I Never Did Talk About the Pies

So for Thankgiving I asked for the pie responsibilities I like to do the pies. They're kind of my thing. I made a big, apple pie in my deep dish pie pan and a couple of pumpkin pies. I always have extra pie crust dough (I use Barefoot Contessa's Perfect Pie Crust recipe) and extra pumpkin pie filling (I like the recipe on the back of the Libby's can o'pumpkin) so I make a much-coveted mini pie. Nothing tastes better than your own personal pie, at least if you're 11, or 41.

Happy Birthday, Julia

Although Julia Child has moved on to that big kitchen in the sky, there is still good reason to remember her birthday. I thank Julia for making me appreciate the art of cooking and what could be learned about other cultures through food. As a child, I loved to watch her television show, often preferring to see her carve a chicken or make bouillabaise over watching Saturday morning cartoons. Julia using a cleaver to chop the heads off fish was way more interesting than watching "Captain Caveman." So in honor of Julia's birthday today, I plan to cook one of her recipes for dinner or dessert. What am I making? I'm about to go to my cookbooks and determine that. My blogger friend, Lisa at Champagne Taste, has put together a lovely tribute to Ms. Julia, please have a look. Bon Appetit!

I ended up making Blueberry Nectarine Pie from Baking with Julia. This is great baking book that is completely out of my league. Beside this pie, I pretty much just look at the pictures. But the pie turned out nicely this time, better than a recent effort on vacation where I tossed in some blackberries (seeds = bad). I added 1 T more cornstarch for thicker juices and properly measured the fruit instead of just winging it, as I am known to do.

Closure

I'm aware of the excessive amount of pie photos on this web blog. But I just think there are few things prettier. So on that note, here's a picture of a piece of pie from this recent post on Cherry Pie. I was so pleased with the shot when I finally uploaded it from my camera, that I felt it worthy of a follow-up post. So, although this pie has been long ago consumed, here's a little remembrance of its brief life as a pie. It was a good pie.

Apple Crumb Pie

While Steve likes to watch football on Sundays, I prefer to spend my afternoon hours making pie. As you can see by many of the posts here, I make a lot of pie. I have some farm girl genes in me and this is my way of expressing them. This Sunday, I found myself with some frozen, homemade, leftover pie dough and a whole bunch of apples. The dough amounted to only enough for a bottom crust. Hmmmm, what to do? Apple Crumb Pie was the answer. I didn't follow an exact recipe, but I did use the crumb topping recipe from Fine Cooking #67, except I omitted the ginger. I was going for a very traditional tasting apple pie. My boys don't like surprise flavors in things.

Blueberries, Blueberries, Blueberries

I adore blueberries, eaten raw or baked in classic american fruit desserts. I've been doing a lot with them lately. Here is a Peach-blueberry galette - like a free-form pie, from Baking with Julia, a very good recipe. Also, I made a blueberry-lemon-cornmeal cake from this month's issue of Fine Cooking. This one has gotten raves on the Fine Cooking web site. It has some cornmeal and buttermilk in it which is nice against the sweet blueberries. It is not too sweet. I had a piece for breakfast this morning. Also I made a peach-blueberry pie. I like a little peach in my blueberry pies, it keeps the pie from being too cloyingly sweet.

Sour Cherry Time

I go to the Evanston Farmer's market each week looking for the season's best. My favorite time at the market is the 3 weeks or so when the sour cherries are available. Sour cherries are not sold in regular grocery stores. They are too delicate and perishable to be handled by the big supermarkets. The bright red cherries are a little soft, not hard like a good Bing cherry. They will need to be stemmed and pitted before you make a pie. It is truly a labor of love. And love it is when you have a forkful of the sweet-tart cherry pie. The recipe I use is a classic version from Fine Cooking #65. It is written as a lattice-pie. While I enjoy the look of lattice, in the end it is less crust than a double-crust. We prefer more crust, so I just do a regular top.

These cherries freeze well. So after you pit them, you can freeze them for an out of season pie.