Pie in the Sky

Oh Pie, how I love thee. Yes I do think Pie deserves a capital P. It's that important. I didn't always like Pie but Jess showed me the way. He makes a mean apple Pie. Now that we have a very prolific rhubarb plant in the garden, he makes a very nasty rhubarb Pie as well. The problem with Jess and I is our lack of control when it comes to eating too much Pie. Why oh why does Pie have to make me fat? Can't it be mean and kind to my figure all at the same time?

When Jess and I starting dating we became happy fat. We both enjoyed eating good food and it started to show. We really needed our friends to do an intervention, but it should of been clear to us as well. One obvious sign occurred during a Saturday afternoon. We had been out late the night before and planned to hunker down in our apartment and watch a few movies. We decided to make some hoagie sandwiches for a snack. When we got to the deli and bought our bread, we had a revelation. Instead of making two sandwiches, we could get our loaf of light rye sliced horizontally and make a giant loaf sized hoagie that we could graze on for hours. It was brilliant, and delicious. I think we grew two sizes just from that afternoon.

We've slimmed down slightly since then but Pie keeps calling us back. Even though Jess makes a mean Pie, I'm going to give you my Aunty Sara's pie recipe.

Aunty Sara's Rhubarb Pie

Crust
2 cups of self rising flour
1/2 cup of vegetable shortening
1/2 cup of margarine
2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup water

Filling
4 cups diced rhubarb
2 cups sugar
2 tsp cornstarch

For the crust, combine all ingredients except water in a bowl. Crumble it with your fingers until all the crumbs stick together. My aunt's trick is that you crumble and lift at the same time, so the crumbs fall into the bowl. You want to get the air into the crust so it doesn't taste too heavy when you bake it. Slowly pour in water until your dough starts to form. You may not need as much water as I've listed but it'll be close to it. Form into a ball, and roll out on a floured surface. Try and roll out the dough only once, and handle it as little as possible. Cover a greased pie plate and shave off the extra dough. If you are making a covered pie, roll out another circle from left over dough and set aside.
For the filling, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Fill pie plate with filling and cover with leftover dough. Pinch sides of plate to keep filling in.
Bake at 400 C for 50 minutes.

Sweets

I'm not a fan of baking. There is too much measuring, and you really have to follow the recipe otherwise it won't work out. That seems hard core to me. I really prefer to do most of the things in my life a little half assed. Jess likes to figure out the really hard problems whereas I tend to stick with the easy fixes. We often joke that we need to invite a third person into our relationship that really excels at the medium hard problems. Then we'd really have it made.

Out of the two social occasions I attended this weekend, I was responsible for dessert. I'm not sure what went wrong there because I try very hard never to have that responsibility. My desserts tend to not work out. It's mainly because I try and change the recipe to a healthier version. Desserts don't react well to that. There is a reason they taste really good and it's called butter and sugar, and lots of it. Jess likes to call my dessert affliction the "too healthy to be tasty syndrome".

Well I got it right this weekend. I followed all the rules and regulations and both desserts worked out. I made Annie's super easy chocolate cake and the following pie for my vegan friend. Don't let that vegan bit scare you off. It was damn tasty.

Chocolate Almond Peanut Butter Pie
from Fresh at Home

Crust
1 1/2 cups vegan chocolate cookie crumbs
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup maple syrup

Filling
3/4 cup natural smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp firm silken tofu
1/4 cup +2 tbsp vanilla soymilk
pinch sea salt

Topping
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk
4 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
1/4 cup + 2tbsp almonds, chopped and toasted

Crust
In a mixing bowl, combine cookie crumbs, oil and maple syrup. Press into an oiled 9 inch Pyrex pie plate. Bake at 350 C for 10 minutes, remove from oven and set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 300 C.

Filling
In a food processor, blend all filling ingredients until smooth. Pour into crust and bake for 15 minutes. Cool.

Topping

In a small saucepan, bring soymilk to a boil. Remove from heat, add chocolate and stir until smooth. Pour chocolate mixture over pie and sprinkle nuts on top. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and serve.

simple and good.

There are certain foods that are perfect for certain moods.

If I am deeply overtired in a physical way, I need to have a grilled cheese, fries with mayo, or pancakes and bacon (yes, I have discovered that hangover foods are also a great balm for the overtired body); but when I am feeling world-weary, I turn to smooth, soothing pureed soups.

When I am bleating and blue and the weather is not doing what I'd like, it's a lemon square and some Earl Grey tea with amaretto.

When funds are plentiful and I am grateful for all that life has to offer, I roast a duck and insist on really good wine with it.

And when everything just feels simple and good, nothing is more perfect to eat than my mother's lemon pie.

My mom was here visiting last week, and we had the best time.

It's nearly impossible these days to have an uneventful week at our house, but last week we came pretty close - no birth, no insanely prolonged labour (or preparations for either event), no - well, not too many - raging hormones or eviction notices or husband travelling; and on the home front, no kitchen cupboards needing painting or garden needing planting.

My mom hadn't been here in eight months, so we spent our week enjoying her company and planning for her next visit, which will happen in our new house.

Oh, and we drank and ate indulgently all week.

The last day my mom was here, she and my daughter made this lemon pie, and its billowy brightness kept me going through what might otherwise have been several days of moping in her absence.



Simple and Good Lemon Pie
I usually buy three lemons for this, but often I only need two.

1/2c cornstarch
1c sugar
3c boiling water
4 eggs, separated
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/2c lemon juice
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/3c sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Use your favourite pie crust recipe to line an 8- or 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden. Cool completely.

Reduce oven heat to 400 degrees.

Prepare filling while crust is cooling: In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch and 1 cup sugar. Place saucepan over medium heat, and gradually add boiling water, stirring constantly until thickened.

Lightly beat egg yolks in a small bowl. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into eggs yolks, then beat egg yolk mixture back into saucepan. Cook a further minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter vanilla, lemon zest and juice.

Using a rubber spatula, scrape filling into prepared pie crust.

Make meringue: Place egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium high speed about 30 seconds to combine, then add cream of tartar. With the mixer running, gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form.

Top pie with meringue, using a spatula to ensure that filling is completely covered with meringue.

Place in 400 degree oven for 5 minutes or so, until meringue is golden.

Cool to room temperature before serving.