My Obsession

Why do I love pie? Pie is not an easy road to head down, but I never seem to choose the easy path in any aspect of my of life. The pursuit of pie is therefore a lifelong learning adventure. It is truly impossible to get two pies to come out the same. Close yes, but never identical. Good yes! But the next one can always be better.

Maybe it is because they are round. Sure you can make a square pie or a slab pie but why? The round shape is lovely and the form follows the function so perfectly. The round shape holds all your ingredients in a beautiful crusty delicious package.

And then there are galettes :)

Some Special Pies

Grasshopper Pie

The Grasshopper Pie was reportedly invented in the 1920s by a famous Los Angeles pie maker. And that is as much information about it as I can find so far. This pie is delicious! Like all baking, don’t skimp on the ingredients. Use the best French Menthe Verte you can get your hands on. If you make this pie with the sweet, cheap variety, you will be sadly disappointed. I know this because I did it!

RECIPE TO COME

ChocoPomStachio Pie

This pie has a lot of steps to get through to reach the final product, but they don’t all have to be done in one day. It has a dark chocolate cookie crust (made from scratch), a pistachio nut paste layer, then a layer of dark chocolate ganache, topped with a pomegranate glaze, cardamom pine nut lace cookies on top of that and then a scattering of pomegranate seeds.

I was very honored to receive a third place ribbon at the 10th Annual KCRW Good Food Pie Contest with this entry. Third Place never felt soooo good. Truly.

RECIPE

Lemon Blueberry Pie

A Lemon Cream Pie can easily be twisted this way or that, with a subtle flavor adjustment. Add a chocolate bottom. Infuse with lavender and top with a quick blueberry jam, whipped cream and some fresh lavender flowers. Or just add some whipped cream and eat it! The pie crust requires par baking, and then finishing the bake filled with the custard. Remember to never bake a custard at a temperature higher than 325° F!