Strawberry Pie

This is one of my mom’s recipes.  I love these pies - they are SO good and remind me of summer.  Enjoy!

1 c sugar
1 c water
4 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 stick butter
1 t vanilla
1 c strawberries

Cook sugar, water, and corn starch over medium-high heat until it turns into a clear gel. 

Remove from heat, add 1/2 stick butter, stir until butter is melted, then let cool completely. 

Add 1 heaping cup of sliced or diced strawberries and 1 teaspoon vanilla - mix well.  Pour into baked pie shell and chill for a few hours.  Top with whipped cream if desired!

My notes -- make sure not to cook the sugar/water/cornstarch mixture over too high heat, and stir it while cooking.  It doesn’t take long to turn into the gel consistency. 

This is something you will want to make every summer!

Cheesecake Supreme

This cheesecake is SO good - and easy too!  Seriously. Try it. It’s delish!

First, you must have a graham cracker crust.  I always make my own graham cracker crust, because I think it’s super easy and much better than the premade ones.  But -- whatever floats your boat.

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup of butter (about 3/4 of a stick)

 

Melt the butter, then mix together with graham cracker crumbs and sugar. 

Press into the bottom of a spring form pan. (For this cheesecake, use a 10” pan if possible.)

Now for the good part…

Cheesecake Supreme

5 (8 oz) packages of softened cream cheese
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1/8 cup flour
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, eggs, and egg yolks.  Mix until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients; blend until smooth.  Pour into spring form pan.

Put into oven, then turn oven to 200 degrees.  (Do not preheat!)  Cook for 3 hours.  Let cool in oven for 1 hour with oven door cracked open.  Chill overnight.

 

Top with whatever you prefer! (I like mine plain.)

Note -- I got this recipe off allrecipes.com, but I used different cooking instructions than the ones listed because cooking it this way promised NO CRACKS in my cheesecake.  But, as you can see from the picture - big crack.  I am going to try to do it over a water bath next time I cook it, and we’ll see if I’m able to get it a perfect, crackless cheesecake.  Also, I used a 9 inch spring form pan and I should have used a 10 inch - my cheesecake rose up while it was in the oven and that is why I have that funny-looking little lip around the top of it.  Next time, I’ll use my 10 inch pan.

Grilled Chicken Marinade

3 T oil (I use a mix of canola & EVOO)
1T + 1.5t soy sauce
1T red wine vinegar
garlic (I usually zest 2-3 cloves)
salt & pepper

This marinade is for 2 -3 servings; that's why the measurements are kind of weird.  I like to measure things most of the time, but I'm getting better about "eyeballing" it.  =)

Just combine all the ingredients and soak your chicken breast in it for a few hours - (and obviously, grill) yummo! 
Also - the original recipe calls for 1 T worcestershire sauce & 3/4 t dry mustard, but we didn't have either of those on hand, so I omitted them and added the garlic myself because we love garlic and always have it on hand!