Blackberry Pie

This is a recipe I found at Allrecipes.com. The pie is delicious and it is a new favorite of mine!

Ingredients:

4 to 4.5 C fresh blackberries. I have used frozen blackberries as well.

1/3 C white sugar
A dash of lemon juice
1/2 C flour
1 deep pie crust, you may opt for a single or double crust
1 egg, mixed in a separate bowl

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

2. Combine 3 1/2 cups berries with the sugar and flour. 
Mix until you can see no more white clumps of flour and sugar.
Add a dash of lemon juice to the berries and mix in.

3. With the beaten egg, lightly brush the inside of the pie.
This prevents the crust from getting soggy.
Spoon the blackberry mixture into an unbaked pie shell.
Spread the remaining 1/2 cup berries on top.

4. If you are wanting a double crust, cover the pie with the top crust.
Seal and crimp the edges, and cut vents in the top crust for steam to escape.
If you are doing a single crust pie, lightly mix and cover the 1/2 C berries into the mixture.

5. If you are doing a double pie crust, brush the top with the beaten egg mixture.

6. I like to put the pie on a cookie sheet to catch the extra spills that may come with baking. Bake pie in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly cover the pie with tin foil and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown. I then turn off the oven and let the pie sit in the oven an additional 10 minutes. Afterwards, cool pie on wire rack.

Cherry Pie

A birthday request from my husband was Cherry Pie.  

Ingredients:

2 deep dish pie crusts

1 1/2  cans of cherry pie filling

1/2 t Almond Extract

1 egg beaten

Directions:

Preheat Oven 425 degrees

Mix cherry pie filling with with Almond extract

Poke fork holes in bottom and on side unbaked pie crust.

Lightly brush the bottom with beaten egg mixture to prevent crust from becoming soggy in the baking process.

Pour cherry pie mixture into a unbaked pie crust

Use the remaining pie crust for the top.  I like the criss-cross pattern across a cherry pie.

Lightly brush the top criss-cross pieces with the beaten egg mixture for a shiny pie appearance.

Place pie on a cookie sheet to prevent spills during baking time.

Bake at 425 degrees for 45 min.  Around the 30-35 min mark I put a piece of tin foil over the pie to prevent the top from becoming burnt. 

After the timer goes off, turn off the oven and let the pie bake for an additional 10-15 min (with the tin foil on top) before taking the pie out to cool.  

Raspberry Jam

A favorite childhood memory is my grandmothers homemade raspberry jam.  Growing up, I was raised on homemade jam and wanted to test my skills at canning raspberry jam.  I luckily found a recipe online and the jam turned out so yummy with a rich, red color.  

Ingredients:

5 C fresh raspberries

2 1/2 C sugar

Directions:

Put a small plate into the freezer.  You will use it to plop your hot jam on when you think it is ready.

Sterilize jars with lids off by putting them in your dishwasher about an hour before you use them or by boiling them in hot water for 10 min with the lids off.

Fill 8 inch sauce pan or pot abut half way with water. bring to boil and drop the inner lids into the boiling water.  Sterilize for 10 minuets.

Wash berries and crush to taste in a steel pot.  If you like chunky fruit, crush them about half way.  Don’t crush raspberries all the way since they will start to disintegrate when heated.

Once fruit is crushed, add 2 1/2 C sugar and mix

Turn heat to high for first 5 minutes stirring consistently
Turn heat down to medium and tir consistency for 20-25 minutes

At about 20 minutes when jam starts to look gooey, test the consistency by taking the sauce plate out of the freezer and dropping a small dollop of jam on it.  If it doesn’t run or drip off the plate, it is done.

Take the jam pot off the heat, set it aside and let it cool

Using the jar funnel, fill each jar and leave about 1/4 inch of space on top.  put lids on and tighten.

Fill canning put with water enough to cover the closed jars and bring to a boil.

Put the filled jars in the rack and lower into boiling water and let it boil for about 15 minutes.

Turn off heat , remove the rack of jars.

When you hear the popping sounds of the lids, you know that you jam has been sealed.  If the jar doesn't seal, put in fridge to be used that week.

Apricot Jam

A neighbor was kind to share her supply of Apricots from her tree.  I found this recipe online and thought I would try my hand at canning some Apricot Jam.  The jam tasted delicious!

5 cups fresh apricots - peeled, pitted, and crushed

1/4 C Lemon Juice

2 1/2 C Sugar

3 (1 pint) canning jars with lids and ring

Mix Apricots and lemon juice in a large pot; add sugar.  Slowly bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.  I crush the apricots with my hand blender before the mixture gets too hot.  Cook and stir until apricot mixture thickens, About 25-30 min.  Skim off foam along the processing time.  Remove from heat.  

