Vinegar Chess and the Last Pumpkin

I finally used up the last of our pureed garden pumpkin from the freezer. The resulting pie went to the couple who babysat my son while my husband and I dined at the Belgian mussel bar in honor of Valentine's Day. After some strong, flavorful beer, foie gras, duck, and mussels, we were invited to have a slice of the pie with the babysitters. It was a sweet end to a hearty pumpkin pie season. In summary, I made 10 pumpkin pies with the pumpkins my husband and I grew in 2010. I probably could have made two more to round out an even dozen if I had portioned the puree better before freezing.

I also finally succumbed to trying out the Vinegar Chess Pie recipe from ReadyMade. I've made this style of pie once or twice before when I was in high school. I remember my dad liking it. This variation of the recipe is superb. The cream in particular really enriches and mellows the flavor and texture. Utter deliciousness and a perfect pie for a time of year when little fresh produce is available. I should also mention that I used yellow cornmeal instead of white, since that's what I had in the cupboard. I doubt it made much of a difference.

I made the Vinegar Chess Pie for a small, impromptu dinner party over the weekend. The guests were pleasantly surprised by the tastiness of a pie made with vinegar and one suggested that I look up the origins of such a strange pie. According to wikipedia.org, chess-style pie has no connection to the actual game of chess and hails from England. Chess pie recipes are very sweet (usually comprising eggs, sugar, butter, cornmeal, and vanilla) and have historically been common desserts in both New England and Virginia in the U.S. Vinegar Chess Pie is simply a chess pie that's had some vinegar added to bring the sweetness down a notch.

Current Pie Tally: 47

Snowed-In Pumpkin

I made this little delight in the calm before the first big Midwestern blizzard of 2011. It was supposed to be bartered in exchange for a night of babysitting while my husband and I enjoyed dinner out and a Baptism prep session. My husband and I ended up having to eat it ourselves since we got snowed in. Pity we couldn't try out the European mussel bar, but at least we got some delicious pie out of it. I used the Perfect Pumpkin Pie recipe again to make this one, except that I used 1.25 c. half and half and 1/4 c. milk instead of the proportions of heavy cream and milk called for in the recipe. I had quite a bit of half and half leftover from house guests that I needed to use up.

After about 48 min at 350, the pie came out marvelously as usual, which makes me wonder if my pie calling is to make pumpkin pie. Pumpkin and rhubarb medleys are definitely the top contenders right now. Though my husband says my pecan should be in the running too. Somehow I can't rationalize that one, since pecans grow nowhere near the great state of Wisconsin. Maybe I could make a version that uses local walnuts? Would it taste as fabulous, though?

In other pie news, I have been digging on the holiday issue of ReadyMade magazine. The pie spread in there is very inspirational. I'm particularly smitten with the Bittersweet Chocolate Cherry and Vinegar Chess. The Vinegar Chess Pie is a perfect "hunger gap" dessert, so I see that one getting made in the near future. The Dark Chocolate Cherry, on the other hand, is very festive and a bit more involved. Perhaps I'll treat myself for my birthday at the end of March.

Current Pie Tally: 45

Party-time Pumpkin

I made this pumpkin pie for one of the holiday parties my family attended. In many aspects, it was the best pumpkin pie I have made yet. The crust was perfect - even thickness, perfect browning, no slouchy or cracked walls. Because the crust was perfect, I was able to load it up a little higher with the filling. The result was pure indulgence. My one complaint was that the pumpkin was a little underdone for my liking. I roasted the enormous pie pumpkin I grew over the summer for this one. Even though I hacked it into manageable sections, I should have left it in the oven a bit longer. No one else noticed the difference luckily. In fact, one party guest admitted he didn't like pumpkin pie, but he sure liked mine. I feel the same way.

For a preview of Christmas pies, I bring you visions of pecan and apple...and hopefully an exciting surprise.

Current Pie Tally: 41

Six Pies in a Day

It's over, so we can laugh about it now. Six pies in a day doesn't seem like such a bad idea when you've got plenty of sleep under your belt. But when it's 11pm, and the rest of your family has already been asleep for an hour as the apple pie crusts are falling apart beneath your fingertips, the novelty wears off. I got it all done, perhaps against my better judgement, and the pies all came out well - though the bottom apple crusts were definitely ugly. Hobo patch jobs abounded. Luckily the tops came out fine, so I could keep up appearances.

I ended up making four pumpkin pies, and two apple. If I had to do it again, I'd probably make pecan pie instead of apple. Granted the apple allowed me to mix up the filling and freeze the pies a day ahead of time, but the one crust and one-pot filling of the pecan would have been far less labor intensive. Maybe next year. The apple recipe I used is the same one as usual, with two modifications. I used a combination of lemon juice and orange juice for the fruit juice ingredient, and I added 1 t. of Penzey's apple pie spice instead of measuring out each of the different spices. I think the Penzey's mix lacks clove though, and I did miss the clove. I jazzed up the pumpkin recipe with the addition of the Penzey's pumpkin pie spice mix as well. I added 1/2 t. for each pie. The cooking time for the pumpkin was also extended since I baked the four pies all at once. It probably took 45 - 55 minutes for each pie, depending on which rack they were on and what kind of a dish they were in. Oh, and I did have enough filling from three batches of the filling to fill a fourth pie.

If you are curious about what I got done ahead of time, here is the breakdown of the schedule:
Wednesday - cook fresh pie pumpkin, puree, and put in fridge
Thursday - peel and cut apples and prepare apple pie filling and put in fridge
Friday - roll out all crusts, pre-bake pumpkin pie crusts, fill and freeze apple pies
Saturday - prepare pumpkin filling, fill pumpkin pies, and bake all pies

Feedback on the pies was all positive, with more comments being about the pumpkin. My two favorites were: "Do you take orders?" and "It's the fresh cream that really makes it." I will definitely be making quite a few more of these throughout the fall and holiday season.

Current Pie Tally: 33

A Challenge on the Horizon

My husband volunteered me to make half a dozen pies for a conference he is hosting the first weekend of October. Luckily, the pumpkin plant in our garden this year was very productive. I'll probably make 4 pumpkin and 2 of either apple or pecan, for those who don't care for pumpkin. I got to buy a bunch of new pie plates for this. I'm excited! Stay tuned.

Current Pie Tally = 26