All-Strawberry (Shelter-In-Place) Pie

Greetings, Pie Blog Family! 

It's Passover-Easter time in 2020 and we are experiencing it like never before, during the Covid-19 pandemic.  The Egg hunt is inside, Seders are by Zoom, and a seriously limited supply of ingredients is part of life today.  We got to get what we get and not get upset! So grateful to have our health and families and friends getting in touch more than ever.

The offering for this season's pie is an ALL-STRAWBERRY pie. Strict Pie Guidelines...no other berries allowed on this one due to social berry distancing guidelines.  (Which is just fine, because I could only get fresh strawberries affordably today and they would hold up to our strict clean handling standards of the hour.)

Those who follow know I normally would go for a strawberry-rhubarb at this time of year but there's no rhubarb for sale in these parts, (not yet, anyway.) Therefore, this is my first All-Strawberry Pie.  I added the sugar crumble crust half-way through the cooking and forgot to use brown sugar, which could have elevated it, or maybe it doesn't really matter. This could be made into a double crust pie, but I prefer the lighter crumble as it turns out.

The Littlest One's review is : "I like it." 

The Grandfather's review is: "Especially good."

The Pie Bar: featuring Special Guest Pie Blogger KPV

Welcome back to The Pie Blog!
As we get into the High Holidays of Pie, the WannabePieChef wants to wish you all a happy and tasty Thanksgiving week, I am so grateful to you the readers for all these years of sharing stories and photos of Pie!
For a special treat with this edition, I'm posting photography from longtime friend and Pie Chef KPV who has experienced the pie making class and bottomless mimosas at The Pie Bar in Long Beach, California.  The Pie Bar started out as a pop-up shop, and with such amazing success now offers classes and treats both sweet and savory that are as beautiful as they are delicious!
KPV and her crew joined in on a class for some team building and made this delicious creation! Enjoy this feast for the eyes and let it be inspiration for the biggest Pie Week of the year!

You can learn more about KPV and her many projects by clicking here.

Check out The Pie Bar when you're visiting Long Beach, CA! 

Hunters' Pie, Colonial Style

Hunters' Pie at the Colonial Williamsburg, VA; The King's Arms Restaurant

Just as summer 2019 came to a close, the WannaBePieChef traveled to Colonial Williamsburg Virginia, time traveling back to the late 1700s to sample the authentic fare of the moment!  I ordered up a real Hunters' Pie, and true to the name, the ingredients were a savory stew of duck, rabbit and wild venison, with onions, carrots, and spices.  The black currant jam on the side was traditionally spread all about the top crust of the pie adding that sweet-savory yumminess, so of course I followed that instruction.
This is probably the most serious pie I've ever reported on - the meats were smoked ahead of time, which gave it a less 'gamey' flavor.  Founding father of America and the 3rd President of the United States, native Virginian Thomas Jefferson is said to have eaten this very recipe (possibly after playing his violin!) and all the while enjoying his favorite beverage: Champagne, mixed with anything!

Violinist at the King's Arms Dining Room

Friendsgiving Pies of 2018

A special edition! My 3 year old son made his first pie, Pumpkin, and it was yummy. I am ever grateful for my family, and I do not take for granted that I have a wonderful new life as a mommy, and my son's dad is a great role-model chef!  Above and beyond all, I work at SGF Science Center HQ where we help people fulfill their own vision of family in all of its diverse forms; it's not always easy to have the baby you want, and it can be difficult to become a mother or father.  Anyway, I am an acupuncturist there and grateful for that work.  In my spare time I am still making pies!!!   This year is special indeed, due to our California family escaping the fires.  We are all together East and West and sharing our stories and journey.

Pies of Chihuahua

On our recent journey to Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, we were looking for a place to sit and eat after touring around for the day, and visiting the awesome 'La Rodadora' Interactive Museum, we were so happy to walk into a diner style restaurant called "Cafe La Nueva Central", established in 1958 - in the historic district, for some tasty comfort food.  An enormous menu caters to an array of tastes, including 50's style diner food, mexican plates, and even some classic chinese favorites.

They still had that 1950's feel, and bullet-proof cashier window.  Sitting next to an old jukebox that played the Mexican oldies, the pie cases were full of delicious pies and puddings.

We chose a booth next to the pie cases, and as we ordered lunch, it became clear that most of the customers were to ultimately take home a coconut, apple, chocolate, or banana cream pie!
This was THE place for pie in downtown historic Juarez.  We sampled their enchiladas, club sandwiches, fries, and strawberry milkshake, and even their arrachera beef flank steak and salad...and everything was incredible.  The banana cream pie was exceptionally good so we took some extra to go!

Arriba Juarez!!!

Dutch Market Apple Walnut Pie

This Apple Walnut Pie came from the Dutch market in Germantown, Maryland, where on Thursday - Saturday you can hit that bakery and choose from an enormous selection of yummy pies and other things too: cakes, pretzels, BBQ, candies, chocolates and more!  We chose a 1/2 pie and it was a fantastic choice.  The apples were cooked to perfection and somehow even with the crunch of the walnuts, there was a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth quality.  Such very good luck to kick off this autumnal pie season with a delicious apple walnut pie !!!

The Irish-Maryland Shephards' Pie for NYE

Welcome 2016!!!
New Years Eve was a 'night-in' for us with family, a Party-At-Home situation...and a perfect time to have a winter dish, with a Maryland Twist! Many folks wanted the recipe from me on this one, and I'll include the simple version: Make mashed potato your favorite way and then add a bunch of cream cheese and Irish shredded cheese (like Dublin Cheese) and garlic if you want.  Let that be the topping of your meat pie, or veggie pie and put a nice layer of Old Bay on it when you spread it over the top of the 'Pie Inside' : Carrots and Peas, and ground lamb (or chopped, or shredded turkey, bison, beef, or whatever your choice.  We did bite size cuts of lamb with rosemary, cinnamon, garlic and mint mixed with little frozen peas, carrots and corn for this one.  Add the Old Bay Seasoning.  Bake it for 45 min or whenever it all gets yummy together!