Pie Article

Here is a great article in the New York Times from last week about Pies.

Week #13 - Off

Happy Thanksgiving!! I had a nice time in Michigan with Sandy and her family. No new pies this week. I decided to take the week off, and make pies that I had already done. Chocolate Peanut Butter and Pumpkin were in order. We also had Apple, Pecan, and Minced meat. A great time was had by all.

Week #12 November 15 - 21

I wasn't sure what type of pie I was going to make going into this week. I was looking at the calendar, and I realized it was the middle of November. I always tell people that I'm trying to make more seasonal pies, which is why I'm not making lemon meringue in the cold weather. That being said, I decided to make a sweet-potato pie for this week. Here is the recipe.

And I know I said that I would remember to take pictures, but I forgot again. At least I have a picture of the filling.



As for the taste of the pie, it was alright. To be honest, I felt like I couldn't taste the sweet potatoes enough. I've said it before, I don't have a sweet tooth. Sweet potatoes have a lot of natural flavors that I felt like didn't come out quite as much as I would have enjoyed. They seemed to be too overpowered by the spices. Also, I felt like it tasted a lot like pumpkin pie.

After making the apple pear pie a few times this fall, it is going to be tough for a regular apple to compete in my mind. But, I had extra apples laying around, and I'm a firm believer that to be a good cook, athlete, student, etc, you need to get the basics down. Well, apple pie is about as basic as it gets. I know I don't have a picture, but the top crust baked very nicely, and had a cracked, weathered look to it. This is still one of my favorites. I used a recipe that my friend Victoria mailed to me. Thanks, Ror.

Week #11 November 8 - 14

It has become commonplace for me to make two pies per week. Even though it is more work, it's good to refine my skills in the culinary art that is pie-baking. Also, because there is a stampede when I bring in the pies to work each week, two are basically needed to feed the natives. For my new pie this week, I made an oatmeal pie. I'm a big fan of oatmeal, and just wondered if there would happen to be an oatmeal pie. When I saw that there was, I figured it would be a good pie to make.

Described on some recipes as the "poor man's pecan pie", I can't really comment if it was a poor man's pecan pie because I don't really enjoy pecans. But what I can comment on is that it was a great pie and definitely a keeper. It had a nice cinnamon flavor, and was custardy inside. This can be from the corn syrup I used. Here is the recipe.

The other pie I made was the apple-cranberry pie that I made last week. This week I took the ambitious step of trying a lattice crust. Overall it turned out well. I can't say it was the best looking pie, but I'm confident that with more practice, I'll get better at the lattice crust.

Speaking of crust, I also tried using half Crisco instead of butter in one of my crusts. Turned out well. I'll give more feedback when I try more variations of the crust.

Lastly, a friend of mine, Jenna, that happens to be a phenomenal chef has been posting about her experience as a camp cook. Here are a few of her rules that I think most people should think about when eating/cooking/dealing with food. I noticed this week that my pies aren't made quickly. I think that's a good thing, and something to remember. Good, wholesome food takes time to prepare.

Here is the excerpt:

- Food should be homemade, as much as possible. We will know exactly what goes in it (ingredients we can pronounce!) and equally important, we will be a crucial part of the process. This connects us physically and spiritually to our work and gives one a sense of humble pride in work well done.

- Food should be whole and fresh. It’s no nutritional secret that the more fresh and the closer to whole our foods are, the greater the benefit to our health. Included in this I wanted to reduce the amount of sugary offerings (bug juice, some desserts, etc.)

-Operating sustainably. We composted some items already, but the kitchen had a lot of room for improvement in terms of producing food that could be composted as well as controlling leftovers and waste overall. In addition, it was important that we think about global sustainability in terms of choices and purchases, so cooking less meat and choosing a natural foods distributor.

PS - I forgot to take pictures of my pies this week.

Week #10 November 1 - 7

I bought way too many cranberries this week, and being as it was my 10th week, I decided to double down and make two new pies.

Pie #1 was an apple cranberry. Here is the recipe. This was a great pie. It was my first time cooking with cranberries, and it gave the pie some tartness, without too much bite.

Pie #2 was called a Nantucket Cranberry Pie. Because I'm a fan of most things New England, I decided this would be my second pie. This pie didn't call for a crust, but I decided to put one on. It was good, but I think it felt more like a cake than an actual pie. I also added some orange zest, to balance out the tartness in the cranberries.

Week #9 October 25 - 31

One of my favorite cooking websites is called www.chow.com. I've gotten at least a dozen solid recipes off of their "Basics" cooking section. This week, I searched for a pumpkin pie, and lo and behold, they a recipe for it.

A very basic, but overall decent pie. I didn't have ground cloves, so I sprinkled ground ginger instead.

Served it with fresh whipped cream, of course.



And on another note, Phil and I went to Honeypie in Milwaukee last week. Ended our meals with some decent pie.



I had the mixed berry on the left. It was decent, but tasted too much like a nutra-grain bar for my liking. I like a double crust opposed to a crumble top.