Smore's Pie

This quick and easy, yet ridiculously tasty pie will soon become your favorite thing to make.

It will be the treat you make for your kids.

The dessert you take to a pot luck or picnic.

You will find yourself making this pie often because it's ooey-gooeyness is so alluring that there are rarely leftovers- something that typically renders me dessertless and I am forced to make another so I can have a piece!

Make The Crust:

 Cream the butter & sugar together (I like to use a food processor!)

Add the egg & vanilla

In a separate bowl, mix the graham crumbs, flour & baking soda. Add dry mix to your wet mix & blend well

Turn the dough out onto wax paper or plastic wrap, form into a ball & divide in half.

Meanwhile,

 if you have little helpers, give them the chocolate bars to unwrap & break into small pieces!

Roll out one half of the dough & put in the bottom of a pie plate. You can also press in the dough, but I like the consistency of rolling. Patch holes and thin areas.

fill the crust with 12 oz marshmallow fluff

 Add the chocolate pieces (another good job for little helpers!)

Roll out second half of dough and transfer to the top of the pie. I am not a great crust-crimper, so I just kinda squished it to seal the edges! Take any overflow crust dough to patch any thin spots or holes!

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Let the pie cool... if you can resist!

Recipie came from http://cookiesandcups.com/big-girl-smores-pie/- I slightly modified to fit my own tastes

Ingredients

• 6 Regular sized Hershey Bars, broken into pieces
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 7oz container of Marshmallow Creme
• wax paper

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Spray a 9" pie pan with baking spray.
3. Beat butter and sugar together until combined.
4. Add egg and vanilla.
5. On low add flour, graham cracker crumbs and baking powder.
6. Divide the dough in half.
7. Press half the dough in the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pie pan.
8. Evenly spread the Marshmallow Creme over the bottom crust
9. Now spread the broken chocolate pieces on top of the Marshmallow Creme.
10. Now, form the remaining dough into a ball and place on a piece of wax paper. Top with another piece of wax paper and flatten into a 9" circle.
11. Carefully peel the top piece of wax paper off.
12. Flip the crust onto the top of the pie and peel the other piece of wax paper off.
13. Pinch the dough together to form the crust.
14. Bake 20 minutes until lightly browned.
15. Cool completely on wire rack and slice when ready to serve.

Notes

recipe adapted from Hershey's

Apple Sausage Mac & Cheese

This is another good Food Network Recipe that I didn't think I would like... but that I now LOVE!

   

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the dish
• Kosher salt
• 3/4 pound medium pasta shells
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 6 ounces chicken-apple sausage, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I omit this)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups apple juice
• 1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded (4 cups)
• 1/2 pound extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 35 small butter crackers (1 sleeve Ritz), crushed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 2 1/2 -quart baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Cut your sausage- I always take the casing off and make sure the slices are cut in quarters

 

I have the worlds cutest sous chef! Owen  LOVES to help me in the kitchen... he's got mad knife skills for a four year old!

 Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.

Add the sausage, mustard powder, cayenne and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until the sausage is golden, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the apple juice and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 8 more minutes.

  

Slowly stir about three-quarters each of the monterey jack and cheddar cheese into the sauce until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Stir in the pasta and sour cream.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle with the crushed crackers and the remaining cheese.

Bake until bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

My Favorite Baked Potatoes!

This one is simple but looks impressive!

You will need:

1 russet potato per pseron  (more, if you are like me and want left overs!)

cold butter

a block of cheddar cheese

olive oil

salt & pepper

shredded cheddar

sour cream/bacon/chives- whatever you like to dress a baked potato with!

Heat your oven to 400. Scrub the taters in warm soapy water, until they are nice and clean

You need to make vertical slices in each potato, being careful not to cut all the way through. I laid a wooden spoon right up against the potato and that stopped the knife at just right spot!

Prep the butter and block of cheddar by cutting them into pieces that you can fit into your slices

 Stuff each slit in the potatoes: alternate butter and cheese

Drizzle with olive oil

Sprinkle with Salt and pepper

Bake for 45 minutes. At that point, top each potato with shredded cheddar ( I will admit- I went kinds easy with this step) Return the taters to the oven for another 15 minutes

 See all the "yum-yums"??? crispy cheese bits are great to top your potatoes with!!

