The BEST Lemon pie EVER. Yes...ever.

Yes, it really is the best lemon pie ever. Maybe the best pie ever. Anyway...it's a recipe from my dear friend Toni who provides me with most of my totally awesome deserts. Enjoy!

Sour Cream Lemon Pie
From a Canadian Jr League Cookbook

Filling
1 cup sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1 T. flour
1 T. lemon rind/zest grated
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup light cream

Bring all this slowly to a boil, and stir constantly.
Add 4 T. Butter and cook until thick and smooth. Let cool. then add
1 cup sour cream.
Pour into baked pie shell. (traditional or graham cracker)

Whipped Cream Topping
Whip 1 cup heavy cream and 2 T. confectioners sugar

Fold in 1/2 cup sour cream. Spoon over filled pie. Sprinkle top with
Grated lemon rind.

SO SO SO Good!

Carrot Cake

Sarah’s Carrot Cake
Ok, so I’m calling this mine because it’s a combination of three recipes with a little of my own ideas combined, we voted it my best carrot cake ever.

Preheat oven to 325

In a large bowl whisk to combine well:
2 cups Flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp freshly grated or ground nutmeg
½ tsp allspice

Add to dry ingredients:
4 eggs beaten
1 cup cooking oil (or applesauce)
2 cups shredded carrots
½ can of pineapple pulsed in food processor
1 cup (aprox) shredded coconut

Beat at med speed of your mixer for aprox 2 min.

Pour into greased pans
Bake at 325 for 50-60 min in a 13x9 pan, or 30 min in 2 9 inch cake rounds


Cream Cheese Frosting
(Joy of Cooking with a few additions)

In your mixer, beat until just blended:
8 ounces cream cheese: COLD
5 tablespoons butter: ROOM TEMPERATURE
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 to 21/2 cups powdered sugar

Optional additions: fresh grated lemon or orange zest, cinnamon or fresh grated nutmeg (highly recommended!) I love the orange zest and nutmeg combo. I also added a little coconut to the frosting.
Keeps refrigerated for 1 week, frozen for 3 months

Birthday Artichoke

Happy Birthday to ME! In our family you get to have WHATEVER you want to eat on your birthday (within reason...like I'll never get a "lobster gram" from Maine, which is an overnighted lobster in special packaging...cost over 100.00) no matter how annoyed everyone else gets by the smell etc... Pretty much every year I get an artichoke. Mmmmmm. I think it's an acquired taste, but if you've acquired it you know what I mean. So to make the perfect Artichoke...


Get out your steamer or steamer basket, and get the water boiling.
Cut off stem, and with a sharp knife (serraded bread knife works well) slice off the top inch or so, to make a flat spot. If you want to, clip off the remaining thorny tips with kitchen sissors.
Place upside down in the steamer, cover and steam for 45-50 min.
I like to drizzle it with olive oil and lemon.
Serve with melted salted butter.

Pork Tacos with Cafe Rio Tomatillo Dressing

Oh, wow. My Aunt Teresa made this when we were all in Raleigh for Harry's wedding, and we got the recipe and just made it this week. Wow this is so delicious! It makes A LOT, and it's pretty easy. Tomatillo's are kind of a weird mix between peppers and a green tomato. They have a husk on the outside you peel off, and it looks like an unripe tomato. We found them at walmart so they can't be THAT exotic. Oh, and it's pronounced tom-ah-tee-yo as I found out. If you say tom-a-tillo (rhymes with pillow) you may get slapped by any native spanish speaker within hearing distance.

Pork Taco's

MEAT: A big cheap cut of pork, like a shoulder, bone in or out. As long as it fits in your crock pot it will work.

In a blender or food processor puree:

1 Jalapeno w/out seeds

1 onion

3 stalks celery

1 cup water

1 tsp Chili powder

1tsp cumin

3 cloves garlic

1/2 bunch cilantro

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Pour it over the meat and cook in crockpot low for 8 hours or more. When it's done shred it, and leave it in the juices, or drain it out.

Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

This makes A LOT too, but that's ok b/c you will want to put it on everything.

