Happy Pi Day 2013!

I just eeked this Vinegar Chess Pie out in time to celebrate Pi Day. Luckily, my husband was working from home and my son was happily engaged with some Tom & Jerry cartoons, affording me the time and level of focus required to whip up a pie. Also in my favor, I had just enough apple cider vinegar left to use in the pie. The piece I just ate was superb, still warm and custardy with a delicate sugar crust on top. This is the closest thing to Sugar Pie that I make. Check out the ingredients and you'll agree. How sad. I wanted to post a link to the recipe, but since the magazine has gone under, it's not online anymore. I've been redirected to Better Homes and Gardens. Sheesh. I guess I'll type it out for y'all.

Vinegar Chess Pie (from ReadyMade issue 50 Dec/Jan 2011)
ingredients:
one prebaked pie crust
1/2c. melted butter, slightly cooled
1.5c. sugar
3 large eggs
2T cider vinegar
1t vanilla
1/4c. heavy cream (I used half n' half this time around)
2T cornmeal
1/4t salt
1/8t nutmeg

directions: Whisk sugar, salt, and butter in a large bowl. Add one egg at a time. Stir in vinegar, vanilla, cream, cornmeal, and nutmeg. Whisk gently. Pour into prebaked crust. Bake at 350F for 40-50min (I took it out after 40 min this time). The top should be set, but it should still be a little bit wiggly jiggly underneath. Cool and devour.

Current Pie Tally: 109

Hurry Up Spring Apple Pie

Winesap apples from controlled storage started appearing at the farmer's market a couple of weeks ago, so I picked up enough to make this pie. The stars aligned when my son took an unexpected nap over the weekend and afforded me enough time to make said pie. It took a long time to cook, possibly since I used a new deep pie dish. I cooked it at 425F for 15 min, then at 350 for another hour and 20 min. As a break to my sad pie output of late (one per month, really?), it certainly hit the spot. Here's hoping March brings more pie. I'm eagerly awaiting Spring's arrival of rhubarb. Maybe the plant I bought last year will even produce enough for a pie this year. For the apple pie recipe, click here.

Current Pie Tally: 108

Houseguest Pumpkin Pie

This is the last of the frozen pumpkin I had stashed in the freezer. It comes from a fresh pie pumpkin we got from an apple orchard back in October. I made this pie in honor of my husband's work colleague coming to town and staying with us for the duration of a local conference. Pumpkin pie is one of those pies that really demands a commitment. It's much easier to consume before it goes bad if there are more than two people eating it. Our houseguest said it was excellent, and he claims to be a pie expert.

I had two noncompliance issues with this particular pie. The first is that the crust edges fell down in multiple places while prebaking. No amount of finessing with a pair of tongs could save them. Rather than skimp on the filling, I half-heartedly erected some aluminum foil walls to contain the goo. Nevertheless, it went spilling over the slumped edges anyway. I hate when that happens. Some of the filling inevitably oozes down to the bottom of the pie dish, makes the crust all soggy, and burns slightly. The second pet peeve with this pie is that I overmixed the filling with the electric mixer, probably because I was simultaneously chasing my toddler around the house with a plastic sword. The result was that the top of the pie was not a blemishless glasslike surface, but rather more like a teenager's face, complete with peaks and craters - foamy. With that, here is the recipe, same as my other pumpkin pies.

Current Pie Tally: 107

Book Club Chocolate Pecan Pie

I made this Chocolate Pecan Pie for the monthly gathering of the neighborhood book club ladies last night. I think almost everyone had a piece, so I consider it a success. I made it the same way as last time - I just threw a cup of chocolate chips into the hot butter sugar mixture. The base Pecan Pie recipe can be found here.

Current Pie Tally: 106

Christmas Pecan Pie 2012

My father-in-law came to town for Christmas and Pecan Pie is his favorite, so I whipped one up for the occasion. The recipe is the same as my standard Pecan Pie, except that I left the orange zest out this time. It's nice without the zest sometimes.

Current Pie Tally: 105

Thanksgiving Pie Duo

I ended up making an Apple Crumb Pie and a Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving this year. I made the apple one using the same substitutions as in this post. The Pumpkin Pie recipe can be found here. Sadly, I had a mental lapse and forgot to put the Pumpkin Pie in the refrigerator. It went bad before we could eat it all. It tasted great while it lasted though. I made both of the pies with a pie pumpkin and Granny Smith apples we got from Larriland Farm.

Current Pie Tally: 104

Falling for Chocolate

More than one month since the last post, and all I have to show is this one pie. Good thing it's my current favorite. It packs a chocolate wallop that will keep you pied-up for a while. I originally made this for the neighborhood book club meet-up, but then had to cancel because my husband had the puke bug. What a shame. We couldn't share with anyone and had to eat this entire pie by ourselves. My two-year-old has since been converted to a pie-lover. Chocolate pie? Yes, please! There are two slices left. It will be gone by tomorrow. Recipe is the same as the last versions. Now the question is, "How many pies to make for Thanksgiving?"

Current Pie Tally: 102