I did not grow up in a household where dessert was a regular thing. More often than not, when we asked about a sweet treat after dinner, we were pointed to the fruit bowl or a jar of applesauce. However, once or twice a year, there would be pie.
The pie happened on no particular schedule. My mom baked in response to her own cravings and could not be hurried or begging into producing pie. We learned early that it was better to leave her alone and accept the serendipitous pie than try to wheedle it into being. And accept it, we did. Her pies were always sturdy, not-too-sweet creations that piled mountains of fruit into a nutty, half whole wheat crust. My favorite thing was being allowed a slice for breakfast the next day.
Thanks to this early conditioning, pie will be forever feel like a way create a special occasion out of a Wednesday evening. It’s one of the things I hope to do with my kids someday (of course, I have to have them first).
You may be asking yourself, why is Marisa waxing poetic about her childhood pie memories? I recently got a review copy of Ashley English’s new book, A Year of Pies, and now I can’t stop thinking about tucking food, both sweet and savory, between layers of crust.
Some of you probably know Ashley from her blog, Small Measure, or from her other four (!) books on all manner homesteady topics like Keeping Bees and Canning and Preserving. This book is similar in organization to her previous ones in that it offers an extensive section towards the front of the book that walks you through the equipment, the different kinds of crusts (and what each is best for), tips on rolling and the various techniques you can employ to achieve gorgeous crusts, before moving on to the recipes.
Once through that grounding section, the rest of the book is arranged by season, proving unequivocally that pie isn’t just a summer and fall dessert. Any winter day would be made better by the Maple Orange Walnut Pie on page 55 on the Carrot Pie on page 77.
The book contains sweet pies, savory pies (like the homey Chicken Pot Pie pictured below), tarts, galettes, crostada and hand pies. There are both bake and no-bake options and even a pie version of Polish-style stuffed cabbage. Ashley also invited a few of her blogging friends to contribute recipes, including a Gluten-Free Streusel Apple Pie from Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking author Kate Payne.
For those of us who are working our way through baskets of berries and armloads of peaches this time of year, I think it’s important to put a little of that fruit aside and make something that allows us to enjoy the bounty now, as well as later. Pie is on my to-do list for later this week.
This book looks incredible! I am the designated pie-maker for holiday celebrations, and my father-in-law has always thought it was very funny to ask me, “jokingly”, if I had brought a pie to regular, every-day dinners and such. Finally, I did, just to be nice: I made a strawberry rhubarb pie, having heard him going on recently about how much he loved them, and brought it over and presented it proudly.
After dinner, he had a slice of freezerburned Carvel ice cream cake instead of my pie.
I haven’t brought dessert over except Thanksgiving and Christmas since.
My Grandma Bessie made the best chocolate pie in the panhandle of Oklahoma. She never used a recipe and despite many family members trying to watch and duplicate it, well it has never happened! And one of my cousins was a Chef! I will take pie over cake any day, love to make them too.
I have lots of pie memories. My grandpa always had a desert with his meal and would start with desert first. My great-grandma and grandma were very good at making pies. Blueberry pie is my favorite and my grandma would make one for me every now and then. We were the only ones in the family who liked blueberry pie. My grandma isn’t able to make pies anymore due to her age. I haven’t had a blueberry pie since that tastes as good as the one my grandma made. I think the pie tasted so good, because I got to spend quality time with my grandparents at the same time. I also got to eat a lot of the pie.
I cannot think of pie without thinking of my mom. My dad and I still reminisce that when Mom made pie crust (usually only around Thanksgiving), she made it from one side of the kitchen to the other. I’ve not made pie that often because I always think it will never be as good as hers. Perhaps I should start making pie and just enjoy the memories instead of making comparisons.
My favorite pie-related memories have to do with the special times my mom would make my paternal grandmother’s Butterscotch Pie. It is unlike any pie I’ve ever had and when I lost my recipe and was trying to find a similar recipe online, I found none to be the same. Thankfully, the true recipe was just a phone call to mom away. I’ve now made it a couple times (successfully) myself and know that it will always be something special each time I make it.
I’m almost too into the savory, and in an experiment with a ricotta pie my girlfriend and I learned that you can’t fail anything that has ricotta in it.
My favorite pie is always a simple peach pie, it’s summer on a plate!
I absolutely love making pie, and do so quite regularly. And it’s a good thing too, because pie is my husband’s favorite thing in the world! In fact, he prefers pie to cake so much that instead of a wedding cake, we had Wedding Pie! We had several friends make their favorite kind and then our caterers arranged them artfully in varying levels on a table. Everyone thought they were delicious, and such a great way to stay true to our desires for a very personalized wedding.
Gooseberry-apple is a bit of an obsession in my family. Anytime anyone gets engaged we all have to check- do they like gooseberry pie??
