Fun Monday - I Am Really Not a Cook

Lisa, The Food Snob, hostess of this week's Fun Monday, challenge asks us appropriately asks to share a favorite recipe.

I do not claim to be much of a cook. My husband, Daddy D, will eat anything. I am a somewhat picky eater, but I do not usually care what we ingest. Although neither of us is suffering from malnutrition, we follow the old adage of "eating to live rather than living to eat." My cooking frequently consists of warming up something or ordering from the fast food attendant. However, I do throw together one dish that seems to receive rave reviews. My dish is Molly's Cranberry Pie. I first prepared this pie for our pastor and bride-to-be. He enjoyed the pie so much that I was paid this high compliment , "Molly is no Martha Stewart, but she makes the best cranberry pie." With such high praise of not living up to standards set by a felon, I started making the pie frequently. I would like to show you a picture of the pie, but I could not find cranberries to make a pie for this Fun Monday. I guess it is early in the season for the cranberry crop. When I do find cranberries, I buy several bags and freeze the tart berries so that I can make pies throughout the year.

Molly’s Cranberry Pie
· 3 cups cranberries, washed and sorted
· 1 cup raisins (golden raisins make a prettier filling)
· 1 cup light brown sugar
· 1/2 cup water
· 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
· 1/4 cup orange juice
· 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 2 tablespoons butter
· 9” pie crust
Preheat oven to 450° F.
In a large, heavy saucepan, combine all ingredients except vanilla and butter, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and, stirring frequently, gently boil the mixture for 10 to 15 minutes, until it thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
Pour filling into an unbaked, pastry-lined 9-inch pie shell, and dot with butter.
Top with Walnut Cinnamon Crumb Topping.
Bake at 450° F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° F and bake 35 minutes more or until golden brown.

Walnut Cinnamon Crumb Topping

· 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
· 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
· 3 tablespoons of butter
· chopped walnuts
· 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Using a pastry blender in a medium-sized mixing bowl, cut the butter into the flour
and sugar mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.