Chocolate Cream Pie

My Lynchburg Sister uses this chocolate creme pie recipe every time she makes a chocolate pie.  She got the recipe from a Betty Crocker Cookbook that she received while in High School.  This is my first time to make this particular pie.

You will need:

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

3 slightly beaten egg yolks

4 Tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 Tablespoons cocoa

1 9 inch baked pie crust

Begin by mixing the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.

Gradually stir in the milk. 

I like to use a whisk for the stirring.

Cook and stir this mixture over medium heat until it boils and thickens.  Then, cook 2 minutes longer.

Go ahead and separate 3 eggs.

Slightly beat the egg yolks.

Set the whites aside for the meringue.

Beat a small amount of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.  This is called tempering the eggs.  You don't want cooked egg in your pie...

Return this yolk/chocolate mixture back to the saucepan.  Cook 2 more minutes; stirring constantly.

Remove the mixture from the heat and add the melted butter and the vanilla.  Mix well.

Allow the baked pie crust and the filling time to cool to room temperature.

 

Then, pour the filling into the crust.

Now, it is time to make meringue.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

You only need:

egg whites

6 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

The secret to meringue is letting the eggs come to room temperature.  They usually do this as you are making the pie.  I usually add an extra egg white when I am separating the eggs to make my meringue a little taller.

Beat the egg whites with 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar on the highest speed.  They will start out foamy.

Beat until peaks form.

You can tell when peaks form by stopping the mixer and seeing if you can pull up peaks with the beaters.

Then, add the 6 Tablespoons sugar.

Continue to beat on high until stiff peaks form.

Now comes the fun part. 

Add the meringue to the pie.

Spread the meringue to the edges of the pie.

Use the back of the spoon to make peaks.

(At this point, I could honestly stick my whole face into the middle of the pie.)

Bake the pie in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

This is the pie I use to ask for instead of a cake on my birthday.  Now that I am older, I can make one for myself anytime.

Happy Birthday to me...

Enjoy!!!

Fall Decorations

Do you decorate for fall???

Thanks to a little inspiration from my Lynchburg Sister, we took some time yesterday to decorate our house for the season.

It doesn't take much...

just sprinkling a few pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns here and there.

I also used a little candy corn for decoration.

These last two pictures are my favorites.  The candles came from Everythings a Dollar.  The inspiration came from Our Vintage Home Love.

I am thinking this can be done for every season.  I'm just not sure what is going to happen when we light the candles...we won't try that for a while.

Happy Fall!!!

Fall Decorating

It is Fall Break in the Big Woods.  That means no school for an entire week.

It also means having time to do a little cleaning and decorating for the fall.  We love this season in the Big Woods.  As the leaves begin to change, the woods are gorgeous.  I will have more pictures to show you tomorrow from the inside of our house. 

Corn Husk Kitchen Witch

Looking for a fun project??? 

 My daughter disappeared to the screened porch one evening last week for a couple of hours.  She was working on a secret project.  All I knew was that it involved corn husks.

Here is what she emerged carrying...

Let me introduce you to our "kitchen witch". 

Yes, she is a good witch.

She comes complete with a broom and a special verse.

The verse lets us know that her purpose is to keep everything in the kitchen going well...including no pots boiling over and no accidental burning of the food.

My daughter found the pattern at http://www.familyfun.com/.

I think this little witch is just perfect...

Harvest Festival

Today was the Harvest Festival at my church.  We had a perfectly great day.  The weather was gorgeous, and the crowd could not have been better.  I am pleased to be a part of a church with very talented and loving people.  Everyone works so hard to make this day a success...and we have a little fun on the side working together.

Enjoy the pictures!!!

Mums

There's just something about a trailer full of mums!!!

They look soft enough to sleep on.

We purchased these from Miller's Nursery located between Lawrenceburg and Pulaski.

We will offer them for sale at my church's Harvest Festival this Saturday, October 8th.

Coleman Methodist Church

Lawrenceburg, Tennessee

Our annual Fall Festival begins at

8:00 and lasts until 2:00.

Milky Way Ice Cream

If you're looking for an ice cream recipe that is a little different, you have come to the right place.

To make Milky Way Ice Cream, you will need:

6 Milky Way candy bars

1 can Eagle Brand milk

6 eggs

1/2 teaspoon sugar

enough milk to fill a 1/2 gallon freezer

Chop up the candy bars and melt them over low heat with some of the milk.

I don't usually melt the candy bars completely.  I like the small pieces of chocolate in my ice cream.

Add other ingredients and mix with a mixer.

It is better to eat the ice cream before it melts.  I didn't quite get to mine in time.

Melted or not it is still good.

Enjoy!!!