Creamy Strawberry Pie

The first strawberries are beginning to ripen in the strawberry patch. My mouth is already longing for the taste of a strawberry pie. This recipe is from the April 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine. I can’t wait to try it.

The only thing I’ll do differently is how I make the crust. I grew up watching my mother use a rolling pin to make a Nilla wafer cookie crust for her Lemon Icebox Pie. It’s super easy and doesn’t require much cleanup. The result is the same. A yummy crust.

Be sure to check out the entire issue of Family Circle. The magazine also included several recipes for cupcakes!

Creamy Strawberry Pie

Crust
6 oz. Nilla wafer cookies (½ of a 12 oz. box)
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine Nilla wafer cookies and sugar in a food processor. Pulse until fine crumbs are formed. Transfer to a bowl and add melted butter; stir together until all crumbs are moistened.

Press crumbs into bottom and up side of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake crust at 350 for 14 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Place on wire rack and cool completely.

Filling
2/3 cup sugar
½ cup cran-raspberry juice
8 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced; divided
¼ cup cornstarch

In a medium-size saucepan, combine sugar, cran-raspberry juice, cornstarch and 2 cups strawberries. Gently mash berries with a potato masher. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook 2 minutes or until liquid is clear and thickened. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Stir in 6 cups strawberries, reserving several slices for garnish. Pour into cooled crust and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Topping
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar

In large bowl, beat together heavy cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Spread whipped cream over pie, leaving a 1-inch border around edges. Garnish with reserved berries and serve.

Makes 10 servings, at 296 calories per serving.

Raspberry Almond Streusel Muffins

Once upon a time I baked a lot of muffins. Really. All kinds of muffins. Most of them were quite tasty though some were better than others. A particular favorite was Blueberry Muffins made with fresh blueberries.

Life changes, doesn’t it? I no longer cook to satisfy myself and I no longer head to an office five days a week. That was always a wonderful way to try out new recipes and not have to eat it all by yourself.

This recipe from the April 2013 issue of Coastal Living magazine might get me baking muffins again. Fresh raspberries and a streusel topping can only be described as heavenly. I hope you enjoy. And be sure to check out this issue of the magazine for more muffin recipes and some wonderful tips on visiting Galveston, Texas.

Raspberry-Almond Streusel Muffins

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup butter, melted
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 pint fresh raspberries
Streusel Topping (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, milk butter and almond extract in a medium bowl. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture just until blended. (Do not over mix.) Gently folk in raspberries. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans; top evenly with Streusel Topping.

Bake 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pans 3 minutes. Remove muffins from pans, and serve warm.

Makes 18 muffins.

Streusel Topping

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
5 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Combine flour, sugar and brown sugar in a bowl; cut in butter with a fork or pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in almonds.

Makes 1 cup.

Lemon Snap Icebox Pie

This recipes comes from the April 2013 issue of Relish, which is an insert in our local newspaper. It makes me think of sun and the beach instead of the dreary skies today has brought.

Lemon Snap Icebox Pie

Crust
1 ½ cups gingersnap crumbs
¼ cup melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar

Cream Cheese Layer
4 oz. cream cheese
2 cups whole-milk ricotta
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
½ cup sugar

Creamy Lemon Curd
3 egg yolks, well beaten
1/3 cup sugar
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons butter
Sliced lemons

To prepare crust, combine crumbs, butter and sugar. Press into a 9-inch springform pan.

To prepare cream cheese layer, combine all ingredients in food processor or blender. Puree until very creamy. Spoon into crust. Cover and refrigerate.

To prepare curd, combine all ingredients in small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until curd is thick (about 5 minutes). Let cool completely. Spoon over chilled pie. Top pie with thin lemon slices.

Makes 10 servings.

Key Lime Pie with Raspberry Sauce

Spring is finally in the air. Hooray! This is such a beautiful time of year when we get to enjoy the outdoors after the cold has left and before the blazing heat has arrived.

What better time to bring on the Key Lime Pie? It just so tropical and fun. This recipe comes from the March 2013 issue of Coastal Living.

Key Lime Pie with Raspberry Sauce

2 14-oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons lime zest
¾ cup fresh lime juice
Almond-Graham Crust (recipe below)
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Raspberry Sauce (recipe below)
Garnish: lime slices, lime zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together sweetened condensed milk, eggs, lime zest and lime juice until well blended. Pour mixture into Almond-Graham Crust.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until pie is set and edges are golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack about 1 hour. Chill 2 hours or until firm.

