A Year in Pies
So last year I made the first quantifiable new years resolution I’ve ever actually kept. I’d just begun to realize my love of pies, and my sister gave me a gigantic recipe book of all the pies you’d ever need. I decided that I wouldn’t let my love of pies be “just a fad” a temporary thing that I forgot the moment I got distracted. I vowed to make one new pie a month for the next year, and I’d have to keep it up all year long. I couldn’t just make 12 different pies for the first two months, I’d have to do a new one every single month. And I actually did! Admitably, some of the pies were pretty similar to each other, but each one at least had one new thing about it; something new was tried, something new was learned. And really, I ended up making 20 pies in 2011! You can find pictures of all of those pies here if you follow the tag “pies”
My Favorite Pie: Pear-Raspberry-Ginger (Pie #4 in February). This pie was a random try that just turned out amazing. Probably because it has three of my favorite flavors of all time, and they just worked very well together. Raspberries might be my favorite fruit, and I just love ginger. I love it when its strong and spicy, and not too sweet and sticky. That describes this pie perfectly, I used very little sugar and just let the fruit speak for itself, and I definitely used a lot of ginger, probably more than most people would. Sadly, I don’t remember exactly how much, I’ll just have to experiment and try again. :-D
My Least Favorite Pie: I think this would have to be the apple pie with a cheddar cheese crust. I actually tried to make this pie twice, once with apples and pears in March (pie #8) and once with just apples in August (pie #16). I just couldn’t quite get the crust right, the texture with the cheese just ended up kind of chalky and not very appetizing. But other people seemed to enjoy it, maybe they were just being nice, or maybe its just my personal preference for sweeter pies.
Most Well Received Pie: (or Pie I’m Most Proud Of) This is the pie that got the most compliments. Probably because it turned out just beautiful, and was very impressive visually. Also probably because it had just a little bit of something for everyone. This would be the cherry pie with coconut almond crumb topping (Pie #14 in July). I go the cherries at their perfect sweet tanginess, and the topping was just unusual enough to get everyones attention. It was crumbly and crunchy, and the pretty red juice soaked into it. It had the perfect consistency, and didn’t fall apart the moment it was cut. It practically melted in your mouth. Even thinking about it makes me want to eat it again.
Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie by Ken Haedrich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is an amazing resource. It has 300 different and amazing recipes (20 of which I tested and found to be delicious). It is also filled with historical facts about pies, ingredients and famous pie makers. It has tips and tricks, the best way to choose fruits, silly stories, and just about everything you could ever want to know about making a pie from scratch. I highly recommend it!
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