Here's an unusual pie recipe from Lois. This sounds like a good way to use up the end of season tomatoes before they ripen.

Green Tomato Pie

This pie is very much like apple, but better and really different.

425* for 15 mins. then 325* for 50 mins. more.

• about 1-1/4 lbs. very green tomatoes-not pink. Slice them in half and then with cut sides down, slice the halves very thinly. (about 4 cups very thinly sliced.)
• 3/4 c. seedless raisins, plumped.
• 1-1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind.
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice.
• 1 Tbs. cider vinegar.
• 1-1/2 c. sugar.
• 1/8 tsp. ginger.
• 1 tsp. cinnamon.
• 1/2 tsp. salt.
• 3 Tbs. flour.
• 1 or 2 Tbs. fine dry bread or cracker crumbs.
• 2 Tbs. margarine or butter.

Cut tomatoes in half and slice them almost paper thin. I keep raisins soaking in a little rum in a jar, so they are always plump. You could pour boiling water over them in a sieve to plump up if you don't want to use rum.

Drain well.

Put tomatoes, raisins and rind in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice and vinegar.

Mix sugar, ginger, cinnamon, salt and flour in a small bowl.

Line a large pie pan with dough. Sprinkle crumbs over bottom. Sprinkle about 1/3 c. of the sugar mixture over the crumbs.

Stir the rest of the sugar mixture into the tomatoes and heap into pan.

Dot with small pieces of the butter and top with crust.

Sprinkle the top with a little sugar and nutmeg if desired, looks nice. I often put 1/2 tsp. or so of nutmeg into the flour when I'm making the crust also.·

This summer-time desert cake is from my great Aunt. She really had some great desert recipes. It's easy to make, comes together in about 10-15 minutes and tastes GREAT!!! I make it for picnics, I hope you'll try it too.

• 60 Ritz crackers smashed to bits in a bag
• 1/4 c. softened butter
• 1/2 gal. French Vanilla Ice Cream melted, but not soupy (get good stuff)
• 2 small pks. instant coconut cream pudding mix (I don't care for coconut, therefore I use 1 pack vanilla and 1 pack banana cream, you use what you like)
• 1 1/4 c. cold whole milk
• 1 tub of whipped cream

Take about two thirds of the crushed crackers and add to the softened butter (start with less, you can always add more) and mix together until it forms a "wet" mix that can be pressed into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Mix the pudding into the milk and stir in the softened ice cream. Pour over the pressed cracker/butter crumbs. Cover the top with whipped cream and sprinkle the remaining cracker crumbs on top. It must be kept cold, and it's best if it sits an hour or so before served.

A wonderful cupcake for picnics, or anytime are "Black Bottom Cups". They are extremely popular in this area. They freeze well too. My favorite Aunt makes me a batch everytime she visits.

• 1 8oz package cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 6 oz. chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 c. pre-sifted flour
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. water
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Blend cream cheese, egg, 1/3 c. sugar and salt in a small bowl. Add chocolate chips and set aside. Combine 1 c. sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 tsp. salt. Stir in water, oil, vinegar, vanilla and beat until smooth. Batter is thin. Fill cupcake liners about 1/3 full. Spoon cream cheese mixture on top. Bake 30-35 minutes until cakes test done.

Fruit and Custard Pie

A great way to use summer fruit is in this pie. But it's versatile enough that you can make it when fresh fruit is not in season. It tastes great as it is, or it can be made low fat by choosing low fat ingredients. It should be kept refrigerated, travels well, and goes together quickly.

• 1 pint sour cream
• 1 box vanilla instant pudding (4 1/2 c. size)
• 1 graham cracker pie crust
• Summer fruits, whatever you like. I use peaches, strawberries, nectarines, grapes. If it's not summer, I use canned peaches, pears, etc.

Mix the sour cream and dry pudding together. Put the mixture into the pie shell. If you are using a lot of fruit, put custard in about 1/3 of the way, if you are using less fruit, put more custard in. Cut up the fruit and get creative arranging it on the top of the pie. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours before serving. Leftover custard makes a great dip for fruit.

Apis Cake

• 5 cups of flour
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 1/2 cups shortening
• Mix the above ingredients in lg. mixing bowl.
• Combine the following in a standard measuring cup:
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• drop of vinegar
• 1 egg

Beat with fork and fill cup with milk. Add to mixture. Form into small cakes and bake. 350 degrees for 40 min.

Shoe Fly Pie ( wet bottom )

• 11/2 C. molasses
• 11/2 C. water

Place molasses and water in pan and cook over low heat but don't boil.

Add 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda and mix well.

Crumbs:

• 41/2 C. sifted flour
• 2 C. sugar
• 1/2 C. butter or margarine

Divide liquid into 2 deep 9" pie plates. Place crumbs on top and press some of the crumbs into the liquid with finger.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 45 min.

Here's a recipe I get a lot of requests for. It's a local favorite, and it's pretty easy to make. Let me know what you think!

RED VELVET CAKE

Mix together and set aside:

• 2 oz. red food coloring
• 3 Tbsp. Nestles dry powder instant hot chocolate mix

In a large bowl, cream together:

• 1/2 c. Crisco shortning
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 whole eggs

Add the food coloring and chocolate mix and beat until creamy.

