Lemon Meringue Pie - the Right Way!

If you've been keeping up, you know that my prior lemon-meringue pie did not turn out at all. So here's the recipe that I used when I re-did (successfully) the pie. I will not be publishing cost on this recipe, since technically it was a gift. I will say, though, that it is most definitely an under-$5 pie. (If you don't screw it up on the first attempt!)

INGREDIENTS:
1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust (I used Keebler)
1 2/3 cups sugar
6 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 cup lemon juice (I cheat and use Realemon)
4 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 300. In heavy saucepan, combine 1 1/3 cups sugar and cornstarch. Add lemon juice. In small bowl, beat egg yolks, then add to lemon mixture.

Gradually add boiling water, stirring constantly. Over medium heat, cook and stir until mixture boils and thickens (will happen fast - usually 5 minutes or so!). Remove from heat. Add butter, stir until melted in. Pour into pastry shell.

In small mixer bowl (I used my KA 6qt stand mixer), beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form (use mixer setting 8 or 9 for this). Gradually add remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Spread on top of pie, sealing the edges to the shell. Bake 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Cool and chill before serving (unless you like lemon meringue soup). Refridgerate leftovers.



This is what the pie looks like while baking. Pardon the fuzzy photo - my oven's manufacturer was kind enough to add little dots to the oven window ... I swear they're only there to prevent good photography.


This is what the meringue looked like after baking. I like mine a little less brown than most people - just the peaks should be brown, in my opinion.

Dark Molten Chocolate Cake(s)

So, yesterday was Rob's birthday. While he wasn't feeling the best, I still wanted to bake him something special. His only request was "chocolate cake". So, I looked around online and located this recipe from the good people at Baker's Chocolate on allrecipes.com.



This cake was DELICIOUS!! And SO easy ... the first baking recipe I've made in a while that I could fully prepare in the time it took the oven to preheat. Rob gave it 512 points out of a possible 100, and I thought it was fantastic, too.

COST: $7.28
Bittersweet Chocolate - $2.49
Butter - $0.65
Powdered Sugar - $0.45
Flour - $0.10
Eggs - $0.60
Raspberries (accent) - $2.99

INGREDIENTS:
6 ounces Baker's Dark Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar
10 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease and flour 6 custard cups of souffle dishes (I used Pampered Chef Glass Prep Bowls). Place on baking sheet.

Microwave chocoalte and butter in large microwaveable bowl on MEDIUM for 2 minutes or until butter is completely melted (my microwave took 3 minutes). Stire with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Add powdered sugar and flour; mix well. Add whole eggs and egg yolks; beat until well blended. Divide batter evenly into prepared custard cups.

Bake 14 to 15 minutes or until cakes are firm around the edges but still soft in the centers. Let stand 1 minute. Run small knife around cakes to loosen. Carefully invert cakes onto dessert dishes. Sprinkle lightly with additional powdered sugar and garnish with raspberries, if desired. Serve immediately.

NOTE: May be refrigerated and reheated easily, but MUST be refrigerated. About 45 seconds in the microwave brings back to temp.

Christmas Cookies

Okay, so these were my first attempt at Christmas cookies by myself, without mom. If I do say so myself, I did a pretty good job, taste-wise. Looks? Well, lets just say most 6-year-olds do a better job with frosting, but Rob & I had fun ... and that's what matters, right?



Again, I'm going to have to pass on the cost for these cookies and the frosting, because I already had most ingredients on hand. As I have to start buying, I'll be able to start supplying ingredient cost again. :)

These cookies are a recipe from my great-grandmother Heer. All the ingredient amounts are approximations, because she didn't use measuring utensils. Mom says this is close, though, and it is the perfect sugar cookie to frost. A little dense and not too sweet. My dad likes them with apple butter.

GRANDMA HEER'S SUGAR COOKIES:

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups white sugar
1 cup shortening
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
5 cups all-purpose flour (or more if dough is sticky)

DIRECTIONS:
Mix together sugar, shortening, baking powder, and nutmeg. Add eggs. Combine milk and baking soda, then add to mixture. Add flour until dough is not sticky.

Roll out to 1/4 inch thick on floured surface (I just use the kitchen table). Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until very lightly brown on edges and/or bottom. Cool on wire racks. Allow to cool completely (I usually leave 24 hours) before frosting. Store in airtight container.

WILTON BUTTERCREAM ICING:

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla (use clear for true white frosting)
4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Food Coloring (if desired)

DIRECTIONS:
In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear very dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp paper towel until ready to use. Add food coloring if desired.

