Coconut Cream Pie

This is from the recipe drawer of Pat.  So today is my mom's birthday.  I wanted to honor her by posting one of her recipes today, and for some reason I have been thinking about cream pies recently.  Not that I have ever really made homemade cream pies, but I have my mom's coconut cream pie on my mind recently.

As you can tell from just looking at this recipe, it has been well used.  There are splatters and the ink is smeared.  That is a sure sign that the recipe will make an awesome dish!  Yep...  I think I need to give this a try myself and I hope that you are so moved as well.  If my memories serve me, you will not be disappointed.

* 9" baked pie shell
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 3 T. cornstarch
* 1/2 t. salt
* 3 cups milk
* 3 egg yolks, beaten
* 1 T. butter
* 1 1/2 t. vanilla

Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in same pan.  Gradually stir in milk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Gradually stir at least half of hot mixture into egg yolk.  Then blend into hot mixture in saucepan.  Boil 1 min. more, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Blend in butter and vanilla.  Pour immediately in baked pie shell.  Finish with pie meringue.  Let cool at room temp or pie may be chilled thoroughly and topped with sweetened whipped cream.
Coconut Cream Pie
Fold 3/4 cup coconut into filling.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup coconut on meringue or whipped cream.
Banana Cream Pie
Cool filling and layer 3 large banana in shell

For thicker pie use coffee cream for milk.  To serve warm, use 1 T. additional cornstarch.

Happy Birthday Mom!  Thanks for the memories!

Pie Crust

This is from the recipe drawer of Minnie.  As we move into the holiday season, many of us do more baking that in the other parts of the year.  I found this recipe that belonged to my grandmother and it makes 5 pie crusts at once.  You can make a pie or two and put the other crusts in the freezer and they will be ready for you the next time you need to make a pie.

• 4 cup flour
• 1 3/4 cup shorteen (shortening)
• 1 table (tablespoon) sugar
• 2 teas (teaspoons) salt
• 1 tabspoon (tablespoon) vinegar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup water

*With fork mix flour shorteen salt & sugar in small bowl
*Beat water egg & vinegar
*Add to first mixture
*Blean (Blend) with fork until dry ingreadints (ingredients) is moistened
*Dough can be storyed (stored) in refrigerator up to 3 days are (or) in frozen until ready to use

As you can tell, my grandma wrote the way she talked.  It has been fun to look at and "interpret" this recipe.  Of course, this recipe assumes that you know how to separate and roll out the dough.  This is the recipe that my mom used as I grew up and once you have divided the dough into 5, use the ones that you want and then wrap each of the others in some plastic wrap and then store in a zip bag in the freezer.  It doesn't take long for it thaw out the next time you are ready to make a pie.

Cherry Crunch

This is from the recipe drawer of Maxine.  I think that it is such a treasure when you find personalized notes on some of these recipes we are digging through.  Comment at the end of this one:  Good, Cheap & Easy!  Can it get any better than that?

1 c. quick oats
1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. margarine
1 can cherry pie filling

Combine oats, sugar & flour.
Cut in margarine until crumbly.
Place half of the mixture in the bottom of an 8 x 8 x 2 pan.
Spoon in pie filling.
Spread remaining mixture on top.
Bake 45 min. at 350 degrees.
Good, Cheap, & Easy.

My mom also had a great dessert using canned cherry pie filling.  I think it was called Cherry Delight and had a whipped topping in there somewhere.  Maybe I will have to "dig through" her recipe drawer and see if I can find that one.  No need to work harder than we have to when we have great prepared ingredients to start with.

Lemon Pie with Jell-o

This is from the recipe drawer of Maxine.  I was so excited when I came across this recipe, mostly because it is interesting to find a recipe that is not in Maxine's handwriting.  It was on a folded piece of paper and on the folded side it read:  "Lemon Pie with Jello - For Maxine"

So I was curious the whole time I was reading through the recipe who might have written it.  At the very bottom of the recipe is written the word:  "Grandmother"   So we have it narrowed down to either her Grandmother Schlaefli or her Grandmother Bayles.  I am not sure which grandmother she received this recipe from, but if anyone reading this knows which great grandmother was famous for Lemon Pie, please let me know.  Either way...it is so exciting to have something handwritten by one of these great ladies.

1 pk of Lemon Jello
1/2 cup boiling water

Stir good.

1 1/2 cup sugar with juice of 2 lemons & some grated rind.

Put this in the Jello mixture.
Stir & put in ice box to chill & congeal.

Have can of Milnot cream cold.  (I remember my mom buying Milnot when she was going to make ice cream.  I think you can find this canned milk in the baking aisle at the grocery store.)

Empty in large bowl & whip
When the Jello is molded not real hard, whip good & mix with the whipped cream & whip real good

Have pan lined with:

Crushed vanilla wafers.

Pour in the mixture on crushed wafers.
Also sprinkle some on top.
Set in ice box to chill before serving.
Keeps nicely for several days.

Grandmother

I think that the combo of the fresh lemon juice and zest would greatly intensify the lemon flavor.  I'm sure this will be quite tart.  I am just wondering if it wouldn't be better to melt a little butter to mix with the vanilla wafers to make the crust.  You know...there is only one way to find out!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

This is from the recipe drawer of Maxine.  I love strawberry pie.  Used to be that you could only get strawberry pie during the month of May, in Oklahoma and Arkansas.  Now that we get huge, delicious strawberries for several months of the year, I think this would be a great refreshing dessert right in the heat of summer!

1 package (3 oz.) Jell-o Strawberry Gelatin
1 2/3 cups boiling water
2 cups (or one 4 1/2 oz container), thawed, Bird's Eye Cool Whip non-dairy whipped topping
2 tablespoons sugar
Red food coloring (optional)
1 baked 9-inch crumb crust; cooled
1 1/2 cups strawberry halves

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.
Chill until slightly thickened.
Measure 1/2 cup & blend into Cool Whip with sugar.
Tint to desired shade with food coloring.
If necessary, chill Cool Whip mixture until firm enough to mound.
Spoon over bottom & up sides of crumb crust.
Stir strawberries into remaining thickened gelatin & gently spoon on top of the Cool Whip mixture.
Chill at least 3 hours.

This sounds so good... light and refreshing!  I'm not sure that I have ever seen a pie with the Cool Whip on the bottom.  Sounds like a great idea... more whipped topping!  I think that you could get away with a store bought graham cracker crust if you don't have a recipe for a homemade one, or if you just want to cut some corners.

Pecan Pie

This is from the recipe drawer of Maxine.  Well, anyone who knows Maxine, knows that Pecan Pie is her "specialty"!  I, for one, have adopted this recipe as my own.  I always get great compliments on my Pecan Pie.

As far as pies go, many think that Pecan Pie is something very difficult to make.  But as you can see from this recipe, it is fairly simple.  There isn't a recipe here for the pie crust, so use your favorite, or even buy one in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.  Give it a crimp around the edges and no one will ever know that you didn't whip it up yourself!

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter or oleo (oleo is an older term for margarine)
1 cup Kero syrup - light or dark ( I think that it is actually spelled Karo)
1 cup whole pecans (I don't believe that you can actually buy "whole" pecans, I interpret this to mean halves, not chopped pecans or pecan pieces)

1) Beat eggs and sugar.
2) Cut in soft butter.
3) Add syrup, beat well.
4) Add pecans and mix well.
5) Pour into unbaked pastry (pie) shell.
6) Bake 50-60 minutes in 375 degree oven.