A similar situation happened at my kid’s school when I took a few of these up there. One of the teachers came into the office talking about how good the pecan pie was and the secretary said “You mean the pecan less pecan pie?” she replied “Oh no, I got the one that had pecans in it…” ~snickers~ Of course, I hadn’t taken anything with pecans in it to the school.

This is a fabulous pie for those with nut allergies but that isn’t why I developed it, I actually didn’t even think about that until someone asked for the recipe, stating that they had a friend with allergies who would be excited to get pecan pie again! I developed it as a way of saving money. Have you seen the cost of pecans lately?

Right about now, making this pie with my recipe instead of pecans will save anywhere from five to seven dollars, depending on where you shop. Most folks I know can cook an entire supper for that amount of money!

So I guess there is a double bonus involved, but in hindsight having a faux pecan pie for those with nut allergies is a much greater purpose.

I have seen some varying recipes for faux pecan pie around the web. The most common one utilizing pinto beans in place of pecans. I have that on my list to try someday and I’ll probably do it around about the time I try raw oysters, but I couldn’t bring myself to suggest you put pintos in your pie so I set about developing my own faux pecan pie.

I started with my Mother’s No Fail Pecan Pie recipe and then blended it a bit with that crust of my Strawberry Pretzel Salad (which is in my cookbook, but not on SouthernPlate.com). Everyone is always surprised that the crust isn’t made of pecans, so what a great inspiration to add to my pie! It took about seven pies to get the proportions and cooking time just right, because this pie really needs to be made as a deep dish but I’m finally ready to bring it to you today in it’s final form.

I’m gonna start this post out with a disclaimer that I’m sure is obvious to just about everyone reading this: Pecan pie is not a health food. It’s not supposed to be. A good pecan pie is gonna contain butter, sometimes lots of it. It will also have sugar in various forms, usually granulated and corn syrup. A good pecan pie is not for the faint of heart but it is the golden nugget of pies. Rich, buttery, delicious. Unlike any other. This Faux Pecan Pie lives up to all of those expectations.

If you’re on a diet, just have one or two bites and make sure you savor them, then be sure and make it again when you’re not on a diet anymore. If you have a family member or friend with a nut allergy, this would be a welcome treat for them at your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner! But I suggest not telling anyone it doesn’t have pecans until they eat it, mainly because it is fun seeing the look on their face .

You’ll need: A Deep Dish Pie Crust, Light Corn Syrup, Butter, Pretzels, Sugar, Eggs, and Vanilla.

I recommend unsalted, real butter in this recipe.

I also recommend not spelling “recommend” unless you have to because it is one of those annoying words to spell. I really think it needs two “c” ‘s but Websters never listens to me. ~sigh~

Note: If all you have is margarine or you just can’t afford butter, go for it. Trust me, I’ve been there! The pie will taste slightly different but t’ain’t nobody here gonna judge because we were raised better than that. ~Grin~

Following my recipe below, place the butter for the pie filling in a large bowl and microwave it until melted. Allow to cool.

You ever hear the saying “Do as I say, don’t do as I do?” Well that applies here. Normally you could just dump all of your other filling ingredients in and give them a stir but I don’t really have time to allow my butter to cool so I’m gonna stir in my sugar real good to cool it down a bit before I add everything else.

If I just dumped everything in with hot butter, it would cook my eggs a bit, leaving me with thin ribbons of cooked egg mixed in with the custard of my pie and that isn’t very fun!

So at this point you can add in all of your other ingredients and give it a good stir until well combined.

But if you’re impatient like me, add your sugar first and stir that up a bit until your butter is cooler. 

Like this.

Now add all of the other filling ingredients and give it another good stir.

I’ve had a few questions about my flat whisk pictured here. I bought this when my friend Maralee McKee told me about it. It came from Williams Sonoma and is the only thing I have ever bought from that store, lol. I go in there from time to time just to look around and really enjoy it, but I find that specialized tools and pots aren’t a good use of my money when standard things I have around my kitchen will do just fine and I don’t have to find the storage space for them. I can just see my great grandmother staring at a wall of peculiar utensils and asking “Now what do ya need all them thangs for?”

You can also find these whisks on Amazon by searching for “flat whisk”. They really do work well and I prefer it over a traditional whisk.

Here is our pie filling all mixed up. Ready for an action shot now?

Isn’t that pretty? I’ve learned how to do a lot of things left handed since having to venture into the wonderful world of food photography.

Whoops, I was being a bit sarcastic there when I said “wonderful”. Food photography is actually the one thing I don’t really enjoy that much about blogging. Food is very uncooperative. I have yet to ask any item of food to pose pretty and not been met with a blank and vacant stare.

It doesn’t help that I’m not one to be more impressed with a piece of say, banana bread, just because it is encased in a soft focus vignette. I find banana bread on an old corelle plate, presented as is, has more heart. ~sighs~ I know, but I have to at least attempt pretty food pictures. I put a wee bit of my heart into it from time to time.

But if you ever think some of my food isn’t pretty, just imagine a sweet granny standing behind it, handing it to you with a loving expression.

That is how I picture all of my food, and it makes it quite beautiful. Tricks of the camera or photo shop can’t add an effect like that.

