A Day Of Prep

The Kimbles are hosting Easter Dinner tomorrow, so today was my day for preparation.  Of course, you can't face a day of cooking without first eating a good breakfast, so per the kids' request, Darrin made Easter Bunny pancakes. 

Then, Ben made his own list of the things he needed to tackle today:

On my list:  Make 2 Lemon Cheese Pies, make homemade corn syrup substitute (for ham and marshmallows), make marshmallows, make macaroons, do laundry, change sheets.  Get haircut.  Here is Lia with me during my haircut:

So, this could possibly be the best thing I've ever baked:  chocolate dipped macaroons.  Yum!

But here is a recipe I wanted to share:  Lemon Cheese Pie.  This recipe was given to me by my mother in law, and our family loves it.  Do not be tempted to use a store bought graham cracker crust with artificial ingredients - a homemade crust is super easy!  The recipe below is for one pie, but I doubled it today so I could make two pies at once.

Lemon Cheese Pie

Graham Cracker Crust:

1-1/2 cups crushed graham crackers (about 12 crackers, I used a food processor to finely crush, but you could do it by hand)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted

In a small bowl (or electric mixer bowl) mix the ingredients well.  Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" pie plate.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes before filling, or bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack before filling.  (I just put mine in the refrigerator while I made the filling and topping.)

Lemon Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla

Mix ingredients well and pour into prepared crust.

Lemon Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
2-1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 egg yolk
1 tblspn butter

Mix sugar and cornstarch in medium saucepan.  Add other ingredients except butter and cook on medium heat until thickened (about 5 minutes).  Add the butter, remove from heat.  Pour over top of Lemon Filling. 

Refrigerate the pie for two hours until set. 

This recipe is sure to be a crowd pleaser, and it's so light and refreshing - just the right amount of lemon. 

Now, I'm off to make the dough for tomorrow's rolls, and something tells me the Easter Bunny is due to arrive soon to fill the Easter baskets for the kids.  So glad I had a full day to prepare, tomorrow will be just a little less work.