IT'S PIE O'CLOCK

Loco dingo pie-o'clock-o.

I did go a little bonkers in pie-making this past Sunday but it was all done with love in my heart and relaxation station on my brain. Seriously, I know many people might think that spending the day making 3 different crusts and coring and slicing apples and sautéing sweet onions, leeks and carrots and rolling out dough and chilling dough and poking little fork holes in bottoms of pie crusts, slicing figs, running many a vegetable along my trusty mandolin slicer... etc... might be a drag and a half. But for me, it was a pleasant day of non-cakes where I could have fun trying to develop a new skill in the kitchen, trying out some yummy-sounding recipes and monkeying around in Pie Land.

Veggie pot pie filling, pre-gravy

Pies cooling!

Table set for dinner. New Fog Linen tablecloth and placemats! Love!

Getting ready to slice on in.

Sliced in! Caramelized onion, goat cheese and fig tart with balsamic reduction.
So easy and so yummy!

Cutting in to Mr.Veggie Pot Pie.


Not so great lighting. Oh well!

A fun and casual-times evening with pies and pals!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AND NOW... A FEW TIPS FOR PIE MAKING!

1. When making the precious pie dough, I find it's best when the ingredients barely come together and still appear crumbly. There are few ingredients that make up a pie dough but if those ingredients interact poorly, they can really affect the consistency of the crust! Barely touch the dough with your hands and watch your ice water. Less is more, only add a little at a time until it barely comes together.

2. Really do all those crazy things recipes call for when making pie dough, ie chilling it for the right amount of time, and chilling the pie in the freezer before it goes into the oven. It's amazing what a little stone-cold-chillin' does for a pie.

3. Don't be scared to try a pie! Like anything, pies get better with practice! I have made some seriously sucky pies and some pretty darn good ones! No biggie! No sweat!


AND HERE ARE THE LINKS TO THE PIE RECIPES!

Classic pate brisee pie dough for the apple pie. (except I add a heaping tablespoon of sugar to my dough instead of the little teaspoon because I prefer the dough to taste a little bit sweet)

Veggie pot pie with cashew mushroom gravy. You can really use any vegetables in this. The kicker is the delicious grated parmesan garlic butter crust.

Use the pate brisee recipe for this but omit the sugar. So simple and so delicious goat cheese onion tart with figs and balsamic!

Apple pie! I ditched the nutmeg and cloves.

And my recipe for maple pumpkin pie, found on Poppytalk!

Happy pie making! xo Lyndsay