Week 11: It's All Her Fault

As I was contemplating what kind of pie I wanted to make this week, one of my friends posted on her Facebook profile that she was in the mood to do some baking, including a sour cream lemon pie, but she was getting a migraine and was probably going to have to go lay down.

This is one of the things I love about Facebook--the inspiration! So, I set about finding a recipe for Sour Cream Lemon Pie. I found one that sounded fairly simple and good on tasteofhome.com. It turned out that my friend uses the same recipe, but she says she uses low-fat lemon yogurt instead of sour cream.



My husband thought it was very good, and just-right lemony with the sour cream. I should probably try it with the lemon yogurt sometime just to see if we like it that way.

I dropped one pie off to my inspiration, who was resting in her room so her kids let me in and I put it in her fridge.

I took the other pie over to a friend who was moving the very next day. It was sad to see her empty house (the movers had already come and gotten most of the stuff). Since she hadn't eaten I was glad to provide some food, and some company for a while.

Sour Cream-Lemon Pie
from TasteofHome.com

8 Servings
Prep: 20 min. + chilling

Ingredients:
Pastry for single-crust pie (9 inches)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons plus 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Directions:
Roll out pastry to fit a 9-in. pie plate. Transfer to pie plate; trim to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate. Flute edges. Line unpricked pastry with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5-7 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in milk and lemon juice; add egg yolks and lemon peel. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Stir in butter and cool to room temperature. Stir in sour cream and pour filling into pie shell. Top with whipped cream. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 8 servings.

Week 10: Celebrating Berry Season

This week's pie was a three-berry pie with a streusel crust. In many ways it reminded me of "Tom's Cheery Cherry Cherry Berry Pie" except that there were more berries instead of the cherries.

My daughter asked for this kind of a pie for her last week in Oregon. She is now off to Walt Disney World for the next several months and then plans to move to New York City.



For this week's decision on who to give the pies to, I decided to post a picture of my pie on Facebook, and take pies to the first couple of people who replied who lived close enough.



One of the first people was my neighbor down the street. I had to try to get her a pie twice, because the first time she wasn't home. I gave her a little bit of a hard time about that. But she had to get her daughter to dance class. When I was finally able to drop it off, she was home alone. She said she ate some as her dinner.



I told the other person I could bring her a pie, and she offered to pay me for it. She hadn't read my blog to see what it was all about. She was surprised that I was giving away pies! Her family was quite happy to get a pie, and we talked Scouts for a while.



Three-Berry Pie with Crumb Topping
From tasteofhome.com

6-8 Servings
Prep: 15 min.
Bake: 45 min.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
• 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen elderberries or raspberries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
• 1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)

TOPPING:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened

Directions:

In a large bowl, sprinkle berries with lemon juice. Combine sugar and tapioca. Add to berries; toss gently to coat. Let stand for 15 minutes. Spoon into pastry shell.

For topping, combine flour, salt and sugar in a small bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over filling. Bake at 400° for 45 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is browned. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 6-8 servings.