SOUR CREAM KEY LIME PIE
This is yummy and it only has one hundred million calories per bite!  Yes, Virginia, key lime pie is yellow, not green inside.

Bake a 9" pie shell and let it cool.

FILLING:
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon grated key lime rind (or regular limes if you can't get the little key limes)
1/3 cup key lime juice
1 cup light cream (half and half)
1 cup sour cream

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients except the sour cream. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly.  Cook until thickened and smooth.   Remove from heat and cool.  Fold in sour cream and pour mixture into shell.

TOPPING:
1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)
1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
1 cup sour cream

Whip the heavy cream and fold in the sugar.  Fold in sour cream.  Spoon and smooth over the filling.  Sprinkle pie with grated lime rind.

CHOCOLATE CREAM PUFFS AND ECLAIRS
In my life, cream puff and eclair shells have served many functions, and rarely has that function been as a desert.  They have served as small tuna or chicken salad sandwiches, they have been filled with a variety of creamed meat & vegetable fillings and built into "Christmas trees" for either canapés or appetizers, and they have become swans.  Chou paste makes the shells and is a lot easier to make and work with than you might imagine.  Give it a try!

INGREDIENTS FOR CHOU PASTE:
1 cup hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons butter
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 scant cup whole eggs (about 4 very large or 5 medium eggs)

Place butter, salt and water into a 2 quart saucepan and bring to a quick boil.  As soon as it come to a boil, add the sifted flour all at once, lower heat, and with a wooden spoon stir vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes, until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and is very smooth.  Remove from stove, transfer to a medium sized bowl, let it cool for several minutes, then add eggs, one at a time, beating each one with an electric mixer until smooth.  After all the eggs have been added, beat entire mixture for 3 minutes.  If paste feels warm, cover and chill it for a few minutes until entirely cool. 

SHAPING PUFFS:
Place spoonfuls of paste in desired size rounds on lightly greased baking sheet, heaping them higher in the center, leaving about 2 inches between them.  For more uniform results, it is better to use a pastry bag with a large No.9 plain tin cookie tube to form the various size puffs.  For eclairs, use the same tip, but pipe 6" long tubes.   This recipe makes about 35 small puffs, 18 medium puffs, 12 large puffs, or 12 large eclairs.

BAKE THE PUFFS:

When puffs are done, they may be left in the oven, with heat shut off and door partially open, to help them dry out further.  If they are not crisp when removed from oven they may be baked for a few more minutes at 325 degrees.   Puffs and eclairs may be baked several day in advance and stored in covered container.  Then if they are soft, reheat them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, let cool, and fill.

I will add fillings to this page and others in the weeks ahead, but you can used packaged pudding or any sort of custard or ice cream for a desert filling, chicken/tuna/egg salad, or whatever strikes your fancy for appetizers, and any creamed thick dish as a filling for main courses.  Traditionally, a thin, hardening icing covers the top of the desert type in the flavor of your choice or you can use the hardening type store-bought sauce for ice cream.  Piped cream cheese, softened is a good glue for the sandwich type when building, or hot caramel for the desert types. 

CONGO BARS
This is a simple one, with lots of variations, popular locally for PTA sales, and bringing to work etc.

INGREDIENTS:

1 box dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
6-12 ounces Chocolate chips (you decide but 6 oz. minimum)

PROCEDURE:
Mix everything together well and bake in 350 degree oven in 11" x 14" cookie pan for 25-30 minutes.

  DEATH BY CHOCOLATE
This recipe came from Bonnie Kyle who used to work for Denny and it is VERY bad and you should never ever ever eat any.  It will leave more for me. :)

INGREDIENTS

1 (family size) box Brownie Mix cooked in a 9"x13" pan and cooled, then poked all over with a fork
1 Large Cool Whip
1/4 cup sweet coffee (can substitute cappuccino or even instant capuchin), poured over the brownies
3 boxes Jell-O (or home made) Chocolate Mousse (already made)
5 Heath Bars or Heath Sensations

NINE SHORT STEPS TO YOUR DOOM:

Layer in the following order in a glass trifle dish (which looks like a soufflé dish but it is glass) or a 6" deep bowl"

1.  Bottom Layer: 1/2 of brownies chunked in big crumbles
2.  1/2 of the mousse
3.  3 crushed up Heath bars
4.  1/2 of large cool whip
5.  the rest of the brownies chunked up
6.  the rest of the mousse
7.  the rest of the Heath bars
8.  the rest of the cool whip
9.  For the final decadence, choose one of the following to put on top:

Tiny chocolate chips (easy)     Chocolate Sauce (truly evil)     Chocolate Shavings (fancy)

 

EASY COOL WHIP MIRACLE PIE
A pie discovered by Krista on the back of the cool-whip lid that has served us well as a light dessert that is made up in no time at all, and ahead of the arrival of your guests.

Fold together 1 9ounce Cool Whip (any variety) and 2 8ounce packages of yogurt (your favorite flavor)

Plop that mixture into a 9" graham cracker crust (store bought)

Freeze it 4 hours or more.  Remove from freezer 30 minutes before serving.

Garnish with coordinating fruit that matches the yogurt (either fresh or frozen).  For extra fancy, you can fold some fruit in before freezing (or lemon rind for lemon).

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER PIE FROM SPRING CREEK RESTAURANT

This recipe is from one of our favorite restaurants at home.  We often drive over to Spring Creek to get some good seafood and the best crab cakes around and never seem to have room for their great home made desserts...so we order out to take home and eat later with coffee.  :)

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cups cornstarch
1 teaspoon flour
2/3 cups cocoa (or 3 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate, melted)
1/4 teaspoons salt
2-1/4 cups whole milk
3/4 cups evaporated milk
4 egg yolks, beaten well
1 teaspoon butter
1-1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 9" baked pie shell (cooled)
1 to 1-1/2 cups chunky peanut butter
Whipped Cream (For topping)

PROCEDURE

  In medium saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch, flour, cocoa, salt.   Stir until well blended.

  Blend Milks together.  Pour...a little at a time ... into saucepan mixture until it is a smooth paste.  Add remaining milk, stirring well.

  Add egg yolks and butter.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened.  Remove from heat; add vanilla; set aside to cool.

  Spread peanut butter over the bottom and sides of the cooled pie shell.

  Pour cooled chocolate mixture into pie shell.  Refrigerate 2 hours minimum.

  Top each serving with whipped cream.  Serves 8.