Lemon Meringue Pie

I love lemon!  When asked to bring dessert to Easter brunch, I knew what I was going to make!   Here are the ingredients for this pie!

Crust
2 cups flour
Pinch of salt
2 sticks cold butter
3-4 tablespoons cold water

Filling
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
Pinch salt
5 eggs yolks
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons butter

Meringue
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
5 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar

To begin the crust, I added the flour, salt and butter (cut into chunks) in my food processor.  Pulse the ingredients until they are crumbly.  Slowly, add the water until the ingredients form a dough.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes before working with it.

When you are ready, roll the dough on a floured surface.  Put in the bottom of a well greased pie plate.  Take a fork and poke some holes in the crust.   Line the pie plate with foil and beans.  The beans will weigh the crust down as it cooks.  Cook in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

While the crust is baking, make the filling and meringue.  Yes, you can do two things at once!  In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, salt and water.  Slowly heat to near boiling point.  When the ingredients are hot, but not yet boiling, temper the eggs.  This means that you will whisk the egg yolks and then slowly add some of the hot liquid.  By doing this you are slowly adding heat to the eggs so that when you add the eggs to the sauce pan, the eggs won't scramble.

Add the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Continue stirring until mixture is thick.  Remove from heat.

To make the meringue, put the egg whites in the mixer.  Beat on high speed.  Slowly add the sugar and cream of tartar.  Continue to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed.

Put the lemon filling in the pie crust and top with the meringue.  Bake in a 350 degree oven until the pie is starting to turn brown.

Chill until ready to serve!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Cream Pie

Today I invited Mom, Molly and the boys to dinner.  I wanted them to meet the new addition to our family - Mai.  Mai is a foreign exchange student that will be staying with us for the next few months.

Mai was born in Vietnam, but lives in Prague, Czech Republic.  She is a very sweet girl.  Mai's favorite food is spaghetti - wow!  She is in the right house!  For dessert, we decided on chocolate cream pie.

Here are the ingredients:

Crust -

1 package of chocolate graham crackers
1/2 stick butter, cold


Filling -

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
2 cups half and half
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping -

3 cups heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar

In your food processor, mix the graham crackers.  When they are ground to a fine crumb, add the butter, one tablespoon at a time.  Mix until the ingredients stay together when pressed.

Press into a well greased pie plate.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

While the pie crust is baking, start the filling.  In a small saucepan, melt the butter, 1/2 cup cream, chocolate chips, and cocoa together.  When that is melted, add the vanilla.

In a larger saucepan whisk the sugar, cornstarch, salt, cream and half and half.  Heat until just ready to boil.  In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks.  Take a little of the cream mixture and temper the eggs.  This means that you are warming the eggs up before adding the yolks to the saucepan.  To temper the eggs, take a little of the cream mixture and pour it into the yolks, whisking constantly.  Then, add to the cream mixture.

Pour the chocolate into the cream mixture.

Heat until boiling, then remove from heat.  It should start to resemble a pudding consistency.  It will continue to thicken as it cools.  When it is warm, not hot, pour into the pie plate.  Place in the refrigerator and let it chill.

When the pie is cool, make the topping.  Put the heavy cream into your mixer.  Add the powdered sugar.  Mix until the ingredients resemble the consistency of whipped cream.  Put on top of the pie.  Add shaved chocolate for decorations.

The boys gave their approval!

This pie was definitely worth it!  It was yummy with a double m!  Enjoy!

Aunt Hazel's Pecan Pie

My Aunt Hazel was a great lady!  She was always smiling and always had a kind word for you.  I remember visiting her on her farm when I was growing up.  She lived in Oregon and had a dairy farm.  It was a beautiful place!

My Nana, My Grannie and Aunt Hazel!  3 Fiesty Ladies!

Aunt Hazel was a hard worker and knew how to have fun! When Jonah was born, Aunt Hazel and Nana drove out here to visit us.  Here she is holding little Jonah Bologna (1999).



Every woman has a recipe she is "famous" for.  Here is Aunt Hazel's recipe for her famous pecan pie!

Ingredients:

Pie Crust - see recipe below
1 cup dark Karo syrup
3 eggs beaten
1 cup, less 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans

To begin, I made a basic pie crust.  Her recipe didn't come with a pie crust recipe so I made my own.  In my food processor I added 1 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/3 cup cold butter (cut into small chunks).  I pulsed those ingredients together until it resembled a crumb mixture.  Then, I added 3 tablespoons ice cold water.  Then, I mixed it together until it formed into a dough ball.  I put it in the refrigerator until I was ready to bake.

Form the pie crust into the bottom of a pie pan.  Press the dough up the edges and around the bottom of the pan.

To make the pie, beat the butter, sugar and eggs together.  Slowly add the Karo syrup and vanilla. 
Pour the pie mixture into the pie pan. Pour the pecans on top. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.

When you take the pie out of the oven, it will be dark brown, but still fluid.  As the pie cools, it will gel together - about 2 hours.



Aunt Hazel with my Grandpeepaw - on her farm in Oregon.

Look!  Uncle Johnny and Dad are in the background!

Dig out those old family recipes and share some memories!  Enjoy!

This recipe is shared with:



Rustic Peach Pie

Peaches are in season and there is nothing better than peach pie.  In the past I have always bought pie crust from the grocery freezer.  As I expand my cooking skills, I wanted to learn how to make pie crust.  After pouring through old family cookbooks I found a few of my Grandfather's recipes.  He was a baker and made desserts all of the time.  One of the things I found was a very old piece of paper with 19 different pie recipes.  For my Grandfather, simple was better.  I hope this recipe makes him proud.

Pie Crust

2 cups flour
1 cups chilled butter, cut into squares
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup ice water

Put first 4 ingredients in food processor and pulse.  Add a little water at a time - continue pulsing.  Stop when the dough forms into a lump.  You should still see chunks of butter - that is good!  Take the dough and wrap it in plastic and place in refrigerator to rest.

Peaches - I don't like peach skin in my pie.  To rid the peaches of their skin, blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes and put them in ice water.  The skin will fall right off.  Then you can slice the peaches away from the peach pit.

To make the peach filling I added 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.  My grandfather's recipe incorporated white sugar and a little orange flavoring. 

Now, I love cream cheese in my desserts.  I wanted to incorporate some cheese in this pie.  To do this I mixed 1/2 block of cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla. 

Time to roll the dough!  Take the dough out of the refrigerator and put in on a floured surface.  Put some flour on your rolling pin and roll the dough out.  When it is 1/4 inch thick, roll it up and place it in a buttered pie pan.

Place the peaches and spoonfuls of cheese in the pie.  Fold the sides over.  This has a rustic look instead of a June Cleaver look.  If you know me at all, I in no way resemble June Cleaver!

Bake the pie at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until the pie crust browns.