 9 inch graham cracker pie crust
Two (3.4 oz each) cans dulce de leche (such as Nestle La Lechera)
Sweetened whipped cream

Directions:

Prepare graham cracker pie crust (if making a homemade crust, which I highly recommend).

Once pie crust has cooled, carefully spread dulce de leche on the bottom.

When ready to serve, top with sweetened whipped cream.

Source:  The inspiration for this pie came from a cookbook I have, which you can find here. This cookbook recipe made homemade dulce de leche in a slow cooker, but I opted to go the easy route and just buy canned dulce de leche.

Notes: I didn't actually make this for our pie night. I made this for a family gathering on my husband's side and no one touched it because everyone was dieting. I had so much left over, but I couldn't bear to throw it out, so I decided to see if I could freeze it. To my delight (and detriment), I discovered that this pie freezes amazingly well and is even edible (and still soft and chewy) right out of the freezer. Now I need to start dieting to work off this pie! Delicious stuff though.

 

Caramel Pie

This pie is time consuming and takes some patience, but it is worth it!

Ingredients:

4 T. cornstarch
1 ½ c. water, divided
2 eggs separated
1 ½ c. sugar
½ c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 baked 9 inc. pie shell
1 T. sugar

In a bowl, dissolve the cornstarch with ¾ c. water. Beat the egg yolks and stir them into the cornstarch mixture. Set aside.

In a heavy saucepan with high sides, cook ¾ c. sugar over low to medium heat until it is completely melted and a golden brown color (increase the heat if the sugar takes a long time to melt. Don’t stir the sugar until the majority has melted on its own. Stirring too early will cool the sugar and make it take longer to melt).

Once the sugar is completely melted, add the remaining ¾ c. sugar, the butter, and the remaining ¾ c. water. This may create a cloud of steam, so stand back while you are adding the water!.

Bring the mixture to a boil and stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has completely dissolved.

(Usually, once the second batch of sugar is added with the water, the first batch of melted sugar hardens and becomes a ball of caramel candy. Try to break this up as best as you can. Stir this mixture—including the hardened caramel—until everything has dissolved. You may have to remove the ball of hardened caramel if it does not completely melt. But give it some time, because it usually does melt—or at least it shrinks considerably.)

Stir the cornstarch/egg mixture into the saucepan and bring the mixture to a low boil, stirring it constantly. Continue to boil slowly until the mixture thickens about 2 minutes.

Take the mixture off the heat, stir it until smooth, and let it cool. Stir in the vanilla and pour the filling into the baked pie shell.

To make a meringue topping for the pie, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add 1 T sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Spoon the meringue on top of the pie filling, spreading it right up to the edge of the filling. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until the top of the meringue is delicately browned. Chill the pie before serving. Can be topped with whipped cream instead, if desired.

Source: The Anne of Green Gables Treasury, ISBN 0-14-017231-9, published 1991. You can find it here, and the 100 year anniversary edition here.

Notes: We've posted this recipe before. You can find the original post here. It takes awhile for the sugar to melt and caramelize, and you have to watch it closely, but this is such a yummy and unique pie. Feel free to use a little more corn starch if the mixture isn't setting up. But don't use too much because it will diffuse the caramel flavor of the filling and change the whole texture and flavor of the pie. I stink at making meringue, so I almost always top this with whipped cream and it is fantastic! I also like to make this a day in advance to really allow the caramel time to set up (store in refrigerator overnight without meringue or whipped cream topping). Top with meringue or whipped cream just before serving.

Here's what I do to streamline this process:

I like to have multiple bowls prepared before I start any cooking on the stove top.  You don't want to be measuring anything while you are cooking the caramel because the process moves fast and if you move too slowly, the caramel can burn (soooo easily) and you will have to start over. Believe me, I've been there.

