Thanksgiving Teacher Appreciation Mini Pies Thank You and Printable

 Yesterday I posted this Thanksgiving teacher mini pie gift on Instagram. I had a few people ask about how to get the tag. So I decided that I needed to put it on the blog so that people could get it easily.

I made this "We aPIEciate You" tag in PicMonkey for our teachers. I specified it for them and the fact that the PTO was giving it to them. I have now made a few more generic options for those not thanking from a PTO and for those not thanking teachers specifically. There is a single option of each tag (which you can right click and save to your computer), a sheet of the teacher tags (not from PTO), and a blank one with instructions on how to personalize it.

I tied each tag to a mini mason jar pie. These were pumpkin pecan made from THIS recipe. I quadrupled the recipe for the filling for 32 jars and tripled the topping. You could also attach a big ol' pie if it was for one person. You could buy those mini wrapped pies instead of making jar pies. Possibilities are endless.

Teacher/PTO one.

Sheet of Teacher/PTO tags.

PRINT HERE

Teacher/no PTO.

Teacher/no from printable.

PRINT HERE

Thank You Blank.

Okay so for the blank one. Here is how you personalize it.

After you have downloaded the image onto your computer, go to PicMonkey. Under the edit, choose the computer icon. Then select the saved image.

It should look like this.

The font you need is Chunk Five. Add Text.

Make the word of the person you are thanking fit. Also make sure your caps are on. Add spaces or increase the text size to fit the space.

Change the color to 8e0500 in the text edit box.

If you want to add a from, then type the text you want and adjust color and size.

Then you can save and print it off. Woot.

Hope that make sense and that this makes thanking a teacher for Thansgiving easy peasy!

Lemon Cheesecake Pie

Oh Lemon Cheesecake Pie, you had me at Lemon AND Cheesecake AND Pie.

Oh,  AND again at lemons, just so you know how much I love lemons.

The lemons have come out to play!! Can you sense that Spring is in the air and that Summer is nipping at its heels?

 I am pretty excited about this pie. I am excited that I made it. I am excited that it was pretty. I am ecstatic that I got to eat it...well not the whole pie...just a piece...or two...

When I was growing up I would pick a piece of pie over a piece of cake any day. My pie of choice was Marie Callender's Sour Cream Lemon Pie. We didn't have it often, which made it that much more special.

This isn't a knock off recipe for that pie. While I sure loved that Sour Cream Lemon Pie, it was missing two of my favorite things. That would be a good graham cracker crust and some cheesecake.

Well, don't worry (cause I know you were) this Lemon Cheesecake Pie takes care of that. Bam graham cracker crust and cheesecake meet yourselves some lemon.

Go ahead and fall in love.

I won't judge you if you lick the screen right now.

Now after you lick the screen, you probably should make the pie because the screen might look as pretty as the real thing, but it won't actually taste like pie. Just in case you didn't know that. Hehehe.

Now go get your lemon on and start enjoying nicer weather!

Lemon Cream Cheese Pie
adapted from Top Secret Recipes

crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 Tablespoons sugar

cheesecake filling:
1-8oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

lemon filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
pinch salt
1 cup water
2 egg yolks
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in a bowl. Then press the mixture into a pie pan. Set aside.

Prepare the cheesecake filling mix by combining the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg with a mixer. Mix well until smooth. Pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes until center is set and cooked.

Let the pie cool while preparing the lemon filling.

For the lemon filling start by combining the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and water in a small saucepan. Bring it to a simmer over low heat, stirring frequently.

Whisk in egg yolk. Then add in the lemon juice and butter. Keep stirring. Once the mixture simmers immediately remove it from the heat. Pour the lemon filling over the cream cheese filling. Let the pie cool.

Once the pie is cool, chill the pie for at least 3 hours.

Serve with whipped cream.

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

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Red White and Blue Guest Post: Mini Patriotic Pies

Don't forget to enter the

Albion $100 gift card giveaway.

 

I am very happy to be apart of Sugar Bee Crafts fun and patriotic Red, White, and Blue Series.

I am sharing how to make these Mini Patriotic Pies.

They are perfectly yummy little pies. Each pie filled with RED cherry filling and BLUEberry filling. Then each little pie is topped with their own little fancy crust.

They are the perfect little portable treat for any 4th of July party. Well really they are quite perfect for any Summer backyard barbeque or picnic.

They are quite the little showstoppers, and guess what they are just about the easiest thing to make EVER.

Here is what you need:

4 oz Jelly Jars (aka the teeniest tiniest canning jars)
canned pie filling
2 packages of refrigerated pie crust
egg white (for crust)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Spray the jars lightly with cooking spray.

Next line each jar with pie crust.

Each pie crust piece will line 4 jars, so one package will line 8 jars. Tear off a quarter and push it down in the jar. Smoosh and smooth it out in the jar. Make sure the inside of the jar is completely covered. Push out any air pockets.

Fill the crust lined jars with several scoops of the pie filling of your juice. Fill to the rim, but not heaping over.

Take the other package of pie crust and use one sheet to top the pies.

Using one of the rings from the jars, cut out rounds for the top.

For the BLUEberry pies I took the end of a straw and created a polka dot pattern. For the RED cherry pies I cut the round into slits and then wove the strips.

Then I crimped the tops closed and cut off any excess with a knife.

Next brush the tops of each pie with the egg white. Then sprinkle the tops with sugar.

Bake the pies for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden.

Don't they look good enough to eat?

Oh wait, they are...

Yup, they were good enough to eat. They were good enough to lick the little bitty jars clean.

Once you have eaten one...or two little jar pies, let the rest cool. Tie some patriotic baker's twine around the jar. Pack them away and carry them with you to your 4th of July picnic/bbq.

Thanks Mandy for letting me join

your Red, White, and Blue Series.

It gave me the perfect excuse to bake myself a sweet treat!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

I heart a good chocolate chip cookie...and man do I heart it when it comes in pie form.

I first stumbled upon this pie when Oldest was a baby. A friend gave me the recipe to make for an activity. I remember thinking the whole time it was baking, "Man, when is that done because if it tastes as good as it smells...well then I am going to eat the whole thing".

The thing I love about this pie is that it is not a dry cookie consistency. This pie is a delightful mixture between cookie and cookie dough (you all know how I feel about cookie dough). Oh the ooey-gooey-ness of it all. Top it with some milk chocolate chips and a scoop of vanilla ice cream and hold on to your seats.

This is an easy, delicious, crowd-pleasing pie...go ahead make yourself one.



Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie


2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cups chopped walnuts
1 frozen 9-inch pie shell


Take pie shell out of freezer. Preheat oven to 325. In a the bowl of your mixer beat eggs until foamy. Add sugars and mix well. Add butter and vanilla until well blended. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into pie shell. Bake for 1 hour. The pie should be golden brown and a toothpick should come out mostly clean.


Let it stand alone or match it with vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmmmm....so good.