Cherry Pie

This past weekend, I took it upon myself to officially dub it as, Family Extravaganza Weekend. Aside from Father's Day, this weekend was also my Grandma's 89th birthday, as well as my brother Jason's birthday. Busy weekend, no? You could say that.

As has become customary, I asked Jason what he wanted for his birthday dessert. I had assumed that he'd ask for either a coconut cake or banana pudding. But, instead... he surprised me and willingly shared his selection with my dad. He chose Cherry Pie (which, is my dad's favorite dessert). I was pretty excited about this selection, because you see... Cherry Pie is probably one of the most favorite things that I make. And this Cherry Pie is a recipe that I came up with all on my own. Which makes it even more special to me. It's like my little baby.

Usually, I make a double crust and use an Emeril Pie Crust Recipe, but this time, I decided to try a pie crust recipe from my book Baking From My Home To Yours (which is incidentally on sale for 12.99 from Amazon right now!). And you know what folks? As much as I love Emeril, I gotta say... Dorie's pie crust was better. Tender and thick. And I made it without a food processor. Just me, a pastry blender and raw palms.

This time around, I decided to do things a little differently...
I decided to attempt a lattice top. Using this wonderful guide from Elise at Simply Recipes, I rolled my dough, cut my strips and started assembling the lattice top, using the instructions constantly.

And it turned out beautifully...

I brushed the top with heavy cream and then even sprinkled a little brown sugar on top to get a caramel-y color to the top. I then wrapped aluminum foil (that I had sprayed cooking spray on...learned that one the hard way, last time) around the edges of the pie, so they wouldn't brown too quickly. And away into the oven it went.

It was a delicious pie, if I do say so myself. And I am so excited that I gave the lattice top a try. It made for a much prettier pie that screamed "homemade with love!"

Happy Birthday and Happy Father's Day!Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough
- makes enough for a 9-inch double crust -
Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 ½ sticks very cold (frozen is fine) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces 1/3 cup very cold (frozen is even better) vegetable shortening (non-trans fat), cut into 2 piecesAbout ½ cup ice water
Procedure

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade; pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don't overdo the mixing—what you're aiming for is to have pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, add 3 tablespoons of the water—add a little water and pulse once; add some more water and pulse again; and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn't look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. If you've got big pieces of butter, that's fine. The dough is ready and should be scraped out of the work bowl and on to a smooth work surface.

Separate the dough and shape the dough into two disks and wrap them. Refrigerate the dough at least 1 hour before rolling. (If the ingredients were very cold and you worked very quickly, you might be able to roll the dough immediately—you'll know: the dough will be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge.) The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

Once the dough is fitted into the pie plate, refrigerate it again. If you don't have time for a longish chill, just keep the pie plate in the fridge while you preheat the oven.

Cherry Pie
2 cans of Sweet Pitted Bing Cherries (14.5 oz cans)
1 can of Tart Cherries
3 tbsp cornstarch
½ cup Dried Sweet & Tart Cherries (about 3 ozs)
¼ cup Granulated Sugar
1 tbsp Butter
½ tsp Almond Extract
Red Food Coloring
Cream or milk
Pie crust for a double crust pie

Strain syrup from bing cherries and reserve juice. Strain tart cherries and reserve it’s juice separately. Combine the bing cherries and the tart cherries in a bowl with ¼ cup of the sweet juice (save the leftover juice), 2 tbsps of the tart juice, and the cornstarch; stir to blend and set aside.

Combine 1 cup of the sweet juice along with 1 tbsp of the tart juice with the dried cherries in a large saucepan. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes on medium low heat to allow the dried cherries to plump up. Uncover and increase the heat to medium and simmer until mixture bubbles thickly and it has reduced to about ¾ cup, stirring occasionally (about another 10 minutes). Add your other cherry mixture to the saucepan mixture along with the butter and sugar and heat thoroughly over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens (about 3-5 minutes). After mixture has thickened, pull off heat and add almond extract and a few drops of red food coloring. Transfer pie filling to a medium bowl and let it cool completely.

After it has completely cooled, position a rack in the second to the bottom row in your oven and preheat oven to 400 F.

Roll our pie disk on a floured surface to 12 inch round. Transfer to a 9 inch diameter pie dish. Trim dough overhang to 1 inch. Put pie plate into the fridge while you roll out your top. Roll the top crust to 12 inch diameter. Spoon pie filling into bottom crust and then cover with top crust. Crimp edges decoratively (you may refrigerate pie for a little while at this point, if dough is very warm)and lightly brush the top and edges of the pie with cream lightly. (I also sprinkled brownsugar on top the crust). Make four slits in the top of the crust to allow the steam to escape (unless making a lattice top). Place aluminum foil strips around the edges of the pie to keep them from browning too quickly. Put pie on a baking sheet with a rim and place into the preheated oven.

