Coconut Cream Pie


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There’s nothing better than a from-scratch cream pie!  My husband is a big fan of coconut, which motivated me to perfect this recipe.  This coconut cream pie is often on the dessert menu at holiday gatherings and I always look forward to making it.

Coconut Cream Pie
1- 9 inch pie crust, baked in pan and cooled completely 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup flour 2-1/2 cups milk 2/3 cup heavy cream 6 egg yolks, beaten 2-1/4 cups flaked coconut coconutcreampie3 Preparation:

Combine sugar, flour, milk and cream in a heavy saucepan.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly.  Continue to boil for one more minute, then remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks.  Using a 1/4 cup measure, gradually stir small amounts of hot cream mixture into the egg yolks, beating as you pour the cream mixture in.   I slowly pour 1/4 cup at a time while I mix.  Continue this until you have mixed 1/4 of the total amount of cream mixture into the egg yolks.  Pour the yolk mixture back into the remaining hot mixture and return to heat, stirring constantly.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in coconut.  Pour into baked pie shell.

Chill until ready to serve.  Before serving, cover pie with whipped cream and toasted coconut.  Slice and enjoy!

I often serve this coconut cream pie at holiday gatherings with these other favorites:

Chocolate Pecan Tart
Dutch Apple Pie coconutcreampie1 I put together a list of my favorite tools for making pies.  You can find it here .  I hope you love this recipe!

Happy baking!
Jennifer

Half Birthdays


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Today we are having a half-birthday party for my 5 year old.  Her birthday is just a few days before Christmas and last December we had conflict after conflict arise which prevented us from having her party near the actual day.  We settled on a half birthday party, but on that day we were at a family reunion so it was bumped back another month.

I’m both excited and relieved that we’re getting this done.  Never has a party been talked about, dreamed about and planned for by a child in our family for SO many months.

Yesterday morning she was kind of hovering nearby as I got ready for the day so I asked her what I could do for her.  Her reply:  “Um, I just have a question I needed to ask you.  Are you going to work your hardest today?”  I burst out laughing and assured her that indeed, I was.  Then she asked, “And are you going to stay up really late to make sure everything is ready?”

Oh my.  She has definitely been thinking about this for too long.

It will be a good first learning experience for me with celebrating this way.  I was a little worried at the response I would get from the parents of her friends, but some of them have birthdays during the holiday season as well and their memories are of never having a party.  It looks like everything is going to work out just fine, and we’ll see if her half-birthday turns out to become a new tradition.

Have you ever celebrated a half-birthday with a party?  Have any suggestions/insights to offer?

Jennifer

Stitching: A. Lincoln


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All my life I’ve loved handwriting.  As a child I practiced mine constantly and have always loved studying penmanship and lettering styles.  Combine this with a tremendous regard for Abraham Lincoln and I suppose it’s no surprise that I would love his signature.  Some time ago I decided to enlarge it and see how it would look embroidered.  I began this months ago but finished it up on the 4th of July and am so happy with the results!

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I’ve never stitched something like this before, all in a satin stitch.  I love the raised effect of the stitching.

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The piece is approximately 10 inches long and 3 inches tall.  I think it will become part of a pillow…

What have you finished lately?
Jennifer

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