Vanilla Cream Pie

From Grandma Lu's kitchen to Sharlynn's kitchen to mine! Nick loves the coconut version.

4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups half-and-half, light cream, or milk (i usually just use milk)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Separate egg yolks from whites; set white aside for meringue. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in half-and-half (or cream or milk). Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly; reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Slightly beat egg yolks with a rotary beater or fork. Gradually stir about 1 cup of the hot filling into yolks. Add egg yolk mixture to filling in saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla.


COCONUT CREAM PIE: prepare as above, except stir in 1 cup flaked coconut with butter and vanilla.

BANANA CREAM PIE: prepare as above, except before adding filling, arrange sliced bananas over bottom of shell.

DARK CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE: prepare as above, except increase the sugar to 1 cup. Stir in 3 ounces chopped unsweetened chocolate with the half-and-half.

SOUR CREAM-RAISIN PIE: prepare as above, except decrease sugar to 2/3 cup and increase the cornstarch to 1/3 cup. Fold in 1 cup raisins and 1/2 cup dairy sour cream with the butter and vanilla. Heat filling mixture through (do not boil).



This is an easy recipe. I usually cook it low and slow - that way it doesn't curdle or burn. ENJOY!

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

Pinterest! Love it. These are delicious and very festive! Lemon zest is a must!

Hands-On Time: 20 minutes
Total Time:
Servings: About 4 dozen cookies
Rating: 4.5 stars
Description:
A deep red, chewy cookie that has a delicate crackled crust dusted with a touch of powdered sugar.
Ingredients
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 box Duncan Hines® Red Velvet Cake Mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Melt butter; set aside to cool. Place powdered sugar and cornstarch in shallow dish. Mix with a fork to blend.
Place cake mix, cooled butter, eggs and lemon zest in large mixing bowl. Mix by hand until well blended and a dough forms.
Form dough into 1-inch balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on cool, ungreased baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in center of oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Store in airtight container with wax paper or parchment separating layers.
Tips:
For consistency, use a small scoop (1 to 1-1/4 inches in diameter) to form dough into balls.
For best results, bake only one sheet of cookies at a time. If two are baked at once, rotate sheets midway through baking.
Copyright © 2011 Pinnacle Foods Corp. LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Salted Nut Roll

from Cinda, from my shower and EVERYONE loved it!

16 oz. dry Roasted peanuts (salted) 3 Tbs. butter or margarine
1 can sweetened condensed milk 4 c. miniature marshmallows
12 oz. Reeses Peanut butter chips (I use 1½ bags)

Butter 9 x 13 inch pan. Pour ½ peanuts in pan. Mix butter and peanut butter chips in sauce pan over low heat. Heat until melted, add milk, and mix well. Remove from stove, add marshmallows. Pour over peanuts, and then top with remaining peanuts. Press in and refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut into squares and serve.

No Bake Cookies

When I was in Utah visiting my cousin she made these. Hers didn't set, but they were still delicious. So tonight I got the craving to make them. Found a recipe on allrecipes.com, and thanks to the comments of people I figured out that she probably didn't let it boil long enough. I made sure it was really boiling for 1.5 to 2 minutes.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter (used creamy, added a few more oats to keep crunchy)
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened.

Projects

'tis the season: http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2009/10/easy-treattote-bag-tutorial.html
This bag's dimensions were off for me. I ended up cutting like an inch from the top of these bags. I also felt the handles were too big and not long enough, if you want them to put them on their shoulders. So I cut mine 6 in by 16 or 17 inches. Then, I used interfacing to make them stiffer, than cut the piece in half so they ended up 3x16. Fun and easy to make, and a lot easier to store than plastic pumpkins. ;)


My sister-in-law asked me if I had a project for baby boy. No, unfortunetly I had to tell her no, what do I make for a boy, so she hooked me up to this site, super cute. This is going to be one of my projects now.
http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2010/04/car-seat-cover-aka-greeter-deterrent.html

Oatmeal

I have made Shar's Kitchen Bread forever. It's the best I'd found, just not my favorite taste. (found at sharskitchen.com/recipes wheat bread) I've tried all kinds of versions and I finally made one that is a big keeper!
I was looking online on different breads and found that you can subtract some of the water and add cooked oatmeal. Something to that effect. So I added around 2 cups of cooked oatmeal to my bread, subtracted 2 cups of water, and I also add flaxseed and wheat germ around 3 tablespoons of each. I use all wheat flour in it and it was delicious and light and yummy!

By the way, rasberry, cherry, pomegrante jelly from Costco is delicious.

Finger Painting

My friend did this with her kids, and it looks like so much fun, on my list.

From milkandcuddles.com

1/2 cup cornstarch
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups of cold water
food dye

Heat in saucepan(low heat), constantly stirrring until thick around 10-15 min. Works for up to 3 days, then gets hard.
She also has homeade play dough and watercolors! Cool.