After 25-30 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and continue to cook.Cook for about 50-55 minutes, until crust is golden.

Transfer pie to rack and allow to cool for 2 hours. Serve pie lukewarm or room temperature.

S'more Pie

The first time I had S’mores, I was getting ready to graduate college. I mentioned this fact yesterday while at my parents house for the Family Extravaganza weekend. My mom insists that I had S’mores in my childhood. She claims, at some point while we were camping.. . we had S’mores. But, let’s be honest here… I would most definitely remember the first time I had a S’more. I can guarantee you that.

So, yes, my first S’more was when I was 21 years old. There was a campfire involved… and I believe there was even a guitar… And there was lots of bossing underclassman around the park to find more sticks to keep the campfire burning. Ahhh… college life.

Anyway… Let’s just say I have some catching up to do with the ole S’mores concept.

Enter this Pie.

I’ve been trying to figure out the perfect time to make this pie… and luckily, the time came sooner rather than later. This weekend was a big weekend in my family… My brother Jason celebrated a birthday on Saturday, my grandma turned 89 on Sunday and it was father’s day! Throw in the U.S. Open final round (well… it was the final round, although the outcome is still unknown) and it was a Sunday packed full of family and celebrations.

As customary… I asked my brother what he wanted for his birthday dessert. He chose a cherry pie. Which was perfect because for one, I’ve been craving cherry pie, and two, cherry pie happens to be my dad’s favorite dessert, so I was able to kill two birds with one stone. Or… two occasions with one pie, rather. (More on the cherry pie later this week).

This is all fine and dandy, except for my brother Mike. You see, Mike is more of a chocolate lover… less of a fruit lover. So, I knew I’d have to make something else as well, that he could eat for dessert. And that’s when I thought of the S’mores Pie. I think this pie more than made up for his less than perfect birthday cake I made a few weeks ago....

It came together very easily. I didn’t make homemade graham crackers or homemade marshmallows. But, I did make the crust and the filling and then added marshmallow fluff to the top and broiled it for a few minutes to brown up a bit.

Not being a bittersweet chocolate fan, I actually used all semi-sweet chocolate in the filling and next time I make this.. I might use half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate. What can I say? I’m a sugar fiend.

This would be an awesome July 4th dessert. Quick (I made the pie the day before, chilled it and then just topped it off with marshmallow fluff and broiled it before serving), easy, and extremely tasty.

A slice also makes for a tasty breakfast… even cold, fresh from the fridge. Or, at least that’s what I hear.

TWD: The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Tart

With a recipe name like... The Most Extraordinary Lemon Tart, your expectations are high. Very high.

And honestly, for me... it just didn't live up to the hype. And I love lemon. I really do. The texture of this was really nice, I did like that part a lot, but the crust was a little crunchy for me (even after a couple of days in the fridge) and I felt like the lemon flavor could have been enhanced somehow. Like with some raspberry sauce drizzled all over.

I rarely want whipped cream with my pies, tarts, etc... but, this tart was just begging for it. Sadly, I didn't have any.

It was good. Just not out of this world good. I actually thought that the filling was tastier when it was fresh out of the food processor. I think I might like this better with limes and lemons!

As far as making it goes... it wasn't too bad. It gave me the opportunity to buy some things I hadn't bought yet. Like... a microplane grater, a tart pan (although I couldn't find one, so I bought a quiche pan instead) and an instant read thermometer. This recipe required lots of stirring. But overall, not too scary.

Sorry for the crappy post. But it's the busiest week of the year for me... Better next week, I promise :) Thanks to Mary of Starting from Scratch for picking this recipe and be sure to check out all the other tarts over at Tuesdays With Dorie.

The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart
From Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 cup sugar
Grated zest of 3 lemons
4 large eggs
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)
2 sticks plus 5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces, at room temperature
1 9-inch tart shell

Getting ready:
Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender or food processor at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water.

Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.

Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk - you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling - you'll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point - the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don't stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience - depending on how much heat you're giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.
As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Turn the blender to high (or turn on the processor) and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going - to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.

Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. The cream will keep in the fridge for 4 days or, tightly sealed, in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator).

When you are ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell. Serve the tart, or refrigerate until needed.

