Week #4 September 20 - 26

I lied. I still had one pre-make crust, and didn't want it to go to waste. So I used it on my pie this week. I am in a job where I am constantly rotated throughout the country performing different rotations. Although exciting, it has thrown my fiance Sandy and I a hurdle in terms of our relationship. I've been lucky enough to be located by her for the last eight months, and was told that I would be leaving at the end of this week. So last week, I wanted to make her a special pie, because she might not be able to sample them for a while. I chose to make a chocolate peanut butter pie for her, because it is her favorite dessert combo.

I am trying to use more "whole" ingredients in my cooking. Not only in pies, but also in life. Who needs high fructose corn syrup in your bread? Not me, that's who. So many of the recipes for chocolate peanut butter pie involve cool whip. I had to search a little before coming upon this winner.

This called for the crust being blind baked. This means that the crust is baked prior to having a filling added. It helps cook the crust, and make it not soggy. What was nice with this recipe was that it called or peanuts being pressed into the bottom, for some additional texture and flavor.



Overall the pie turned out to be a big surprise. I didn't expect to like it that much. I'm not a huge fan of the pb & c combo. But the pie wasn't as rich as I thought it would be, and was actually pretty light. It also had more of a peanut butter taste as opposed to chocolate.

Week #3 September 13 - 19

I still have an abundance of apples, so I knew going into this week that I wanted to make a pie that would use some of these apples. Just by chance, I thought about making an apple and pear pie. A google search later, and I had a recipe to use.

I was invited to a friend's family's house on the ocean this weekend. I made the pie knowing it would be my friends' first experience with this yearlong pursuit of mine. I was slightly nervous, but they all seemed to really enjoy it. Everyone was supportive of my endeavour. My friend John has become quite the photographer, and took some nice pictures (of both the pie as well as our weekend in general).



The spiced apple and pear pie was very appropriate for the weekend. On the one hand, there were the pears, a nice summer fruit. Not to be outdone, the apples, the perennial king of fall were also in there. Just like this past weekend was beautiful and warm, everyone knew fall was just around the bend.



In the past, I had almost always been using a pre-made crust. This will be one of the last times that I do. I know they are easier, but they just aren't as good. My friend Victoria was very adamant about making sure I make my own crust in the future. And to please her, as well as myself, going forward I plan on it.

Week #2 September 6 - 12

This week I decided to take turn, and make a pie that I had never made before. Although I should probably get used to making new pies. I've made plenty of chocolate pudding pies. But I wanted a variation, so I made a chocolate banana pie. Here is the recipe I used. Note that I did not use pecans.

It depends who you ask to determine how it turned out. I thought it was sweet. Sandy (fiance) really enjoyed it. As did my parents. My roommate Kenny enjoyed it as well.



There is a layer of cream cheese sweetened with confectionery sugar, that really gives it some sweetness. Also, the directions say the pie should sit for a day before serving. I would say that it should sit for two days before serving. We found it tasted better eating it two days after making.

Week #1 August 29 - Sept 5

Fall has arrived earlier than expected in upstate NY. During Labor Day weekend, Sandy and I went apple picking. We got some great Mac and Gala apples. I decided to make my first pie an Apple Pie. Probably the most famous of all pies. I used my moms recipe, which I will put below eventually. Along with pictures.



The pie came out alright. The crust was slightly burnt. Using a new oven. And I couldn't find my apple peeler, so I left the skins on. This gave the pieces of apple a slight but noticable more texture and not as easy to chew.

What is this all about?

Last year, there was a show on MTV called "The Buried Life". I liked this show because it talked about setting goals. This is something that I haven't done enough of lately. I recently made up my "Life List" or "Bucket List". One of the items was to make a pie a week for a year. 52 weeks. 52 different pies. Last weekend Sandy and I went apple picking, and I decided to make a pie. I figured, this is a good a time as any to start working towards this goal.

A few rules and limitations I've set for myself:

1) A different pie each week.

2) This doesn't mean that I can't make a variation. For example, if I make a peach pie. I can also make a peach and blueberry pie. But I couldn't make another peach pie, different recipe.

3) I can make pies that aren't necessarily for dessert. I plan on trying some more dinner type pies throughout this experience.

I'm not sure why I like pie. I'm not a big fan of dessert, I don't really have a sweet tooth at all. But there is something about pies that just are different. I like that there is a crust, and I feel like pies just have a more homemade quality than other desserts.

This will be a work in progress. Enjoy!

Post #1

Let's test this puppy