Simple & Sweet Shortbread Cookies

Somehow, January has nearly slipped right by me.  It wasn’t until today that I realized we will soon be entering the ever so cold month of February, (as if it hasn’t been ever so cold already) and soon Cupid will arrive with his love potion filled arrows.

Last year, in honor of what is suppose to be one of the most romantic days of the year, I made several delicious treats leading up to the big day.  I kicked off the celebration with Strawberry Kiss Cheesecakes.   Then came the Chocoholic Cupcake, the Marshmallow, Peanut Butter, and Cake Truffles, and let’s not forget the Valentine Cream Wafer (Heart) Cookies.  

I decided to start this years celebration off with one of my most favorite cookies ever.  The Simple & Sweet Shortbread Cookie.  These cookies are melt in your mouth perfect.  Butter, sugar, flour, a pinch of salt and a touch of vanilla.  That’s it – so simple, so sweet!

SIMPLE & SWEET SHORTBREAD COOKIES

2 sticks of butter, room temperature

1/2 c. granulated sugar

a pinch of salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. all-purpose flour

Powdered sugar for rolling

Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, add butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Cream ingredients together; add flour.  Continue to mix ingredients until everything is blended.  Form dough into a ball. 

Place a dough on a piece of parchment paper that is coated with a light coating of powdered sugar.  Roll dough out until it is about 1/4” thick. Use more powdered sugar if needed.  Cut out cookies using a cookie cutter.  Place cookies on prepared cookie sheet about 1 1/2” apart.  Bake for about 8 minutes.  Do not over bake.  They will firm up after removing them from the oven.  Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet before moving them.

If you want to spruce your cookies up, roll the edges in a thin butter cream icing and then coat the edges with some colored sugar.   

I couldn’t resist sneaking this cute little (like new) tea cup from Teavana into this picture.  I found it at a local thrift store for 30 cents.  That’s my kind of bargain!

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be all about romance.  It can simply be about kindness.  Make a batch of these delicious cookies, pair them with a pretty tea cup or coffee mug, and give them to someone that’s deserving this Valentine’s Day.

I’m planning on sharing my cookies at one of my favorite hangouts – BeBetsy.  Make sure you check out their great site because there is something there for everyone.

Advertisement

Ten Bloggers Present – The Fall Harvest Dinner!

Dinner parties were once one of the most common forms of entertainment in this country.  Homemakers would set their tables with their finest dinnerware, make their favorite recipes, and invite some of their closest friends over for an evening of cocktails, delicious food, and great company.   

Some of my most favorite pictures are of my grandparents hosting dinner parties back in the day.  The women in the photo’s wore pretty dresses and heels, and the men donned dress slacks, dress shirts, and ties.  And as you can imagine, the photo’s depict adults having a great time dining and socializing.

With entertaining on my mind, I have invited some of my closest blogger friends to help me host a virtual Fall Harvest Dinner Party.  Each dish, including the table décor, signifies our beautiful fall season.  If you’re looking for Thanksgiving dinner ideas, you’ll likely find something from our dinner that you can put to good use later.  I am sharing just a tease (here at The Joy of Caking) of our dinner and the bloggers who helped make this all possible.  For loads more pictures, recipes, and to get to know each of these great blogger friends of mine better, please visit each of their sites.  I promise not to disappoint you!. 

Our dinner party begins with a beautiful Festive Fall Table created by Sandra of Sweet Sensations. Sandra has a real knack for coordinating and designing some of the most beautifully decorated tablescapes I’ve ever seen.  She claims it is nearly impossible for her to separate herself from the world of sweets and parties and I believe it! Have you ever seen the beautiful cakes she makes?  Sandra blogs to us from Michigan, and she tells me that her regular job as a fitness professional allows her to indulge moderately in all things sugar – lucky girl!  She say’s “it’s a good thing that I’m as passionate about working out as I am passionate about sweets!”  I only wish I could say the same Sandra.

