Fruit Cobbler

Make this Fruit Cobbler in a muffin cup for a smaller treat!

 I seem to be doing a series on old family favorite recipes but sometimes the old ones are the best ones! Mom has made this delicious recipe since I was a kid and now it's one of our favorite recipes too. Try any fruit; peaches, plums, blackberries, marionberries, rhubarb, blueberry.... If you're using home-canned fruit, I'd use 2 quart jars, minus the liquid.



Fresh canned peaches make a great cobbler!



Mom's Fruit Cobbler

1. Melt 1/2 cup butter in a 9''x13'' pan.

2. In a bowl, mix:

    1 1/2 cups sugar

    2 cups flour

    4 tsp. baking powder

    1 1/2 cups milk

    pinch salt

Beat well; pour over melted butter.

3. Top with 8 cups of fruit. Sprinkle sugar over entire dessert.  

4. Bake for 60 minutes at 375'.



I sprinkled Pampered Chef Sweet Sprinkles on to add extra flavor and...because they are just good! :)

   



Mini Peach Cobblers!



World's Best Lemon Meringue Pie

Another delicious pie recipe! We love the tartness of a true lemon pie!

World's Best Lemon Meringue Pie




(Taste Of Home recipe)

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups water
3 eggs yolks, beaten
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 baked pastry shell, (9 inches)


In medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt. Gradually stir in water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Gradually stir 1 cup hot filling into egg yolks; return all to pan. Bring to boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in Butter, lemon juice and peel until butter is melted. Pour hot filling into pastry shell.

Make meringue (recipe below). Spread evenly over hot filling, sealing edges to crust. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until the meringue is golden. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour; refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator. Yield: 6-8 servings.


NOTE: When I made this pie, it wasn't tart enough, like Grandma's so I added more lemon zest/ exchange a little water for more lemon juice.

Meringue: Beat 3 eggs whites with 1/4 tsp cream of tartar and 1/2 tsp vanilla until soft peaks form. Gradually add 6 tablespoons sugar, beating until stiff peaks form and all sugar is dissolved. Spread atop pie, sealing to pastry. Bake at 350' about 12-15 minutes, or until meringue is golden. Cool.

Coconut Banana Cream Pie

Coconut Banana Cream Pie
The best of both worlds!



The coconut crust is a wonderful complement to this banana cream pie. You will need to watch the crust as it bakes make sure it doesn't brown too quickly. MY FAVORITE!! This pie would also be wonderful with a regular pie crust. Sorry I don't yet have a picture of this. But please, make one and share the photo! :)

 Crust:

7 T butter

3 cups flaked coconut, sweetened




Filling:
3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup All purpose flour

3 T cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups half & half Cream

4 eggs yolks, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large firm bananas

Whipped Cream and sliced bananas for topping, optional


In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute coconut until golden. Set aside 2 tablespoons for topping.Press remaining coconut onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9" pie pan. Bake at 350' for 7 minutes. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Gradually add cream and bring to boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. remove from heat. Stir a small amount into egg yolks. Return to the pan, cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; add vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Place bananas in the crust. Cover with cream mixture. Chill until set, about 2 hours. Sprinkle with reserved coconut. If desired, garnish with whipped cream and bananas. Store leftovers in the refrigerator. Yield: 6-8 servings.

 NOTES: Making homemade pudding takes a lot of constant stirring. Be prepared that it will take a few minutes to thicken- but don't worry- it eventually will.

My Favorite Pie Crust

Perfect Pie Crust can be made!

 The crust recipe was originally from my friend, Carol Reeves but I exchanged some shortening for butter and I think lard would also work well. Don't get worried about all of the instructions but please read through it if you haven't made pie crust before. There are helpful tips for a first-time pie maker! I will also be adding variations of pies, so watch for them on my blog!Your family will love these pies- I promise!!

Flaky, tender crust with a great flavor!!

So here goes:

Carol's Perfect Pie Crust

8 cups unsifted flour, lightly spooned into cup

2 T sugar
4 tsp salt

2 -2/3 c butter flavor shortening * (I replaced 1/2 of it with real butter cut into small squares)

1 large egg or 2 med eggs
2 t apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

This recipe makes 4 double crusts or 6-7 single crust pies. You can freeze it by leaving in the round circle or by rolling it out and puting it in the pan or rolled up into waxed paper.

