Amaretto Blueberry Pie

I was in a total baking mood last week. Two pies in one week... wicked weird for me!

Anyway...

I still had some blueberries in the freezer from a previous family blueberry picking excursion and decided that I had to make pie!



Amaretto Blueberry Pie
1 9in unbaked pie crust (I bought mine and just unrolled it!)
5 C blueberries
1 1/2 C sugar
1/4 C tapioca
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 1/2 TBLS amaretto

Toss blueberries with sugar, tapioca, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.


Sprinkle in amaretto and toss until well mixed.



Pour blueberries into prepared pie crust.

Cover with remaining crust, crimp and vent.


I also sprinkled it with a little cinnamon sugar.

Cover crust edges with foil so they don't burn.

Bake at 350F for about an hour.


Cool completely and enjoy!




Maybe top it with a little whipped cream?


I heard lots of mmmm's while everyone was eating this. So it appears to be a keeper!!

As I look at these pie pictures, I've decided that I'm going to get rid of all of these pie plates, with recipes printed in them.

Recipes that I've never made!

I think I want to get some colorful fluted pie plates!

Something like this...


Pretty nice huh? Of course I don't see spending $45 on ONE pie plate. But I think I need to do a little shopping...

Jon... I'll update my Amazon wish list! I'll let you know when it's done baby!! *kiss*

Dulce de Leche Apple Pie

I have to say, it had never occurred to me to make any apple pie other than my mom's apple pie.

I mean why would I, right? Mum's pie rocks!

But as previously teased, I took one look at the title, Dulce de Leche Apple Pie and started drool!

Laura at The Cooking Photographer had me hooked and I wouldn't be able to bake anything, until I tried her pie!

I kept thinking, I'd just add Dulce de Leche to my mom's pie, then decided that it was time to branch out a bit!

I'll still be making Mum's pie... but this pie totally rocks too!



This is very slightly adapted from Laura's recipe.

Dulce de Leche Apple Pie
Double crust for 9” pie (I purchased mine too)
Egg white mixed with a teaspoon of water (I kinda omitted this)
5 C peeled and sliced mixed apples
1/4 C Dulce de Leche
2 TBLS apple cider
1/2 C brown sugar
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/3 C cornstarch
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon (I used 1/2 tsp)
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1 TBLS of butter for dotting pie (oops totally forgot this)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.


Whisk together, Dulce de Leche, apple cider and vanilla.


Toss sliced apples with Dulce de Leche mixture. (I used MacIntosh & Honey Crisp)


Toss the Dulce de Leche coated apples in the sugar mixture.


Then into your prepared pie crust.


Top with remaining pie crust, crimp and vent.


I usually just moisten my hands with water, slightly dampen the top crust with my hands and sprinkle with my standard cinnamon/sugar/nutmeg mix that I keep on hand for apple crisp or cinnamon toast. That's what I did instead of the egg whites.

Cover the crust with foil, so it doesn't get over done.


And into the oven for about an hour.

Remove the foil half way through.

Let the pie rest for several hours, so the filling can set.


Everyone really loved this pie!


When I make baked apple desserts, I always use MacIntosh apples and usually mix them with some other kind. I mixed them with Honey Crisp this time and was VERY pleased with the results. The Honey Crisp slices stayed much firmer than the MacIntosh and the texture of the pie was great!



Laura this recipe ROCKS!

This is for you!


I'll definitely be making this again!

(Don't worry mum... I'll definitely still make yours too!)

It's fall... I know you all are out apple picking! You should make Laura's pie!

Dulce de Leche

Yum! Who doesn't love dulce de leche?

I was reading through some of my favorite blogs, when I opened The Cooking Photographer. Laura had a recipe for Dulce de Leche Apple Pie!

OMG DROOL right????

In her instructions for the pie, she also gives directions on how to make the Dulce de Leche yourself, from Sweetened Condensed Milk.

All you have to do is boil the cans, labels removed, for 4 hours.

That's it!

It's nearly impossible for me to keep any kind of caramel-like foods in the house, since they are consumed almost as soon as I bring them home.

I decided this was worth a try.

Now if I'm cooking anything for 4 hours, I'm definitely making more than one!

So I pulled 4 cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk from the pantry. (that's definitely a staple item for me)



Removed the labels.


And placed them in a stock pot.


Filled with water... about two inches above the top of the cans.


That's about 2 knuckles deep. Obviously don't stick your finger in there after it's hot!

