nothing-in-the-house

Monroe's Patent Pie Meat

2012-01-25T17:30:00.001-05:00

I've been getting back into meat-eating in 2012, but I'm not sure I'd be ready for Monroe's pie meat yet (or ever)! Circa 1869 wood engraving from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog.

Morrin Family Missouri Fruit Pie

2012-01-18T17:52:00.002-05:00

My friend Becca is from Louisville, Kentucky, home of the famous bourbon-chocolate-pecan concoction, Derby pie. Her father, though, hails from St. Louis, Missouri, where they apparently have a Derby pie variation known as Missouri fruit pie. While Derby pie generally denotes the bourbon-chocolate-and pecan trinity, Missouri fruit pie, at least the Morrin family recipe, generally doesn't use chocolate chips, but opts for dates and raisins instead.

I went to visit Becca and her boyfriend Justin in Baltimore last weekend, and they were raving about the Missouri fruit pie they made over the holidays. With a potluck on the list of our evening plans, along with a bike ride and another party, we decided to make two of them--one for the potluck, and one for us to eat late-night (and for breakfast the next morning). Our version veers back towards Derby pie, with the subtraction of raisins and addition of chocolate chips and bourbon. We also contributed our own variation by using walnuts instead of pecans.

Morrin Family Missouri Fruit Pie
adapted from the Morrin family recipe

Ingredients:
Nothing-in-the-house pie crust
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1/2 c. raisins (we omitted these)
1/2 c. chopped dates
1/2 c. coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 c. chocolate chips (not traditionally used, but we opted to and were glad!)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. bourbon (optional)

Directions:
Prepare pie crust using the Nothing-in-the-House recipe and after chilled, roll and fit into a greased and floured 9 or 10-inch pie plate. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (yes, 275 is correct). Cream butter until soft. Add sugar and gradually beat until fluffy. Beat egg yolks and add mixture with fruit, nuts, chocolate chips (if using) vanilla, and bourbon (if using). Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into other mixture. Put into shell and bake for 70 minutes.

The result was a deliciously gooey filling, that tasted quite like chocolate chip cookie dough in a pie crust. Though we aren't sticking exactly to the tradition, this Derby pie/Missouri fruit pie recipe is great for tweaking--use walnuts or pecans, raisins or chocolate chips, or all of the above. I imagine it's quite forgiving and still delicious.

Nutella Icebox Pie

2012-01-16T23:46:00.003-05:00

It's winter. And when you're into (somewhat) seasonal baking and fresh ingredients are your game, it can be a challenge. However, the cold season can also provide a great excuse for using "non-perishable" items for pie fillings such as... nutella. Nutella is already a cheater's ingredient, as it is the auspicious pairing of two delicious things--hazelnut and chocolate--that I daresay are greater than the sum of their parts. The Italian delight is versatile enough to be spread on your morning toast or late-night crepe, stuffed inside a doughnut, or poured in a pie crust.

We had an "It's a Wonderful Life" screening/holiday party at our house, featuring the movie projected on a sheet, blankets on the floor--picnic style, and a treats table already loaded with overflowing popcorn bowls, incredible chocolate-peppermint ice cream "sammiches," and the savory dark horse of homemade macaroni and cheese. I had seen some nutella pie recipes bandying about the internet, so I thought it would be a good addition to the #occupypottersville smorgasboard. Here's the recipe I used, adapted from Hill Country Cook.

Nutella Icebox Pie

Ingredients

For crust:

1 package Oreos (or chocolate sandwich cookie substitute)

3 Tblsp. butter, melted

2 Tblsp. sugar (could probably do without since Oreos are already quite sweet)

For filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2/3 c. powdered sugar, plus 2 Tblsp.

3/4 c. nutella

2 c. heavy whipping cream

2 tsp. vanilla

Directions

For crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pulse cookies in a food processor until they form a fairly fine powder. Mix in melted butter and sugar until well incorporated. Pat filling into a 9 or 10-in. pie plate, reserving a few crumbs for topping. Bake crust for 7 minutes, let cool, then put in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

For filling:

In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and 2/3 c. powdered sugar using a hand mixer, about one minute. Add 3/4 cup nutella and beat until fluffy, about three minutes (continue even once it's combined so filling gets fluffy). In a separate bowl, beat 1c. of heavy whipping cream, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar until stiff peaks have formed- approximately 3-4 minutes. Starting with 1/3 of the whipped cream mixture, fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Once it's combined, add the remaining whipped cream to the chocolate mixture, folding gently until thoroughly mixed. Pour the mixture into the cookie crust. Freeze approximately 4 hours or until firm (I think mine only froze for 1-2 hrs). 20 minutes before serving, remove pie from freezer and let sit at room temperature. Beat remaining 1 c. of heavy whipping cream with 1 tsp. vanilla and extra powdered sugar, maple syrup, or bourbon to taste. Top pie with whipped cream mixture and sprinkle on cookie crumbs. Enjoy!

I have been making pretty intense pies as of late (see dark chocolate sea salt tart with candied pecans) and this one was no exception, with the triple threat of cream cheese, whipped cream, and nutella. The intense flavor and smooth filling did pair well with the swimmin' Charleston, a charmingly off-key rendition of Buffalo Gals, and parallelled the sweet revenge when George Bailey sticks it to mean ol' Potter. Bedford Falls, welcome to the Pie Enjoyment Zone. Here's Lars entering both...

p.s. Thanks for my Tarts by Tarts partner-in-crime Kari for the pie pics.

Pie Class at Mary Washington

2012-01-12T13:38:00.001-05:00

Two pies a piece at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia! From the UMW Centennial archives flickr.

Shaker Pie Furniture

2012-01-11T17:33:00.000-05:00

My friends Becca and Justin recently visited Maine's Portland Museum of Art, where they saw the Gather Up the Fragments: The Andrews Shaker Collection exhibit, which features Shaker furniture and objects from the most extensive collection of materials and works by the United Society of Believers. There, Becca slyly snapped these iphone photos of some Shaker pie furniture--a pie safe and pie board rack with boards. Thanks, Becca, for taking one for the Nothing-in-the-House team!

I love that pies were baked in such large quantities, that they needed that large of a rack to hold all their pie cooling boards. It looks like there is space for at least 20 boards! I'd like to enrich my repertoire of Shaker and other traditional pies this year. I love Shaker lemon, but what else should I try?

"Indiana" Amish Oatmeal Pie

2012-01-10T15:38:00.003-05:00

For Christmas, my mom gave my dad The Amish Cook: Recollections and Recipes from an Old Order Amish Family by Elizabeth Coblentz. My dad was a fan of Coblentz' column, The Amish Cook, which she wrote out longhand by candlelight every week in her Indiana home in an old order Amish community. She mailed or directly delivered the column to her editor, Kevin Williams, who edited and published her words. Though Coblentz passed away in 2002, many of her recipes and domestic wisdom live on in this cookbook. On my last night at home in Indiana, I thought it only appropriate to try a pie from her book. As they say, when in Indiana...

All of her pie recipes sounded intriguing, if not all appetizing. There was cracker pie (mock-apple), and rhubarb custard pie (out of season), and whoopie pies, but we finally decided on an oatmeal pie, as my dad said it was a favorite, similar to pecan pie, that he used to order from the nearby Amish restaurant, Das Dutchman Essenhaus. We had all the ingredients, except for pecans instead of walnuts, so I whipped up my version, an "Indiana" Amish oatmeal pie. Here's the recipe.

"Indiana" Amish Oatmeal Pie

adapted from Elizabeth Coblentz's The Amish Cook

Ingredients:

Nothing-in-the-House pie crust recipe, halved (I noticed that Coblentz's was very close to ours)

1/2 c. (one stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 c. light corn syrup (could use brown rice syrup or agave)

3/4 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. pecan pieces (the original recipe uses walnuts)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Follow the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust recipe (halved, as only a bottom crust is needed), roll out chilled crust and place in a greased and floured pie pan. Flute edges. In a medium mixing bowl, combine melted butter, sugar and eggs. Add corn syrup, oats, nuts, and combine. Pour into pie shell and bake for 1 hour until thickened inside and golden brown on top.

This pie whips up in no time and has the flavor of pecan pie (though less syrupy sweet) combined with baked oatmeal (one of my favorite dishes from the Mennonite summer camp I attended as a kid). It would be a great breakfast pie, but was also a hearty dessert, especially when paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a fiddle tune or two around the fire with my dad (and alright, several bootleg episodes of Downton Abbey season two!) on my last night at home for a while.

Cae's Pumpkin Pie Pops!

2012-01-09T13:11:00.000-05:00

This post comes from my friend, former NELP student, and now guest blogger, Cae Keenan! Though I have read a lot of Cae's writing before, it was mostly in the form of lovely journal entries and creative responses. I'm so excited to read and be inspired by her baking and bit of food writing. Here's what she has to tell us about her pumpkin pie pops...

The apple pie cookiesover at Smitten Kitchen are what firstgot us goin’ on this mini pie kick. They are awfully cute – a new twist on awonderfully old tradition. They also fit in the palm of your hand and you canwalk up and down the stairs while eating, no problem! Suddenly, ‘the pie ismobile’ idea had us braving holiday rush hour traffic for the grocery store. Wewanted to add a stick, turn this apple pie cookie into a pumpkin pie pop.

A word on the crust: homemade is tops. But if you’re in apinch, spinning from a long To Do list, or, in our case, if the number ofholiday dinner guests you’re expecting grossly outnumbers the hours left ‘tilthey show up hungry… yes, we used store-bought piecrusts. I ain’t proud of it,but it’s the truth.

So! Two 9-inch pie dough crusts will do it. If you'd like to use homemade crust, use the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Pops

(With a fewadjustments, adapted from Cakespy, via Serious Eats)

For the filling:

¾ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 eggs

1 15-ounce can of plain pumpkin puree

1 12-ounce can of condensed milk

Also:

1 egg for glazing

25 wooden skewers, lollipop or Popsicle sticks

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together the dry ingredients. Send the sugar,salt, and spices into a small bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 eggs. Add thepumpkin puree, the dry ingredients, and the condensed milk. Stir to combine. Set filling aside.

We were able to make 25 mini pies from the 2 pie doughcrusts. Be mindful, though, that this means cutting out 50 little circles.

2. Roll out each piecrust on a floured surface. Even thoughour store bought (!) crusts came smooth, flat and round, we rolled each for athinner pie pop crust – and to get 25 pops. Once the dough reaches your desired thickness, use around cookie or biscuit cutter (I grabbed a small water glass and turned itover), and cut out 50 circles. Gather and re-roll the dough as needed to get asmany pops from your dough as possible.

To assemble:

3. Lay the 25 bottom crusts across several cookie sheets, orwork in batches. Press one wooden stick into each crust. Be sure the topof the stick reaches at least ½ way up the crust. Add a spoonful of filling in the center of each crust,covering the stick. (My sister Aidan says: “A small spoonful is crucial toavoid over-spillage or bursting pies.”) Top each bottom crust with its mate, Mates! Seal the seams of each pie by pressing a fork around theedges, all 360 degrees of the pop. Score the top of each pie pop with a small knife. (Aidancalls these “air breathers,” “slits,” or “filters.” We scored a few smileyfaces, too.) Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl. Brush the top crusts withthe egg wash… We also sprinkled sugar for added sparkle.

4. Bake, baby, bake. About 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven, carefully transfer to wire rack. Allowto cool and for sticks to set.

Enjoy your pie pop. Walk around, talk on the phone, playthe piano with your free hand while eating!

My Grandma Eileen's Lemon Meringue Pie

2012-01-06T00:45:00.000-05:00

My grandma Eileen's handwritten lemon meringue pie recipe

One tradition that is in decline in the internet age of food blogs and cooking sites is the handwritten recipe. Both my mom and grandma Georgette have boxes and binders full of old recipes that they or their friends had written on personalized cards "from the kitchen of..." or scraps of paper. I have a few of these binders, but they are mostly filled with printed out recipes from Smitten Kitchen, Epicurious, or some other food blog. Maybe it's just my nostalgic leanings, but it seems that there was once a time when you had a more personal connection with the recipes you used. Instead of celebrity cook Ruth Riechl's spiced chicken or the Barefoot Contessa's spaghetti and meatballs, it was your friend Beth's cheesecake, dad's famous potato leek soup, or your grandma Eileen's lemon meringue pie, even if it was just a special variation on Betty Crocker or Irma Rombauer's well-known recipe.

I don't really remember my grandma Eileen, my dad's mom. She died from breast cancer when I was two years old. I do know that she was from Pittsburgh, of Irish descent, raised four boys, and was a clogger and a partner roller skater. She also clearly made a killer lemon meringue pie, which my dad said he loved, and that it was such a special treat that she would make at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and sometimes Easter.

My mom found Eileen's handwritten lemon meringue pie recipe in one of her aforementioned recipe binders, and suggested I try it when I was home for Christmas. I had a little trouble reading the writing, especially as the paper was worn from years of what appears to be lemon meringue spills and crust crumbs, but my dad was able to decipher it and translated for me. Here's the recipe, with a few adaptations.

My Grandma Eileen's Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients for pie:

Nothing-in-the-house pie crust recipe (only 1 crust needed)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 2/3 c. water

2 Tblsp. butter

1/2 c. cornstarch

4 tsp. cold water

8 Tblsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest

5 egg yolks

4 Tblsp. milk

Ingredients for meringue:

5 egg whites

6 Tblsp. sugar

Pinch cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Crust: Follow instructions for the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust (though halved, as you only need one bottom crust). Chill in fridge for about 1 hr. Preheat oven to 400, then roll out and fit into buttered and floured pie dish and flute edges. You may wish to chill the rolled crust for 10-20 minutes at this point to ensure it does not fall down in the oven. Line with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie weights and bake for 5-10 minutes more or until golden brown and flaky.

