Old Fashioned Strawberry Pie

I have this crazy habit of trying brand new recipes on food I'm giving away...seems to work out, though! Maybe I'll have an epic fail one day and get wise. Ha ha. This recipe is courtesy of allrecipes.com. I also added some nutmeg to the pie filling, which was a delicious addition!

• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place one crust in a nine inch pie pan.
2. Mix together sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Mix lightly through the berries. Pour filling into pastry lined pan, and dot fruit with butter or margarine. Cover with top crust, and cut slits in the top. Seal and flute the edges.
3. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the crust is slightly browned.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Tis the Season....for me to make pies. :) I've been experimenting with some different kinds lately, and can I just say, I LOVE PIE!!! I don't think I have a favorite anymore. I just really like them. :)

Baked Pie Crust (See my pie crust recipe here: Cherry Raspberry Pie. Bake at 450, 10-12 min.)

3 large egg yolks (you'll use the whites later-save them!)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 plus 1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 1/2 cups water

3 Tbsp butter (I used vegan butter)

2 tsp grated lemon peel

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 drops yellow food color, if desired

Meringue for 9-inch pie (recipe below)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Beat egg yolks with a fork in a small bowl. Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan, gradually stirring in the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Immediately stir at least half of the hot mixture into the egg yolks; stir back into the hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute, remove from heat. Stir in the margarine, lemon peel, lemon juice, and food color. Pour into pie crust.

Prepare Meringue:

3 large egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

6 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 Tbsp at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat. Beat in vanilla.

Spoon meringue onto hot pie filling. Spread over filling, carefully sealing meringue to edge of crust to prevent shrinking or weeping.

Bake 8-12 minutes or until meringue is light brown. Cool away from draft. Cover and refrigerate cooled pie until serving, and immediately refrigerate any remaining pie.

Yummy!

Maple Bundt Cake

Hello, this cake is my new favorite! Delicious, beautiful, and good for you. :)

3 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (or you can sift whole-wheat flour, making it lighter like pastry flour)
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
2/3 cup canola oil
2 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. maple extract
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
berries for garnish

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly coat 10-inch Bundt pan with cooking spray.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in bowl.

Whisk maple syrup, oil, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar, maple extract, and 1 1/3 cups water in large separate bowl. Stir in flour mixture until just blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes. Unmold onto rack, and cool completely. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and decorate with berries before serving.

Pineapple Quinoa Stirfry

About time I posted again! Here's a new favorite of mine from the awesome cookbook (Veganomicon) I got for Christmas. Enjoy!

1 cup quinoa
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup cold water
1/4 tsp soy sauce
4 oz raw, unsalted cashews
3 Tbsp peanut oil
2 green onions, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 hot red chile (I used 2 jalapenos), sliced into thin rounds
1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup frozen green peas or cooked edamame (I used peas)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, rolled and sliced into thin shreds
2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
10 oz fresh pineapple, cut into bite-size chunks (about 2 cups)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp vegetable broth

Prepare the quinoa first: Combine the quinoa, juice, water, and 1/4 tsp soy sauce in medium-size pot. Cover, bring to a boil, lower heat and cook 12-14 minutes until water is absorbed and quinoa appears plump and translucent. Uncover, fluff, and let cool. (It's best to do this the night before and cool it in the refrigerator.)

Place the cashews in a dry wok over low heat, stirring until lightly toasted, about 4-5 minutes. Remove cashews and set aside.

Raise the heat to medium and add the peanut oil, green onions, and garlic. When the garlic starts to sizzle, add the chile pepper and ginger. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, then add the bell pepper and peas. Stir-fry for another 3-4 minutes, until the pepper is softened and the peas are bright green. Add the basil and mint, stir-fry for another minute, then add the pineapple, quinoa, and cashews.

Combine the soy sauce and vegetable broth; pour over quinoa mixture and stir well. Stir-fry for 10-14 minutes more, and enjoy!

Cherry Raspberry Pie

I love this recipe! I've made it 7, yes 7 times in the past few months. I admittedly really like making (and eating) pie. Don't worry, I've given all but one of them away. :) The first batch of 4 pies may or may not have had maple instead of vanilla. Ok, they did. It was an accident, but it turned out alright. In fact, I think I might like it better with maple. I would use half a tsp maple and half a tsp vanilla, though, because that maple is sure potent! The second batch of 2 pies I used frozen berries instead of cherries. It was delicious, but I definitely like the cherries better. The last pie was made exactly to order, vanilla and cherries included. It was definitely yummy...the next time I make this, though, I think I'll go back to maple! If you're feeling adventurous, play around!

Crust:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
5-7 Tbsp cold water

Sift flour and salt. Cut in shortening till pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle water overtop, 1 Tbsp at a time, tossing mixture after each addition. Form half the dough into ball, then flatten on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough to 1/8 inch thick from center to edge. Put the crust in the pie tin, fill with the cherry raspberry filling, and follow the same process with the remaining dough to create a top for the pie.

Filling:
1 16-oz bag frozen cherries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 cups fresh red raspberries
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large saucepan combine cherries, sugar, flour, and 3 Tbsp water. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until cherries are thawed and juices thicken. (It burns easily, so be sure to stir it!) Gently stir in raspberries and vanilla.

Fill your beautiful masterpiece of a pie crust (9" by the way) with the filling and make your top. You definitely want to leave some space at the top for this baby to breathe, because it's a mess if it boils over! I also recommend cooking it on a cookie sheet so your mess is contained if it does boil over. Anyway...finish up your crust and put the pie in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling bubbles in the middle. Then enjoy your delicious pie! Yum.

Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/3 C sugar
6 TB melted butter

Combine above ingredients and press into pan, up the sides about 2". Pan should be sprayed lightly and chilled.

Cheesecake:

2 eggs
1/2 C sugar
8 oz cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C sour cream

With a mixer combine sugar and cream cheese until mixed. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until smooth, scraping the bowl. Add sour cream just until blended. Pour into crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 50-55 minutes.

Sauce:

In a small pan put in about 1/2-3/4 C water and 1/2-3/4 C sugar
Also add 1 TB+ cornstarch

For blueberries add 1 - 1 1/2 C of berries at the beginning. For strawberries or raspberries smash about 1/2 C berries and add them after the sauce has been thickened. After it has been chilled you can then add sliced or whole berries

Fruit Pizza

Crust:
1/4 C shortening
1/4 C sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Blend well. Add flour, vaking powder, and salt. Cover and chill in freezer 10-15 minutes. Press onto greased pizza pan. Roll or cul up the edges of the crust like a pizza to prevent edges from burning. Bake at 375 F for 10 minutes. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn!


Cream Cheese Topping:
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 C sugar
Blend well

Lemon Sauce Topping:
1 TB cornstarch
1/2 C sugar
pinch of salt
2 TB lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 drop yellow food coloring

Thoroughly mix the cornstarch, sugar and salt. Stir in 1 C boiling water. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly, then simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add lemon juice, rind, and food coloring. Makes about 1 cup.

Fruit Pizza:
Spread cream cheese on cooled crust, then spread lemon sauce over the cream cheese. Then add your favorite fruit to make it beautiful and delicious. Apples, mango, strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, mandarin oranges, etc. Be creative!