Pauline Armstrong of Cayuga told me that she made pear pie that her family really enjoyed so of course, I asked for her recipe. When she makes it, she brushes the crust with vegetable oil before putting the filling mixture into it. She also brushes the underside of the top crust.
Pauline also shared her recipe for creamy bacon Brussels sprouts. She said that her family really liked it, but she did recommend some adjustments. She said that she found it to be really rich and heavy, and when she makes it again she will use half milk and half cream or perhaps all milk. Pauline also said that she would halve the amount of butter. She said it is one that she really likes and that although she hadn’t made it in a while, she has always gotten good reviews when she made it for guests. Because it makes a large portion she only makes when they have guests.
The creamed onion bake called for sprinkling the cheese over the top, but she adds all of it to the stuffing mix with the water. Pauline said that anyone who likes onions will like this dish. You could make it lower in calories by using low fat mushroom soup and cheese.
Thanks Pauline for sharing these recipes with us.
Pear Pie With Streusel Topping
- Prepared 9-inch pie shell
Streusel Topping –
- 2/3 cup sifted all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1/3 cup butter
Filling –
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ tsp. ginger
- 4 tsp. flour
- 5 ripe Bartlett pears
- 4 tsp. lemon juice
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- Make Streusel topping – In a small bowl combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is like coarse cornmeal. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Filling – Combine sugar, ginger, and flour. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mixture over bottom of pie shell. Peel and core pears. Slice thinly into a bowl. Arrange half pears into the pie shell. Top with 1/3 of the sugar mixture. Arrange remaining pears. Add rest of the sugar mixture. Mix together the corn syrup and lemon juice and drizzle over top.
- Cover with streusel topping. Bake 15 minutes at 450 and then reduce temperature to 350 and bake for 30 minutes more.
Creamy Bacon Brussels Sprouts
- 1 pkg. bacon, diced
- 2 lbs. Brussels sprouts
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 cup cream
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 Tbsp. flour
- 1 ½ cups Italian blended shredded cheese
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Salt
- Pepper
Wash, trim, and slice Brussels sprouts in half. Cook bacon over medium high heat until just beginning to crisp. Use a slotted spoon, remove to a paper towel lined plate. Remove all but 1 Tbsp. of rendered bacon fat. Add butter, let melt. Add Brussels sprouts and brown, tossing often for about 5 to 7 minutes. Add half the bacon, and all the cream, chicken stock, nutmeg, and flour. Stir well, season with salt and pepper. Let it simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. Brussels sprouts should be tender-crisp and sauce slightly thickened. Sprinkle cheese over top and allow to melt. Sprinkle remaining bacon over top and serve immediately.
Creamed Onion Bake
- 4 Tbsp. butter
- 1 ½ cups corn bread stuffing
- 3 Tbsp. warm water
- 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley or 2 tsp. dried
- 3 large onions, cut in half and sliced
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter and mix with the stuffing, parsley, water, and cheese. Heat remaining butter in skillet and add onions. Cook until tender. Stir in soup, milk, and peas. Spoon into a 2 qt. shallow baking dish. Sprinkle the stuffing mixture over soup. Bake uncovered at 350 until hot, about 30 minutes.
HINT: When you remove the insides from your pumpkin while carving it put them in a pan of cold water and the stringy ingredients will separate from the seeds more easily so that you can rinse the seeds well and then roast them.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: (from my niece, Trish Pond) Gratitude turns what we have into enough.