Combine sour cream and powdered sugar; spread mixture over top of pie. Serve with Raspberry Sauce and garnish, if desired.

Makes 8 servings.

Almond-Graham Crust

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup chopped sliced almonds
¼ cup sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine graham cracker crumbs, almonds and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in butter. Press mixture firmly into an 11-inch tart pan or 9 ½-inch deep pie plate. Bake 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes 1 piecrust.

Raspberry Sauce

1 12-oz. bag frozen raspberries
½ cup sugar

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, crushing raspberries against side of pan and stirring constantly, 6 minutes or until sugar melts. Pour mixture through a wire-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing with a spatula or the back of a spoon; discard seeds. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Makes ¾ cup.

Cheesy Potato Casserole

I never expected to be drawn to recipe in the Wal-Mart sales paper. But there it was. I know. They’re just trying to sell products. And they’re doing a good job, I might add. This recipe sounds like just something I would love and all the items in the recipe as items I generally have on hand. That’s always a plus. You just never know when you’re going to happen on to a wonderful recipe.

Cheesy Potato Casserole

1 bag Ore-Ida Hash Browns
1 can (10.75 oz.) cream of chicken soup
2 cups Daisy Sour Cream
1.2 teaspoon salt
2 cups Kraft Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1.3 cup green onions, sliced
¼ teaspoon black pepper, ground
2 cups corn flakes, crushed
¼ cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 13 x 9 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together soup, sour cream, salt and pepper. Stir in cheese, onion, and hash browns until well mixed. Spoon evenly into baking dish.

In a medium bowl, mix together cereal and butter. Sprinkle evenly on top of hash brown mixture.

Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with additional sliced green onion if desired.

Marshmallows

I’ve always wanted to make my own marshmallows. I’m not sure why. Maybe because there are so many possibilities. This recipe comes from the December 2012 issue of Family Circle. I hope you have a lot of fun with it.

Marshmallows

½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 envelopes (.25 oz. each) unflavored gelatin
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cherry or lime extract or flavoring (optional)
Food coloring (optional)

Sift confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch into a small bowl. Line a 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan with foil. Coat with nonstick cooking spray. Sift 2 tablespoons of the confectioners’ sugar mixture into the pan, tilting to coat sides. Leave any excess in pan.

Place 2/3 cup water in a large bowl and sprinkle with gelatin. Soften for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt in medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes. Strain into bowl with gelatin.

Beat on high speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 12 minutes, adding flavoring and food coloring if desired. Spread into prepared pan and smooth top. Dust with 2 tablespoons of the confectioners’ sugar mixture. Let stand 2 hours until set.

Lift marshmallows from pan with foil. With a wet knife, cut into 4 squares. Cut each square into 12 pieces. Spread remaining confectioners’ sugar mixture onto sheet pan. Toss marshmallows in sugar mixture; let stand 1 hour. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes 8 servings (6 marshmallows each), at 207 calories per serving.

Pina Colada Icebox Pie

The folks at Southern Living can cook. They’ve been doing it a long, long time and they’re good at it. This recipe was in the March 2013 issue of Southern Living magazine. It sounds heavenly. As soon as it warms up again and actually feels like spring, I plan to give it a try.

Pina Colada Icebox Pie

2 cups pecan shortbread cookie crumbs (about 16 cookies)
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
¼ cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple in juice
1 ½ cups cream of coconut, divided
2 large eggs
1 cup whipping cream

Garnishes: lightly toasted shaved coconut, pineapple wedges, fresh pineapple mint sprigs

Preheat oven to 350.

Stir together cookie crumbs, flaked coconut and butter. Firmly press on bottom and up sides of a lightly greased 9-inch pie plat.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Stir together sugar and cornstarch in a small heavy saucepan. Stir in pineapple. While stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook (keep stirring!) 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from heat. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer, using whisk attachment, until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup cream of coconut, beating at low speed just until blended. (Chill remaining ½ cup cream of coconut until ready to use.) Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Spread cooled pineapple mixture over bottom of piecrust. Spoon cream cheese mixture over pineapple mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 38 to 42 minutes or until set. Cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Cover and chill 4 hours.

Beat whipping cream at high speed until foamy. Gradually add remaining ½ cup cream of coconut, beating until soft peaks form. Spread over pie.

Makes 8 servings.