Funeral Pie

I've made so many pies on this journey it's hard to say which one is my favorite.  But if you asked me today, i'd say its this Funeral Pie.  I came upon the recipe in Hoosier Mama Book of Pie.  Funeral Pies got their name from the Pennsylvania Amish.  The Indiana Amish refer to this pie as a wedding pie.  While there may be disagreement over the name, there is no mistaking how delicious this pie really is.  This pie is everything you want in a wintery dessert:  spice, fruit, and a little splash of rum.  

  

bon appétit, 

Kelsey

Sweet Cream Pie

For Christmas, my mom made up the cutest package of pie baking essentials, including pie print tea towels, a new pie dish and carrier, and a pie recipe book {which was long overdue.  I guess bye, Pinterest, hello Hoosier Mama Pies}.  And while I eventually want to start testing my own recipes, this book provided a great start to get creative with different recipes, including numerous suggestions for substitutes.  I knew I wanted to continue to perfect the pie crust this week {check out last week's post about the class I took}, so I kept the filling simple {a quick stir of heavy cream, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, and flour}.  While the pie was a bit too sweet for me {I shouldn't be surprised with those ingredients}, the {almost perfect} flaky crust made up for it!

P.S.  While i'm usually a "peeker" at Christmas {I hate being surprised--I'd rather know what I get months ahead of time} my mom completely surprised me and gifted me this camera.  I only shot the final pic of this pie with my new camera, but I look forward to much better quality pictures for the blog in future posts {and not just pictures of the LCD screen}!

bon appétit,

Kelsey

Perfecting The Pie {Crust}

I headed north {Boston to be exact} to celebrate the holidays at home.  Before this pie baking journey began, my mom asked if I wanted to take a baking class at King Arthur Flour in Vermont while I was home.  I quickly jumped on the opportunity, and when the December class schedule was posted, I was ecstatic to see "Easy as Pie," which fit in perfectly to our jam-packed schedule.  The class' main focus was perfecting the pie crust {which, lets be honest, I'm not even close to perfecting even after eighteen pies}.  I learned new tips and tricks that have definitely progressed my pie-dough-making skills {I knew pie dough was tricky, but there really are so many intricate details of how the dough should look, feel, the size of the butter, the strings of gluten, etc, it was all a bit overwhelming.  Walking away with just a few tricks to help my pie crusts was a win in my book}.  We baked two different pies {A traditional Pumpkin Pie and an Apple, Pear, Cranberry Pie with a Double Crust}.  My mom took the class, too, so we left with four {4!!!} pies, which were all devoured by the end of my visit.

Recipe c/o King Arthur Flour

bon appétit,
Kelsey

Apple Crumble Pie

The baker's blog I pulled this recipe from says it best: "The Apple Pie to Trump All Other Apple Pies."  While I'm normally not all that into Apple Pies, I figured it was time to move from cranberries to apples.  One of my best friends got me addicted to Sallys Baking Addiction blog.  She bakes up some of the most delicious looking recipes, and when I was searching for the perfect Apple Pie recipe, her blog was one of the first I searched.  I found this recipe, one that wasn't too complex, but had all the traditional flavors.  And it was hit!  I was extremely happy I decided to keep a mini-pie at home for my own consumption.  

bon appétit,

Kelsey

Crazy About Cranberries

If you were anything like me, Thanksgiving put me in a comatose state.  The last think I wanted to do post-Thanksgiving was think about food, let alone bake a pie.  As I was browsing Trader Joe's, I loaded my cart with cranberries, fearful the store could not meet my wintery demands.  I know I've been on a kick with cranberries lately, and while I can't promise this won't be my last cranberry pie of the year, I can say I got my fix of cranberries with a simple toss in lemon juice and fall spices.  The pie was a perfect supplement to my leftover dishes from Thanksgiving.

bon appétit,

Kelsey

Hand Pie

Pre-Thanksgiving, all I could think about was the cooking and baking ahead.  My mom arrive on Monday and we headed to our annual Kiawah Island Thanksgiving Wednesday afternoon.  Prior to that, my mom cooked up a storm in my kitchen (squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, and a pumpkin roll).  I decided to keep it simple this week, and use some leftover pie dough to make hand pies.  The best part was the simplicity--stove top filling, quick pie dough cut-out, and a fast 20-minute bake that produced the crispiest delight.  It was such a perfect pre-Thanksgiving weekend dessert.  

bon appétit,

Kelsey

All About the Cranberries

I'm on a cranberry kick lately, so when I found this recipe, I no doubt got excited.  Every time I step into Williams-Sonoma, my mouth begins to water at the first smell of whatever is being cooked in the test kitchen.  I secretly hoped this recipe would fill my place with the same aroma.  The spiced apples and cranberries on the stove-top did just that.  And once the pie was done baking, it was full-blown WS aroma.

Now that I've mastered become decent at making pie crust, I'm starting to get a little fancy in my pie "styling."  This is the first time I tried a braided crust.  What do you think?

bon appétit,

Kelsey