Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

My neighbor gave me some fresh rhubarb and I decided to make something with it. I never had rhubarb in my life so I decided on something I've heard of before - strawberry rhubarb pie. I had no experience with rhubarb, so I ended up looking up how big I should chop it even. It was fun. I decided I was too lazy to make my own pie crust so I bought the frozen pre-made dough at Trader Joe's. It's awesome - pretty close to homemade and the ingredients list was a lot more natural that they stuff they sell at Ralph's. Mike was a fan. We whipped up some fresh whipped cream and indulged!

Ingredients

•     1 cup white sugar
•     1/2 cup all-purpose flour
•     1 pound fresh rhubarb, chopped
•     2 pints fresh strawberries
•     1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
•     2 tablespoons butter
•     1 egg yolk
•     2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2.     In a large bowl, mix flour and sugar. Add strawberries and chopped rhubarb. Toss with sugar and flour and let stand for 30 minutes.
3.     Pour filling into pie crust. Dot top with butter, and cover with top crust. Seal edges of top and bottom crust with water.
4.     Apply yolk to top of pie, using a pastry brush. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut small holes in top to let steam escape.
5.     Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly and brown. Cool on rack.

Pie Tips

• Definitely let the mixture from step 2 above stand for at least 30 minutes. You will see the fruit absorb all that flour and sugar.
• Try brushing the bottle of the pie crust w/ egg before putting the fruit mixture in. This will help it from getting too soggy.
• After the pie is done, turn off the oven and leave it in there for 20 minutes to avoid a runny pie. This will help it dry out and gel up...if that makes sense.
• Take out the pie and cool on a rack completely before cutting into it.

Pumpkin Pie

This recipe is courtesy of Paula Deen & the Food Network. Mike says it's the best pie I made so far (and I usually stick to what's on the Libby's cans when it comes to a recipe). Combined with a pie crust recipe that I learned from my friend Jessica H (won constantly wins pie contests with her awesome peach pie) it turned out really yummy.

Ingredients

* 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
* 1 cup half-and-half
* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
* 1 piece pre-made pie dough (I made my own)
* Whipped cream, for topping

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.