Oops, got sidetracked. Okay so here is your filling in the crust.

I know it looks yellow now but it will be that beautiful golden color once baked.

Now we need to crush our pretzels.

I’m using my heirloom rolling pin that my great grandmother bought for my mother with green stamps when Mama was just thirteen years old.

At thirteen, her parents divorced and she went to live with her father to take care of him. She cooked all of the meals and kept house until he remarried a few years later.

At thirteen, I was listening to bad eighties music, hanging out at the mall, and spending my spare time becoming proficient with aqua net hair styling techniques.

Never hurts to contrast your life with others in order to see how good you got it. 

Place your pretzels in a gallon zipper bag and crush those puppies. They don’t have to be pulverized, just broke up kinda good.

I took this rollin pin with me when I went to film at Paula Deen’s house and we used it on the show. I told her all about it and we talked green stamps for quite a while. That show airs this Saturday for the first time. November 5, 2011. Check the Food Network for times in your area and click here to rsvp on my Facebook page if you plan on watching and read a few behind the scenes stories I’ve posted.

Melt your butter for the topping (see recipe) and add in your tiny amount of sugar.

Add in pretzels and stir until coated well.

Sprinkle evenly over the top of your pie.

I know it will seem like a lot of pretzels but they sink down a bit as we cook, which is why I made this a deep dish pie. The first pie I tried wasn’t deep dish and it seemed like there was hardly any filling when the pretzels sunk down a little bit. This will come out in perfect proportions to the top crust and the filling.

Place pie plate on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for one hour, covering with foil after the first thirty minutes to prevent over browning.

Allow to cool completely before serving. 

This is a piece of pie posing on a Jewel Tea, Autumn Leaf plate.

This is a closer shot that shows the filling a little better (because I couldn’t pick which one I liked the most)

This post is dedicated to my sweet friend, Alyssa, who has a nut allergy.

I got to meet her yesterday when I had a book signing at a local elementary to support their book fair.

I mentioned today’s post and she was so excited for a nut free pecan pie!

Special thanks to everyone who invited me and were so kind yesterday.

I enjoyed getting to meet you all and what an honor it was to see a table filled with food from my cookbook!

Notice one piece of the pie is unaccounted for. ~looks innocent~

I hope you get to make this soon and enjoy your faux pecan pie!

Don’t forget to add this pie to your holiday menu!

If you’re coming to my Holiday Cooking Show on November 10th (see poster below this recipe), this is one of the many recipes I’ll be serving the entire audience!

Advance ticket purchase is recommended but you can also pay at the door. 

Sara submitted a great quote on our Give A Penny Page that I think really puts you in the right frame of mind for dealing with life sometimes. We can’t just go out meekly with a weak smile and hope for a good day, we have to do it with Gusto!

“Tackle the world with a smile, and the world will tackle you back with more than one.”

Thank you Sara! Submit your quote by clicking here.  ]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/11/faux-pecan-pie.html/feed 175 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/10/cook-the-cover-with-me-november-2011-southern-living.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/10/cook-the-cover-with-me-november-2011-southern-living.html#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:41:29 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=17278 Pin it

We just passed the 30,000 mark on Facebook! If you’re an active member of our Facebook page, leave a comment below to be entered to win an autographed copy of my cookbook.

If you’re not an active member on Facebook, go ahead and leave a comment below and then join our Facebook page to be entered. Be sure you “like” a post or leave a comment on our Facebook page so you’re counted as active!

Contest closes at midnight Saturday night, October 29th at midnight. Winner announced Monday on Facebook. 

Don’t you just love seeing the gorgeous food on the cover of each issue of Southern Living? Today I thought it might be fun if you join me in my kitchen while I cook the cover!

Note: I cut the cooking time by about ten minutes when I baked it in a 9×13 pan instead of the suggested springform pan. 

For this recipe, pick up a copy of the November 2011 issue of Southern Living or visit them online at SouthernLiving.com (click here to go directly to the recipe).

But I *really* think you should get a copy because there are 103 recipes in this issue alone!

“If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.”

– John Wooden

Thank you, Jenny!

Before the show, I wasn't dressed for the show yet because I didn't want to spill coffee on my shirt! Lol. For reference, I am 5'5"

I had a great time at QVC this past weekend and want to thank everyone who tuned in to watch! I have never seen a more organized television station in all of my life, those folks have it down to an exact science! Everyone is so nice, too, you could not ask for a friendlier group of people. I gave David multiple hugs for you all, just as I promised I would!

Did I mention this is gonna make one loaf of bread? Oh I didn’t? Well this is gonna make one loaf of bread

If you can talk you can sing.

If you can walk you can dance.

Submitted by Megan Hache. Submit your quote or read others by clicking here.

So you have a book signing and you want to make something because you know your mother is going to be there and she can go down the line and hand it out for you, but you’ve been sick and are really not up to a grand production in the kitchen – what do you do?

Or how about Christmas is coming up like a speeding freight train and you really want to make just – one – more – thing but don’t have a lot of time? Well let me tell ya, this candy is DELICIOUS. So I don’t care what time of year it is, how busy you are, or whether or not you really need one more thing, I do really hope you’ll make it today because you are going to love me when you do!

