Blueberry Delight

I haven't been posting anything lately because we've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to cook anything new or cool. I have relied heavily on frozen vegetables and Chicken Kiev...not post-worthy. But, luckily for my struggling blog, I did try a new pie for my mother-in-law this Thanksgiving! I also made chicken and noodles for the first time, so I will post about that one later.

A few weeks ago, Janie told me about a pie that she used to love when she was a little girl that had cream cheese, sour cream, and blueberry pie filling on a graham cracker crust. She said that she used to request it on her birthday and other special days and it was just SO good. I thought it sounded gross, because I have an issue with cream cheese, but I went home and looked up a recipe based on those ingredients figuring that even if I thought about half of the ingredients were disgusting that I could still make it for her. What I found was a recipe for "Cherry Cheese Pie." You can use either cherries or blueberries with it, and Janie said that the pie I took to Thanksgiving reminded her also of Cherry Delight, so I've renamed the recipe. I'm sure you can see why - Cherry Cheese Pie sounds disgusting :) She really liked it, and said that although she hadn't eaten it in years and years, she thinks it was exactly what her mom used to make. So that was worth my squickiness about the ingredients. Anyway, here it is.

BLUEBERRY DELIGHT

2 8oz packages cream cheese (softened)
1/2 C sugar, plus 2 T for later
2 eggs
1/4 t almond extract
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 21 oz can blueberry (or cherry) pie filling
1 8-inch graham cracker pie crust

Preheat oven to 325. Combine cream cheese, 1/2 C sugar, eggs, and almond extract in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium/high speed until smooth and fluffy.

Pour mixture into pie crust.* Bake at 325 for 35 minutes or until set.**

Mix sour cream, 2 T sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl. Spread over pie. Bake for 5 more minutes at 325.

Cool pie to room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Spoon pie filling over individual pieces prior to serving.

* It looks like you're going to overflow the pie crust, but this is okay. You won't. When I tried this recipe , I still wasn't entirely clear on when the fruit was added, and as a result was freaked out that it wasn't going to work and I would have to start over, etc...luckily, everything turned out okay.

** I had to bake it for about 40 minutes to set, and my oven runs hot. I checked to see if it was 'set' by seeing if it still jiggled in the middle when I wiggled the pie pan. Jiggly in the middle is bad.