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.