Maple Oatmeal Pie

My return to baking this past weekend led me down the treacherous pie path. Some may remember my problems with pie, more specifically pie crusts, in the past. As well as my eventual triumph. However, it has been quite some time since I've made pastry dough and although I was pretty sure I was going to screw it up, what remained to be seen was how badly.

The answer... not too badly.

Simple Pear Pie

During my disappearance into the deep recesses of life (not unlike Batman) what little baking I did included pie. In fact it contained three pies: Pumpkin, Oatmeal and what you see here, pear pie. I've never tasted a pear pie before, I don't even think I have ever seen one. I suppose when it comes to pie, it's an oft overlooked fruit. I mean sandwiched between apples, blueberries, and cherry pies, I can see why people might overlook the pear. But pears are my second favourite fruit (next to apples), bosc pears specifically, and it was time to add them to my pie pantheon.

The nice thing about pies of this type is that they really are no brainers, the most difficult and time consuming part is the peeling of the pears. Especially since I'm awful at using paring knives. This time though, I finally figured out how to use a vegetable peeler to peel fruit. The key, apparently, is to peel towards you *eye-roll.*

Strawberry Pie

I think this is the longest break I have taken from my blog, though it wasn't intentional. During my vacation I had expected to post a few things and for someone reason (Mass Effect 3) I didn't (Lego Batman 2). But I'm back and with a recipe that quite literally trounced all of my expectations.

Let me take you back to a time when I didn't have to worry about work or even showering the next day: Tuesday last week, the second "official" day of my vacation. I was craving something strawberry but had none. To satisfy this craving I went out purely to purchase strawberries (and perhaps some Greek yogurt) and after a rather lengthy trip (I won't bore you with details) I had six pints of strawberries all softly whispering the word "pie."

Honey Apple Crumble Pie

I've been watching a lot of Twin Peaks recently. I was too young to watch it when it originally aired but have heard a lot about it in recent years and, being that I am of the geek persuasion, was told I should watch it. When it was added to Netflix Canada a little while ago it was at the top of my list. I've spent the last week and a half powering through all thirty episodes. Needless to say, I enjoyed it :).

However, what no one warned me about, and what I was not prepared for, was the unending barrage of gratuitous imagery featuring pie and doughnuts. Nearly every other scene in Twin Peaks is filled with huge pieces of pie (typically cherry) and/or stacks and stacks of delicious doughnuts. Eventually, Agent Cooper's constant commentary on how good the pie was got to me, and craving set in.

Coconut Custard Pie

Coconut cream pies are one of those odd things that I didn't mind eating when I was younger even though I didn't really like coconut. I suppose it's really difficult to not like something with that much cream. For some reason or another I have yet to make one. Most likely because I don't typically have the required ingredients on hand. This recipe was different, the mere idea of it made my mouth water. Besides, I already had the coconut, and all the other ingredients are super basic. I was ready and raring to go.

I'm trying to figure out how I can relate this pie to the Oscars as that was the weekend I baked it. And the only reason why I want to say anything about the Academy Awards is that for good or bad it was the first time I had watched them in years. Most years I have no idea who won, this year I don't think I had seen any of the movies nominated for anything. Except, maybe, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (awesome!) and that was for one technical award. But my mother loves the Oscars, enjoying the spectacle more than anything else. When I was a kid it was a time for junk food, staying up late, and spending time with my parents. As a grew older, I stopped watching with my parents, and then stopped watching all together. Now that I have moved out, I realize how much I miss those times, and so this year I stayed up late with my parents, ate copious amounts of salty snacks, and waited for Billy Crystal's super tight face to split in two.

Oh and earlier that day we ate some pie :).

Cashew Pie

As the three of you probably know, peanut butter is my favourite thing, maybe ever. And though I've likely mentioned it before, in a twist, the peanut is not my favourite “nut” (though I guess it is my favourite legume). Instead, that honour goes to the cashew. I love cashews. I'm one of those people that shows up at your house, opens your can of mixed nuts, eats all the cashews and then leaves. In my defence, if I'm there long enough, I'll probably eat the whole can.

My intentions yesterday were not for pie. I wanted cookies. All week I had been planning on making cookies. Maybe biscotti, maybe oatmeal, who knew? But definitely cookies. Then for some reason I took a pre-made pie crust dough out of the freezer. Why? I don't know. Now I had to come up with what pie to make. I had no clue. What I didn't want was a lot of work or leftover ingredients. This negated pretty much everything I could think of. I was hoping that a trip to the grocery store would provide me with some inspiration.

Before leaving I had been leaning towards pecan pie, but as always I took a look at the price of pecans and decided against it (apparently my specific store doesn't like walnuts). However, the trip did yield a bag of cashews for something unrelated, and after another hour of not knowing what to do, I literally said, "nuts to this, I'm using cashews."

Sweet Potato Pie

Being from Southern Ontario sweet potato pie is not something that you regularly find, even during the Thanksgiving season. Pumpkin pies litter every grocery store aisle but despite the produce section's abundance of sweet potatoes, you'll rarely see it used in a pie. At a young age the only reason that I was ever conscious of sweet potato pie was thanks to The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

There were a few specific Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes where Uncle Phil's mother, Hattie, is renowned for her sweet potato pie. Ever since then I have been intrigued by what a sweet potato pie would taste like. I know a lot of people compare it to pumpkin pie but I was never sure how that could be true. They look similar, but sweet potatoes are inherently sweeter than pumpkin and produce a far different texture. But who was I to say? I had never had one.

Oatmeal Pie

What I don't know about the Amish could quite literally fill a barn (see what I did there :)?), but one thing I do know is that the Amish make one fantastic pie.