Ladle hot jam into hot sterilized jars, leaving about 1/4 inch of space on top. Run a knife or a thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue. Top with lids and screw on rings.

Meanwhile, prepare jars, lids, and rings by cleaning and sterilizing in dishwasher or boiling water bath. Leave lids in simmering water until ready to seal jars.

I used my fruit canner, when steam started to come out, I set the timer and processed the jam for 10 minutes.

I placed hot jars onto a cloth-covered surface, several inches apart, and pressed the top of each lid with a finger, ensuring that the seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all). Store in a cool, dark area.

I had a little bit of Jam left over and it sure tasted good on some whole wheat toast.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

I found this recipe online and the family loves it.  I had extra strawberries and this was a perfect recipe for it.

Ingredients:

1 C old fashion rolled oats

3/4 C white whole wheat flour

1/3 C light brown sugar

1/4 t ground ginger

1/4 t kosher salt

6 T unsalted melted butter

2 C small diced strawberries, divided

1 t cornstarch

1 T lemon juice

1 T sugar

For the vanilla glaze (optional)

1/2 C powdered sugar

1/2 t pure vanilla extract

1 T milk

Directions:

1.  Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.  Line a 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper so that the paper overhangs two sides like handles.

2.  In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, ginger and salt.  Pour in the melted butter and stir until it forms clumps and the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Set aside 1/2 C of the crumble mixture, then press the rest into an even layer in the bottom of the prepared pan.

3.  Scatter half of the strawberries over the crust.  Sprinkle cornstarch evenly over the top, then sprinkle on the lemon juice and 1/2 T of the sugar.  Scatter the remaining berries on top, then the remaining 1/2 T sugar.  Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the top.  You will have some fruit showing through.

4.  Bake the bars for 35 to 40 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly and the crumb topping smells toasty and looks golden.  Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.  (you can speed the process along on the refrigerator).

5.  While the bars cool, prepare the glaze.  In a medium bowl, briskly whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth.  Feel free to add more milk if a thinner consistency is desired.  Using the parchment paper sides, lift the bars out of the baking dish and drizzle with glaze.

*Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days.

*To freeze, let bars cool completely and tightly wrap in plastic before placing in the freezer.  Let bars thaw in fridge then glaze afterwards.

Homemade Dinner Rolls

I found this recipe at: thestayathomechef.com, this recipe is so amazing!  Thanks for making me look like a superstar mom because these rolls are simply THE BEST EVER!

Perfectly soft homemade dinner rolls, a recipe that took 5 years to perfect! These really are the best homemade dinner rolls ever!

Author: Rachel Farnsworth

Yield: 24 rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm milk

• 2 tablespoons instant dry yeast

• ¼ cup white granulated sugar

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 6 tablespoons salted butter, softened

• 2 large eggs

• 6 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon melted butter

Directions:In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm milk, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, and eggs.


Add in 5½ cups of flour. Using a dough hook, turn the mixer on to a low speed. Once the flour starts to incorporate into the dough, increase the speed to a medium range. Slowly add the remaining ½ cup of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough mixture should be slightly sticky and soft. Add more or less flour until the dough reaches the desired consistency. The amount of flour you add in bread making is always an approximation and you should go by feel.


Transfer the dough to a lightly greased mixing bowl. Cover with a towel and let rise 90 minutes.


Lightly grease a baking sheet. Punch down the dough and form into 24 rolls. Place on the greased baking sheet in six rows of four.


Cover and let rise 1 hour.


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the rolls for 12 to 14 minutes, until lightly browned.


Remove rolls from oven and brush with melted butter.


Serve the rolls warm, or to cool, let rest on the pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. 


Once cooled completely, store in a plastic bag.

Spagetti Pie

This was a recipe we got from a co-worker.  It was sure delicious for dinner.

Ingredients:

4 oz uncooked spaghetti

1/2 lb. Italian sausage

1 C spaghetti sauce

1 C shredded Mozzarella cheese

3/4 C sour cream

1 egg

1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

Directions: 

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain.  Meanwhile, brown sausage in 10 inch skillet; drain off fat.  Stir in spaghetti sauce.  Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.  In medium bowl, combine sour cream, 1/2 C mozzarella cheese, and egg.  Stir in cooked spaghetti.  Place spaghetti mixture in 1 inch pie pan.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Spread sausage mixture over top.  Cover with aluminum foil; bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until heated through.  Remove aluminum foil.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.  Serves 6