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.