Better than Betty's

This week's pie comes from Suzanne at Random Ramblings. This is a tweaked Betty Crocker recipe that is...you guessed it...is BETTER than Betty's ;)

Better than Betty’s Peach Pie

6 cups peels, pitted and thinly sliced peaches

½ to ¾ cup sugar

3 TBSP flour

½ to ¾ tsp nutmeg

½ to ¾ tsp cinnamon

double pie crust (I use Pillsbury’s)

Mix ingredients for filling. Transfer to a pastry-lined 9 inch pie place, cover with second crust. Cut slits in top crust. Seal and flute edge. Sprinkle the top crust with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, if desired. Cover edges of crust with foil and bake in a 375* oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden.

I always use fresh peaches for this pie, but I’m sure frozen peaches would work as well. My dad told me this pie is better than my mother’s, and that is quite a compliment as my mother is an awesome cook.

SOUR CREAM LEMON PIE

Are you ready for something refreshing to wake you up from the "Turkey Blues?" How about a slice of lemon pie?

This isn’t my photo… I stole it from the internet. I haven’t made this one in a while. When I do, I will add my own photos so you can see what my messy kitchen will look like during the process of making this one.

Pretty isn’t it? Maybe a few less lemon slices on top…who’s gonna eat all those?

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

1 C sugar

3 ½ Tbsp cornstarch

Dash salt

1 C milk

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

¼ C butter softened

1 Tbsp lemon rind, grated

½ C fresh lemon juice

1 C sour cream

1 pie crust, graham cracker or baked pie shell

(I think graham cracker is best, but that’s my preference.)

Whipped cream

Lemon slices

In a heavy saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add milk and wisk over medium heat until mixture is boiling and thickened. Remove pan from heat. Blend a small amount of hot mixture into beaten egg yolks. Return egg yolk mixture to hot pan. Cook and stir 2 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, lemon juice and lemon rind. Cool mixture to room temperature. Stir in sour cream and pour filling into your choice of pie shell. Cover with whipped cream. Add sliced lemons to decorate top. (Lemon slices can be sugared, by shaking slices in a plastic bag of white sugar. Try blotting with paper towel if they are too juicy.) Store in refrigerator for 3-4 hours before cutting. Yes Jess, I said 3-4 hours!!!

Who says Turtles aren't TASTEY???

Just in time for Thanksgiving our next contributor is Stacey from Tastey's Creations. She's offering up a twist on the classic pumpkin pie with this Turtle Pumpkin recipe! So wow your family and friends this year by bringing something new and TASTEY to the Thanksgiving table.

Turtle Pumpkin Pie

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. caramel ice cream topping, divided

1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. PLANTERS Pecan Pieces, divided

1 cup cold milk

2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

POUR 1/4 cup caramel topping into crust; sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans.

BEAT milk, pudding mixes, pumpkin and spices with whisk until blended. Stir in 1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP. Spread into crust. (you could probably use one pudding pack since it makes enough for two pies)

REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour. Top with remaining COOL WHIP, caramel topping and pecans just before serving.

http://brands.kraftfoods.com/jello/knet_print_version.aspx?s=recipe&m=recipe/knet_recipe_display&recipe_id=106961&print_show=1

There's nothing like warm apple pie...

Your pie contributor this month is none other than MOI. Since we had a nice rich chocolately pie last time I'm going with my old stand by (and most requested) pie. The American Pie. Yummy, simple...delightful. APPLE PIE.

I make my own crust. Feel free to buy your own, they work just as well and especially in a pinch. I know that most of you probably have your own apple pie recipes, but just once, try it my way...and if you have something better pass it along. I'm always looking to improve.

Simple Apple Pie

Ingredients

for the pie:
6-8 medium apples (I would suggest GALA or ROME, in a pinch McIntosh or Jonagold)
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 cup flour
3 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
EITHER: 2 tsp of apple pie spice OR 1 tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp cinnamon

for the pie crust:
makes 2 crusts

1 cup unsalted butter chilled
3 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp white sugar
1/3 cup ICE water

combine flour and sugar in a bowl. Cut in butter. With mixer on low speed pour in ice cold water. When dough begins to clump but before its a ball stop the mixer. Lightly knead into a ball. Separate into two sections and chill 3o minutes before rolling out.