True fact: my first ever lattice top pie is my most-viewed flickr photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobbie-sue/266134410/
Most of my earliest memories take place in the kitchen, and one of the best is when my grandma set up an assembly station to make these beautiful pumpkin-onion hand pies. Just the right amount of sweet and savory, with a bite of black pepper – they taste just like Thanksgiving to me. And it took my mom, two aunts, and my grandma to put them all together. But I got to be the taste tester!
my first ever time making pies was in college. i got a job at a local bakery, helping out with odds and ends ’til one day i was encouraged to give pastry making a try. can’t tell you the great feeling i got from making a perfect batch on my first try! i guess you could say that’s the best thing i ever learned in college!
Oh my gosh, all you have to say is that one word to me…Pie…and I am weak in the knees! I have always loved pie, but never had the guts to make it! Yes, I know, I can buy a pre made crust and throw some stuff in it, but it has always been intimidating to me! That was, until Rhubarb season this year. My last living Grandmother died last fall and being the food lover I am, I wanted something I could have to hold on to her memory. That was her Rhubarb Pie. It was epic. I’ve made it about four times this year so far and my Dad gave me the greatest compliment, “My mother never made it better”. So, I overcame my fear of pie. I would LOVE this cookbook! Thank you for the offer 🙂 Shawn
My grandma taught me to bake pies when I was 12. I even won a blue ribbon at the county fair! I’ve don’t make pies that often, but when I do I’m thankful for the round, plastic, zip pouch that enables me to roll the dough into the perfect shape!
PIE! Why do I think about it as a holiday-only affair? While I might make a brown betty pie-ish thing in the summer, I find myself waiting until Thanksgiving to make an actual pie – and then only the traditional apple and pumpkin that are requested by the family. I need some year-round inspiration – thanks for the scoop on the book!
My favourite pie story is the story of a slice I chose not to eat.
Some years ago, we had a lemon tree in my parents’ backyard. My sister thought it would be a good idea to make a pie – we all agreed. She spent the afternoon making the pie, and baking it ready for dessert.
Unfortunately during its time setting, the pie revealed a secret – the lemons in fact had fruit fly. During the setting time, as the worms tried to escape, they rose to the top leaving an uninvited decoration. Even once they had been scooped out, none of us were quite game to indulge. Well… all except my Dad who had the pie to himself.
But in normal circumstances… I am a big fan of pie!
my favorite pie ever is coconut custard pie back in New Jersey’s Delicious Orchards. I have tried without much success to duplicate it without much success…maybe this book has some inspiration in it for me 🙂
I didn’t grow up with pie served at home, but when I got my own place I began baking my own – much to my hip’s dismay!
I love pie! In the cake vs pie wars, I definitely side with pie. Strawberry rhubarb is my favorite, but I’d sure love a copy of this book. It sounds tasty to explore.
I adore pumpkin pie. It is the quintessential dessert of my favorite time of year, Fall.
My grandmother, Signe Hanson, taught me to make an apple pie. The filling was sliced apples, a bit of tapioca, sugar and cinnamon/nutmeg. Delicious, and I still make it when time allows. My other grandmother, Jane Pascoe, had a reputation for Pasties, the food of the Yoopers by way of Cornwall. Her father, the captain of the copper mine in Republic, MI, encouraged each of his 5 daughters to prepare these easy to transport meal in a shell…
My father-in-law loved my pie crust and my pies since no one in his family made pie. My husband raves about my pies too. I have two great recipes for crust. One from Willisms-Sonoma and the other from Pamela Anderson. But, before I found these I used a Crisco book from when I got married in 1976.
I once made a Persimmon Pie that tasted just like a pumpkin pie! It was delicious and I even won a prize!
I have been eyeing this book for ages. Would LOVE a copy!
My mom never made pie much, either, but when she did it was usually one from the freezer section at the store. 🙂 I love a good one crust blueberry pie!
My mother was, at best, an average cook, but her pies…oh her pies. She’s ruined me for pie crust for the rest of my days. I’ve never had a pie better than Mom’s.–‘specially that lemon meringue!
I have been teaching myself how to make pies and i think my absolute favourite has to be fresh strawberry pie! Seriously, a slice of heaven! I’m still working on figuring out how to make a good crust but I think I’ve got that filling down. Mmmmmm.
Every year I make pumpkin pie at my sister’s house for Thanksgiving, and every year we declare it the best ever. Last year, we got the pie in the oven. Awhile later I was sitting in the family room and heard my sister exclaim, “Ow! Oh, don’t come in here. It’s too sad.” I thought she had hurt herself so I ran into the kitchen. There she was, sucking a burnt finger and staring at the floor. The pie was upside down and the pumpkin filling splattered absolutely everywhere. Of course it was at that moment that her in-laws came walking in the front door, the two of us staring sadly at the kitchen floor. Somehow we talked our husbands into going to the store to buy pumpkin filling so that we could make another pie. And it was the best ever.
Any pie that my brother Steve made was my favorite pie! The best were the surprise pies I’d find in my kitchen when I came home from work, just because he felt like baking that day. He died six years ago but the deliciousness lives on in my memor.