Makes 8 servings.

TWD: Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie Cake

Apparently, grandma's and apple pie go together like peanut butter and chocolate. It seems like everyone's grandma had some sort of apple dessert that they made. Mine certainly did. My maternal grandma had a dried apple cake that she used to make. It was layers and layers of cake and a dried apple mixture spread between the layers. It seems like she always had some in her refrigerator. And I only liked it every once in awhile. The cake part was rather dry (It was supposed to be that way) and I'm not much of a cold cake type of person. But, I did love the part of the cake that sat right next to the dried apple filling. Yum.

I love apples and apple flavored things, but honestly, I'm not a huge apple pie fan. I just don't like the texture of mushy, cooked apples. But, I was really excited to make this apple pie cake, especially after reading the story in Dorie's cookbook of how she finally found a recipe similiar to the pie/cake that her grandma always made.

The recipe came together very easily for me. I ended up not needing the extra 1/4 cup of flour in the dough and after refrigerating overnight, the dough rolled out like a charm. I used fuji apples in the filling and also added a touch of vanilla (I have to have vanilla in everything). Also, I made the version in the deep dish pie dish.

It was delicious. It was almost like a apple cobbler. The top got pretty crispy, but the sides and the bottom of the cake were so cakey and moist. When I ate a piece last night, after it had cooled for about an hour, it tasted like I was eating apples and biscuits (which was good), but this morning, it was definitely softer and more cakey. Very delicious. And the apples stayed crunchy, which I loved.

I would definitely make this cake again for apple lovers. It's so homey tasting and different. The only problem is, it doesn't really keep its pie slice shape when you try to get it out of the pan. Oh well, who cares what it looks like on the plate, right (well, except for food bloggers)?

Maybe one day, I'll run across a recipe that is similiar to my grandmas dried apple cake...

Be sure to check out everyone elses Russian Grandmothers Apple Pie Cake, too!

UPDATE: This cake is unbelievable a couple of days later! The crust gets soft and moist and wow. This is an incredible pie/cake. I had to force myself to throw the rest of it out last night, because I couldn't stop eating it. Even as I was scraping it out of the pie plate and into the sink, I was sneaking bites in. Yum. This is a definite favorite of mine, now.

Russian Grandmothers Apple Pie Cake
Chosen by Natalie of Burned Bits

For The Dough
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1 lemon
3 1/4 - 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For The Apples
10 medium apples, all one kind or a mix (I like to use Fuji, Golden Delicious and Ida Reds; my grandmother probably used dry baking apples like Cordland and Rome)
Squirt of fresh lemon juice
1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Sugar, preferably decorating (coarse) sugar, for dusting

To Make The Dough: Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes more. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the baking powder and salt and mix just to combine. Add the lemon juice - the dough will probably curdle, but don't worry about it. Still working on low speed, slowly but steadily add 3 1/4 cups of the flour, mixing to incorporate it and scraping down the bowl as needed. The dough is meant to be soft, but if you think it looks more like a batter than a dough at this point, add the extra 1/4 cup flour. (The dough usually needs the extra flour.) When properly combined, the dough should almost clean the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each half into a rectangle. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or for up to 3 days. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; defrost overnight in the refrigerator.)

To Make The Apples: Peel and core the apples and cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick; cut the slices in half crosswise if you want. Toss the slices in a bowl with a little lemon juice - even with the juice, the apples may turn brown, but that's fine - and add the raisins. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, sprinkle over the apples and stir to coat evenly. Taste an apple and add more sugar, cinnamon, and/or lemon juice if you like.

Getting Ready to Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter a 9x12-inch baking pan (Pyrex is good) and place it on a baking shee tlined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Remove the dough from the fridge. If it is too hard to roll and it cracks, either let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin to get it moving. Once it's a little more malleable, you've got a few choices. You can roll it on a well-floured work surface or roll it between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper. You can even press or roll out pieces of the dough and patch them together in the pan - because of the baking powder in the dough, it will puff and self-heal under the oven's heat. Roll the dough out until it is just a little larger all around than your pan and about 1/4 inch thick - you don't want the dough to be too thin, because you really want to taste it. Transfer the dough to the pan. If the dough comes up the sides of the pan, that's fine; if it doesn't that's fine too.

Give the apples another toss in the bowl, then turn them into the pan and, using your hands, spread them evenely across the bottom.

Roll out the second piece of dough and position it over the apples. Cut the dough so you've got a 1/4 to 1/2 inch overhang and tuck the excess into the sides of the pan, as though you were making a bed. (If you don't have that much overhang, just press what you've got against the sides of the pan.)

