Pies...my favorite to make

When I made a peach pie on Sunday atmDD's request I got to thinking a pie is my favorite treat to bake. I can remember watching my grandma mix and roll out pastry for hundreds and hundreds of pies. She used ap flour, a pinch of salt, lard and cold water straight from the faucet. My own mother couldn't make a,pastry crust to save her soul. It was so elusive for her and she TRIED...but could never make a batch of pastry for a pie that held together or didn't taste like tough cardboard.

I can remember making my first pie...a set of three pumpkin pies, actually, when I was 10 years old. Dad helped me put them in and remove from the oven, but the pastry crust and filling was all my deal, following Grandma's pumpkin pie recipe. From that day on, whenever Mom wanted a pie she asked me to make and roll out the crusts for her. Or she bought them. She even had difficulty with graham cracker crusts, either they fell apart or were super hard due to too much sugar and margarine, or baked too long and got overly brown.

So I am convinced there is such a thing as a "pie making" gene and you either have it or you don't. Some, like my mom, struggle and keep trying, never attaining what they strive for. So, if that is a good description of YOUR efforts at pie making, don't feel bad. It's not your fault. It's just not been included in your DNA!

Bethk wrote:So I am convinced there is such a thing as a "pie making" gene and you either have it or you don't. Some, like my mom, struggle and keep trying, never attaining what they strive for. So, if that is a good description of YOUR efforts at pie making, don't feel bad. It's not your fault. It's just not been included in your DNA!

I think the advent of food processors made it easier (and quicker) for lots of us to make pie crust, too, Beth. I also bought one of those zip close pie crust circles to help me make a nice round crust (the right size, too), and it really helps with the crust not sticking (you put the flour inside the "circle") to the board I'm rolling it out on.

Pie -- any type of pie -- is Brian's favorite dessert, BTW.

I don't own a food processor so if I tried to make pie crust with one it would probably turn out horrible! LOL when I first started making pastry I just used the same as my grandma, flour, salt and Crisco...well, because we didn't have the rendered lard she used. Then they changed the formula for Crisco and it didn't work so well...so, now I use part Crisco, part butter.

I use to cut my cold butter into little cubes and cut it into the flour with a pastry blender or fork or fingers...now I just get a frozen stick of butter out of the freezer and grate it with a small box grater on top of the flour, toss with a fork to cover, grate some more, and then just a few quick hits with a pastry blender for the Crisco and the fat is incorporated nicely.

I've even become pretty proficient rolling my crusts with a cold wine bottle since my grandma's rolling pin is at the villa and Robin doesn't own one! LOL

I went to use my food processor the other day and discovered it didn't make the move with the rest of the kitchen stuff.  It has been 15 months since I moved here and didn't miss it until now.  That said, to make pie dough with it is so simple. Just put in the flour and butter and any other dry ingredients needed and whirr a few seconds, with it still running add the liquid in a slow stream until it comes together and it done.  Ready to ball up and refrigerate until the flour hydrates.

NormM wrote:I went to use my food processor the other day and discovered it didn't make the move with the rest of the kitchen stuff.  It has been 15 months since I moved here and didn't miss it until now.  That said, to make pie dough with it is so simple. Just put in the flour and butter and any other dry ingredients needed and whirr a few seconds, with it still running add the liquid in a slow stream until it comes together and it done.  Ready to ball up and refrigerate until the flour hydrates.

It's so true, Norm. Sorry about your processor -- maybe it's stored in another place?

I know I will find it as soon as I go buy another one.

Have you checked in the garage above the tool bench? Bet it's just in a box that everyone thinks is full of something else.

NormM wrote:I know I will find it as soon as I go buy another one.

Isn't that the truth?! Maybe you should buy one that's an adjunct to your other one in case you find it -- like larger or smaller.

I'll look one more time before I head out to 'Targah" (Target). The old one was a cheap Black & Decker that worked just fine for the few times I used it. I don't plan to get a nice one.

I got a bag of self rising flour and can use it up with the processor making biscutis.

Years and years ago I scrimped and saved to buy a food processor. It sounded wonderful to grate cheese for lasagna and casseroles. Took me about a month to snap the plastic parts.

So, I bought a second one. I even tried the almost frozen cheese. The second one I killed with cookie dough.

Haven't had one since.

I have had several. 1968/70ish avocado green one. Forget the make. I do see it sitting on the counter on the Golden Girls:lol!: 
Don't know where it got to..
Next up was that Big Boy cuisinart .1989 ish. I still have it.Works when IT wants too. So It is sitting in my office closet with many other friends .I got fed up trying to make it work.I did not use it that much to go to the trouble.. BTW I used only one of the blades. I have all the rest of them in the original box they came in,UNOPENED>>>

On a whim I bought a new cuisinart for $99 on amazon..7cup. DLC-2007 ..OMG I love this one. I use it all the time.It is just the perfect size. Works great..

My hubs just broke my 16 cup Cuisinart a few weeks ago so I got a new red 13 cup one to replace it but haven't used it yet. I use it mostly at Christmas for cookie dough and in the harvest season to process large amounts of vegies for canning. It's easier to hand grate cheese or small amounts of zucchini for casseroles etc. This red one is really pretty though and is setting on the red kitchen island.

I just made the BEST blueberry pie -- probably the last of the season as I'm sure the berries are getting scarce and will start getting more expensive. I use 4 pints per pie so they are pricey to make even when the berries are on sale but this one was really superb.

Oh, Pea, you just reminded me of a blueberry pie I use to make.

I'm going to have to do a search for the recipe as I think it was one I pulled out of a magazine and made once...before I had the foresight to record the good ones....when I thought I'd remember how to make after making it once....ah, youth - so silly.

It was a fresh blueberry pie, much like the strawberry pie at Big Boy restaurants.  You made a cooked sauce/glaze and mixed it with fresh blueberries that you piled into a baked pie crust.  The "snap" of the cold, firm berries when you ate it was so refreshing....sweet from the glaze but a tiny bit tart from the cold, fresh berries.

Here's a pic of the last time I made blueberry pie....maybe not a beauty shot but they were tasty....



I think I used a tiny bit of fresh grated nutmeg and some lemon zest...maybe not the nutmeg...Gosh, I can't remember for sure.  

I use fresh grated nutmeg as well and lemon zest, but my lemon was not good enough to zest, so I used some lemon powder that I got from King Arthur and it worked really well. I bought the lime powder too but haven't used it yet. I mixed some of the lemon powder in with the seasoning I use for chicken and it was tasty and easier than zesting a lemon.

I use 4 pints of blueberries and crush about 1 1/2 pints with my potato masher and add 1/4 cup of instant tapioca and 1/4 cup of flour to thicken and allow my berry mix to set for an hour. It gets congealed and when you cut the pie, it doesn't run all over the place.

Your pies look great Beth. I had to go get more berries because Larry wanted another pie. Getting ready to put it in the oven right now.