Cream Pie (with variations)

1 baked 9 inch pastry shell

Filling:
1/3 C flour
2/3 C sugar
1/4 t salt
2 C milk scalded
3 beaten egg yolks
2 T butter
1/2 t vanilla
-Mix flour, sugar, and salt.
-Heat/scald milk in microwave.
-Whisk flour, sugar, and salt mixture into the hot milk.
-Return to microwave, set time for 7 minutes and begin cooking, stop microwave each minute and stir well. The last 2 minutes stop at 30 second intervals and stir well. 
-Remove mixture from microwave. Temper the egg yolks by whisking  a small amount of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks.  Pour the egg yolk mixture into the remaining hot mixture and return to the microwave cook 1-2 minutes (stopping to stir every 30 seconds).
-Remove mixture from microwave, add butter and vanilla. Stir well.
-Pour filling into baked pie shell.

Variations:
Butterscotch-Substitute 1 C brown sugar for 2/3 C granulated sugar, increase butter to 3T
Caramel-Caramelize 1/4 C sugar gradually add scalded milk and mix well
Coconut-Add 1 C moist coconut to filling. Sprinkle 1/2 C over meringue before browning 
Chocolate-Increase sugar to 1 C, add 6 T Cocoa powder to dry ingredients, increase butter to 3T

Meringue:
3 egg whites
6 T sugar
-Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. 
-Gently spread over the cream filling, using the back of a spoon to create peaks. 
-Bake at 350 until meringue in toasted 12-15 minutes.

Blueberry Hand Pies

Blueberry Filling:

4 cups blue berries (fresh berries are best, but frozen will work too)
1/4  cups water
Combine berries and water in saucepan. Cook over medium heat until hot but not boiling.

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Combine sugar and cornstarch (be sure to mix well), stir into hot berry mixture, bring to boil, and cook until thick.

1 T lemon juice
1 T butter
(Add if desired...but it will still be delicious if your don't)

Pie Crust:

1 cup flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter cold and cut into small pieces.
Combine flour, sugar, and salt, use pastry blender to cut in butter.

1/4 cup sour cream
Add sour cream and use pastry blender.  Blend until dough begins to clump together, remove from bowl and shape into ball.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (okay folks...sometimes I'm in a rush and skip this step) .
Remove from refrigerator and transfer to lightly flowered surface.  Allow the dough to sit for 5 minutes before rolling out.

I don't have a special cutter for making the hand pie crust. For the hand pies in this post, I rolled out the dough, placed a 4 1/2 by 4  1/2 inch plastic lid on the dough and cut around it.  Once the dough is cut add 1 1/2 - 2 Tablespoons of cooled blueberry filling to the crust, fold over, and crimp edges with a fork.

Place hand pies on baking sheet (line baking sheet with parchment paper to help with clean up). Bake at 375 until crust is cooked to your liking...approx 15-20 min.

Blueberry Pie

My favorite pie crust. (make crust and chill)

Filling

1 1/2-2     cups sugar

1/2       cup all-purpose flour

1/2       teaspoon ground cinnamon, if desired

6          cups blueberries

1          tablespoon lemon juice

1          tablespoon butter or margarine, if desired

·        In large bowl, mix sugar, 1/2 cup flour and the cinnamon. Stir in blueberries. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over blueberry mixture. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over blueberries. Cover with top pastry that has slits cut in it; seal and flute

·        Bake 15 minutes at 425 and then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30-45 minutes more or until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours.

·       (As an alternative to a top pie crust you can make a crumb topping: ½ C flour, ¼ C packed brown sugar, ¼ C butter (cut up). Mix dry ingredients, and cut in butter, until a crumb mixture is formed. Bake pie for 10-15 minutes then add crumb mixture.

Enchilada Casserole

1 rotisserie chicken (pulled from from bone, skin removed, and shredded) or cooked chicken
1 bag crushed tortilla chips, or corn tortillas
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth
1/4 cup sower cream if desired
1 can green chili enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cheese (more if desired)

Mix soup, broth, sower cream, green chili enchilada sauce. Cover the bottom of a large rectangle pan with chips or tortillas, add a layer of soup mixture, cheese, and repeat, top with cheese.  Bake at 350 until bubbly.

Granny's Butter Cookies

1 C butter
1 C powdered sugar
2 C flour
1 C pecans (optional)
1 t ice water
1 t vanilla
Cream butter and sugar together thoroughly, add other ingredient in order and chill.

Make small oblong rolls (about inches long). Press a pecan half into the top of each cookie.

Bake at 375 until light golden brown. Remove from oven and roll in powdered sugar.

Granny's Sugar Cookies

Sometimes the best recipes are written on old scraps of paper.

1 C powdered sugar
1 C granulated sugar
1 C butter
1 C oil
1 T vanilla

Add dry ingredients:
4 C + 4T flower
1t soda
1t salt
1t cream of tartar

Roll dough into balls and dip in sugar.  Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press with the bottom of a drinking glass.

Bake at 375 until edges are light brown.

Cake Mix Cookie Bars

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1 Small Box Vanilla Pudding Mix
1/4 C Water
3/4 C Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs
1 C Chocolate Chips or M&M's

Combine cake mix, and dry pudding mix in mixing bowl.  Next add water, oil, and eggs mix well.  Stir in chocolate chip or M&M's.

Pour batter into a greased 10x13 baking dish.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.