Week Three

This week's Pie League features....

ANDREA vs. PERFECT APPLE PIE

&

BETH vs. DAIRY STATE APPLE PIE

I went into this week thinking I would make a rhubarb pie, with rhubarb donated by a gracious co-worker. However, I failed in thawing the rhubarb in time. We had plenty of apples from a local orchard lying around, and Beth had recently clipped a recipe for "Perfect Apple Pie" from the newspaper. So apple it was. And perfect it was not.

I tried something new this week. Lard. If you have never baked a pie crust with lard, I suggest you try it. It provides for a unique pie crust, for several reasons. One, it makes an extra-flaky crust. And two, it has a meaty smell. I'm not saying that's a good reason to try lard. (Note my face below.) It's just something you should try.

Oh, and it is hard to find lard in the grocery store. You can buy refrigerated lard (which this is) by the hispanic food section in the coolers, or a huge tub of un-refrigerated lard (which just sounds wrong) in the dry hispanic food aisle. Just try it.

Cute lil' vents!

Finished product...Applesauce pie. Yeah, don't cut your apples and mix the filling BEFORE you make your crust. It gets really juicy sitting there waiting for a crust to be put to bed in. Not cool. But it tasted pretty good!

Beth made the Dairy State Apple Pie. Being a dairy farm girl, it seemed fitting! Lots of cheese in the crust and a creamy filling! It sounds weird, but it was delicious.

Check out that cheesy crust!

Cinnamon-y crumb topping with chopped walnuts....perfection!

That's two good-lookin' girls. I mean, pies. Dairy State Apple Pie, with ice cream. I mean, really. Can you get more Iowa than that?

Due to the late nature of this blog, we are NOT posting the recipes. They are available upon request.

Week Two

This week features...

BETH vs. GERMAN APPLE PIE
&
ANDREA vs. PEACH PIE

I was a little worried about Pie League this week, because I had a nasty cold. But, I could not cancel. Pie League must go on!!! I decided to make a German Apple Pie. I know what you're thinking, "What is a German Apple Pie and what makes it different from a regular good ol' American Apple Pie? What are you, some kind of Nazi?" Well, to answer your questions, I have no idea what makes it German, and no, I'm not a Nazi. Let's begin....

First, I peeled the apples. I wanted to do the whole "Sleepless in Seattle" thing where Tom Hanks remembers how his wife could "peel an apple in one, long curly strip." And I did it! A success!!! One long curly strip!

And according to my "step by step" pictures, that's all I did. I peeled some apples and this is what happened....


It was a bit more complicated than that of course. But for some reason I didn't take pictures. I guess I didn't want to bore you with each step. Anyhow, I basically just made a pie crust from the recipe that was with the German Apple Pie recipe. I guess what makes it so different than your regular Apple Pie, is that there is no top crust, and you pour a cup of heavy cream on the top. I don't know about you, but I think if a recipe call for a cup of heavy cream, it's automatically a winner.

I attempted the use of foil around the crust edges this time. It did not work. Enough said.

Foil or no foil, the pie turned out AMAZING!!!

I put it on the windowsill to cool, just like the grandmas used to! Actually, I don't know any grandmas that actually did that. I think it was just in cartoons. The old lady would put the pie on the windowsill and then a kid, or bum, or fox or something would come steal the pie. Anyhow, the German Apple Pie turned out both appealing to the eye, and the tummy! Now on to Andrea's second week adventure.....

And an adventure it was....

This was not a shining moment for me. Which made me really sad, as peach is one of my favorites of all the pies. Most of my troubles came with the crust, which you shall see in the horrible pictures to come.

Well, peaches certainly do not peel into long, beautiful, curly strips.

I attempted the 4-H Pie Crust that Beth raved about. I screwed up the procedure by adding all of the liquids to flour and shortening before cutting the shortening into the flour. So, into the garbage it went.

