How to... Chop onions

It may sound simple but it's surprising how much of a meal some people make of chopping onions. Read this and (don't) weep!

It's amazing to me how many cooks don't know how to chop onions quickly. If your like me, I can't stand chopping onions because I cry the entire time. I've got some quick chopping tricks that I use to make the work go by faster.

And, if all else fails....go to a food processor. It will chop, dice, puree...whatever suits your fancy. And, you don't have to mess with the tears, cutting board, knives and clean-up.

There's no reason to peel a whole onion unless you're cutting it into rings or hollowing it out to stuff it. Keep what you don't need wrapped in film, and chop it when required.

To chop or dice a whole onion:
Lay it on its side and cut the pointed top end off first. This gives it a flat surface to stand it on while you cut it in half through the root end.

Peel the skin back towards the root, leaving it attached to make a 'handle' to hold on to while chopping.

Make straight, vertical cuts through the onion, taking the tip of the knife just to the root. Turn it sideways and cut in the other direction to produce a fine chop. The distance between cuts will determine how fine a dice you make.

To slice an onion, make the vertical cuts with the blade parallel to the root. This will give you a half-moon-shaped slice.

Happy chopping...

Now, a little recipe to give you some practice on your new onion chopping technique. This is also a great recipe for a quick family meal. Lots of protein for the little ones and easy on the pocket book.

MAC and BEEF

1 pound ground beef
1 yellow onion, chopped
Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
Dash crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 large can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 cups uncooked macaroni

Get a large pot of hot water heating and begin cooking the macaroni as per the directions on the macaroni package.

In a skillet, brown the ground beef in a tablespoon of olive oil on high heat. Stir only infrequently so that the ground beef has an opportunity to brown.

In a large skillet, saute chopped onion with a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat. Add the ground beef and lower the heat to medium. Add a dash of crushed red pepper. Add seasoned salt. Add celery seed. Add canned tomatoes. Add Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 5 minutes. Mix in the drained and cooked macaroni and parsley. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Something from Weight Watchers

Grilled Eggplant and Tomato with Basil
by Weight Watchers

1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1 teaspoon
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium eggplant, pared, cut in 1" slices
1 medium tomato, cut in 1/2" slices
3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup fresh basil, coarsely chopped

In mini-food processor or blender, puree bell pepper, broth, oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and black pepper until smooth. Place eggplant and tomato on plate and brush on both sides with broth mixture; discard any remaining broth mixture. Prepare grill for a medium fire. Grill eggplant 8 minutes, turning after 4 minutes, until lightly charred. Grill tomato 4 minutes, turning after 2 minutes. Arrange eggplant and tomato alternately on platter, overlapping slices. Sprinkle cheese and scatter basil evenly over all. Divide evenly among 4 plates and serve.

A variety of recipes for your Memorial Weekend plans

This weekend marks the "official" start to the summer. Memorial weekend's in the past are usually cold, cloudy and rainy, but not this year. The temperatures in Missouri are to reach the mid-90's!

As many of you, my family will be celebrating the holiday together. This year we are planning on going on a float trip, with my brothers and sister-in-laws and all the grandkids.

My mother's oven will be in high gear and homemade ice cream is sure to be on the menu.

For this weekend I've put together some quick and easy recipes that you might be able to add to your Memorial Weekend plans.



New York Crumb Cake
Makes one 9-by-12 1/2-inch cake
from Martha Stewart

2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for pan
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
ConfectionersÂ’ sugar for dusting

Place rack in center of oven, and heat oven to 325°. Lightly brush a 9-by-12 1/2-inch baking pan with canola oil, dust with flour, and tap to remove excess. Set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a second bowl, whisk together egg, milk, canola oil, and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan, and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine remaining 2 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pour melted butter over flour mixture, and toss with a rubber spatula until large crumbs form. Sprinkle crumbs over batter.

Transfer pan to oven, and bake, rotating pan after 10 minutes. Continue baking until a cake tester comes out clean, about 10 minutes more.

Transfer baking pan to a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectionersÂ’ sugar. Using a serrated knife or bench scraper, cut into 3-inch squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.


7 Layer Mexican Dip
from my cousin Tracey

Place the following ingredients in a 9 inch dish.