I ask you, what’s a dinner party without a cocktail or two?  This scrumptious looking Apple Pie Cocktail with a Twist is brought to you by Terra of Café Terra Blog.  This cocktail looks like it would wet just about any whistle.  I know it would mine!  In my opinion, Terra is the ultimate cocktail queen – at least she is in North Carolina where she happily resides.  If you can think it; she can mix it!  Terra has been blogging for over three years.  By day she is a food safety/quality assurance specialist that checks on restaurants and hotels.  As a recipe developer, Terra say’s “I have discovered I love baking/cooking with booze.  So to add to my list of fun, I started creating cocktails with all the extra booze in my bar!”  Keep um coming Terra!

When Dionne from Try Anything Once Culinary graciously offered to make us one of her yummy appetizers for our dinner I couldn’t wait to see what she would bring.   This French recipe for Eggplant Caviar sounds so unique and delectable.  I love the creativity that flows from Dionne’s kitchen, and I drool over all of the belly filling food she shares.  Dionne say’s “I love writing, cooking, eating and photography. Strengthening my culinary skills was something that I found myself doing after my daughter was born. It was something that we could do together, no matter what our financial situation, and we could have that in common.”  Dionne operates their family by day and squeezes in time for food blogging when she can.  She’s a very busy girl especially since her and her “other-half” co-founded No More Hungry Nights in the state of Washington,  an organization dedicated to ending hungry nights one house at a time. They provide food donations, job connections and even training for local families in their community.  KUDO’S to both of them for taking on such a huge problem! 

I know that a new mom like Monet, from Anecdotes & Applecores, is probably more focused on feeding her sweet little Lucy than helping host a fall dinner party – but Monet is an amazing girl.  She always bakes delicious treats and writes from her heart  –  two of the things that I enjoy immensely about her.  Today, she brings an enticing Goat Cheese with Herbs de Provence to our dinner table.  While this recipe sounds like a fancy and time consuming appetizer, I’m sure she will tell you otherwise.  Monet writes and bakes in colorful Colorado.  She just recently finished her MFA in Creative Writing and she is currently working on a memoir about food and family.  Monet invites you to visit  Anecdotes and Apple Cores where she say’s,  “I share simple recipes that are meant to be shared.”  And while your there, be sure to ogle (like I do) over sweet little Lucy!

Amy, aka “Ms. Toody Goo Shoes, has created a sapid Roasted Pear Salad with White Balsamic Vinaigrette for us to feast upon.  After a lengthy career in the TV industry,  Amy reports that she has ”hung up her dress-for-success clothes and pulled her domestic ‘genes’ out of storage.”  Now that she isn’t rushing off to catch the 7:52 every morning, she spends her time writing from her home in New Jersey about the things she always wished she had time to do when she was working; like baking, traveling and interior design. Amy’s great sense of humor and her creative writing skills make me laugh and keep me coming back for more.  And I haven’t even mentioned all of the other attractions she shares on her blog; like recipes, home decorating ideas, and her road trips! 

Jeanne is the author/blogger behind Inside NanaBread’s Head.  For our fall dinner she has prepared Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Pineapple with Almond & Honey Streusel – yummy!!  Jeanne compares her blog to her junk drawers – filled with tidbits, trash & treasures – so open with caution; you never know what might fall out.  I can completely relate to that!  She writes from the big state of Texas about the things that make her world brighter.  Jeanne’s blog is much like mine in that she offers a little of everything – food, family, travel, an occasional craft or sewing project.  On occasion you may even get an update on the mildly exotic fruit that they grow; including pineapples, bananas and a new papaya tree.  Jeanne say’s she’s “prone to bouts of sarcasm, and believes that a good sense of humor is one of life’s greatest gifts.”  She’s always made me feel very welcomed at her blog, and she once told me if she ever wins the lottery she’s inviting me to a “girl’s getaway” she’s planning.  Hey, you never know!  Drop by her blog for a visit, poke around for a while, and say hello. Her door is always open.  

My contribution to our dinner is a Crusted Garlic Parmesan Roasted Chicken.  Since I’m the baker in our house, and my hubby is the cook, I asked him if he would mind helping with the entrée for our dinner. Since he loves to cook, he was more than willing to roll up his sleeves and help out.  I’m so fortunate because the two of us can work side by side in the kitchen and produce some pretty tasty meals together.   Since this is a super long post I am going to be sharing his recipe in a new post tomorrow – so be sure to stop back for it!

