C.H. Admirand is sharing two recipes with us today, one was supposed to be for Thanksgiving but I didn’t realize that so I’m putting both in today. One is a pie recie and one a cookie recipe that looks like a lot of fun to make with the kiddos, these also look like the perfect thing to leave out for Santa, or to eat yourself 
This recipe is always a hit during the holidays. Use my mom’s pie crust recipe below and you can’t go wrong!
Sweet Potato Praline Pie
Filling:
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 (23 oz.) can sweet potatoes in syrup, drained and mashed (about 2 cups) Note: you can use baked sweet potatoes, but I’m usually short on time and go for the canned ones.
2 large eggs, beaten
Topping: (I like to double the topping, that way I have leftover to make Pralines)
3 tbsp light brown sugar
3 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tbsp butter
½ tsp vanilla
¾ cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup whipped cream
Prepare pie crust, heat oven to 425. In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients; blend well. Pour into pie crust lined pan. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350. Bake an additional 25 minutes.
Meanwhile (during last five minutes of baking time), in a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup and margarine. Bring to a boil over low heat. Reduce heat, simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Sprinkle nuts evenly over pie; drizzle with topping mixture.
Bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool. Garnish with whipped cream.
The real trick is keeping your family away from the pie while it cools; mine can’t seem to keep their hands off the praline topping!
One 8 or 9” pie crust (recipe below)– remember the less you handle the crust the better, and don’t forget to use the ice water…it makes for the flakiest crust!
Pie Crust: 8 or 9” one crust pie
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp Crisco
1 cup all purpose flour (Hecker’s Unbleached)
½ tsp salt
2 – 3 tbsp ice water
8 or 9 “ two crust pie
2/3 plus 2 tbsp Crisco
2 cups all purpose flour (Hecker’s Unbleached)
1 tsp salt
4 to 5 tbsp ice water
Cut shortening into flour and salt until particles resemble the size of small peas. Sprinkle in water, one tbsp at a time, toss with a fork until the flour is moistened and pastry sticks together. Gather pastry into a ball; (for 2 crust pie, cut in half) shape (one half at a time) into flattened round on a lightly floured board…I love using a marble board and roller…the cool stone makes rolling it out much easier. Roll pastry 2 inches larger than your pie tin so you can have a nice fluted crust.
C.H. Admirand’s Gingerbear Cutout Cookies
½ cup molasses (I like Grandma’s Unsulphured)
½ cup white sugar
½ c butter or margarine
2 ¾ c sifted all purpose flour (I only use Heckers Unbleached)
2 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
½ c buttermilk
Mix first three ingredients well, add sifted dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk and mix until smooth. Chill for several hours – roll out and cut into bear shapes…if you cannot find one…be creative and trace your design on a piece of wax paper. I made one after finding the book The Gingerbear’s First Christmas from the Current Catalog years ago when our kids were small. They loved the story so much, and the idea that the cookies came alive at night, that they kept asking for gingerbears instead of gingerbreadmen. J
Place the wax paper cutout on top of the rolled out dough and traced around it with a paring knife. Save some dough to roll into small balls to place on top of the bear’s face and smush slightly so it forms a snout. J Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 10-15 mins. Ice with Confectioner’s Icing – recipe below.
Confectioner’s Icing
1/3 c soft butter
¼ c milk
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 lb confectioner’s sugar (sifted)
Mix until smooth and fluffy
The five books I want Santa to leave under my tree are…
1.Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson (inspirational romantic suspense…I’m a big fan of Dee’s O’Malley series, too)
*2.Isabel the Invisible by Christine Bush (a fabulous middle grade read)
*3.Omid’s Shadow by Hichkass Hamekass (a gripping tale of 3 generations of Revolutionary Iranian Women)
*I have read the starred books above and highly recommend them!
4.The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts (bk 3 Inn Boonsboro Trilogy)
5.The Unspoken by Heather Graham
Thanks, this sure sounds delicious!