Though I could have speculated as much from just the ingredient list, which is eerily similar to my aunt's butter tart recipe only with a little more butter. Needless to say the idea of a gigantic butter tart on the same level as my aunt's left me visibly excited and may have perhaps blown my mind. Not to mention that I had been craving pecan pie, and it was likely that this pie would be able to satisfy my sudden and rapidly growing craving.

High time for pie time

About a year ago I wrote a post for Apple Crumble Pie that started: "I hate pie. And I hate pie because pie hates me." My friends, I'm happy to say that those days are over.

I love pie. And I love pie because pie llllllooooovvvvesss me :).

Peach Crumble Pie

So this was is it. This was my first pie crust success.

Almost immediately after leaving my aunt I was anxious to make my own pastry crust. And sure enough the next day I was at the grocery store buying lard. I let one more day go by before I couldn't stop myself. It was a quiet Thursday morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, (okay that all might be a lie, I actually can't remember what the day was like, it was a while ago now :)) and I was in the kitchen prepping my ingredients. I followed my aunt's instructions to a “T” i.e. I didn't care or worry about a thing. I willy nillied, lolly gagged and nonchalanted everything. My only concern was that I needed to add a few extra tablespoons of water to gather the dough. But I let it slide off my back. I knew just by touch that this was my best pie crust dough so far. With the dough made, and for once looking and feeling like pie crust dough, it was time to focus on the filling.

To be honest up until a few years ago I had never had peach pie. Somehow I had avoided it my entire life. Week after week, year after year I would watch those crazy teens on 90210 consume bite after bite of delicious peach pie and yet I was never moved to try it myself. Although I can't say that my first taste was earth shattering, it was quite good and made me wish I had tried it earlier. On this occasion, my reason for choosing a peach pie was simple, there were a lot of peaches sitting in the fridge going bad.

Tart Lemon Meringue Pie

When I was a kid I never really liked lemon meringue pie, the meringue part anyway. I'm not exactly sure why, but normally I would just scrape it off entirely and eat the lemon filling and the crust (which I enjoyed the most). As I got older I found that I really didn't like the filling anymore either. Most lemon meringues are just too sweet. So if I'm not eating the meringue, not enjoying the filling, then I'm pretty much just eating graham crackers.

But like most of my opinions, my Father's is the exact opposite, and lemon meringue happens to be his favourite. This is why sometime last year I went hunting for a lemon meringue pie that we could both agree on (a task that would make Sisyphus shudder). In order to achieve this I set the following guidelines: First, a graham cracker crust is required (the only real crust for this type of pie); second, a thin light layer of meringue; and third, perhaps most importantly, it cannot be too sweet. After a lot of searching, I found a recipe I thought could be the one. I made, we ate it, and it was awesome.

Naked Apple Pie

Warning: If you're a person that likes visually stunning desserts that you can serve precisely and cleanly then this recipe is not for you. If you're a person that wants something quick, easy and hits the flavour profile of apple pie without all the work, then read on.

Right now you must be asking yourself one question, "why is this called Naked Apple Pie?" Well when I finally added the apples into the mix, I had a vision of the apples frantically trying to cover their naked flesh with a blanket of batter. Each piece of apple fighting for just a little more. Yeah, doesn't make sense to me either and I suppose this explanation could be wrong. Maybe you can come up with a better one. Though, let us never forget what Shakespeare said, for “What's in a name? That which we call a pie by any other name would taste as sweet” or something like that :).

Pumpkin Pie w/ Salted Graham Cracker Crust

I know... I know... pumpkin pie? Again? And since I'm going to tell you right now that the filling recipe hasn't changed, I can definitely sympathize. However, this pumpkin pie is significant for two reasons. It's also the heart warming story of how disaster became triumph; and how one tiny change brought hope for the future. Someone call the CBC we've got a movie of the week here.

Pumpkin Pie w/ Chocolate Crumb Crust

Most people have only had store bought pumpkin pie and in general they're pretty terrible, especially nowadays. What you normally get is gross orange-red, over sweetened, over spiced garbage, with a texture kin to Jello. And unfortunately, pumpkin is one of those pies such that if you're first experience is a bad one you're tainted for life. I’ve got nothing against purchasing your pies, pumpkin or otherwise, but if you do (as I will be this weekend) get it from a Farmer’s Market or a farm near by. I’m picking up my pies at the wonderful Downey’s Farm. If you’re not lucky enough to have something like this near by, I feel for you.

Pumpkin pie is the pie I have made the most. I’ve done it with pastry crusts varying from terrible to less terrible and graham cracker crusts. I think it’s the recipe I play with a lot because its my favourite, I find store bought one’s repulsive, and as far as pies go, it’s actually on the healthier end (that doesn’t make it “healthy” by the way :) ). Top all that off with the fact that you can make the filling without cutting, sprinkling, or separating any ingredients and you have a winning combination. Ah but here's the rub, unlike previous pumpkin pie ventures this was the first I was doing with fresh puree and also my first paired with chocolate. I've read that chocolate and pumpkin work well together so I figured I would try it out with chocolate crumb crust.

Classic Apple Crumble Pie

I hate pie.  And I hate pie because pie hates me.

I suppose I should clarify, it's not the eating of pie I hate.  In fact, if you were to spend Thanksgiving with my family more often than not you will find a man who looks remarkably like me, bloated, sprawled out on the couch barely moving; a disgusted and sick look on his face as he mumbles "too... much... pie" and attempts to shove one last bit of wonderful pumpkin pie down his gullet.  And I suppose it's also little unfair to blame pie as a whole, because really this comes down to pie crust.  So more appropriately I should say I hate pie crusts, pastries in general suck too.  And if you're some kind of magical recipe that requires cold diced butter or lard, I probably hate you as well.

I swear it tastes better than it looks (except for the crust)