Apple Pie

It's Thanksgiving week, and you know what that means ...

It's time to think pie. Turkey. And more pie. (Oh, and mashed potatoes too, of course. I can't ever forget those.)


To get Thanksgiving week started off right, I made an apple pie last weekend. Only it really wasn't in honor of Thanksgiving at all. I made a pie because (1) I had time, (2) I had some local apples left in the crisper I wanted to use, (3) I finally spent a Williams-Sonoma gift card and so had a lovely new pie dish and some leaf-shaped cutters I wanted to try out.

Now if that isn't enough reason to make a pie, I don't know what is!



And so I made an apple pie.

And then proceeded to not eat a single piece myself. Instead, I gave away pieces to all the (many) wonderful people in our neighborhood and in Conservative Family who helped out with Butter this week.

Don't feel sorry for me. Just because I didn't eat a piece doesn't mean I didn't have any. I'm awfully bad at removing pieces of pie from the dish, so I had my fair share of bites from what was left behind.

Besides, I think I'll have plenty more opportunities for pie-eating this week, don't you?

Betty's Pies

In Duluth last weekend, Schleppy and I ate way too much at Fitger's pub. Wild rice burgers. Regular burgers. Dark Fitger's beer. Huge hills of homemade sweet potato fries that, I'm pretty sure, were fried along with some onion rings. (Can you say deeelicious?)

And then, 20 minutes later, while we ogled over the views on our drive to Lutsen, I slammed on the brakes. There, before us, appeared a beacon in our overstuffed haze.


Betty's Pies.

So, because neither of us will ever turn down a slice of pie, no matter how full we are, we stopped.

It was just what you'd imagine a little pie place located outside of Middle of Nowhere, Minnesota, would be.


Naturally, we had to order a big mug of coffee to go with our pie. And boy am I glad we did, because I discovered what may very well be Conservative Boy's Ultimate Mug. We're talking a big, hefty mug with a serious handle that you can get a good grip on. A mug I had to buy for the hubby as a souvenir.

Besides, how can anyone walk away from a mug that has a pie on it?


Once we took a few sips of piping hot coffee, the important part arrived: the pie. It was a tough decision, but I went with a piece of strawberry rhubarb (long since out of season down south) a la mode.


Schleppy opted for a concoction that involved about every type of fruit on the menu, with a crumb topping rather than the traditional crust.

Both were to-die-for. Both made us very miserable.

I very nearly had to unbutton my jeans on the rest of the ride. That's how full we were. But it was worth it.

(On a side note, we later learned that Betty's was not even the best pie place in the area. Can you believe this? If I had no shame and more time, I would have tried every pie place in that part of the state. Maybe next time ...)

Mixed Berry Pie

The berry season is winding down in these here parts, but I've been stocking up on the Michigan blueberries at the farmer's market the past couple of weeks and supplementing them with some rather lovely berries from the grocery store.

I decided it was time to do something with all those beautiful little pieces of fruit, and so last night I set about making a mixed berry pie.

After a quick online search for a tasty recipe, I settled on Cafe Hon's Mixed Berry Pie, from Food Network.


The result? Ooh la la. I'm in love. I think this crust may be a winner. It's much more flavorful than the last one I tried. I wonder if this is because it has butter in addition to the shortening. Or perhaps it's the fact that it relies on a food processor?

Either way, I made one heck of a mess in the process, as I overloaded the food processor at first. But still the crust came out delicious.

Perhaps the pie bird helped, too. This little black creature arrived at our house last year, a lovely little gift from Georgia given to me by Conservative Mom. I've been meaning to use it since then, but somehow with all the pie baking I do, I haven't remember to find a recipe with a full crust on top so I could try it out.

Until now.

Pie birds are popular with some Southern collectors, but they're also functional. You see, the little black bird has a hole in his mouth. He goes in the center of the pie before you load it with filling (in this case, berries).


Then, while the pie is baking, steam escapes out of that mouth so your crust doesn't get soggy.


How cool is that?

But now, back the pie. You're probably wondering about the berry filling. (I used a combo of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries.) All you really need to know about it is that it's divine.

Even Conservative Hubby said so, more than once. (Although, admittedly, he didn't actually say "divine." I'd hazard to guess that's not a word he's ever used.)

His praise means something, because Conservative Hubby does not heap on unnecessary praise. He's a man of few words, and more often than not says very little by way of compliments. So when he mentions that something is good more than once, it means he likes it.


And when he says he only wants a small piece of pie but then disappears into the kitchen to eat more straight of the pan, you know he really likes it.

If that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is.

Strawberry Pie Success

Last summer the Conservative Family strawberry pie recipe—one that has been passed down through at least four generations—was one of my epic cooking failures.

It was strawberry soup with a side of crust.

But after I snagged some lovely strawberries at Saturday's farmer's market, I decided it was time to redeem myself.


And I did.

I know you probably didn't believe me last year when I blamed the failure on the cornstarch, but it really was the culprit. I swear.

Armed with a new container of cornstarch, I achieved strawberry pie success.

(Although I have to admit, I still had a blender explosion. When am I going to learn that hot liquids and blenders do not mix?)

Still, the end result was a success.

Yesss. And yummm.