I later discovered that this was not really necessary. Apparently, it's okay to mix it all up together. It is not vital to cut it first. However, with me not being a brilliant baker to start with, I like to follow the rules. Not taking any chances here! You would think the second batch would have gone much better, right? Wrong. It was a gooey, sticky, thick mess. I could barely get it off the counter, and into the new pie plate Joel had picked up for me.

What. A. Mess.

In go the peaches. And more peaches. And more. I later discovered the reason I had to keep adding peaches in order to fill up the pie plate. The one Joel bought for me was a deep-dish pan. So at least that explains one of the disasters of the evening.

The famous patch.

The finished product. Mmm... real appetizing, huh? Can you spot the patch?

The peach pie won this one. I tried to get the best of her, but to no avail. Between the two failed crusts, and the addition of multiple peaches to account for the oversized pie pan, and the general look of the pie... she won. By a landslide. Someday, we will meet again.

Beth vs. German Apple: Beth wins.

Andrea vs. Peach: Pie wins.

A little extra photo shoot....

What a beautiful scene!

Crisp, fall apples behind the lovely, golden baked pie...

And then there is the symbolism of the mounds of garbage,

paired with the ruined peach pie...

Oh man, what a week!


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WEEK 2 RECIPES

GERMAN APPLE PIE

(from A Taste of the Country Cookbook, 8th Edition)

Crust:

1-1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 to 3 tbs ice water

Filling:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

6 cups sliced peeled baking apples (I used Mcintosh apples)

1 cup heavy cream

Whipped cream, optional

In a bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle with vanilla and stir in. Sprinkle with water, one tablespoon at a time, stirring until pastry holds together. Shape into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8 inch thinkness. Transfer to a 9" pie plate; trim and flute edges. For filling, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon; sprinkle 3 tablespoons into crust. Top with half of the apples. Sprinkle with half of the remaining sugar mixture. Top with remaining apples and sugar mixture. Poor cream over all. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degress; bake for 55-60 minutes, or until apples are tender. Cool. Serve with whipped cream if desired. (I found it to be best if it was still a little warm when served.)

PEACH PIE

(from The Buenie Cookbook, 3rd Edition, 2009)

1 (9") double pie crust

5-6 peaches, peeled and sliced

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix together and put into crust-lined pie pan. Cover with top crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until nicely browned. (Or until it looks like garbage.)

Week One

We should probably tell you... neither of us have ever attempted to make a homemade pie before tonight. The night began with pure excitement. It started with Beth's Pie League playlist, complete with lyrical tributes to pie, including Cherry Pie by Warrant, American Pie by Don McLean, and a little-known gem, called Chicken Pot Pie by The Spoiled Chefs.

Our hopes were nearly as high as our apprehension. Beth's pie of choice was her favorite, Strawberry Rhubarb, and Andrea made Wow Blueberry Pie. Both recipes were from the Buenie Church cookbooks, your classic small-town-grandma cookbook.

We will be telling the story of Pie League with mostly step-by-step photos, at least when we remembered to take step-by-steps!

First up...

BETH vs. STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE

I started out with the crust, my scariest endeavor! See, I guess I should explain. I actually HAVE attempted to make a homemade pie. Three years ago I tried making a homemade pie crust, and it ended up in the trash. End of story. So this time around I was a little worried. As you can see, it actually rolled out without half of it sticking to the counter, so I was already ahead! Yep, this one was NOT going in the trash!

Next I chopped up the rhubarb and strawberries, and of course ate a few along the way. Even the rhubarb. It was so tart, but it just reminded me of being a kid and eating it like celery, and I just couldn't stop! I put a layer of the strawberry/rhubarb mix on the bottom.

Then the wonderful sugar mixture....

And then the remainder of the strawberry/rhubarb mix...

Next I "dotted" with butter. Andrea had no idea what this meant. But when a cookbook says "dot with butter", doesn't that pretty much describe what you're going to do? I thought it was pretty obvious.

Then came the top crust, along with "venting" it. My little cuts were NOT cute and even. They were pretty much all over the place. Oh, and notice the little patch in the top of the crust. This has become a reoccurring theme in Pie League. Not by choice of course. Our top crusts just always seem to need some repair!