Preheat oven to 400* Peel, core apples discarding both. Dice apples into SMALL pieces. (This is where my recipe will differ from many others, it won't take you too long to make the pieces small and it allows the sugar and spice to mix in with the apple flavor better in my opinion)



Put apples into a large bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice mixing well. Sprinkle with flour, sugar and spices (whichever you choose to use) Mix well and REFRIGERATE for 30 mins to 1 hour covered.



I like to do this step because it will separate out a lot of the "watery" part of the pie filling that makes your dough gooey. The important part is to make sure you've mixed it well before putting in the fridge. When you remove it, your apples should be nicely coated with the mixture and a bit of "juice" will be in the bottom of the bowl, mostly separate from your apples.

Remove chilled dough from the fridge (or roll out your pre-made crust) and roll out and fit into your pie plate. Fill with apple mixture, taking care to leave the watery stuff in the bottom. Don't worry, there is enough moisture in your apples that it won't dry out, it will just not get your crust so moist.

Roll out second pie crust to place on top of the pie. I just vent with a fork in a star pattern but you can do a lattice top crust if you are so inclined. Bake for 15 mins at 400 and then reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes. (You may want to put foil around the edges of your pie crust at the end of baking)

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture when I was at these stages, then I took it to church and it was gone before I got a chance to take any more pics.

Chocolate and Cookies and Marshmallows OH MY!

This month's pie guru hails from Tropical Dreams. Tammi is an impressive artist with mucho mucho talent and she has offered up one delicious looking pie! Check out her blog and then eat her pie!

I got this super yummy pie recipe out of a Good Housekeeping magazine in 1994, you can’t eat just one piece! And yes, let it set in the fridge for 4 hours girls! J

Sawyer’s Decadent Pie

Aka Chocolate Marshmallow Cookie Pie

2 cups mini marshmallows

2 Tbls milk

2-1/2 cups thawed cool whip

2-1/2 cups milk

1 lg package chocolate instant pudding

1 ready made oreo or chocolate crust

14 nilla wafers

Microwave marshmallows and 2 Tbls milk on high 45 seconds. Stir.

(Marshmallows will be partially melted.) Refrigerate 15 min. to cool. Stir in 1 cup of the whip topping.

Pour 2-1/2 cups milk into large bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. Stir in remaining 1-1/2 cups cool whip. Spoon into crust. Arrange cookies over pudding mixture.

Spread marshmallow mixture over cookies.

Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. Store leftover pie in refrigerator. Top with sprinkles or drizzle with chocolate topping before serving, if desired.

*Sugar Free instant pudding and cool whip lite topping can be substituted in this recipe.

Enjoy!


I took the pictures for this pie and I used Oreos because I didn't have any Nilla Wafers, I also substituted Marshmallow Cream for Marshmallows. ~ Kris

Pumpkin Creme Pie with Apple Butter

This week's pie connoisseur is Jess from Shamrocks and Seashells. She's tweaked a kraftfoods.com recipe to give us this Pumpkin Creme Pie with Apple Butter. Check out her blog and then check out her pie, I'm told it's TASTY!


Ingredients
one pie shell (I used Pillsbury, but feel free to make your own)
8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1 c. milk plus 1 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. sugar
4 oz. Cool Whip (plus extra for topping if desired)
15 oz. can pumpkin
2 (3.4 oz.) packages instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3/4 c. apple butter

Directions
1. Bake pie shell as directed. Make sure you prick the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork so it doesn't puff up too much.
2. Spread apple butter over baked crust.
3. Combine cream cheese, 1 Tbsp. milk, sugar, and Cool Whip. Pour mixture over apple butter.
4. Combine 1 c. milk, pudding mixes, pumpkin, and spice until mixed thoroughly. Try to remove any lumps caused by the pudding mix. Spread mixture over cream cheese layer.
5. Refrigerate for 4 hours until set. Serve with a dollop of Cool Whip on top.