Liz of That Skinny Chick Can Bake brings a beautiful and flavorful Pumpkin Challah to our table all the way from Indiana.  Liz credits her mom as being an amazing cook, but not much of a baker. She say’s, “when my sisters and I yearned for a sweet treat, I turned to our trusty BH&G cookbook and zeroed in on the dessert tabs. My love of baking began in my childhood kitchen.”  She married a chocoholic and together they had 3 children with plenty of sweet teeth.  Liz began blogging in 2010 (the same year I did) to chronicle her baking journey. She amazes me because I don’t think there is a day that goes by that she doesn’t post something delicious on her blog.  I love reading all the great stories she shares with her great recipes.  Drop over and say hi, and ask her how many times she’s had a fire truck at her house.

Sharon and Denise are the makers of these tender and buttery Onion Rolls. Did I mention I love Onion Rolls?  Both are sisters born a scant 17 months apart, best friends, and the brains behind BeBetsy.   BeBetsy is a place to find fabulous food, flirty fashion, beauty trends, creative artists and a lot of inspiration!  Both gal’s tell me that they “like the idea that a modern woman can have a career, then carry her baby or grandchild on her hip wearing a fabulous dress and heels (or flats if her feet are killing her) and all the while admitting that she loves to cook, sew and garden, and finds the greatest joy in friends and family.”  I enjoy dropping by and linking up to their linky party every Tuesday.  It’s called Brag About It.  Please feel free too do the same! Lucky for me, these two ladies from the Wild West (Utah and Nevada) have become great long distance friends of mine.

Anne, a baker and blogger From My Sweet Heart, resides in a suburb of Washington, D.C.  Her dish to pass is my favorite part of any meal – dessert!  I can almost smell Anne’s Cinnamon Applesauce Tart, can’t you?  Anne admits, “I grew up in a generation where you always had dessert; even if it was after a weeknight supper; and even if it was only Jell-o. And to this day, when I dine at a restaurant, I always glance at the dessert menu first! I began baking later in my life.”  I can completely relate to what Anne says about always having dessert – that’s the way I remember it too!  She and I both appreciate vintage kitchen items and you will likely see many of them in the beautiful photographs that she takes for her posts.  Ann amazes me because she has a job that keeps her very busy by day, and yet she still manages to produce some of the most perfect looking desserts that I’ve ever seen. Grab yourselves a cup of coffee and head over to From My Sweet Heart for a slice of this delicious tart.

Thank you for coming to our Fall Harvest Dinner.  We all hope you have enjoyed yourselves, but remember it’s not over yet!  Hop on over to each of my friends blogs and pick up their scrumptious recipes for this meal, along with Sandra’s tips on setting a winning table.  And if you forgot to bring a hostess gift don’t fret; just pin, tweet, or Facebook our party and we’ll forgive you!  

Mini Lemon Pound Cakes

Holidays in our family are more about food than anything else.  We cook, we bake, and we eat.  And Father’s Day this year was no exception.  I made homemade vanilla ice cream and mini lemon pound cakes as gifts for the dad’s in our family. 

This recipe is adapted from the blog Bright Green Door which Jessica titled Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf.  I happened upon Jessica’s recipe at BeBetsy’s Brag About It – Tuesday Link Party #8.  I opted to make small cakes so they could be frozen and the recipients could enjoy them now and again.

Mini Lemon Pound Cakes

(Makes 8 mini pound cakes)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and grease 8 mini loaf pans

2 c. sugar

1 stick of margarine, softened

6 eggs

1/4 c. sour cream

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. lemon extract

1/2 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice

3 c. all-purpose flour

Cream together sugar, margarine, eggs, and sour cream in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and lemon juice.  Add flour and mix in thoroughly. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for approximately 50-55 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the loaves.  Allow loaves to cool slightly before removing from pans.

Lemon Icing 

1 c. confectionery sugar

1-2 tbsp. milk

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together and drizzle on top of cooled pound cakes.

On a scale from 1-10, how important is food to your holiday celebrations? 

If you’d like to share one of your favorite desserts (or any post) don’t forget to drop by BeBetsy.com this Tuesday (that’s tomorrow) for their next link party.  They’d love for you to join in on the fun!

