American Ghost
Page 30
2 frozen unbaked pie crusts, thawed
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
TOPPING
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 red onion, cut into thin rings
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Roll out the pie crusts on a large baking sheet till they are flat and bake for 7 to 10 minutes, till brown.
3. Take the pie crusts out of the oven and while they are cooling, beat the cream cheese and mayonnaise in a mixer bowl till light.
4. While the pie crusts are still warm, spread the cream cheese mixture on top as you would spread sauce on pizza dough.
5. Top with the blue cheese, chopped eggs, onion, bell pepper, broccoli, tomatoes, and black olives.
6. To serve, cut into wedges with a serrated knife.
Graham Cracker Crust
This is an all-purpose graham cracker crust that can be used with all cream pies. If you’re adventuresome, you can add a pinch of cinnamon or 1/4 cup ground nuts.
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup sweet butter, melted
1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Mix the graham cracker crumbs and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and stir well.
3. Pour the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate and press evenly over the bottom and up the sides.
4. Bake for 6 to 7 minutes to set.
Makes one 9-inch pie crust
Sweet Potato Cream Pie
This pie is what happens when you leave a cheesecake and a sweet potato pie alone in the refrigerator overnight, unchaperoned: the midnight tryst, the tearful confession, and nine months later, the pitter-patter of a new little pie around the house. In this case, it is a happy accident. Birth dates and wedding anniversaries are adjusted and no one is ever the wiser.
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon plain flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Graham Cracker Crust (see previous recipe)
1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Put the cream cheese, sweet potato, and both sugars in a large mixer bowl, then beat till smooth.
3. Blend in the flour, cinnamon, and salt. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat till blended.
4. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 40 minutes, till firm.
5. Cool before slicing.
Serves 5
Orange Slice Cake
In the heart of Cracker Florida, oranges come to harvest around the holidays. In their honor, instead of the usual pies, I am offering the always delicious Orange Slice Cake. It’s definitely a modern Cracker invention, dating back to the 1940s, when every orange grove on Highway 441, from the Georgia state line to Miami (or My-amma, as Crackers call it) had its own little store and book of recipes. It is a strange little cake and strangely delicious if you like little orange-slice candies (and I do).
1 cup sweet butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 pound chopped dates
1 pound orange-slice candies (found in the candy aisle at your grocery store), chopped
2 cups chopped pecans
1 1/4 cups grated fresh coconut
GLAZE
1 cup fresh orange juice
2 cups powdered sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 250°.
2. In a mixer bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition.
3. Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk, add to the butter mixture, and blend well.
4. Place the flour in a large bowl. Add the dates, candies, and nuts and stir to coat all the pieces well.
5. Add the flour mixture and coconut to the creamed mixture and stir.
6. Press the batter into a buttered 13 x 9 inch cake pan. Bake for 2 dang hours.
7. To make the glaze, mix the orange juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Pour the glaze over the cake as soon as you pull it out of the oven. Let it stand in the pan overnight to congeal into true orange ecstasy, then cut into squares.
Serves 8 to 10
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Janis Owens
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First Scribner hardcover edition October 2012
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012009163
ISBN 978-1-4516-7463-7
ISBN 978-1-4516-7467-5 (eBook)