Pie four is classic apple and it featured a delicious flaky crust (that simple butter crust that I’m starting to trust), with an organic Granny Smith apple filling.  It was tart!  I cooked the apples in lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until the apples were soft; then I drained off the juice, and cooked the juice over a low heat with butter, until it reduced and caramelized a bit.  Maybe I was too impatient. Also, I think this pie still looks too light in color.  I want a golden brown, so to my eye this pie looks pale.  Maddy disagrees.  She says it looks right.

Another thing about this pie is that I did not adequately meld the top and the bottom together, so the top sort of lifted off.  And again, the edges…I don’t know how to make that beautiful fluted edge that my mom used to make with her fingers. She just did it, and like any magic trick that you live with day-in and day-out, it just seemed ordinary, so I didn’t pay attention.  SMH.  All those magical things that Evelyn did when I wasn’t looking or paying her any mind.  What I wouldn’t give for another year with my mom.

Pie is all about the crust.  I’m just trying to find the right crust recipe, and I think this may be it — three ingredients: flour, butter and ice water.  And next up in the skill department:  I need to learn to seal and crimp edges.  Still wondering about that uneven color (could it be my oven?), but this crust was flaky, delicious, light, and it did not rip.   I did use an egg wash on top.

School is getting ready to start up again, and January — the end of first semester — is going to be hairy.  In addition, Erich and I have a writing deadline, and there’s SO MUCH grading to do, so it will be a while before I tackle Pie Four.

But 2016 is the year of many pies. #52pieproject   Tools that I want: interesting cookie cutters for decorative flourishes, and a good quality pastry brush.

Happy New Year!

For Pie Two in my #52PieProject, I liberally modified a Martha Stewart recipe for the filling (and never again! Her site is plagued by advertising pop-ups — worse than most! and the recipe called for apples and raisins, which I just am not interested in trying), and then I used the very same recipe for the crust as I used for Pie One.

The result were these lovely little empañada-style pies — delicious and fun to eat.  I’d like to make more and freeze them.  They seem like the perfect lunch.  And I’ve found a new pie crust recipe that I cannot wait to try with tonight’s Chicken Pot Pie! Stay tuned.