Heavenly Apple Pie

This is one of those recipes that brings back such fond memories.  

Grandma's apple pie was simply divine and cooked a little differently than most apple pie recipes. She actually started cooking the apple filling on the stove top before she baked the entire pie in the oven. Not sure where this idea came from, but it makes perfect sense! The important thing is not to overcook the apples, but just distribute the sugars and cinnamon while gently heating everything up. By preparing the apples this way, the filling was never too sweet, most of the liquid had been extracted from the apples in the cooking process so the pie was never "soupy," and the apples looked like apples--not sauce. Brilliant!

I think I'm going to go make one right now!  Just close your eyes and imagine this apple pie, warm out of the oven and topped with some good Madagascar Vanilla ice cream. Yummmm! I say again, yummmmm!

Prepare a full recipe of your No-Fail Pie Crust and you will be ready to go.

Heavenly Apple Pie

2 tablespoons butter
8 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into slices
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat and add in the apple slices, sugars, and cinnamon. Stir the apples to make sure they are thoroughly coated with the sugar and cinnamon. Heat through, being careful not to make the apples mushy.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the apples and spoon them into your prepared pie crust. There will be quite a bit of liquid left in the skillet. Reserve about 1/4 cup of this and pour over apples in pie crust. Top with second pie crust and crimp edges as desired. 

Cut slits in top crust so air can escape while cooking. Cover edges with foil so they don’t get too brown.  Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for additional 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes one 9-inch pie.

3-Can Silky Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same without the desserts and other temptations that come to our holiday tables.

Pumpkin pie, of course, is one of our favorites. Some variation of it may have been served at the Pilgrims' Thanksgiving table, having been introduced to them by the Native Americans. Perhaps it was a sweet potato or squash pie. Either way they are delicious desserts on their own or with a dollop of real whipped cream on top.

This particular pie was one Grandma discovered in a newspaper and once she got a hold of it, she was hooked (and so were we).

For this pumpkin pie recipe you'll need only need one No-Fail Pie Crust, so you can make the full recipe and put the other one in a freezer bag to store in the freezer. Then you can make this again for Christmas (or for the day after Thanksgiving)!

3-Can Silky Pumpkin Pie

1 can (15 ounces) 100% pure pumpkin

½ tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp allspice

2 large eggs, plus 2 yolks

1 cup canned evaporated milk

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

9-inch prebaked pie crust

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300F.

In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the pumpkin, salt, and spices to blend flavors, about 5 minutes. Add milks; cook until heated through.

In a blender or large food processor, purée eggs and yolks.  With the blender running, add pumpkin filling—a spoonful at a time at first, then more quickly as the eggs heat up. Blend to form a silky texture. Pour warm filling into a prebaked pie shell. Bake until a thin-bladed knife inserted near the center of the pie comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.

Easy Flag Cake

It's Veteran's Day today and what better way to celebrate than with food? Besides we need the practice for Thanksgiving in two weeks!

Grandma subscribed to a couple of home and garden magazines and when she found a recipe she wanted to try out, she'd tear it out and save it. Kraft kitchens always had (and still has!) great recipes and they're easily adaptable if you prefer healthier ingredients.

For the pound cake, the best option is to make your own just like Grandma would have and since that's the key ingredient, it has to be delicious!  For the whipped filling and topping (recipe calls for Cool Whip), Grandma would have preferred dairy whipped cream...with sugar and real vanilla added...so good it makes me weak in the knees. The only catch is when you use real whipped cream in a dessert, you need to finish the whole thing. With this flag cake recipe, that's not a problem.  

Kraft's flag cake is actually a summery Fourth of July dessert, so getting blueberries and strawberries in the middle of November could be a challenge for some of you. If you're fortunate enough to find them though, this recipe is well worth the effort and brings a little sunshine to your table too! 

Easy Flag Cake

4 cups fresh strawberries

1 prepared pound cake, cut into 14 slices

1 1/3 cups blueberries, divided

1 tub (12 oz) Cool Whip, thawed or (if serving immediately) your own whipped cream

Slice 1 cup strawberries and halve the remaining strawberries. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch dish with cake slices, top with sliced strawberries and 1 cup blueberries. Spread Cool Whip or whipped cream over berries.

Arrange strawberry halves and remaining blueberries on top of whipped topping to resemble a US flag. Refrigerate until served.

Best Carrot Cake

Carrot cake recipes are a dime a dozen but when you find one that's a real winner you want to shout it out on the mountaintops and have it for dessert every night! The problem with that would be your rapidly expanding girth. Better to save this one for special times and your favorite visiting relative.

This recipe was given to Grandma by her very special friend Jennie. Lifetime friends are rare and precious and Jennie was. She and her husband, Bernard, were the first to introduce themselves when Grandma and Grandpa moved into the neighborhood back in the 1950s. Jennie's husband was a very interesting and talented man. He was a retired Army colonel and had been a staff member of General Douglas McArthur during World War 2. 

My Grandpa used to tell me that Bernard could calculate long strings of large numbers in his head like an adding machine. I thought that was amazing. Bernard would call Grandma and Grandpa early (4 am) on Saturday mornings and invite them to go to breakfast--150 miles away in Portland, Oregon.  Spontaneous and wonderful!  

When Bernard passed away in 1963, Jennie moved back to her hometown of Neillsville, Wisconsin and kept in close touch with Grandma through the years. Grandma grieved when she died. Jennie had been like a sister.

Jennie had been very involved with the local Scandinavian community. She took Grandma with her to many Daughters of Norway events and festivals all over the Northwest. She also shared some of her amazing recipes, including this one for Carrot Cake. I think the secret is the pineapple. It gives it just enough "zing" to make it delicious but it's not so rich you can't lick your plate clean....excuse me...got a little carried away there. Try it and see for yourself. I guarantee if you try it, you'll be hooked!

Carrot Cake

2 cups sugar
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ C Wesson oil
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 small can crushed pineapple
2 cups grated carrots
2 ½ cups flour

Mix dry ingredients; mix liquid ingredients; blend together with flour and pour into 9x13 inch pan (well greased). Bake 350F 45-50 minutes.

Icing:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
½ cube butter or margarine
1 box powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Blend until smooth and pour over top of baked cake after it has cooled.


PS ~ Don't you LOVE that recipe paper Jennie used?

"Kissin' wears out...cookin' don't"