Layer 1: 1 can bean dip
Layer 2: 1 container of avocado dip
Layer 3: Sour cream with taco seasonings
Layer 4: Grated cheese
Layer 5: Chopped olives
Layer 6: Chopped tomatoes
Layer 7: Chopped green onions

Chill Overnight.


Au Gratin Potatoes
from my own kitchen
serves 4-6

10 potatoes, peeled & sliced thin
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon flour
2 cup milk
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon onion powder
3 cup Velveeta, cubed

Preheat 375 F.
Place potatoes in greased cake pan Season with salt & pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. Make cheese sauce: Melt butter, stir in flour until smooth. Add milk Bring to gentle boil then add cheese. Stir until cheese has melted. Cover potatoes with cheese mixture. Bake covered 45 min. Uncover for an additional 15 min.


Green Bean Casserole
from Paula Deen

1/3 stick butter
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups sliced green beans
3 cups chicken broth 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (2.8-ounce) can French-fried onion rings
Pinch House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 cup grated Cheddar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a large skillet. Saute the onions and mushrooms in the butter. Boil green beans in chicken broth for 10 minutes and drain. Add the green beans, mushroom soup, onion rings, and House Seasoning, to taste, to the onion mixture. Stir well. Pour into a greased 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes, then top the casserole with the Cheddar and bake for 10 minutes longer, or until the casserole is hot and cheese is melted.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Martha Stewart ventures out in the online world

Mays, who works at the same company as I passed along a bit of information that I thought you all may find interesting.

Martha Stewart Living Omimedia (MSLO) is planning on launching its own version of MySpace. Now, I'm sure many have no idea of what MySpace is. It's simple it's a way for friends and family to spare photos, messages, whatever you can imagine via internet.

Here is part of the story of Martha finding a new media to hit on.

"Martha Stewart Living Omimedia (MSLO) is planning to launch its own version of MySpace late next year. The plan, according to CEO Susan Lynne, is to create a social net that would appeal to women aged 25 to 45, and allow members to share photographs, scrapbooks, recipes and similar projects with one another and home design experts. MarthaSpace will only succeed if it builds a bridge to other communities where people are talking about these topics - like Blogher. MSLO needs to help their own in finding each other but they also must reach out to what is probably an equally large number of consumers who are talking about these topics on other properties. In other words, they need a picture-in-picture approach."

The critics are saying it could be a flop, but I think this is perfect for all of us who love to cook and share our recipes with one another.

I am also a huge Martha Stewart admirer also. I think for a woman that had to be made an example for a mistake, when other stars just get a slap on the wrist, she has risen above the rest and came back even more powerful, wealthier and smarter than ever!

So, to this recent news....I say Go MARTHA!

A little something fun

A co-worker of mine passed along this little etiquette quiz to me the other day. I found it to be very interesting and I hope you all will too.

I learned some very interesting facts about the world around of and how different each culture it.

Its always good to know a little table etiquette when visiting a foreign country. I scored a 8 out of 11.

Don't Gross Out the World Quiz.

It's grilling time

It's officially summer! Well, at least in my neck of the woods in Missouri. The weather is humid and hot, with the temperatures nearing the upper 80's.

That means one thing....It's Grilling Time!

One of my favorite things to eat is BBQ chops. My husband handles the grill around our house and he always cook them up "just right."

This recipe is one he and I came up with one night and it has become one of our favorites around the kitchen.

BBQ Pork Chops
adapted from Paula Deen's recipe

2 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 cup vinegar
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped onion or 3 tablespoons onion powder
2 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoons red pepper
3 cloves garlic or 2 tablespoon powdered garlic
10 (1-inch thick) pork chops

Combine all ingredients except for the pork chops and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat and cool. Refrigerate sauce overnight to blend flavors and let everything set in.

Start your grill.

Apply sauce to chops with basting brush or paint brush. Grill to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-well. Baste with sauce each time they are turned.

For the working mom's out there

I want to apologize for not posting anything new for awhile. I've been a little under the weather and just haven't felt up to posting.

I have a recipe today that I think all those working mom's will appreciate. It's a quick and easy way to get a healthy and good tasting meal on your family's table.

