Blackberry Pie

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sour_cream_apple_pie_with_streusel_topping/


I was looking for a pie to make for today (it's Mother's Day! ) and I came across a yummy looking recipe for sour cream apple pie. But I have a big thing of blackberries in the fridge (I overestimated Nathan's consumption), and I thought Blackberries and sour cream sounds good.

So I adapted it.

It is similar to the original but I subbed the berries for the apples and used a roll out crust. But here it is:

Sour Cream Blackberry Pie

1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3 cups rinsed blackberries
1 9" unbaked pie shell

Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix together all ingredients until crumbly.


1 Preheat oven to 400°F.
2 Beat together sour cream, sugar, flour, salt, vanilla and egg (can beat by hand). Add berries, mixing carefully to coat well.
3 Put filling into a pie shell and bake at 400 degrees initially for 25 min.
4 Remove from oven and sprinkle with Cinnamon Crumb Topping. Bake for and additional 20 more minutes. At this point I covered the edges of the crust with foil so it wouldn't burn.

Let cool for a hour before serving. Serves 8.

This is the most beautiful pie! I wish I had a working camera, but you will just have to take my word for it. The top is browned and sparkly, the berries are bursting through the top like purple sunshine.

Enjoy!

Edited to add:

Or not. I spit it right out, though my dutiful family ate it. The blackberries got hard. I don't know why. But Yuck. Maybe Strawberries would work better? Or maybe I should have just done it with apples. I also made some whole wheat sugar cookies for the kids for lunches this week, so I served those and I will send Paul out for ice cream tonight. It is Mother's Day, after all!

Nana's Noodle Pudding

My Mom's Mom is obsessed with dieting and exercise. But she makes one, very notable, exception.

Nana's Noodle Pudding

1 pint sour cream
8 oz cream cheese
Scant 1 cup white sugar
5 eggs
1 pound of wide egg noodles
1/2 cup- 1 cup corn flake crumbs
3 T white sugar
3/4 stick of melted butter

Mix the sour cream, cream cheese (This is easier if it is whipped, otherwise you might want to use a mixer), eggs and sugar. Cook noodles to package directions. mix noodles with creamy mixture and spread into a prepared casserole dish (I use an 8 by 13 inch pyrex). Refrigerate overnight.

Bring to room temperature before cooking.

Melt butter and add sugar. Add corn flake crumbs until you get a drippy consistency. Drizzle over the top and spread out a bit. You can make as much or as little of the topping as you like, I like a lot, Nana likes a little.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

I am making this and the Pioneer Woman's BBQ meatballs (though I am using turkey) for Mother's day Lunch with our Mom's. Too bad Nana is in Florida. I am not sure about dessert. I am thinking of going out for ice cream.

Happy Mother's Day!

Baked Ziti for Sunday... and another day.

I have been so so so busy... both of my parents are having surgery within these two weeks, my high school reunion was this weekend, two communions, birthday parties, two crazy kids... you know the drill. So I wanted to make something that would have leftovers.

Baked Ziti to the rescue!

My sauce came out yummy today so I am going to record the recipe. Let's call it,

Marinara Sauce

One red onion, chopped
One yellow pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 carrot pealed and chopped fine (I actually use my peeler to make thin strips and then chop those)
1 can of crushed tomatoes
4 cans of petite diced tomatoes
Kosher salt, sugar, oregano, parsley, basil, pepper... to taste
One bay leaf
2 table spoons of olive oil

Heat olive oil in a pot.

Saute chopped veggies until tender. Add some salt and some sugar.

Add crushed tomatoes and two cans of the diced.

Puree with a hand blender.

Add the last two cans of tomatoes. Add spices to taste, including some more salt and sugar.

Simmer for a few hours. I put some in a tupperware for another night, and used the rest for...

Baked Ziti

One pint of part skim ricotta, seasoned
One hunk of Mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
1 1/2 boxes of ziti
about half of the sauce above

For Ricotta-
One egg
a tablespoon of garlic powder
a tablespoon of onion powder
a pinch of salt

Mix all those things together and then add the cheese, stir and set aside till ready to use.

Ladle some sauce into a large lasagna pan to coat the bottom. Boil salted water and prepare pasta according to directions. Put drained pasta into the pan and pour a few cups of sauce on top, stir to coat, add ricotta and fold into pasta mixture, adding more sauce if needed. Lay the slices of Mozzarella cheese on top and bake at 350 until bubbly and hot.