TIPS:

*Use a Pampered Chef measure all cup- the one the pushed the stuff out. It works great for shortening

** It really help to place another pie tin of the same size in a single crust before it bakes. Because the crust is so pliable it tends to want to sink down into the pan as it bakes, and you could wind up with a large tart crust!

***Keep a light dusting of flour on your rolling pin. Also keep a small amount (1/2 cup) flour nearby to sprinkle on your table as you rolld, to prevent the dough from sticking. A pastry mat works great as a guide and to easily get the crust off of the counter but you caould also use a piece of clear vinyl, marking a circle around it with the pie crust measuring 1 1/2- 2" larger than your pie pan.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, stir dry ingredients with fork. Add shortening (or butter/ lard) and cut in till crumbly with a pastry cutter.(If you don't have one I think you could use 2 knives.)

2. In a small bowl, beat vinegar, water and egg. Combine with flour mixture and stir until moist with a large spoon. You will then, need to use your hands. Kned the crust mix until it all sticks together. (Really squish all of the butter together so it's mixed well or you might think it's too dry. (Experience talking?? LOL) Add extra flour to your hands if necessary. it should stay very soft and elastic. Form it into a big , flattened ball then using a huge knife, cut into 6-8 equal parts (depending on the size of crust you need). Pat those pieces into circles, about 1/2- 3/4" thick and about 5 inches across.

3. Roll out dough onto a well-floured surface starting in the center and roll toward the outside. Dough should be about 1/8" thick.*** Cut off the excess, uneven crust outside the circle, and stack the strips for later use (if you want a lattice topped pie). Fold the circle in 1/2 and lift it across to the center of the pie plate. Unfold the crust and adjust for eveness.

For double crust: Unfold one crust onto the bottom, udjusting for evenness then add the filling and poke holes in the top crust with a fork or use a knife to create a design before you place a folded crust on top. When placeing the top crust crust, unfold, adjust for evenness and pinch the two layers togetherso it stnad above the edge of the pie pan. Crimp of pinch the edges together. Trim excess.

For a single pie crust: Unfold crust into the pan, roll the edges under so it stand above the edge of the pie plate. Crimp the edges with a fork or your fingers, or the back of a spoon.

There is no comfort food greater than Chicken Pot Pie! (Double Crust)

For a baked single crust pie: Poke holes in the crust before puting it into the pan. Fold it in 1/2, lay it in the pan, then unfold it. ** Bake at 425' for 15-18 minutes or until crust is light brown. If edges start to brown too much, tear 2 inch strips of foil and arrange around edges. (or use a crust edge cover by PC). Watch the pie closely because ovens differ and this may be too hot and too long for your oven.

For ideas to use with your beautiful pie crust, go over to my past blog post . Enjoy!

.

Frozen Peanut Butter Bars

Frozen Peanut Butter Bars



1 cup butter
2 cups peanut butter
2 1/2 cups Graham Cracker crumbs
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cups milk chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk


In a large saucepan, melt butter and peanut butter together. Mix well. Remove from heat. Add crumbs and powdered sugar, mixing well. Spread peanut butter mixture in a jelly roll pan ( for thinner bars) or 9x13 (for thicker bars). I lined the pan with parchment or waxed paper). Chill. When the peanut butter layer is firm, melt chocolate chips with milk over low heat. Spread over chilled peanut butter mixture. Chill again. Eat now or freeze.



(In our family, we froze these - otherwise I could have possibly eaten the whole batch myself!)


Freezer Directions: Cut into serving size pieces/bars. Wrap individually or by the amount of one serving for your family. Store in ziploc bags or a rigid container. They are great frozen or slightly thawed too.




O YUM! I have had NO complaints with these!!

I heart Pie Crust

What's your favorite comfort food? Or are you like me and cannot fathom choosing just one?

The best looking pie crust I've made so far! I think I'm finaly getting this down!

 

One of my favorites is turkey dinner with all of the sides, veggies, sauces, potatoes, gravies, stuffing...etc.  The best part is that after you've eaten your meal, there's usually at least enough meat left for one more meal. This week, I made that turkey STRETCH! I turned a 22 lb turkey into 4 very filling meals!

Turkey Pot Pie- the ultimate comfort food!

