Week 20: Fresh Strawberry Pie

I have been waiting 4 1/2 months for a fresh fruit pie and specifically strawberry as it is the first of the fruits to be in season.  P will say and I do admit that I am snobby and a bit passionate about my fresh, seasonal, local produce, so boy was I delighted when I got to the farmer's market and saw delicious strawberries all around.  I bought a flat of 8 quarts and they lasted us two days...we all love our fresh, local strawberries. Oh, I digress!

Back to pie.  A much loved seasonal classic, this strawberry pie recipe is from Butler's Orchards in Maryland and I have made this pie ever since we moved to Virginia and discovered pick-your-own strawberry fields.  We always look forward to eating it.  Everyone seemed to like it except for JP...who knows, maybe he's not a fruit pie lover like his mom!  K ate her whipped cream and all the strawberry goo but left the crust! B ate his piece and the rest of JP's and wanted more for breakfast...too bad mom and dad finished it off the night before.  This is the only pie I have eaten two pieces of in one night.  Topped with whipped cream, it was delish!

Week 19: Linda's Best Browned Butter Coconut Chess Pie

Browned Butter Coconut Chess Pie...you may be wondering what kind of pie this is....the answer is a plate full of deliciousness.  The browned butter gives it a nutty, caramelly flavor plus there is almond extract in there and the coconut adds texture and more deliciousness.  This was another winner from Sweetie-licious Pies.  Only P and I ate this one as the boys were already in bed. I think P ate almost the whole pie...he really liked this one!

Week 18: Lemon Cream Pie

Lemon Cream Pie from Our Best Bites.  Here is the link:  http://ourbestbites.com/2015/04/easy-lemon-cream-pie/.  It was delicious...tasty, lemony, creamy...just about perfect.  B thought it was one of the best and declared he would make it every day when he was older and not share any with his kids!  All around winner!

Week 17: Orange Julius Pie

Orange Julius Pie...oh summer!  This is a summer pie and it was yummy.  This recipe was from P's mom and she used to make it when he was a kid, so he was instantly transported to his childhood.  This was nice and refreshing, tangy and sweet all wrapped into one.  The filling is a mix of egg whites, orange juice, sugar and whipped cream...it's a bit mousse-like and then the entire pie is frozen and eaten out of the freezer,served with crumbled up crust on top.  A nice treat on a warm day.  The recipe is available upon request.  B loved this pie and said it was among his favorites.  JP was a little less sure but everyone else ate it up.  Definitely a good one.

Week 16: Candy Bar Pie

Candy Bar Pie. This had great potential, but for me, it wasn't one of my favorites.  For this pie, you started with a layer of chopped candy bars on the bottom.  The recipe called for snickers but I used a variety. Then, you topped it with a cream cheese, peanut butter, sugary layer.  Then topped it all with a chocolate fudge type layer.  For me, the peanut butter-cream cheese layer was too cream cheesey and not enough peanut butter and it was SUPER rich...a little goes a long way.  The chocolate on top was good and the bits with pieces of candy bar were good, but the overall was too sweet and super rich.  P liked it in small quantities and JP and K seemed to like it. A and B only liked the chocolate on top! I don't think I would make it again...too many others that were much better!

Week 15: Funny Cake Pie

Funny Cake Pie is a magical recipe.  We all enjoyed this pie especially a la mode.  The kids all thought it was pretty cool.  It had a great taste and was cake-like with a layer of chocolate sauce on the bottom.  This recipe is a bit contraversial as I found when searching for recipes.  It was recommended to me by a friend who used to eat this regularly in her childhood.  Apparently there is much debate on the method.  The basics are you make a pie crust and then the cake part and lastly a chocolate sauce part.  The debate is the order of layering..,.some say the true way is to put the chocolate sauce in first and then the cake layer; others say to put the chocolate on top.  Based on my friend's experience, we put the chocolate on top and then waited to see if the magic would happen.  Sure enough, when we pulled it out of the oven, the chocolate sauce layer was down on the bottom and the cake was white inside...pure magic!

Here is a link to the recipe I used...however, I put the cake layer in the pie crust first and then added the chocolate sauce layer on top....you have to have some faith but it's pretty awesome!  The kids were impressed.  http://www.cooks.com/recipe/r08wq0ot/funny-cake-pie.html