Custard Pie

Oh what to say about custard pie...... This is probably the fastest disappearing pie in this house, most of the time my family has this pie gone in less than a day. 

 I have used the same recipe from one of my amish cookbooks, when you find something that works, you stick with it.

Today, custards are used as filling in pies and tarts, and as individual dishes. Ideally a custard pie should be light and delicate, but still have good body. Custards can be made in two ways: baked or stirred upon the stove, but most custard pie recipes call for baking. The eggs in custard mixtures, when cooked, turn from liquid to solid. If cooked over excessive heat, the eggs will curdle, which is extremely undesirable. Curdling can be prevented by using lower temperatures and stirring. As such, making true custard pie is a very delicate process.

I stick to the recipe when making custard pie, although i have been known to alter, switch up, change......(you get the picture) recipes, custard pie does not like change :)

Heat the milk till hot but don't let it boil.

Recipe as shown above, Directions: preheat oven to 400 degrees
separate eggs, mix egg yolks, sugars, flour, salt & vanilla, add heated milk just a bit at a time for a nice smooth texture, beat egg whites and fold into egg yolk mixture, pour into unbaked crust.
bake at 400 for 10 min, then turn oven down to 325 and bake an additional 20 min. 
It will seem like its not done but i always take it out after 20 minutes and after it cools it will be good.

 Yes i cheated again and used a store bought pie crust :)

 Before going in the oven

.........out of the oven.

fun custard pie facts:

The American billionaire Bill Gates was once filmed being struck in the face with a custard pie while attending a conference.^[5] The attackers, who described themselves as 'pie terrorists', were later fined.^[6]

The World Custard Pie Throwing Championships take place annually in the village of Coxheath in Kent, England.

SO GOOD FOR THE TASTE BUDS!!





ENJOY!
Rose

Sausage & Bean enchiladas

so what is more comforting then enchiladas?...wait i know, eating sausage & bean enchiladas smothered with sour cream, avocado & fresh tomatoes all in the comfort of your favorite chair or couch IN the family room, watching a movie, YES that makes the crazy busy week seem to melt away. LOVE LOVE Friday nights. When the kids were little friday nights were always movie night and "eat in the family room" why is it so fun to watch TV and eat in the family room? its a great way to unwind i guess, my family would do this every night but I'm kind of a stickler for sitting down at the table for dinner, If we ate in the family room every night then it would not be a treat to do so on friday nights....right? RIGHT :) 
Now that the kids are older we don't always watch a movie together, with a 14 and a 18 year old trying to find a movie that everyone enjoys can be a bit challenging, but it does happen on occasion. 

I Love to use these big gigantic 12" flour tortillas, the only place I can find these are at GFS (Gordon Food) I go to the one in Bradenton, but there is one is coming to Sarasota..YAY!

Found these beans, PERFECT!! You could use refried bean instead but these were great.

I spread some cream cheese (about 1 Tbs ) on each tortilla before I added the meat & cheese, just for some extra creaminess & yumminess!

Must haves for Enchilada night!

SO Yummy, I only have one picture of the finished product, my son was standing next to me with fork in hand as i was taking pictures just waiting to get his hands on his dinner. 
He is the better photographer but if he is hungry...forget it he just wants to eat.

There are so many variations you could do with this recipe, you could use ground beef or chicken instead of sausage, you could skip the whole cream cheese thing, you could use wheat or corn tortillas....so be creative and make it your own, but i do have to say these were fit for a king.....i mean a mennonite :)


RECIPE:
1# Sausage, browned & crumbled
1 can beans, could use refried beans if preferred
1/2 onion
spices, I used cilantro, chili powder, salt & pepper
shredded sharp cheese
fresh cilantro
flour tortillas
1 can enchilada sauce
cream cheese, approx. 4 oz.

Pour a little enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan, combine sausage, beans, onion & spices, spread approx. 1 TLBS cream cheese on each tortilla, fill with meat mixture & some cheese, roll up and place in pan, cover with rest of enchilada sauce, sprinkle with more cheese and cilantro if desired.



ENJOY!!
Rose

Bacon, Tots & Bar BQ

So what do you get when you combine bacon, tator tots & Bar BQ sauce? .... I got a empty, sticky pan about 10 minutes after I pulled these babies from the oven.

I like to make dishes that are appreciated and well liked but when the kids fly into the kitchen like hungry vultures and devour the food before one can say ...well anything... I  have to wonder, is it even worth it?....but yes it still gives me happiness and a sense of  satisfaction when the food is scarfed down ever so quickly.