1 cup buttermilk ( you can make buttermilk by putting 1 Tablespoon of vinegar in 1 cup regular milk and let it sit for 10 min)

1 cup mayonnaise

1 package buttermilk ranch dressing mix

1/2 bunch cilantro

2 cloves garlic

2 Jalapeno's

2-3 Tomatillos

Peel husk from tomatillos, wash cut in quarters. Cut Jalapenos in half and take out seeds. Roast them on a tray at 400 for 20 min. (I totally did this in the toaster oven.)

Puree all ingredients in a food processor/blender. Chill for one hour or longer.

Assembling the Taco's

Heat corn tortilla's in a pan with some oil, or as desired.

put on shreded cabbage and shreded pork, and squeeze fresh limes juice over it.

Top with dressing.

We made simple spanish rice as a side dish.

Simple Spanish Rice

Saute a chopped onion in a sauce pan till soft, add 1/2 can of diced tomato's, or fresh and cook 2 min. Add rice and toast with veggies for a min. Add water (2 cups water to one cup rice) and 1/2 packets of seasoning like "Sazon Goya" if you have it. ( they have it at Kroger).

When rice is done, squeeze a little fresh lime on it, and stir in some chopped cilanrto.

Garlicky Chicken Chowder

That's right folks, I'm posting a recipe! This was an experiment gone RIGHT. My cooking experiments don't usually end that way.....it's a combo of a recipe from a magazine, a Rachel Rae and my friend Amber's. Try it out, it was way good, and a little twist on the normal chicken soup, but not so different that picky eaters would scoff.

Garlicky Chicken Corn Chowder

2 T. Olive Oil
Carrots
Celery
Onions
Potato
Shreded Chicken
1-2 Large Garlic Cloves crushed
Broth or Stock 1-2 quarts depending on how much soup you want
4 T. Butter
4T. Flour
1 can evaporated milk (or use regular milk)
1 can corn
Chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in a large soup pot chop and sautee the Onions, Garlic (crush this) , Carrots, Celery, and Potato adding to the pot as you chop. Season with salt and pepper, and any other dried herb. Sautee until onions are translucent, and other veggies are getting soft.

Add broth (homemade, or canned, or whatever) and simmer on low until vegetables are desired consistency.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small sauce pan, add the flour and whisk together cooking on med high a couple min to get rid of the “floury” taste. Whisk in the can of milk until it begins to bubble and thicken. Add it to the soup.

Stir in the shredded cooked chicken, and can of corn till warmed. Stir in fresh parsley if you have it.

*Veggie amounts depend on how big a pot you want to make. I used 1 large celery stalk, 2 large carrots, 2 med potatoes and one med onion.

Shredded Beef Taco's

Ok since really good crock pot recipes are few and far between, I just have to share this one.
We made this for Josh's fam, and everyone loved it. We had it for dinner, and lunch the next day! The Bridges made it for us once and it's so awesome.

2 lbs london broil (or other cheap cut of meat)
1 whole onion chopped
1 small can chopped green chiles
1 package taco seasoning, mild or hot
2 T white or red wine vinegar
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp minced garlic

Spray inside of crock pot with Pam
Rub Taco seasoning all over the meat
Add everything else on top of meat

Cook on Low 6-8 hours
High 4-6 hours
When it's got about an hour or so left, check the meat and shred if it's tender.
Serve in soft taco burrito things with whatever toppings you like.

Festive Halloween Meal: Pumpkin Penne Pasta with Green "goblin" Garlic Bread

I've made this three years in a row now, and I love it, but Josh finally confessed he doesn't like it very much. WELL!!! To each his own I guess:) Anyway, it's a Rachel Ray 30 min meal from before she was super famous, so yeah, it's better than a lot of her recent stuff.
It's basically a savory pumpkin sauce that goes over Penne pasta. The green garlic bread is made with spinach, but what a great way to disguise some vegetables for picky kids! Hey, you gotta sneak those veggies in when you can.
Pumpkin Penne Pasta
Green Goblin Garlic Bread