It's the most wonderful time of the year

"It's the most wonderful time of the year" is a chorus from a Christmas song, and one of my favorites. I'm scanning through recipe books and magazines to prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think I need to lose about 10 pounds so I can regain it through November and December.

The stores have tables with new and older cookbooks ready for Christmas sales. Some years there are recipes that come along and become yearly Christmas dinner favorites. One of my favorite family recipes comes from a stash of handwritten recipes that someone left behind in an airplane. There was no name on the recipes, so there was no way we could return it to it's rightful owner. This is a good reason to have extra copies of your recipes. My mom and dad moved to Florida in the 50's. I remember her looking for for favorite donut recipe and never finding it. I always wondered just how good that recipe was.

The following recipe is for Pistachio Torte, the recipe my husband found on an airplane. I had no idea it would turn out to be one of my favorite holiday recipes and one that almost everyone has asked for the recipe after eating it.

Pistachio Torte

This is the crust recipe: Preheat oven to 375o

Mix well with a fork or pastry cutter: 1 cup flour
2 Tablespooons powdered sugar
1 stick butter, but into pieces
1/2 cup chopped nuts, I use pecans
Press into a 9x13 pan, it fits the pan though it seems like barely enough dough to cover the bottom of the pan. Use your finger tips to pat the dough into the pan, completely covering the bottom of the pan.
Bake about 10-15 minutes, watch closely so it doesn't burn

Make the first layer to pour over the baked and cooled crust.
Mix 1 pkg of cream cheese, 8 ounce size, beat in 2/3 cup powdered sugar. Mix with a hand mixer until smooth. Fold in 1/2 of a large container of Cool Whip or store brand whipped topping.
Pour this over the baked crust and refrigerate as you make the last layer.

Last layer: Mix 2 small pkgs of pistachio instant pudding mix (or use 1 large) 2 1/2 cups of milk, Mix well and add 1 teaspoon almond extract. Fold in the remainder 1/2 container of Cool Whip. Pour over the previous filling and swirl with a spatula for decorative look.
Refrigerate preferably overnight, but can be made early in the day and served 5 hours later. It should be well chilled and served immediately after cutting serving sizes.

If you have a favorite recipe you would like to share, please email the recipe and I will include it in my blog.

Chocolate Pie (vintage recipe)

If you like a very rich chocolate pie, this recipe is smooth and rich in flavor.
I wouldn't be surprised if this recipe was at least 100 years old or at least as old as Hershey Chocolate cocoa powder is. My grandmother made this for my dad who was the youngest of 8 children and he is 90 years old. It was one of his favorite pies.

In a saucepan combine in this order, mixing ingredients well:

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Stir in very gradually 2 cups milk. (In other words stir in 1/2 cup milk and mix well, then add the remainder of the milk and stir until completely mixed.) Cook over low heat and stir constantly till thickened. Briefly remove from heat and stir in 3 well beaten egg yolks To keep your filling smooth pour a small amount of the chocolate filling over the beaten eggs and beat quickly, pour this into the remainder of chocolate filling in the saucepan,
stirring quickly or use a wisk to mix it well for a smooth creamy chocolate filling.
Cook on low heat for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Remove from stove, stir in 2 Tablespoons of butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Pour this chocolate filling into a baked pie crust and top with merangue.Bake in a 375o oven until merangue is lightly browned.

(If you prefer a whipped cream topping, allow the pie to cool and refrigerate first. Then top with whipped cream or add whipped cream to each slice of pie.

Merangue

3 egg whites beaten until stiff peaks form, it is very important that the bowl you
beat the egg whites in has no oil residue or the whites will not beat to the desired stiffness.

Gradually pour in 1/3 cup sugar, mixing thoroughly, last beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Spread the merangue over the chocolate filling, sealing the edges of merangue to the pie crust edges. The chocolate pie should be completely covered in merangue.