2. Lemon curd: Combine sugar, butter, and 1 1/2 c. water in a medium saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves. Add cornstarch, blended with 4 tsp. cold water. Cook slowly until clear, about 8 minutes (mine did not get quite "clear" but you will notice it starting to thicken). Add lemon juice and zest, cook 2 minutes. Slowly add egg yolks (save whites for the meringue) beaten with milk. Bring to boiling, then cool. Pour into baked shell and chill.

3. Meringue: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add sugar gradually and pinch of cream of tartar. Spread over cooled filling and brown in oven, 13-15 minutes.

This pie turned out to be a true Christmas day family kitchen collaboration, with my dad helping to read the recipe, me on the crust and lemon curd, my mom tackling the meringue, and even my brother lending a hand to continuously stir the curd while I juiced and zested lemons and cracked eggs--a Christmas miracle!

My mom served up the slices, and we enjoyed it in the living room by the fire, with my aunt, uncle and grandma, after our Christmas dinner.

As I never really knew my grandma Eileen, it felt important to me to be able to read her loopy cursive, similar to my own, try out her recipe, and bring one of her favorite desserts to life at our Christmas dinner this year. My dad said it tasted familiar, and maybe it will eventually become familiar to me too, as much as it was familial this Christmas.

Happy 2012 & 2011 State of Nothing-in-the-House Address

2012-01-05T16:11:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! I want to get up-to-date and share all the pies and tarts that friends and I made this holiday season, but before I do, I wanted to do a little 2011 "State of Nothing-in-the-House Address"/year end wrap up because it was a great year--perhaps the best ever-- for the pie blog, pie baking and other pie-related endeavors!

First off, this year we had the greatest number of posts yet--85! We also had the most blog hits in 2011, with 3,280 page views in November. Thanks to all those readers, new and old out there. In 2012 I'd like to aim for 100 posts, and for even more readers...and commenters! I love when people give feedback, personal connection to or historical context of a pie, etc. Keep 'em coming.

Part of the spread at Pi(e) Day on the Piedmont 2011

In March we hosted our 2nd annual Pi(e) Day on the Piedmont, at Johnny's in Carrboro, NC. We had a spread of 24 different pies and some hand and mini pies made by our awesome Pi(e) Day baking team, raised $400 for CEFS to develop a statewide youth food council, and celebrated pie, spring, and math with about 75 attendees. I've enjoyed revisiting Ashley's video about it here-- maybe you will too.

Plans are in the works for another Pi(e) Day this year, though it will likely be in the Washington, D.C. area, as I moved up here in June. Stay tuned for more info on that as March 14th draws nigh...

Lora's and my article in online food journal Zenchilada

I was very excited to have the opportunity to do some pie-related writing in an outside publication last year. My friend Lora and I wrote this piece Pi(e) R Squared Revolution is Round, using pie as a lens to discuss our ideas of female friendship, tradition, and the domestic arts, for the awesome online food magazine Zenchilada. You can read our article here and see our featured recipes here.

I was also asked by author of Pie Contest in a Box Gina Hyams, to do an interview with her for her blog, Pie Takes the Cake. I was so honored to be asked, and excited to see it come out so well. You can read the full transcript here.

I'm looking to find more opportunities to do some off-blog pie and food writing in 2012, and would like to feature more of my own interviews with fellow bakers, pie shop owners, and authors. Check back here for one with Natalie of Bike Basket Pies coming soon in the new year.

Me at the Tarts By Tarts stand at Crafty Bastards

One of the highlights of 2011 for me in general was the launch of Tarts by Tarts-- a new baking venture with my friend, housemate, and fellow baker Miss Kari Nye of Tanglewood Baked Goods. We kicked off our collaboration at DC's Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair with great success! Even on the freezing cold Saturday, we sold out in 4 hours and got lots of great feedback from our customers. Read more about it here and on Kari's blog here. We've been scheming about our next venture, and will likely be doing made-to-order pies and tarts a.k.a. "Hearts by Tarts" for Valentine's Day. Shhh! Don't tell your sweetheart...

And lastly, this year we launched the Nothing-in-the-House Facebook and Twitter (@housepie) pages, adding 2 more ways to bring pie recipes, history, and ephemera into your life. Please follow and like us if you haven't already, and tell your friends!

On ward and upward to Nothing-in-the-House 2012, with more pie baking experiments and musings on pie history, paraphernalia, and cultural import. How bout Bedfordshire clangers? An audio piece about a visit to Pie Lab? Maybe we can even get co-founder Margaret to start contributing again? Here's to this being the best year yet--may your pies be tasty, your butter be cold, and your PEZ (Pie Enjoyment Zone) be frequently visited and full of friends.

May Your Christmas Pie Be As Full Of Plums

2011-12-24T11:12:00.001-05:00

Little Jack Horner in the Christmas PEZ

There are no plums planned for Christmas pies here in the Nothing-in-the-House kitchen, but the sentiment still stands. Last night, for a music holiday party at my parents' I made a Shaker clementine pie, a salty honey pie (upon my dad's request) and collaborated on a green tomato pie with my dad. For Christmas dinner tomorrow, I'm making my grandma Eileen's lemon meringue pie, and perhaps another.

What will your Christmas pie be full of? Whatever it is, I hope it is as full of that as Jack Horner's is of plums.

My Grandma Georgette's Apple Pie

2011-12-19T12:56:00.000-05:00

My grandma Georgette is Belgian. When my brother and I were growing up, our family celebrated St. Nicholas Day, on the eve of the 5th/6th of December, in an adapted Belgian tradition. We'd leave out our wooden shoes overnight, and in the morning they were filled with little treats, "shoe stuffers" and a new ornament for our miniature trees. In the evening our grandma would come over and we'd eat Belgian chocolates, and speculoos (windmill cookies) & pizelles she had made.

Now my brother and I don't live close enough for "St. Nicholas" to put gifts in our shoes, but my grandma and mom still carry on the tradition. This year my grandma made a beautiful apple pie for my mom to take home and share with my dad.

My grandma's beauteous apple pie, which she put in a trompe l'oeil pie tin for transport. She is cute like this.

I'm excited to go home and visit with her over Christmas. This year I plan to make some audio recordings of us in the kitchen together, with her talking through some of my favorite recipes of hers, including her chicken soup, sugar cookies, speculoos, and apple pie. I'll be sure to include it here.

Dark Chocolate Sea-Salt Tart with Candied Pecans

2011-12-16T12:59:00.000-05:00

It's the busiest baking time of the year, what with holiday celebrations at the office, screenings of It's A Wonderful Life at my house, and music-and-dinner parties at my parents', not to mention Christmas Eve, morning, dinner, AND New Year's Eve. But it's okay, because I've got a long list of things I want to bake (keep checking back here for what they are!).

Yesterday we had a going away/holiday party at work, and my co-workers/party planning team asked if I would bake a pie and some cookies for it. They were already ordering a carrot cake from the caterer, so I decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to make something rich and chocolatey, namely, this chocolate sea-salt tart with candied pecans I had been eyeing over at Food Republic.

As I mentioned before, I've been on a salty-sweet kick, and this tart is no exception. Though I am always a bit dubious of other crusts, I went out on a limb and tried the one in Paul A. Young's recipe-- he is a master chocolatier after all. In the end, I think that the tart is SO rich that it doesn't really need a chocoalte crust, and that a normal pastry crust would help to temper the intensity of the bittersweet chocolate and salty pecans. But I'll let you decide for yourself. Here's the recipe I adapted...

Chocolate Sea-Salt Tart with Candied Pecans

(adapted from Paul A. Young, via Food Republic)

Ingredients:

Crust (You can use Nothing-in-the-House standard recipe, or as below):

12 Tblsp. unsalted butter, kept cold and cut into pieces

1/3 c. sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

Filling:

7 oz. Madagascan

60-70% dark chocolate, broken into pieces

1 c. sugar

3/4 c. heavy cream

1 tablespoon flaky sea salt

Topping:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup pecan halves

Directions:

Crust:

1. If using the Nothing-in-the-House standard recipe, follow those instructions. If using the cocoa crust, mix together flour, sugar, and cocoa powder, the cut in cold butter pieces with a knife and fork or pastry cutter. Stir in beaten eggs, until dough comes together into a ball. Flatten dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour. Can be made 2 days ahead or frozen and thawed.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle your work surface with flour and roll out pastry until it is about 12 in. in diameter. Grease and flour 10-in. tart pan and transfer crust to pan, trimming off excess crust. Refrigerate the crust for 15 minutes to help prevent shrinkage during baking.

3. Remove crust from fridge and line with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans, and blind bake for 20 minutes. Take out paper and weights and bake for 5-8 more minutes until tart is fully baked. Let cool.

Filling:

1. Put all ingredients into the top of a double boiler. Put water in the bottom of the boiler and place on medium heat until filling is melted, glossy, and thick.

2. Pour filling into the cooled, baked crust and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Topping:

1. Heat a saucepan on low heat until warm and gradually add the sugar, stirring constantly until melted into a golden liquid caramel. Add salt, then the pecans, mixing well. When fully combined, quickly pour the hot mixture onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Spread with a spatula.

2. Allow topping to cool thoroughly, then chop into bite-size shards and sprinkle over the tart. Keep tart refrigerated, until just before serving. Serve at room temperature and enjoy!

This tart went over quite well with my co-workers, with a lot of raving feedback--- "YUMMMMM" and "NAILED IT!"-- along with some and some "you KILL mes!" paired with a head shake (like I said, it's rich). Personally, I thought it was an excellent blend of flavors, and the slightly soft chocolate was perfect with the hard candied pecans, even though I admittedly couldn't finish my slice. It would probably best be washed down with a hot cup of coffee, or as once co-worker suggested, a cold glass of milk.

A Apple Pie

2011-12-15T17:02:00.000-05:00

While researching archival pie images and literature, as I am wont to do, I came across this version of a nursery rhyme A Apple Pie, estimated to be from 1870, and published by Kronheim & Company. This nursery rhyme seems to have missed me as a a child, but maybe some of you know it? Here's the illustrations, though you can see a pdf of the entire book here.

A apple pie B bit it C cut it D dealt it E eat it F fought for it G got it H hid it I (invisible?)

J joined it K kept it L longed for it M mourned for it N nodded at it O opened it P peeped at it

Q quartered it R ran for it S stole it T took it U (understated?) V viewed it W wanted it

XYZ& amperse and all wished for a piece in hand.

I think my favorite is the girl (Q) using the compass to exactly quarter the pie, though the baby (B) taking a bite and dogs (F...foxes?) fighting for it are also quite humorous. I also came across this edition, c. 1886/1900 (?), by Kate Greenaway. More about her classic and slightly different version coming soon...

Texas Thanksgiving Pies

2011-12-08T15:33:00.001-05:00

My friends Stacy and Chris are the official Nothing-in-the-House Texas correspondents (though let's not forget our friend Shannon!), always sending photos of pies they eat and bake. This year, Chris sent me three pics of Stacy's Thanksgiving pies-- all fall classics of pecan, apple, and pumpkin.

The pecan pie recipe is from Homesick Texan, though Stacy likes to toast her pecans first for added flavor. The apple pie was "grandma" style, with Granny Smith apples and Grandma Ople's recipe, which calls for pouring the sauce/filling over the apples as opposed to mixing the apples with the sauce.

Stacy and Chris also had another pie at this year's Thanksgiving--cutie pie Hudson, who helped roll out the crust. Baby's first pie crust--looks like he did a great job!

Salty Honey Pie

2011-12-05T01:00:00.001-05:00

Salt 'n' caramel, salt 'n' chocolate, buttered popcorn ice cream with bacon and pecans (believe!). Salted sweets are so in right now. I've fallen in to the fad too because you know what, it's delicious (I'm making salted caramels for Christmas gifts--spoiler alert!!). I saw this recipe on the South Brooklyn Post from the Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Shop in Gowanus, and thought it sounded like a different (yet familiar, see maple pie, and sugar pie) yummy take on the sweet 'n' salt. Oh boy, it was. Here's my version...

Salty Honey Pie
adapted from Four & Twenty Blackbirds

Ingredients:
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust recipe

1/2 c. melted butter
3/4 c. white sugar
2 Tbsp white or yellow cornmeal
1/4 tsp. sea salt
3/4 c. honey
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. heavy cream
2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla paste (I used extract, but I'm sure paste would be great)
1 or 2 Tblsp flake sea salt for finishing (pink salt looks quite nice!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Prepare pie crust as per the Nothing-in-the-House recipe (The original recipe calls for you to blind-bake the crust, but I found it relatively unnecessary since the baking time was long enough). Mix melted butter, sugar, salt, and cornmeal to form a thick paste. Add honey, vanilla, and vinegar, then beaten eggs and cream. Blend well by hand or with an electric mixer. Roll out crust and fit into a greased and floured pie dish. Pour filling into pie shell and flute crust. Bake at 350 F for 50-60 minutes or until fillings is puffed and only slightly wobbly in the middle. Cool for one hour. Top with a center dollop of maple-bourbon whipped cream and sprinkle with flake sea salt. Serve with more whipped cream if desired.

pre-baking, featuring leaf-design crust in full glory (it later fell)

I tried out one of four leaf design crust cutters I got at a local church sale--it looked very nice before baking, but in the oven it fell a bit or got covered by the puff of the filling.

post-baking, with lead-design detail (the part that didn't fall)

Gotta say, this pie is sooo goood. The top of the filling gets a bit crusty, while underneath it is smooth and oozing, quite like a creme brûlée. The small amount of cornmeal gives it a little grit, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was not overly sweet.

honey pie- you are making me crazy!

