Week #42 June 13 - 19

I had no idea what type of pie I was going to make this week. Even though it doesn't feel like it in Southeastern Wisconsin, we are in the summer months. A custard pie doesn't really fit, and I've been making a lot of fruit pies as of late. I searched some pie sites, and came up with a Chess Pie. This is a Southern pie, known for it's intense sweetness. There is actually vinegar in the pie to help cut some of the sweetness.

It seemed relatively easy, with not too many complex ingredients. I figured I'd give it a shot. Here is the recipe. A note: I used half white and half brown sugar. I also cooked it for well over an hour to get it to set.

I knew this wasn't going to be my favorite pie, but I figured I owed it a shot. It was sweet, but not as much as I expected. The consistency came out real nice, almost like a pecan or oatmeal pie. The cornstarch rose to the top, to give it a halfway decent crunch. And my co-workers all seemed to enjoy it.

Week #41 June 6 - 12

I have been on the hunt for rhubarb for about 3 weeks now. I finally found it this past week, and made a strawberry rhubarb pie, out of my Bubby's book. Even though I know its popular, I've never had strawberry rhubarb pie. I really had no idea what to expect in terms of cooking and trying it.



As you can see from the picture above, it turned out rather soupy and watery. It tasted good, but the ingredients didn't hold together as well as I think they should have. The recipe called for flour as the thickener, but if I were to make this again, I would use an extra tablespoon or two of cornstarch.

My co-workers all enjoyed it though, and people seemed to really enjoy the crust.

Week #40 May 30 - June 5

I took this week "off". But really, I ended up making 4 pies.

Three were apple pies for a pie eating contest at work.



I then made the peanut butter oreo pie for Sandy as she was visiting and it was her birthday.

Lastly, I had dinner at Honeypie and had this great slice of pie.

Week #39 May 23 - 29

I made two pies this week. The first pie I made was a request. A friend sent me this recipe for a chocolate chip cookie pie. I tweaked the recipe slightly. I only used 1/2 cup of butter, and didn't put nuts in it. I also added a pinch of vanilla and pinch of salt.

It literally tasted like a chocolate chip cookie. One thing I noticed was that the chocolate chips fell to the bottom of the pie, but besides that, it seemed to be a crowd favorite.

The second pie I decided to take on was a strawberry pie. I got the recipe from Cooks Illustrated. It worked out well. It was really full of strawberries, and they held together decently.

Week #38 May 16 - 22

I was feeling ambitious this week and made two pies. The first was just a random idea I had for a Chai Pie. You know, like chai tea. Well, I looked online, and found this fellow.

Instead of making an almond crust, I just made a regular graham cracker crust. The taste was good, but I had a few problems. The first was that the pie didn't really get too firm. I know it isn't going to be a real firm pie, but it just didn't hold it's shape like I would have hoped. The second issue I had came with the chai whipped cream. For the life of me, I had a tough time getting this into a real "whipped" cream form. I made it twice, and both times, a fail.


The second pie I made was a chocolate raspberry. I like raspberries, and think they usually get shoved to the back because our friend the strawberry is more popular. I just googled "chocolate raspberry pie", and this beauty came up.

I have to say, I was impressed by this pie. Normally I am not a huge chocolate fan, but something about the thin layer of chocolate on top really was a nice touch. There was no one ingredient overbearing. Just a nice blend of chocolate, raspberries, and cream.

Week #37 May 9-15

I took this week off. I was home for Sandy's graduation.