Bowl 1: 4 Tbsp. cornstarch, 3/4 cup water, 2 egg yolks
Bowl 2: 3/4 cup sugar
Bowl 3: 3/4 cup sugar
Bowl 4: 3/4 cup water (have 1/2 cup aka 1 stick of butter on hand, or you can even melt it and add it to this bowl of water)

Here is the shortened version of this recipe:

Prepare bowl 1 (the cornstarch mixture) and set aside until the end. Pour bowl 2 into saucepan and melt sugar. Once sugar is melted, add bowl 3 (second half of sugar) and then immediately add bowl 4 (water and butter). Once sugar and butter is completely melted and incorporated (and after removing any hard lumps of sugar that refuse to melt back down), add bowl 1 (cornstarch mixture) and boil on medium to medium low heat until thickened. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and pour into prepared pie crust.

 

Above: This is what the caramel pie looks like without any toppings right after you pour it into the pie crust. As I mentioned above, I like to give the pie some time to sit so the caramel can set up. I prefer to make this the day before serving it. You can serve the pie plain, or top it with whipped cream, or bake a meringue topping on top. After it sits, some of the butter will rise to the top, so it is definitely prettier with a topping, but when you first pour it in, the caramel is just gorgeous.

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

Directions:

In small bowl, stir together crumbs and sugar. Add margarine or butter. Stir until combined.

In 9-inch pie plate, evenly spread crumb mixture. Press onto bottom and sides of pie plate. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Or bake at 375 degrees F for 6-8 minutes or until light brown. Cool.

Fill as directed in recipe. Makes 8 servings.

Source: I got this off of the back of a box of Keebler Graham Cracker Crumbs. You can find it online here.

Now I Can Make it at Home!

 

I love Greek food. Luckily for me, there are a ton of Greek fast food places nearby...but sometimes you just want to know how to make it for yourself at home. I have a fantastic Greek cookbook that my mom bought me years ago. It is called Perfect Greek (ISBN 978-1-4054-8858-7). You can find it here. It is a really wonderful, authentic cookbook. Everything I have made out of this book has been spot on. I love the meatball recipe from this book (which I have already posted here).

 

 

Chicken Kabobs with Yogurt Sauce (Chicken Souvlaki)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups authentic Greek yogurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs such as oregano, dill, tarron, or parsley
Salt and pepper
4 large skinned, boned chicken breasts
8 firm stems of fresh rosemary, optional (I used bamboo skewers)
Shredded romaine lettuce, to serve
Rice, to serve
Lemon wedges, to garnish

Directions:

To make the sauce, put the yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, herbs, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and mix well together.

Cut the chicken breasts into chunks measuring about 1 1/2 inches square. Add to the yogurt mixture and toss well together until the chicken pieces are coated. Cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in cold water for 30 minutes before use.

Preheat the broiler. Thread the pieces of chicken onto 8 flat, greased, metal kabob skewers, wooden skewers, or rosemary stems and place on a greased broiler pan.

Cook the kabobs under the broiler for about 15 minutes, turning and basting with the remaining marinade occasionally, until lightly browned and tender.

Pour the remaining marinade into a pan and heat gently but do not boil. Serve the kabobs with shredded lettuce on a bed of rice and garnish with lemon wedges. Accompany with yogurt sauce.

Source: Perfect Greek cookbook as noted above. You can find the link in my introduction to this post.

Notes: I didn't have fresh herbs on hand, so I used 1 tsp. dried oregano and 1 tsp. dried dill in the tzatziki yogurt sauce.

I skipped the Romaine lettuce. Instead, we served our souvlaki with this recipe for Greek Festival Lemon Rice that we have posted before. I also served it with some of this Greek tzatziki. Finally, we put the chicken on top of some pita bread and served it with additional cucumber and tomato slices.

My boys loved this. Everyone gobbled it up. This was fantastic. Next time, I will double it. Also, I soaked the bamboo skewers for quite awhile, but they still smoked a bit when I broiled them. I had to cover the ends of the skewers with foil to stop the smoking and charring. Maybe someday I will have to invest in some metal skewers.

Star Wars Party!

