Strawberry Summer Pie!

Hey Y'all!

WAHOOO! School is out and I am on summer vacation! Whoop, whoop! I worked my last workday today. And, I will be spending my day on the beach tomorrow! Ahhh.....

I would also like to give a shout out to the fans of Friendship Bread Kitchen on Facebook! The FBK gave a little mention of this blog on their Facebook page tonight. So welcome if you are new here! We are glad to have you! :)

Now, last night I promised a little write up of a recipe that I made yesterday. I was invited to a luncheon at a fellow second grade teacher's house today to help celebrate the retirement of two dear members of our second grade team.  Now, being southern and all, I know that I can't show up empty handed. My baking has become LEGENDARY.. so I knew I had to pull out the WOW factor. So I started to think about summer pies and summer fruits. And then bingo. It hit me. STRAWBERRY! Also, does anything say summer better than strawberries? For this occasion, I just knew that a strawberry pie was needed. But not any ordinary strawberry pie, something with a surprise to it!

Enter the Black Bottom Strawberry Cream Pie. Thanks Pillsbury! :)

To begin with you will need the following ingredients:

 A pint of strawberries (two cups), 8 oz of cream cheese, strawberry pie glaze, hot fudge sundae topping, ready made pie crusts (yes, I CHEATED!), confectioner's sugar (aka powdered sugar), and whipped topping of your choice. You can even whip up some heavy cream. Our humidity right now is hotter than hell, so I opted for the can. :) Also, this is double the ingredients. I made two pies! One for my luncheon and one for my best friend's visit. Yes, I am nice.

The first thing you will need to do is bake the pie shells for about ten minutes. Now, it is confession time here. This is the FIRST pie I have EVER made! A quick video check from You Tube showed me how to flute my pie crust! Watch that video and you will know the secret of all mankind. Not really. But you will feel very empowered! I am WOMAN. See me flute AND bake a PIE CRUST!

While the pie crust(s) are baking, you need to wash and quarter 2 cups of fresh, yummy, juicy, sweet strawberries. I did four cups due to the two pies. :)

You will also need to mix together 1 cup of confectioner's sugar with one 8 oz package of cream cheese. Do not judge my choice of cream cheese. I am a poor teacher who loves to bake and eat. I must budget!

By now, your pie crusts should be done. Let them cool for about 20 to thirty minutes. Then add 2/3 of a cup of the hot fudge sauce to the bottom of the pie crust. I placed the jar in the microwave for about 25 seconds, and it poured right out! Now, put your crust in the fridge for an hour. I also put the strawberries and cream cheese mixture in there too.

Now, go Facebook. For an hour. Especially Friendship Bread Kitchen! Or me!

After about an hour, take out your cream cheese mixture, your strawberries and your pie crust that has the hot fudge on the bottom. Take the cream cheese mixture and spread it carefully over the chocolate sauce.

 Before and after shot! Good thing I was making TWO pies! How handy! At this point you want to take  your 2 cups of strawberries (4 if you are making two pies like me) and combine it with 1/2 cup of strawberry pie glaze (1 cup if you are making 2 pies.)  Now my strawberries were sweet, so I didn't add much. Also, if I make this pie again, I plan to make my own glaze. Yes, I am such an overachiever!!

                                          No strawberries were harmed while making this pie!

Finally, add the strawberries on top of the cream cheese layer. This is such a yummy part of making this pie!

Then, if you wish, add your whipped cream or heavy whipped cream. Be decorative or free form. Just put the cream on the pie! Then put the pie in the fridge for about another hour. Then dive in!

In the south we have a saying. I you make something really good you say "I put my foot in it!" Now, of course, your foot DOES NOT GO IN THE PIE. It is just a saying that means something is GOOD!!!!

Y'all, I put my foot in this pie!!!!

There wasn't a spec left at lunch today!

Make this for your next lunch or dinner. You won't be sorry! And, I hope you put your foot in it!

Tootles,

JKP

Crock Pot Lovin'

Hey Y'all,

Well, summer is in the air!  I am so looking forward to the days of reading trashy novels on the beach, having no where in particular to be and sleeping late. 33 more days folks!

Tonight I was wishing for chicken on the grill and a yummy dessert. Well, I made the dessert part and had to forgo the chicken because it would have taken way to long to thaw! I came across this recipe for Crock Pot Blueberry Cobbler a little while ago. This is the second time that I have made it and I really like it. When I cook with fruit, I think you should taste the fruit, not the sugar you add to the fruit. I really like the way this cobbler comes out because you can really taste the blueberries and the "cobbler" part is sweet without making all of  your teeth fall out. :) I am sure you Splenda fans out there can come up with a way to make this with Splenda, but with my sensitive tummy I can't use it and have to go for the REAL thing! So here's what you need....

Well, of course a crock pot. I have 3 different sizes. I use my medium size one because this cobbler makes about 4 servings. You can double and triple this recipe so you can have enough for a family.
Also, you will need....

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar, divided (1/4 cup and 2 Tbsp)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups blueberries (or berry of your choice) (Costco had some great blueberries this week!)
1/4 cup water

Lightly grease crockpot with butter. In a bowl, combine flour, half of the divided sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another bowl, combine eggs, milk and oil. Pour and mix into the dry ingredients until moistened. Place batter in crock pot. *I have been using crockpot liners when I cook this. Less clean up later!

In a saucepan, mix together blueberries, water and the other half of the divided sugar. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

 
Pour over batter in crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours. Uncover and let set for 30 minutes before eating.

You can add vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. YUM!

Whew! I am also on a knitting deadline as I type. We are throwing a baby shower for a teacher on my team who is expecting her first baby in a few weeks. So... I have a sweater on the needles. At this point, I don't know if it will be ready by Thursday, but I am working as fast as I can!

 

                                      

Well let me run. Kate Gosslin is in the bottom 2 on Dancing With the Stars tonight. I SO HOPE SHE GETS KICKED OFF TONIGHT!!!!! Yes, I am hateful!

:) JKP

Yummy in My Tummy!!!

Hey Y'all!

Well, I did a little re-con this morning and took a drive to school. Let's just say, I have no idea how we are going to be ready for school to open! Our school is under MAJOR construction right now and it is a HOLY MESS! On a lighter note, I can actually get into my portable now, so I will be going in tomorrow and getting a head start on my room.

I made Paula Deen's wonderful peach cobbler last night! It was fantastic! To start you need about 4 cups of fresh peaches. I learned a little trick about peaches to make their skin come off quickly instead of peeling them. If you boil a pot of water, turn off the heat and place the peaches in the pot for 30 seconds, then put the peaches in an ice/water bath for a minute or so, the skin of the peach literally rubs off with your fingers. Then you can slice them up!

Here are my peaches, with cup of sugar and a cup and a half of water. You bring this mixture to a boil, and then simmer for 10 minutes.

My yummy simmering peaches!! My house smelled so yummy!











While the peaches are simmering, you make a batter with sugar, milk and self rising flour. You slowly mix all of these together. Pour the batter into a 3 quart dish. When the peaches are done, you add them and then carefully pour the peach "syrup" on top of the fruit. The batter will rise to the top as the cobbler bakes.











Into the oven it goes, 350 for about 35 minutes.















Out of the oven, warm and bubbly!





On the way to my tummy!

This recipe was very easy and the results were fantastic! I admit, I even had this for breakfast this morning!
Cheers!
:) JKP