Brush the top of the dough lightly with water and sprinkle sugar over the dough. Using a small sharp knife, cut 6 to 8 evenly spaced slits in the dough.

Bake for 65 to 80 minutes, or until the dough is a nice golden brown and the juices from the apples are bubbling up through the slits. Transfer the baking pan to a cooling rack and cool to just warm or to room temperature. You'll be tempted to taste it sooner, but I think the dough needs a little time to rest.

German Chocolate Pie

This is April at her wedding reception... notice the look of quiet calm in Greg's eyes as he thinks... oh wow, I just married this girl and she's yelling out "wooo cheap trick."

April is my oldest friend. We met way back in 3rd grade in Mrs. Pomeroy’s class. She and I were pretty good friends off and on throughout elementary school and then I don’t think we really had any classes together from middle school until about Junior year of high school. Our Junior year, we had a few classes together and that's when the friendship really took off...

Let me just tell you the kind of relationship we have… in high school English, we would sit beside each other and everyday, I’d look at her at some point and I’d say… “April, I feel like I might have a fever… do I feel hot to you?” and she’d put her hand on my forehead and reply with whatever EVERYONE wants to hear in response to that question (and which incidentally, our moms never replied back to us)… “Wow, you do feel hot, I think you do have a fever!” And she’d say to me… “I’m not feeling too well either… how do I feel to you?” And I’d put my hand on her forehead and immediately say… “Oh yeah, you’ve definitely got a fever.” And then we’d crack up. It’s silly, but it kind of tells you something about our friendship. We trust each other and we always know what to say to make the other feel good.

I have so many great April stories, I couldn’t even begin to go through all of them… from going to see the midnight showing of the Exorcist (re-released) with winter scarves on (it was like 60 degrees outside), to making up ridiculous drinking games to sporting events… “ok, everytime they show Lou Holtz: Amy drinks and everytime they show Philip Fulmer: April drinks!” to riding around West End with finger puppets. Oh and the drinking…. Ohhhhhh the drinking we’ve done together.

And now, as adults we are closer than we were even in high school. She is my running partner (check out our running blog! 26point2ers), one of my very best friends and just a really good person. She’s someone that everyone likes. I mean, seriously, I’ve never met someone that knew her that didn’t like her.

Her birthday was November 17, but I didnt get to celebrate it with her until this past weekend. Finding a dessert to make her was a pretty easy decision. She, like me, basically likes anything and everything sweet and chocolatey. But, I knew that German Chocolate Cake was one of her absolute favorites. Now, it’s not easy to travel 200 miles with a big ole cake and with her husband not liking coconut, it wasn’t really practical to leave her with a whole cake to herself, but my mom had this recipe clipped from a magazine from forever ago for a German Chocolate Pie, so I decided to make it!

Honestly, I was less than thrilled. I envisioned a more fudge-y like pie and it turned into a more pudding-y type of pie. Which sucks, because with a great friend like April, you want it to be perfect… but I’m pretty sure she forgives me…. She’s cool like that.

April, lover of german chocolate, coconut, and pink ponies.

Happy Birthday, Ape!!!

Mint Chocolate Chip Pie

Remember when I first moved into my condo and there was a week there that I didn’t have a refrigerator? Yeah, I know, I’ve been trying to block it out, too. Well, one of those nights my best friends Steph and Justyn came over and brought me dinner from PF Changs (is there anything better than their steamed shrimp dumplings, mmmmmm).

Well, I wanted to repay them for their kindness (remember they also bought me Betty the kitchenaid mixer and mixing bowls, too!!) so I decided to invite them over for dinner last Thursday night. The menu was basic (I mean, no need to get crazy on a Thursday night, right?), but I wanted to make a dessert, too.

So, I found this pie recipe.

It’s very simple to make and apparently pretty forgiving, since the grocery store was out of regular vanilla pudding and I had to use French vanilla. One note though, it makes enough filling for 2 pies. I mean, seriously. You can easily cut this recipe in half to make one pie. I had a ton of filling left over.

I ended up putting the leftovers in the freezer and am anxious to try it frozen. I think it will be more like an ice cream pie. But, it’s very good. The only changes I made was that I used an oreo cookie pre-made crust, the French vanilla pudding, and I also added andes mints on top.

Cherry Pie

So, while I inherited my dads dark eyes and hair, it was from my mom that I inherited my sweet tooth. Generally, while I would try to save some room for a sweet dessert, my dad would just prefer another helping of dinner to a decadent dessert. He’ll eat desserts, yes, but he doesn’t crave sweets like I do.