Don't forget to sprinkle sea salt flakes on top-- I used Himalayan pink and white, which looked quite nice. I wish I had gotten a shot of it with salt and whipped cream and in slice cross-section form, but I took it to a music party/potluck with some new friends and strangers and didn't want to be *that* girl taking a picture of her own dessert. But I'll post one eventually, because I will most definitely be making this again.

Nothing-in-the-House First Annual Gift Guide!

2011-12-02T15:23:00.001-05:00

I know I still haven't posted about our Thanksgiving pies (though you can see some pictures of the day on the host MAV's blog here), but I've been admiring holiday gift-guides out there in the blogosphere-- Lottie and Doof, Tomboy Style, and Well Spent to name a few-- and thought the pie blog should have one too.

Here's Nothing-in-the-House first annual gift guide--for the pie baker on your list.

First for some literature...

1. Pieminister cookbook by Tristan Hogg and Jon Simon, $22. I discovered this new cookbook when perusing the fine selections at Rabelais cookbook store in Portland, ME. The authors, Tristan and Jon, started a small pie shop in Bristol, England in 2003. Their company has since exploded, and pieminister now has multiple shops and sells at markets across the UK. I've been exploring British pies (which may mean having to start eating meat?!) lately, and this book is on the top of my own Christmas list.

2. Bike Basket Pies Recipe Booklet by Natalie Galatzer, $12. I found out about Bike Basket Pies simultaneously--from my friend Valeda in San Francisco, and when Nothing-in-the-House joined Twitter (follow us here @housepie!). Though Natalie has since moved on from her bike-delivered pie company, she wrote this adorable pie recipe booklet to commemorate her two year run. I can't wait to get mine in the mail, and we'll be featuring an interview with her here soon.

3. PIECRUST Magazine: Sugar & Salt, $7. You may have read our interview with PIECRUST's founders Megan Collins and Lauren Cardenas a few weeks ago. Though the content of their handmade letter pressed literary and art magazine is not limited to pie, they use pie crust as a concept-- a foundation for creativity. Keep up to date with news about future issues here.

4. Pie Contest In A Box, by Gina Hyams, $9. Gina, the author and creator of Pie Contest In A Box contacted me through her delicious pie site, Pie Takes the Cake . She asked if she could do an interview with me about the pie blog, AND asked if she could send me a promo copy of the Pie Contest-- yes, please! Though I am more into communal baking than competitive baking, this would be a great way to get kids or your friends into pie-- and this box provides everything you need, from ribbons, to scorecards, to labelling flags, and a cute hand book full of interesting pie tidbits.

Now for some supplies...

5. Rectangular tart pans, $9-$18. I'd been seeing a lot of beautiful rectangular tarts all over the food blogosphere (here, here, and here are a few examples). So I ordered some on Amazon (and tried them out with this ginger lemon & bourbon orange tart a few weeks ago) but lots of companies seem to be riding this tart trend--the one pictured is from Wiliams-Sonoma.

6. Pastry scraper, $2-$10. My housemate and fellow Tart Kari (of Tarts by Tarts and Tanglewood Baked Goods) has a pastry scraper in our baking drawer, and it's become one of my favorite tools of the kitchen--I'm not sure how I managed without it before. Great for chopping pastry, positioning crust, and scraping dough off of counter tops. An must-have for the pie baker on your list--the one pictured from Chef Tools.

7. Vintage Tupperware pastry mat, $9-$20. Nothing really says pie baking to me like this era Tupperware rolling mat. My mom and grandma both have them and always use them to roll out any dough that needs a-rollin', be it crust, biscuits, or cookies. Though any mat will do the trick-- providing a clean work surface and crust-size guidance-- I'm partial to this one for mainly nostalgic reasons. I got mine from a friend, but they are available on Etsy, Ebay, and likely your local thrift or vintage shop.

Some artful supplies...

8. Herriott Grace hand-turned cherry rolling pin, $70-$80. Yes, alright, that's a lot for a rolling pin, and granted, mine was a very very sweet and unexpected gift from my dear friend. But hear me out. Herriott Grace is the company of Nikole and Lance Herriott, a father-daughter team who live 3,400 km apart from each other. After years of Lance sending his daughter hand-carved spoons in the mail, they decided to launch their small business. More functional art than ordinary kitchen tool, this rolling pin is beautiful solid cherry, has a heavy weight, great feel, and will last forever.

9. Double-decker Amish pie carrying basket, $45-$70. My parents got me one for Christmas a few years ago from our local Amish market and it is one of my favorite things I own (mine is very similar, pictured here). Perfect for carrying not just one but TWO pies (or other dishes) to a potluck or party--there's a tray that fits inside so you can stack them. Beautiful crafted--mine is signed by the woman who made it-- Loretta Miller.

And some supplying art...

10. Measurement poster by Hatch Show Print, $12. Last on our list is this very useful letter-pressed poster by Nashville's famous Hatch Show Print, available in black online and in an array of color at their shop. With its list of useful measurement conversions, its perfect for any baker's kitchen. Just need to get mine framed (its light blue) and it will be hanging next to our sink.

Hope you can find something useful for your favorite pie baker, or to put on your own list! And never underestimate the power of a gift you make yourself...even pie bakers like to get a homemade pie sometimes!

Pop Art Pie

2011-12-01T11:22:00.001-05:00

Cherry Pie by Roy Lichtenstein c. 1962. It can be yours for a mere $3,218,500. Or you could just make your own.

You're Passing Me a Piece Apple Pie

2011-11-28T17:23:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Here's one of my favorite "pie" songs, "Driving" by Sibylle Baier, to listen to in your post-pie food coma. Hopefully you're on your way out of it by now.

So what was your favorite pie at your Thanksgiving dessert table this year? I'll be posting pictures of mine soon. In the meantime, make sure to check out Nothing-in-the-House's new home on Facebook and give it a like, if you please!

Pennsylvania Dutch Pie Recipes

2011-11-23T11:46:00.001-05:00

Via the Schlesinger Library Culinary Pamphlet Collection. I am particularly intrigued by the Rivel (Crumb) Pie with molasses...a "Dutch" breakfast favorite! It gives wonderful good pie...aint?

Pye and the Magpie

2011-11-22T10:17:00.001-05:00

One of the many reasons I love learning about, writing about, and baking pies, is for its darker, mythical origins. This article from NPR explores the heritage of medieval pie (which generally contained meat and had a dark, rich filling made of whatever the baker could get his/her hands on) and its linguistic connection to the magpie, those odd birds of variegated color who are known for collecting strange and shiny objects for their nests.

I also love this illustration, c. 1465-1475 of medieval pie bakers. Look at those pies! and those pretzels! And that wood fired oven on wheels! If only!

Thanksgiving Prep

2011-11-21T13:18:00.001-05:00

Emily Wallace is at it again. Here's her depiction of all your favorite Thanksgiving food stuffs getting ready for the big day.

From the Independent Weekly. See more of Wallace's adorable and witty illustrations here and here.

Feminist Ryan Gosling and Pie

2011-11-18T16:31:00.001-05:00

Finally a chance for the pie blog to jump on the Ryan Gosling blogosphere! Via Feminist Ryan Gosling.

Ginger Lemon & Bourbon Orange Tart and German Chocolate Whoopie Pies

2011-11-17T11:33:00.001-05:00

Last weekend I ventured to West Virginia, my friend and fellow Tart Kari in tow, for my pal Joe's 30th Birthday Party (and a friend reunion) in an old one-room schoolhouse-turned-sodapop speakeasy.

It was magical. The weekend was jam-packed with lady time in the kitchen, walks in the woods, tune-playing, dancing to the best 45 jukebox this side of the Mississippi, joke-telling, bourbon drinking, and lots and lots of eating.

Ladies in the kitchen: Dale, Bethany, Me, Lora

We spent the bulk of Saturday cooking, singing, and dancing in the kitchen. Kari and I worked together on two ginger lemon & orange bourbon tarts with cardamom almond crusts, baked in my new rectangular tart pans. We also collaborated with Lora, Amy and Mike on some German chocolate whoopie pies.

Bethany hovers over the sweets table, featuring the ginger lemon & orange tarts, whoopie pies, and salted and apple cider caramels

Here's the recipe for the Ginger Lemon & Orange Bourbon Tarts, adapted from Eat The Love. He calls for blood oranges, but we couldn't find them this time of year, so used naval oranges instead.

Ginger Lemon & Orange Bourbon Tart with Cardamom Almond Crust

Ingredients:
Cardamom Almond Crust
Note: We had to double this for 2 rectangular tart pans, though one may be enough for a 10-in round tart pan.

1 1/4 cups all purpose white flour
1/2 cup almond meal (we used Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup + 1 Tblsp. unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Crust Egg Wash
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
Lemon Ginger Curd
3 Tblsp. arrowroot starch (or corn starch)
1 cup + 2 Tblsp. granulated sugar
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
finely grated zest from 1 medium lemon
1 Tblsp. of freshly grated ginger
2 Tblsp. white wine
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
pinch of salt
3 Tblsp. of unsalted butter, cold
Bourbon Orange Curd
4 Tblsp. arrowroot starch (or corn starch)
1 cup + 2 Tblsp. granulated white sugar
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
finely grated zest from 1 medium orange
2 Tblsp. of bourbon
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
pinch of salt
3 Tblsp. of unsalted butter, cold

Directions:
Crust
1. In a large mixing bowl place the flour, almond meal, and cardamom. Using a whisk, vigorously stir dry ingredients until uniform in color.
2. Place the sugar, butter and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream butter on medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and add egg and vanilla. Mix on medium until incorporated.
3. Add all the dry ingredients to the butter and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Do not overmix.
4. Split dough into two balls. Flatten each ball into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 325˚F. Place a fluted 10-in. tart pan (or 2 rectangular pans) with removable bottom or baking sheet for easy removal from the oven.
6. Take one ball of dough out of the fridge and place on a generously floured flat surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 12-in. circle. If the dough starts to stick, use more flour.
7. Carefully transfer the dough to the tart pan, trying not to stretch it (stretching it will cause the dough to shrink when you bake it). Fit it into the tart pan and trim excess dough.
8. Prick the bottom of the tart with a fork all over and place in the preheated oven to bake for 15 minutes. In the meantime make the egg wash by whisking the egg with the pinch of salt in a small bowl.
9. After 15 minutes, pull the tart crust out, and brush the bottom and sides of the crust with the egg wash. Place back in the oven for 3 minutes. Take the crust out and let cool on a wire rack.
Lemon Ginger Curd
1. Place the arrowroot starch, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, grated ginger, white wine, eggs, egg yolks and salt in a small saucepan.
2. Turn the stove on low heat, and with a wisk, stir contents constantly as the curd cooks and thickens. Bring the curd to about 185˚F which should take about 7 or 8 minutes.
3. Once the curd has reached the right temperature turn off the stove and remove the saucepan from the heat. Pour the curd into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Turn the mixer to high and beat for 30 seconds to cool the curd. Then turn the speed to low and add one tablespoon of butter. Beat until it is melted and fully incorporated. Add the second tablespoon beating until it too is incorporated. Repeat with the final tablespoon.
4. Let the curd come to room temperature and pour it into a ziplock sandwich bag. Place the bag in the freezer for at least two hours or overnight.
Bourbon Orange Curd
1. Place the arrowroot starch, sugar, orange juice, orange zest, bourbon, eggs, egg yolks and salt in a small saucepan.
2. Turn the stove on low heat, and with a wisk, stir contents constantly as the curd cooks and thickens. Bring the curd to about 185˚F which should take about 7 or 8 minutes.
3. Once the curd has reached the right temperature turn off the stove and remove the saucepan from the heat. Pour the curd into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Turn the mixer to high and beat for 30 seconds to cool the curd. Then turn the speed to low and add one tablespoon of butter. Beat until it is melted and fully incorporated. Add the second tablespoon beating until it too is incorporated. Repeat with the final tablespoon.
4. Let the curd come to room temperature and pour it into a ziplock sandwich bag. Place the bag in the freezer for at least two hours or overnight.
To Assemble the Tart
1. Take the curds out of the freezer. Snip a corner of each bag.
2. Pipe one stripe of lemon curd on the side of the tart shell. Pipe another stripe of orange curd next to it. Alternate stripes of curd until the tart shell is filled. (We followed these directions, though in the end the lemon and orange curds were not that different in color to notice the stripes, though it did allow for a nice mixing of flavors).
3. Using a butter knife, smooth the curd out on the tart but running the knife across the curds, flat, in parallel strokes to the curd.
4. Once the curd is smoothed out, turn the tart so the stripes are vertical as you look down on it. Take a toothpick or butter knife and place it about an inch from the “top” of the stripes on the tart. Drag it across the tart, from left to right perpendicular to the stripes. Then move the toothpick down an inch and drag the toothpick perpendicular the other way across the tart. Repeat until back and forth, all the way down the tart.
5. OPTIONAL: Taking a sifter or mesh sieve, dust the edges of the tart with a generous amount of powdered sugar. The powdered sugar will cover up any of the edges that were hard to smooth out with the knife.

6. Serve the tart chilled or at room temperature.

The tarts were heavenly...really bold citrus flavors and not too sweet. The crust was a little finicky, but fairly forgiving. We rolled out one, and ended up pressing in another. I will definitely be making those again.

German chocolate birthday whoopie pie with bottlecap ganache

The German chocolate whoopie pies, with ganache made by Lora, "cookies" made my Mike and Amy, filling made my me, and assembling by Kari, served as the "birthday cake" of the evening. Lora found the recipe from Bon Appetite. Here's our version...

German chocolate Whoopie Pies
Makes about 15 pies

Ingredients:

Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
5 Tblsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/8 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 Tblsp. vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk

German Chocolate Filling

1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans

Chocolate Ganache

3 Tblsp. heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Cookies

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla in large bowl until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beating until blended after each addition.

