Reunion Pies!

This spring we had a gathering of cousins in Maryland, and maybe it's a family trait, but at all of our events were supplemented by pie.  Not all were homemade, but all were tasty and worth bloggin' about.

Here we have an old-fashioned apple pie and a crumble top fruit pie, for dessert at the pool party!

This one is a Blueberry Pie that came from Butler's Orchard, Germantown.  We mainly had this for breakfast.  I liked this one the best, perfect for Raven's Pie (only 3 more months until football season!)

Strawberry Rhubarb - heavy on the Rhubarb is okay with my folks - very popular and hard to photograph quick enough.

On Memorial Day, a friend brought over Soviet Lemon Pie, which I would have called a cake or a tart.  I include it on the Pie Blog because it was so odd - the secret ingredient was Ensure.  I can't say it was really very good but we had a fun time discussing it over watermelon vodka shots.

The 2010 Spring Guest Pie

Springtime brought yummy fruit and friends to the house this past month, and here is my favorite 2010 Guest Pie!  Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble was delicious.  I think this is my favorite pie of all time, and my Dad's favorite too.  Much Thanks to the guest chef, C-n-G!

Uncle Bro's Apple Gallete

Before going into to bake

If you want a way to ease yourself into pie making, you could start with a free-form pie known as a galette. On the other hand, getting the flaky crust and caramelized apples perfectly done can make this simple pie not totally simple.
Uncle Bro is indeed a master chef, a professional in a city of serious chefiness, and has even recently served up a good meal to the Dalai Lama here in San Francisco! As humble as Uncle Bro is, admittedly he knows this French Tart.

I had the pleasure of hanging at Uncle Bro's and having a wonderful home-cooked meal of a fresh farmer's market vegetable soup (which resurrected my interest in Cauliflower), a wonderful chicken entrée and this cute dessert baked with Granny Smith Apples and served with a crème inglese...so wonderful at the end of a long week. Thanks to Uncle Bro and Swiss Sis for hosting!

Butternut - Azuki Pie

Spontaneous Pie! A roasted Butternut Squash that has decorated my kitchen since Thanksgiving, and the sweet little red Azuki beans available in the pantry inspired me to get creative and throw something together I had never done.
Bringing together the organic brown sugar, a little buttermilk, a few eggs and some cloves, this pie was for me a not-too sweet and not-too heavy after-holiday pie that was so tasty warm, I can see having this for breakfast.

Final Pie of the Year: Chicago Stone-Baked Pizza Pie!

This one was my first pizza pie on '...The Pie Blog'. I called it a delicious mess, as I learned to make a deep dish Chicago style creation for this last blog of the year without having a proper pizza peel or proper deep dish. Nonetheless, the taste was a most fantastic outcome. It ended up looking a bit like a gi-normous stromboli.

The crust was a hand-made whole wheat garlic bread, and yes I made it from scratch without a bread maker or any machines. This made for a really rustic and irregular shape and texture, truly homemade comfort. I also made the tomato sauce from scratch, making this an all day thing that I would best do on winter break like now. The hot italian spicy sausage, crumbled and cooked into the dough was the best part, I think. Fresh italian cheeses and lots of fresh basil topped it off. This was time consuming, but very worthwhile and ultimately easy to do.

Giving Thanks...before the pies are made

'Before the Pies Are Made'...

That's what I call this pie blog entry. Kind of like a 'behind the scenes edition' of my pie blog.

I was considering - over a cup of coffee this morning in the Hall of Justice - and instead of fretting that I might be selected for Jury Duty - that each year there are many who feel inclined to 'think outside the box' when it comes to putting together a Thanksgiving menu. These are people who find Turkey boring or bothersome to cook after a hundred times, feel that the holiday meal becomes excessive with multiple starchy different dishes, or want to just do something 'different' from traditions that actually get boring. Fair enough...however, I find myself wanting to do many of the traditional hits over and over because I enjoy having some cooking rituals, and I find we have many opportunities throughout the year but what we choose to make is so varied, since America is so hugely diverse in cultures. I feel disheartened to hear that turkey is boring, overhearing conversations that folks are going for sushi instead of the regular bird. I should add that Vegetarians are excepted from my summons to turkey-feasting, and I have no particular 'beef' with the Tofurkey or the Madden-made-famous 'Turduckin" turkey-duck-chicken phenom. I know it is about being thankful for what you DO have. I met some folks recently in the countryside that had a goat, no turkey, and since that's what they have, they're excited to make goat soup instead and invite a crowd. I suppose that's what's important.

I asked the nephews what kinds of things they think of when we talk about cooking our Thanksgiving dinner this year. Pumpkin pie was essential to this crew of kids, being right after Turkey in order of importance. This year I plan to serve it with a cinnamon crust and whipped cream.

The nephews happen to be young boys under 5 at the time of this stream of thoughts, and currently look forward to the ritual of giving thanks at the nightly dinner table. They don't yet have many Thanksgivings to look back upon, and I have the opinion like they could associate Thanksgiving day with Turkey, the significant bird of the day. We generally join hands and each have a say as to what we are thankful for.

Aside from the occasional impulsive statement of 'I'm thankful for CAKE!!!' which happens, usually after there has been a recent birthday party or some fun school event involving cupcakes, I've noted that the nephews regularly say they are thankful for Mommy and Daddy. It is a wonderful thing for everyone to hear that simple but profound announcement - and so meaningful that the very most important thing to their survival and healthy development is what they want to thank. The younger one also shouts, "...Icing!" as footnote to his blessing. 'Amen,' we add.

The older one says, "What about a cherry pie for Thanksgiving?'' I consider. "Why not?" I like the idea. "With ice cream!" he adds. "Of course!" It's not cherry season but we could use frozen berries. I like the red holiday color and appeal of the celebratory cherry. The cross-culturally lucky holiday color of red. Hot gooey sweetness! Okay. I am convinced it will be a hit... I start to envision beautiful berries and a double layer pie. How to do it I'm not sure yet.

I am sure I'm going to make a pecan pie, in memory of Grandma who passed away this year and was the primary pecan pie and puzzle person of my life. I am adding to her famous pie some sprigs of Mint this year. (Mom is making it also, but reports that this time is destined to be with chocolate chips.)

Again, to fulfill my need of tradition and my need for sufficient leftovers there will be pumpkin pies - no photos necessary. (nothing can top the pumpkin pie breakfast before taking a long walk on a sunny fall Friday.)

P.S. Did anybody catch the cloud mystery behind that Pie Art on the cover of The New Yorker Magazine this week?

Ithaca Pie

An Organic Berry Pie in downtown Ithaca at the Farmers' Market. In this photo, it's also impossible not to notice that chocolate cake in the foreground; however, this is a pie blog.

Visiting Ithaca was wonderful,
with cherries and berries,
and fruit pies lovingly created.

We enjoyed the company of old friends in the park, listened to music, and soon the pie was gone.

Before finding this pie, we enjoyed the Grass Roots Festival of Music and Arts nearby, which had its own draw of treats, like vocalist Oumou Sangare jamming with banjologist Bela Fleck.