Prize-Winning Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake

This is (no, really) a prize-winning recipe I made up myself. Okay, I frankensteined it together from about 15 other recipes, but the end result was all me. Please note, this recipe is VERY time-consuming. VERY. I only make it any more for special occasions because it takes about 4.5 hours start to finish and I almost never have that much time in a block.

However, this Thanksgiving, I wanted to do something special for breakfast (that we didn't actually eat until 3 pm), so when we got up on Thanksgiving morning, I started my world-famous coffee cake.

The recipe calls for pecans, which I was out of, so I substituted coconut. However, if you don't like either, you can just as easily leave the "lumps" out or substitute your own (raisins, mini chocolate chips, etc).

On a scale of 1 to 10, this recipe apparently clocked in at an 11 with Rob. (I told you it was good). I loved it too, although the pecans would have made it even better. I'm not including cost on this, because all the ingredients were already in my pantry and I don't recall specific prices on all of it. I'd say around $5 though.

INGREDIENTS:
DOUGH
1 package active dry yeast
3 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (can use up to 3 1/4 cups)
FILLING
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
ICING
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, butter, eggs, sugar, salt and 1 1/2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, at least 1 hour.

Punch dough downl turn onto floured surface. Roll into 24x8 rectangle. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread over rectangle to within 1/2 inch of long edges. Sprinkle with pecans. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with the long side; pinch seam to seal.

Place roll seam side down on large greased cookie sheet and, using sharp knife, cut completely in half long-ways. Place cut sides up; gently twist two pieces together to form a "rope". Pull ends together and pinch to form a ring.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, at least 30 minutes. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to wire rack to cool. Combine icing ingredients; drizzle over coffee cake. Best eaten while still warm, but may be frozen for up to two months.

Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Frosting

Okay, so the above photo is mostly the cream cheese frosting part. I'll eat a piece today and take a photo of the piece of cake itself for your viewing pleasure.

So, last night about 4:15 I was really jonesing for some gingerbread. Why? I have no idea. But I was. So, I made some gingerbread. This recipe is straight out of the Good Housekeeping cookbook I've had for a few years. My favorite modern cookbook, by far. I've never made a recipe out of this cookbook that was a loser. If you don't already have one, you should buy one. This recipe is on my favorite page of the cookbook, right next to the best carrot cake I've EVER had.

All that to say, the gingerbread turned out exactly the way I like it. Moist, flavorful, a little chewy, but not too strongly "ginger-y". Rob loved it and I now have permission to make it whenever I want. :) I'm not going to list individual costs on this recipe because I didn't have to buy anything and I don't recall the original prices on everything. Probably less than $3.00, though, without the frosting.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons groud ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup light molasses
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), cut into 3 pieces
3/4 cup boiling water
1 large egg, lightly beaten

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour (or use Baker's Joy) 9-inch square baking pan.
2. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Stir until blended.
3. In small bowl, combine molasses and butter. Add boiling water and stir until butter melts (you may need to pop this into the microwave to finish the butter melting. My water cooled down pretty fast.) Add molasses mixture and beaten egg to flour mixture. Whisk until smooth.
4. With rubber spatula, scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake gingerbread nutil toothpick insterted in center comes out clean - 45-55 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack. Serve warm.

Note: I frosted this with Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Cream Cheese frosting. You can make your own or just leave the frosting off all together. It also goes great with lemon curd, poached pears, or just a sprinkle of coarse sugar on top before baking.

Crockpot Ribs

So, we completely failed at following our "menu" last week. It was a good idea, but it doesn't really work for us because of my schedule. So, we're changing it up a bit. I've got my list of 25 meals (or so). I'm going to type it up, put it on the fridge, and we'll just pick 4 or 5 every week until they've all been used. This meal was one I was planning on serving last week. But that didn't happen, so we had it yesterday.

I got the recipe from Jen, one of my friends. I don't think I have a single recipe that is easier or tastes better than this one. On a grading scale, Rob gave this one an A+++++ ... and I loved it too. The meat was fall-off-the-bone tender, the BBQ sauce tasted delicious ... there's nothing I would change about the taste. I think for more than two people (or for the leftovers) I'll probably double the amount of meat next time.


COST: $3.24
Beef Ribs - $3.19 (2.1 lbs @ $2.99/lb)
BBQ Sauce - FREE (someone gifted us with BBQ sauce last year. We are still trying to use it up!)
Brown Sugar - $0.05

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs of beef ribs
1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce (your choice of brands)
1/4 cup of brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Place thawed beef ribs in bottom of crockpot. Pour 1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce over ribs. Sprinkle with brown sugar on top. Place lid on crockpot, turn on low for 6-8 hours. Enjoy!!