BAKED SOUR CREAM CHICKEN
by Kalyn's Kitchen

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup (Campbells, not low fat or low sodium)
1 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup mayo (light or regular, but not fat free)
1 cup plus 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheddar cheese
1 T onion powder
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T poultry seasoning, pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken breasts, then cut each piece in thirds diagonally. Spray 9 X 12 inch glass casserole dish with nonstick spray and arrange chicken pieces in a single layer. Combine all other ingredients except the 1/2 cup cheese and pour over chicken. Bake 45 minutes, stirring slightly halfway through cooking time. Top with 1/2 cup reserved cheese and bake 15-20 minutes more, until cheese is melted and top is slightly browned. We ate this with brown rice and asparagus, which was a good combination for the rich chicken and sauce.

The Eggplant an amazing food

Somewhere down the line of recipes exchanges and cookbooks I came across this recipe. I wish I could remember where it came from, but I can't.

Italian food is my passion, except for baking. I used to eat at this little Italian restaurant with my husband while I was still in college and I would always get the eggplant. It was the perfect meal.

The recipe almost mimics the same meal I would have in that restaurant. And, it's even better because it's made at home.

Italian Stuffed Eggplant

serves 4
3/4 cup bulgur wheat
1 tsp. rosemary
1-1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. oregano
2 cups boiling water
2 small eggplants
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup grated parmesan
1 cup prepared tomato sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 350º. Combine bulgur and basil in a small saucepan. Pour boiling water over the mixture. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Combine pine nuts, parmesan, garlic, scallions, capers, rosemary, and oregano in a large bowl. Cut eggplants in half. Scoop out most of the pulp, leaving an approximately 1/2-inch rim all the way around. Dice the pulp. Add to the pine nut mixture.

After 30 minutes, drain the bulgur in a strainer. Press out excess water. Let it sit five minutes to cool. Add to the pine nut mixture. Fork through to combine. Add the egg and combine. Lightly coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with olive oil. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom. Place the eggplant halves in the dish. Divide the pine nut mixture among the eggplant halves. Drizzle with olive oil. Spoon the remaining tomato sauce over the eggplants. Bake for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, or until the diced eggplant pieces and the eggplant shells are soft. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the eggplant and serve.

Get your grill a going

Summer is almost here and my neighbors have started bringing out their grills and their "special grilling sauces." Nothing is better then sitting out on my porch with my husband and a few friends, waiting for whatever my husband is grilling to be ready to eat!

I have different sauces and rubs I use to make that perfect grilled meat. This one though, always gets a cheer from my guests! And remember the key to cooking things on the grill is to "slow cook" them.

HINT: I make up a large container of this rub and use it all summer long on pork loins, lamb chops, whatever you desire.

Lane's Rubbin' BBQ Rub
5 tb Brown sugar
1 tb Hickory Salt
1 tb Oregano
2 tb Cumin
3 tb Garlic Powder
2 tb Chili Powder
2 tb Paprika
2 tb Onion Powder
2 tb Mustard, Dry
1/4 ts Cayenne
1 tb Pepper
1 tb Ground Sage

Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Rub generously on to chicken, pork, brisket, or whatever. Let the meat 'marinate' for an hour, then toss on the grill for a slow cooking. I always coat the meat with regular or a sweet hot mustard, then apply the rub. Keeps it on the product your cooking. The key is "slow" cooked!

What's the mystery in this pie?

Cream Cheese! That's the mystery in the delightful pie.

I know what you are thinking...cream cheese in a pecan pie? Trust me folks...it's totally worth it.

Last year in my company's pie contest, I entered my mother's famous Texas Pecan Pie. I will admit it wasn't the prettiest pie there. I hadn't yet master the art of decorating a pie crust. But I knew it tasted good. Another lady at work entered what she called a Mystery Pecan Pie.

I was intrigued...I had to know what the mystery was all about. When she told me I was surprised to hear the mystery was cream cheese. And, needless to say her pie took 1st place and my plain ole pecan pie took 2nd.

I 've searched for the perfect Mystery Pecan Pie recipe and I finally have it. Trust me, I've tried a lot of different recipes for this recipe, but Paula Deen takes the cake...or maybe I should say the "PIE" in this case.

Although, I do love this recipe, it's still nice to have the original thing every once in awhile....Mom's Texas Pecan Pie recipe!

Happy Baking!