Boil for four hours.


Be sure to keep checking the pot.

The cans need to stay submerged.

As the water evaporates, boil a teapot full of water to replace the evaporated water.

Again, be sure the tops of the cans are always covered with water.

Let them cool completely before opening them.

That's it.

Dulce de Leche made at home!


Nice snack for the kidlets




Or how about on top of ice cream?

Or maybe inside Stuffed French Toast?

This is soooo yummy!!! You'll want to just eat it out of the can. (no one's watching... go ahead... have a big spoonful!)

This Dulce de Leche is very very thick. While doing a little browsing around the interwebs for more info on this method, I found a couple of people who boil for about 2 hours for a thinner Dulce de Leche.

The 4 hour batch I made can be thinned out by popping it into the microwave for 30 seconds or so. But it does thicken back up again after a bit.

I think I'll try a 2 to 3 hour batch (two cans... removing one after 2 hours and one after 3 hours) to see if I end up with a thinner end result.

Oh and Laura's Dulce de Leche Apple Pie?

Stay tuned... that's up next!

Pomegranate Jelly

Ever since I got a case of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice, I've been dying to make Pomegranate Jelly.

When I lived near San Diego, a woman named Tina would bring Pomegranate Jelly to work every year. She made it herself with pomegranates from the tree in her yard. It was AWESOME and the perfect addition to the bagels and cream cheese that American Mobile Healthcare provided every Friday. (Hi Susie!! I miss you!!)

Anyway... this isn't Tina's recipe. I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to find her now. But every time I see a pomegranate I think of Tina's Pomegranate Jelly.

This recipe is from the POMWonderful website.



Crimson POM Refrigerated Jelly
2 C POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
1/4 C arils from 1 large Pomegranate
2 TBLS lemon juice
1 packet liquid fruit pectin, or half of a 1 3/4 oz. package powdered fruit pectin
4 cups granulated sugar

In a 6-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, combine pomegranate juice, lemon juice and pectin. Over high heat, bring mixture to a boil.

Stir in sugar all at once, then stir constantly. Heat mixture again until it comes to a full rolling boil; boil 1 minute over medium-high heat.

Remove from heat and skim foam from jelly with a spoon. Discard foam.

Immediately ladle the jelly into clean jelly jars with lids, or refrigerator containers with tight-fitting lids. Sprinkle reserved arils over the top of each container of jelly. Cover tightly. Let stand 45 minutes to cool, then refrigerate for 1 1/4 hours. If not using immediately, refrigerate for up to 4 to 6 weeks, or freeze for up to 1 year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So this is what you need.


Well... you only need one pomegranate if you're using juice.

Pomegranate Juice, Lemon Juice & Pectin


Isn't that a gorgeous color??

Bring that to a boil


Add all of the sugar.


And bring that to a full rolling boil.


Boil for 1 minute over medium high heat.

Remove from heat.


And scoop out the foam.


Ladle into jelly jars.






I didn't sprinkle in any arils. My pomegranate looked less than fresh when I opened it. So I just skipped that part.

Did you know those seeds sacs were called arils? I didn't. Learn something new everyday!

To really see just how gorgeous this jelly is, it needs to be back-lit.


Isn't that pretty?

Cover tightly. Let stand 45 minutes to cool, then refrigerate for 1 1/4 hours. If not using immediately, refrigerate for up to 4 to 6 weeks, or freeze for up to 1 year.

Here's the aliens are taking the jelly view...


So... how did it come out?

Well... it looks gorgeous! And it tastes WONDERFUL! (One might say POMwonderful hehe)

However; my jelly is not gel-y. It's kinda gel-y. It's a little too thin to call jelly... but it's also a little to thick to be a syrup. It's kind of like a sauce.

But, I had just made my first pomegranate jelly... so of course the first thing I had to do was have it on a bagel with cream cheese!


See... it's a little thin... still tasty and beautiful... but thin.

So I thought... hmmm... I bet this would be awesome on ice cream.


Oh yeah! Awesome on ice cream!


Ice cream would also be a good place for some arils.

And how about on pancakes?


SO good on pancakes!!!

I did have to thin it out a little to use as syrup.

30 seconds in the microwave was perfect.

So, although it's didn't really gel as much as I thought it should. It was definitely still a winner!

This was my first attempt at jelly of any kind.

Did I do something wrong? I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have!

Have a great weekend!!