Autumn Apples Week {Day 4 ~ Apple Pie Ice Cream}

Welcome to Day 4 of Autumn Apples Week! Don't forget to enter the giveaway {Day 1} for tea & muffins and link up your apple recipes or posts {Day 3} if you have some! Hope you're having fun celebrating Autumn this week!

 
Apple Pie. Still one of the top pies in America. Most people would agree that the best way to eat apple pie is "a la mode." And it is delicious. So I thought to myself...why not just combine the apple pie and the "a la mode" into one dessert? Mmmmm...and so I bring you Apple Pie Ice Cream.

Apple Pie Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup Apple Salsa
1/3 - 1/2 cup crumbled Pie Crust Chips
1/3 cup Buttery Cinnamon Sauce

In bowl, whisk together milk and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add heavy cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Whisk until combined. Turn on ice cream maker and pour mixture into freezer bowl through spout. After 18-20 minutes {mixture should be fairly thick}, add Apple Salsa and crumbled Pie Crust Chips through spout. After additional 3-5 minutes, turn off ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to another bowl and gently swirl the Buttery Cinnamon Sauce into the mixture. Can be served immediately or frozen to harden more for a couple of hours. This recipe is for a 1 1/2 quart ice cream maker.

I highly recommend serving this with pie crust chips on the side - such a delicious combo. My family agreed that this ice cream is best right after it's made. We prefer it with the soft and creamy consistency. But it's still yummy after it freezes solid!

Bonus - awesome use for the mini pie tins that have been in my cupboard forever!

If you didn't have time to whip up all the ingredients, but you just happen to have some apple pie - I say chop up a slice and throw it in the ice cream! That would be an awesome shortcut!

Come on back tomorrow for Day 5 of Autumn Apples Week and another giveaway!!

What's your favorite kind of pie? Favorite kind of ice cream?

This post linked to:
 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls
 ~ I'm Lovin' It at TidyMom

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Have a blessed day friends!

Strawberry Pie

Why have pie on 3/14? Because it's Pi Day {3.14} of course! :)

My son requested that I send along some strawberry pie with him to Algebra class - where they are celebrating with many varieties of pie today! This recipe is not mine, but we do enjoy it every year and I'm paranoid about losing the link to it so I'll post it here to share with all of you!

I found this recipe a few years ago at Rocks In My Dryer {one of my fave blogs when I started blogging}. Shannon posted this recipe but no longer blogs so I always worry that one day the recipe will just *poof* disappear on me. I'm sure it's on the web in a bunch of places too, but I want it where I can find it easily.

You should know that this pie has its share of artificial ingredients. I'm sure there's a healthy strawberry pie recipe out there. This is not it - LOL! But we only have it once or twice a year and it's yummy. And it's easy. And it makes 2 pies at once.

This was the first time I made the pie:

Here's a better pic!

Strawberry Pie

2 pie shells {homemade or um, the other kind}
2 containers fresh strawberries {about 16 oz each} - washed & sliced
17 oz. Sprite or 7-Up
1 pkg Strawberry Jello {the larger box - 6 oz. I think}
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch

Bake pie crusts according to directions and set aside to cool.

In large saucepan, bring Sprite, sugar, and cornstarch to a boil. Cook and stir over low until it thickens {5-10 minutes}. Remove pan from heat. Stir in strawberry jello until dissolved. Mix in sliced strawberries. Chill mixture in refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

Remove from refrigerator. Pour evenly into 2 pie shells. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours before serving.

Don't you love how my crust on the above pic turned out? That crimping on the edge is almost perfect! I am that talented. Except not really. I confess I hired a pastry chef to make that crust. Her name is Marie...Callender. :D

I've been too scared to make my own pie crust ever since this complete failure:

Now you and I can easily find this easy strawberry pie recipe when we need it! Do you like strawberry pie? If you have a strawberry pie recipe, share the link or recipe in the comments!

Have a blessed day friends! And Happy Pi Day! :)

P.S. Son said there were about 8 different kinds of pie in Algebra class, but the strawberry pie was the first one gone and a huge hit! So there's an official endorsement - teenagers will love this pie - LOL! :)

No-Bake Pumpkin Pie

It's time again for Tidymom's Love The Pie party!! Woo Hoo! Plenty of pie just in time for Thanksgiving! I don't have many pie recipes {just look at my Recipe Index- tons of cakes, cookies, desserts, but very few pies} so I love having a place to get any kind of pie recipe I can think of! :)

Last year, I shared Pear Custard Pie for Love The Pie. This year? It's pumpkin, but not your typical pumpkin pie. It's a no-bake pumpkin pie! Perfect for saving that precious oven space while you do all your other Thanksgiving baking, this pie can be whipped up ahead of time and chilled.

