Stupidly Easy Key Lime Pie

I can't belive I didn't make this earlier. For some reason I grabbed a bottle of key lime juice at the store the other day, and this recipe was on the bottle. I was like 'hey, this is easy', and after figuring out the crust recipe from another cookbook, I made this twice last week (the Husband requested it the second time, subtly by grabbing the graham cracker crumb box from the pantry and slamming in in front of me). Heh.

Here is what you need:

Crust: 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (from box is OK)
1/4 cup brown sugar
5 tablespoons of butter


Pie: 1/2 cup key lime juice
3 egg yolks
1 container sweetened condensed milk

Whipped cream for the top as desired

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Put graham crumbs in a bowl; add brown sugar and mix well. Melt butter in microwave and add to crumbs. Mix until it's evenly moistened (will take a while, make sure you scrape up real good).
Press crust into 9-inch pie form (glass and metal works about the same).
Make filling: pour condensed milk into bowl (can use same as you used for crust, just wash it out). Add key lime juice and egg yolks. Mix it well with a wire whisk. It will be yellow. Not green. Key lime pie is NOT green, 'k? :)
Pour into crust.
Put into oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Pull it out, set on top of oven, wait for 10 minutes.
Put in fridge and cool it. Filling will set during this process, so don't skimp on it.
Whip cream with a little bit of sugar, and serve big dollops on top. Feel free to go overboard, and add slices of key lime if you feel so inclined.

Let me know how it turned out!

Pumpkin Rice Pudding

This is very seasonal, very tasty, and quick to make once you have the ingredients on hand (also good for using leftover cooked rice). It comes out a bit denser than a regular rice pudding, but is perfect for this time of the year, and is especially yummy warm with a cup of spiced tea, coffee or chocolate.

1 can pure pumpkin
1 cup brown cane sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2 cups cooked rice
1 can of evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, sugar and spices. Add evaporated milk and rice and stir well. Add beaten eggs, raisins and pecans.
Pour mixture into a 13x7 glass baking dish (I used a 13x9 as I don't have a 13x7). Now take a shallow roasting pan that is bigger than your baking dish, place the dish into it, and pour enough water under the dish so it comes up about 1 inch around it. Please in over.
Bake for 15 minutes and stir thoroughly.
Bake for 35-40 minutes more or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
Very good served warm, but also delicious chilled, with some whipped cream on top.

Simple But Amazing Apple Pie

Okay, this was GONE within an hour of pulling it out of the oven.
And yes, I cheat with the crust. Sue me...;)

You'll need:
1 package ready-made frozen pie crust (this is a double crust pie)
4-5 large apples (I used Honeycrisps), peeled, cored, sliced thin
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of Ceylon cinnamon (sold as Mexican cinnamon or 'canela' in a lot of grocery stores)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, grated
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup raisins, plumped in hot water, drained of water

Place one crust in 9-inch pie form. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place apples, sugar, spices and flour in a medium bowl, toss so apples are coated. Add drained raisins, toss to distribute.
Arrange apple slices on crust; they, inevitably, will form a little mound, higher on top. Ignore this.
Pour almost all the butter over apple slices, reserving a bit of it for the top crust.
Place top crust on top. Crimp edges together. Cut 4 slits on top crust for ventillation. Brush top with remaining butter
Bake in 400 degrees F oven for 45 minutes.
This particular pie is best when still hot or warm. I am a purist, so no ice cream--but it's so mooist that it's really not necessary.