Notes
1. My crust shrunk down horribly in the pie plate during baking, so the filling was higher than the crust for the most part. It's ok, it still tasted good.
2. You can make this a lower fat recipe by substituting Neufchatel for the cream cheese and using fat free Cool Whip. I did both of these things and it turned out great!
3. The pumpkin layer is definitely the dominant layer of the pie. I like it that way, but feel free to half those ingredients and add more apple butter. Or, if you don't like apple butter, leave that out, no problemo!
4. Do not let the disgustingness of the photos scare you. I loved this pie, it's just very camera shy and not photogenic.
5. I do not recommend putting candy corn on top of your pie. While it makes for a dessert that looks happy to be eaten, I discovered that over a couple of days in the fridge, the candy corn began to dissolve in the pumpkin, creating more ugliness.

7 Days Without Pie Makes One Weak

Raspberry Lemon Pie

Ahhhhh! New pie Tuesday! I have been dyin' for some pie!

Today's pie is brought to you by the letter E and the number 3.14 (Ha! Get it?).

Edie has submitted this pie for your eating delight!

She got the recipe from : http://thimbleanna.com/?p=129

Raspberry Lemon Pie
1 (10-oz.) package frozen red raspberries in syrup, thawed
1 T. cornstarch
3 egg yolks
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup ReaLemon lemon juice from concentrate (This could be amarketing ploy - I don't know why real lemon juice wouldn't work.)
1 (6-oz.) packaged graham cracker crumb pie crust(I prefer to make my own graham cracker crust - it's not as pretty,but I think it has more flavor. Recipe follows.)
Whipped Topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In small saucepan, combine raspberries and cornstarch; cook and stir until thickened and clear.

In medium bowl, beat egg yolks; stir in sweetened condensed milk and lemonjuice. Pour into crust; bake 8 minutes.

Spoon raspberry mixture evenly over top. Chill 4 hours or until set.

Spread with whipped topping and serve.

Graham Cracker Crust
Combine 1 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs, 1/3 c. sugar and 1/3 c.melted butter.
Press into the bottom of a pie pan.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.


Until next time my pie loving homies!!!! Now go Eat Edie's Pie!!!

Key Lime Pie Baby!

This week's Pie Guru is none other than Kim from Sunshiny Days. She is one wicked talented stamper and after reading this recipe and some of the others she posts on her blog I'm willing to bet she's one helluva good cook/baker as well. I have been DYING to try my own Key Lime Pie recipe for-ever. FOR-EV-ER. But I've always been chicken. Now's the time and I can't wait to eat Kim's pie!


It’s pie time. WooHoo!!!! I’m so excited for y’all to try this one out! It’s a
perfect pie to celebrate the end of summer with. We got hooked on the
Food Network back in college and when we saw Emeril make this on his
show, we immediately downloaded it. I’m so happy that we did because it
has become THE pie at our house. Everyone loves it, request it and
devours it. My husband, Ross, has perfected this recipe and has it
memorized, but this is the first time I’m giving it a go myself.

Key Lime Pie
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002 (here’s the link you can use:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/key-lime-pie-
recipe/index.html)

Show: Emeril Live
Episode: Mr. Lou’s Desserts

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter) melted
2 (14-ounce) cans condensed milk
1 cup key lime or regular lime juice
2 whole eggs
Cool Whip
1 tablespoon lime zest

Preheat the oven to 375.

In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with your
hands. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until
brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to
room temperature before filling.



Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.



In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs.
Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake
in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least
2 hours.

Once chilled, top with Cool Whip and add a little key lime zest to the top
for presentation.




*** My own personal notes: Yes it calls for you to make your own crust
and I highly recommend it. The store bought ones tend to be thinner and
it really taste better with a thicker crust. It’s really not that hard to make
it yourself either. Plus your hands are super soft after mixing everything
together and it makes your house smell great :) We have used Cinnamon
Graham Crackers before and we almost like it better, but we had plain
crackers in the pantry so that it what we used this time.
When you squeeze the key limes, be sure to strain the juice and discard
the little seeds that slip through.
For the topping, we just use plain old Cool Whip. If you follow the link and
look at Emeril’s recipe, he uses a mixture of sour cream and powdered
sugar. We just didn’t care for that taste.
I hope y’all try it out. It truly is our favorite key lime recipe!

Blueberry Peaches and Cream Pie

This week's Pie Guru is Leslie Marcus. She is sharing a Blueberry and Peaches and Cream pie recipe with us.Thank's Leslie for taking TRPC challenge and letting us eat your pie!

