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Just Desserts: Cherry Cheese Pie

Starting a new category: Just Desserts

The Methodist Women's Cookbook I reference on my blog is a very interesting cultural time-capsule. The edition I have (which belonged to my paternal grandmother) is from 1967.

Many of the older recipes reflected a very rural flavor -- aimed at fully utilizing all the extra eggs and diary you would find on a family farm. The WWII-forward recipes show the wide-spread emergence of refrigeration. The 1960's was a time when you began to see more packaged and processed foods into the recipes -- rather than being from scratch. Convenience was the watchword.

First Up: Cherry Cheese Pie

  • 16 oz. Philly Cream Cheese (2 packages)
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 2 cups graham crackers crumbs*
  • 1/2 cup sugar*
  • 1/2 cup butter (melted)*
  • 1 can cherry pie filling

Pie crust: In a small bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press into a 9" pie pan. Refrigerate to set. *You can also get a pre-made graham cracker crust.

Filling: Allow cream cheese to soften, then mix with sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice. Beat until smooth.

Pour filling into pie crust and refrigerate for at least an hour to set.

Gently spoon pie filling on top and put back in the refrigerator to chill until ready to serve.


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