Into the oven.....

"OH MY GOD! IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!" That was the exact quote when I opened the oven door. Can you see the excitement on my face?!

There she is. My first glorious pie. Now I don't wanna get cocky, but this is a damn good lookin' pie! But how will it taste...

ANDREA vs. WOW BLUEBERRY PIE

Don't ask me about the "Wow."

I'm not a baker. I'm just going to put that out there right now. So this new adventure was extra scary for me. I started with the crust, which terrified me. Beth says she screwed up a pie crust once. Well, I screw up everything I bake. Everything was going great, until I picked up my spoon and saw that it had broken inside the bowl. Or so I thought. Beth let me think this for a really long time, while I looked through the dough for the rest of my battered spoon. She finally shared that this wierd spoon was made that way, and that I did not, in fact, lose half of it in my dough. So, that was the start of my pie-making journey! Not looking good.

I did, however, find that rolling out the dough can be quite fun, especially if you have awesome music to dance and roll to.

Somehow, I got the bottom crust into the pie dish in one piece.

I mixed up my blueberry mixture, all the while sampling the berries, and commenting on how tart they are. Now, a smart baker may have taken that as a sign to add more sugar. We figured that out much later.

Looking good and crappy at the same time!

I made the most perfect, sweet little air vents, didn't I?

Here goes nothing! There's no turning back now!

"AHHHHH!!!! She's purty!!!!!"

How perfectly imperfect is that?

There's a lot more of that beautiful blueberry goodness all over the bottom of the oven.

THE RESULTS

While Beth's pie was not the prettiest, it tasted delicious and was a success. Andrea's was beautiful, but the filling was very tart. Both crusts were good, which we were thankful for, since we were so terrified of the homemade crust.

WEEK ONE LESSONS LEARNED
1. Pies spill over. Put foil on bottom of oven.

2. Blueberry pie is messy.

3. Self-cleaning oven is a must


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WEEK ONE RECIPES

BETH'S PIE
STRAWBERRY-RHUBARB PIE
(From the Buenie Cookbook, 3rd Edition, 2009)

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbs butter
2 cup strawberries
1 cup rhubarb, cut in 1" pieces
1 (9") pie crust

Combine sugar, flour and salt. Arrange half of berries and rhubarb in pie crust. Sprinkle with half of sugar-flour mixture. Add remaining fruit mixture; add sugar-flour mixture on top. Dot with butter. Put on top crust and bake at 425 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

CRUST:
4-H PIE CRUST (makes a double pie crust)
(From the Buenie Cookbook, 3rd Edition, 2009)

3 cups flour

1 cup shortening

1 egg, beaten
5 tbs cold water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vinegar

Cut shortening into flour with pastry blender. Stir in gradually the liquid mixture.

ANDREA'S PIE
WOW BLUEBERRY PIE
(From the Buenie Cookbook, 3rd Edition, 2009)

3/4 cup sugar
3 tbs cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4-5 cups blueberries

Recipe for a 9" double pie crust
Bake in a 9" pie pan on 425 degrees for 50 minutes on lower shelf.

CRUST:
TENDER PIE CRUST (makes a double pie crust)
(From the Buenie Cookbook, 3rd Edition, 2009)

1 1/2 heaping cups flour

3/4 cup lard

1/3 cup ice water

Dash of salt

Mix flour, lard and salt into a mixture that resembles pea-size crumbles. Add ice water until dough comes together. Separate into 2 equal balls of dough and cool in refrigerator while getting your filling ready. Roll out the dough for bottom crust; fill pie. Roll out second ball for top. Crimp edges to seal and poke airholes in top for steam to escape.

NOTE: We have learned (actually Andrea has learned) the hard way that it is better to make the pie crust first, and then the filling. Otherwise the filling tends to get very mushy. Stay tuned for Week 3 and Andrea's "Applesauce" pie.

Also, in Andrea's pie crust recipe it calls for lard. In week 1, Andrea used shortening, which works, but she has since used lard for this crust and it turns out much flakier. There's something about the meatiness of lard that works.