Mystery Pecan Pie
by Paula Deen

Topping:
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pie:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg 1 un-baked deep-dish (9-inch) pie shell
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all topping ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg until combined. Pour into pie shell. Top with chopped pecans. Pour topping over pecans. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tuna Salad Sandwich

For those of you that are tuna lovers I have what I would classify as "the best" tuna sandwich ever!

It's from Martha Stewart and I will say..."she has done it again." You have to use good sourdough bread for it though to get the perfect taste and texture.

Martha's Favorite Tuna Salad Sandwich
MAKES 4

12 ounces good-quality tuna, packed in oil, drained
2 stalks celery, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 apple, such as McIntosh or Gala, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons light mayonnaise, preferably Ojai Cook’s Lemonaise Light
2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
8 slices best-quality sourdough


In a medium bowl, combine tuna, celery, apple, mayonnaise, basil, and lemon juice; mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

On a work surface, divide tuna salad among 4 slices bread; top with remaining 4 slices bread. Serve.

A Meal Fit for a King

I come from a beef farm. My parents raise registered Charolais and Angus cattle. I grew up on farm raised beef all my life. And trust me nothing is better.

Lately, though I've been cooking pork roast instead of your traditional beef roasts. Don't get me wrong I'm a strong supporter of our beef farmers, but I want to give credit where credit is due. The pork industry in this country is doing a bang-up job.

I can buy a 5 pound pork roast sometimes half the price as a beef roast. And when you are on a budget that is a big difference. I'm glad I don't have to buy my own beef and that I'm lucky enough to have parents that supply my family with beef, but I have to think of those that aren't able to purchase beef because of it's price. I will say though a good pork roast is just as good and half the price.


Six-Hour Pork Roast

2 tablespoons finely chopped
fresh sage
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
10 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dry white wine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (6-pound) boneless pork Boston shoulder roast (not tied)
Special equipment: Kitchen string
Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.

Blend together sage, rosemary, garlic, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper in a food processor until a thick paste forms. With motor running, add wine and oil and blend until combined well.

If necessary, trim fat from top of pork, to leave a 1/8-inch thick layer of fat. Make 3 small incisions, each about 1-inch long and 1-inch deep, in each side of pork with a small sharp knife, and fill each with about 1 teaspoon herb paste. Spread remaining herb paste over pork, concentrating on boned side, and tie roast with kitchen string at 2-inch intervals.

Put pork, fat side up, in a roasting pan and roast in middle of oven 6 hours. Transfer roast to cutting board and let stand 15 minutes. Discard string and cut pork roast (with an electric knife if you have one) into thick slices.

Pasta for All

Northern Italian Pasta Shell Stuffing
adapted from a recipe from Paula Deen

2 packages frozen, chopped spinach
1/2 pound of grated asiago cheese
3 pounds ground round
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 large onions, chopped
Grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper
2 jumbo eggs
1 (1-pound) package jumbo pasta shells
2 cups tomato sauce (your own or ready-made)

Place frozen spinach in a strainer and run under hot water until thawed. Squeeze all of the water out and place in a large bowl. In a large saute pan, cook the ground round until browned. Drain meat, reserving 2 tablespoons fat in the pan, and place meat in the same bowl with the spinach. Stir in the cream cheese until blended with the meat and spinach. Saute the chopped onions in the reserved meat fat until transparent.

Transfer onions to the bowl with the other ingredients and stir to combine. Add grated cheese, salt, and pepper, to taste, and combine. Let mixture cool and then add the eggs. The filling can be made up to 1 day in advance and refrigerated until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook pasta shells in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain and cool to the touch. Stuff the shells with the meat mixture. Place shells in a large baking pan and cover with tomato sauce. Cover with foil and bake for approximately 1 hour. Serve.

Beef Wellington Down-sized

Mini Beef Wellingtons with Gorgonzola

8 (1 1/2-inch-thick, 6 ounce) center-cut filets mignons
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 large mushrooms (about 1/2 pound total)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
2 puff pastry sheets (from a 17 1/4-ounce package frozen puff pastry), thawed 1/2 cup Gorgonzola (about 5 ounces)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Pat filets mignons dry and season with salt and pepper. Sear on both sides in saute pan with heated oil. Chill filets, covered, until cold, about 1 hour.