 

I really can't take the credit for this. This is an amazing party that my sister threw for all of her nieces and nephews, but her ideas were just so cute that I had to share them (and the recipes) as well. Be sure to check out her blog post regarding this party, because it is beyond awesome (besides the recipes, she had obstacle courses for the "younglings" to pass in order to become Jedi, and she also had a movie preview starring all of the cousins). Check out her blog here. Oh, and be sure to check out the movie preview she created for the kids. They loved it! You can find the move preview here.

 

Han-Burger Sliders

Ingredients:

1 medium onion
1 1/2 pounds 90/10 ground beef
1 large egg
1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Freshly ground black pepper
6 slices American cheese, quartered
24 thin plum tomato slices from 2 to 3 tomatoes)
24 dill pickle slices
24 mini potato buns
4 large iceberg lettuce leaves, cut into 24 even pieces
Ketchup and yellow mustard, for serving

Directions:

Special equipment: a 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Cut the onion in half, and shred each half on the large holes of a box grater. Squeeze the shredded onion dry between 2 towels, and scatter around a 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheet.

Put the ground beef, egg, breadcrumbs, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl, and mix gently, just enough to incorporate evenly. Drop mounds of the mixture all around the baking sheet, and press them into an even layer without disturbing the onions too much (but expect some of the onions to move around and peek through the meat). Brush the top of the meat with the vegetable oil, then season it evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt and several grinds of fresh pepper. Score the meat into 2 squares, cutting completely through with a spatula.

Bake until browned and no longer pink in the middle, 8 to 9 minutes. Put a small square of cheese on each patty, and return to the oven to melt, about 30 seconds. Let rest a few minutes, then recut along the scores to separate.

Top each patty with a slice of tomato and pickle. Slide a spatula into the pan and let guests serve themselves. Serve alongside a platter with the buns and lettuce. Don't forget the ketchup and mustard.

Yield: 8 servings (3 sliders per person). 

Source: Originally posted on our blog here. This is a Food Network recipe that you can find here.

Notes: These are great and so easy. I always skip the onion in this recipe though since my boys wouldn't eat it.

 

Pretzel Lightsabers

Ingredients:

1 bag pretzel sticks
1 bag blue candy melting wafers
 1bag yellow candy melting wafers
Wax paper
Cookie sheet

Directions:

Melt candy in a double boiler or microwave according to package instructions.

Dip pretzels about 2/3 of the way into melted candy.

Twirl around pot until covered. Shake to remove any excess.

Place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

Place in refrigerator until set.

Source: Pottery Barn Kids. However, it appears that it isn't online anymore (or at least I couldn't find it).

Notes: Basic, but really cute.

 

Jabba's Juice

Ingredients:

1 package (4 ounces) lime Kool-Aid mix, sugar-sweetened
1 cup warm water
20 assorted gummy creatures
3 cups crushed ice
3 liters sparkling water, chilled
1 can frozen limeade with pulp, defrosted
Green food coloring, optional

Directions:

In a large punch bowl, combine the Kool-Aid mix with 1 cup warm water and stir until dissolved.

Wet the undersides of the gummy creatures with warm tap water and set aside, wet side up, to become sticky.

Add the ice to the punch bowl and slowly pour each liter of sparkling water into the bowl, stirring to combine. Add the limeade and stir. If desired, add a few drops of green food coloring for a more dramatic color. Stick the gummy creatures to the outside and the inside lip of the bowl. If they do not adhere, rewet and set aside until "gummier."

Makes about 4 1/2 quarts.

Source: This came from a Star Wars cookbook that my sister has. I'm pretty sure it is this book.

Notes: This was a tasty drink and the kids thought it was a lot of fun.

Watto-Melon Cubes

Ingredients:

1/2 large seedless watermelon
Blue decorating sugar

Directions:

Cut the watermelon into 2-inch-wide round slices. Trim away the rind. Cut the melon into s-inch-square cubes.

Gently dab each side of each cube on a paper towel to dry them slightly.

Pour the blue decorating sugar onto a plate.

Dip two sides of each cube into the sugar and place on a small plate, four cubes per serving.