But, his favorite dessert is well known in my family and that’s a cherry pie. Growing up we had a cherry tree and my mom would make my dad fresh cherry pies, a lot. She would freeze the fresh cherries to make pies when the cherries weren’t in season. Sadly, the cherry tree died after about 10 years, I think it was too close to the house and just didn’t have enough room to continue to grow, but what do I know? I may have been president of my FFA chapter, but I was never much of a gardener.

Okay, back to the pie. So, my dads birthday is today and I decided to tackle a cherry pie recipe. I perused some pie recipes online and found this recipe at Epicurious. I went off to Wild Oats to see if I could find the ingredients that I needed. They didn’t have any! So, I went to Harris Teeter… and they didn’t have exactly what I needed, but they did have a selection of canned cherries that I thought I could work with.

So, I studied the epicurious recipe and then I looked at the recipe that my mom always used to make her cherry pie and I came up with my own recipe. And this pie turned out delicious! My crust was a little on the dry side, but still tasty. I will definitely keep and use this recipe again! Tart and sweet all at the same time!

Cherry Pie

2 cans of Sweet Pitted Bing Cherries (14.5 oz cans)
1 can of Tart Cherries
3 tbsp cornstarch
½ cup Dried Sweet & Tart Cherries (about 3 ozs)
¼ cup Granulated Sugar
1 tbsp Butter
½ tsp Almond Extract
Red Food Coloring
Cream or milk
Pie crust for a double crust pie

Strain syrup from bing cherries and reserve juice. Strain tart cherries and reserve it’s juice separately. Combine the bing cherries and the tart cherries in a bowl with ¼ cup of the sweet juice (save the leftover juice), 2 tbsps of the tart juice, and the cornstarch; stir to blend and set aside.

Combine 1 cup of the sweet juice along with 1 tbsp of the tart juice with the dried cherries in a large saucepan. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes on medium low heat to allow the dried cherries to plump up. Uncover and increase the heat to medium and simmer until mixture bubbles thickly and it has reduced to about ¾ cup, stirring occasionally (about another 10 minutes). Add your other cherry mixture to the saucepan mixture along with the butter and heat thoroughly over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens (about 3-5 minutes). After mixture has thickened, pull off heat and add almond extract and a few drops of red food coloring. Transfer pie filling to a medium bowl and let it cool completely.

After it has completely cooled, position a rack in the second to the bottom row in your oven and preheat oven to 400 F. Roll our pie disk on a floured surface to 12 inch round. Transfer to a 9 inch diameter pie dish. Trim dough overhang to 1 inch. Put pie plate into the fridge while you roll out your top. Roll the top crust to 12 inch diameter. Spoon pie filling into bottom crust and then cover with top crust. Crimp edges decoratively and lightly brush the top and edges of the pie with whipping cream lightly. (I also sprinkled sugar on top the crust). Make four slits in the top of the crust to allow the steam to escape.

Place aluminum foil strips around the edges of the pie to keep them from browning too quickly. Put pie on a baking sheet with a rim and place into the preheated oven.

After 25-30 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and continue to cook.

Cook for about 50-55 minutes, until crust is golden.

Transfer pie to rack and allow to cool for 2 hours. Serve pie lukewarm or room temperature.
Tip: When transferring rolled pie dough to pie dish fold crust in half or in quarters and then place the dough in position in the pie dish and then unfold it to fit the dish.

Oatmeal Pie

When I was a kid, one of my absolute favorite toys was the Fisher Price Kitchenette. I got it for Christmas one year, and I loved to play pretend House with it. It wasn't as sophisticated as the kitchenettes are these days, I had to use my imagination a lot (which wasn't a problem, I had an imaginery friend, so using my imagination was not a foreign thing to me). I distinctly remember always asking my dad what he wanted me to make him and he always had one answer:

Cherry Pie.

I've never actually made a cherry pie. I've made a few other pies, but I've always been intimidated to make a cherry pie, because it's my dad's favorite pie. I want it to be perfect. Well, his birthday is a week from today and I've decided this is the year. I'm going to make him a cherry pie.

Now, it's been awhile since I've made pie crust. So, I wanted to have a dry run this weekend, just to make sure my skills are up to par.

I recently flipped through our family cookbook and came across a recipe that sounded... really weird. Oatmeal Pie. It was my Grandma Young's recipe (although I never remember having it), and I asked my mom about it and she said that it was very, very good.

