Frugal Foodie Friday - When the Corn is as High as an Elephants Eye

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...One of the great delights of living in the part of Oregon that I call home, is our proximity to truck farms and orchards. While our weather, of late, has been wildly unpredictable, local farmers have had a great summer and the bins at farm stands are sagging under the weight of this year's harvest. Each summer,  the Silver Fox and I make a pilgrimage to our favorite farms for fruit and produce to put by  for the winter ahead. This is very picturesque country and the journey takes us into valleys where the clock seems to tick more slowly and the eye captures a panorama that rotates and changes  at a slower pace than the cities that surround it. We count ourselves especially blessed because many of these farmers sell their produce in forms that are near-ready for the kettle or the freezer. If I'm willing to buy in quantity, I can purchase pitted cherries, cut beans and corn that is scraped from cobs before my very eyes.  Many of these farmers are also willing to share old family recipes with customers they consider to be regulars. One of the places we frequent each year is Hentze Family Farm and I want to pass their recipe for frozen corn casserole on to you tonight. I make it at this time of year, but I hide four bags of it the back of my freezer for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. The recipe is simple and I thought it would be perfect addition to my Frugal Foodie Friday recipe collection. I hope those of you who can buy corn in bulk will give the recipe a try. Here is how the freezer version of corn casserole is made.

Blueberry Ice Cream Pie

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...As a bride, and for a goodly number of years thereafter, I'd spend hours in the kitchen preparing complicated meals for folks who might or might not enjoy them. It took me a while to accept the fact that some people live to eat while others eat to live, and it took me longer still to realize that I could not change the minds or habits of either group. So, while I cringed at first, I eventually begin to serve chili and pot roast to those with simpler tastes and allowed myself an occasional shortcut when I thought it would not be noticed or affect the quality of the food I was preparing. Tonight's dessert is an example of what I call my "rationalized" cooking technique. This recipe originally appeared in Better Homes and Gardens magazine in the more complicated form that appears below. I've simplified it to make it workable in the small cottage kitchen we rent for the summer months. While the almond crust in the original recipe is delicious, it is a bit of a production that is not workable in a small and poorly equipped kitchen. The solution? Substitute a ready made vanilla or graham cracker crust for the more complicated one used in the original recipe. I also freeze each layer before the next is added to assure that clear layers are formed and that the filling elements remain separated. At first glance, the recipe appears complicated. That is not the case, and while this is not a difficult dessert to prepare, it does require substantial amounts of time in the freezer. It can't be considered a last minute preparation. I even return the pie to the freezer once the final topping is in place to assure clean slices when the pie is cut. I find that the top layer bleeds if it is not frozen. As with most ice cream desserts, this one should be moved from the freezer to the refrigerator about an hour before you plan to serve it. I must tell you, that even in its simplified form this dessert is a crowd pleaser. Those of you who try either version of the pie will be happy with the results and the compliments you garner when it is served. Here is how this warm weather treat is made.