Blueberry-Raspberry Kuchen...and my first giveaway

I love Pittsburgh for many reasons - Steelers, Penguins, Heinz ketchup, riding one of the inclines to the top of Mount Washington for an amazing view of the city...I could go on forever. Pittsburgh is where I was born, raised, and am raising a child. I am so thankful to be close to my family and have the ability to get together on a semi-regular basis with Maria to cook and bake. 

Kid tested and approved evidenced by DJ's ravenous claw. 

In the process of texting about our upcoming baking date, I said I wanted to make kuchen. I received a quick response - "what the heck is kuchen?" Well...kuchen is a German dessert that comes in many varieties - cake-like, pie-like, or donut-like. The recipe that I chose from my favorite cookbook was blueberry-raspberry. I don't know what I love about this recipe more - the delicious blueberries or the fact that it took five minutes to get everything together and in the oven. 


It has been almost a year of blogging and I have hit my 100th plus post. So I say it's time for, in my best "Oprah's Favorite Things" voice, my first giveaway!
The winners of this giveaway will win: 

A copy of The Heart of Pittsburgh cookbook. This book has a ton of great, simple recipes from a variety of backgrounds and ethnicities. No matter your taste or skill level, you are sure to find tons of recipes you love. Oh - and the recipes were compiled by elementary school students. 

A set of Heinz measuring spoons - because you can never have enough of those things. And they're Heinz. And a huge bottle of ketchup for a giveaway is tempting, but not exactly feasible. 

The Rules
To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment telling me what you are most thankful for. Open to U.S. residents only. One comment per person. Commenting will close at 2pm ET on Wednesday the 16th. Two winners will be selected at random and announced on Friday. Good luck! 


Ingredients

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 egg

For the filling:
1 tablespoon flour
1/3 cup raspberry preserves
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, unthawed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To prepare crust, place flour, sugar and baking powder into a food processor and process 1 second to combine. Add butter and process for 3 to 4 seconds, until crumbly. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Break egg over mixture and pulse until soft dough forms. Dough should be very loose and dry.

Coat a 9 1/2-inch springform pan with non-stick vegetable oil cooking spray. Press dough evenly over bottom and 1 1/2-inches up side of pan. Refrigerate dough while preparing filling.

To prepare filling, mix flour and preserves in a medium bowl; fold in berries. Spread evenly over crust. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Remove from oven; place pan on wire rack; remove sides. Cool 1 hour before serving.

Source: Anna Laufer, The Heart of Pittsburgh


Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by me. I am in no way associated with or have received reimbursement or products from the Heinz Corporation, the publisher of the cookbook, or the school that compiled the recipes. They are products that I enjoy and know others will as well. 

Atkins Friendly Cool Strawberry Creme Pie

Yesterday was our three year anniversary. It is amazing how quickly the time has flown. One of the coolest things about my marriage has to be my in-laws. They are so wonderfully supportive. My mother in law was an aide at elementary school where I went. My father in law is by far the coolest dude on the planet. He is infamous for going on Atkins, dropping lots of weight, and then gaining it all back after major holidays. 

The best way to eat is in moderation, in my opinion, but for the Mother's Day celebration we had, I knew that I wanted to incorporate foods that my father in law could eat and would not make him sick or set him back. It didn't take me long to come across this pie. 

Please excuse the brown color of the crust, I may have left the meringue in a little bit too long. I was a bit worried, but my father in law had two large pieces and asked to take the second pie home for himself. Being allergic to aspartame, I couldn't try the pie, but his request was enough to tell me that it was absolutely delicious.

Ingredients For Meringue Shell:
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 Tablespoons Splenda®

Ingredients For Filling:
1 small pkg. sugar-free gelatin (strawberry or raspberry)
1 pint heavy cream
1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Splenda®
1 quart strawberries, cleaned and sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 275°F. Grease one Pyrex pie plate and set aside.

Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar then beat until whites stand in peaks. Add Splenda and beat for an additional minute or two. Spread the meringue evenly in the bottom of the plate and up the sides.

Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes in a 275°F oven. Raise the temperature to 300° and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool while you make filling.

Dissolve gelatin with 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir in 1/3 cup cold water. Place in freezer for approximately 15-20 minutes (just until it begins to gel.)

When the gelatin is ready, whip the heavy cream until stiff (but not dry). Fold in cream cheese and Splenda. Fold in gelatin. Stir in strawberries (reserving a few for garnish if you like.) Pour over meringue shell in pie plate and let chill until firm -- about 2 hours.  

Source:  Kitchen Cooking Recipes

Pi Day...times two

I have talked before about my love of being a crazy teacher with all kinds of crazy math and science related holiday celebrations in my classroom. It's a way to take what they are learning and jazz it up a little. Today is Pi day. Pi is 3.14 and March 14th of every year is the happiest day of the year for math teachers. Without pi, we would not know how to calculate the circumference of circular objects.Well, we could...but it would be much tougher. See? You need pi...and pie too!

However, my kids could care less about the importance of the number and its meaning. They're teenagers, what more can I say? They want to know how that number effects them. Add some food at the end of an activity and you're set. I had always planned on making these pies. That was far before finding out that some of the students had given up chocolate for the forty days of Lent. Forced to come up with an alternate game plan, I found these as a wonderful alternative to a chocolate pie.

Peanut Butter Cup Mini Pies
Ingredients
1 homemade pie crust
1 pack Reese's Miniature Peanut Butter Cups1 egg white whisked with 1 tablespoon water
Sugar, for sprinkling

DirectionsPreheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Roll out pie dough onto a lightly floured counter top.  Using a cup (I prefer to use one of DJ's sippy cups), roll out rounds of dough. 

Place a Reese's miniature peanut cup in the center of the dough, upside down. Fold dough over top of peanut butter cup and seams together. 

Brush all little pies with an egg white wash then sprinkle with granulated sugar.  Bake for 20-28 minutes until golden.  Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. 

Source: adapted from Picky Palate
 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Baby Lattice Pies

1 roll homemade pie crust

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup Smucker’s Strawberry Preserves

1 egg white whisked with 1 teaspoon water for egg wash

Sugar Crystals for sprinkling, optional

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Unroll pie crust onto a lightly floured surface.  Use a 2 1/2 inch round cutter to cut out circles in dough. I like to use one of DJ's sippy cups or the top of a mason jar. Lightly press dough rounds into greased mini muffin tin.  Roll remaining scraps of dough to an even thickness then use a sharp knife to cut thin 1/8 inch strips to create the lattice topping.  Set aside.

Mix peanut butter and sugar until combined. Drop a heaping teaspoon into each of the pie crusts.  Repeat with the jam. Using the pie strips, form the lattice top. Remove excess dough from edges with knife. Brush tops lightly with the egg wash, sprinkle with sugar crystals if wanted, and bake for 25-30 minutes or golden brown.

Let cool for five minutes and carefully remove from pan. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

Source: Picky Palate