Special thanks to our friend Susie Braun of Pecan Pie Muffin Fame, who gave this recipe to Mama at their stitch group meeting the other night!

You’ll need: A bag of pretzels (get the square kind like these), a bag of rolos, and some pecan halves.

I thought I’d need two bags of each but here is how it turned out: The pretzels will be enough for a gazillion of these puppies and you’ll likely have plenty of pecan pieces too. What you’ll need two of (if you want to make more) is the Rolos, you run out of them before you run out of anything else.

Place a rolo on top of a pretzel and fill up a cookie sheet with these.

Notice how I had my pretzels laid out all orderly like and then it just all kinda goes into disarray. I generally start out things like that, its the good intentions that make me orderly at times, but it is not a natural state for me to be in. Ain’t life fun like that, though? Kinda crazy, kinda fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, and all about being who I am and enjoying it rather than trying to be something that I’m not.

Okay, so now you’re going to put these in the oven at 350 for two minutes.

Get that? Only two or you’ll have a mess on your hands.

As soon as they come out, press a pecan piece into the top of each of them.

~sighs~ Aren’t pecans expensive? Pains me to use ‘em.

Let these cool until hardened completely, which will take ten forevers.

So make them early in the day if you want to serve them or let them set up in your fridge for a while. If you live in a place that is really cold (which is always hit or miss here in Alabama) you can just set this cookie sheet outside for a few minutes.

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Homemade Turtles, Book Signing, and a Challenge for you!

Ingredients

• 1 package Rolos
• 1 bag square pretzels (the waffle weave ones, such as Snyders)
• Pecan Halves

Instructions

1. On an ungreased cookie sheet, place an unwrapped Rolo atop a pretzel. Repeat until you run out of Rolos or room on your cookie sheet. Place in a 350 degree oven for two minutes. Remove and press a pecan half into the top of each one. Let cool until hardened again.

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Photos from last night’s book signing

I’ve really enjoyed getting to meet you all on the book tour. To see a list of where all I’ve been, click here. Last night’s book signing was extra special to me, though, because we got to raise money for Manna House, a local organization that helps feed folks in need. Here are some photos and more details at the bottom. Be sure to read my challenge for a chance to win one of five $20 Wal Mart Gift Cards!

I gave the kids who came little Christmas straws, and then showed them how to use them as whistles ~giggle~

I heard the line was really long but I never got to see the end of it from where I was. The event was scheduled from 3-5 and I left around 6:30 so we had a really good turnout. They had a craft table set up for the kids. If you look directly over my head, that is Katy Rose working on making a Christmas tree .

This is much later on, look where Katy Rose still is? lol

Here are some other kids at the craft table. I love to see kids at Southern Plate events!

These are my new friends Allie and Jake. They did such a great job with their Christmas trees!

We also had a cupcake decorating table. It was $3.00 each to decorate a cupcake and all of those proceeds went to Manna House (thank you Barnes and Noble!).

This is my new friend Lillian and her gorgeous cupcake!

THIS is little CJ! I met him back when I had the Southern Plate Scavenger Hunt on the day my book debuted, but he was in his Mama’s tummy then. What a THRILL to get to see this precious little boy now! (gotta love his name, too!)

So I just snatched little CJ up and went right back to signing. But Mama came in so she could get some time with him, too! Mama stole my sweet little CJ!

Katy Rose loved him. She said “Mama, wasn’t that little bitty baby so cute?”

Katy Rose put a baby brother or sister in on her Christmas wish list this year. While that isn’t happening on this end, if y’all happen to have one already born I will gladly accept baby donations:) (don’t you think I’m kidding here!).

My family got to sign a few books as well. This is Katy Rose signing a book. She thought that was neat.

This is Miss Holly, she was Katy Rose’s first dance teacher, back when Katy said she was “a ballerino!”

This is Jason. He was the senior editor of our high school literary magazine and I was the junior editor. That was a verrrrry long time ago but Jason keeps telling everyone we graduated ten years ago, which is yet another reason why I’m gonna keep him around! He was kind enough to take all of these photos for the event for me. I’m tellin’ ya, it just doesn’t pay to be in my inner circle of friends these days, because eventually I’ll put ya to work!

This is Buck and Valerie. I know them from the bygone days of being a teller at the credit union for the city of Huntsville’s employees and yet, knowing me, they STILL stood in line to see me! hehehe

And this is my whole family. Daddy (Bill Davis, retired from the Huntsville Police Dept), Janice Davis (Mama, retired to pursue a career as Grandmama), Me (I’m smiling because some folks in this world actually take me seriously these days), Ricky Jordan (the guy lucky enough to have married me a little over twelve years ago ~snort~), Katy Rose (who currently has a sign on her bedroom door that reads “Welcome to Princess Fairy Wonderland”), and Brady (who has a sign on his door that reads “Welcome to Abbey Road Recording Studio).

Yup, that’s us.

To view all of my photos from the book signing, click here.

This is Fran from Manna House in Huntsville and I am so very grateful to her for giving me the opportunity to do something extra special with this book signing. A percentage of all books sold tonight went to Manna House as well as money from the gift wrapping table and cupcake decorating table. We also had folks bring in canned goods as well to help support Manna House.

