Groundhog Pie Graduation

Saturday's Groundhog Pie party, marking my 25th year of throwing groundhog parties, was something of a pie year graduation.  Somehow I determined that I needed to make all the pies for over twenty guests and it was hectic and silly and I was immensely proud of the results.

Farmer's Cheese Minis

On the savory table, we had two of the featured Groundhog Pies: sausage and apple in a cheddar cheese crust.  From Kate McDermott's The Art of Pie, the recipe is a keeper. 
The Mister also used ground pork to bake chorizo empanadas with a cilantro cream.
I made 48 Farmer's Cheese and Thyme mini-pies well in advance (recipe from Hand Pies), a few dozen curried carrot in turmeric crust mini-pies that morning and a galette of leeks, mushrooms and goat cheese on puff pastry popped into the oven at the last minute.

"Ground Hog" Pork Sausage and Apple in Cheddar Crust

With the sweets, I had bakes cranberry orange mini-pies and Winter Apple (apple with cranberries, walnuts and dried fruits soaked in spice tea) to represent winter, and homemade lemon curd on almond meringue to represent spring.  A cousin brought a delicious chocolate pie and Dianthus made a peanut butter pudding to fill a brownie crust to round things out.

I'd say that the party was successful enough that I am ready to end Year of Pie, but there is dough in the freezer, I still haven't baked a pie with a hot water crust, and I just learned of multiple books that show up in searches for "witch pie" so not quite yet.

Winter Apple: Apple with cranberries, walnuts, and spiced fruit