RASPBERRY REBEL

 The last days of summer are upon us and I am frantically searching out the last raspberries of the season. I remember a time (all my growing up years) when I took raspberries for granted. Our berry patch on the farm ran the length of the driveway and yielded hundreds of pints of Latham berries every season. I not only took the fruit for granted, I even went so far as to curse it at times. Every day there were red jewels glistening from the brambly bushes and, no matter if it was hot and humid and bugs and mosquitoes swarmed thick and vicious, we had to hit the slope with pails strapped around our waists and pick till the job was done. For one more day.

Now, with no more bushes at my fingertips, I scrounge them up wherever I can. Fortunately, I always find some. Life without raspberries is hard to imagine and all winter long, as I slather sweet raspberry jam on my toast, I remember the hot summer days and long to be picking once again.

RASPBERRY PRETZEL SALAD

2-2/3 cups coarsely chopped pretzels

2 tablespoons melted butter

12 ounces cream cheese

1-1/4 cups sugar

1 large package frozen raspberries

1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped

1 large package raspberry Jell-O

2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice

Mix pretzels with butter and press into a 9 by 13 inch pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar. Spread over pretzels, then spread whipped cream over cheese. Chill. Dissolve Jell-O in hot pineapple juice. Add raspberries. Allow to thicken. Pour over top of whipped cream and refrigerate.

SUMMER RASPBERRY CREAM CHEESE PIE

8 whole honey graham crackers

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

2/3 cup lowfat cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup lowfat sour cream

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 pint fresh raspberries

1/4 cup raspberry jam

Crush graham crackers and stir in brown sugar. Add butter and mix well. Press into a pan with a removable bottom. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool. Beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla. Spread on cooled crust. Chill until firm, about 1 hour. Arrange berries in  a circular pattern over filling. Whisk jam until runny and drizzle over tart. Chill for 3 hours before serving.

 RASPBERRY PATCH CREAM PIE

32 chocolate wafer cookies, crushed finely

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

6 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup sugar

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

2-1/2 cups fresh raspberries

Place chocolate chips, butter and sugar in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave until melted, stirring occasionally. Add chocolate mixture to crushed cookies. Press into a 9 inch glass pie pan, but do not press firmly. Chill. In a bowl, whisk condensed milk, sour cream, lemon juice and lemon peel. Add half of raspberries. Stir until mixture turns pink as raspberries are crushed. Transfer filling to crust. Refrigerate about 2 hours. Scatter remaining berries over pie.

RASPBERRY FREEZER JAM

2 pounds (five 6 ounce containers) fresh raspberries, crushed

1-3/4 cups apple juice

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 package “no sugar needed” fruit pectin (1.75 ounces)

1 to 3 cups sugar

Place apple and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Gradually stir in pectin. Continue stirring until completely dissolved. Place over medium high heat and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring often. Boil hard for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Immediately stir in berries. Stir for 1 minute. Stir in sugar to taste and stir until dissolved. Divide jam among six 8 ounce canning jars, leaving 1/2 an inch of space between the top of the jam and the top of jar to allow jam to expand as it freezes. Cover with lids and let jam stand at room temperature until set, about 24 hours. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. Freeze excess.