2. Drop dough by very rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are slightly puffed and spread but still soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes. Carefully transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough. Cookies can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight in single layer at room temperature.German chocolate filling

1. Whisk evaporated milk, egg yolks, and vanilla in large saucepan. Whisk in sugar and pinch of salt. Add butter. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens and turns golden and thermometer inserted into mixture registers 175°F to 178°F, 8 to 10 minutes (do not boil). Remove saucepan from heat, stir in coconut and pecans. Transfer filling to bowl and cool completely, stirring occasionally. Cover and chill until filling is slightly firmer, about 1 hour. Can be made 1 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Chocolate ganache

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Bring cream to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Cool ganache until lukewarm but still spreadable, about 15 minutes.

2. Scoop 1 rounded tablespoon German chocolate filling on bottom of half of cookies. Place cookies, filling side up, on prepared baking sheet. Spoon 1 teaspoon chocolate ganache onto bottom (flat side) of remaining half of cookies (We put ours on top). Place 1 ganache-topped cookie, ganache side down, atop each German chocolate-filled cookie, pressing slightly to adhere. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate in airtight container.

The gang! a.k.a. class

With these two divine treats, salted and apple cider caramels, Lora's fig-infused cocktails, and other delights of the weekend (including Dawson family sliders, various breads, buttered popcorn ice cream, a bacon taste-off, and apple cider drop doughnut holes--all homemade), we decided that we are going to start a private restaurant for ourselves (a closed-loop system), and just maybe take over the world.

Very special thanks to Brynn, Mike and Amy for being AMAZING hosts, Lora for all the planning and gathering us all together, and Kari for the great pictures. I may post some more when I get my film back. Hope to return to West Virginia for more deliciousness soon.

p.s. check out Dale's blog for Lora's winter mimosa recipe we enjoyed on Saturday morning!

Slayer Pie (?!)

2011-11-16T11:11:00.001-05:00

Another option for your Thanksgiving dessert table. via maxforfree.

Sugar and Salt: An Interview with the Ladies of Piecrust Magazine

2011-11-14T15:09:00.001-05:00

I found out about Piecrust magazine from its Kickstarter-- before it ever actually existed in print. I was intrigued by the name (of course), the launch of an art and literary magazine (my friends and I used to have one, The Dovetail Collective, r.i.p.), and the letter pressed, handmade aesthetic. I contributed to the Kickstarter launch, and asked Megan Collins and Lauren Cardenas, Piecrust's masterminds, if they were interested in doing a little interview, and they graciously agreed.

Tell me a little bit about yourselves (where you're from, what you do)

Megan: I am from Paragould, AR, currently I live in St. Louis, attending grad school at Washington University.

Lauren: I am from Austin, TX, though I recently came to St. Louis for grad school last year. We both came to Washington University (Wash U) to get our Masters in Fine Art and we are both printmakers who like to bake.

Tell me about your project, Piecrust Magazine. How did you get the idea? How did you get into letter pressing? What is your vision?
Lauren: Earlier last spring I approached Megan about starting a magazine that would be art related, focusing on works on paper. We didn't really talk about the idea for awhile, until after the Southern Graphics Council that was hosted at Wash U. That is kind of how it started. We were also really bummed to find out all of our favorite magazines lost all of their funding. That kind of motivated us to make a magazine that was ad free, inexpensive, simple and art related.

Megan: We both learned letterpress in a book class that was offered at Wash U. We kind of fell in love with the medium and process of letterpress. The class was just another activity that we were involved in, we also were paired with the same faculty advisor. The technique began to spill over into our own studio practice, which led to this idea of creating a zine or magazine.

Our vision was to have a 30 page magazine, with works on paper, including various forms of art and writing. We wanted to have letterpress cover and hand bound saddle stitched, but the magazine doubled in size and it didn't seem feasible to hand bind the magazine.

Why pie? (or pie crust)?

We love idea of the pie crust as a foundation, much as paper is for art and writing. It's a starting point, a foundation. And who doesn't love pie, seriously, it's simple.

How did you learn to bake/who taught you?

Lauren: My mother taught me how to cook and read a recipe. I taught myself how to bake, my mom was not a huge baker when I was young.

Megan: My friend Mickie and I kind of taught each other, we had grandmothers that were into baking and we grew up baking with them, but not really learning from them.

What's your favorite kind of pie?

Megan: I have a three way tie, lemon meringue, rhubarb, and peach.

Lauren: I have tie between pumpkin and blackberry.

Special thanks to Megan and Lauren for taking the time to talk with me, sharing their thoughts and pictures, and for working hard to create and promote small, handmade art in the name of pie. Make sure to check out Piecrust's online home here, purchase a copy of the beautiful magazine, and submit your photos, art, words and more to the next issue (deadline for submissions is December 1 at midnight)!

American Girl Magazine Cover, November 1936

2011-11-01T13:16:00.005-04:00

I am always a little sad to see the end of October, as it is my favorite month of all, but now it's on to November with several different Thanksgiving/potluck (Kickasserole!) pies to start planning! I am starting to try out recipes-- on Sunday I tried this apple cider cream pie recipe with a rye crust. It was good, though I'm not sure it will make it onto the Thanksgiving short list (more on that pie soon). Here's the cover of the 1936 issue of American Girl magazine to get you inspired.

Dad Blogs!: Grandma Good's Green Tomato Pie

2011-10-28T10:56:00.003-04:00

My dad continues his campaign to be a regular Nothing-in-the-House contributor. He's been pestering me to post this, and I think the third time might be a charm...

Green tomato pie out on the porch

With the cool autumn days and even cooler nights in force here in northern Indiana, it became apparent that the dozens of green tomatoes left on the vine weren't going to ripen. While this might cause some folks sadness, I was thrilled because I could use them to make one of my favorite fall foods, green tomato pie.

I learned about this pie a few years ago when one of my employees came in on Monday and related that she had spent the weekend with her grandmother canning and making pies. Being a lover of all pies, I inquired what kind of pies they made and green tomato was one that she mentioned.

When I told her that I had never even heard of a green tomato pie, she told me it was a traditional Mennonite recipe and she would bring me one the next day. I wasn't sure what to expect but I absolutely loved it! I asked her for the recipe and now I make it regularly.

Here is her grandmother's recipe. The woman who worked for me's last name was Good and she called her grandmother Grandma Good so I call this Grandma Good's recipe.

Grandma Good's Green Tomato Pie

Ingredients:

Nothing-in-the-House pie crust recipe

2 cups chopped apples

1 1/2 cups chopped green tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon each cloves, nutmeg, allspice

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup cooked raisins

1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice (I used vinegar)

1/4 cup nuts optional

1 cup sugar (1/2 brown 1/2 white) or 1/3 brown, 1/3 white, 1/3 cup molasses

1/4 cup flour

Make crust and refrigerate for at least one hour. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Meanwhile, prepare the ingredients and combine (I used the 1/3 cup white and brown sugar and molasses combination). Roll out bottom crust and fit in a greased and floured pie pan. Add filling and top with a top crust. Flute edges, brush on an egg wash, and bake for 10 minutes at 425. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for 35-40 minutes more until crust is golden brown.

I also made a small pie without using any apples, just substituted more green tomatoes for the apples and it was just as good.

Pie and National Succcess

2011-10-25T11:00:00.001-04:00

An article from a 1902 issue of the New York Times on the connection between pie and national success, claiming "no pie-eating people can ever be permanently vanquished." Though misguided and rather imperialistic, which is unsurprising considering the era, I do wonder if it was originally intended to be in jest? I particularly like the last paragraph on pie and seasonality-- "mince pie season" in winter "the joyous custard" of spring, "lip-painting berry pies" of summer and the "golden glory of royal the pumpkin pie" in the fall. That's a connection I can get behind.

Thanks to Gina for posting. Read more here.

Vintage Deep South Peanut Pie Ad (Creepy)

2011-10-24T13:42:00.000-04:00

I stumbled across the vintage deep south peanut pie recipe/advertisement for Karo syrup on boing boing, and it was too creepy to not post.

"Here's a dessert to make even your deepest-dyed Yankee start complimenting you with a Southern accent. It's right from Dixie... and down thataway (where peanut pie was born!)..."

Not sure if that "down thataway" is a reference to what's behind that chippendale baby's hat, but that would make it even more disturbing. I did make a North Carolina peanut pie once-- a nice sweet/savory combination. But might be scared to try the recipe in this ad, for fear of conjuring that naked "deep south" pie imp in my kitchen...

An Apple A Day

2011-10-18T12:06:00.000-04:00

Do you remember my friend Emily's awesome "pie kills cupcake" illustrations? Well here's another pie-related drawing she did as part of her adorable "North Carolina State Fair Illustrated" series for the Independent Weekly.

So cute! I'm not sure if a deep fried candy apple would really keep the doctor away, but I am willing to test it out...

Vintage Pie Birds

2011-10-14T13:57:00.003-04:00

Vintage classic pie birds c. 1960

Pie birds (or funnels) are small figurines, generally in the shape of a bird, but not always (see below), inserted into the middle of a double crust pie to let out steam and prevent spillage. Some models also assist in supporting the pie crust so it does not collapse in the middle. According to this story in Country Living, pie "birds"/funnels first appeared in England at the turn of the 19th century, in various forms. They didn't take on the shape of birds, however, until the 1930s in the United States, with the nursery rhyme, "Sing A Song of Sixpence" (4 and 20 blackbirds baked into a pie) serving as inspiration.

I tend to feel that I don't need a pie bird...in some cases you want to keep the steam inside the pie, to help cook your fruit (with an apple pie, for instance). But they are an interesting piece of material culture as well as a collector's item. Apparently they were more necessary in the past, as older ovens did not bake as uniformly as modern versions.

Here are a few of my favorite vintage and modern pie birds, sourced from that Country Living Article and Ebay (where there are many to be found). See a classic modern pie bird (and nothing-in-the-house mascot) at right.

Stuart Bass pie goat with pie (very meta and makes me wonder why his pie doesn't have a pie bird?!)

British pie funnel c. 1909, its divider allows you to bake two different flavors in one pie

Pie fruits, made in Taiwan c. 1960

By Camark Pottery Company (missing 3 from a 10 piece set) c. 1940s--to match your Fiestaware

Would love to see some of our readers' pie birds, if anyone has a collection...

Dad Blogs Again!: Betty's Pies

2011-10-13T17:48:00.000-04:00

I think my dad is secretly aspiring to become a regular nothing-in-the-house contributor. I suppose that wouldn't be the worst thing... Here's his post from his visit to Betty's Pies after a canoe trip in the Minnesota Boundary Waters.

We exited the Boundary Waters Canoe Area at 4:00pm after a long hard day of paddling and portaging in the cold and rain. After loading our gear and canoes we took a welcome hot shower (our first in 7 days) and headed south in the van toward Duluth and then home to Indiana. About 2 hours south of Grand Marais, in the town of Two Harbors, Minnesota, we spotted a lighted sign calling out to us like a lighthouse to a ship lost at sea.

It was Betty's Pies, an institution in Two Harbors for over 50 years. I'd passed by Betty's every one of the 20 or so times I'd gone to the Boundary Waters, but this time I was compelled to stop. The thought of homemade pie after our difficult canoe trip was just too enticing.

The staff was very friendly as they showed me the list of pies of the day. The person behind the counter also told me that they had several other pies not listed that had just come out of the oven and were too warm to cut but I could purchase a whole pie if I wanted.

Betty!

Kwitchurbeliakin! I believe that's a German word?

I decided upon the Bumbleberry Pie, the name they gave to their combination of blueberry, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry.

The pie was delicious! I think Betty's will now be a requisite stop after my next Boundary Waters trip.

I must say, I am curious about two things...1) Betty's pasties, and 2) Betty's crust, but I guess we'll have to wait for another dad post for that.

Montgomery Place Orchards

2011-10-11T12:31:00.001-04:00

I spent this past weekend at one of my favorite places in the world for my friends Marina and Louis' wedding at Rokeby in the Hudson River Valley (HRV) of New York. Whenever I'm there, we almost always stop at the Montgomery Place Orchard farm stand for some of Doug and Talea's fresh apples, pears, berries, veggies and more, and more often then not, I bake a pie (or six) from what I find there.

The stand holds an annual pie contest, this year on October 15-- next weekend! My visit has never coincided with the contest, but someday I hope to enter.

One of the best things about Montgomery Place Orchards is that they grow and sell my favorite baking apple-- the Northern Spy. When I was growing up we used to get them at Eberly's Orchard in North Liberty, IN, though they only had one tree left, as Spies are difficult to grow and aren't cosmetically perfect. They seemed to have made a comeback, though, among heirloom growers, and pie bakers are thankful for it.

I also like to pick up a jar of Doug and Talea's delicious farm-pressed "Annandale Atomic Hard Cider". It's the perfect thing to sip as you roll out dough, slice apples, and flute crusts.

This visit I made 6 pies/tarts for the wedding...2 apple-ginger double crust pies, 3 apple tarts with homemade apple butter, and one pear tarte tatin. Stay tuned for wedding pie pics...

Savory Apple Tart with Caramelized Onions, Gruyere, and Sage

2011-10-10T22:14:00.001-04:00

With all the sweet treats on the Tarts by Tarts at Crafty Bastards menu, we thought it might be wise to offer something savory as well. We had a surplus of apples from an apple-picking excursion the weekend prior, so I opted for a sheet/galette-style savory apple tart with caramelized onions, gruyere, and sage. Here's the recipe I used, adapted from Heart of Light.

