October Berries ~ A Fantastic Country Raspberry Pie

*This is my actual pie--Isn't she purdy :-)
With fall underway, I find myself missing the fresh berries of summer. There is one berry, however, that is harvested into October and continues to be readily and deliciously available at the grocery store-- The Raspberry.

My mom and I both enjoy a gem of a magazine titled COUNTRY. Not to be confused with COUNTRY LIVING and other decorator magazines, COUNTRY magazine is simply an organic look at true country living. Real people on real farms send in their stories, photography and recipes and I study each page like a kid reading a holiday toy catalog!

I enjoyed some farm fresh raspberries on my parents farm in August. I also enjoyed one of the best raspberries pies I've ever tasted.  I came across this Very Raspberry Pie recipe in a summer issue of COUNTRY, and the moment I saw it, I knew this pie was going to be special. Kathy Jones of West Winfield, New York submitted her Very Raspberry Pie recipe made from the raspberries she picks along a 130-year-old train track. The flavors in this easy pie are pure, fresh and delicious.

Quite frankly, this one knocked my socks off! Hope you love it to.

Very Raspberry Pie
by Kathy Jones

Raspberry Topping:
6 cups fresh raspberries, divided
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Cream Filling:
1 pkg. (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup whipped topping
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 graham cracker crust (9 in.) *I use the recipe on the graham cracker box.

1. Mash about 2 cups raspberries to measure 1 cup; place in a small saucepan. Add the sugar, cornstarch and water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Strain to remove berry seeds if desired. (I skipped this step). Cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

2. For the filling, beat the cream cheese, whipped topping and confectioners' sugar in a small bowl. Spread in bottom of crust.

3. Top with remaining raspberries. Pour cooled raspberry sauce over top. Refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.

4.  Store in the refrigerator. Garnish with fresh mint if desired.


~The Lemonista

Classic Quiche Lorraine

Originally claimed by Alsace-Lorraine, this cheese-custard classic is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

I often find myself whipping up a quiche for dinner when I need to go grocery shopping and my frig contains little more than eggs. My favorite quiche recipe comes from one of the vintage cookbooks I inherited, Betty Crocker's PIE AND PASTRY COOKBOOK.

Quiche Lorraine
From the 1968 Betty Crocker's PIE AND PASTRY COOKBOOK


1 9 inch pie crust. *(if you don't want to make your own, use Marie Callender's frozen pie crust brand)
12 slices bacon, crisply fried and crumbled
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 cup minced onion
4 eggs
2 cups heavy cream or light cream (whatever you prefer)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Heat over to 425 degrees. Prepare pie crust or unwrap frozen crust :-) Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion in uncooked pie crust bottom. With a hand mixer, blend remaining ingredients, pour over bacon mixture. Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce over temp to 300 degrees. Bake 30 minutes longer or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
This is wonderful served with steamed veggies and fresh fruit.

*I thought you might find humor in knowing that I took this photo on the hood of my car since I was loosing daylight.  My neighbors probably think I'm a total loon! :-)

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

Triple Berry Cobbler à la mode!

Want to be a household hero tonight? Have I got the dessert for you!



I don't think a speck of this mouth watering cobbler was ever given the chance to cool. For as soon as I popped this bad boy out of the oven, it was divided up amongst the family and top with vanilla ice cream.  This cobbler truly tastes as good as it looks and best of all, it takes less that 15 minutes to whip it together!

You will need:


Preheat over to 375 degrees.
Pour two 16oz bags frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries & blackberries) into a greased baking dish.  (5-6 cups fresh berries may be substituted if berries are in season).


Combine 4 tablespoons sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon.




Sprinkle sugar mixture over the berries.


Toss the sugar mixture into the berries with your fingers.


Drizzle 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice over the top.


In a mixing bowl combine flour, brown sugar, softened butter and oats (the oats make it healthy *wink*)


Cut together with a fork or pastry cutter until crumbly.




Sprinkle oat mixture over berries.


If using frozen berries, bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 min, until fruit is tender, top is golden brown and juice is bubbling.
(if using fresh berries, reduce cook time to 25-35 min).



Scoop cobbler into a bowl.


I'm using a lavender Bohemian porcelain dish that my dear friend Sarka's mom brought to me in her suitcase from the Czech Republic!!


Top with vanilla ice cream.



Allow me to spoon feed you through the monitor. *grin*



Triple Berry Cobbler à la mode

2 16oz bags frozen mixed berries (raspberry, blueberry, blackberry) or 5-6 cups fresh berries.
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
4 TB. sugar (you can use less if fresh berries are sweet)
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

Pour two 16oz bags frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries & blackberries) into a greased baking dish. (5-6 cups fresh berries may be substituted if berries are in season). Combine 4 tablespoons sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar mixture over the berries. Toss the sugar mixture into the berries with your fingers. Drizzle 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice over the top. In a mixing bowl combine flour, brown sugar, softened butter and oats. Cut together with a fork or pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle oat mixture over berries. If using frozen berries, bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 min, until fruit is tender, top is golden brown and juice is bubbling. (if using fresh berries, reduce cook time to 25-35 min).
Top warm cobbler with vanilla ice cream.


Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

Mom's Blue Ribbon Strawberry Pie

Looky what's starting to ripen in my garden...




Finding these pretties got me thinking of strawberry desserts, so I decided to make one for Easter Sunday.


My Mom's Strawberry Pie *sigh*

This blue ribbon winning recipe came from a local Pittsburgh newspaper in the 1960's.  I only have a handwritten copy of it now, so I do not know who to credit this one to.  However, my mother has been making this pie since before I was born.

Growing up, I requested this pie for my Birthday every year instead of cake. 
Today, I love it more than my morning coffee. (For reals!)

Just look at this beauty cooling on my stove...


