The Pie Project

Cat Cora makes pie dough from scratch! I knew she would. (Click on link for video). She's perfect in so many ways. For instance, she's gay. And she's a famous chef. And she's out, and a mom, and gorgeous. What more can I say?

Morgan's birthday was in July, so this post is late. But given our mutually hectic weeks, I thought I'd bring back the happy memory. She requested apple pie, nothing more, nothing less, for her midsummer b-day, and I promptly bought a dozen Granny Smiths even though I associate apple with colder months. Turns out apple pie is comfortingly delicious any time of year. This is a fairly standard recipe except for the crumble top experiment, which involved oats, brown sugar, butter, spices, and flour, much like a fruit crisp topping. It turned out pretty well, but I still prefer the flaky crust to the crunchy. We stuck whimsical little candles in it, sang, wished, sliced, and ate with friends. It'd be nice to do the same today, rather than rush around tense from the moment the second alarm goes off at 6:45. No, it's not that bad; it's just this morning our horrible bitch of a landlady left a nasty note r.e. our forgetting to pay rent. Now, we have never forgotten before....

Tropical deluge in Houston or chilly drizzle in Seattle - I'll take it. I like rain. It helps with the whole last-minute-push-to-get-work-done-before-semester-starts thing. And while this Raspberry Crumble is a summery pie, it's got a homey topping and jam layer that pair well with rainy days. Wouldn't that be a great cookbook - recipes to match the weather? This is a sturdy little recipe. Maybe not dinner party elegant, but tasty with ice cream or with tea, for breakfast. Yes, pie for breakfast! The crumb top forms a firm cinnamon-y layer over the berries, and after cooling, it slices up almost like a fruit bar. Only prettier. I'd never made a just-raspberry pie because raspberries are so juicy and seedy and, well, wimpy, as far as berries go. But this is a definite keeper. I found it in Ken Haedrich's "Pie" and followed all the rules until I got to the topping. Freeze the unbaked crust awhile, check, spread with raspberry jam before filling and baking, c...

I have so many pies under my belt - um, literally and figuratively - from this past month I hardly know where to start. My hometown had a salmon bake that featured 100 homemade fruit pies, slices plopped into little paper boats and crowded onto plastic tables. I made a mixed berry they didn't even use, they had so many. After sampling several I'm pretty proud of my own pie. Well, my crust. The whole crust-is-key thing was confirmed. Thick and brittle? No. Blanched by shortening? Better but also bad. That's not to say I had crust success all the time. I overconfidently skimped on water and ended up with barely roll-able crumbly messes. I had to patch like crazy. My OCD cousin had a conniption as one crust broke into a gajillion pieces on folding. Still, I didn't care very much about appearances. Of baked goods or my own self. It's not that I'm a fashionista - ha! - but I wear eyeliner every day and fuss over the amount of space between jeans and waistline. At hom...

Folks are scared of pie crust. I bring a pie someplace and invariably hear: "oh, you made the crust from scratch? That's so hard." Well, no. Calculus is so hard. Making pie crust just takes a little gumption. You can mess it up badly and it will still taste good (as long as you use real butter). This picture of Nadia Comaneci at the 1976 Olympics captures the spirit of crust-making. Dive right in. Fearless Pie Crust 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter plus a couple tablespoo ns 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour Pinch of salt 3 to 4 tablespoons of ice cold water Everything should be cold. I keep the butter and flour in the freezer awhile before. I also pour my water over ice and refrigerate crust when not rolling. You need a rolling pin, flat surface, plenty of flour, waxed paper, plastic wrap, a mixing bowl, and a pastry cutter (see my secret weapon post). Also, fearlessness and patience. Don't overmix. When in doubt: more butter, less water. Mix the flour and salt, dic...