RECIPE:
1 # bacon
tator tots
1 cup ketchup
1 cup brown sugar

combine ketchup and brown sugar & set aside
Preheat oven to 350 cut bacon slices in thirds, wrap bacon around tator tots and secure with a toothpick, place in a 9 x 13 baking dish, bake uncovered for 30 minutes. 
Remove from oven, pour ketchup mixture over tots and bake for an additional 30 minutes. 


We dipped them in Ranch, but I'm thinking blue cheese would be great too.

These will be great for football season!!


Enjoy!
Rose

Mango Cake

LOVE LOVE MANGO!! so a couple years ago we planted a mango tree. First year we had two mangos, second year we had four mangos and this year we had like sixteen mangos!!  AWESOME! and they are colossal! 

So i wanted to make a tropical mango cake and I looked at several recipes but instead made up my own version with ingredients I had on hand. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to run to the store.

I started with a white cake mix and went from there.....and yes i like a lot of glaze, I don't like any of the cake unglazed. :)

Nothing like just going into the back yard for these beauties!

I love to use my bundt pan! however you could use a 9x13 or even a loaf pan, whatever floats your boat.



RECIPE:
Batter
1 white cake mix
1 stick butter, melted
4 eggs
1 cup mango puree, (instead of called for water)

preheat oven to 350 and spray your bundt pan with pam, I add some flour in the pan as well to make sure it does not stick.

Mix batter ingredients and pour into prepared pan, bake till done, approx 30-45 min but don't over bake. let set for about 15 min then invert onto serving plate.

mango glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup mango puree
about 2 tlbs. milk

Note: mango puree is made by simply processing mangos in the Vita-Mix or food processor, just mangos, nothing more.

combine glaze ingredients and pour over cake while cake is still warm.

We ate it with some cool whip and additional mangos...DELICIOUS !!


I think it would be good to try this recipe with other fruit as well...I'm thinking peach....strawberry....pineapple....let your mind go crazy and get creative! 

Enjoy!
Rose

Stuffed Shells

So i had already started supper when Sara came into the kitchen...starving as usual! when i said we are having stuffed shells she jumped for joy!....well not literally but her face showed jumping with joy on the inside, so i grabbed my camera and decided, why not? lets post it.

I decided on stuffed shells because i had a lot of cottage cheese that needed to be used, normally i use ricotta cheese but i hate to waste things so cottage cheese stuffed shells it was... but then i thought....why couldn't i put my eggs and cottage cheese in the vita-mix to make it smoother? so thats what i did and OH WOW, it looked like vanilla pudding, AWESOME! then i added the parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, pepper and oregano, LOVELY!! (Note: it is a little bit thinner when you blend it,  (you could use one less egg and that might make it a bit thicker)

I like to sneak in some veggies when i fry up the ground beef, i also added some onion, garlic and seasonings, you can't hardly even find the carrots when its all said and done,    ( wonder if they are even beneficial if you can't see them....hmmm)

nope its not pudding! its 3 eggs and about 2 cups cottage cheese, sorry i didn't measure.

to the egg mixture i added parmesan cheese, sorry again didn't measure....parsley, salt & pepper, oregano & basil.

all set up and ready to assemble.

all done and ready to devour!



RECIPE:
18 large shells, cooked
1# ground beef
onion, garlic, basil, salt & pepper, oregano, 
shredded veggies and of your choice (optional)
approx. 24 oz. pasta sauce
3 eggs
2 cups ricotta or cottage cheese
approx. 1 cup parmesan cheese
basil, oregano, parsley, salt & pepper
2 cups mozzarella cheese

cook & drain pasta shells, cook ground beef, drain and add veg & seasonings, add pasta sauce, set aside, mix or blend eggs & cottage cheese, then add parmesan cheese & seasonings.
grease a 9x13 pan, spread some of the meat sauce in bottom, stuff your shells with egg/cheese mixture, and place in pan, top with rest of meat sauce, sprinkle mozzarella cheese over all and bake at 350 for approx. 30 min. or till hot and cheese is melted.

NOTE: stuffing the shells can be a bit messy, i have seen where people put the egg/cheese mixture in a bag, cut off the tip and squeeze it into the shells, kinda like a frosting tube, i have not tried that but it sounds like it should work, i just get messy, i would rather wash my hands than extra utensils, but thats just me :)


ENJOY!
Rose

Fresh Peach Crumb Pie

have you ever cut into a peach and it was like a piece of foam? I have! and it really annoys me when that happens! I probably paid good money for the peaches and now i may as well have put my money down the garbage disposal, I DO NOT like to waste things....or money...or peaches.