Add 1 cup of buttermilk alternately with 2 1/4 c. flour.

Add 1 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. vanilla.

Mix well.

Over the batter add: 1 tsp. baking soda and 1 Tbsp. vinegar. Let it fizz and then mix well.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until cake tests done.

This is great with buttercream icing, sour cream icing or cream cheese icing.

Here's a recipe for buttercream icing:

Using a mixer, cream together:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) margarine
• 1/2 c. Crisco shortning

Add:

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp. flour (1 Tbsp. at a time)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/3 c. room temperature milk

Beat well.

Very popular among the Pennsylvania Dutch are Apple Dumplings. We eat them anytime of the day, they're great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They freeze well, so make a lot.

• 4 c. flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 1.3 c. butter
• 1 1/3 c. milk
• 12 apples, peeled and cored, but leave it whole

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in the butter. Gradually add milk and work it gently with your hands until the dough holds together. Divide in half. Roll one half at a time into a circle like a pie dough. Cut into 6 wedges. Place a peeled and cored whole apple into the center and wrap with the dough. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until apples are soft. It's really good warmed, served with warm milk and sprinkled with sugar.

Here's a recipe I get a lot of requests for. Whoopie Pies, sometimes called Gobs. They're delicious, they travel well and freeze well too. Great for picnics, or kids lunches. I have two varieties, let me know if you have any others.

Cookies:

• 1 c. shortening
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. hot water with 2 tsp. baking soda
• 4 1/2 c. flour
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 c. cocoa
• 1 c. sour milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 or 2 shakes of salt

Filling:

• 1 c. milk
• 1 c. shortening
• 4 Tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 c. sugar

Mix cookie ingredients together. Batter is slightly thick so it can be dropped from a teaspoon. Drop onto cookie sheets into small rounds, trying to keep them roughly the same size. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet.

For the filling: cook together the milk and flour until thick. Place in a small bowl and add sugar, shortening and vanilla. Beat until spread-able.

Choose two cookies about the same size, spread some filling on one and place the other one on top, bottoms together.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

• 1 lb. box brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 sm. can solid pumpkin
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. each cinnamon,
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ginger and ground cloves
• 1 c. cooking oil

Cream together sugar and oil, add eggs and pumpkin. Gradually add sifted dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Drop by tablespoons on ungreased cookie sheet, trying to make them all the same size. Bake at 350 degrees 10-12 minutes.

Filling:

• 2 egg whites
• 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 Tbsp. milk
• 4 Tbsp. flour
• 1 c. shortening
• 1 lb. box powdered sugar

Combine ingredients and beat well. Add 1 lb. box of powdered sugar. Beat until fluffy. Grab 2 cookies about the same size, place filling on one and top with the other. Bottoms together.

WHOOPIE PIE FILLING

Lyn has a better tasting (less sweet) and less time consuming filling for Whoppie Pies. Thanks for passing it on Lyn.

• 2 egg whites
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 TB flour
• 4 TB milk
• 4 c. 10x sugar, devided in half
• 1 & 1/2 c. shortening

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add vanilla, flour, milk, and 2 cups of the 10x sugar. Then beat well.

In a separate bowl, cream together 2 cups of 10x sugar and the shortening until well blended and fluffy. Add this mixture to the egg whites and beat well. (Beat this for at least 5 min.)·

Potato Candy

This recipe is from Mrs. Huggard, as fast as she makes it, her family inhales it. It sounds like something the kids can get in on. It's very popular in this area but no one wants to give away their recipe.

Peel a potato , the size of it determines how much candy you make..i.e. a small one makes a smaller amount than of course a large. Boil the potato in water until it is very done. It should mush easily. In a bowl mash the drained potato add powdered sugar a 1/2 c. at a time and stir it into the potato. It will first turn liquid and then it will gradually get thicker. It takes a lot of powdered sugar for this. With a large potato you can easily use a 2lb bag. . When the mixture is too thick to stir with a fork, pour it on the counter that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. then knead in more powdered sugar until you have a thick white dough, kind of like play doh.

Roll this out into a large rectangle and spread it with peanut butter. Roll it up and slice it up. No need for refrigeration . Some people like to sprinkle coconut on it too.

Cheesecake

I've been getting a lot of requests for cheese cake. I don't think Dutch cooks make this a whole lot, but this is the recipe I have. If you have one that is unique, please feel free to email it to me and I'll add it here.

• 1 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 slightly beaten egg
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 c. whipping cream
• 5-8 oz. softened cream cheese

Combine 1 c. flour, 1/4 c. sugar, 1 tsp. lemon juice. Cut in butter until crumbly. Add 1 egg yolk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Mix and pat into bottom of a springform pan, not attached to the sides. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool. Butter the sides of the pan, attach to the bottom. Pat remaining dough 1 3/4" up the sides. Beat cream cheese until fluffy and add lemon juice and vanilla. Combine sugar, flour, and salt. Gradually blend into cheese mix. Add eggs and yolks one at a time, just blended. Gently stir in whipping cream. Pour into pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake 55 minutes longer. Cool on a rack for 30 minutes more, leaving the bottom of the pan on. Cool at room temp for 2 hours. Then chill.