Coconut Pie and Good Freinds

I love coconut cream pie and my friends and I went out last night and had some tea and pie...yum yum....first we drove around and looked at some Christmas lights and then went for our pie. 

BREWING BLACK TEA

Hot tea brewing method: Bring freshly drawn cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 teaspoon of tea for each cup into the teapot. Pour the boiling water into the teapot. Cover and let steep for 3-7 minutes according to taste (the longer the steeping time the stronger the tea). Milk and a dash of sugar help capture the complex nature of this tea, but it is also perfectly acceptable to consume this tea ‘straight-up’.
Iced tea-brewing method: (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 6 teaspoons of tea into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. [A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to double the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water]. Please note that this tea may tend to go cloudy or ‘milky’ when poured over ice; a perfectly normal characteristic of some high quality black teas and nothing to worry about!

 

Make an Old Fashion Coconut Cream Pie

Ingredients

• 3 cups half-and-half
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked
• 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the coconut and the vanilla extract. Pour into pie shell and chill 2 to 4 hours, or until firm.
2. Top with whipped topping, and with remaining 1/4 cup of coconut.
3. Note: To toast coconut, spread it in an ungreased pan and bake in a 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Christmas Recipes

Christmas is almost here and there are so many delicious recipes floating around...one of my old time favorites is to make my family "Magic Cookie Wonder Bars" that was my mom's traditional recipe....I love them but can only eat a few as they are so rich...there are many versions of these wonderful bars this is the one I use...

Magic Cookie Wonder Bars

• 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate pieces
• 1/2 bag coconut
• 1/2 bag chopped walnuts
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 package of graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup margarine

1. melt margarine in the bottom of a 9" x 9" glass baking dish in microwave [or melt margarine and pour in a metal 9" x 9" baking pan 
2. spread graham cracker crumbs and use a fork to dampen all the crumbs spreading them a little up the sides
3. pour the sweetened condensed milk over the crumb crust
4. sprinkle the semi-sweet chocolate pieces over the milk
5. sprinkle the coconut over the chocolate pieces
6. top with the nuts
7. bake @ 350' till the top is browned a little and the sides bubbling about 20 minutes
8. let cool on a rack 
9. refrigerate about an hour
10. cut into squares and serve
11. About 12-15 servings depending on how large a piece you want [my hubby eats 3 at a time, lol]

I love these for lunch, they are easy and taste great, they remind me of the little pizza bits I used to make when I was younger, I would make them on a 1/2 a bagel with tomato sauce and a little shredded cheese with a bit of pepperoni, only now my tummy cannot handle the pepperoni so I eat it plain.. but just as good!!! If you haven't tried these you should if you're a pizza lover as I am!

One of the gals in my Red Hat  group Social Butterflies  brought this cake to our Christmas party. It was fantastic, so I am sharing it here as it is easy and everyone loves it.                                  

    

 

APPLE CAKE

3 eggs                                           ¼  t. salt

2 C sugar                                      1  C oil

2 C flour                                       ½ C  walnuts ( I slightly toast)

2 t. cinnamon                                3-4 apples diced ( green, medium

1 t. baking soda                                                           sized)

Mix all ingredients together, add 3-4 apples.  Batter will be thick.

Bake 350 degree for 45 minutes in lightly greased  9 x 13 pan … while cooling and after DO NOT COVER SEALED – or be sure air can flow around it otherwise it gets damp !!