I baked seven pies last week. It was one of the most productive and least productive spring breaks ever. It just seemed fitting that Pi Day (March 14 . . . 3.14) during Year of Pie should start out with pies for breakfast, and then the Mister became involved and well, things just got out of hand.
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| Pi Day Breakfast: Spanikopita and The Mister's Quiche |
As I was plotting the pie plan (which now includes taking requests to bake friends pies for the their birthdays, even if a request for "lemon meringue" puts me into a tizzy because, "I don't do lemon meringue"), I realized that I needed to be clear that I am NOT an expert pie baker. I am planning on exploring pies this year and becoming a
better pie baker and maybe sharing some of what I learn. I'll be watching
Waitress (many people say I should) and
American Pie (strangely, nobody has suggested it) and I'll be finding more novels featuring the magic of baking along the lines of
PIE or
Nightbird or Bliss Bakery.
I'm going to start a blog feature,
People of Pie. And I will start with my grandmother, with whom my last conversation (exactly 16 years ago?) was about pie. And I will start that just as soon as I can write about her eating the horrid peach pie I baked her for her last days without crying (okay, I plan to write it before I can do so without crying because I do plan to write it someday soon).
I also hope to get better at food styling and photographing pies. Or not.
SPOILER: If it is just about the pie, you can skip my blog and read
The Art of the Pie because
Kate McDermott is already a non-professional pie baking advocate who has written all the tips (for pie and life, keeping cool is essential; you should host a pie pot-luck and give everyone a blue ribbon for bringing a pie; measure fruit by filling your pie shell, "smoosh" your dough) and she starts out by talking about helping bake her grandmother's last pie. The book has been written. You only need me for cute kid pictures and to bake you a birthday pie.
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| Coconut Cream from Magpie |
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| Shaker Pie Prep |
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| Shaker Blood Orange |
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| Needs some styling help |
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| Still life with St. Patrick's Day Lime |
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| Dianthus proud of his lemon meringue |
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| Shaker Lemon |
SPOILER: If it is just about the pie, you can skip my blog and read The Art of the Pie because Kate McDermott is already a non-professional pie baking advocate who has written all the tips (for pie and life, keeping cool is essential; you should host a pie pot-luck and give everyone a blue ribbon for bringing a pie; measure fruit by filling your pie shell, "smoosh" your dough) and she starts out by talking about helping bake her grandmother's last pie. The book has been written. You only need me for cute kid pictures and to bake you a birthday pie.
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2 comments:
nice looking pies! We had some good pies in Naples---oh, they were pizza pies. Sorry! That's a different pie, isn't it?
Yum! Your pies are gorgeous, especially the meringue. My grandmother made delicious blueberry pies from berries we picked. Good memories.
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