Thinly slice mushrooms and in a heavy skillet cook in butter with shallot, garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste, over moderate heat, stirring, until mushrooms are lightly browned. Transfer mushroom mixture to a bowl to cool completely. In a small bowl lightly beat eggs to make an egg wash.

On a lightly floured surface roll out puff pastry sheets into 2 (14-inch) squares. Trim edges to form 2 (13-inch) squares and cut each square into 4 (6 1/2-inch) squares.

Put 1 tablespoon Gorgonzola in center of 1 square and top with 1/8 of the mushroom mixture. Top mushroom mixture with a filet mignon, pressing it down gently, and wrap 2 opposite corners of puff pastry over filet, overlapping them. Seal seam with egg wash. Wrap remaining 2 corners of pastry over filet and seal in same manner. Seal any gaps with egg wash and press pastry around filet to enclose completely. Arrange beef Wellington, seam side down, in a non-stick-baking pan. Make 7 more beef Wellingtons in same manner. Chill remaining egg wash for brushing on pastry just before baking. Chill beef Wellingtons, loosely covered, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Brush top and sides of each beef Wellington with some remaining egg wash and bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until pastry is golden and the meat temperature is 117 degrees F.

Sauce:
2 cup veal or beef demi-glace
4 tablespoons Sercial Madeira

Make sauce while beef Wellingtons are baking. In a saucepan, boil demi-glace and Madeira 1 minute and keep sauce warm.

Serve beef Wellingtons with sauce.

Yield: 8 servings

Wine Suggestions: Robert Mondavi Cabernet Markham Cabernet

Add a Twist to a Frittata

One of my favorite Italian dishes is a frittata. You can make this dish out of whatever you desire. Sometimes I use tomatoes and olives, other times I use squash.

This makes a lovely bake alongside pork chops and a green salad.

Zucchini Red Pepper Frittata
(thanks to Debbie for this)



Olive oil
3 tbsp finely chopped shallots
1 red pepper, diced
2 cups thinly sliced zucchini, about 1 medium or 2 small
4 eggs
4 egg whites
1/2 cup packed freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add shallots and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. Add red pepper and saute another 3 minutes. Turn heat to medium-high and add zucchini saute until slices are soft, about 10 minutes. Cool slightly. Meanwhile, beat eggs and egg whites together in a large bowl. Add cheese, basil, salt, pepper and cooled zucchini mixture; stir until mixed. Pour mixture into pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Hush Puppies from the Kitchen

Nothing is better than a cool crisp afternoon spent frying up some crappie, hush puppies, onion rings and homestyle fries.

My husband is a fisherman, don't know if I've ever said that before or not. Fishing is his life, besides his family of coarse. He and I fish together and he does tournament bass fishing. I work one of the tournament trails he fishes in.

Anyways, the point to me telling you about my husband's addiction to fishing is that he goes crappie fishing a lot and always come home with a big bag of fish for me to fry up. We recently had a big fish fry at a friends house. I brought out my grandmother's hush puppie recipe, which is out of this world! I might be a little biased, but everyone at the party also complimented how good they were to.

We fry everything in a small fry daddy we have. One thing that is an absolute must is the hush puppies must be cooked in either fish oil (after you fry up the fish) or in bacon grease.

Grandma's Hush Puppies
by Lane

½ c. ap flour
1 ½ c. corn meal (1/3 yellow, 2/3 white)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1 egg
¾ c. milk
3 scallions with green tops

Mix ingredients together in order and fry in bacon or fish grease.

Lemon Pie Recipe, Finally Here

Lemon Divine
by Lane

3/4 c. sugar
3 tbls. cornstarch
1 c. water
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/3 c. lemon juice
2 egg yolks beaten
4 oz. cream cheese
1 c. heavy cream
1/4 c. sugar

In a saucepan combine 3/4 c. sugar, cornstarch, water, lemon juice, lemon peel and egg yolks over medium heat. Blend well and cook until mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat after it is think. Add cream cheese, stir and mix well. Cool off to the side.

Prepare heavy cream and 1/4 c. sugar. Beat until it forms stiff peaks. Fold cream onto lemon mixture. Spoon onto cooked pie pastry.

Chill for at least two hours. Garish with lemon or grated lemon peel.