Pie Photos

I baked this in my favorite little 8" pie plate.....so it almost popped it's top in the oven.



It came down a bit as it cooled...but the curds on top were a bit chewy....I liked them that way.
Go ahead...make one!

Pie update and vacation plans!

This is all I have left of my elderberry pie. I'll have to finish it off before I leave. It is such a treat. Elderberries are hard to come by.


I also made an apple pie for company the other day...so here's a photo of that. Yes, that's butter pats on top of the apples....Yum!










I've poured my last batch of soap and I'm just about packed.
We're off for a few days in Rome and then a 10 day cruise through the Greek islands, with stops in Dubrovnik, Croatia and Kusadasi, Turkey.

I am so ready for a vacation. It's been a crazy summer.

I'm hoping with our 'new business model' that things will ease up a bit when I return.

More about that later.

Arrivederci!

More about pies..

So here's what I did. I always make 'fool proof pie crust' from my Aunt Hazel's recipe. Have used it for years. It's basically flour, shortening, salt, a bit of sugar, 1 egg, vinegar and water. It always makes a flakey crust for me and rolls like a dream.

But I keep reading about butter in the crust. It seems butter has better flavor, but the shortening makes it flakier. So I adapted my fool proof recipe as below. I also only made a half batch...hence the 1/2 egg. The full recipe makes enough for 2 double crust pies..and then some.

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup pastry flour
scant tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
Mix above and cut in:
7 tbsp. shortening
6 tbsp. butter

I used a pastry blender for this. I know many use a food processor...but I think maybe the pastry blender makes the little layers of fat and flour come out better.

Mix:
1/2 egg
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
1/4 c. ice water

Pour over cut in mixture. Stir with fork until it comes together nicely. Refrigerate 15 minutes before rolling. It rolled out beautifully and I put the large circle on parchment to make the 'free form' pie. There was quite a bit of juice in the peaches. I mixed flour with brown sugar and then tossed in the peach slices....they released their juices right away. When I put the filling on the crust, I kept the juices back...then folded the crust over. I then poured the remaining syrup into the hole in the top of the pie. This was probably my undoing...but I couldn't waste it. When the pie baked it leaked all out onto the parchment. Thank goodness for the parchment. I served it by cutting away the burned parchment and sliding it onto a cake plate.


It was quite yummy with vanilla ice cream - a must for peach pie! Sorry I don't have a full photo. This is what's left. I guess I'll take it to Brooklyn today for the Saipua kids. Get your forks ready Sarah and Eric....

And BTW...the butter in the pastry worked out great.