Springtime Tortilla Roll-Ups

So it's not Spring but I saw this sandwich type thing and thought it looked really yummy...


The Recipe:
For the herb spread
1 package whipped cream cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
2 green onions, chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

For the tortilla roll-ups
8 flour tortillas
8 romaine leaves
1 small zucchini, julienned
1 red pepper, halved, seeded and julienned
1 yellow pepper, halved, seeded and julienned
2 small carrots, peeled and julienned

1. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, parsley, dill, green onions, salt and pepper. Lightly spread some cream cheese mixture over the tortillas.

2. Layer romaine leaves, zucchini, some pepper strips and carrots on top.

3. Roll the filled tortillas up tightly.

4. Wrap the roll-up tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

5. Slice the tortillas, on an angle, into 1-inch strips.

My Experience:
These are a nice little snack. If you don't like the peppers or any other kind of the vegetables, I also had these sandwiches with just julienned cucumber.

I didn't use fresh parsley and dill, I cheated and used the bottled stuff. Still works :)

You can also add or vary the fillings with: alfalfa sprouts, strips of roasted pepper, very thin slices of ham, turkey or roast beef, strips of green onions, thin strips of cheese, sprigs of parsley.

The spread on it's own with crackers like melba toast or something is pretty good too if you have left overs.

The Ratings:
My rating: 9/10

Lemon Meringue Pie

MY FAVORITE! I love me some lemon pie :) There was no way I was not making a lemon meringue pie for Thanksgiving!!!

The Recipe:
1 box of Shirriff Lemon Pie Filling
2 eggs
1/3 cup cold water
2 cups boiling water
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup sugar

Filling

1. In a saucepan mix 2 slightly beaten egg yolks and 1/3 cup cold water with contents of one pouch.

2. Add 2 cups boiling water.

3. Cook over medium heat (not higher); stirring constantly.

4. When bubbles first break the surface, continue to boil and stir for 30 seconds.

5. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tbsp butter.



6. Cool 5 minutes, stirring twice. Pour into BAKED, cooled 9" pie shell (baking instructions are on pie shell package...)



Meringue

1. Beat 2 egg whites until soft peaks form.

2. Gradually beat in 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form.

3. Top pie with meringue and bake at 350F until golden, about 12 minutes.

4. Cool before serving.



My Experience:
So tip: make sure you keep the egg white and yolk separate. If there is any yellow in the whites for the meringue... IT WONT WORK!! Make sure you use an egg separator or be really careful.

Any left over lemon filling is also good just on its own as a pudding type snack.

The Ratings:
Papa's rating: 10/10
Nannie's rating: 9/10
Dad's rating: 10/10 (also Dad's favorite)
Kathie's rating: 8/10
Bill's rating: 9/10
My rating: 10/10

Pumpkin Pie

Well I think it's about to time I start to post my thanksgiving recipes. I wanted to start with the most important thanksgiving dish in my family... the pumpkin pie. And no, it's not homemade. I basically followed the recipe on the side of the pumpkin can.

The Recipe:
2 eggs
1/2 can (28 oz/796 mL) E.D.SMITH® PURE PUMPKIN
1 cup (250 mL) packed brown sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground ginger
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) evaporated milk
1 (9-inch/23 cm) unbaked home-made or frozen deep dish pie shell

1. Beat eggs lightly in medium bowl.

2. Add E.D.SMITH® PURE PUMPKIN, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt - stir until well combined. Blend in milk.



3. Pour filling in pie shell.





4. Bake at 425ºF (220ºC) 15 minutes.

5. Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC) and continue baking 30-35 minutes longer or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean.

6. Cool.



My Experience:
Yummy pie. Of course we (and by we I mean my Aunt Kathie) also made homemade whipped cream by using whipping cream and sugar. Tip: put the mixing beaters and bowl in the freezer. Supposedly it whips better? Ps: check out this site for a similar recipe http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/cooking/ht/whippedcream.htm

I actually made a larger sized pie so I multiplied the recipe by 1/2 and grandma is just going to use the left over pumpkin to make muffins or something.

I just used a pre-made pie shell. Didn't have time for that much effort. Maybe I'll try another time.

And unfortunately I kind of burnt the edges of the crust :( Mom said it didn't matter because she doesn't eat the crust anyways. This happened probably because I had to cook longer than expected since the pie was larger and the filling hadn't finished cooking. So I would suggest sticking to the original recipe. Maybe that will work better...

The Ratings:
Mom's rating: 9/10
Kathie's rating: 9/10
My rating: 9/10

(the whipped cream got a unanimous 10/10!)