Turtle Pie

The other day we went to dinner at the Hays House. This is a local restaurant in our small town and one of the oldest continually operating taverns in the US. Great atmosphere and even better food. If you ever travel along the Santa Fe Trail, stop in here for lunch. And always, always, save room for dessert. They have the most amazing pies. This is actually what got me hooked on real whipped cream. I will never be the same.

The Girl wanted dessert. She always wants dessert. So do I, but I try not to give in that much. Anyway, my only requirement was that she share.

She picked the Turtle Pie.

All I can tell you is that it was so amazing that we came home and immediately set about creating our own recipe.

Cream a package of cream cheese with 3/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/4 cup powdered cocoa.

 Fold in 2 cups of whipped cream.

 Add a layer of toasted pecan to the bottom of a baked pie crust.

 Cover those pecans with caramel sauce. I used homemade, but you could use ice cream topping, too.

 Pour the cream cheese mixture over the caramel. Chill for about an hour until it all sets up.

 I had quite a bit of filling left over, so I made popsicles.

The pie was amazing. The popsicles were amazing. Everything just melts in your mouth. This could possibly be my favorite dessert ever. And I like a LOT of desserts.


Click here for Printable Recipe

Turtle Pie

1 Baked Pie Crust

8 ounces Cream Cheese

3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder

2 Tablespoons Milk

2 Cups Heavy Cream, whipped with a little sugar to sweeten

1/4 Cup Roasted Pecans

1 Cup Caramel Sauce

Beat the cream cheese, cocoa powder and powdered sugar until smooth. Add the milk. Beat the mixture until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Set aside the remaining whipped cream in the refrigerator. Add pecans in a layer at the bottom of the baked pie crust. Pour caramel sauce over pecans. Pour cheese mixture over the caramel. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until the pie is set.

Blueberry Banana Cheese Pie

Nine years ago today, I became a mother. And so began my continual state of exhaustion, messy house and hugs and kisses.

And birthday parties.

My husband's family gets together for every birthday for cake and ice cream and Coors. There are nine grandkids, so add in everyone, and we have a family reunion about once a month. I am eternally grateful that my children's cousins are more like siblings.

As it works out this year, Jeff can't be here on The Girl's actual birthday, so we are having our get together on Saturday. Since she's old enough to know the difference, I didn't feel like we could just ignore the birthday rituals. So when Tina posted this pie, I knew this is what I had to make and save the cake for the weekend.

Prepare a package of Dream Whip with a half a cup of milk and a half teaspoon of vanilla. I had always heard of Dream Whip. I can remember seeing an ad for a huge, delicious looking chocolate pie. I always wanted my mom to try it, but for some reason she didn't seem to think it was necessary.

Whip this together just like you would whipping cream.
Until you get a nice thick mixture. Set this aside for just a minute.
In a separate bowl, cream together two blocks of cream cheese and a cup of sugar.
Then mix these to creams together.
Slice up a banana and layer it into the bottom of a graham cracker crust. I used a prepared one since we are working really hard to get The Girl's life wizard to grandmaster for her birthday and every second counts. But if you have extra time, you can make your own.
Add the cream mixture on top of the banana slices.
Then add a half a can of blueberry pie filling.
And top with a half carton of Cool-Whip.
After letting it chill in the refrigerator for a few hours, add the candles.
And dig in.
Then dig in again a little bit later when you hear it calling to you from the kitchen.

This was sooooo good. We had a hard time saving any for Jeff for when he got home. We will definitely be making this again. Probably next week for our back to school dinner. Then maybe again for the Jeff's birthday. And maybe with strawberry pie filling.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Blueberry Banana Cheese Pie

2 – 8oz pgs Philadelphia cream cheese, softened

1 - 1.3 oz packet dream whip (prepared according to package directions)

1 - cup granulated sugar

1 - 21 oz can blueberry pie filling

2 - bananas, sliced

2 - prepared graham cracker crusts

1 – 8oz container cool whip

1/2 - cup fresh blueberries for garnish

Prepare the dream whip according to packet directions and set aside. Cream the sugar and the cream cheese together until creamy and smooth. Add the prepared dream whip and mix until combined. Slice one banana for each pie and layer on the bottom of each graham cracker crust. Add cream cheese mixture on top of the bananas and spread evenly covering the bananas. Spread the blueberry pie filling on top of the cream cheese mixture. Spread the cool whip over the pie filling and garnish with fresh blueberries. Chill at least 3 hours and serve.

Recipe yields two pies, 16 servings. Each serving is worth 7 weight watchers points.

Crock Pot Pumpkin Pie Pudding

When we were little, my sister would take a piece of pie and eat the filling. Left on her plate was a poor, sad, unloved little crust. Of course, she also wouldn't eat the Hershey's kiss off the peanut butter cookie. She's so weird.

This recipe reminded me of her. Not that she gets to enjoy it. Poor thing. Down in Texas. No fall. No pie.

Take 2 cups of your pumpkin puree (or 1 can solid pack pumpkin, really, you need to try to making your own, I promise, you will not be disappointed)
Add 1 can of evaporated milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup Bisquick.
This is where I got into trouble. I didn't have Bisquick. I never have Bisquick. It is just not something I ever think about buying. So, off to Google I went.

You can make a Bisquick substitute by combining 1 cup flour, 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon shortening. I had the shortening that is packaged just like a butter stick. Have you ever looked at these packages? It's a bit difficult to make out, but it warns you not to use shortening as a spread. Ew. Anyone else just full body shudder thinking about that?
Back to the ingredients. Mix these all together. This is more difficult than it sounds. I couldn't get the shortening to really mix very well. But, since I didn't have Bisquick, I forged ahead.
Add this into your pumpkin mixture.
Then beat 2 eggs
Add those to the pumpkin mixture along with 2 tablespoons melted butter, 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice and 2 teaspoons vanilla.
Here's something to ponder. The pumpkin pie spice comes with a sprinkle top. Who sprinkles pumpkin pie spice? Definitely not me!
Let The Boy whisk it all together.
At this point, I realized that this recipe made A LOT of mix. A lot. So I poured half of the mix into a greased crock pot to make the pudding. If you look closely, you can see my pretend Bisquick mixture did not incorporate very well. I was a bit skeptical about this, but it ended up melting in as it cooked.
The other half of the pumpkin mixture went into a frozen pie shell (sorry Sis).
Again with the pretend Bisquick...
That was baked at 350 for about 45 minutes. If you think about it, add foil around the edges of the pie crust to keep it from getting overly brown. I did not think of this in time, hence the overly brown edges. Mmmm...can it get any better than this??
Why yes. Yes, it can.
The Boy was really excited about the pie he made.
Notice in the background, there, is the crock pot with the rest of the pumpkin mixture. That is cooking on low for about 5 hours.

When you lift the lid, you will see this...
If you look closely, you will notice that the pretend Bisquick did indeed melt away. Whew.

Add some whipped cream...
This was delicious. I ended up eating most of the pudding since everyone else had pie earlier in the day. So for a single pie or pudding, the recipe needs to be cut in half. This is definitely a keeper. And perfect for those who just don't care for crust on their pies.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Crock Pot Pumpkin Pie Pudding
2 Cups Pumpkin Puree (or 1 can solid pack pumpkin)
1 Can Evaporated Milk
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Bisquick
2 Eggs, beaten
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 teaspoons Vanilla
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Transfer to a greased crock pot. Cover and cook 5-6 hours on low.