12 Days of Christmas: Oreo Candy Cane Pie

Day 12: Oreo Candy Cane Pie This is what happens when my sister-in-law, Caroline, and I start dreaming up desserts. It's also what happens after Grammie makes candy cane ice cream (crushed candy canes mixed into vanilla ice cream) for dessert earlier in the week. We had a lot of ice cream left over, so what better thing to do than turn it into a pie? We started with an oreo cookie crust and spread the softened ice cream on top. Froze it and then added a layer of hot fudge topped with more crushed candy canes and froze it again. Peppermint and chocolate. Oreos and ice cream. Perfect! Then we enjoyed a piece of it every night after dinner for the past two nights. We also enjoyed some sweet victory over the guys in our Spades tournament.

Between all the deliciousness in the kitchen, the crazy card games and the eggnog latte drinking , we are having way too much fun with the kids.

Are you ready for Christmas? I hope this season finds you well. Ryan and I have spent some time discussing what exactly we want this holiday to look like for our kids. While it may be different from year to year, we are excited to teach them the true meaning of the season....a celebration of Christ's birth. Merry Christmas!

green tomato pie

After we pulled all the tomato plants out of the greenhouse we had an abundance of green tomatoes. Not really knowing what to do with them I started looking through my cookbooks. I found a recipe for green tomato pie. It had ingredients like brown sugar, melted butter, cloves, and cinnamon so I figured it couldn't be that bad. We were pleasantly surprised. It was really good. The tomatoes didn't really have a flavor, they just provided a texture and filling for the yummy fall spices. It almost tasted like apple pie. Mason helped me separate all the green tomatoes from the rest of the produce. Then he pulled them all off their vines while I chopped. He's such a good helper. Here is the pie before I added the top crust. I forgot to take pictures after I baked it. Give it a try.

Green Tomato Pie
From the Encyclopedia of Country Living

Cover 2 c. chopped green tomatoes (I used 3 1/2 becasue I wanted a really full pie) with water and bring to a boil. Drain. Add 1/2 c. brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. vinegar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 c. chopped raisins, 3 Tbsp. melted butter, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. cloves. Line a pie plate with a pie crust. Add filling. Put on a top crust and cut holes in the center. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes.


It's shaping up to be a pretty nice weekend. Ryan and I, along with the kiddos, spent the morning stacking firewood and coating beams for a shed that Ryan and his dad are building tomorrow. It was beautiful outside. Mason kept running back and forth between helping me with the wood and watching Ryan paint. The roosters crowed at us the entire time. Then I met a friend at the park and we went out to lunch. It was nice to get out while Ryan headed to the big city to get supplies for tomorrow. Then we topped it off with homemade pizza for dinner and chai vanilla pudding for dessert. I love the weekends!