Join Me in My Write a Letter Campaign

What is it that you find in your mailbox these days?  Junk mail?  Bills? Local advertising publications? And more junk mail? 

When is the last time you actually received an honest to goodness letter from a close friend or relative? 

It’s sad to say, but letter writing is nearly extinct these days.  I suppose it’s understandable with text messages, instant messaging, and email at nearly everyone’s fingertips. 

The reason that we  resort to our tablets, computers, and phones to communicate?  Time and convenience.

But honestly, I miss getting notes or letters in the mail (the old-fashioned way).  I miss the personal touch a handwritten letter conveys, and  I miss buying pretty stationery and notecards to  send my letters and notes on.

Can you think of someone you’ve lost touch with, or someone that you know would really appreciate a heartfelt note or letter from you?  If so, consider this post an opportunity to get in on my write a letter campaign.  It doesn’t have to be complicated or  time consuming;  just a quick note on a pretty notecard will suffice.

I happened to have these plain cards and pretty little paper flower kits (that I bought on clearance at  Michaels last fall) sitting around my craft room.  I wasn’t sure what I would do with them until I decided that I was going to write my favorite aunt a letter.  I want my letter to be as pretty as it will be personal.

Do you still write letters and notes and send them by mail?  If you decide to join my write a letter campaign, who will you send yours to?

I’m sharing this post with BeBetsy.com –  one of my favorite websites.  To help promote my letter writing campaign please share this post on your favorite social media sites!

Chocolate Cookies

For my last post, Pass the Plate, I made Chocolate Cookies that I sent to Sandra at Sweet Sensations.

These cookies are both semi-soft cookie and slightly chewy.  And oh so chocolaty.  A recipe for Chocolate Raspberry Cookies from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen  inspired me to make this adapted version.

Can I just say that there are so many talented people blogging today – it still amazes me. Everyone has something to offer, and in their own unique way. I don’t know what we did without them!

Chocolate Cookies

1/2 c. margarine, softened

1 egg

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

5/8 c. cocoa powder

1 c. all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, add margarine, sugars, and egg; mix thoroughly with electric mixer.  Mix in salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  Add cocoa and flour.  Mix all ingredients until completely blended.

Chill dough in freezer for 1/2 hour.  Once dough is chilled, scoop dough from bowl using by dining sized teaspoon and roll into balls.  Place on prepared cookie sheet.  Spray the bottom of a small glass with non-stick cooking spray.  Press the glass down onto each ball – spraying after each pressing. Sprinkle with colored sugar, or sprinkles if desired prior to baking.

Bake for about 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing from cookie sheet.

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen.

If you want to  see if Sandra eats these cookies, or feeds them to the neighbors dog, go check out her site.  She is going to be making some cookies of her own to pass along.  And please go to Share the Love Pass The Plate at BeBetsy.com to follow the plate from one blogger to the next, as this great fundraiser continues to raise monies to help in the fight against breast cancer.

Pass the Plate

When Sharon and Denise at BeBetsy.com asked me if I would help them Pass the Plate I eagerly accepted.

If you aren’t familiar with Pass the Plate, then please let me fill you in.  Pass the Plate is a fundraiser to support the Susan G. Komen for the cure 2012, and is an offspring of  Cook for the Cure.

The concept behind Pass the Plate is simple. 

1.) Anyone can purchase the beautifully designed and specially marked plate. The plate was created by Chef Jacques Pepin; a celebrity cooking show host, and was manufactured by the Villeroy & Boch; the makers of extremely gorgeous porcelain dinnerware.

2.) The purchaser of the plate then makes food to put on the plate.  We are passing homemade cookies. 

3.) Once the food is plated, it is then passed onto a friend, neighbor, or in our case, another food blogger.  Each time the plate changes hands it gets properly documented, and Kitchen Aid, the makers of some of the most awesome kitchen products in the world, makes a  $5.00 donation to help the fight against breast cancer.

4.) The more the plate continues to change hands, the more money it raises.

Pretty awesome…

So now,  let me bring you up to speed on what’s happened with the plate so far.  The plate was loaded with homemade Snickerscotti cookies by Sharon and Denise.  It left Nevada last week and arrived at my house here in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State on Saturday, October 6th.  A toot of the horn on the rural mail carriers truck announced the plate’s arrival. 