Manna House gives food to families in need in our area and so many people rely in it.

It was such a privilege for me to be able to help with this, even though I know it was just in a small way. Thank you to Barnes and Noble for hosting this great event and orchestrating all of the wonderful activities along with it. Between Barnes and Noble and Manna House I hope we helped make a few more Christmases special.

We were also fortunate to be able to repeat something we did last year. We chose a local nursing home and bought bottles of body wash for each resident – the nursing home staff said that was the one thing everyone could have and they were always in need of. We’re going to wrap each of the 78 bottles individually because I know that for some of them it will be the only gift they get to unwrap this year, and deliver them on Christmas Eve to let the staff pass out. I don’t personally know anyone at the nursing home but I have seen how loving the staff is towards them and I know it will mean a lot to them to get to give their patients gifts. Thanks to everyone who bought a Southern Plate Gratitude Basket this year for helping us be able to do this.

And now I challenge you.

~grins~ I challenge you to do something this year to help others. If you already do, then I challenge you to post what it is you do or have done in the comments below to help inspire others. It doesn’t have to cost money, it doesn’t even have to take a lot of time, it just needs to come from your heart. I know times are tough for a lot of us right now but you know my Mama always said that when times were tight, it was more important than ever to find a way to help someone else out and I have seen the wisdom in her words more times than I can count.

If you are looking for a way to help, with just a few dollars, please click here to read about Santa’s for Seniors.

So tell me, how do you help others at Christmas time?

I want to thank you for inspiring me every day and I look forward so much to these comments. I get to see first hand what good hearted people you are every day by your comments here and on facebook and I know that we will all be touched and moved to more acts of kindness by getting to read yours.

Merry Christmas.

Gratefully,

Christy

I am only one, but still I am one.

I cannot do everything but still I can do something;

and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do

something I can do.

~Edward Hale

This is a post I have dreamed of doing but never had time to get to until today. Join me as I live my dream today!

~Queue angelic choir~

A CHEESECAKE BAR!

Just look at that photo. If you are a cheesecake lover, I bet one of those pieces is just screaming out for you to reach into the computer and pick it up. We had one of these back in the day when I was living in the ladies dorm at the University of North Alabama.

I've got a lot to say today so I'm going to throw random photos of cheese cake into this post just to keep it lively..

About once a month the cafeteria in my dorm would host a special night where they had steak and other “fancy food”. I usually skipped the night in lieu of studying because as an “older” student I didn’t really feel like I fit in with the rest of the crowd so I mostly stayed in my room and kept my nose in the books. When they boasted a cheesecake bar, though, I was unable to resist. They used store bought cheesecakes but today I’m going to show you how to make your own low-maintenance baked cheesecake at home. Yes, I just said low maintenance baked cheesecake and we’re even doing it all from scratch!

As a Home Economics Degreed person with a minor in foods and nutrition, I feel compelled to remind you that cheesecake is a dairy

 See, where cheesecake throws the most people is you think you have to have a special springform pan for it because just about every cheesecake recipe known to man calls for one. I just refuse to allow my cheesecake to be that high maintenance. I think the main reason a lot of our food gets “uppity” is just because we let it. So today, lets we’re just gonna make us a good old home-grown country cheesecake and if you treat it like it’s a good old country dessert, it’ll act like it’s a good old country dessert!

Dairy=Calcium=Strong bones! This is practially a health food!

I think a lot of hoity toity desserts grow tired of their hoity toity lives from time to time. They get used to being served on fancy plates in uppity restaurants day in and day out and what they really wanna do is just kick their shoes off, feel some worn carpet between their little toes, and hang out with the people.

I don’t know about you, but right about now I feel like I’m doing a real public service to cheesecake by making it in my old 9×13 pan.

And I also think its cool that I just managed to somehow give toes to fancy desserts. Hey, as long as I manage to amuse myself we’re good .

The filling itself is pretty simple. Cream Cheese, eggs, little bit of lemon juice, vanilla, and some sugar.

There, pretty straight forward, huh?

Nothing intimidating here, folks!

The crust is even easier: Graham cracker crumbs, butter (or margarine), and sugar.

To make the crust, melt your butter in a bowl and add your sugar.

Then dump in your crumbs.

Stir that up until it’s pretty well blended.

You can add a little more melted butter if you like but don’t worry if it’s still a little crumbly, it’ll be just fine.

Now press that into the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan.

Bake at 350 for about ten minutes, or until lightly golden.

Okay, now put our cheese in a mixing bowl.

It’s important that you soften your cream cheese and butter at room temperature for a while. This is the one thing I really do reccomend at least trying to do. I am the world’s worst at forgetting to get it out and then trying to creatively soften it myself at the last minute. I do a little microwave sometimes, place it on a warm stove top, place it in a gently warmed oven, etc.

Even though I do that when I have to, the absolute best thing to make your life easier is to just put it out on the counter top and let it soften a few hours.

It’s just that this requires advance planning though and therein lies my problem.

