What’s Cookin – Karen’s Green Pie (repost for St. Patty’s Day)

Last year, I featured this recipe from one of my high school chums, Karen.  It is a recipe that her family makes every year for St. Patrick’s Day.  Karen is Italian and  Irish and celebrates both heritages freely and with gusto.

I told her that I was going to re-visit this post, but this year I was going to feature the recipe in advance of St. Patrick’s Day so that people could make this fun, green dessert in time for the holiday!

Karen said, “. . . it is green pie season again.  a friend of mine said my dining room looks like shamrocks threw up all over it.  i love being part irish, especially since my mom is irish and as sweet as ever.”

Now I think that’s sweet!

When my father died, we found an old, beat up, cardboard box beneath his basement stairs.  In it were some of my grandmother’s little trinkets that used to sit out on her various window sills and what nots.  One of those sets of trinkets were these two leprechauns which I have on the bookcase in my office.  Makes me think of her and St. Patrick’s Day whenever I look at them.  She was, however, 100% Flemish and not at all Irish.

But on St. Patrick’s Day, we are all Irish.  We will be in Rolla, Missouri, on St. Patrick’s Day visiting our daughter who will be graduating with an engineering degree in May.  St. Patrick is the patron saint of engineers, and the school has a long and storied tradition of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.

So, have fun and be safe celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this year and, if you want to make a fun and green dessert, try Karen’s Green Pie (here is a link to last year’s post).

When Irish eyes are smiling, ‘Tis like a morn in spring. With a lilt of Irish laughter You can hear the angels sing. ~ Author Unknown

Green Pie ingredients

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  In a bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar.  Pour the melted butter over the crumbs and combine well.  Press into the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Allow to cool completely.

Dissolve the lime gelatin in 1 cup of boiling water.  Add the drained pineapple and set aside.

In a large (this was almost not large enough), beat the Milnot using a hand mixer until very stiff.  One can of Milnot filled my largest ceramic bowl.

In a separate, smaller bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla.  Gently fold this mixture into the whipped Milnot.  Take some of this mixture and fold a little into the gelatin mixture.  Then take the gelatin mixture and fold it into the remaining Milnot mixture.

Spread this light and fluffy mixture over the cooled graham cracker crust.

Green Pie – ready to eat.  This dessert is light with just a hint of the pineapple.

This recipe will also make three pie plate “pies” – refer to my post last year for the crust ingredient proportions if you wish to make pies rather than a 9×13 pan.

Either way, this dessert is fun to make for St. Patrick’s Day and yummy, too!