Cream Pies - Loleen G.

This is your basic pudding pie.  We made banana cream pie and it was fine.  Nothing special, but not horrible.  We did think it wasn't as sweet as some pudding pies.  The pineapple version had me intrigued, but couldn't convince anyone that it was a good idea.

Cream Pies
1/3 C cornstarch
2/3 C sugar
1/2 t salt
2 1/2 C milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 T butter
1 t vanilla

Mix cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.  Gradually add milk and cook on med until very thick and clear, stirring constantly.  "The filling must be thoroughly cooked or it will be starchy."  Slowly add a small amount of hot mixture to egg yolks until heated up, stirring rapidly as you add hot mixture.  Dump yolks back into mixture on stove,  Cook 2 minutes.  Add butter and vanilla.  Spread with meringue or cream,

VARIATIONS:
Banana : slice 2-3 bananas into cream filling
Coconut: add 1 C shredded coconut to filling.  sprinkle 1/2 C coconut over meringue before browning
Fruit: add 1 C pitted, chopped dates or 1/2 C crushed pineapple, drained to cooled filling
Chocolate: Increase sugar to 1 C, add two 1 oz squares of chocolate.

Jumbo Raisin (Craisins) Cookies — Betty H.

For starters, I don't care for raisins, at all!  So I substituted Craisins, which I do love.  The recipe just says to cook for 5 min, without it being clear on what temp or whether it is once it boils or otherwise, so I just cooked the Craisins over high heat for 5 min, basically until they boiled.  Then I moved them to another bowl to cool and put them in the freezer to help them along.  Then I made the rest of the cookies.  When it was time for the Craisins I drained the remaining water and added the frozen nuts, which cooled the Craisins the rest of the way.  Otherwise, I would have had to wait probably another 30 min or so, and I am lazy.  I am assuming that if you were using raisins you may not need to drain any water.  Also, once the Craisins were rehydrated they looked just like chopped cranberries, so I am curious if you used chopped fresh cranberries how that would work.

As for the cookies, the dough was tasty, but a little saltier than I prefer.  Then the cookies got baked and they were hard as a rock.  It may be partly my fault.  I added a little extra flour (2-3 T) since I live at such a high altitude, and drained the water since I was worried the dough would be too runny, so I am sure that contributed.   That said, the flavor as just so-so.  I may try them again just to see, maybe even add almond flavoring.  But they weren't my favorite.

Jumbo Raisin (Craisins) Cookies
1 C Raisins (Craisins)
1/2 C water
1 C sugar
 1/2 C shortening
2 eggs
2 C flour
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t soda
1/8 t allspice
1/8 t nutmeg
1/2 C chopped nuts

Pour water over raisins or Craisins and cook for five minutes.  Cool.  Preheat oven to 400-degrees.  Combine dry ingredients.  Cream sugars, shortening, and eggs.  Add dry ingredients, mix thoroughly.  Add raisins or Craisins, vanilla and nuts.  drop by tablespoons.  Bake 10-15 min.