Serves about 4.

 

Source: This came from the same cookbook that the Jabba Juice came from.

Notes: You know, watermelon is great...but dip it in decorating sugar and it is a magical thing. This was really good.

 

Star Wars Sarlacc Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

Caramel Bundt Cake:

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Biscoff Madeleines:

2 large room temperature eggs
2/3 cup light brown sugar
2 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground Biscoff Cookie crumbs
1/4 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of cinnamon (or more, to your taste)
8 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

Decoration:

1 package Biscoff Cookies (8 oz)
Your favorite salted caramel sauce
Your favorite vanilla frosting
Handful of raw slivered almonds

Directions:

Caramel Bundt Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease your bundt cake pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

With an electric mixer and paddle attachment, beat the softened butter with both sugars until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time until each is well-mixed. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and mix some more.

On low, add the flour mixture alternating between the dry ingredients and the buttermilk. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Mix until just combined.

Pour into bundt cake pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in pan for about 20 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Biscoff Madeleines:

Start by setting oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly grease and flour your madeleine pan.

In a food processor, blend package of Biscoff Cookies into crumbs. Set aside.

Beat eggs and sugar together until thick.

Beat in vanilla and salt.

Sift flour, Biscoff Cookie crumbs, cinnamon, and baking powder into bowl and fold together until mixed.

Stream in melted butter while mixing on low.

Spoon a tablespoon of batter into each cavity.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Be careful to not overbake.

Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing.

Make sure pan has cooled before baking the next batch.

Cookie Tentacles:

Pour some of the madeleine batter into a small ziplock bag and snip off the corner.

Pipe tentacles on parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet. Don't make them too thick because the batter spreads as it bakes. One thin line should do.

Bake at 375 degrees F. until golden brown.

Assembly:

Once the cake has cooled, drizzle the entire cake with caramel sauce.

Cover the cake with the Biscoff Cookie crumbs.

Using the raw almonds, create the spikes or teeth on the interior walls of the pit.

Fill the pit with frosting and cover with the Biscoff Cookie crumbs.

Using a small piping tip (or a bag with tip snipped off) create teeth along the outer edge of two madeleine cookies. Place cookies inside the pit.

Surround the beak with the cookie tentacles.
 
Source: We found the idea on Pinterest. It comes from a website called Yummy Crumble. You can find it here. She got the bundt cake recipe from Go Bold With Butter. You can find that original recipe here.

Notes: Our sarlacc pit wasn't as successful as Yummy Crumble's, but it was still a lot of fun! Our tentacles didn't work (they crumbled apart). So, be sure to check out Yummy Crumble's pictures. They are awesome. While our cake wasn't as awesome, it still got the point across and was still a lot of fun for the kids.

Honestly, this cake sounds like too much work to me (my sister made it though, not me). I would have used a yellow cake mix, topped it with caramel topping and Biscoff Cookie crumbs, done my best with the sarlacc monster using store-bought cookies and frosting and called it a day. :) This was delicious though!

  

Above: Oops...it looks like the sarlacc got some sand stuck on its teeth...oh well...

Summer Is For Homemade Ice Cream

 

Is there anything better than homemade ice cream at a family dinner in the summer? Oh, and don't forget to check our other big ice cream post. Oh, and in addition to that, here are some other ice cream and sorbet recipes...here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Easy Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:

6 cups milk
3 large cans sweetened condensed milk
15 tablespoons cocoa

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine milk and sweetened condensed milk.

Dissolve the cocoa in a bit of hot water.

Once dissolved, stir cocoa into the milk mixture until completely blended.

Pour ingredients into the freezer canister of your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Do not fill the canister more than 2/3 full, as the mixture will expand during freezing.

Pour into a freezer safe container (or freeze in your canister, if you like), and place in freezer to allow ice cream to ripen. Ice cream will need 2-4 hours to ripen before it is ready to serve.

Source: I got this recipe out of my manual for my new ice cream maker. My old ice cream maker went kaput, so I got a new one--a Nostalgia Electrics Old Fashioned Ice Cream Maker. You can view the manual, and this recipe here. The recipe is on page 9.