My 24 year old son made his first solo pie this past weekend, in fact he made 3 (sour cherry, blueberry and apple)! He baked them in his tiny studio apartment in Chicago in a postage stamp sized kitchen to serve at an Olympics Opening Ceremony cocktail party he was hosting. Girl friend and guests quite impressed; mother quite pleased.
I’m typically too lazy to make pie and tend to be a cobbler girl, but my sister has perfected pie crust and generously shares the recipe. Now I just need some inspiration 🙂
I too grew up in a household where fruit was our dessert after dinner. There never was pie, but when we did have some, it was a rare treat. We’d convince my Dad to buy us an apple pie or an apple strudel at the grocery store. When I grew older I moved out and tried my hand at baking my own pies (we didn’t have an oven growing up). I was never good at making crust. But it was when I visited New Zealand for the first time a few years ago that I fell in love with meat pies. Chicken apricot. Chicken curry. Chicken mushroom. Beef and mushroom. Mince (ground beef) and cheese. Venison. The list goes on. It was our favourite lunch. There was always an amazing pie shop in every little town we stopped in on our road trip across the country.
My Grammy taught me to bake pies, and I’ve actually gone on to win a couple of contests…so much fun to have that family connection! Our favorites are peach, blackberry and caramel apple.
My favorite pie memory is of my sweet grandfather who passed away at 95. He loved a good old-fashioned raisin pie. Not seen on many menus but it was his way of celebrating. I think of him whenever I see a recipe for raisin pie.
Oh, I love pie. My grandpa was always the pie baker growing up. Even when he was widowed and living in assisted living, he would always have a pie in the freezer for visitors. I wish I had taken the opportunity to bake pie with him.
I made my first pecan pie last year before my husband deployed. And one of my favorite memories as a little girl was eating chicken pot pie with my mom! Still one of my favorite foods to this day!
It would be hard for me to pick my favorite pie, I love all pie. In fact, instead of a wedding cake at my wedding, we served pie instead.
Reminds me of childhood. we only ever had pie for Thanksgiving. We baked pumpkin pies together the night before and had it as Thanksgiving breakfast. Now I’m in the mood to bake some 🙂
The first pie I ever made (at 12 or 13) was a lemon meringue pie while my parents were out of town for the day. It was made with a random can of lemon pie filling I found in the cupboard. I’m sure the crust was horrible and the meringue was probably like eating a sponge, but I was so happy that the meringue made peaks and toasted in the oven that I didn’t care.
Day after Thanksgiving before shopping we always grab a piece of pie. Seems to be the best at 5 in the morning with a cup of coffee. Breakfast of champions
I love all pies. Key lime is one of my all time favorites.
I am the pie maker in my family. I always bake a fruit pie at holiday gatherings, and when my sisters visit from out of state, they expect to take an unbaked, frozen pie home with them (I deliver every time).
Thanks for the giveaway. My grandparents raised me, and my grandpa was the one who baked. He always made pies at thanksgiving. My favorite was pecan
My favorite pie memory was when I learned how to make a pie from scratch. I was never so proud of myself.
Key Lime
The first pie I made by myself was for my in-laws the first time we hosted them for dinner. It was a chocolate pie, which was a good thing, because the filling was fine. The crust, however, was like a very thick cracker! Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten much better at making crusts. Maybe a book like this would help? Thanks for the giveaway.
Apple pie is what I first learned to make and it reminds me of my grandmother who used to work for the apple packers.
My worst disaster was making a lemon meringue pie that we took to a friends house for dinner. I didn’t have cornstarch and didn’t trust the substitution table that said to use twice as much flour. Beautiful meringue but the lemon filling was like soup. I think I cried. We ended up serving it with a spoon – still tasted pretty good.
As a child, my parents would take us to the farmers market and buy each of us a raisin moon pie. As an adult, when I would get a craving for this pie, I had to drive 156 miles to that farmers market, as we moved away when I was 13. Three years ago, I made the drive and the owner told me they stopped making them. It was a very sad day, and I haven’t been able to find the recipe yet.
MMMMM pie! My favorite growing up was my Grandma Juanita’s pecan pies. I make a decent pecan pie but its just not as good as hers were.
I have a favorite pie story that includes my Dad (of blessed memory). This was the first pie I made and since my father liked combinations it was blueberry and pineapple. In those days we used Comstock pie filling instead of making it yourself. Well my Dad absolutely loved it and in one sitting ate half. He was so proud and boasted about it. Well the next time I made a pie I fudged and bought a frozen piecrust…..do you know he absolutely knew the difference and told me NEVER to do that again. The moral of this story is do not try and take shortcuts with people who you love the best!
I would love a copy of that awesome pie book!
Melody
Southport, NC
I knew my blossoming relationship with my boyfriend at the time was going to be memorable when we cooked together for the first time. We made a peach berry pie. I had always been a Pillsbury girl. He was having none of that. His crust and my filling were awesome together. One of my best friends knew we’d get married the night the power went out at work in a busy ICU when my boyfriend of the time showed up with a peach berry pie still warm from the oven and a carton of ice cream for the nurses on shift. We’ve been married for ten months.