Ravens Pie

Well, if you haven't heard, the Baltimore Ravens are in the playoffs this year, and tomorrow we shall celebrate with this Maryland Pie. Ironically, it was a fan of our arch-enemy Steelers that today reminded me that it was 'Pie Time' for Ravens Pie. (Just For Tomorrow we are 'swar'n' enemies...but thanks for getting me on the pie project again!)
Even if you are not from Baltimore like myself, try mastering this one. It is the adaptation of a Blueberry Pie, with no actual Ravens in it, or Blackbirds, or Crows either. It is from the Western Maryland mountains where there is great farm country and orchards and fruit pies.

Catoctin Mountain - Ravens Pie

3 c pitted apricots unpeeled
2 c blueberries, fresh and no stems
2/3 c sugar plus 2 tablespoons on the side
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Brown sugar topping
1/2 c light brown sugar
1/2 c flour all purpose
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter unsalted cut into 1/4 inch pieces at room temp

Pie Pastry prepared and cold chillin'

1. prepare the pastry shell
2. In a large bowl, combine apricots blueberries and 2/3 c of the granulated sugar, and lemon juice. Mix well, set aside for 30 min to juice. Preheat the oven to 400 in the meantime.
3. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and remaining 2 tbsp gran. sugar ...stir the mix into the fruit along with nutmeg and cloves. Turning the filling into the chilled pie shell. Level it out with a spoon. Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake 30 minutes.
4. Make the topping by combining brown sugar and flour, cinnamon and salt, and pulse in a food processor to mix (or use fingers). Use your hands to scatter the butter pieces over the dry ingredients and make large buttery crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.
5. Remove pie from oven and reduce the temp to 375. Carefully dump the crumbs into the center of the pie, like Ray Lewis dumps a quarterback. Then, spread the crumbs a little with your fingers over the surface. Return the pie to the oven, placing it so that the part of the pie that faced the back of the oven now faces forward, for even cooking. Use aluminum foil underneath to catch any spills here. Bake until top is dark golden brown and juices are bubblin'. This could be 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on it - if the topping starts looking too dark cover the pie with loosely tented aluminum foil for the last 15 min or so.
6. HOT. Transfer to wire rack and LET COOL for at least 2 hours before diving into.

Dia de los Muertos Pumpkin Pie

An organic pumpkin pie here enhanced by Tanya and myself with painted Day of the Dead cookies. It's pie season. Anyone wanting to do pie season 2009 in Oaxaca next round get in touch with me!

A Spontaneous Pear Jalapeño Pie

A very fun dinner and game party for 7 at my friends' place back in the old neighborhood prompted me to do a fun eccentric pie last night to bring to the pot-luck. Never had this one before, but having lived in Mexico I am excited to try out the spicy-tart-sweet flavor combo potential of pears and jalapeño! We had some pears and lemons from our backyard which made this particularly special. Just using Jalapeño Jelly melted with butter, poured over fresh fruit and some lemon juice, sugar, and nutmeg, cinnamon, and turned into a double crust pie. Made just like a traditional apple pie - just substitute pears and a 1/2 cup of the Jalapeño Jelly. It was gone in 5 minutes. We didn't need the vanilla ice cream but of course that would have put it 'over the top'. This pie could be a good one for next Thanksgiving, with flavor that pleases the apple pie lovers but is a new twist that people will want to test!

Sweet Peach Pie in Alaska

This summer I went to visit Alaska for my cousin's wedding, (wonderful and gorgeous!) and it also was an amazing experience of stunning wilderness and adventuresome spirits. What did not prevail was the dining experience, I found that culinary adventure is not really a part of what Alaska has to offer (coming from San Francisco and being on the other side of the culinary spectrum, this was not really a big surprise) Yet I tried the reindeer sausage and various forms of halibut, (hmmm, not exactly my favorite).
The BEST place to eat in the Kenai region I traveled was, by far, Gwin's Lodge in Cooper Landing. Their menu was printed up like a newspaper with some local info and tidbits of history. We were happy: The salmon burger was tasty. The root beer was refreshing. The burger and fries was thankfully received as a familiar relief after a week of less satisfying but exotic choices.
The staff there was welcoming and kind and we were happy to find this little road house because we were HUNGRY! "Care for desert?" Oh yes - a list of many pies to choose from! Happily taking the server's suggestion to go with the peach pie, we tried it - and suddenly we could have been all the way down south in Sweet Georgia sampling a country fair's greatest pride and joy.

Cowabunga's Mud Pie

It's late August and the kids are back to...working at the Cowabunga Creamery. I walked in to try the Mud Pie and was surrounded by children herding the adults in. Dogs outside, but longing to come in. Behind the counter, it must be 'girls' day because it's all pre-teen young ladies...a few days ago it was 'boys' day and I had a coconut mini shake. I noticed how the girls and boys do not work the same shift. Is that planned? Are they so pre-teen paradise that they can't handle the love? I love how it's a total pre-teen scene, they have surfboards on the walls and cool surfer videos playing on the HD screen.. but I still feel short there. I tried the pie. I photographed the pie. I decided to pour tequila on it. There, I'm an adult again. That was tasty.

All-Strawberry Pie

All-Fresa Pie

We had a party, to celebrate the birthdays of July and our kitty, and our being here a year. The Pie Blog has been going over a year now, too!
This pie got eaten up faster than I could take a picture of it. My first All-Strawberry pie: it was amazing. With large farmer's market strawberries, cheap, ripe and plentiful here. I used a little fresh mint in the mix, with nutmeg and no other berries but strawberries...

Key Lime Pie Time!

Tropical heat wave? Key Lime Pie is the natural pie solution.



Almost summertime!
Refreshing and sweet-sour flavors were quite bold for me (and I found it zingy!) We served this to some dudes who were dressing up to go to a wedding at our casita. A picture of springtime elegance it was!
There's a little song I made called Key Lime Pie, too. It's not easy to put an mp3 on this site so just comment to me if you wanna hear it.