We have a winner in the first week of the Great Pie Prize Giveaway, but you must finish the blog to discover her name (and yes, it is a her) and entry. If you haven’t yet entered, why not? You can find details on rules and prizes here and here, and it’s both simple and fun.

We have three more gift boxes filled with pie goodies to give away, with winners chosen randomly each Friday in June. Plus on July 1st (2011) the grand prize giveaway of either a Kindle from Amazon or a Breville Pie Maker from Williams-Sonoma (subject to availability). Entries accepted through June 30^th so why not enter now for more chances at prizes?

I’ve enjoyed reading the entries so much, both the recipes and the anecdotes. Today and every Friday I’ll share a few for you to enjoy, too.

This recipe from Gale in Newfoundland sounds like a winner. It comes from a pie cookbook, Company’s Coming, that she gave her mother. When her mother passed away, the cookbook came back to Gale, and this recipe became a favorite.

Japanese Fruit Pie

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine melted and cooled
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp vinegar

Unbaked 9 inch pie shell (Gale uses Pillsbury)

Beat eggs in mixing bowl until frothy. Beat in sugar and butter.
Add next 5 ingredients. Stir.
Pour into pie shell. Bake on bottom shelf in 350 degrees oven about 40 minutes until set.

Gale says it’s super easy to make and the combination of coconut and raisins make this a winner any time. Emilie says it sounds scrumptious.

Susan from Pennsylvania sent this recipe for Strawberry Pie. I’ll let her tell the story.

“I happened to be at Burkholder Fabrics in Denver, PA (Lancaster County region) shopping for quilt fabrics, of course, where a lovely Mennonite woman, named Lorraine works. She was serving one of her Strawberry pies to a group of women who come up from Virginia every year to shop & have Lorraine’s homemade pies. Lorraine had an extra pie for sale that day & I bought it of course! It was sensational! Lorraine was generous enough to share her recipe with me & several other women. I make this pie with fresh strawberries every year. Today is Memorial Day & I made it again to share with my family at our Memorial Day Barbeque!”

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Filling:
3/4 cup of sugar
3 heaping tablespoons of Clear Gel–cooked type
1 cup water
4 tablespoons strawberry Jello
1-2 quarts of fresh strawberries

Whipped cream–save for topping the pie

Cook the sugar, Clear Gel and water together until very thick and; turning clear. Then add 4 tablespoons of strawberry Jello, mix well and cool. Then stir in 1-2 quarts of fresh strawberries.

Crust:

4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cup Crisco
1 egg
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 cup hot water

Mix first four ingredients together until crumbly. Mix vinegar, egg and hot water together, then add to crumbly mix. Roll out the dough and place it in a pie plate, cook until golden.

Let cool, then add the strawberry filling and top with whipped cream.

(Emilie makes this pie crust, and it’s the easiest and most foolproof out there, although it DOES have a lot of Crisco in it. Be warned, this recipe makes four single crusts or two double, but the extra can be divided and frozen for your next pies.)

And finally, here’s a link to our randomly selected winner’s recipe. Nancy says this about this yummy Apple-Cranberry Pie recipe:

“I make a lot of pies at Christmas time, and my absolute favorite is the apple pie with cranberries that I first tasted while visiting my grandmother-in-law with my husband.

I had never had it before, and she was a REALLY great pie maker. She was so matter-of-fact about it. She just got the recipe off the package of fresh cranberries in the grocery store. It was soooo good.

I never found the recipe on a cranberry package, but Pillsbury had one on the inside of their prepackaged piecrust boxes. That very Christmas, I made it and served it to the family and it was a BIG hit in my house, so much so, that now EVERY family get together, that is my assigned item to bring. I don’t even have to ask anymore what I am to bring.”

Congratulations, Nancy, and thank you for this wonderful link.  Your prize box will be mailed next week.  What are the rest of you waiting for?