 Once they cool a bit, it's time to plate. Dress with your favorite toppings- I stick with plain, old sour cream. A simple dish that got a lot of ooh's and ahh's when I put the platter on the table!

Pineapple Casserole

Yeah.... you read that right! PINEAPPLE CASSEROLE! My first thought was "ew" followed by, "Well, the reviews are good- maybe I should try it?"

So I did. I took the plunge and made something out of my norm. I dig warm fruit. And I like fruit with meats. But fruit and cheese? That's a little more than I am comfortable with. But I LOVED it. And so did Mike and 2 out of 5 kids!

This Recipe was delivered straight to my inbox and at the 11th hour (well, 4:00 to be exact) our dinner plans were completely altered. This one hails from Paula Dean- her stuff is usually very good but dangerous nutritionally- so I try to stay away from her recipes for the sake of my girlish figure. But I had to try this one!

   

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar*
• 6 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 cups grated sharp cheddar (I used a white cheddar)*
• 2 (20-ounce) cans pineapple chunks, drained, and 6 tablespoons pineapple juice reserved
• 1 & 1/2 cup cracker crumbs (recommended: Ritz)
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted, plus extra for greasing pan*

* denotes changes I made based on personal taste- the original amounts were too high in my opinion and when I make this again I will lower the sugar a little more.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a medium-size casserole dish with butter. (I brushed on some of the melted butter from the recipe- no additional is necessary)

 In a large bowl, stir together the sugar and flour. 

 Gradually stir in the cheese.

  

 Add the drained pineapple chunks, and stir until ingredients are well combined

 

Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish.

In another medium bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, melted butter, and reserved pineapple juice, stirring with a rubber spatula until evenly blended.

 

 

Spread crumb mixture on top of pineapple mixture.

 Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. (mine needed about 40 minutes but I think the topping was too wet to begin with)

TA-DA!!

 

Pineapple and ham are as natural together as peanut butter and jelly, caramel and chocolate.... me and The Hubster (ha-ha! You liked that one, didn't you!?) so I thought the casserole would work. And boy did it!! I can't wait to have leftovers!!

 

So please, I beg you, give this one a try!

Update on Thursday, February 21, 2013 by Jessica

When eating the leftovers, I mixed cut up ham in with the pineapple casserole before heating.

What an idea!! If you do that prior to putting this dish into the oven to begin with, it's TRULY a casserole!!

Angel Food Cake

So, I had been craving Angel food cake.

It is something I have never attempted before- but thanks to all of the delicious ice cream Mike had been making, we had enough frozen egg whites for me to try my hand at this heavenly treat.

Of course, I turned to my friend Alton for the recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cake flour, sifted
• 12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon orange extract, or extract of your choice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift half of the sugar with the salt the cake flour, setting the remaining sugar aside.

In a large bowl, use a balloon whisk to thoroughly combine egg whites, water, orange extract, and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes, switch to a hand mixer. Slowly sift the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks, sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.

Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).

Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.

**Use a serrated knife to cut any cake, but most definatley angel food cake! It will keep the light & fluffy cake from smooshing**

Cook's Note: Since they're easier to separate use the freshest eggs you can get.

Per Serving (based on 10 servings): Calories: 208; Total Fat: 0 grams; Saturated Fat: 0 grams; Protein: 5 grams; Total carbohydrates: 47 grams; Sugar: 36 grams; Fiber: 0 grams; Cholesterol: 0 milligrams; Sodium: 115 milligrams

  I grew fond of having 2 slices of cake (it's mostly egg whites... totally okay to have two slices, right!?!) that I inverted and filled with fresh, juicy strawberry slices. It was like having a little dessert sandwich!

The verdict: Fairly easy to make although I wouldn't "waste" a dozen eggs in order to whip this up in my own kitchen. I am currently collecting up egg whites as The Hubster makes ice cream using the yolks.

The inside was just as tasty, soft and fluffy as the cakes you get from your grocery store bakery- but the crust was a little more crisp (which I actually like better)

If you have a hankering for Angel food cake and have 12 egg whites laying around, give this a try. Otherwise, I give my blessing to buy one at your local grocery store.