I've had this recipe for years. In fact, I may have found it somewhere when I was a teenager {that was just a couple years ago wasn't it?? heh}. It used to be my go-to pie for Thanksgiving in the early years of our marriage {I can say *early* years 'cause we've been married for 20!}. I decided it was time to make this pie again and share the recipe with you!

No-Bake Pumpkin Pie

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup half 'n half {can use milk}
2 eggs, separated
1 can (16-oz) solid pack pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whipped cream {or Cool Whip}
Graham cracker crust {homemade or purchased}

In heavy saucepan, combine gelatin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir in half 'n half, slightly beaten egg yolks, and pumpkin. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until boiling and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla. Chill until partially set.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites and whipped cream into pumpkin mixture. Spoon into chilled graham cracker crust. Refrigerate until firm. Serve with whipped cream if desired {I do desire - plenty of whipped cream please.}.

Not too complicated, right?! Now you have an easy new pie to try for Thanksgiving {or anytime}! Of course if you need crazy-fast, you could always whip up Quick Pumpkin Pudding and put it in a graham cracker crust.

What's your favorite kind of pie? Do you serve pie at Thanksgiving?

I’m joining TidyMom and Whirlpool for the 4th Annual Love the Pie Party and entered to win a new Whirlpool Gold® Induction Range !

 

This post also linked to:

 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls

If you enjoyed stopping and smelling the chocolates with me, I'd love it if you click to Subscribe to Stop and Smell the Chocolates by Email or RSS!

Have a blessed day friends! 

Peanut Butter Pie

It's time for a yummy dessert recipe, don't you think? And this one is SO easy!! I was flipping through a book of recipes from my aunts and saw this one which I had never tried before. I decided it was finally time! Feel free to make adjustments to the recipe if you want more peanut butter flavor, but I liked how light and fluffy this was with a mild peanut butter flavor.

Peanut Butter Pie

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter {I used creamy}

1 cup powdered sugar

8 oz. Cool Whip, thawed {or 3 cups whipped cream}

1 graham cracker crust {buy 1 or make your own; I "cheated" and bought an Oreo crust}

In large mixing bowl, blend together cream cheese, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. Fold in Cool Whip or whipped cream. Pour into prepared graham cracker/cookie crust and chill.

I sprinkled chopped roasted peanuts and mini chocolate chips on top of mine for extra yummage {is *so* a word - LOL}. :) 

See? Simple enough to whip up for family or company this weekend! And bonus - it's a no-bake recipe which is nice when your *Fall* days are going to be 100 degrees over the weekend.

If you like peanut butter, you might also like Marble Bars or Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies!

This post linked to:

 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls

 ~ I'm Lovin' It at TidyMom 

If you enjoyed stopping and smelling the chocolates with me, I'd love it if you click to Subscribe to Stop and Smell the Chocolates by Email or RSS!  

Have a blessed day friends!

Pear Week ~ Pear Custard Pie

So glad you're hanging out with me for Pear Week!  It's my last recipe today but it's a yummy one!  Don't forget to check out my recipes for Maple Pecan Pear Muffins, Slow Cooker Pear Sauce, and Pear Cake.

But now it's time for pie.  (This is linked up to the Love The Pie Party at TidyMom - check out the info below.) I didn't want to make just a pear pie that was exactly like a typical apple pie.  So when I saw this recipe shared in a little booklet that I got at Apple Hill (where I bought my pears) a few years ago - I knew it was the one!

Fill those pie crusts up with those yummy pear slices!  Aren't you so impressed with how perfectly I crimp the edges of my crusts?!  Or maybe those crusts were frozen Marie Callendar's pie crusts because of my previous pie crust disaster- it's so hard to keep track of these things.  ;)

Doesn't that custard filling look yummy?  And you should know that it's hard to take good food pics when you're trying to make sure that all the messy disaster in your kitchen doesn't show up in the pics.  :)

Pear Custard Pie

9" unbaked pie crust
6-8 medium sliced pears (core and peel first)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg unbeaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Arrange pear slices in bottom of unbaked pie crust shell.  Mix remaining ingredients and pour over sliced pears.  Bake at 425 degrees for 5-8 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake approximately 45 minutes more.  Cool on wire rack.

This pie was so yummy!!  But I do have to say that the flavor of the pears is what really makes it good.  You won't want bland pears in this recipe.  Taste your pears first and be sure that they're ripe to get the sweetest flavor.  I'll actually share a couple tips tomorrow on how to check if pears are ripe (it's completely different than what I thought!).

Have you enjoyed Pear Week so far?  Do you have a favorite recipe?

I'm happy to tell you that this pie post is also in preparation for TidyMom's 3rd annual Love the Pie Party!

Come join Love the Pie with TidyMom  sponsored by Cherokee USA, Le Creuset, Wilton,Bags by Bloom and  Harvard Common Press.

