Ripe Grape Pie

I am always looking for ways to use up fruit that doesn't get eaten because in this house fruit frequently goes to waste. I often make banana bread with overripe bananas but I never know what to do with grapes. I had 4 cups of uneaten green grapes in my fridge. Usually, I would just throw them away. These days, no one wants to waste money, especially on food. So I did some research and found this recipe for Ripe Grape Pie. It sounded pretty good. I used some of the suggested changes that I found in the comments on the www.allrecipes.com website. I didn't want to peel the skin off the grapes nor did I really want to sieve the pulp so I just cooked the grapes whole with 1/3 cup of water for about 20 minutes. I added an extra tablespoon of flour at the end to absorb the extra water. I also added a few strawberries for color. I threw the whole thing into my food processor to puree it. You could add a few blueberries or raspberries for color and flavor. If you left the berries whole, it would probably give the pie a nice consistency.

RIPE GRAPE PIE

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups seedless grapes
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Wash fully ripened grapes. Separate the grape pulp and skins. In a sauce pan over medium heat cook grape pulp slowly until soft. Rub cooked pulp through a sieve. Combine the sieved pulp and grapes skins.

Mix the flour and sugar together and add to grape mixture. Stir in the melted butter and pour into one 9 inch unbaked pie shell. Cover top with strips of pastry. You can make a lattice pattern if desired.

Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for about 25 minutes.

Try this pie when you have some left-over mushy grapes in your fridge. I am sure you could use red or purple grapes, too.

The Creative Cook

Blanket-in-A-Pig

Are you getting tired of us making recipes from Rachel Ray's Cooking Rocks! Cookbook? I don't know about you, but I sure am. I think D needs a new cookbook.

This is the first recipe from that cookbook the D didn't care for. He had two pieces and declined to have any more. Both B and I liked them and ate 3 each! Go figure?? It was very easy to make. The age category is from 7 - 11 years and I think that is appropriate. I couldn't imagine an easier recipe for any kid to make.

Blanket-in-A-Pig

Makes 8 pieces


1 can soft bread stick dough (available in the dairy case)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, Parmigiano Reggiano or Romano cheese, eyeball it
2 tablespoons honey, eyeball it
2 tablespoons deli-style mustard, such as Guldens
8 slices smoked or honey ham or smoked turkey or honey roast

Preheat oven according to the directions on the package of soft bread sticks. Open the bread stick package and separate the sticks. Pour the grated cheese onto a plate. Roll each bread stick in cheese, pressing lightly to make it stick. Place the bread sticks on a nonstick baking sheet and continue baking according to package instructions. Remove from oven when golden (10 to 12 minutes, depending on brand) and allow the soft bread sticks to cool slightly.

Mix the honey and mustard in a small bowl. Lay out 4 slices of meat on a work surface and spread each with honey-mustard. Place a bread stick on one end of the deli slice and wrap and roll the meat up and around the bread stick. Repeat with remaining 4 bread sticks.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook