Posts tagged ‘pies’
Happy as pie
I love baking pies. I find them to be the most satisfying creations to pull out of the oven. Cookies are fun, but easily overdone. Sweet bread is comforting, but substitutions have often led to gooey middles and disappointment. But pies, well, pies are pies, and as of yet, I’ve yet to bake one I didn’t like.
I think part of the reason I like pies so much is, at least for me, they offer opportunities for a lot more creativity than other baking. I’ve found a crust recipe (kind of a mix of several) which I really like and usually use for both sweet and savory. Beyond that, it’s all up to my imagination as to how the pie will end up. Generally speaking, I’m talking fruit pies, but I’ve got a few other fun ones I like to pull out especially around the winter holidays (Frozen Pumpkin Mousse Pie, anyone? Note: I make my own pumpkin puree, much tastier than canned.)
Tonight the fruits were peaches and strawberries. The peaches are from the order I made from a chemical-free grower in Washington, and the strawberries were picked by my mom, my husband and myself on Saturday at my favorite organic PYO (pick you own) farm called Sam Kedem Nursery and Garden, in Hastings, Minnesota.
The recipe I used was pretty basic: 
1 cup sugar (I used about half this)
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups sliced strawberries
3 cups sliced peaches
MY NOTES: Per the idea of another baker, I opted to not mix the fruit, but put the strawberries in the middle, surrounded by the peaches. For the crust, I had a homemade one frozen, so that made things pretty easy. I decided not to do a complete top crust, but instead some crust art, inspired by searching for top crust alternatives. This gave the pie a bright and beautiful look that almost makes me not want to cut it. But seriously, who am I kidding? Because if I didn’t cut it, I couldn’t do the thing I love best about pies – eating them!
foodaccordingtoemily 