Have a fantastic day friends!

White Chocolate Berry Pie

It's been a while since I've shared a recipe so I'll give you a yummy one today!  Strawberries are in season (yay) so it's perfect timing for this recipe.  I had clipped this recipe (maybe out of an ad) years ago and ran across it again.  Sounded good and I wanted to try a new dessert recipe!

The pie turned out yummy!  My family loved it - light & fluffy, topped with sweet berries.

Why didn't I turn the berries the other way, with points out?  I have no idea, but that would have been prettier.  And I had planned to use a squeeze bottle to make beautiful white chocolate drizzles, but it was too small of a quantity and came out in clumps - LOL!  I think it looks yummy anyway.  Oh and the crust - confession - that is a Marie Callender's frozen crust.  I didn't feel up to attempting pie crust (have ya seen a scarier crust?) again...yet.

White Chocolate Berry Pie
1 pie crust (homemade, refrigerated, or frozen)
5 squares White Chocolate (I used a 4 oz. bar of Ghiradelli - 6 squares in the recipe & 2 for the drizzle)
2 tablespoons milk
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
2 cups sliced strawberries (could top with raspberries or other berries too)

Prepare and bake pie crust.  Cool completely.

Microwave 4 squares ( I did 6) white chocolate and milk.  Microwave on high for 45 seconds to 1 minute and stir until melted.  Cool to room temp.

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and orange peel in small bowl with electric mixer on low until smooth.  Beat in white chocolate mixture.

Fold prepared whipped cream into white chocolate mixture.  Spread in bottom of pie crust.  Arrange berries on top of filling.  Melt remaining white chocolate and drizzle over the top.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until time to serve.  Store in refrigerator.

Enjoy!

This recipe is linked up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at At The Well.  Stop by both for more yummy recipes!

Do you have a favorite strawberry recipe?  Have a fabulous day friends!

12 New Things ~ Attempting Pie Crust

Though Sarah Mae at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee is no longer doing this (she had to scale back), I decided to continue on my own and I thought you might like my November update!

For November I was supposed to make my own pie crust.  Ugh.  I made pie crust once or twice long long ago, as in over 20 years ago, and it didn't work out so well and was too much trouble I thought.  So I used Pillsbury refrigerated crusts all these years (and sometimes Marie Callender's frozen crusts).  I was perfectly content with this method as my hubs' grandmother complimented me many years ago on my flaky pie crust!  I had used Pillsbury, but didn't dare mention it as she only made homemade pie crust.  Instead, I simply thanked her!  :)

But as I'm trying to move toward less processed foods and more cooking from scratch, I made the decision to attempt homemade crust.  What I *should* have done was try out a few recipes before Thanksgiving.  But nooooo...that would not fit my procrastinator ways.  I decided to try out a butter crust (I don't care for shortening and am trying to use less oils that aren't extra virgin olive or coconut.)

I found a great tutorial on making butter pie crust at Smitten Kitchen.  I felt fairly confident that I could handle this crust and so went ahead and made it...the night before Thanksgiving.  It didn't go so well.  No fault of the recipe or tutorial!  Just my own unfamiliarity of working with dough!  I used the crust anyway.  'Cause wasting a stick of butter just doesn't sit well with me.  I should have started over.  Really.

Here it is.  Unsuccessful pie crust that should not be used.

Go ahead and laugh.  I won't be offended!  May I list out a bit of advice on pie crust?

- One should make sure that the chunks of butter in the dough are the size of small peas rather than the size of pea pods as in the above pic.

- When cutting the recipe in half to make a single crust, one should remember to cut the amount of water in half BEFORE adding it to the mixture.  Adding lots of flour after the fact to make up for it does not make good pie crust.

- After rolling out, if it looks like clumps of butter barely joined together by dough, one might consider starting over.

- If one is going to really mash the dough into a glass pie plate trying to shape it into something that resembles crust, it might be nice to butter the pie plate so the crust will actually come out later.

- If one gets too tired and decides to make pie in the morning instead, one should probably cover crust that is already in pan in refrigerator with plastic wrap so crust doesn't completely dry out.

- If one decides to use the crust anyway because one rationalizes that it will be filled with pumpkin deliciousness (I tried this Cinnamon Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Pie) so maybe nobody will notice, then during dessert time one should declare loudly "I don't know WHAT happened to this crust - I should get my money back!"

- One should get pictures of failed pie crust as it's sure to make a good post if one happens to be a blogger.

So now I see that pie crust takes practice and patience!  Yes, I will try to make this butter pie crust again.  I have a feeling that it will take me a few tries to get it right.  I guess that's what learning a new skill is all about!  It doesn't mean that you will be instantly good at it!