BUT give me a beautiful, juicy just right ripe peach and ....OH MY LOVE LOVE! nothing says summer quite like a fresh juicy peach.

so i had these really nice peaches and i remembered this pie my mom used to make, i don't think she ever used a recipe, she just used a bit of this and a bit of that, so i had to call her today a get some better instructions, so i guessed a little, tweaked a little, improved a little (Mom said to use milk or 1/2 and 1/2...i used heavy cream..of course! Mom said if you want it to look nice you can add some crumbs, i said obviously i want it to look NICE! plus crumbs are yummy! I say if your gonna make a pie...... make a GOOD PIE!  so this i what i came up with......I called it Peach Crumb Pie but it could be called Peach Custard Pie too....cause its kinda custardy.
is that even a word?  

RECIPE:
1 unbaked pie crust
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
3 large peaches
heavy whipping cream (shoot i forgot to measure) maybe like 1 cup...ish...sorry

CRUMBS:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 TLBS butter, melted

combine brown sugar, flour & salt and put in bottom of your unbaked crust, slice peaches on top, pour your whipping cream over peaches.
combine all crumb ingredients and crumble on top, bake at 375 for 30 minutes, cool completely.

 combine flour, brown sugar & salt

 Yes i cheat and buy refrigerated pie crusts, so easy and i like that i can use my own pans.

 flour, sugar & salt mixture in the pan

   i forgot to measure the cream, so you can see in the picture about how much to add :)

ready for the oven

I was writing this post as the pie was cooling in the fridge and i had a piece just now....Oh my goodness it was delectable! i don't want to toot my own horn, but.......it was very good! i will leave it at that.

ENJOY
Rose

Fruit Pizza

This in one of those foods that does not last very long at this house, my hubby loves fruit! like he eats ALOT of fruit at one time....he will dig into a dish like this at least 2 or 3 times in one day. Although i love sweets ....and i will eat a little  bit of this, i could totally leave this alone and not be tempted by it, I probably shouldn't blog something i don't really like but I do enjoy making it and its fun to make things that are eaten up in no time.

grease and flour your pan

 I found it was easiest to use my "floured" hands to press the crust into the pan.

without the glaze on top, looks prettier but the bananas and peaches would turn brown if we didn't add the glaze, if you are using fruit that does not turn brown you could skip the glaze. (or you could dip the bananas in orange juice before putting it on the fruit pizza that would work too) i might do that next time.

RECIPE:
crust
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda

soften or melt butter, add rest of ingredients and press into 12 or 14" pizza  pan, bake at 350 for about 15 min or till done.

filling
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cool whip

combine all filling ingredients and spread on top of cooled crust

arrange fruit of your choice on top of filling, i used strawberries, peaches, bananas, grapes & blackberries. 

glaze
1 cup fruit juice, thicken with a little clear jel or dry vanilla instant pudding. drizzle on top.


ENJOY!

Rose

Chicken Rotel

This is one of our favorite dishes, well my daughter is not a big fan but everyone else LOVES it, kinda spicy, noodlely, cheesy, its kinda casserole, kinda soup, whatever it is...its yummy!!

I remember when my mom first made this, our neighbor gave us the recipe and it was a different type of dish for us, but my dad loved it, so it became a regular dish at our house.

I have simplified the recipe over the years, the original recipe called for a uncooked whole chicken, (and sometimes i still do that when they are on sale) and when you cook it you have your broth ....so thats nice....but sometimes time is just not that readily available....so i usually use a Rotisserie chicken (from Sam's 4.99) can't really beat that, much easier and quicker, or if you really want to make it simple you could use a can of chicken pieces, but i like the nice big chunks of chicken in this.

before deboning

After deboning
sorry not a great picture but i like to cut down on dirty dishes so i use stuff thats already dirty (that sounds bad) 

 so colorful

so yummy 


RECIPE:

6 cups chicken broth, use your own if you cooked the chicken
8 oz. spaghetti noodles
1/4 cup butter
1 pepper
1 onion
1 can mushrooms
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 cup peas
2 TLBS worchestershire sauce
1 chicken
16 oz. Velveeta cheese
salt, pepper, basil & parsley to taste, sorry i never measure this stuff


If using whole uncooked chicken: 
cover with enough water to cover and cook till tender, let cool and debone, measure your broth so you have 6 cups, you can add some water if its not enough.

if using already cooked chicken start here:
in a large pot or dutch oven, combine cut up pepper and onion and sauté with 1/4 cup butter for about 10 min. add broth and bring to a boil, add spaghetti and cook till done (don't overcook) add rotel, mushrooms, peas and worchestershire sauce, bring back to a boil, turn heat down and add cheese, chicken and spices, heat till cheese is melted.

ENJOY!

ROSE