Good Easter Saturday morning to everyone! A typical Saturday before Easter at the Berst house would be spent prepping for Easter dinner, where we typically would host 15 to 20+ family members. It is a wonderful time where young and old come together to share a meal, visit, play cards, and sometimes partake in the easter egg hunt outside. Personally, I think the adults have more fun hiding the eggs from the younger ones! Some folks may say “Oh that is a lot of work hosting dinner”, but we have been doing it for so long now, it’s really not bad at all. Our children are grown and we equally can cook and clean for the day. The families just want to get together to see each other and catch up, so we are just providing the space.

The toughest part is choosing the main dishes, what vegetable and what side to have, and how many different kinds of pies! The others always bring a dish to share as well. We depend on Aunt Lori to bring her creamed corn, which has butter, cream cheese, and american cheese, oh my! It is good we only eat this just a few times a year! My sister-in-law Marlys will often bring a “new recipe” side, and it always turns out. I don’t know how she does it! My brother Matt and his wife Heidi will bring homemade bread and desert. They may be a young couple, but they know how to bake! Niece Tamara is the creative one, and whatever she brings will be beautiful and delicious. Our Aunt Della used to bring pies and kolaches, but her health has been failing, so we are just happy to see her. Because of her poor health, this year we will be eating at a restaurant close to her so she does not need to travel to our home which is almost an hour for her and her son. This is our Aunt Della a few years ago with her pies. Notice how the pecans are positioned, and don’t we love her sweater!

In my Saturday Snippet blog we talked about the pies we made that day, and as stated here are those recipes.

Pie Crust
4 cup Flour
1 1/3 cup Lard
1/4 cup sugar
Salt
Ice Water
Mix flour, lard, salt and sugar until it crumbles, I use a pastry blender. Add about 1/4- 1/8 cup ice water at a time and gently toss with a fork until mixture clings together. The dough can be used for crust now, but it is best to from the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and cool and then roll out for crust. Recipe credit, Frieda Mhim, “St. Lucas Catholic Church Cookbook”
Tips:
-I will only use beef or pork lard from our locker (Polashek’s in Protivin), not the lard that is on the store shelf at the grocery store, and I don’t use butter either.
-The less you mix and handle the dough, the more flaky it will be.

Coconut Cream Pie
2 cups milk
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut
2 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
In a saucepan, heat milk and coconut (be careful not to scorch). In a mixing bowl, beat egg yolks; stir in a small amount of hot milk mixtures. Add sugar, cornstarch and salt; beat until no lumps remain.
Add to the saucepan with remaining milk mixture. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly (again, do not scorch). Remove from the heat and pour into baked pie crust. While filling is still hot. top with meringue. Recipe credit, Peggy Milton, “Our Iowa” magazine
Meringue
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
5 large egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Bring the water and corn starch to a simmer in a small saucepan and cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened and translucent, one to two minutes. Set aside off the heat to cool slightly.
Combine the sugar and cream of tartar in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites and vanilla together with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until foamy, about one minute. Increase the mixer speed to medium high, add the sugar mixture, one tablespoon at a time, and whip the whites until shiny and soft peaks form, one to three minutes. Add the corn starch mixture, one tablespoon at a time, and continue to whip the meringue to stiff peaks, one to three minutes longer.
Immediately distribute the meringue evenly around the edge and the center of the pie, attaching the meringue to the pie crust to prevent shrinking, use the back of a spoon to create attractive swirls and peaks in the meringue. Bake until the meringue is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool the pie on a wire rack until filling has set, about two hours. Recipe credit, “The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2017.”
Tell us about your meringue recipe and any tips you have for others to make turn out just right!

Now, come Easter Monday we will be back to work longarm quilting. Contact me if I can help you complete your quilt!