Recipe Swap: Oh my, pie!

By now you know how happy I am when a new cookbook comes into my possession. Last week Jamie Jones, the Parent Liaison from our children's former elementary school, called to alert me of their annual fall book fair and the large selection of cookbooks that were available. I could not get there fast enough, not only to get the books, but to support Jefferson Elementary, where our children got a great start to head into middle school, and also to see our friends there and to support the PTA at the school. It was so good to see everyone again, and the first thing our daughter said was that the library shelves seemed so short and the desks seemed so small. In her mind she cannot fathom that she has grown a foot since leaving Jefferson. I came home with three new cookbooks, one of which I want to share with you today.

"Sweetie Pies, An Uncommon Collection of Womanish Observations With Pie," authored by Patty Pinner, is a pie book filled with lovely photographs of nearly every recipe and stories from the author's childhood and adult observations on a variety of topics. It is interesting, and the pie recipes look great. I picked out a few recipes to include here from her book.

Mama's Fresh Raspberry Pie

Pie dough for one 9-inch double crust pie

5 cups fresh raspberries, rinsed and drained

6 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup sugar, or a little more, depending on the sweetness of the berries

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Milk for brushing, optional

Sugar for sprinkling, optional

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Gather the dough into two balls, one slightly larger then the other. Roll dough and fill a pie plate. In a large bowl, combine the raspberries, flour, sugar and lemon rind and gently toss to combine, then set the bowl aside. Using a pastry brush, brush the inside of the bottom crust with the egg whites, then spoon in the filling. Sprinkle the top of the filling with cinnamon, then dot it with the butter. Roll dough for the top crust and place over filling. Fix edge as desired. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape. If desired, brush the top with milk and sprinkle with a scant amount of sugar. Place the pie in the oven on a cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until the edges of the crust are golden brown, about another 35 to 40 minutes. Cover the edges of the crust with a 2- or 3-inch-wide strip of aluminum foil if it starts to brown excessively. Let cool at room temperature or on a wire rack.

Old-Fashioned Cranberry Pie

Dough for one 9-inch double crust pie

2 cups fresh cranberries, picked over

1 1/2 cups dark raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon orange extract

Grated rind of 1 medium-size orange

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a 9-inch pie plate with bottom crust. Place in refrigerator until ready to use. Roll top crust and cut into strips for lattice topping. In a large bowl, combine the cranberries, raisins, walnuts and both sugars and toss until mixed well. Stir in the extracts, orange rind and salt. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour the filling into it. Dot with the butter. Weave a lattice design over the filling. Trim and crimp edges together. Bake for 12 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Continue to bake until the crust is golden, 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

Oatmeal Nut Pie

One 9-inch single pie crust

4 large eggs, well beaten

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon apple-flavored extract

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the crust and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, both sugars, butter and milk until well mixed. Stir in the flour, extracts and corn syrup until well mixed. Blend in the oats, pecans and coconut. Pour the filling into the pie crust. To give it a nice edge, place your left index finger and your right thumb, turned sideways, on the border of the pie crust at a 45 degree angle. Gently push your thumb against your index finger to form a slanted ridge all around the pie. Place in the oven and bake until the filling is nice and golden, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Sister Baby's Buttermilk Pie

One 9-inch single pie crust, rolled out and fitted into pie pan

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs, slightly beaten

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pie crust and set aside. In a medium-size bowl, cream together the sugar, butter and eggs. Beat in the flour. Stir in the buttermilk until well mixed. Stir in the extracts. Pour the filling into the pie crust, place in the oven and bake until the filling is golden brown and still has a little wiggle to it, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

Caramel Tin Roof Pie

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

4 cups crushed cereal flakes, like Kellogg's Nut & Honey

4 cups vanilla ice cream, slightly softened

3/4 cup caramel dessert topping

3/4 cup chopped salted peanuts

Butter a 9-inch pie plate and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the corn syrup just until it starts to boil, then remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter and the crushed cereal until the flakes are well coated. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the buttered pie plate. Put the plate in the freezer until the crust is firm, 10 to 15 minutes. In a medium-size bowl, thoroughly blend together the ice cream, 1/2 cup of the caramel topping and 1/2 cup of the peanuts. Spoon the mixture into the chilled crust. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup peanuts over the filling, pressing them into the surface. Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup caramel topping over the pie. Place in the freezer until firm, about 4 hours. Remove 10 minutes before you plan to serve it to let it soften a bit to make slicing easier.

This was an interesting book with just about every kind of pie you can imagine, including an entire chapter to just cereal pies. I hope you enjoyed this small sampling.

Have a great week, and until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by Southeast Missourian staff.