Pie Love(r)

 

I adore a good piece of pie.  The flaky crust, the yummy filling….I am drooling.  I prefer a fruit filling, but am not one to turn down a cream, pumpkin or pecan pie.  

When doing some research a few months ago about all the places (mostly food related) that I wanted to visit in Seattle when we moved out West, I stumbled on High 5 Pie.

I knew that it would have to be one of the first places I check out.  So last week when I was in desperate need for a break from these crazy boys, I tweeted that I was heading to Seattle for some pie, and did anyone want to join me.  I was super excited when a new (and awesome) friend said that she would be in the city and would love to join me.  Yippee!  Pie and conversation….yes, please.

Libby and I decided to share a couple of slices so that we could, without huge guilt, try two slices out of their incredible looking selection.

Lemon Shaker

and Maple Blueberry

I have to say that I can’t decide which I enjoyed more….they are both delicious and so different from each other.  I had never heard of lemon shaker….but it is a candied lemon peel filling.  Tart, tangy and just a little sweet.  Perfection.  Loved that the Maple Blueberry was a one crust pie with a crumble topping…it was so great.  Had those tiny blueberries that just burst with juice when you bite them. It was so good that is what I chose to bring home to Jason.

So, if you are ever in Seattle, and want to go for some pie….this is the place.  And call me, I’ll join you for a slice!

 

Blueberry Pie Love

It is a week until Love Day.  I adore Love Day (otherwise known as Valentine’s Day)!  Even though I try to Love BIG every day, there is still that spark of Valentine’s Day that fills me with even more love.

To celebrate this upcoming day of love, I thought that it would be fun to shower my loved ones with some of my favorite goodies…..one for each day of the week before the big day.  Fun and full of love right? 

So today I decided to make a couple of mini Blueberry Pies.  I don’t think the boys have ever tried blueberry pie…..a shame, I know. 

Mini Blueberry Pie (makes 2 – enough to share with little ones)

Blueberry Pie:

Ingredients:

2 cups Fresh Blueberries

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp Flour

Juice from 1/2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 425 deg.

I will admit – I cheated and used a store bought crust – and this brings me a little shame (I suffer from sever pie crust failure).

Roll out the crust a little bigger than pre-made – you need it a bit bigger to cut out the right size for the bottom crust.  Use the edges of the pie dough to cut strips to make the lattice top.  I chose to cut out a few little hearts to celebrate the occasion.

Butter the cute mini pie plates, place the dough in the plate and make sure there aren’t any air bubbles under the crust.

Place berries in a medium sized bowl and gently stir in the sugar, flour, and lemon juice.  Let sit for a few minutes to merry before spooning into your pie shell.   Gently give the berries one last turn and then spoon the mixture into your pie shells. 

Take the strips of pie dough and create the lattice top.  Use a wet fingertip to secure the lattice to the bottom shell.  Cut off excess.

Using 1 egg and a tsp of water create an egg wash.  Brush the egg wash onto the crust and then sprinkle with some sugar.

Bake at 425 deg for 15 minutes.  Then reduce oven temp to 375 deg.  At this time check to see if the lattice top is getting too dark (mine was a little) – if it is tent the pies with foil.  Bake for another 30 – 40 minutes til filling is bubbly and crust looks baked.

Let cool before digging in.  I recommend eating Blueberry Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream, if you have it.

Enjoy….and don’t forget to Love BIG.

TWD - Brioche Tart!

I wasn't going to participate this week as I have developed quite a summer cold! I am all congested and icky feeling the past couple of days. But I forged on and twisted it up a bit. Instead of using plums like Dorie's recipe calls for I used diced apple and blueberries.

So since I am not feeling so great and anxious to take a hot bath and go to bed, all you are going to get from me this week is pictures! Sorry....but they are great pics, in my opinion!

Before going in the oven....

A little slice....

The complete tart! Look at those shriveled blueberries....all that juice is in the tart...mmmmm

Take Care,

Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

Not So Peachy Ice Cream

Unfortunately I am the only one in the house that likes peaches. Jason and Jakob don't really like all things peachy....and I think they are trying to turn Aiden to the dark side! I brought up the subject of this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Honey Peach Ice Cream, with the boys and both said "no thanks!". So I put on my thinking cap, and then realized I had lots and lots of blueberries in the fridge just waiting to be eaten. Honey Blueberry Ice Cream was approved by all and the process began. I was a little apprehensive to attempt this as I don't own an ice cream maker! But some great friends on Twitter (I love my Twitter friends!) sent me this link to David Lebovitz's website with great instructions on how to do it without one! It went fairly well, a little time consuming and meant that I couldn't go anywhere or nap for a few hours in the afternoon but it was so worth it. I actually said that we may never buy ice cream again. But I really still want an ice cream maker....maybe the ice cream fairy will bring me one.

I switched up the peaches with 2 cups of blueberries....but that is all I changed. I did not save any for the end of the recipe - I boiled them all with the honey and pureed them all.....made for a lovely purple shade of ice cream!

A huge Thank You to Tommi, of Brown Interior, for choosing this recipe - it got me to try to make my own ice cream...something I had been to intimidated to do before now! Be sure to stop by Brown Interior for the recipe and check out the Tuesdays with Dorie Blogroll to see all the other creations.

Oh, and I made a small batch of Lemon Sugar Cookies to go with the ice cream...a perfect match!

Take care,
Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

A day of baking and treats...

I have been a busy baker today. Lots of goodies coming out of the kitchen today. It started with some Chocolate covered English Toffee. (and no J that isn't what I am sending you, though I could!) I have been wanting to make some other candies, but thought about trying my hand at this and see if the super cheap candy thermometer actually works before making some others that have more rich ingredients. I decided to make it with some fleur de sel in the toffee and sprinkled on the chocolate on top too. All I can say is YUM. It looks great and you can really taste the buttery goodness and the salty sea salt. I used Paula Deen's recipe for English Toffee and just omitted the nuts.

Then I decided to make a recipe that I had seen awhile back and thought would be fun for the boys. One of the fantastic blogs I check out daily, The Way the Cookie Crumbles, posted a recipe for Pigs in a Blanket. I thought the boys would love them. And surprisingly enough Jakob loved it, he ate it with strawberry jam, but he ate it! I had to make the dough twice - the first time I forgot to add the sugar and the poor yeast didn't have anything to eat and refused to rise!


For dinner I made a recipe that I have been wanting to make ever since I saw it a couple of weeks ago (or so). CHIPOTLE LIME GLAZED SHRIMP! Ok - not baking, but man were they ever freaking yummy!! I found it while perusing my Google Reader and all the blogs I follow. Ezra Pound Cake shared this recipe from Cook's Illustrated. I served it with lime maple sweet potatoes and cornbread. No greens - the green beans I had in the fridge went south on me. Oh well - double tomorrow! I think we will be working this into the "rotation" for sure - love it!!




And last but not least, Lemon Blueberry Muffins. I have another playgroup with the new meetup group in the morning. A coffee meetup while the kiddos play. I thought I would bring something yummy with me (as I usually do), so I made a Dorie recipe but substituted lemon for orange, and added some sweetened cream cheese in the middle before baking them. So when you bite into them there is a yummy cheesecakey center.

I am sorry I am not including recipes in this post - but follow the links and you can get them while checking out some new sites.

Take care,

Tania

Love Big, Bake Often