Savory Apple Tart with Caramelized Onions, Gruyere, and Sage

Ingredients:Nothing-in-the-house pie crust recipe (for a double-crust pie)
3-4 baking apples, cored, partially peeled, and very thinly sliced
2-3 onions, sliced thinly
1-2 Tblsp. olive oil
pinch of sea salt
pinch of pepper
1 tsp. fresh sage, finely chopped
1/2 c. gruyere, shredded
1 egg, beaten

Make crust and refrigerate for at least one hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Caramelize onions (I used Mark Bittman's technique) adding pinch of salt, pepper, and the 1tsp. of fresh chopped sage. While the onions are cooking, core, peel and slice apples. Toss slices with the caramelized onions and set aside.

Roll out dough onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Dough can be thick (about 1/8 in.). Spread the apples and onions on crust and sprinkle with shredded gruyere. Fold edges of pie crust over filling to form a rim. Crimp decoratively and brush with an egg wash.

Bake tart for approximately 45 minutes or until pastry is golden and cheese is melted.

We cut ours into approximately 9 slices which we sold and sampled! Though at Crafty Bastards we had to serve the slices cold, this would be best eaten warm with a cold, dark beer on a crisp October night.

Weird Pies & Strange Pasties

2011-10-06T17:33:00.000-04:00

Weird pies, strange pasties, rock cakes and love buns?! I think Bill Carter may be a man after my own heart! I did a little Google sleuthing about the photo; apparently it was taken in Katharine, in the Northern Territory of Australia by Margaret Kirk in 1936. I found this other view of the shed, but still searching for more about Carter--let me know if you know or find anything. Photo sent to me by my friend Valeda.

Tarts by Tarts Starts!

2011-10-05T14:03:00.001-04:00

This past Satuday, after baking all day Friday, 2 hours of sleep, and getting up at 4am to fry doughnuts, my friend Kari and I took to D.C.'s Crafty Bastards Food Market for the debut of Tarts by Tarts! We set up our stand with ticking and tablecloth, a pennant flag, homemade stamped business cards, baskets, wooden library boxes and Kari's genius "doughnut suitcase"; despite the dreary day, I must say that it looked pretty cute.

We opened for business at 10am and had a steady stream of customers, many of them after our hot mulled cider with a doughnut hole-on-a-stir-stick (it was cold) and our other breakfast-y treats. By 11am business had really picked up, and we were slammed for 2 hours straight, with a constant line of friendly folks who had lots of nice things to say about our goods.

Here's what we offered:

Tarts by Tarts at Crafty Bastards
Hot mulled cider with a doughnut hole
Dulce de leche filled yeast doughnuts
Apple cider donuts
Glazed buttermilk cake donuts (vanilla and chocolate)
Pumpkin whoopie pies with maple cream cheese filling
Molasses gingerbread (slices)
Double chocolate rads (cookies)
Vegan iced oatmeal cookies
Savory apple tart with carmelized onions, gruyere and sage (recipe to be posted soon!)
Plum hazelnut tartlets
Apple tartlets with homemade apple butter
Honey walnut tartlets

By 2pm we had completely sold out (though in the last fifteen minutes we had a "name your price" deal to clear our few remaining cookies and pumpkin whoopie pies. Though it would have been nice to stick around and talk to more people, we were thankful to get out a little early, as we were freezing, rain-drenched, and exhausted. All-in-all our first outing as Tarts by Tarts was quite the success! We sold out and even made a little bit of money, which exceeded our goals and was encouraging as we had no idea what to expect from Crafty Bastard's first Crafty Food Market.

Kari and I would like to extend a special thanks to all those friends who helped make this possible--everyone who lent a table or a tent, a thermos, or the use of a van, stopped by to say hi and buy, helped us set-up, tear down, as well as those who kept us going while baking by offering jokes, late-night grocery-run accompaniment, and encouragement. I'd also like to thank Kari for being an awesome baking partner and sharing all her baked goods sale expertise! Looking forward to doing it again soon. Stay updated on future Tarts by Tarts adventures on our blog here: http://tartsbytarts.tumblr.com/

That Tarts By Tarts Look

2011-09-29T11:15:00.003-04:00

We are busy gearing up for our baked goods stand, Tarts by Tarts, this Saturday! Kari had a stamp made with the awesome she designed, and last night we did a lot of stamping of business and label cards...

She also made a bunting to hang across our table...

Also of note in this photo-- my double decker Amish pie carrying basket (at right), and the trompe l'oeil pie plate my friends Heather and Sara gave to me several years ago (at left). And yes, that's the original Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook next to it.

Check back here tomorrow for some Tarts by Tarts kitchen missives!

Tarts by Tarts at Crafty Bastards!

2011-09-20T12:04:00.008-04:00

A few weeks ago, my housemate Kari (who writes and bakes at Tanglewood Baked Goods) and I got together and submitted an application to sell baked goods at D.C.'s Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair first food fair...and we were accepted!

Our stand, Tarts by Tarts, will offer donuts, cookies, whoopie pies, pretzels, and yes, tartlets, all with a rustic, seasonal aesthetic that highlights the two B's-- butter and bourbon.

You can find more information on our tumblr here and make sure to catch us (and/or tell your local friends!) at the Crafty Bastards Arts & Craft Fair in Adams Morgan, D.C. on October 1 from 10am-5pm. Visit their site here for more information and check back here and on our tumblr for teaser images, recipes, and more...

Tarts by Tarts!

Dad Blogs!: Campfire Pie Warming Shelf

2011-09-16T11:43:00.006-04:00

My dad submitted this post about a campfire pie on a recent Wyoming camping trip...

Recently while camping at a remote mountain lake in Wyoming we were faced with a serious pie dilemma.

We had a blueberry pie that we had picked up at a local pie shop in Ten Sleep, Wyoming and were all dying to eat it but everyone in our camp, nicknamed "The J Team" (Josh, Joe, Jim, and John) by our hiking companions at Yellowstone the day before, decided that because of the cool ambient temperatures at 12,000 feet, the pie had to be warm.

Pie warming shelf

Josh, the youngest of our group at 24 and a recent St. Olaf graduate (take note all of you prospective employers looking for an environmentalist) put on his thinking cap, grabbed a big buck saw and started to work.

Jim putting the pie on the shelf

He created a pie warming shelf that we put into the campfire and we were able to warm the pie to the perfect eating temperature.

Jim in the PEZ

It also gave it a bit of a smokey flavor which was just perfect for the campfire setting.

Thanks to my dad for the post and the tip!

Stanley Kubrick and Pie

2011-09-14T10:57:00.002-04:00

In preparation for the deleted pie scene in Dr. Strangelove. Perhaps he's not quite in the PEZ, but... (via pop culture cooking)

Peach Apricot Raspberry Wedding Pie

2011-09-10T18:02:00.004-04:00

My good friends Erik and Abra got married two weekends ago at Bare Knuckle Farm (where Abra is a business partner/farmer) in Northport, MI. The weather was *perfect* (despite the fact that much of the east coast was being hit by Hurricane Irene), old pals were there in force (making for a killer dance party later), and the food, oh, the food!

Abra is a chef in Chicago, and she enlisted her Chicago chef pals to each contribute a dish, for a local farm fancy wedding potluck, of sorts.

Two of the bakers Abra works with are Paula Haney and Kelsey Coday of Hoosier Mama Pie Company. They contributed the most delicious Peach Apricot Raspberry pies which stood alongside cakes by Sandra Holl and Meghan Stone at Floriole Bakery.

I can't speak much about the pie, honestly, because I ate it in sporadic bites while trying to prep for DJing, and don't remember specificities of taste, just that it was so fresh and DELICIOUS.

Congratulations and thank you to Abra & Erik (as well as to everyone who contributed) for this quite perfect celebration. May there be many delicious pies in your future! xoxo.

The Moon Pie

2011-09-05T23:37:00.020-04:00

The moon pie. If you're from or have spent time in the South, you are probably familiar with that pillow of marshmallow, sandwiched between two graham cookies, all coated in chocolate (that's the classic version, anyhow). Story goes that the moon pie came to be when Earl Jones, the dessert's founder, asked a Kentucky coal miner what snack he'd like to eat. The miner replied with something similar to a s'more--graham cracker and marshmallow dipped in chocolate. When Jones asked how big it should be, his interviewee looked up at the night sky, and circled the full moon with his hands.

a "workingman's lunch"-- R.C. Cola and a moon pie (or three)

This weekend I was in Tenneessee, the official home of the moon pie, as Jones started making them at his Chattanooga bakery in 1917. Though I was in Nashville, I had no trouble gathering proclamations of moon pie love and a few anecdotes. I befriended someone whose father was part of the eating of the biggest moon pie EVER, and one of the members of the blues group The Holmes Brothers, a Chattanooga native, told me stories of after school moon pie snacks he ate on the railroad bridge while watching the train go by.

good, but could it be better?

While I was there, I enjoyed my own "workingman's lunch"-- R.C. Cola and a moon pie--of which Big Bill Lister wrote a song in the 1950s. I enjoyed it, but thought that the packaged version left a little something to be desired--the chocolate is a bit waxy, the cookies not as flavorful as the could be (I know this might be blasphemous to some, but I don't have the childhood food nostalgia associated with the treat). I decided to try to make my own.

moon pie making-- a messy pursuit

I scoped a few recipes on the internet, and it seems there are two schools of thought regarding homemade moon pies-- those who make graham crackers, and those who make "graham" cookies. The packaged moon pie is admittedly more cookie than cracker, though the cookie has a slight bite and has that graham flour taste. For my first attempt, I decided to go with cracker over cookie, as it seemed a little more authentic, but the jury is still out. I combined a few different recipes, and here's what I came up with...

tricky, messy, tasty

Homemade Moon Pies (first attempt)

For graham cracker cookie:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups graham flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Using a mixer (hand or stand), beat butter until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla to butter mixture and beat until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat until mixture is crumbly. Add molasses, then milk until the dough comes together (it will be stiff). Chill dough for approximately one hour. Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll out dough on a lightly floured pastry board or counter top. Cut circles out with a cookie cuter to give you the size moon pie you'd like. Bake about 15 minutes--or until soft by done. Let cool completely.

For the marshmallow filling:
2 egg whites
Pinch cream of tartar
Pinch of sea salt
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Using a mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the the egg whites with the cream of tartar and salt until firm peaks form. (Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, boil the corn syrup over high heat without stirring until it registers 230-235°F on a candy thermometer)* Slowly drizzle the (hot) corn syrup into the egg whites and beat at high speed until glossy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low, beat in the vanilla and powdered sugar.

*This step did not work for me, as the corn syrup kept congealing, like candy. We ended up using room temperature corn syrup.

To assemble the cookies:
On cookie sheets that fit in your freezer, line up half of the cookies. Spoon marshmallow filling on half of the cookies. Top each cookie (my marshmallow filling was a bit runny, so this was a little difficult). Place cookie sheets in freezer.

For chocolate coating:
24 ounces (one large bag) semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Meanwhile, using a double boiler or in the microwave on 50% power and in 30 second increments, melt the chocolate and vegetable oil together until completely smooth. Remove cookies from the freezer and spoon melted chocolate over each cookie so that it runs down the sides and covers most of the cookie. Return cookies to the freezer. Once chocolate has hardened, flip over and spoon melted chocolate over the other side to completely coat cookies. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

pie in the sky

I found this recipe, particularly the marshmallow filling, to be rather tricky. Plus the whole process requires some simultaneous steps, so I was lucky to have a few friends around to help (also to help me taste test!). I liked the cookies, though they were quite molasses-y, and I think they could be a bit softer. Next time I might try a "graham cookie" recipe and try to make the mallow filling with vegetarian gelatin.

All-in-all though, they were still quite tasty, as evidenced by these faces in the MPEZ (Moon Pie Enjoyment Zone).

We enjoyed them with warm beer (trying to finish a leftover keg!) on the porch in the rain. Check back in for my second moon pie making attempt and check out NPR and my Professor Bill Ferris' essay for further related reading.

Stone Fruit and Berry Cobbler at Sometimes

2011-08-29T17:15:00.006-04:00

Sometimes, pre-dinner

Last Saturday I went to Sometimes, an alt dinner club/secret cafe put on by friends/friends-of-friends in Baltimore. Guests RSVP in advance and attend the fixed menu dinner, bringing their own alcohol (though some cocktails and other drinks were provided), and a suggested donation. I had been hearing about it for a while now, but wasn't able to make it until this one, which was sadly the last, at least for a while.

Stone fruit and berry cobbler in cast iron skillets

It was approximately a 10 course meal (though some were drinks, and 11-course, if you count the dance party), and each dish was quite impressive. I especially loved the coconut-poached turbot with charred green beans, and naturally, the dessert-- a lambic float with corriander ice cream, and a stone fruit and berry cobbler.

Emmanuel & Justin

The cobblers were cooked in cast-iron skillets, and judging from my piece, contained along with various stone fruits and berries, a bit of rhubarb as well. The cobbler top was the most unique part though--it was just enough sweet and surprisingly (pleasantly) quite spicy, from the addition of red pepper (?).

spicy dessert!

I'm inspired to try adding a lil' spice to a crumble top sometime soon, plus bake in iron skillets more! Thanks to Ben, Heidi, and the rest of the crew for the incredible dinner, and to Anna for inviting me.

On the Cover of Gourmet

2011-07-29T23:26:00.008-04:00

A selection of Gourmet magazine (r.i.p.) covers that feature pie. See all of them here.

Peach-Bourbon-Ginger Hand Pies

2011-07-26T00:21:00.004-04:00

Peaches in the summertime! I picked up some of summer's favorite stone fruit at the market last week, and got to baking them this past weekend. I found this recipe from the ever-inspiring Smitten Kitchen, and was, well, smitten. Peaches + personal pockets + pies... oh yeah, and bourbon = some of my favorite things.

Here's my Smitten Kitchen adapted recipe:

Peach-Bourbon-Ginger Hand Pies

Makes 14 to 24 (depending on cutter size)

For the crust:
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 c. sour cream
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 c. ice water

For the filling:
2 pounds of peaches (approximately 4)
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. bourbon
1 tsp. fresh ginger, zested
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
One egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons water (for egg wash)
Turbinado sugar, for dusting

To make the pastry, in a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Place the sliced butter in another bowl and put both bowls in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove the bowls from the freezer and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and, using a food processor or pastry cutter, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and add half of this mixture to the well. Stir in the liquid with a wooden spoon until large lumps form. Once dough can be formed, form it into a ball, but do not overwork. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Divide the refrigerated dough in half. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one half of the dough to 1/8-inch thick. Using a 4 1/2-inch-round biscuit cutter, cut circles out of the rolled dough. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes. Repeat with the other half of dough.

To Make the filling: Peel and dice the peaches into small pieces. Mix them with the flour, sugar, salt, bourbon, vanilla, and ginger.

Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator, and let stand at room temperature until just pliable. Spoon about 1-2 Tblsp. filling onto one half of each circle of dough. Brush some cold water around the edges of the dough, and fold it in half so the other side comes down over the filling, creating a crescent moon shape. Seal the hand pie by pressing the edges of the dough together with the back of a fork. Repeat with remaining dough. Place the hand pies back on the parchment-lined baking sheet, and return to the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the pies from the refrigerator, cut a small slit in each and lightly brush with egg yolk, sprinkling Turbinado sugar on top. Place pies in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until pies are golden brown. Remove the pies from the oven and let cool. Enjoy!

Overall I was pretty pleased with this recipe, though I found the crust-to-filling ratio a little too high--meaning I need to figure out a way to get more filling in there and still be able to seal it shut. They also get a little soggy fast, so eat them right away! Shouldn't be too hard.

I shared mine with my weekend house guests and co-workers on Monday. Everyone was happy.

p.s. there are not really hands in hand pies.

TEZ/PEZ on Film

2011-07-25T09:20:00.004-04:00

I like shooting film (still), but sometimes it means photos are late to the digital party. Here's Ryan in the strawberry-rhubarb and wine-soaked fig rustic tart enjoyment zone (TEZ). Read more about it here.

And here's Artie, Justin, and Jamie in the strawberry-apricot pie enjoyment zone (PEZ). Read more here.

Bruiseberry Pie

2011-07-24T14:31:00.010-04:00

The lattice is a little wonky, because I was getting tired and impatient, compromising refrigeration time.

I took a trip to Lewes, Delaware last weekend to meet my dear friends' Mandy and Greg's baby Juniper, and hang out on the beach with the Fischer family. Katy and Lanny picked up some blackberries and blueberries at the farmers' market, and after a full day of SPORTS (kayaking, ocean swimming, bay floating, biking, and tennis), Artie and I made what I call a bruiseberry pie, with black-and-blue- berries (mostly black).

Here's the approximate recipe:
Bruiseberry Pie

Ingredients:
-Nothing-in-the-house pie crust recipe
-5-6 c. fresh blackberries
-1 c. (or a handful) fresh blueberries
-1/2 c. white sugar
-1/2 c. brown sugar
-2.5 Tblsp. corn starch (or arrowroot)
-pinch of salt
-2 tsp. lemon zest
-1-2 tsp. ginger zest
-2 tsp. lemon juice
-1 egg (for washing)
-Turbinado sugar (for dusting)

Follow instructions for pie crust preparation. Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix berries with sugars, corn starch, salt, zests, and lemon juice. Roll out 1/2 pie crust and place into 10-in greased and floured pie dish. Pour filling into crust. Roll out top crust and cut into lattice strips, using a ruler for uniform width strips (if desired). Weave lattice and flute crust. Brush on an egg wash and dust with Turbinado sugar. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 F, then reduce heat to 375 F and bake for 35-40 minutes longer or until filling starts to bubble and crust is golden brown.

With this pie, we inducted a new member into the PEZ: plate lickers club, though Lanny said she comes from a long line of plate and bowl lickers.

Lanny carries on the plate licking tradition

Thanks to the Fischers for the lovely weekend!

Dewey's Bakery

2011-07-23T10:47:00.005-04:00

In Winston-Salem, NC. Clockwise from top left: mini apple pie, red velvet whoopie pie, chocolate eclaire. Sent in by my friend Lora. Let's go!

Pastry Brushes

2011-07-22T11:44:00.003-04:00

This past weekend my friends Mandy and Katy and I were looking at old Childcraft books. The art and design in them is so amazing! We came across this page in a section about "people who use brushes" in the What People Do volume. I'm liking the crust design on those pies...

The (unofficial) Roches' Strawberry Apricot Pie

2011-07-19T23:16:00.014-04:00

we're going away to Mount Des(s)ert Island soon...

I spent the 4th of July weekend in Maine for some summer days in the ocean air with good pals. Having listened to a lot of my favorite 80s sister trio cheese folk group The Roches before the trip, this song in particular, I had it in my mind to make a strawberry apricot pie. This might sound like a weird desire to have in the land of wild blueberries, but up there, blueberries were still mostly green or purple, but strawberry season was in full force.

I know for a fact, because on our way up to my friend Jamie's cottage, our main haunt for the weekend, we stopped into my friends Nathan & Clara's blueberry farm in Brooklin (the site of Jamie's last plate licking nothing-in-the-house appearance), and there Magpie and I closely inspected the status of the berries. Not ready yet, as much as Magpie wanted them to be.

"Look! A BLUE blueberry!"

On our first full day on Mount Desert Island, I walked to the downtown grocer's in the morning to pick up a few items and check out the potential pie fruit. There I found the ripest local Maine strawberries, and some decent fresh apricots (probably not local). Then we went out for an afternoon sail, capped by an evening gin-and-tonics plus nachos happy hour at Dockside.

Me, Jamie, Justin + Rebecca?

While the boys foraged for mussels along the causeway and prepared dinner, I set to work on the pie. I initially envisioned making a cold "ice box" variety, but when I asked the dudes whether they preferred warm or cold pie, all three of them gave me a blank look, and were like "WARM, DUHnoquestionHELLO!!"

Using a strawberry-rhubarb pie recipe as a guideline, here's the approximate recipe I improvised:

The Roches' Strawberry Apricot Pie

Ingredients:
Nothing-in-the house pie crust
4 c. (approx.) fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
4 c. (approx.) fresh apricots, thinly sliced
1/4 c. port
1 c. sugar
3 Tblsp. corn starch (can use arrowroot)
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 egg, beaten
1 Tsp. Turbinado sugar

Prepare dough for crust. Soak apricot slices in port for approx. 1 hr in a medium-sized bowl. Add strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon zest. Roll out half of crust in a 10-inch greased and floured pie plate. Pour fruit filling into crust and top with crust, fluting edges. Brush on an egg wash and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and bake for 35-40 minutes more. Let cool, but serve while still warm, with vanilla ice cream.

In the dramatic light of the Lendy House table

Don't forget to lick your plate!

Justin in the PEZ: plate lickers club

Me & Artie in the PEZ: plate lickers club

Jamie is king of the PEZ: plate lickers club

but watch out for the post-sail post-hike Post-Pie Enjoyment Zone (PPEZ)...

"I'm soooooo tired...."

Don't worry Maggie and Suzzy and Terre, I can't vouch for Dublin, but if you're going away to Maine, there's strawberry apricot pie. You might crash, but you won't die.

"Speaking Pie To Power"

2011-07-19T17:00:00.005-04:00

As a pie blogger and folklorist with personal, professional, and academic interest in food (particularly pie) -as-social-change, I would be remiss to not at least MENTION the pied Rupert Murdoch incident. In referencing the attack, my friend Nathan told me about his friend Audrey Watters, a historian/folklorist who studies the use of pies in political protest (a lady after my own heart!). Read her post/essay "Speaking Pie to Power" here.

Here is a Country Woman Making Rabbit Pies

2011-07-11T10:45:00.007-04:00

A 1934 video from the British Film Institute's "Kitchen-Craft" series. As a vegetarian, I find the full skinned rabbit carcass a bit gross, but this video is full of hilarious one-liners ("Here is a country woman and she is going to show you how to make rabbit and pork into pies," "be generous with your bacon," "no bits, no mess, all in a tidy heap") and some interesting pie-making techniques, like the decorative "beating" of the crust. Enjoy and please let me know if you try out this recipe...

And if you don't know...

2011-07-07T16:18:00.004-04:00

...then now you know. Check out Jane Hornby's What To Cook and How To Cook It apple pie recipe, depicted in sequential photographs. Easy as...

Shelf of Pies

2011-06-27T13:26:00.001-04:00

By Wayne Thiebaud, c. 1960

Panama Red's Homemade Pies

2011-06-25T17:05:00.003-04:00

From somewhere in Wyoming. Sent in by my dad. See more of his photos here.

A Rustic Cottage and a Rustic Tart (with Wine-Soaked Figs)

2011-06-24T13:56:00.009-04:00

Zenobia!

A few weekends ago, I ventured north, up to the Catskills, where I met my friends Diane, Becky, and Ryan in this rustic cottage, aka Zenobia, for an artists' retreat/non-NELP NELP (we have all taught there together, but not this year). The other three were staying for the week, but having just started a new job in D.C., I could only be there for le weekend.

Me, spreading pyllo for spanakopita, Becky at the stove

On Saturday night, Becky and I took on dinner-- a pie night, of sorts-- with spanakopita and roasted asparagus and butternut squash with pecans on the savory side of things, and a rustic tart-- to go with our rustic cabin-- for dessert.

Alice Bradley was the principal of Fannie Farmer's School of Cookery

Initially I just set out to make a strawberry-rhubarb rustic tart, but as Becky and I were chopping vegetables, Ryan read to us from this book-- The Alice Bradley Menu Cookbook, from 1937. Alice organized her cookbook into menus for 3-meals a day for an entire year!

As Ryan read over a menu that included a fig tart, we got to thinking...we had some dried figs in the house, and thought they'd make a nice addition to the strawberry and rhubarb. Since we were in the woods, sans internet, I had to approximate a recipe, but here is basically what I did...

Strawberry-Rhubarb and Wine-Soaked Fig Rustic Tart

Ingredients:
Pie crust (using Nothing-in-the-House recipe)
2 c. strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 c. rhubarb, chopped
2 c. (or approximately 6-8) dried figs
1/2-1c. red wine
1 c. sugar
3 Tblsp. cornstarch (can use arrowroot)
1 egg, beaten
1-2 Tblsp. Turbinado sugar (for dusting)

Soak figs in 1/2- 1c. red wine for at least one hour. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. When figs are adequately soaked, chop them, and combine with chopped rhubarb and sliced strawberries. Add 1 c. sugar and 3 Tblsp. cornstarch. Roll out pie crust into a circle on a cookie sheet. Scoop filling onto the center of the pie crust. Spread, leaving 3 in. border. Fold edges of pie crust over filling. Brush on and seal with an egg wash. Sprinkle Turbinado sugar over the entire tart. Place in oven for 10 minutes at 425, then lower heat to 375 and let bake for approximately 30 minutes longer, or until crust is golden brown and filling starts to bubble.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream.

Play Bananagrams while you wait for the tart to bake!

The finished tart was incredibly delicious, particularly with the addition of the seeded figs. I'd call it a new favorite. More importantly, it was so nice to be back in the kitchen, reading books, and making jokes again with these three smarty pants.

It's about that time of year...

2011-06-21T11:24:00.006-04:00

To go berry picking for your summer pies, tarts, and jams! It's still strawberry season in the North, and on to blueberries in the South. Raspberries, black raspberries, and blackberries will be ready soon.

The pictures above are from the Oregon State University Archives, and feature berry pickers on Oregon "victory farms" in 1946.

*Top: "Kneeling is Stanley Boyer -- one of the best strawberry pickers in the Portland area. His record was 21 crates of strawberries in a 6 hour day."
*Middle: "Joan Renner, 15 years old, from West Linn, is transferring blackcaps from her picking carrier to a crate on the John Phillips farm in the Carus community of Clackamas County."
*Bottom: " Portland Victory Farm Volunteer raspberry picking platoon at lunch at a farm near Troutdale, Oregon."

Happy summer solstice and happy picking!

Strawberry Pie

2011-06-19T14:04:00.016-04:00

With the farmer's markets overflowing with fresh, juicy strawberries, I couldn't resist the urge to buy a few pints and make a strawberry pie.

My last attempt at a strawberry pie was last summer. I was making the pie for a party and left it in the refrigerator to chill as guests arrived. When I went to take it out a few hours later, a piece had been cut out (a pie bandit!) and the filling had spilled into the space. Though delicious, the pie had not set very well, but I never knew if the recipe or the pie bandit was to blame.

This year, I used a slightly different recipe and kept friends far from the fridge as the pie chilled. And guess what? It set! And it was bursting with fresh strawberry flavor.

Strawberry Pie

Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie crust, baked

2 pounds fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 envelope unflavored powdered gelatin

2 tablespoons cold water

Slice about 3 cups of the strawberries into quarters. Either crush the berries with a fork or process in a food processor until mushy. You should have about 1 1/2 cups crushed berries. Place the crushed berries in a saucepan over medium heat with the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally until the mixture begins to thicken slightly, about 5-7 minutes.

While the mixture is cooking, soften the gelatin in the cold water and set aside.

Remove berry mixture from the heat, add the softened gelatin and stir until the gelatin has dissolved. Set aside to cool to almost room temperature.

With the remaining berries, set aside the most attractive ones and slice in half (these will go decoratively on the top of the pie). Cut the rest into quarters and fold them into the cooled mixture. Pour this mixture into the baked pie shell then arrange the halved berries on top. Chill in the refrigerator until set, at least 2 hours or overnight before serving.