I’m not so good at the advance planning part. I’m more of a “Hey, what do I want to make RIGHT NOW and have ready to eat in half an hour?”

~shrugs~ It works for me though because I decided a long time ago to take my persistent character flaws (disorganization, spontaneous burst of excitement, overuse of cosmetics, chattiness, etc) and declare them to be… (wait for it…wait for it…)

Part of my charm.

~winks and grins~

(Oh and that is key. Whenever you declare anything to be part of your natural charm you simply must wink and grin afterwards to prove that you do, after all, have charm. It also helps if you type things in pink from time to time.)

So now that I’ve taught you how to excuse away those nagging character flaws, lets get back to cheesecake.

Add in your sugar and mix that up til it gives in to your will and…

Becomes all creamy. Now add in your eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice.

Now if you are new to Southern Plate, you need to know that I am a huge advocate of using the cheapest ingredients you can find so just head on out and buy that .98 bottle of imitation vanilla and we won’t ever tell. I know a lot of you are diehard-make-your-own-only-pure-vanilla-will-work-for-me type folks and that is perfectly alright to.

You see the cool thing about the Southern Plate family is that we come from all kinds, with all sorts of opinions and ideas about what is ideal in our kitchens, but be us cheap or extravagant, steadfast or go with the flow, we’re all family and we love each other anyway.

~sighs happily~

I just love you!

I’m using a Mexican vanilla because it’s pretty cheap and you can find it on the aisle with all of the yummy Mexican ingredients. Interesting fact here, did you know that sweetened condensed milk in the Mexican section of my grocery store is over a DOLLAR cheaper than sweetened condensed milk on the baking aisle? It has the identical ingredients, same stuff on the nutrition label, and is made by Nestle, but the label is in Spanish and the sweetened condensed milk on the baking aisle is generally put out by Eagle Brand or some such, but is a DOLLAR more! You know what this tells you?

Spanish speaking folks are smarter than us – and a dollar richer every time they buy sweetened condensed milk

You can’t take anything for granted shopping. I price check just about everything each time I shop for groceries.

Oh okay! I’ll get back to the cheesecake again…

Beat that until its all smooth and creamy, or until you get tired of fooling with it – whichever comes first.

Give you one guess which came first for me

Smear that into your pan, spreading it over your crust.

Like so

Place this in a 300 degree oven and bake for 55 minutes, or until set in the center.

Now here is another part about making a cheesecake that folks have little frantic fits over: how to prevent cracking.

There are all sorts of things you can do to avoid the center of your cheesecake cracking. You can place a dish of water beneath it in the oven. You can hit the pan gently a few times on the counter to get out any air bubbles that might have gotten trapped while you were mixing it. You can also make sure your cream cheese is really softened because if there were lumps in it (you know, those little bumpy things you see in my picture right above here) they may cause a crack to form as well.

Or you can just do like I do and cook it and not worry about it because in the grand scheme of things, how important is it? I mean, if someone hands me a piece of homemade cheesecake, the last thing on my mind is taking time to pause and critique it. I bet your family is the same. Seriously, I’m starting to think there has been a vast conspiracy among some people to make the rest of us think cheesecake is high maintenance just so they can keep it to themselves. To them I say “Pfft!”

Alright, now lets talk toppings while that cheesecake is baking.

Here are some topping ideas I came up with but the possibilities are limitless.

Toppings ideas:

• Any type of canned pie filling (blueberry, strawberry, cherry, etc)
• Canned mandarin oranges (drain the juice)
• Caramel topping
• Super easy praline sauce*
• chocolate syrup
• chocolate chips
• Whipped cream

Did you catch that *super easy praline sauce up there? Want the recipe? Here it is and it is sooooooooo very complicated..

place pecans in a jar, fill about halfway.

Pour in some store bought caramel topping, whatever is cheapest

and There ya go!

Pecan Praline Sauce.

Don’t tell anyone how easy that was and we’ll just keep it between us.

Now for the cheesecake photos!

This is our pecan praline sauce

Cherry Pie Filling

Blueberry Pie Filling

Mandarin oranges

They are just canned ones that I drained but really pretty and delicious on top of cheesecake

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Cheesecake Bar

Ingredients

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 4-8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup for crust
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 eggs

Instructions

1. Combine melted butter, crumbs, and 1/4 cup sugar. Stir until well combined and crumbly. Press into bottom of a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for ten minutes, or until very lightly browned.
2. In mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla. Mix until well combined and creamy - or until you get tired of fooling with it. A few lumps won't kill anyone. :)
3. Pour over crust and bake at 300 for 55 minutes or until set in the center. *Notice I lowered the temperature from when I baked the crust - that's one of those important steps :).
4. Cool and then refrigerate several hours before serving. Cut into twelve squares.
5. Serve alongside your toppings bar for a dessert everyone is sure to love!

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Louise submitted a great quote that seems just like something my mother would say

and is definitely something my Mama has always taught me to live by.

It is easier to leave angry words unspoken

than to mend a heart those words have broken.