Now, because I fully admit what a foodie super nerd I am. 


I thought I'd share some of my insanity by posting my strawberry pie photo shoot.  Yes, I actually served up the pie on all of these different plates to decide which one looked the prettiest. (Mental...I know). 

#1


#2


#3


I'd love it if you'd indulge me with your favorite in the comments.  I'll randomly pick a comment this Friday and send you a little treat. *winks*

Mom's Blue Ribbon Strawberry Pie


1 9 inch pie shell - baked ( the Marie Calender brand in the freezer section is good if you don't want to make your own)
2 16oz containers of fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
a drop or two of red food color if berries are not very red.

Crush about 1/2 the berries and combine with sugar, add salt, cornstarch and water. (mix the cornstarch with the water first to dissolve it). Cook over medium heat until thick and clear, stirring constantly. Add food coloring to intensify color if needed.

Place the remaining fresh berries into the baked pie shell, cutting larger berries in half.  Pour cooked mixture over the berries. Chill. Serve with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

*TIP:  When separating the berries, I save the biggest and prettiest ones to slice in the pie and the less ripe/attractive berries I crush for the filling.

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

Simple Bento & Old Fashioned Lemon Meringue Pie

I'll do the drawing for the Lemons tomorrow morning after I drop my son off at preschool, so probably around 10am MST. Wink.  There is still time to enter, so please throw your hat in the ring if you haven't already done so.  As a follower of my blog just leave a comment on this thread:
http://thelemonista.blogspot.com/2011/01/whos-up-for-another-lemon-giveaway.html

This morning I have some simple Bento for you. 
The sandwich is just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut with a SweetBytes sandwich cutter that I got on the bread isle at the grocery store.
\


http://www.amazon.com/SweetBytes-Sandwich-Crust-Cutter-Heart/dp/B00167TA48

This cutter would make a really cute sandwich for Valentine's Day.  Grin.

For Elyse's fruit and Veggie, I did red grapes (the fave at our house) and these new organic yellow carrots I found at Fry's (Kroger).  If you see these carrots--buy them.  They are really tasty and an instant hit with my kids!



I made the faces on the carrots with a nori punch and then added my new favorite Bento hat food picks.  I picked these up on ebay.  Just search "Bento food pick hats."


I don't do Bento every day, probably more like one or two days a week, and sometimes I only add a food pick or cut a sandwich in a cute shape--Really any little detail to give my kids lunch a little something special is enough.   So have fun with it.  It doesn't have to be anything more than a post-it note with a cute face drawn on it to make your kids smile. 


Using a tried-and-try recipe in an old Betty Crocker Pie cookbook, I made my first lemon meringue pie this season.

I promise a pie crust tutorial in a future post, but for now if you have a favorite recipe, then use that. If not, them I think the best store bought pie crust is the Marie Callender's brand in the frozen food section.

Betty Crocker Lemon Meringue Pie

9-inch pie shell, Baked
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons butter
2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Pie Meringue

3 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy.  Beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy.  Do not under beat.  Beat in vanilla.

Bake pie shell.  heat oven to 400 degrees.  In saucepan blend sugar and cornstarch.  Combine egg yolks and water; stir gradually into sugar mixture.  Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil and stir 1 minute.  Remove from heat; stir in butter, lemon peel and juice.  Immediately pour into baked pie shell.  Heap meringue on hot pie filling; spread over filling, carefully sealing the meringue onto edge of crust to prevent shrinking or weeping.  Bake about 10 minutes or until delicately browned.  Cool Pie away from draft.

*important tip*  Separate eggs carefully; even the smallest amount of egg yolk can prevent the whites from whipping.  
*To get the cute peeks on my meringue, I gently slapped the top with a spatula once I was done spreading the meringue.



Enjoy!
The Lemonista

Key Lime Pie! How do I love thee...

I'm cookin' Thai food for dinner tonight and there are two desserts that I just love after eating spicy Thai...anything coconut and Key Lime Pie!  I promise a post next week with my favorite Thai meal but for today I'm focusing on the sweet, tart, cool, creamy pie!

You will need

Heat over to 350 degrees
In a 9" pie plate combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar.  Now add melted butter and mix well.  Press into pie plate to make your crust (I use the back of a measuring cup to do this).


Bake pie crust for 10 min and allow to completely cool.

Reduce over to 325 degrees
Zest your limes.  Be sure to only zest the green part of skin.  You don't want the white pith beneath--it tastes bad ;-)

Have "the help" juice limes ~One of the Lemonista's lil' Lemon drops hard at work :-)

In a mixing bowl combine egg yokes, sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and zest.

whisk to combine

poor filling into cooled crust and bake 15 -17 min.  You want center to be set but still quiver slightly if you jiggle the pan.

Allow pie to cool completely and then put in the frig to chill.
Shortly before you plan to serve, combine heavy cream and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Whip until peaks form

Pile whipped cream on top of chilled pie and spread around (lick spatula before the help gets it!)


zest some fresh lime peel on top

cut and serve!


Be sure to eat any leftovers for breakfast with your morning coffee....

Key Lime Pie
crust:
(I use the classic Honey Maid recipe on the back of the box!)
Heat over to 350 degrees
1 1/4 cups Honey Maid graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
5 Tbsp. melted butter
combine, press in 9" pie plate and bake for 10 min.
allow to cool.

Reduce over temp to 325 degrees
Filling:
4 egg yolks
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice (key limes are tiny, it took me around 12 limes to make 1/2 cup juice.)
1 Tbsp. lime zest
Poor into cooled crust and bake an additional 15-17 min. 

Cool pie completely and chill.  Shortly before serving combine
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. sugar
Whip until peaks form.  Spread over chilled pie and garnish with more lime zest.

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista