My dear friend Toni sent this to me today. I got a real kick out of it. As it’s National Pie Day today, I want to share it with you, too!
You never know what is going to show up on your plate or in your pie pan for that matter. The last two months were very hard ones for me. Just when I thought my life was all figured out and neatly tucked away… it happened. The other shoe dropped. I lost the spot where I had been holding my pie classes.
Two days before Thanksgiving, in the middle of a run of fully booked classes with folks eager to have me help them bake their TDay pies, I had to cancel classes…and not just a few classes…but ALL of them through the end of 2009. Every time I picked up the phone, I took a deep breath and hoped that the tears that were streaming down my face wouldn’t leak through my voice. It took hours to call everyone and my heart was breaking with every call.
“I’m so sorry, but due to circumstance beyond my control… .”
“Do you know when you will be teaching again.” “No keep the money, I’d like to apply it to a class when you are up and running again”. “Don’t worry, Kate. We’re disappointed but we’ll wait for another class…” “You’ll be teaching again…yes?”
After I finished, I went home with my beloved and sweet 15 year old dog, Lady and her funny five year old kitty-boy, Fez. On the 3 hour journey, Fez curled up in my lap and Lady kept her head on my knee which felt like a hug that kept on coming.
When I got home and unloaded, weeping seemed about all I could do. But, I could only sustain that for a while.
So, you know what I did?
I went to my kitchen and for a time stood there. My hand instinctively pulled out a bowl, a fork, a spoon, some flour, salt, butter, lard…and started to do what I know best. I made a pie.
I made a pie full of love and hope and determination. A pie that held tons and tons of the good memories and the good fortune that I have had in my life. I thought of friends old and new.
Old friends like, Diane and Jim, who have known me and stood by me through thick and thin.
I thought of Annetta and Lance who were the first people I met when I moved to the Olympic Peninsula over 25 years ago. Annetta and I were pregnant at the same time with our babies so grown up now at 23. Our families and children have remained close over all these years.
Of Duncan, my son and the apple of my eye, who has grown into such a fine and caring man.
Of Laurel, Trevor, Jenny and Bob whose joyful music feeds my soul.
Of Maggie who has known me the longest of all, nearly 40 years. We have the kind of friendship in which the thread of a conversation can be picked up two, three of more years between visits as if it were just five minutes ago. We possibly have the longest running conversations on record.
Of Kristen and Raj whose emotional support and guidance have been a beacon of light.
Of Merrilyn who encourages me in her quiet way, to keep my chin up and my thoughts on the sunny side.
New friends like Jenise, Myra and Jeanne who make me laugh and giggle and remember that it is important to balance hard work with a healthy dose of play.
Of Omma and Joe who care so very much for me and my well being and take delight in my “big city” stories of food and fun.
And, Shauna and Danny, who know how important it is to say “Yes!” to life even when it throws you lemons again and again… and again.
So I took those life-lemons and I made my pie. Into it went my heart and a few tears, too, but by the time it went into the oven, I realized just how wealthy I am. How even if I can’t see my way on the road two feet ahead of me, these beautiful souls stand with me to lend a hand, a hankie and a heart. I am rich beyond belief.
None of us know what is really going to happen tomorrow. And, truth is, it’s probably better that we don’t. One less thing to worry about. Yes? But, having friends to walk the road with you makes it easier.
Since that day in November, Kim, the busiest of all of us and who always finds time to lend a hand, made a very wonderful connection for me which resulted in Art of the Pie finding a new home at Diane’s Market Kitchen. The first classes of 2010 started last week. Everyone loves the new space! I am grateful to these two incredible women and thank them from the bottom of my heart.
So, here’s my pie. I give it to you, dear reader. I hope you can feel a bit of the love that is inside. Thank you for being here with me, too.
Make pie and be happy!
This is Melissa.
She has a farm with a beautiful orchard.
She grows apples…
quince…
hens for eggs…
sheep for wool and meat…
and all kinds of berries, plums and pears.
Meeting Melissa this afternoon was an unexpected gift because more than anything…
Melissa grows happiness!
5 Crust Variations with Pumpkin Pie Filling
I spent most of one afternoon and evening this week testing out different variations of a Vodka Pie Crust recipe. It is one that I have heard of being used successfully and as I’m very interested in testing out all sorts of crust recipes atleast once, I gave it a go.
There are a number of differences in the recipe I used and mine. Here are a few.
- Vegetable shortening (i.e. “the stuff in the blue can”) and unsalted butter vs. leaf lard and salted butter
- Sugar vs. no sugar
- Vodka and water vs. water only
- Food processor and a rubber spatula vs. hands and fork
- Prebaked crust vs. unbaked crust
To add variables and a broad range, I experimented with five crusts.
- Vodka Pie Crust recipe as written.
- Vodka Pie Crust substituting Earth Balance shortening sticks for “the stuff in the blue can”.
- Vodka Pie Crust substituting leaf lard for “the stuff in the blue can”.
- “American Pie Dough for Prebaked Pie Crust” from “The Best Recipe Cookbook” (Cooks Illustrated) as written.
- My own recipe using butter and leaf lard.
There were more differences along the way:
- Amount of liquid needed
- Size of pieces of shortening or lard
- Consistency
- Chilling time before rolling
- Rolling Out
- Chilling time after rolling
After chilling each dough, I followed the vodka crust process for each crust:
- roll out
- place carefully in pie pans
- cover with foil and fill with pie weights (in this case, beans, rice or coinage from a basket that Jon empties his pockets into regularly)
- chill in the refrigerator for another 15 minutes
- bake for 15 minutes in a 425F oven
- remove foil and “pie weights”
- bake for an additional 5 to 8 minutes.
While they were baking, I rolled out some “Tasties”; that’s what I call the cinnamon/sugar treats I make with any leftover dough. There was lots of left over dough so, five batches of these yummy treats to bake. As soon as the pies came out, the tasties went in.
Finished?? Not quite!
After blind baking, the crusts now needed to become pies so I made up enough pumpkin pie filling for 5 pies, filled the prebaked shells and baked them all. It looked like a Thanksgiving extravaganza in the kitchen with 5 pumpkin pies cooling on the kitchen counter.
The results?
In general The Vodka Pie Crust recipe in all variations seemed to be missing “backbone”. A note from the kind person who provided the recipe is that it will take more flour in rolling out than usual. I use quite a bit in my own leaf lard and butter crust so this didn’t worry me at all.
The recipe with no variations (#1), was almost too tender and a challenge to roll out as it was so moist and soft.
Crusts #2 and #3 rolled out easily but were both missing that “backbone.”
#4 from Cook’s Illustrated (no vodka) is flaky tender and did have some “backbone”.
And #5, the leaf lard and butter crust, was tender and flaky (without blowing away in the wind) with the flavor of leaf lard.
This kind of research, although time consuming, helps in defining a recipe that works and why, as well as being fun in the process.
I am going to make the Vodka Pie Crust again and at the same time try adding some vodka to my own recipe. I would have done that pie during this test session but I ran out of pie pans that were similar!
Most likely I’ll wait until next week, or atleast until five pies and all those Tasties are eaten up, to begin Part 2. I’ll report back with results.
What’s your favorite pie crust recipe?
Heritage Apples (Jon Rowley photo)
“Cultivating ourselves is the first step toward rediversifying the fields and orchards around us.” This is what a New York Times editorial opinion piece by Verlyn Klinkenborg says this morning.
“11 varieties make up 90 percent of all the apples sold in this country”, Mr. Klinkenborg writes. A very sad reality.
We used to have a ton of apple trees all across our county; all with different flavors, textures, colors, shapes. As Henry Ward Beecher wrote in 1862 “…Russets, Greenings, Seeknofurthers, Pearmains, Gilliflowers, Spitzenbergs, and many besides, nameless, but not virtueless.” This is part of our unique heritage.
Right now it is apple season! Go to your farmers markets. See, smell and taste the diversity of varieties that are there. Buy enough to make a pie…or two…or three.
Share it with your family, bring it to a potluck, to work, introduce yourself to your neighbors. Taste the flavors that are our diversity and heritage.
Cultivate yourself. I love these words. What ever direction that takes. Music, dance, writing, walking, gardening…pie baking!
Concord Grapes
A few weeks ago, Jon and I were asked to be judges at the 1st Annual Queen Anne Farmers Market Blue Ribbon Pie Contest. Between the two of us we got to check out and taste first hand 19 different homemade crusts and fillings. There were pies I had not thought of making before including a grape pie made by Kelly Klein which really intrigued me.
“Stop at Jeanette and Andrew’s on the way home. They have home-grown Concord grapes, just picked, set aside for you to make pies.” Two days after the competition, Jon called with this news while I was out on errands. Serendipity, I think.
They were making homemade grape juice when I stopped by. “This year has been fantastic for these grapes”, Andrew said showing me their bountiful home-grown harvest. I left with enough grapes for four pies and was excited to get started.
Since I had never made a grape pie I pulled out some cookbooks to look for a recipe that I could use as a starting place. Most all called for a seedless grape. Searching online an article from the New York Folklore Society popped up with a recipe using Concord grapes, exactly what I had. I decided to give it a whirl.
The first step is peeling grapes.
Now, this sounds like it would be painstakingly slow. But, using the technique described in the article, it’s much faster than I thought.
Here’s how it works.
Hold the grape in your fingers opposite the stem end and squeeze it out of it’s skin! Easier than pitting cherries one by one if you’ve ever done that. Put on some music and squeeze out the greenish grapes into one bowl and the purple skins in another.
Next the now skinless green grapes go into a heavy saucepan on the stove to boil for 5 minutes. During the cooking, the seeds spit themselves out of the fruit all by themselves. Amazing!
When I pour the cooked grapes into a bowl, there are some seeds mixed in with the fruit but the majority will be neatly contained in the bottom and easy to spoon out.
Next use a food mill to make a smooth pulp which is then poured over the waiting grape skins.
What you have now is deconstructed grapes in a bowl. Cover and let sit overnight. As the recipe says, “This colors the pulp and makes it pretty.”
In the morning I was up early and anxious to see what my grape pulp looked like. True to the recipe, they were a lovely color of purple.
The rest of the recipe is simple:
- Add sugar and thickener to grapes.
- Roll out pie dough and place in pan.
- Pour in grape mixture and dot with butter.
- Roll out the upper crust and cover fruit.
- Crimp edges.
- Bake.
- Cool.
- Share with friends.(This part is very easy to do!)
The beautiful bright purple filling tastes like good grape juice when done.
I took it to a gathering of friends and before I could turn around, it was eaten all up…and everyone had smiles on their faces.
Baking Notes: Very juicy when cut into. Flour seems to work well instead of tapioca; 5 T seems about right.
Brendon recently took one of my pie classes. He walked in the door with a smile on his face, seemed to enjoy himself alot and made a great pie that day. It was not until I received the words below that I realized just how much the day meant to him.
Brendon enjoying class pie break.
I can’t tell you how long I have been looking for a pastry class in this city, YEARS IT SEEMS. A few weeks ago, my best friend Cathy gave me an article, “Pie Time for Love” clipped out neatly from the Seattle Weekly. She knew of my endless, fruitless search for a pastry class. I loved the article and immediately e-mailed Kate at Art of the Pie to enroll in her class.
Life has been pretty grim for me since I was laid off of my job as the manager of a wholesale home furnishing showroom last March. I had to sell my house and move into my sister’s house on Camano Island. After all this time, I’m still struggling to find work and keep my sanity.
I went to class at Kate’s in late September and it was incredible, a Zen experience.
I walked up to Kate and Jon’s cute, funky little house not sure if I was at the right place. No one was around but looking into the picture window, next to her front door, I saw the most beautiful pie sitting in the middle of a large worktable. I knew this was the place. Kate was incredibly warm and gracious from the first moment she welcomed me into her house.
The class was comfortable, entertaining and enlightening in all things pie and fruit.
After a too-quick four hours, we finished up the class with an incredible smorgasbord of treats (thank you Jon!) while Kate read to us on the magic of pies from a book dating back to the 1800’s.
“Magic” was the word for the day.
The whole experience was the best, the pie instructions, my classmates, Kate’s husband Jon, EVERYTHING was perfect.
This was the most uplifting thing that has happened to me since I lost my job and identity. Pie class made me feel whole again.
If Kate ever offers and advanced class, I’ll be first in line!
Brendan T. Freeman
Photo by Van Schilperoort
Gravenstein Apples: Photo by Jon Rowley
Apple season has begun!
I’ve been making Gravenstein apple pies at pie class, for pie auctions and to eat at home.
Jon says that if you are going to make a pie with just one variety of apple, this is the one to choose. It’s an old variety with a very short season and getting hard to find. But it’s worth searching out as it has just the right sweet-tangy flavor.
Perhaps you have a neighbor with apple trees that are just waiting to be harvested and they don’t have the time to pick. Ask if you can pick and trade for a freshly baked pie.
Make a pie…make a friend.
Enjoy reading Apple Season by Joyce Sutphen.
Here’s me receiving my first ribbons from Judy, the fair official at the Clallam County Fair.
Four blues and a big green and white one for Best in Show.
I was pretty happy!
About Me
Recent Articles
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Pies for the Fair: Part 2
Four pies all ready to go to the Clallam County Fair.
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Pies for the Fair: Part 1
Every year I’ve thought of entering the Clallam County Fair but have never quite gotten around to it…until now.
On Friday night, I looked at the fair website. Deadline for pie entry: Monday 3PM.
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Leaf Lard
Leaf lard is the fat that surrounds the pig’s kidneys. It is of very high quality and, when rendered, makes some of the best tasting and flakiest crusts ever!
Don’t let the name lard put you off. It is lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than butter.
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Pie for the Painter
For weeks now, when Lady and I walk, I check the ripeness of the blackberries in my favorite patch near home.
Today there are enough sweet ones for the first pick.
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What Happened To All The Pies?
Click HERE for the Art of the Pie Website