Thank you Louise! Submit your quote by clicking here and visiting our Give A Penny Page

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2010/11/cheesecake-bar-make-everyone-happy.html/feed 146 http://www.southernplate.com/2010/06/ashley-macs-coconut-caramel-pie.html http://www.southernplate.com/2010/06/ashley-macs-coconut-caramel-pie.html#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 19:22:01 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=9263 Pin it

Summer time is here and with it comes some of my favorite cold desserts! Today I’m bringing you a brand spanking new freezer pie that I know you’re gonna love. Seriously, you are going to LOVE this pie!

A while back I posted a sneak peek for my book and featured the cover, which was shot on location in Birmingham in the home of the extremely kind and generous Mrs. Sandy Deaton. Thanks again, Mrs. Deaton, for letting us use your porch and for entertaining the kids! Well as it turns out, Mrs. Deaton is no stranger to feeding folks herself and her daughter, Ashley Deaton McMakin owns an award winning catering company in Birmingham, Alabama.  Ashley Mac’s began as a hobby venture and has expanded to serve both private and corporate functions in addition to their walk in storefront!

That is Miss Ashley pictured with her beautiful baby. Can’t you just look at that photo and tell what a sweet and gracious person she is? She was kind enough to share one of their popular recipes, Ashley Mac’s Coconut Caramel Pie, with all of us today.  You’ll be surprised at how easy this is to throw together. The great thing is that this is a pie served frozen that makes two, so eat one now and save the other to pop out of the freezer and impress your guests the next time they happen by! Don’t ya just love it when life gets easy?

You’ll need: butter, coconut, chopped pecans, cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, whipped topping, and caramel topping.

So if you are just now catching onto the fact that this isn’t a health food, welcome to the room and pull up a fork.

The rest of us got excited right around the mention of “sweetened condensed milk”.

Just for kicks, I got “lite” whipped topping though, mainly just because that is how my sense of humor works.

~snickers~

You’re also going two need to deep dish pie shells, already baked.

You can make your own if you like but I went the easy way out for this one.

Melt your butter in a skillet.

You know what, I think I’m gonna switch horses and use sweetened shredded coconut in this.

Add in your coconut and pecans

Stir that up and cook over medium low heat until the coconut is all nice and toasty

like so.

Now set that aside to cool a bit.

Place your room temperature cream cheese in a bowl along with your sweetened condensed milk.

Don’t forget to use a spoon to help get the sweetened condensed milk out of the can …

don’t forget to lick said spoon…

Mix that up with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy

Dump in your whipped topping..

and mix again.

Okay so the instructions said to “fold” in but the minute whipped topping hops into my buggy at the grocery store is the same minute it should just resign itself to a fate of being dumped.

So I dumped and then used my electric mixer again to get it all smooth and well blended.

Place 1/4 of your cream cheese mixture into each pie shell

Ashley’s directions say to drizzle caramel over the top.

Now you can look at that photograph of Ashley at the top of this post and just see how graceful she is. I imagine drizzling comes second nature to her.

When it comes to me, though, I sometimes have all the grace of a mad bull in a china shop. My drizzling just turns right into globbing.

Glob or drizzle, just put some caramel over the top however works best for you – about 1/4 of the jar for each pie because we’re going to repeat these layers.

Top each with 1/4 of the coconut pecan mixture.

then repeat layers

Cream cheese mixture…

Caramel…

and coconut pecan mixture.

Now your pies are done and ready to freeze before serving!

Place in freezer (you don’t have to cover them right now, you can do that after they are frozen) and freeze until solid.

Call your honey and let him or her know not to be late for dinner!

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Ashley Mac’s Coconut Caramel Pie

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (8 ounce) package flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecan halves
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 16 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 2 deep dish (9-inch) pie shells, baked
• 1 (12 ounce) jar caramel topping

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add coconut and pecans. Cook until brown and set aside.
2. Combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk in a mixing bowl. Beat with mixer until smooth.
3. Fold in whipped topping.
4. Layer 1/4 cream cheese mixture in each pie shell.
5. Drizzle 1/4 jar of caramel topping on top of cream cheese mixture in each pies.
6. Sprinkle half coconut mixture on top.
7. Repeat the layer, beginning with the cream-cheese mixture.
8. Freeze. Serve frozen.
9. yields: 2 pies

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Follow the person wise enough to slow down,

committed enough to press forward,

and humble enough to backtrack.

Submitted by Sue Yowell (thank you, Sue!). Submit your positive, humorous, or uplifting quote by clicking here.

 

Life should be lived with a fun spirit and a grateful heart at every turn. With that in mind, I am proud to bring you a guest post which my dear friend, Terri, sent to me back in November! Things get crazed around here and I was unable to get it up by Christmas but hey, where else can you get Christmas spirit in the spring but at Southern Plate! I’m heading out today so please join me in thanking Terri for providing us with this scrumptious recipe and tutorial! If you’d like updates on my trip, just visit my Twitter page or subscribe to my emails! Have a GREAT weekend! Gratefully, Christy

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!!  When Christy asked me to be a guest blogger for SP, back when I had sent her my “Dixie Cornbread” recipe plus this one, I was tickled pink.    Ain’t Christy just the “bee’s knee’s?!?!?   I think she just rocks the house by giving all her time and effort FREE to anyone who just goes to their computer!  Thank you Christy for all you do!  Now, this recipe has been around a long time and it is similar to her mama’s on SP but one BIG difference…….CHOCOLATE!!