As luck would have it, I had just made a fresh cup of coffee.  Perfect timing Sharon and Denise.  Of course I had to have a (couple) Snickerscotti’s.  These cookies are the most delicious biscotti type cookie that I have ever had – seriously.  I cannot stay out of them.  In fact, my husband warned me that I had better take pictures of them before I ate them all – can you imagine?  I’m sure the recipe will be available on BeBetsy in the very near future.

The first thing I thought of when Sharon and Denise contacted me about this fund-raising campaign were the people I’ve know that have been affected by breast cancer. 

The second thing I thought about was the person I wanted to send my plateful of cookies to –  Sandra of Sweet Sensations.  Sandra has been a true foodie friend.  She is the queen of table decorating and party throwing,  makes the most sinful looking cakes ever, and sounds like one of the best grandmas in the world.  If you’re not familiar with Sandra then it’s time you go over to her blog and acquaint yourself with her.

Since she eagerly accepted my invitation to participate in Pass the Plate she will now receive a plateful of cookies that I made especially for her and her family.

I decided send Sandra a plate of  Chocolate Cookies decorated with pink sprinkles.  These cookies should travel well from to New York to Michigan. Unless of course, some hungry postal employee realizes what’s in the box.  Do you suppose that ever happens?

I will share the recipe for these cookies  in a future post.  In the meantime, here’s sneak peak. 

Please follow the plate as it makes it’s way from one foodie to the next throughout the country.

Sandra, keep your eye out.  They are enroute!

TJOC DIY Wine Charms

I like to know that the used wine glass I pick up at a party is the same wine glass I originally set down, and I can imagine that most everyone else feels the same way.

I think the easiest way to keep track of your wine glass is by using wine charms.  These are usually inexpensive to buy, but I love making them myself.

For this batch, I used my Cricut.  I cut out several small tags, added a few stickers, and finished them off by putting a small piece of waxed jute through the hole of each tag so they can later be tied to the stem of each wine glass. 

You can get as fancy as you’d like, or keep them as plain and simple as you like.  Remember to decorate them so they each have their own individual look – you’ll need to do this so (hopefully) everyone will remember which one is theirs.

So go ahead, dig through your craft supplies and see what you can come up with.

PS:  If you haven’t already done so, check out BeBetsy.com.  Their readers (including me) share some cute DIY projects there.  And a big thanks to Fox News Magazine for publishing my wine charms on their very cool on-line lifestyle magazine.

 

When Sweet Meets Salty

 

What do you get when you cover square pretzels with candy wafers, bake them for 3-4 minutes in a 200 degree oven, and top them off with Sixlets?

I found this idea at BeBetsy on Pinterest who pinned it from the blog G*rated. G*rated made the treats using Hershey’s Hugs/Kisses and plain M&M’s.  I adapted the recipe and used ingredients I normally have on hand.

Use your imagination; mix colors and flavors to create your ultimate sweet and salty snacks!

A Must Read Guest Post by Denise of BeBetsy

Preserve Your Family History with Recipes

It’s funny how things that once seemed ordinary and taken for granted become so dear to the heart as we move along in our life’s journey.

I can picture our mother with her apron on hard at work in the kitchen of our home that my parents built brick by brick.

The kitchen walls were lined with cedar wainscot. Closing my eyes I am transported back watching my father take pleasure in our mother’s cooking. Oh what meals she could whip up! Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, freshly baked rolls slathered in butter and fresh plum jam made from the bounty of our grandmother’s tree.

It remains so vivid in my memory.

In winter the kitchen was the place to be with the warmth from the oven and wonderful smells that made your stomach churn in anticipation! I cherish those memories and right this minute I swear I can smell the chocolate, sugar and butter of the Saturday night fudge as it bubbled in that old, heavy saucepan.

Food memories are powerful and an important part of our family history. What a gift it would be to our children, and for generations to come, if through our recipes our family history would come to life!

Shortly after our mother died my sister Sharon and her family put together a collection of our family recipes in a beautifully handcrafted scrapbook of my sister’s own design. Included were pictures of our mother’s handwritten recipes cards.

