Berry Pie

The dessert I served for our dinner Saturday evening is a variation on a pie recipe I got out of my 2000 "Taste of Home Annual Recipes" cookbook. The original recipe comes from The Elsah Landing Restaurant in Illinois and is called "Ozark Mountain Berry Pie". It is wonderful! My variation is simply to cut down some on the lemon juice and use thawed, frozen berries, rather than fresh. I also had some leftover pie crust in the freezer, but didn't have enough for a two-crust pie, so I made it a deep-dish pie this time. It worked out just fine and saved me precious time.

Some of the thawed, frozen berries cook down and get soupy, but the flavor is wonderful and in these leaner times a bit more practical. We ate the pie warmed up a bit in the microwave with French vanilla ice cream on the side. This is comfort food at it's best. Blessings...

Ozark Mountain Berry Pie:

1-1/2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons plus 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
3/4 cup cold water (include juice from the drained thawed berries)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1- 16 oz. pkg. frozen mixed berries, thawed
2 cups frozen blueberries, thawed
pastry for double-crust 9" pie

1. In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch.
2. Drain juice from berries and combine with water to make 3/4 cup. Stir liquid and lemon juice into sugar until smooth.
3. Add berries; stir gently. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from the heat; cool.
4. For deep-dish pie, I used an 8" x 8" Pyrex baking dish. Pour the berry filling into the pan and cover with crust. I brush my crusts with milk and sprinkle with sugar crystals. It looks pretty when done. Be sure to cut through the crust with a knife to make slits for venting the hot steam. If you are making a double-crust pie, line the pie pan with the bottom pastry. Add filling. Roll out remaining pastry; make a lattice crust. Seal and flute edges.
5. Cover edges loosely with foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Remove foil; bake 40 - 50 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool completely. You may need to re-cover the pie with foil if it starts to brown too much.

Serves: 6 - 8

Cuernavaca Casserole

This past Saturday my husband and I spent a very nice evening with a young couple that we do not know well, but wanted to, so we invited them to dinner. We had such a good time getting better acquainted over some easy, but very good food. This recipe has been in my recipe file for years, but I don't make it much anymore because it makes way too much for the two of us. It is perfect when serving four or more, which is why I use to make it often when our boys were young. Kids love this dish with the layers of tortilla chips, chicken and cheese.

I made the casserole the day before our dinner and found that this worked very well. This was the first time that I had done this, and the mistake I made was in overheating the casserole. The tortilla chips on the bottom got rather tough. I loved it this way, but others may not, so don't let time get away from you as I did! If I were to do it all over again, I would heat the casserole in a 325 degree oven for about 30 minutes, remove it from the oven and use a spoon to go down through the layers so it might heat more quickly. Return the casserole to the oven and give it another 15 minutes. Check it again to see how hot the center is. If you don't make the recipe in advance, follow my directions as written below.

I served refried beans topped with jack cheese along side and my friend brought a salad. Dessert was a berry pie, which I will share tomorrow. Blessings...

Recipe:

1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies  ( I use mild)
2 teaspoons leaf oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 pkg. (8 oz.) tortilla chips
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 1/2" cubes
3 cups chunked, skinned and boned, cooked chicken
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated medium cheddar cheese

1. Butter a large round casserole, 1-1/2 to 3 quarts in size.
2. Saute' onion in 2 tablespoons butter until transparent. Add tomato sauce, chilies, oregano and salt. Stir to combine. Simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes; remove from heat.
3. Layer in casserole in order, half the following: tortilla chips, lightly crushed, Jack cheese, chicken and sauce. Repeat with remaining half of the ingredients.
4. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 20 minutes.
5. Spread sour cream on top, wreath with the grated cheddar cheese. Return to oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sour cream is heated through.
Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 - 8 servings

Our Granddaughters Visit

My husband and I had the wonderful gift of two of our granddaughters coming for a visit this summer. These two little girls live in Tenn. and were so brave to fly across the country on their own. We will forever be thankful for this time with them.

While they were here, we wanted them to meet some of our friends. We had our neighbors over for dinner so the girls could get acquainted with some of the people in our lives. The girls and I then invited the mother and daughter over for lunch that week. We made two pots of soup and some brownies, yum! We had such a good time.

During this time we went to the Lavender Festival, something I had never done before. We cut lots of lavender and had our house smelling very fragrant, then the girls took the dried flowers and made sachets to take home. We also tried some lavender ice cream while at the festival. This isn't a treat I would ever spend $2.50 for a 1/4 cup on again. But, it was nice to try something very different.

Much more to every one's liking was our two trips to Miss Ellie's Cakes for cupcakes. Oh, my goodness, what a treat these things are! These beautiful cupcakes were also $2.50 each, and what a special deal they were. Well worth every cent. Miss Ellie's is a very welcoming place and the gentleman who waited on us is the daddy to Miss Ellie. This is a lovely family owned business that serves families well. Our granddaughters loved going.

We did so much more over the almost three weeks they were here, but mostly we cooked and baked together. We spent wonderful time together in the kitchen relating with one another and building our relationships. I love them dearly and can't wait until we get to do it all over again.