Caramel. Pumpkin. Pecan. BREAD PUDDING.

This recipe makes 5 pies, or 4 if you’re using a larger, deep dish shell. Not a true “pumpkin pie”, it’s more of an egg custard pie with a little bit of pumpkin thrown in! I’ve even been known to bake just the filling as you would regular egg custard. This is my husband’s favorite pie of all time!

This recipe appeared in a magazine ad (probably for Bisquick) in the late 1960?s and was an instant hit in our family. Mom was not a pie crust maker, so this was a great compromise. It tastes to us like a cross between pie and pumpkin souffle, which she did make occasionally, until this recipe came out.

Taken from a newspaper article years ago, this is my brother’s contribution to the Thanksgiving dessert table every year.

A wonderful dish, especially for those that are crust haters!

A different pie for the holidays, or any time!

This is easy to put together and let bake while having dinner. It smells wonderful! Excellent served warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

This is a Puerto Rican version of flan called flan con queso. It’s like a cross between custard and cheesecake. The flan is fast and easy and is done in a blender, although it may need to be done in batches. The caramel is a trickier, but you just need to keep an eye on it.

This pie is based on a very standard, common pumpkin pie recipe that you can find anywhere, but with just a touch of holiday special. On Thanksgiving, I want pumpkin pie to be pumpkin pie. I don’t want it to be pumpkin cheesecake or chocolate pumpkin pie or pumpkin meringue or anything else. I want it to be pumpkin pie like I knew it when I was five. But I want it to have a little extra oomph so that it knows it’s a special pie for a special day at the same time. So here is my pumpkin pie, a pie that knows it’s meant for Thanksgiving but is sporting a little extra sparkle in the rum flavoring and the chopped walnuts studding the edge of the crust.

Pumpkin bread loaf with cream cheese filling! Wonderful for Thanksgiving or any time of year.

I got this deliciously crazy little Twinkie recipe from my friend Kat.

I make this pumpkin bread/cake a lot because it is tasty and has a good, dense texture. Oh! And because it uses just two ingredients: a cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree.

This recipe is almost evil because it’s so tempting, so easy, and I have the ingredients on hand all the time. I have to make it! You?

Cheesecake is one of those “fancy” desserts that is surprisingly easy to make.

Holiday coffee cake…great for a potluck or family gathering.

This recipe comes from my Treasure Trove collection of vintage war-time recipes. I love the name Defense Cake. On further study of the recipe, I determined it was basically a sponge cake, renamed for the era and the patriotic effort these women at home were immersing themselves in to make-do during shortages. Even in town, you might well have some chickens, so you had eggs, but fewer people in town had access to a cow and fresh milk, making the milk-less sponge cake the way to go.

This has been a family favorite for 50+ years. It was a favorite of my father and now my five-year-old grandson can’t get enough of it.

With the right directions and tips, you can make any cake mix into a delicious and moist cake.

Use Simple Error-Proof Frosting to create a matching frosting!

This cake has no eggs or milk. It is super moist and the coffee makes it rich and dark. The recipe originally called for water but I discovered coffee made it even better. The recipe originated during World War I or II (not sure which) because of the shortage of ingredients. My sister-in-law, Gloria, gave the recipe to me so I attribute it to her.

Gooey and delicious! This is even better the day after you make it (if there’s any left!).

Any cake is better from scratch, and if you like to keep homemade mixes on-hand to make life easier on busy days, this makes a perfect cake every time without having to resort to a box from the store–and fast.

Any recipe that calls for a yellow cake mix can be made better with a scratch cake! It’s easy, so why not? This homemade mix (my own creation and tested to perfection, inspired by my frustration with recipes that call for a yellow cake mix but don’t tell you how to make the recipe with a scratch cake) makes a light, moist cake you can count on every time. You can make batches of cake mix ahead of time and take one out just like a cake mix, or make the mix one at a time as needed.

A very easy to put together No-Bake Cheesecake using real whipping cream.

The old-fashioned nut cake!

This is not a cake; it’s an adventure.

Awesome cake and the frosting is to die for…tastes great with a scoop of your favorite ice cream on the side.

This is my extra spicy carrot cake. Adding cooked grits makes an extra moist cake, too–though you can leave the grits out if you don’t have them on-hand.

My all-time favorite birthday cake (or for any occasion).

Making a GOOD cream pie can be a daunting task if you don’t know where to begin. We have all had cream pies made from Jell-O pudding, and if we haven’t eaten a REAL cream pie lately, we may not fully understand that what we are experiencing is a gigantic fraud.

Chocolate bottom, rum pudding and meringue top…………. This pie is worth the trouble!

Delicious apple pie with a sweet nutty topping. This is definitely my favorite apple pie!

My Dad was known for his Pecan Pie. Not that he cooked often, but there are a few things that were his ‘specialty’ and this was one of them. It very well may have come right from a package of pecans or a bottle of Karo syrup LOL!

This pie also works well if you want to make variations like apple-blueberry, apple-walnut, apple-raisin, etc, whatever strikes your fancy. You can add up to one cup of blueberries, nuts, raisins, etc and still fit it in a deep dish. (Any more than that and you have to decrease the apples.)

Nobody knows pie crust better than little old ladies at church. Especially little old ladies at a little tiny town country church. They were born to make pies and they live up to their potential with every flaky, mouthwatering bite. And sometimes they will even tell you their secrets. If you think you can’t make homemade pie crust, you need this recipe. If you think you don’t have time to make homemade pie crust, you need this recipe. If you think homemade pie crust isn’t important, you need this recipe.

This cornmeal pie has a nutty flavor similar to pecan pie, even without adding the nuts. This could be a nut-free cost saver since nuts are expensive. Another one of Georgia’s introductions to the southern Roane County, WV dining scene.

This pie has a delicious country flavor that does not taste bean-like at all. This comes from Georgia’s kitchen and she introduced it to southern Roane County, WV.

Use gingersnaps, cinnamon graham crackers, chocolate wafers, or Oreos instead of graham crackers for a different twist!

Pecan pie–it’s not just for the holidays! I love to bake pecan pie year-round, in all sorts of variations. This one with maple syrup and bourbon is one of my favorites. (I also love burnt sugar pecan pie! And molasses pecan pie! Try your favorite.

Peanut Butter Pie + Brownies = Sinful

Why would you want to bother cutting in shortening, rolling out and getting your rolling pan, counter, and fingers messy? This makes a very tender crust. It can be used for a one-crust filled pie, a pre-baked crust, or even for a two-crust pie.

This pie is a neat cross between a custard pie and a meringue. And it’s just plain yummy!

This is a rich, delicious pie, full of flavor. And while it’s baking? It’ll make your house smell like autumn. Enjoy!

Sweet potato pie is an old-fashioned treat that tastes very much like pumpkin pie.