Notes: At first, I thought I would describe this ice cream as tasting like a Frosty. However, that wasn't quite it...after thinking a little longer, I realized that it reminded me of a fudgesicle. Good stuff! My oldest son really loved this especially. It took around 40-45 minutes to thicken and freeze the ice cream, and at least 2 hours to allow the ice cream to ripen. If you eat it before ripening the ice cream, it will be more like a shake. In order for the ice cream to set up enough to be scoopable, it has to ripen in the freezer first.

 

Above: Easy Vanilla Ice Cream with blueberries mixed in.

Easy Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:

6 cups heavy whipping cream
4 1/2 cups half and half (if adding mix-ins, use only 4 cups half and half)
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
Mix-ins, if desired (such as crushed Oreo cookies or mashed fruit such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, etc.)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in ice cream canister. (See notes below regarding mix-ins)

Do not fill canister more than 2/3 full as the mixture will expand during freezing.

Stir well until sugar has dissolved.

Follow manufacturer's instructions for freezing ice cream.

Pour into a freezer safe container (or freeze in your canister, if you like), and place in freezer to allow ice cream to ripen. Ice cream will need 2-4 hours to ripen before it is ready to serve.

Source: Again, I got this recipe out of my manual for my new ice cream maker.You can view the instruction manual here. The recipe is on page 9.

Notes: Vanilla ice cream on its own is to die for. However, I added mix-ins. I decreased the half and half to account for the extra mix-in ingredients.

For Cookies and Cream Ice cream, I added a full package of Oreos. I roughly crushed 1/3 of the package and added it to the cream mixture at the beginning of the freezing package. I then crushed the remainder of the package of Oreos and folded them in when it was time to ripen the ice cream. If you add Oreos at the beginning, it will turn your ice cream gray. So, if you don't want it to look that way, I would suggest crushing and folding in ALL of the Oreos at the very end. However, I like to mix in a little at the beginning because it infuses the ice cream with an Oreo flavor throughout. Go by your personal preference though.

For fruit ice cream, I would say to add about 1-2 cups of mashed fruit (depending on how fruity you want your ice cream) to the cream mixture at the beginning and then freeze. You might get a little fruit stuck to the paddle of the ice cream maker at the end of it, but that can easily be spooned back into the ice cream and folded in.

 

Above: I think raspberry ice cream is my all-time favorite. It just tastes so good!

 

Above: Blueberry ice cream is my husband's favorite. It is probably tied, for me, in second place with blackberry ice cream.

 

Above: Oooh...cookies and cream ice cream...yum.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 pie crust (from a refrigerated pack of two, or from scratch

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided

1 can sweetened condensed milk (fat-free or regular)

8 ounces cream cheese (reduced-fat or regular)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

12 ounces (one and a half 8-ounce containers) Cool Whip (fat-free, lite, or regular), or 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, whipped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Mix granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon in a small bowl. Unroll pie crust and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Press lightly with your hands so it sticks to the crust. Spray the crust lightly with cooking spray.

Bake crust for 8-12 minutes, or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool completely before making ice cream.

Place cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer until smooth. Mix in vanilla and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Fold in Cool Whip (or whipped cream).

Crumble cooled pie crust into small pieces and stir into ice cream mixture. You can reserve 1/4 of the pie crust to use as garnish, if you desire.

Place ice cream in a large resealable container and freeze for at least 4 hours (but overnight is better). Will keep in the freezer for up to one month.

Recipe notes: If you don't like Cool Whip, you can use fresh whipped cream instead. Beat 2 cups of cold heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Sweeten with granulated sugar, to taste. Once cream is whipped, fold into the ice cream mixture in place of the Cool Whip.

Source: We found this on a site called Crazy for Crust. You can find it here.

Notes: I really, really liked this one. We didn't go the light route, and we used regular sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream (instead of the Cool Whip). Holy decadent, Batman. This was good.