Sour Cream Raisin Pie

Okay, so this is a family tradition and with my family doing Christmas in January, I had to make it. Surprisingly, this is the first time I've made the pie, and the first time I've actually tried the pie. Sorry, Grandpa, but it's not my favorite, but at least I tried it this year. I'm not a big fan of cloves, but otherwise I might like it. Everyone else seems to enjoy it, so if you like Sour Cream Raisin Pie or you are adventurous, give my family's traditional pie a try.

Ingredients

1 c. sour cream

1 T. vinegar

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. cloves

1 c. raisins

3/4 c sugar

1/2 t. salt

2 eggs

Directions

1. Simmer raisins in water until soft; drain.
2. Mix other ingredients.
3. Add raisins to sour cream mix.
4. Pour into an unbaked 9 inch pie shell.Bake until light brown at 325-350 degrees. (These are my Grandma's actual directions. I baked this one at 340 for about 40 minutes (I think), It doesn't have much in it, so when it's all set and the crust is brown it's ready to go!)

Apple Pie

So, I made this up before baby #3 and threw it in the freezer. I wanted to be able to get a few items baked and up on the blog sometime after having Emery, but knew that having a c-section and a new born baby at home would certainly limit my time and ability to be in the kitchen. This turned out good. I feel that I should try making more pies to put in the freezer for later! The only thing I would change, is that I used fairly sweet apples when I made this because that's what I had in the house. It certainly would have been a little better with something more like a granny smith apple.  Oh, and it doesn't look that pretty because I just had a baby and didn't really care what my dessert looked like...sorry...

Ingredients

1 unbaked 9-in pie shell

1/2 c. sugar (adjust for tartness of apples)

1t. cinnamon

6-8 baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

3/4 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. butter

Cooking Day Directions

1. Place pie shell in glass or disposable pie plate (for super easy clean-up)
2. For filling, mix 1/2 c. sugar, cinnamon and apples and put in pie shell.
3. Make topping by mixing flour, 1/3 c. sugar, and butter with a fork or pastry blender until crumbly.  Sprinkle over top of apples.
4. Double wrap pie pan with plastic wrap and foil, and freeze.

 Serving Day Directions

1. Pie may be baked while still frozen.
2. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temp to 350 degrees for 45 minutes, until apples are tender, juices are bubbly, and the crust lightly browned.
3. Note:  It took much longer for my pie to bake, but I also stuffed as many apples as I could into the pie pan.  Keep baking it until the apples are tender and the juices are nice and bubbly.  If the crust is getting to dark, cover pie with aluminum foil

Red, White, and Blue Pie

I remember as a child having some sort of red, white, and blue pie one forth of July. I decided that I should try to make something perhaps similar. I couldn't really find a recipe, so I took a few recipes and put them together with my own twist. I have to say it turned out pretty darn good. There are a couple of things I would do differently, but it still tasted awesome! Happy Fourth of July!

Ingredients

Crust

1 1/2 to 2 c. vanilla wafer, or graham cracker crumbs

5-6 T. melted butter

3 T. brown sugar

Cream Filling

8 oz. cream cheese
2 T. lemon juice
1 c. whipping cream, whipped
1 t. grated lemon rind
2 T. milk

3-4 T. sugar (or powdered sugar), to taste

Fruit Layers

Blueberries

6 cups strawberries, hulled
3/4 c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. lemon juice

Directions

1. Mix vanilla wafer crumbs,melted butter, and brown sugar together in pie plate.
2. Bake crust in in 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes to crisp it up.  Don't over bake!
3. Allow crust to cool completely.
4. Place a layer of blueberries in the bottom of the pie crust.
5. Cream together cream cheese, lemon juice, grated lemon rind, milk and sugar.
6. Slowly add whipped cream to cream cheese mixture a little at a time.  Otherwise, keep whipped cream to serve on top of pie.  (I mixed it in, but I think perhaps next time I'd only mix in half, and use the other half to serve with the pie.)
7. Spread cream cheese mixture on top of blueberries, and place the pie crust in the refrigerator.
8. In small saucepan, mix together sugar and cornstarch.
9. Mash enough strawberries to make 1 c. strawberry juice and mix into small sauce pan.
10. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 5 minutes.
11. Take mixture off heat, and add in lemon juice.
12. Allow this mixture to cool a little bit, while cutting up strawberries.
13. With remaining strawberries, slice or quarter them over the top of your pie.
14. Spread strawberry sauce over the top.
15. Chill pie for at least 3-4 hours before serving.