First, the turkey dinner and then tonight I made 3 turkey pot pies! (Why are they called pot pies???)  I thought my crust was gonna be a flop because I doubled it and then ran out of room. (Have you ever done that before? This isn't the first time I have!!) But after tasting just one bite, I said with shock, "I think this is the best crust I've ever made!!" My family agreed. All except for my spoiled 3 year old that doesn't realize how nice it is to have yummy food made for her! She'll probably appreciate it someday, right?

So, do you want to see what I made? I'll add the recipe later but I thought I'd share the photos that I snapped of how it all turned out! You'll want this crust recipe for sure! I got it from someone else and then of course, made it my own by changing some ingredients. That seems to be a bad habit of mine- or maybe it's a good one! I'll let you know all about that later. For now, enjoy!



Like my pie crust piles? lol They aren't very beautiful this way. First I separated them, but evenly cutting them and then I divided up more because I made them into too big of rounds! See? I'm still learning!





The Turkey Pie -ready to devour! One went to a friend and one is in our freezer for later - Yay!



These are little blueberry pies. I used homemade filling, about 1 1/2 T for each one, and then wet around the edges and joined together at the edges. (See below)





Ready for the oven!



And because we're trying to be careful about how many sweets we're eating, these are going in the freezer to have one every once in awhile. I easily could gobble them right away!

                 

These are the few I sent to my friend and her small family for dessert after their turkey pie. You can make them any design and size. I wanted these to be similar to the store-bought fruit pies.

Cranberry-Blackberry Crepes

Last night we had a feast for dinner! We had turkey, stuffing, mashed red & yellow potatoes, turkey gravy, a few left-over deviled eggs, left-over peaches, green beans and homemade Cranberry- blackberry sauce. I think I've mentioned that I'm doing a "Biggest Loser" challenge with some friends and others from church so I did try to not over-do it. (I easily could have though!! That's my favorite meal!) So I had already decided, when I did my meal planning for this week, to make crepes. We thought the Cranberry-Blackberry sauce would be perfect to go along with crepes! It almost tastes like a tart Little Wild Blackberry jam. Another NW favorite! 

So, first make your sauce, then serve it warm with crepes, or cold- either way would be scrumptious!

Cranberry- Blackberry Crepes

Kristin's Cranberry -Blackberry Sauce

Combine 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar in large saucepan; stir to dissolve sugar. Heat to boiling; boil 5 minutes. Add 1 bag fresh cranberries (12 oz bag) and 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blackberries. Cook about 10-15 minutes, depending if you want it to "jell". (The longer amount of time will allow it to jell). Skins will pop so be careful about it splattering on you! Serve warm or chilled. makes about 4 cups! 

Derek's Crepes

Crepe batter

1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/8 teaspoon salt

In bowl, combine all ingredients; beat until smooth. Lightly grease a 6-8" skillet (use a small amount of oil and swirl it around the pan); heat to medium. Remove from heat, pour in 1/3 cup batter. Swirl around quickly so that it covers the bottom of the pan.  Return to heat. Lightly brown each side. It only takes a few seconds to cook on the 2nd side.  Store in a tortilla warmer until ready to serve. Fill with fruit or fruit or jam and top with whipped cream! 

We double this recipe to serve our family of 5, and had a few leftovers.

Pour about 1/3 or less into 6-8" skillet. Non-stick works well for this!

  

These only take a short amount of time to cook. Some recipes say to cook one side but we like both sides cooked.

These go quickly but if you want everyone to eat at about the same time, store them in a place to keep warm!



We used a tortilla warmer! Works perfectly!



Butter is a nice addition before you fill them. If you're cutting back on fats/calories, then leave this step out. (boo hoo)

Spread a small amount of butter on the inside of the crepe.

Scoop about 1 tablespoon of fruit filling inside. Fresh strawberries are AWESOME but it's not that season right now....

Roll up like a burrito!

What a great looking crepe Derek! (He made the crepes while I got the kids started with school today. Then I came back and assembled them. It's so nice to have him home!)



Now, if I had homemade whipped cream, I'd use that but I've been trying to stay away from buying creams and fattening stuff. So, I grabbed this out of the freezer. It's still yummy! (and fattening... I know!)



And here they are!

 So.... what did the kids think? See for yourself!

 

The kids are using the plates they created at a local ceramic shop. FUN! Caleb gives it a thumbs up!



Talia's devouring hers!

  

haha Aidan licked his plate clean!

I felt like doing the same thing... but I refrained.

It hardly needs washing now!

Christmas Indulgence!

I just finished up the only Christmas baking I'll be doing... besides the requested dinner rolls for my dad's side of the family.

