Mad About Pie

In celebration of Halloween, Lafayette Residence Hall will be hosting our first ever Haunted Hallways extravaganza tonight.  Residents will be able to trick-or-treat from floor to floor, and each RAs room will be passing out goodies.  Because my CORA and I were on duty/call all weekend long, we decided to make our dessert.  Obviously, I haven't been able to dress up this year, so I decided weeks ago that our floor theme was to be Mad Men because I have this adorable 1960s housewife dress that I actually want to wear.  So, to compliment our theme, we spent hours making three types of pie yesterday...Pumpkin, Apple, and Coconut.  Sure, it was quite time consuming, but we sure had fun.  I just hope everyone likes them.  Now, we only had $65 for the entire event, so we had to get a little creative in our purchasing.  In total, we were able to make six pies and still stay under budget.

Of course, my first stop on my recipe hunt was Paula Deen's website.  We slightly modified her directions and made our own version of Pumpkin Pie. 

Ingredients (per pie)

1 (8-ounce) package of cream cheese, softened

15 oz. of canned pumpkin

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1 egg plus 2 egg yolks

1 cup half-and-half

 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 piece pre-made pie dough

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350º F. 

For the filling, 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 and cinnamon, and beat until incorporated. 

Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for an hour, and until the center is set.  Let the pie cool to room temperature and cut into slices.  

Next, we made cooks.com "Mom's Easy Apple Pie."  I must admit, the name was a little deceiving; although quite tasty, the apple pie was certainly the most time consuming.

Ingredients:

Pillsbury ready made pie crust
6-7 apples (I used 2 granny smith, 2 gala, and 2 red)
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. flour

Directions:
Peel and cut your 6 apples; mix your sugar in with the apples.  Blend cinnamon and flour into a bowl.  Add the cinnamon-flour blend to your apples and sugar mixture.  Place the pie crust into the bottom of your pan.  Add in the filling and dot with butter.  Cover it with the top pie crust layer.  Brush with milk, and sprinkle sugar on top.

Bake at 375°F for 50 minutes or until done.

To give a little variety to our all fall menu, we ended the afternoon by baking two Coconut Pies.

Ingredients:

3eggs
1 3/4cups milk
1/4cup butter, melted
1 1/2teaspoons vanilla
1cup flaked or shredded coconut
3/4cup sugar
Ready-made pie crust

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º and lay your ready-made pie crust in the pan.

In large bowl, stir together all ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate.  Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and knife inserted in the center comes out clean.