This precious memory book reminds me of how our mother’s home-cooked meals brought us together around our kitchen table. Thinking of that I smile and cry all at once.

So scour your family’s cupboards and locate those old cookbooks and recipe cards. Spend time with the older women in your family and consider recording them talking of the foods they would prepare for their family.

What a great treasure that would be to pass on to your own children.

Please share your own precious memories!

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”
— Tenneva Jordan

I’m so glad to share Denise’s post with you.  There are few things more precious to me than my mother’s and grandmother’s hand-written recipe cards.  The preservation of their recipes is important to me, and my memories of watching them stay busy in their kitchen’s will always make me smile.

Denise and her sister Sharon are the masterminds of BeBetsy.com, a  FREE on-line lifestyle magazine. 

BeBetsy features great articles on health, beauty, fashion, money, gardening, home décor, food and drink, DIY, tech savy tips, along with information on today’s hottest products. 

Oh,  I almost forgot to mention the printable coupons and great giveaways and contests they share with readers too.

My suggestion, subscribe to their site so you don’t miss a single thing.    And why stop there? They can also be found on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook. 

Now, a bit more about Denise, the author of this  post.  She is the editor and co-founder of BeBetsy.  She is a writer, self-proclaimed musician, food junkie and sometimes funny person, who enjoys spending as much time as possible with her husband and family.

She loves classic cinema and indie movies and most forms of musical expression.  She loves to hike, camp, fish canoe and howl at the moon.

When she’s not howling at the moon, she spends time working-out, swimming, singing, writing, sewing, reading and telling others her opinion on any subject.  She ignores age and pretends she is 27.  (Don’t we all?)

Originally from Salt Lake City, she now lives in Southern Nevada enjoying the daily sunshine and serenity of the dessert.  Lucky girl…

 

Red Raspberry Custard Pie with Vanilla Crumb Crust

Last weekend I bought a vintage cookbook titled Good Housekeeping’s Party Pie Book for .25 cents.  What a buy!  The book was copyrighted in 1958 and the condition of the book would imply that it was used frequently.  I always consider wear and tear  a sign of a good book.

Just purchasing the book encouraged me to make a pie.   I  made an Old-Fashioned Blueberry Custard Pie last summer and I loved everything about it.   I decided since that was such a hit I’d make a red raspberry custard pie this time around.

I picked a pie crust recipe out of the Good Housekeeping’s Party Pie Book and the custard recipe is from Food.com.

Vanilla Crumb Crust:

Makes one 9” crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1 1/3 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

1/4 c. margarine or butter, softened

In small bowl, add vanilla wafer crumbs and margarine.  Mix with a fork until well blended.  Press into pie plate with a spoon, or by hand.

Bake for 8 minutes.  Cool prior to using.

Raspberry Custard Pie Filling:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2 c. raspberries, fresh or frozen

1 c. sugar

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 c. evaporated milk

3 large eggs, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 pinch of nutmeg

1 pinch of cinnamon

Place berries in the bottom of  the crust; set aside.  In medium bowl, mix flour and sugar.  Gradually add milk; stir until smooth.  Whisk in eggs, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Pour into pie crust covering berries.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for additional 35 minutes, or until knife comes out clean when inserted into the center of the pie.

I have made the custard filling once with evaporated milk, and once with skim milk, and I did notice a difference between the two.  I think the skim milk separated a bit more, where the evaporated did not.  I actually liked the flavor of the custard made with the skim  better than the evaporated milk.  The next time I make  a custard pie I will use a half of cup of each and see if it balances everything out.  One other  recommendation;  use a pie crust shield around the edge of the crust to prevent over browning. 

I’m sold on custard with fruit pies.  They are so tasty and simple to make. 

I recently won a Cuisinart stick blender with a chopper attachment in a cool recipe contest hosted by  BeBetsy.com.  I used the chopper to grind up the vanilla wafers for this pie crust.  It was so powerful and really got the job done.  I guess that gives me an excuse to make more pies – doesn’t it?

Sharing this delicious pie over at Tidy Mom’s – I’m Lovin it Friday’s!  Check out all of the great entries posted there.