These bite -sized treats are not in the least healthy. Don't be fooled by the peanuts or coconut. (Although maybe that makes up for the sugar and butter!) hahaha

The first photos are of Coconut Balls (tastes like an Almond Joy!). The last photos are of the Peanut Butter Balls


Coconut Balls
Ingredients:
2 cups coconut
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1 can Eagle Brand Sweetenend Condensed Milk
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 pound bag powdered sugar
1/2 tsp almond oil- SECRET ingredient

Chocolate Dip
2 bags chocolate chips
1/4 bar paraffin wax or 1/4 cup Crisco

Mix coconut, nuts and butter in a large bowl. (I used a Kitchen Aid because it was awfully thick!) Add vanilla, almond extract, and milk with hands (if you don't use a mixer). Then add the sugar a fwe cups at a time and mix until stiff. You can also put your hand in a Ziploc bag to avoid your hands getting all sticky.  Roll into balls using your hands or a 1 teaspooon -cookie scoop.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Lay out a sheet-pan sized piece of waxed paper.

Melt chocolate and wax (or Crisco) in a small glass bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between each heating. (To keep from overheating your chocolate, heat minimally. My microwave heats 1 cup in a bout 1 full minute. Overheating your chocolate will result in a gritty-textured chocolate that will not be suitable for dipping. I know this from experience!) Poke ball with toothpick and dip into chocolate. Set dipped balls on wax paper and let dry. Store in refrigerator and enjoy! 

Coconut Ball mixture. This Pampered Chef Scoop works so well for

 this job!

I would scoop the right size ... 

and my son would help with perfecting the ball. 

He's a great helper!!

See? (Hands are washed, of course!)

I love these scoops!!

We ended up with 88 coconut balls! Sorry the picture is bright but I wanted to include the shot of the heavenly bites!

And here's the Peanut Butter Balls.....mmmmm Our favorite! This filling is much softer than the Coconut Ball Filling. It really needs refrigerating for it to work well.

Peanut Butter Balls

Cream together and then chill at least 30 minutes:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup chopped nuts (optional or just use crunchy peanut butter)

1 tsp vanilla

Roll into balls. Lay down waxed paper. Melt 1 pkg chocolate chips and 1/4 bar of paraffin wax in a small glass bowl in the microwave at 30-second intervals. (Stirring after each heating) Dip chilled peanut butter ball into melted chocolate, by using a toothpick. Lay on waxed paper to cool. Store in refrigerator.

This recipe made about 1/3 of what the other made. I suggest doubling this one if you like peanut butter.

I know, I know... you can see the lumps of powdered sugar. O well. They are still worth eating! LOL

We rolled out all of the balls, cooled them and then started the dipping the next day! (Today!!) Here is what I ended up using for the chocolate dip. 1/2 Dark Cocoa Candy Melts and 1/2 Dark Chocolate Chips with a small amount of Crisco. (Probably about the ratio of what the recipe says.)

Here's where I melted the 3 together.  (Can you tell I lost my helper? He was busy puting birthday Lego's together!) The chocolate should be a little lumpy after it's heated and then you just stir until it's mixed. If you overheat it... that's not good.

See? All better. These little Prep Bowls from Pampered Chef work well for this job.

Poke the toothpick into the Peanut Butter ball....

...completely covering it, and set is gently onto waxed paper.

This was my first try.  The rule in our house is that we have to eat the ugly ones first and save the others for giving away. A few were eaten tonight! haha

I tried a fork with the Peanut Butter Balls because it was getting too soft. A toothpick just works better actually.

And here they are! Topped with a single peanut!

Here's the Coconut balls... See how there's an ugly spot on the top? That was from using a toothpick. Just set a few flakes of coconut on top, or a nut for the peanut butter ones and they look much better!

Sorry... if you were here, I would have shared.

Speaking of sharing, my friend left these on my doorstep today. This is just what's left. When we arrived home we devoured them, not even knowing who made them till later. When I realized they were from my friend Jana, (a great cook!!), that made them even better!  I cut some in half so that we could taste each one. Those cheesecake ones in the back were one of my favorites!

Plus, she found some vintage potholders and left them for me too. How did she know that I would have a perfect spot for them above my sink? Thank you Jana!

Merry Christmas to all!

Happy Birthday to our son Aidan!

Thank you Lord, for sending Your Son for us!!