Adapted from: Sing For Your Supper

Putting Meringue on Lemon Pies

2011-06-17T09:12:00.006-04:00

A 1940 U.S. Forest Service photograph: "CCC enrollee baker Toivo Maki is putting meringue on lemon pies which he baked for the enrollees at the Gegoka CCC camp, Superior National Forest, Minnesota."

Find out more at Oregon State University's digital collections.

Koffee Kup in Hico, TX

2011-06-15T08:49:00.006-04:00

Images of Hico, Texas' Koffee Kup and their pecan pie à la mode sent in my Brodie, forever holdin' down the Nothing-In-The-House TX fort. Perhaps all an attempt to get me to come visit?

Pie Takes The Cake Interviews Nothing-In-The-House!

2011-06-13T11:28:00.006-04:00

A few months ago I joined the Church of Pie group, a collection of folks dedicated to pie, on Facebook. When I posted our Pi(e) Day video, Gina Hyams, author and owner of the sweet site Pie Takes The Cake contacted me and asked if she could interview me about Nothing-in-the-House. I spoke about the origins of the blog and my love for pie, and sent in a few photographs. It turned out so nice! Check it out here.

Gina also sent me a review copy of her adorable Pie Contest In a Box. I'll be writing about it here as soon as I can round up some contestants, judges, and audience!

English Country Pie

2011-06-07T21:13:00.004-04:00

I try not to stray too far into pie-themed tangents here, but Fairport Convention is one of my favorite bands, Dylan ain't too shabby, and y'all know how I feel about pie...

Rhubarb Tart at Rachel's Bread

2011-05-15T22:16:00.008-04:00

My grandma Georgette at Rachel's

It is a Hilliard family tradition to frequent Rachel's Bread in Goshen, Indiana on Saturday mornings. Rachel's is the French/Belgian-inspired bakery of our friend Rachel Shenk. She used to sell bread out of her home kitchen, but has since established a full-on boulangerie adjacent to the Goshen Farmers' Market, and has acquired a loyal following.

My parents enjoy their frittatas

I came home this weekend to surprise my grandma on her 80th birthday, so on Saturday we headed down to Goshen for some of Rachel's frittatas, croissants, baguettes, and yes, tarts.

Rachel's rhubarb mini tart!

I got this delicious rhubarb mini tart-- diced rhubarb with sugar on a thick pâte sucrée. The thick, doughy and sugared crust--a perfect compliment to the tart rhubarb-- persuaded me to get to work on my own pâte sucrée; I never thought it was necessary before. I have some recipes to try, but if you have a good one, do let me know. I'll have to wait until my next visit home to compare it to Rachel's...

Royers Pie Shop in Round Top, Texas

2011-05-11T14:14:00.000-04:00

Submitted by Nothing-in-the-house correspondent Brodie from Austin, TX

Vegan Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie!

2011-05-02T17:21:00.009-04:00

Post contributed by my friend Justin in Baltimore...

Making vegan pecan pie is easy! I recently made my first, a chocolate bourbon vegan pecan pie, with great results, as pictured. I read a bunch of recipes, and followed along loosely with the three listed below to get an idea of measurements and ingredients:

Vegan Baking Recipe

American Food Recipe

Cupcake Punk Recipe

The basic idea is to make a sticky, sweet liquid mixture, combine that with about 2 cups of pecans that you've toasted in your pie crust, and bake at 350F for about 35 minutes.

If you're looking for a vegan pie crust recipe, I can recommend 1c all purpose flour, 1/4c water, 1/2c (or 4 oz) non-hydrogenated margarine or vegetable shortening, and a pinch of salt if your margarine isn't salted. Work that all together, put it in the fridge for a while, covered, if you have time, and roll it out when you're ready. For this recipe, you can pre-bake your crust and toast your pecans at the same time. Line your pie dish with your crust, then pour in the pecans, and put it in the oven at 350F for 15 minutes or so.

Choose a mix of sweeteners such as maple syrup, agave, corn syrup, molasses, brown sugar and water, brown rice syrup or whatever else you have on hand. Combine these in a pot with a little vanilla, a pinch of salt, 3 tablespoons or so of bourbon if you like, and heat over low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring. Add a little corn starch at the end, then mix in your pecans, put it all in your pie crust, and bake it! If you want to add chocolate, put in some broken up pieces of baking chocolate or dark chocolate chips or a broken up bar right before you bake the pie.

Gone for PIE

2011-04-26T16:35:00.005-04:00

This note--a relic of Pi(e) Day-- still hangs on the wall of my friends' record store, All Day Records, in Carrboro, NC. I like that.

Rustic Blood Orange Tart with Cream Cheese Crust

2011-04-10T19:02:00.006-04:00

Spring is in full glory here in Chapel Hill, which brings with it a few things...terrible allergies and a desire to eat fruit, among them. My fruit kick has included a lot of blood oranges recently. They're so vibrant and variegated in color, have a tart little kick, and are delicious with sweet or savory accompaniment. I've been eating them a lot in salads with mixed greens, avocado, goat cheese, almonds, and maple syrup vinaigrette.

While browsing recipes on Smitten Kitchen a few weeks ago, this recipe for a "flaky blood orange tart" caught my eye. I like tart recipes like this that are very simple and really showcase the fruit, without the need for much added spice or sweetener.

My dad was passing through town and requested some pie, the monthly Old Time Jam I coordinate was coming up, and I had a bunch of individually wrapped butter and cream cheese packets leftover from the North Carolina Folklore Society Annual Meeting-- All good indications that it was time to try out this blood orange tart, with some variations. Here's the approximate recipe I used:

Rustic Blood Orange Tart with a Cream Cheese Crust

Ingredients:
1 cup flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup plus 2 Tblsp. raw Turbinado sugar
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
5 Tblsp. salted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
4 Tblsp. cream cheese
3 Tblsp. ice water
8 to 10 blood oranges (I only needed 6)
1 large egg yolk mixed with 2 Tblsp. of water

Whisk 1 cup of flour with 2 Tblsp. sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the 4 Tblsp. of cold butter in sliced pieces and cream cheese and cut into flour mixture with a knife and fork or pastry cutter. Sprinkle the dough with the ice water and combine until pastry can be formed into a disk. Wrap pastry in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

On a floured work surface, roll out pastry to an 11-in. round, about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the pastry to a parchment paper–lined flat cookie sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel the blood oranges, removing all of the bitter white pith with a knife. Thinly slice 2 of the oranges crosswise and remove the pits. Transfer the orange slices to a plate. Cut in between the membranes of the remaining oranges, along section lines. You will need 1 cup of sections.

Arrange the orange sections on the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Sprinkle 2 Tblsp. of sugar over the oranges. Thinly slice the remaining 1 Tblsp. of butter over the oranges. Fold up the pastry over the oranges, leaving most of the oranges uncovered. Brush the pastry with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with 1 Tblsp. of the sugar. Arrange the orange slices on top, leaving a 1-in. border of pastry all around. Sprinkle the remaining 1 Tblsp. of sugar on top. Freeze the tart until solid, at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375° and position a rack in the center. Place a baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drips. Bake the tart directly from the freezer for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the pastry is deeply browned. Let the tart cool completely. Serve with salted butter caramel sauce, if so desired. recipe here (I tried to make this but my cream sort of curdled, so I can't vouch for it. Sounds good though!)

I brought the tart to the Old Time Jam at Nightlight and shared it with friends there. Unfortunately my dad couldn't make the jam, but I did save him a slice and handed it off to him at lunch the next day.

Really delicious and simple spring or summer tart that's not too sweet.

Two Pi(e) Day Straggler Photos

2011-04-06T13:52:00.004-04:00

I just got a roll of film back with some Pi(e) Day photos. Only two, actually, because I only because I was so busy keeping the masses from slicing in to the pies before we had SUFFICIENTLY DOCUMENTED THEM (just kidding) and keep things running smoothly all while trying to chat with old pals, meet new pals, and play music that I didn't have time to take any more. The downside of event planning, I suppose. I did have a lot of really great help though, which made it so much easier, and thank goodness Ashley volunteered to photograph and document.

ANYWAY. Here's the two photos I took. One of most of the half-eaten pie spread...

and another of some pals in the Pie (and beer) Enjoyment Zone...

Kelly, Neale, Cath, and a camera shy James.

I think that should be all of the Pi(e) Day-related posts, until next year...

SEEDS Pie Social

2011-04-04T10:35:00.004-04:00

SEEDS, a non-profit community garden in Durham, NC is hosting their Pie Social and Skill Share Auction this coming Sunday, April 10th from 2-5 pm. A suggested donation of $10 gets you up to 4 slices of pie and goes to the Durham Inner-city gardeners. Find out more about SEEDS and the event on their website.

I'm aiming to get a thesis draft set off to my advisor this week so that I can attend! Hope to see y'all there.

Two "Chicken" Pot Pies and an Apple Tart

2011-04-03T15:37:00.013-04:00

Last week my friend Jon made some delicious chicken and "chicken-less" pot pies and shared it with some friends and I for dinner on a rainy spring evening in Carrboro. The chicken-less pie (above) had quorn patty chunks and the chicken pie (below) had gen-u-ine chicken (and an overflowing crust).

Both pies had the same vegetable ingredients of pearl onions (an excellent addition), peas, corn, carrots, and potatoes in gravy. The folks who tried both said they couldn't really tell the difference between the two.

I contributed a free-jazz apple tart I made, drawing from a combination of past attempted apple tart recipes.

The recipe I made up was approximately as follows:

Free-jazz apple tart

Ingredients:
3 tart apples, cored and very thinly sliced
1/2 c. homemade apple butter
1/4 c. homemade apple-rosemary jelly
juice of 1/2 lemon
raw sugar for sprinkling
nothing-in-the-house pie crust recipe, halved (bottom crust only)

Prepare crust with recipe found here. Refrigerate. Core and thinly slice 3 apples and place in a bowl. Squeeze juice of half of a lemon over the apples and stir. Roll out dough and place in a greased and floured tart pan. Spread apple butter on crust and place apple slices in concentric circles over the apple butter. Sprinkle with raw sugar and bake at 375 for approximately 35-45 minutes. Cool. When tart is still warm, heat apple-rosemary jelly and drizzle over the tart. Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

I brought the tart over in the double-decker Amish pie carrying basket my parents gave me for Christmas last year.

After a full-day in the library working on my thesis, this pie dinner was just the perfect treat.

St. Patty's Pie

2011-03-31T14:03:00.005-04:00

Sent in by my friend Emily O. on March 17th.

Our "Revolution is Round" in Zenchilada!

2011-03-27T18:00:00.007-04:00

A few months ago, Ronni Lundy, author of Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes, and Honest Fried Chicken and Southern Foodways Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award winner, asked if my friend Lora and I would contribute an article on Pi(e) Day to Zenchilada, the online culinary magazine Lundy edits with Patricia West-Barker. We wrote the piece as two friends in conversation and used pie as a lens to discuss our ideas of female friendship, tradition, and the domestic arts, all topics we often talk about when we are baking and cooking together in real life.

Zenchilada also used three of the recipes we used in last year's Pi(e) Day-- lemon goat cheese tart with blackberry preserves, avocado pie, and pimento cheese and tomato pie-- as featured recipes in the journal. Wow, they look good when made and photographed by their professional chefs, food stylists, and photographers!

We are so honored to have our words and photos featured in the Winter 2011 issue of Zenchilada. You can read the entire article and photographs here and see our recipe pages starting here. And while your at it, read the rest of the issue. It's excellent and delicious!

Friends of Hoosier Mama

2011-03-23T16:51:00.004-04:00

Hoosier Mama Pie Company in Chicago, where our friend Abra works and where Heather and I stopped in for a visit on New Years Day 2010, listed us as a friend/"pie fanatic" on their website, and tweeted about us. Sweetness!

Chicagoans and Chicago visitors, don't miss Hoosier Mama for a delicious (not to mention massive) slice of fresh pie and cup of coffee in this adorable little West Town pie shop.

Baltimore Birthday Pies

2011-03-23T15:58:00.005-04:00

My friend Justin in Baltimore send in these birthday pie photos from our friend Anna's 30th birthday party. He said,

Here is some pie porn for you. I think Anna sent you a picture from this same occasion, her 30th birthday dinner in Baltimore. Needless to say, your pie day put us to shame, but here we have two delicious pies that are sorely missed, my savory vegetable with the birthday engraving, chickpeas, green beans, potatoes, carrots, onions, and assorted spices including fresh oregano and thyme...

as well as Bob's take on shepherd's pie featuring sweet potatoes, bleu cheese, peas, and I believe the meat was from a turkey.

Wish I could have been there! He also asked if I had a recipe for a vegan pecan pie. Anyone have a good one?

Piedmont Pi(e) Day Photobooth

2011-03-20T12:20:00.003-04:00

Here's Emily O and Alex being silly in the Pi(e) Day photobooth (Pie Enjoyment Zone), set up and run by Ashley Melzer. You can see some photos from it in the Pi(e) Day post below, and the rest here. Also check out the Pi(e) Day write-up in Chapel Hill food blog Victus Populi.

2nd Annual Pi(e) Day on the Piedmont

2011-03-18T11:20:00.019-04:00

We celebrated the 2nd Annual Pi(e) Day on the Piedmont (see last year's here) at Johnny's in Carrboro, NC. It was a crisp, but sunny evening, the rain holding off until later in the night. Pies started arriving around 5:00, with eaters (many of whom I didn't know), champing at the bit, ready to eat at 5:30 sharp!

Altogether we had a spread of 24 pies, plus several mini- and hand-pies, all made by our incredible 18 member Pi(e) Day Baking Team. Some were sweet, some were savory, some vegan, some gluten-free. Some had meringue, some were double crust, some had beautiful dollops of whipped cream (like Nicole's chocolate chess pie (below, left), but all were delicious.