I am doing my sister's recipe of Blueberry Peaches and Cream Pie. I think this is her best dessert recipe. I have served it hot, but I actually think that I prefer it cold. If your grocery store does not carry Shortbread pie crusts, you can substitute it with a Graham Cracker crust. It is also good with just peaches or just blueberries, and I bet it would still be good with another fruit.

Blueberry Peaches and Cream Pie by Karin Calloway



Pie

• 1 9-inch shortbread pie crust
• 1 cup regular or reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup blueberries, washed and dried well
• 1 cup peaches, peeled and sliced (about 3 medium peaches)
  
  

Streusel Topping

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup self-rising or all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup cold butter
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine sour cream, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt and egg in a medium bowl. Place blueberries in a small bowl and fold in half of the sour cream mixture. Add the peaches to the remaining sour cream mixture. Spread the peach mixture in the bottom of the pie crust. Top with the blueberry mixture and bake 25 minutes.

While the pie bakes, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly.

After 25 minutes, sprinkle the streusel topping over the pie and return to the oven. Bake 10 minutes, or until browned.

Makes 1 9-inch pie.

Stay Tuned!

Coming up on or before next Tuesday (Aug 26th) we'll have another great pie recipe for you to try! You aren't going to want to miss this one especially if you love fruit pies, it combines two great flavors in one yummy pie!

Smack Me on the Butt and Call Me Bill PIE

Today's pie is brought to you by The Pie Guru and the letter B.


Smack Me on the Butt and Call Me Bill PIE
(I thought of this pie all on my own!!!)

This recipe will yield 2 pies. 1/2 the recipe for one or give a pie to a friend...or eat 2!

Ingredients:

2 deep dish pie crusts - regular pie crust

10 oz pecans
7 oz coconut
1/4 cup butter
1 jar caramel sauce (minimum 10 oz.)

2- 8 oz packages softened cream cheese
14 oz sweetened condensed milk

2 - 3.9 oz packages instant chocolate pudding
8 oz tub of cool whip
1 3/4 cup cold milk

1 LARGE can of spray whipped cream

Directions:

Prepare pie crust. (I buy frozen so I must bake them first)

1st Layer
Melt butter in skillet. Add pecans and coconut to toast. (stir frequently b/c coconut toasts quickly)
Spread coconut and pecan in bottom of pie crust. Top with caramel sauce - A LOT!

2nd Layer
Use mixer to combine 2 packages of softened cream cheese and 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk. Mix until smooth.
Spread mixture on top of pecan layer.

3rd Layer
Use mixer to combine 2 packages of instant pudding and 1 3/4 cup cold milk. When smooth, fold in 8 oz cool whip until well blended.
Spread chocolate mixture on top of cream cheese layer.

REFRIGERATE for at least four hours.

Top with Reddi Whip right before serving. Sprinkle pecans on top for prettiness!
Get a glass of milk and eat my pie!!!

Special notes: Jess - 4 hours...hear that?! 4 hours!! Patience my child! ;) Rach - you can leave out the coconut. Cindy and nut haters - substitute with other nuts or styrofoam peanuts!

Pie Club Theme Song

Thanks to Jess for our AWESOME Pie Club Theme Song!
I believe that this is sung to the tune of Gilligan's Island

I like to eat pies at the table
I like to eat pies made by Aunt Mable


I like to eat pies made with fruit
But not pies cooked with eye of newt


I like to eat pies with a warm buttery crust
Lots of butter is a must


I like my pies yummy and sweet
I do not like my pies filled with meat!


I like to eat pies while going for a walk
But about pie club we must not talk!

Rules of Pie Club

The first rule of pie club - nobody talks about pie club

The second rule of pie club - no meat pies. Meat is not a dessert. The only acceptable protein for dessert is nut based.

The third rule of pie club - no puppies in pots, fish, or kale

The fourth rule of fight club...uhhh...I mean PIE club! - if you hear of a local pie eating contest you MUST let me know!

The fifth rule of pie club - you don't have to bake every pie that is posted, but we may think you are weak! ;) (unless of course you have a good excuse....like your mouth was wired shut or you were going OUT for pie!)