Apple Pie

Use rather tart apples. Peel, core and slice very thin. Arrange apples in a pastry lined pie plate. Mix 1/2 teaspoonful of ground nutmeg with 1/2 cup of sugar; sprinkle over the apple and break 1 tablespoonful of butter into bits and dot over the top. Adjust top crust, place in a hot oven, reduce the heat in ten minutes and cook until apples are tender about 40 minutes. Hot apple pie is particularly good served with a hard sauce.

Pumpkin And Nut Pie

1 cup cooked pumpkin or squash. 1/2 cup sugar. 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

1 teaspoon ginger. 1/2 teaspoon salt.

2 eggs, well beaten. 1 cup sweet milk.

Mix in the order given. Bake until firm in a pan lined with pastry. When cold cover with whipped cream flavored with vanilla. Cream may be put on with a pastry bag. Sprinkle finely chopped nuts over the top.

Cranberry Pie

1 quart cranberries.

2 cups boiling water.

2 cups sugar.

Put cranberries in boiling water and cook covered for 10 minutes. Remove cover, add sugar and cook 5 minutes longer. Line tin with pastry, fill with the cranberries, put strips of pastry over the top and bake.

Date Pie

2 cups milk.

1 cup dates, stoned.

2 eggs.

1/4 teaspoon salt. Few grains nutmeg.

Cook dates with milk in double boiler for 5 minutes. Strain and rub through a sieve, then add eggs and salt. Have tin lined with pastry, add filling and bake as a custard pie. When ready to serve cover with whipped cream.

Prune Pie

2 cups prunes.

1/3 cup sugar.

2 teaspoons butter.

2 tablespoons flour. 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

Wash prunes and soak in cold water to cover 2 hours or more. Cook slowly in same water until soft. Remove stones, cut prunes in quarters, and mix with sugar and lemon juice. Line plate with pastry, cover with prunes, pour over the prune juice, dot with butter, dredge with flour, put on upper crust and bake in moderate oven. Or, instead of upper crust, use strips of pastry crossed in lattice fashion.

Prune Cream Filling

1 cup cooked pitted prunes put through coarse sieve. 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. 1 cup scalded milk.

2 eggs. 1/3 cup sugar. 1 teaspoon flour. 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Mix sugar and flour; add to beaten eggs; pour the scalded milk over the egg mixture. Add prune pulp and walnuts, mix well and pour into a pan lined with pastry; sprinkle nutmeg over the top. Bake as for custard pie.

Raisin Pie

1 1/2 cups seeded raisins. 1 1/2 cups boiling water. Grated rind and juice of one-half lemon.

1 tablespoon flour.

1/2 cup sugar.

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts.

Cook raisins in boiling water until tender. Mix flour and sugar and add to rasins, stirring until thick. Add lemon and walnuts, cool slightly and bake between two crusts.

Rhubarb Pie With Meringue

2 cups cooked rhubarb.

1 cup sugar.

2 eggs, separated. 1 tablespoon flour.

Grated rind of 1/2 orange or lemon. 1 baked pastry shell.

Wash fresh rhubarb and cut into inch pieces. Cover with boiling water and cook until boiling point is reached. Drain off all juice. Measure 2 cupfuls of rhubarb for each pie. Put in a double boiler and set over hot water. Mix flour and sugar and add to rhubarb, stirring until mixture thickens somewhat. Add the well beaten yolks, cook about 5 minutes, add grated orange rind or a table-spoonful of orange marmalade; cool, then pour into the baked pastry shell. Beat the 2 egg whites until stiff, gradually add 2 tablespoons of sugar, then fold in 2 more tablespoons of sugar. Pile on top of pie and bake in a very moderate oven 8 minutes.

Cheese Cake

1 1/2 cups scalded milk.

3 eggs.

2/3 cups sugar.

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese. 1 teaspoon almond flavoring.

Beat eggs separately, add sugar to yolks and beat until creamy; then pour hot milk over the mixture, add cheese and flavoring; then fold in the well-beaten egg whites, line a deep pan with pastry, pour in the mixture. It will take about 45 to 60 minutes to bake. Test by plunging knife through the center; if it comes out clean the cheese custard is cooked sufficiently.

Meringue For Pies Or Puddings

2 egg whites.

4 tablespoons sugar.

1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Beat egg whites until very stiff; then add half the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating each one in well before adding the next. Fold in the remaining sugar and flavoring. Spread on top of filling and bake in a moderate oven until a golden brown - about 8 minutes. Let pie cool somewhat before adding meringue.

Canned Fruit Pie Fillings

Drain all juice from fruit. Allow 1/2 cupful of juice for each pie. Put in a sauce pan to heat, mix 1 tablespoonful of corn starch, flour or arrowroot with enough cold water to make a smooth paste. Add to hot juice and cook stirring constantly until the mixture thickens; add to fruit and cool before using. One teaspoonful of lemon juice will add greatly to the flavor of all fruit pies. Line a deep pie plate with plain pastry, pour in the cold fruit mixture, place on upper crust and bake about 15 minutes in a hot oven.