Ella's Applesauce Pie (5 star)

Ella

14
10/22/11

I loved my Mom's applesauce pie. I could pick up a slice in my hand without worrying about it falling apart. There were 6 of us at home; a perfect pie division except when someone wasn't home or if someone didn't want a slice - inconceivable! I would generally get the extra piece, because being the baby of the family has its privileges.I called Sharon to make sure I got the recipe right. There are plenty of recipes online but most of them use eggs so it is more like a custard. This recipe will never be the same as Mom's but it is pretty good.

Simple Double Pie Crust:
3 cups flour

Abby and the finished product

1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup refrigerated butter
1/2 cup refrigerated shortening
1/4 cup cold water

1 egg yolk for glaze

Filling:
4 cups applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup cornstarch

Prepare bottom crust in pie plate and refrigerate. Mix applesauce, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch and pour into prepared pie plate. Moisten edges with water, cover with top crust and crimp edges. Brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 20 minutes, cover edges with tinfoil and continue cooking for 30 - 45 minutes until golden brown.

Applesauce Pie

Applesauce Pie

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumb Pie (2 star)

13
10/16/11

When we were young my sister Sharon and I used to eat rhubarb out of the garden. A stalk in one hand and a salt shaker in the other. So when we decided to try Strawberry-Rhubarb I called Sharon and asked if she could spare 4 cups of rhubarb, we got two large bags instead. We used a recipe from "Pie" by Ken Haedrich"

Filling
3 cups fresh rhubarb in 1/2 inch thick slices
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tablespooons fresh lemon juice
Grated zest of 1 lemon
4 cups halfed fresh strawberries
1/2 cup quick-cooking tapioca

Bottom Crust-Buttermilk Crust

Crub Topping
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup cold putter cut into 1/4 pieces

Prepare crust, place in pie pan and place in freezer for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest in bowl and mix well. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Add strawberries and tapioca and mix well. Put filling into chilled pie shell  and bake for 30 minutes.
Make topping by combining flour, cornmenal, brown sugar, cinnmon in a food processor, pulse several times. Add butter on top and pulse until mixture is fine crumbs. Finish mixing by rubbing between fingers. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Remove pie from oven and reduce temperature to 375 degrees. Add crumbs and tamp down with hands. Continue cooking for 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool.

Shaker Lemon Pie (3 star)

12
10/8/11

The Shakers were a religious group formed in England in 1747. They were known for their ingenuity, attention to detail, and thrift. The Shaker Lemon Pie is an example of their thrift as all of the lemon is used to make the pie. This is the second time we have made this pie but this is a new recipe from Cooks Country "Best Country Recipes." It cooks up like a custard.

1 double-crust buttermilk crust
3 large lemons, sliced thin and seeded
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon heavy cream


Preheat oven to 425 degrees line 9-inch pipe plate with dough and refrigerate.
Cut lemon in thin slices and squeeze juice from each slice through a strainer and save squeezed juice. Bring drained lemons slices and 2 cups water to boil then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slices are softened, about 5 minutes. Drain well and discard liquid. Combine lemon slices, sugar, salt, and 1/4 cup reserved lemon juice in bowl; stir until sugar dissolves.
Wisk conrstarch and any remaining lemon juice. (We cheated and used a fourth lemon to get an additional 1/4 cup lemon juice.) Whisk eggs into cornstarch mixture, then slowly stir in lemon slice mixture until combined. Pour into chilled pie shell, cover with top crust, seal and crimp edges, brush top with cream. Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for another 20 - 25 minutes.

Heavenly Pie (2 star)

11
10/12/11

This is a different and a little more complex pie for us. We found it in the October/November 2011 edition of Cook's Country. However, it turned out to be pretty straight forward with a lot of wait time. In fact the recipe says "don't skimp on the resting times in oven or the refrigerator. If you do, the pie may be gooey..." We used a deep dish stone pie plate my sister Charlene gave us and it was just right. The pie had a good flavor but the crust was gooey and hard to cut. We decided to barge in on the Mill's and have them to a taste test. They are good friends and were very cooperative, besides it was good to visit them.

4 large eggs, separated, room temperature
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 300 degrees, grease 9 inch deep-dish pie plate.

Whip egg whites, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cream of tartar on medium low speed until foamy, ambout 1 minute. Increase speed to medium high and whip to soft billowy mounds, 1 to 3 minutes. Gradually add 1 cup sugar and whip until glossy, stiff peaks form, 3 to 6 minutes.

Spread meringue  into prepared pie plate and smooth into even layer. Run finger around inside edge of plate to create a small gap between edge of meringe and rim of plate. Bake meringue until golden brown and set, about 1 hour. Turn off oven and let meringue dry completely in oven for about 3 hours longer. Place on wire rack and cool about 30 minutes.

Mix 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt together. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened about 5 minutes. Strain curd (mixture) through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl. (We used my Mom's colander and it worked well.) Place plastic rap directly on surface of curd and refrigerate until completely cooled, about 1 hour.

Whip cream on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Fold half of whipped cream into cooled lemon curd until no white streaks remain. Spread lemon mixture into cooled meringue shell and smooth into even layer. Spread remaining whipped cream over top and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.

Nick

K'annie

Penny

Jane Donaldson's Fresh Peach Pie (5 star)

10
9/28/11



Kerry doing the hard work

 One of Kerry's young women advisor's, Jane Donaldson, makes the best peach pie and it is our favorite peach recipe. We didn't use our own peaches this year, they are small and bitter so I'm going to pull them out and start over (Jacob 5:49). Instead, we bought a 1/2 bushel from a stand on 4th South in Orem. They are great peaches large and very sweet. Kerry did most of the hard  work with the peaches. We made two pies: one for us and one for Zack. He did some landscape exavation with one of his toys so we really owe him at least a pie. We told him that they needed to refrigerate the pie overnight until it set up. He also said that his wife Kristen loves peaches. Before we made it home I got a text from Zack: "Kristen disregarded your instruction and is having a piece right now. I tried to stop her." 

Fresh Peachs

Jane Donaldson's Fresh Peach Pie

Filling

1 cup sliced peaches for mixture
6 cups sliced peaches for filling
2/3 cup water for simmering
1/3 cup water for mixture


Zack and Austin



1 cup sugar

3 Tbs corn starch



8 oz Cream Cheese

Simmer 1 cup peaches and 2/3 cup water. Blend together sugar cornstarch and 1/3 cup water. Add to simmering peaches. Boil 1 minute stirring constantly. Let cool. Spread softened cream cheese over bottom of pie shell, fill with 6 cups sliced peaches, cover with mixture. Chill about 2 hours.

Basic Crust