Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood: Stories and Recipes to Share With Family and Friends (20 page)

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter until fully combined. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie plate. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix the condensed milk, lemon juice, zest, and egg yolks. Pour the mixture into the crust.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the sugar until stiff peaks form.

Spread the meringue over the pie and seal to the edge of the crust. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the meringue browns slightly. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

FROM GWEN:
Be sure to watch the pie while it’s baking. Meringue can burn quickly.

I tell people who are afraid to cook because they think it’s too hard to start with something simple, like baking cookies.
It’s a good way to get your culinary feet wet, and it’s fun. My experience has taught me that even a cookie that turns out badly is usually good! Once you get the hang of it, you might move to the hard stuff, like
Mama’s Never-Fail Divinity
.

We’re all called upon from time to time to take something to a bake sale or fund-raiser. The next time you’re asked, before you are tempted to buy a box of cookies from the grocery store, try one of these recipes. Surprise yourself and your friends!

Counterclockwise from bottom left:
Jennifer’s Iced Sugar Cookies
,
Lizzie’s Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies
,
Venita’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
,
Mamie’s Teacakes
,
Lemon Squares
, and
Thumbprint Cookies

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until combined. Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients, one spoonful at a time, until thoroughly combined. Add the vanilla. Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roll out half of the dough at a time, keeping the remainder of the dough in the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a ¼-inch thickness and cut it into desired shapes with a cookie cutter. Place the cutout cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for a few minutes before baking. This will help the cookies retain their shape. (You can roll out the scraps to make a few more cookies.) Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until just before the edges of the cookies start to brown. Cool the cookies for 1 to 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

In a medium bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and warm water with a wire whisk. Stir until the icing is smooth. Adjust the consistency of the icing by adding more confectioners’ sugar or more water, as needed. Add food coloring, if desired, to the icing. Spread the icing on the cooled cookies and then top with assorted sprinkles and candies.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the shortening, cream cheese, and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and almond extract. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt, and stir into the shortening mixture. When thoroughly mixed, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Shape the dough into 1½-inch balls, roll the balls in the chopped pecans, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the baked cookies from the oven while still warm, and use your finger or a wooden spoon handle to make a “thumbprint” in the center of each cookie. Fill the indentation with the icing. Transfer the cookies to wire racks for cooling.

FROM BETH:
Ask your children to make the actual “thumbprints” in the cookies.

Cream the shortening and sugar. Add the egg yolk and vanilla. Mix well.

Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture and milk alternately to the shortening mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the dough into two halves. To one half, add the chocolate, mixing thoroughly. Wrap both sections of dough in separate pieces of plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

Unwrap and roll each half of dough between 2 pieces of waxed paper. Roll to a ⅛-inch thickness. Remove the waxed paper from the top of each layer of dough. Place the white layer on top of the chocolate layer, and roll up carefully as you would a jellyroll, using the waxed paper to roll smoothly. Wrap the roll with the waxed paper and chill overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day, preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut the roll into ¼-inch slices (
see Note
) and place about ½ inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes. Do not brown. Remove carefully with a pancake turner and cool on racks.

Fruitcake Cookies

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Grease a cookie sheet.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Cream the butter and sugar, then gradually add the eggs. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, blending well. Mix the fruits and pecans in a large bowl, then pour the batter over them. Fold the fruit into the batter by hand, mixing well. Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until done.