Maple Pumpkin Pie with Salted Pecan Brittle

Pumpkin pie is a holiday favorite.  I love traditional pumpkin pie, but I'm always happy to find a new twist to it.  The filling of this pumpkin pie has a touch of maple flavor and is a lighter filling, more like a chiffon.  I've already made it twice for two different parties, and everyone was asking for the recipe.  It's a winner!!!  (The bonus . . . you'll also love the recipe for the Salted Pecan Brittle.  Yum, yum!)

Serve a Very Cheery Pie

A Journal During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Reflections and Inspiration from Maple Grove
April 26, 2020

Six weeks of sheltering at home, and one day this week I had the sudden urge to make a pie. Just like that.  I don't know why.  Maybe I just wanted to feel like things were normal again.  Maybe I just wanted to feel like America is still America. You know the old saying, "As American as apple pie"?  The urge hit me and I immediately set the gears in motion.  What kind of pie would I make? Last summer, we bought large quantities of fresh fruit when it was priced low. We canned peaches and applesauce, and we froze cherries, strawberries and blueberries. Throughout the winter, I would use the frozen fruit to make desserts or toppings. I thought I'd make a cherry pie, but I didn't have enough cherries left, so I used both cherries and strawberries. I made a Berry Cherry Pie.  It really lifted our mood, so in the end I jokingly called it a Very Cheery Pie.

Berry Cherry Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

Pie crust for 2-crust pie
4 cups fresh or frozen tart cherries or berries
1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, depending on tartness
4 tablespoons corn starch
1 1/2 tablespoons butter to dot

Directions:

(Note): Allow time because you will heat the fruit and then let it cool before pouring into the pie crust.

Place cherries/berries in medium saucepan and heat on stove until the berries give off considerable juice. Remove from heat.

Mix sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl and then pour into the hot fruit and stir well.  Return to stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently.  Remove from the stove and cool. (Note): If the mixture is too thick, stir in a little water. If it is too thick, stir in a little more cornstarch.

Preheat the over to 375 degrees F.

Prepare pie crust for 2-crust pie.  Roll out one piece to fit in an 8 to 9-inch pie pan. Pour the cooled fruit filling into the bottom crust. Dot with butter.  Roll out the top crust and place on the pie, fluting the edges. Make a slit in the middle of the pie to let steam escape.  Cover the edges with aluminum foil to prevent burning.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until lightly browned. (Remove the foil from the edges for the last 10 minutes of baking.)  Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!

Flaky Pie Crust Recipe

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Easy-Make Gourmet Cupcakes for Valentine's Day

For delicious gourmet cupcakes, through and through, try these easy steps to delight your family and guests!

Banana Nut Bread in a Blender

You don't have to be a genius or a gourmet chef to figure out that the key to the best Banana Nut Bread is the bananas!  They have to be ripened to perfection . . . just on the verge of too ripe.  We buy and eat bananas often because they are so rich in Vitamin A, iron, phosphorus and potassium. They're a good source of energy.  Because we buy a lot of bananas, it's not unusual for us to have a couple of overly ripe ones sitting around.

Bananas that are overly ripe have just the right level of sweetness and texture to make  delicious banana bread. Throw in a handful of roughly chopped nuts, and you've got Banana Nut Bread!  I usually keep some walnuts in the freezer so I have them on hand for snacking or when a recipe calls for them. (Walnuts are rich in fiber, Vitamins B and E, magnesium, and protein.  They're a great anti-oxidant!)  Wow . . . add a couple of farm fresh eggs from my free-ranging chickens, and this is sounding like a healthy treat.  Well, not so fast.  It does have refined sugar and flour and vegetable oil in it, so it's not a low-calorie food, but it's still a more nutritional dessert than most cakes.

Banana Nut Bread is quick and easy to make.  Did you ever make it in a blender?

Quick and Easy Recipes for a Ladies Tea

You have set a beautiful table for your Ladies Tea and you want to serve food that is beautiful to look at too.  Beautiful doesn't have to be difficult.  These recipes are quick and EASY to make but are delicious and look wonderful!

Menu

Scones with Raspberry Jam and Clotted Cream

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Cucumber Sandwiches

Bacon and Broccoli Quiche

Coconut Macaroons

Petit Fours

Cream Wafer Cookies

Chocolate Dipped Apricots

Pumpkin Cake in a Jar

We canned fruits and vegetables, relishes and sauces, and now we've really done it.  We canned cake!! This was truly as easy as baking a cake, and it tastes delicious. Imagine canning cakes to have on your shelf to open when a last-minute guest arrives.  Or picture tying ribbons around the lids and giving these jar cakes as appreciation or thank you gifts.

Mom's Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

I'm an old-fashioned gal, with an old-fashioned heart, an old-fashioned kitchen, and a desire to make the best old-fashioned pies ever.  I have many vivid memories and images of my Mom rolling out pastry on the flour-dusted kitchen table and pinching the edges to make a decorative crust.  Her pies were always so scrumptious! 

When I got married, my first few attempts at making pies didn't turn out very good.  So I asked my Mom to teach me. Mom gave me her recipe and her tips as she demonstrated her art.  I learned quickly, and from then on people raved about my pies, especially the flaky crusts.  Nowadays, it is so easy to use the refrigerator pie crusts that you can buy in a grocery store.  I guess they're OK in a pinch if you're in a major hurry.  But, truth be told, they are just not the same as old-fashioned, homemade pie crusts.  Unless time is of the utmost essence, there is really no need to forgo this timeless treasure--not when you have the right recipe and know-how.  So I gladly share with you lessons I learned at my Mom's side.