I already had all the ingredients and thought... what the heck, I'll give it a try.

I actually only made half a pie. I halved the pie crust recipe and halved the pie recipe and used a smaller dish to bake it and it turned out perfectly! The pie crust was perfect. Flaky, but tender. And the pie... well, it's a little hard to describe, but I kind of think of it as a poor man's pecan pie. It has the texture and flavor of a pecan pie (which is my favorite pie), but, it has a thicker, heartier feel to it. It's delicious and I think next time, I'll add some cinnamon to the pie and maybe use brown sugar instead of granulated sugar and see how it turns it. Delicious.

I now think I'm ready to tackle the cherry pie this weekend!

mmmmm.... see that flaky crust and the thick, creamy filling?
Yum!

Pie Crust

Courtesy of Emeril

Yield: 1 crust

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp of all purpose flour

1 tbsp of sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut in 1/4 inch pieces

2 tbsp solid vegetable shortening, cold, cut into pieces

3 tbsps of ice water

Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, work in the butter and shortening till the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 2 tbsps of ice water and work with your fingers until the water is incorporated and the dough comes together. Add more water as needed to make a smooth dough, being careful not to over mix. Form the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using.

Oatmeal Pie

Recipe courtesy of Veachel Young

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 stick of butter, melted

2/3 cup corn syrup

2/3 cup uncooked Oats (I used quick, but I think regular would be better)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup nuts

2/3 cup sugar

1 unbaked pie shell

Mix all ingredients well and pour into pie shell.

Bake for one hour at 350 degrees.

Tangy Pineapple Cream Pie

I'm still looking for tasty low calorie desserts. And, I think I may have hit the jackpot this time! I saw a recipe awhile back on Cookie Madness for something called Millionaire Pie. I had never heard of this pie, even though Anna on cookie madness says that its a southern classic. Recipes that have pineapple in it, can't be southern classics, can they? I mean, unless you live in Southern Hawaii or something. Who had pineapple in the south?

I digress... I read over the ingredients for this millionaire pie and I started thinking... I might could make this low calorie!!! At first, I was a little hesitant... my last low calorie idea didn't turn out so well... but this one had promise.

I went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon seeking out the ingredients... crushed pineapple in it's own juice (no extra sugar added) check fat free sour cream check low calorie, fat free cool whip check... so far so good... and then we get to the sweetened condensed milk. Now, I knew that there was a fat free sweetened condensed milk... I checked the label and the sucker has 1100 calories for one can!!!!!! Yikes!!!! So, I paced up and down the baking aisle for a few minutes, pondering what to do... should I just scratch the whole pie? Nahhh.. I dont want to walk back to the refrigerated section and put the cool whip and sour cream away. I tried to think of what has the sweetness and consistency of sweetened condensed milk... not much, but I finally decided to buy a box of instant fat free, sugar free vanilla pudding...

And that's how this recipe was born... I've made a bunch of changes to the pie, so I changed the name and I'm calling it my own....

Tangy Pineapple Cream Pie

Graham Cracker Crust: (you could use a pre-made one if you like, but if you do, I'd halve the rest of the recipe).
3/4 cup of Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Butter melted

Filling:
1 box of jello instant pudding, vanilla fat free, sugar free
(you'll actually only use 14 oz of prepared pudding)
3 cups of cold milk (for the pudding)
4 tbsps sour cream
4 tbsps of key lime juice
2 8 oz cans of crushed pineapple in its own juice, drained
3 cups of cool whip

First, prepare your pudding according to box instructions, set aside to set.

Preheat the oven to 350 and mix the melted butter, sugar, and graham cracker crumbs together and pat into the bottom of a 9.5 inch glass pie pan. If you like more crust and want it to go up the sides, then double the recipe. I just wanted a little base crust. Put into the oven to bake for about 3-4 minutes. Just enough to firm up a little. It will still be pretty loose on top, but its okay, the filling is thick.

Prepare filling. Measure out 14 ozs of the prepared pudding (almost 2 cups) and place in a large mixing bowl. Then add sour cream, key lime juice, drained pineapple, and the cool whip and Stir well, incorporating all ingredients.

Pour filling into cooled pie dish and freeze for 1 hour then pull out of freezer and put into fridge for at least 4 hours. It fills the pie pan COMPLETELY.

What you get when you are finished is a deliciously tangy and sweet, creamy, refreshing pudding type of pie. It is yummy! I might also just skip the crust all together and pour into individual ramekins for little pudding desserts sometime, also.