Raisin Pie (Martha Stewart's)

Preheat oven to 425º. Soak raisins in boiling water until plump. Drain. Stir into raisins the sugar, flour, lemon juice and lemon zest.

Put holes (about half-dime sized) in top pastry crust. Fill standard 9" pie pan with raisin mixture. Leave about½"-½" overhang in top crust; roll under itself to form thick edge of crust.

Brush glaze on top crust. Bake at 425ºF for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375ºF, bake for 30-35 minutes more.

Variant: 1 cup of each type of raisins, plus 1 cup chopped dried apricots.

Lime Pie

Preheat oven to 375ºF

Combine the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice. Mix well. Pour into unbaked graham cracker shell. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. The turn on broiler and broil for a few minutes to cook the top portion.

Old Fashioned Ginger Ale, Unfiltered

Make syrup:
Peel and slice ginger across the grain into 1/8 inch wheels. Put in blender with 2 cups water and run until the ginger is reduced to a thick-liquid like texture. Add third cup water and cook in a small saucepan at a low simmer, covered, 45 minutes. Let sit covered 30 more minutes.

Add sugar and a pinch of salt, stirring, until it has dissolved. Reheat if needed. Chill syrup in a covered container until cold. Add lime juice. Makes about 45 fl oz.

Assemble drinks:
Mix ginger syrup with seltzer, about 1:8 ratio. about 4-5 fluid oz per liter of seltzer. Makes about 10 liters.

Apple Pie

Low sugar alternative: ¼ cup brown sugar and ½ cup Splenda

Preheat oven to 450º. Mix the dry ingredients together, sprinkle over the apples, and tumble to mix. Put one crust in pie plae, then put apple mixture in; cover with a top crust. Prick top crust with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes at 450º, reduce to 350º and bake an additional 50 min. Turn the pie around halfway through to equalize the baking front to back.

Baked Apples

Preheat oven to 375°F. Wash apples. Remove cores to 1/2 inch of the bottom of the apples. It helps if you have an apple corer, but if not, you can use a paring knife to cut out first the stem area, and then the core. Use a spoon to dig out the seeds. Make the holes about 3/4 inch to an inch wide.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, raisins and water. Heat in a microwave until the sugar dissolves and you have a syrup.

Place apples in a 8 inch by 8 inch square baking pan. Stuff each apple with this mixture, and put the boiling water in the pan. Bake 30-40 minutes, until tender, but not mushy. Remove from the oven and baste the apples several times with the pan juices.