Now for you folks who aren’t “Pie People” here’s the cure.  My sweet mother-in-law, Marie in Georgia (I know she could win ANY cooking throw down) gifted me with many 3 X 5 recipe cards of my groom-David’s, favorite dishes at my bridal shower.  I have hardly strayed from all those winners, plus my honey has been a happy man….all these years.  Now I will share my best with you today.

psssst…at our house we call it Choc. BOTTOM pecan pie cuz we think it sounds more enticing.  weeeee.
Okay, so CHOCOLATE Pecan Pie!!  Just WAIT till your mouth gets a’hold of THIS……men swarm all around me like I am a movie star whenever I show up to an event carrying a pie.  “Is THAT your chocolate pecan pie?” they always ask.  I smile and sweetly drawl, “Whhhy, yes, it sure IS.” It is always sooo heart-warming for me to watch people get excited at the right answer.  Now, you folks who always say to me that you don’t know “how” to make a pie, this is EASY BREEZY!  Quick, simple and travels well, this rich, chocolate, nutty/buttery pie always takes me to the corner of “Whew” and “Thank Goodness”  when I need to take food somewhere.  So just follow the bouncing ball people….. those who are intimidated by pie-making… and sing along so you can get to cookin’ too.

You’ll need: Deep dish pie crust, chocolate chips, eggs, sugar, salt, butter, corn syrup, and pecans

Step 1 Preheat  your oven to 375 degrees.

Dump into one bowl (I KNOW….ONE bowl, how easy!) all of the eggs, sugar, salt, melted butter and corn syrup.

Step 2 Use a hand mixer on low to mix together till kinda frothy (I just looove that word).

No need to mix any more than a minute.

Step 3 Put Chocolate Chips into the bottom of the pie shell…..oh, I know, this IS SO gonna be good!Side note ya’ll….Now IF you wanna make 2 thinner pies, I use two shallow pie shells and place 1/2 cup EACH of choc. chips in the bottom. When it comes time to pour in the mixture, I just divide the amount into half and bake just at the 45 minutes ‘cuz they are thinner.  Also works nicely when you are short on time.  That way I get one and I have one to take.  Also you could add a few extra pecans to the mix if you are making two-sies so there’s plenty of nuts in every heavenly bite.  ;-}

Step 4 Add pecan halves or pecan pieces…..I like the pieces as it seems to be easier to cut the pie to serve.  I’m jes sayin’……

Step 5 Pour into pie shell (or into the 2 shells IF you are doing the two-sie thing from step 3).

Step 6 Evenly distribute the mixture over the choc. chips.

Step 7 Place carefully and slowly -no sloshing- onto a PRE-heated oven on the Lower rack.  Why on the lower rack of the oven?……the liquid nature of the mix bakes from the bottom more thoroughly/evenly and then the top doesn’t burn.  Place a larger-than-the-pie piece of foil on the very bottom of the oven…….ya’ll can thank me later when you don’t have any burned spillage-in-the village to clean up.

Step 8 Here is where most folks who say that they don’t make pies well can get into a better cookin’ game.  Now I live on a mountain at a high altitude and it took me months of being confused about why I seemed to have lost my ever-lovin’ mind and nothing baked right!

Oven temps can vary (buy an oven thermometer and check it often) and even weather and altitude can make a difference. High altitude is longer and slightly lesser temp for baking.

Sooooo, try this.  DON’T take out your pies that have a liquid mix like this one, never outta the oven UNTIL you have given the rack a “slight shake” with your oven-gloved hand……..IF you see a wiggle, jiggle move, or groove of the center of the pie, (very much like my big booty shakes after years of eating this pie!) IT NEEDS ABOUT ANOTHER FIVE MINUTES TO BAKE.

Repeat over and over till the pie won’t wiggle anymore.  That is what they call “set”.  I start this pie out at a 45 minute time and check till it goes about an hour for the deep-dish and about 45 minutes for the two-sie pies.    Cool down for a few minutes before cutting.  Do you have difficulty getting it out of an aluminum pie pan? Jes’ SNIP the edge of that puppy with some scissors and peel back the edges so you can “get to” the pie crust more cleanly without breaking the crust edge.  :)

PRESTO!

A pie to bring joy and happiness to all mankind. YIPPEE!

Fun Trivia:  Why is it called a “pie”?  Well, I saw on a cooking show that the birds called Magpies build nests from a wide variety of things.  The “pie” is half of the word magpie and is considered to be the culinary equivalent to the nest because of the many types of berries, fruits etc originally put into early versions in early B.C. times.

Cool beans!  So now you have made a pie that even teenagers have eaten at my house plus a few people that have  sworn that they didn’t even like nuts.  Hmmmmm, good luck now.  

Terri (Go Dawgs!)

Yesterday was Terri’s Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERRI!

“To laugh often, to win the affection of children, …to find the best in others…, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!” Attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson (From Southern Plate Reader, Jay. To submit your quote click here!)