Here are a few highlights:

Shannon's chocolate lavender (perhaps my favorite of the day) pie & my vegan avocado-coconut. Shannon said she used Smitten Kitchen's recipe for chocolate pudding pie then added about 1 tbsp more cornstarch to make it a touch less pudding-ish. To introduce the lavender flavor, she warmed the milk and added 2-3 tbsp dried lavender flowers and then let them soak for about half an hour before straining them out, then followed the Smitten Kitchen recipe. You could do the same thing using cardamom pods for a cardamom chocolate pie.

Ari's double banana bubble cream pies

My date butter pie. I used the recipe from the New York Times' featured date butter tart, but used the nothing -in-the-house crust recipe instead of pate sucre. I will write it out since I know the Times is moving to paid subscriptions...

Ingredients:
35 to 40 deglet noor dates (can use another variety)
½ vanilla bean (I used 2 tsp. vanilla, for economy)
9 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 extra-large eggs
2⁄3cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1. Make the crust using nothing-in-the-house crust recipe at right (halve it as you only need a bottom crust). After refrigerating, roll out crust and place into greased and floured pie dish. Trim and flute edges.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork and line the tart shell with a few coffee filters, or with a piece of parchment paper. Fill the lined tart shell with beans or pie weights and bake 15 minutes, until set. Take the tart out of the oven and gently lift out the paper and beans. Return to the oven and bake another 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is an even golden brown. Set aside on a rack to cool.

3. Make a vertical slit in each date and remove the pit. Use your fingers to press the dates back into their natural shape (I didn't need to do this as mine were pitted). Place the dates, slit side down, in concentric circles in the tart shell, leaving ½ inch between each date.

4. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and use a paring knife to scrape the seeds and pulp onto the butter. To make sure not to lose any of the seeds, run your vanilla-coated knife through the butter. Heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the vanilla-streaked butter and the vanilla pod to the pan and cook 6 to 8 minutes, until the butter browns and smells nutty. Discard the vanilla pod. (I just used 2 tsp. vanilla extract instead of a bean)

5. Whisk the eggs and ⅔ cup sugar together in a bowl. Whisk in the flour and salt and stir in the warm butter to incorporate.

6. Pour the batter over the dates in the tart shell. Sprinkle the top with the remaining tbsp. sugar. Bake 30 minutes, until the filling puffs, browns and is set. Cool the tart at least 20 min. before serving.

Andrew's bourbon chocolate pecan pie and my Shaker lemon pie (with pi to 13 places)

Emily O's pear-walnut tart (unfortunately didn't get to try this one, but it looks beautiful)

In addition to the ones pictured, the other pies were: swiss potato & cheese pie; mushroom, greens & leek quiche; key lime pie; crack pie; pecan sorghum pie; Mayan chocolate pie; apple mini pies; leek, nettle & ricotta pie; rhubarb cream pie with meringue; Jefferson Davis pie, strawberry-rhubarb pie, apple pie, purple sweet potato pie, spinach-feta quiche and apple hand pies.

Ashley set up a Pi(e) Day photo booth and snapped a few pie portraits (Stokes w/ pie lurker Zeke, Talula, and Emily & Alex, with more to be posted in a separate entry shortly)...

The Wildegeeses (Charlie, Will, Zeke, and me) played...

And we had a Pi(e) Walk, where the winner won a homemade maple pie. In the end we raised $400 for CEFS to develop a statewide youth food council, and celebrated pie, spring, and mathematics (pushes up invisible nerd glasses) with about 75 friends, new and old. Check out our flickr for more photos and don't miss this sweet, sweet video that Ashley made, perfectly capturing the lovely evening.

pi(e) day 2011: it's not just about me, it's about pie. from Ashley Melzer on Vimeo.

Special thanks to our baking team: Emily O' Sullivan, Alix Blair, Shannon Harvey, Ashley Melzer, Whitney Brown, Nicole Bogas, Sarah Schwartz Sax, Neale Stokes, Aaron Smithers, Emily Hilliard, Kelly Smith, Ari Berenbaum, Rachel & Nate Lerner, Carla Norwood, Janie Woodbridge, Andrew Aghapour, & Kim Tungate

Photographer/documentarian Ashley Melzer

And other helpers: Lora Smith, Emily Wallace, Alex Chassanoff, Kavanah Anderson, Lindsay Perry, Tes Thraves/CEFS, The Wildegeeses, Johnny's, and MATH! Plus all who attended, ate, and donated. THANK YOU!

Pi(e) Day in Big Sky

2011-03-17T11:08:00.005-04:00

Sadly Lora wasn't able to attend Pi(e) Day on the Piedmont this year, because she was off on a family ski trip in Big Sky, Montana. But have no fear! They are still celebrating pie there, with "Pie In the Sky."

Pi(e) Day in Ontario

2011-03-16T08:44:00.012-04:00

A former Nelper and friend Kara sent in these photos of her family's Pi(e) Day celebration in London Ontario. She says,

We had our pie baking day on Friday, during which we cooked five pies--apple, blueberry, cherry, chocolate raspberry torte and a sweet pinto bean pie-- in addition to two dozen butter tarts (a Canadian treasure, our recipe for which is top secret!). Your nothing-in-the-house pie crust recipe has been a real hit with my relatives over the last few months. It made a lovely addition to my spinach and tomato quiche and the last two pies I made Friday.

We took some pictures of the pie enjoyment zone while we ate the chocolate raspberry torte.

The first picture is of my grandma looking skeptical before eating the pie and then her smiling afterwards.

Thanks for the recipes for the tart and the pinto bean pie! DELICIOUS!

Also, March 14th is Albert Einstein's birthday! The picture I've included is one of my favorites of him; I imagine this is what his PEZ would look like!

HAPPY PI(e) DAY!

Thanks to Kara for these sweet words and photos. For another Canadian pie story, check out this radio piece on PRX. Stay tuned for more Pi(e) Day documentation coming soon...

Pi(e) Day in Ithaca

2011-03-15T13:18:00.012-04:00

My friends Angela & Ben celebrated Pi(e) Day in Ithaca yesterday with chicken 'n' kale hand pies with a cheddar crust and a heart...

I'll be posting some pics of friends' Pi(e) Day celebrations as I receive them and stay tuned for a re-cap of last night's lovely Piedmont Pi(e) Day celebration at Johnny's in Carrboro, NC. I also got news last night that my friend's Stacy and Chris had their own little cutie pi(e) baby yesterday!

Beware the pi(e)des of March today...a.k.a. pi(e) day food coma...

Piedmont Pi(e) Day in the Independent!

2011-03-09T12:03:00.005-05:00

The spread at last year's Pi(e) Day on the Piedmont, held at Celebrity Dairy in Siler City, NC

Check it out! This year's upcoming Pi(e) Day party (5 days away!) is featured in the Independent Weekly! Link to the article, by Emily Wallace, here.

The celebration will be held at Johnny's in Carrboro, NC from 5:30-8:30 pm. There will be live music, a pi(e) walk, and a pi(e) photobooth. Check out our flyer here and Facebook invite here.

See you there, nerds!

Marina's Famous Pigeon Pot Pie

2011-03-09T10:06:00.010-05:00

from guest blogger Marina Michahelles of Shoving Leopard Farm in Barrytown, NY...

You'll be asking for seconds.

I had an idea of what I wanted to eat but didn't have a recipe for it. This is what I did, and it was scrumptious.

Ingredients:
2 pigeons (ONLY country pigeons will do, well-fed on farmer's corn, etc.)
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Garlic
Salt & Pepper
Pomegranate molasses (regular molasses will do)
Meat broth
Sprinkle of zatar and oregano
Bay leaf
1-2 c. red wine
3 onions, diced into chunks
2 carrots, cut into rounds
Celariac, diced
5-6 potatoes cut into rounds
Butter
Cheddar cheese, grated

Meat portion of the filling: Clean pigeons, remove the breast meat (which is red like a duck's) and marinate in oil, vinegar, garlic, pepper, and pomegranate molasses overnight. The following morning, put the meat and its marinade in the crock pot along with meat broth (I used pig broth I had previously made), a healthy sprinkle of zatar, a bay leaf, oregano, red wine. Set the crock pot on high for a few hours, then on low. Total crock time, 8 hours.

Veggie portion of the filling: In a heavy cast iron skillet, glazed onions with butter and olive oil. Add carrots, and a big piece of celeriac cut into small bits. When vegetables are soft, add potatoes (I used one Mila, a Magic Molly, a Troll, a Red Norland, a Red Maria...). Cover the skillet and keep flame on low. Flip the veggies regularly, checking for dryness, and add either butter or liquid from the meat to keep them moist. Total veggie time, 4.5 hours.

Crust: Blind-baked a bottom crust using the Nothing-in-the House pie crust recipe in a deep 9" pie mold.

Putting it all together: When the crust is blind-baking, combine the strained meat and the veggies in a bowl and add grated cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper. Fill the crust, covering it with a top crust and cut out a pigeon (or crust design of your choice). Bake the pie another 25-30 minutes to melt the cheese and bake the top crust.

Meanwhile,use the remaining broth and marinade from the meat to make a rue in the same cast iron skillet the veggies were cooked in.

The pie was served with roasted cherry tomatoes and Brussels sprouts. Mega-yum.

Pumpkin Pie Painting

2011-03-08T00:45:00.003-05:00

My aunt Michelle did this lovely painting of a pumpkin pie slice with a dollop of whipped cream, and a few crusty crumbs. Yum!

P.S. 6 days 'til Pi(e) Day!

Countdown To Pi(e) Day...

2011-03-01T19:57:00.005-05:00

Here's how we'll be celebrating Pi(e) Day (3.14) on the Piedmont...

No baby goats this year, but there will be a wide array of sweet and savory pies baked by the Pi(e) Day Baking Team; a Pi(e) Walk, walked in circumference 2pi(e)(r), live music by the Wildegeeses, and even a pie photobooth. We will be contributing our donations to CEFS in their efforts to develop a statewide youth food council.

What are your Pi(e) Day plans?

Pie For Baby

2011-02-22T22:07:00.004-05:00

The sooner you develop your child's pie-baking skills, the sooner she will make pie for you! Stacy and Chris, who are about to have their own pie baby any day now, sent in this photo. Can't wait to meet the soon-to-be baker!

Shaker Lemon Pie by Mom and Dad

2011-02-17T13:04:00.004-05:00

pie by my parents

My dad was so inspired by the Shaker lemon pie I made for Christmas dinner, that he bought a mandoline, so he that when he made his own, his lemon slices could be delicately thin. My parents sent along this photo of their first attempt with the mandoline and lemon pie. I wasn't there to enjoy it, but it sure looks delicious. My mom made the crust and my dad made the filling-- such parental teamwork! Good thing I called when they were assembling it-- they had almost forgotten to add the eggs...

Apple Persimmon Pie

2011-02-04T00:20:00.006-05:00

Friends and I, huddled round pie. Photo by Stokes

Before I headed to the Midwest for the holidays, I had some friends over to my Chapel Hill apartment for a Wassail potluck. It was the first big gathering I'd had at my new place, and it was very nice to warm it up with dinner (including deviled eggs, polenta with porcini mushroom sauce, lentil stew, and spinach tart), drinks (oh the drinks: mulled wine, beer, wine, beer, wine...), and dessert (rum-soaked fruitcake, ginger cookies, and yep you know it, pie). There was also one (yes, just one) spot-on round of Mad-libs, lots of record playing, and some dice game, the name of which I can no longer recall.

I still had a plethora of Fuyu persimmons that I had collected from that aforementioned tree of undisclosed location, and from my friend Aaron, who had given me a whole bag-full when I ran into him a week or so before. I didn't have quite enough for a pie, though, so I combined it with just as many apples for an apple-persimmon pie. The recipe:

Apple-Persimmon Pie

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

For filling, combine:
4-6 medium-sized baking apples (I used Granny Smith), cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
4-6 medium-sized ripe but still firm Fuyu persimmons, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to taste
3 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Using the crust recipe at right, roll out crust and place in greased and floured pie dish. Spoon in filling and top with top crust, fluting edges and adding a crust design. Brush on an egg wash and sprinkle turbinado sugar on top. Put the pie in the oven, 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 35 to 40 minutes longer. Filling will bubble and crust will be golden brown when finished.

We enjoyed ours with maple whipped cream, which we took turns whipping with a hand-crank blender-- a fun party activity!

Michael Hurley Illustrates the Piebird

2011-01-31T13:35:00.006-05:00

After I heard back from Michael Hurley about my post on his pie-themed songs and art, I asked him if he might be interested in contributing a post to the blog. He sent in this photo he took in Richmond, Virginia, circa 1995:

and included this note:

hi Emily,

here's a pic for the pie blog. it illustrates the use of the piebird, a ceramic inserted in the pie which spouts the juices as a venting function. we used to do pies with these piebirds and here is one cooling from the oven.

alla
michael

He said that he ordered them from a Tennessee general store catalog, and was glad that I was a piebird keeper. I must admit, though I own two pie birds, a black bird (like the one pictured at right) and a sparrow, I've never actually used them in a pie, always thinking that I'd rather keep in the steam and juice as much as possible. I think the bottom of my oven has suffered as a result; I might need to try my piebird soon...

It's An Old New England Custom...

2011-01-30T10:42:00.007-05:00

...To eat pie for breakfast. Tay from Winooski, Vermont sent in these photos from the Rotary Pie For Breakfast at the Cambridge Winter Fest in the Lamoille Valley of Vermont. Here's what she had to say:

It was delicious, I had elderberry/apple, raspberry, pizza, and part of a slice of peanut butter pie.

Thanks for the photos Tay and for keeping the tradition alive!