Blueberry Vanilla Cream Pie

This recipe was created when I was trying to decide what to do with my farmer's market blueberries. The past two weeks I got them, I ate them as is - wonderful, sweet, blue, and delicious. But by now, I'd grown kind of sick of the natural state and wanted something more. So I decided to ask facebook: blueberry muffins or blueberry pie. I quickly realized muffins were the cop-out recipe.

So pinterest helped me find a basic vanilla cream pie. I had made a delicious cadbury pie for easter - which I could not find the recipe no matter how much I searched that used only a few basic ingredients.... here is the wonderful picture, it was so good. Wish I knew how I made it.

So with a quick search on the best website on earth, yes- I mean pinterest - I found this fabulous winner of a recipe: http://www.simplyorganic.com/vpie/ .

I modified it a bit by using a pre-made frozen pie crust in a pan and adding 1 cup of blueberries, som at the bottom and then after it was ready more on top, but I want to give credit where credit is due and rather than claiming it as my own, just go find the filling recipe on their page instead. :) I also subbed soymilk and it came it just as good as I think it would with real milk.

[[And before I go on blogging - I am going to justify my use of pre-made pie crust pans. They are the most affordable at Walmart, more than the pie crusts in a box that you have to spread out yourself. I'm also capable of making them from scratch, as my Aunt taught me years ago (the trick is cold water, I'll never forget, and the pastry whisk).... but I don't really have time and I wouldn't make pie so often if I always had to make a crust from scratch. I know you can freeze them, but well, I'm a grad student. No time for that and at $2.25 a package of 2 pie crusts, I'm saving money and time. So there, I rationalized enough to make myself feel better about cheating my way through pie crust-making.]] But I really can do it.

Blueberry Vanilla Cream Pie - perfect for the Fourth of July, just add strawberries!

Elvis Presley Ice Cream

Ever since I received an ice cream make as a gift from our wedding, I've been so excited to play around with recipes for ice cream.

I immediately started pinning recipes I was interested in: cinnamon, green tea, espresso, etc. But up to this point, I have only mastered vanilla. I even had a month long upset where none of my ice cream was setting properly. Thanks to google and troubleshooting, I finally realized after 3 messed up batches that my freezer wasn't cold enough and I needed to change the settings and it helps to refrigerate your ice cream recipe overnight before to make sure it is as cold as possible too.

Here is the ice cream maker I have that can be purchased at Crate and Barrel:

It comes with a little recipe booklet, but like most of my recipes, after a few delicious batches, I tend to try and improve them. I was sick of using such heavy cream and worried about putting on some extra pounds if I was eating a whole thing of ice cream each weekend with hubby. It's important to keep in mind that homemade ice cream is more liquid than solid, since it is made without the preservatives, atleast that's what the instruction booklet says. It's pretty darn good, I must say.

Basic Vanilla:
2 cup soy milk
1 cup half and half (it's cheaper than cream)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
Mix together and refrigerate overnight for best results to chill thoroughly.

Elvis Ice Cream with Peanut Butter, Banana, Honey, and Cinnamon Recipe:
1. After the vanilla is churned for 15 minutes in the machine, add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon.
2. Then add 2 tablespoons of honey.
3. Then add 1/4 cup of peanut butter (try not to use one with alot of sugar since it already calls for it in this recipe, I had a natural almond butter that I used)
4. Add half a chopped banana.
5. Allow to churn for 15 minutes total.
6. Serve and top with remaining 1/2 of banana.

If only I remembered to top it with some fresh mint then the picture would be perfect. I'm still working on my photography skills. It came out perfectly peanut butter, with a hint of honey and cinnamon, and a perfect creamy texture. The soy works out well even when not using whole milk. It might be a bit thicker with whole milk but I prefer soy. So work with what you've got. Enjoy!