These pecan pie muffins have been a huge hit on Southern Plate. I’ve had so many readers email me singing their praises that I thought they’d make the ideal gift mix for the holidays! For this packaging, I went for a more “retail” type look and had a good bit of fun making the tags! On the backside your recipient will find instructions on how to use the mix to make their own delicious pecan pie muffins!

If you’d like to see the original tutorial and recipe on how to make the muffins themselves, please visit this link.

You’ll need: Plain flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans.

Place all three ingredients in a bowl.

Stir it up until well mixed.

For this tutorial, I chose to place mine in quart sized freezer bags. You can package it like I am doing or use one of the packaging ideas from my other mix tutorials (I have links to them at the bottom of this post for your convenience), or come up with your own of course!

Look at this photo if you wanted one more reason why NOT to buy name brand. The Ziploc brand bag won’t work for this packaging idea because they have way too much writing on their bag for us to be able to hide it. The bag on the left is the cheapest, a store brand. Its going to work just fine.

Print off your handy dandy bag headers which can be found here.

(Don’t worry, part of the tag is supposed to be upside down..)

Trim those up and separate the sheet into two pieces.

Fold over the top of your bag and tape that down.

Once you have your two headers cut apart, crease them and fold them, then place them face down and put insert the top of your bag into the fold. What I did was let the front of my tag hang down longer than the back. The back has all of the instructions on how to use the mix. Isn’t that handy?

I was going to staple my header onto the bag but I couldn’t find my stapler. So instead I just taped the top of the bag on the inside of the header and then used tape to secure it on the outside as well. You can use either method, I kinda like it better with the tape now that I see it that way.

See, here is where I folded the back down and taped it to the bag…

Then I turned it over and put a little tape at the bottom on the front, too. All ready for gift giving!

See my other great Holiday Gift Ideas!

ALL mixes include printable tags with instructions!

Save Money AND Give Better Gifts!

Thank you for taking the time to read Southern Plate! If you enjoy it, please tell a friend!

Have a wonderful evening!!!

Gratefully,

Christy

As kids, one of our favorite Sunday desserts was pecan pie. It seemed like Mama made one almost every Sunday, too. That was the day when we always had even more dinner guests than usual.

You see, people tended to gravitate towards our house at meal time (Mama has always made amazing meals) and my parents had a policy of never turning anyone away at suppertime. Over the years, we ended up “adopting” various bachelor uncles here and there who would show up every Sunday, many of them every weeknight as well. My brother had two friends, brothers, who were invited for dinner one night and literally ate every single night after that (unless they had dates) for the next three years. Mama said she never minded, she always hoped that someone would do the same for one of her kids.

Pecan pie was one of our all time favorites but it was often a hit or miss recipe. Sometimes it turned out perfect but most of the time we had pecan “soup”, which we still loved. Mama laughed along with us as we called it that and she would joke about it as she dished it out into bowls instead of saucers. A friend gave her this recipe when I was a young teen, though, and she announced that Sunday that we were not going to have pecan soup anymore, but pecan pie. Ever since then, its been perfect every single time. Although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss those good old days of Mama dishing pie out into a bowl…

When I was a little girl, we didn’t have CD’s or even cassette tapes. This will come as no surprise to all of you but my nine year old simply can’t comprehend it.

I imagine he envisions us sitting on the front porch with a washboard and set of spoons as our only means of music. But my sister and I shared a record player in our room and Mama kept us well supplied with Disney albums (I still break into Disco Duck from time to time). Around the time I was six years old or so, I saved up my money and broke out of Disney to purchase my first two records. The first record I ever bought was “Mountain Music” by the group Alabama.

We have always been HUGE Alabama fans. As a girl, we had Alabama t shirts, Alabama records, and each one of us had a photograph of the band autographed by every single member thanks to my dad working security at one of their concerts (he was a Huntsville police officer at the time). Beyond the appeal of truly unique music, they were good old boys who still managed to remain “one of us” despite fame. Everyone has always loved them.

Jeff Cook served as vocals, lead guitar, and fiddle for that group. You know that roaring fiddle which widens eyes on Mountain Music ? Yup, that’s him.

Yesterday, I was explaining all of this to my son, whom I just mentioned had a violin recital last week. I pulled up this video on Youtube to show him the band performing Mountain Music. As the song neared the big fiddle part, I told Brady “Watch this…”. His eyes got “Big as dollars” as my grandmother would say and he just stared, open mouthed at the screen. When Jeff finished the big fiddle part Brady said “WHOA, can YOU play it like that?”

God love that boy, he places WAY too much stock on those two years of violin lessons I had over two decades ago! But, I can still play “Mary Had A Little Lamb” on just about any toy piano!
~puffs up with pride~

He and his wife, Lisa, sat down with Mama and, as most Southerners do, they got to talking about food. He went over this muffin recipe with her, saying that it was what he made for all of his neighbors at Christmastime each year and that everyone raved about them, but no one could ever place the secret ingredient! As he gave her the recipe, Mama texted it to me on my phone with the message “Call me”. I called her right away and sent my husband out for that secret ingredient that very night so I could make these the next day!

This recipe comes from a person who received a praise which carries much more weight than the Grammy’s or other awards.

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Thank y’all for reading Southern Plate!!!
Christy