I did not yet finish my November project of reorganizing my China cabinets, but hey, the month isn't quite over!  My book for November was Pride and Prejudice which I finished today - *happy sigh*!  Love that book!  In fact, I didn't start it until after Thanksgiving because I knew it might distract me from making things like...pie crust.  I hadn't read Pride and Prejudice in years and realized that the A&E version of the movie (which I own thanks to hubs!!) is very close to the book which makes me happy!

Do you make homemade pie crust my friends?  Any tips?  Or are you a faithful Pillsbury user?  Did I make you smile today?  Are you laughing *with* me?!  :)

Have a great day friends!

Would You Like Dessert With That? ~ Pumpkin-Ginger Pie With Golden Marshmallow Topping

This is normally Chocolate Friday, but the first Friday of the month we enjoy Dessert Friday so those poor non-chocolate desserts can have their moment in the spotlight!  :)  I have been sick and am still not feeling great, but I couldn't skip dessert!  So bring your dessert posts to link up today - it'll make me feel better!

Today I'm sharing a pie that we'll be having for Thanksgiving this year.  Don't forget that my friend Kim is having Thanksgiving Tried and True Recipe Week starting Monday!  I thought I would share my dessert a little early, but I'll be linking up at Kim's cooking blog next week.  *Now linked up to Kim's Dessert Day!

Notice that this pie has "Golden Marshmallow Topping."  Apparently that does not mean "Flaming Marshmallow Topping" just so you know (maybe you should read my fiery tale)!

I took this pie to a church potluck and it was well-received.  Most importantly, hubby gave it two thumbs up and said to make it again for Thanksgiving.  Thank you once again to my Pillsbury calendar for providing a yummy recipe!

Pumpkin-Ginger Pie With Golden Marshmallow Topping

Crust

1 single pie crust

Streusel

1/2 cup crushed gingersnap cookies

1/4 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter, softened

Filling

1 can (15-oz) pumpkin

1 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons grated fresh gingerroot (I just used ground ginger)

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten

Topping

2 to 2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

1.  Heat oven to 425 degrees F.  Place cookie sheet on middle oven rack.  Prepare pie crust in 9-in. pie plate for a one-crust filled pie.  In small bowl, mix streusel ingredients.  Sprinkle streusel in crust-lined pie plate.  

2.  In large bowl, mix filling ingredients.  Pour into pie crust on top of streusel.  Place pie plate on cookie sheet in oven.  Bake 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees F.  Bake 35-45 minutes longer (mine took even longer) or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely on cooling rack, about 3 hours.  

3.  Just before serving, set oven control to broil.  Spread marshmallows evenly over top of pie, completely covering filling.  Broil pie with top about 5 inches from heat about 30 seconds, watching carefully, until marshmallows are lightly browned.  Marshmallows will brown quickly.  Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie. 

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft.):  Don't use a cookie sheet.  In step 2, during second bake time, cover edge of crust with foil strips to prevent excessive browning, and bake 35-40 minutes.  Remove foil before Step 3.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I liked this pie better than a plain pumpkin pie.  Does it sound like one you'll try?  Mmmm...can't wait for Thanksgiving!

Now remember, it's your job to help me feel better by bringing your dessert posts to link up with MckLinky today!  You can use new or old posts, with or without chocolate.  Please bring me some dessert?  I look forward to "trying" them all - LOL!

Have a fabulous Friday!!

I'm linking this up to the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap today - lots of good recipes there!  I'm also linking it to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam - yummy recipes - and to Do It Yourself Day (does it still qualify if hubby helped put out the flames on the first marshmallow topping? :) ) at A Soft Place to land - so many great projects there!

Would You Like Chocolate With That? ~ Chocolate-Almond Pie

Yes, my blog looks a little different. Still not the custom chocolate blog design I want, but a simple template change for now. The dots were getting a bit distracting and this seemed easier to read.

Now, let's get to the chocolate.

I think it's only right that I inform you that tomorrow is International Chocolate Day. I suggest celebrating it with chocolate. But that's me.

Mmmm...This is a good recipe! Easy and so yummy. I found it in a cookbook called Chocolate Fantasies. I took it to a church banquet and it was a hit.

Chocolate-Almond Pie
1 (7 oz.) milk chocolate with almonds bar
18 marshmallows (large ones)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1 baked 9-in. pastry shell

Combine candy bar, marshmallows, and milk in a heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Remove from heat; cool. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into pastry shell. Chill at least 8 hours. Makes 1 pie.

I wish I had a slice right now! I used a frozen pie crust, and was quite surprised that the Marie Callender's pie crust was the cheapest. It even comes with a nicer, reusable tin.

As usual, the only thing I ask is that you save some for me!

Now, please do your part to make the blogosphere a little more chocolatey. Link up your family-friendly chocolate-themed post - old or new, recipes, pictures, thoughts, etc. Check out last Friday (be sure to visit the links) for ideas.