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!