Sour Cream Apple Pie

A tasty "upgrade" to a standard apple pie. This dessert is easy to make and tastes yummy! It is a nice change to an all-time favorite.




1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Mix ingredients well in a large mixing bowl. Add two cups of peeled and sliced apples (Granny Smiths work great). Toss apples to coat. Pour into a 9" unbaked pie shell.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with nut topping. Return to oven and bake 10 minutes more.

Nut Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup butter
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix until crumbly.

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Fourth of July desserts

Despite the rainy, gray skies, we had a great time with friends on the 4th. We grilled and shared salads and munchies ... and for dessert ... we had pies and chocolate! Great way to top off some delicious food.

One of the favorites was Toll House Pie. Unbelievably rich, this pie can be served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream ... or straight up from the pie plate.

OVEN: 325 degrees

TOLL HOUSE PIE

2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 - 9" unbaked pie shell

Beat eggs 'til foamy. Add flour and sugars. Beat until well blended. Blend in melted butter. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Pour pie mixture into unbaked pie shell. Bake 1 hour.

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Blueberry Pie

We're headed to a friend's farm for a picnic tomorrow afternoon, and I'm supposed to take "something to share". I really hate it when someone says "bring something to share"! Just tell me *what* to bring and I'll be happy to make it, but sometimes the process of deciding what to make is harder than the making itself. Anyway ... one of the things I decided to "share" is blueberry pie (the photo is of the pie *before* baking - that way I was sure to get a picture!).

I like to can blueberry pie filling. It makes pie making a breeze and it's a no-brainer when someone asks me to bring a dessert or pie. All I really have to make then is the pie crust. Once that is done, just open the jar and pour in the filling.

DOUBLE PIE CRUST

2 cups flour
2/3 cup shortening or lard (I like to use Crisco's butter-flavored shortening)
Scant 1/2 cup water

In a mixing bowl, cut shortening into flour till pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle water over the flour mixture ... gently toss with a fork. Add more water (sparingly) until the dough holds together. On a lightly floured surface, flatten *half* of the dough ball and then roll dough from center to edge, forming a circle about 12" in diameter. Gently fold in half and lay into a 9" pie plate. Open and ease pastry into plate. Trim to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate. Roll out the other dough ball on the floured surface and lay on top after placing desired pie filling in shell. Trim top crust 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold extra pastry under bottom crust and flute edge.

Cover edges with pie crust shield and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove shield and bake 20-25 minutes longer. Cool on wire rack or serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

CANNED BLUEBERRY PIE FILLING

4 cups fresh, washed blueberries
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch

Mix sugar and cornstarch in a large pot. Dump in freshly washed blueberries. Begin cooking over low heat, stirring well to coat blueberries with sugar/starch mixture. As blueberries begin to "juice", keep stirring. Cook long enough to thicken the mixture. Remove from heat and dump into a quart jar.

Process sufficient quarts of pie filling to fill your canner. Pressure can at 10 lbs for 10 minutes or process in a water bath for 30 minutes.

When ready to fill a pie, pop open the top and stir the mixture inside the quart jar. Dump into pie shell.

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Cherry Pie

It won't be long before cherries are in season, so I decided to finish up the few bags of frozen fruit I have in my freezer. I'm not sure I'd mess around with cherries if I had to pick them, but the local farm market will have wonderful sours before too long. They're messy to pit, but taste wonderful in a pie or crisp in the dead of winter. My family got into this one before I had a chance to shoot a photo. It obviously tasted good!

OVEN: 375 degrees

4 cups fresh or frozen pitted sour/tart red cherries
1 1/2 cups sugar (divided)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 Tablespoon butter
3 or 4 drops almond extract

9" pie plate lined with pastry

Drain cherries; reserve 1 cup liquid. In a sauce pan, combine 3/4 cup of the sugar and the cornstarch. Stir in reserved cherry liquid. Whisk together to eliminate lumps. Cook and stir over medium heat till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Remove from heat.

Stir in remaining 3/4 cup sugar, the cherries, butter and almond extract. Let stand while preparing pastry. Fill 9-inch pie plate with cherry mixture. Adjust a lattice crust over top and flute edge. Cover edge of pie and bake for 25 minutes. Remove cover, bake for 25-30 minutes more or till crust is golden. Cool on wire rack before serving ... or serve warm with ice cream.

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