September 5 is Cherpumple Pie Cake Day

My friend Tal sent me this link and now I've become obsessed with the Cherpumple Pie Cake. How can you not be obsessed with this? It's Cherpumple Pie Cake.

Anyway, Tal and I are baking our Cherpumple Pie Cakes - me in CA and Tal in Texas. Please join us. Make the cake and take a picture and let us know how it comes out! I'll post closer to the day so you can see the preparation and all that stuff. And I'll be inviting people over because I don't want to be alone with this baby. No! The Cherpumple Pie Cake must be shared.

Who Put the Pie in Piefurcation? Who? Who?

Yeah. That's right. Pie. Three pies to be exact. Let's get to it, shall we?

Pumpkin pie
Not quite a disaster, but not quite Thee pie if you know what I mean. I decided to go easy and just mix up a pie from a Whole Foods brand pumpkin pie mix. Learn from my mistake. This is the first time I've made a pie from a mix - seriously I can't even remember the last time I made a pie from a mix. So my perspective might be a tad biased but: go the extra mile and make a homemade pie. Sacrifice a pumpkin, bake it and scoop out the pulp. Really it's not that much extra time and the effort is worth it. Here's one of my favorites: Pie Ranch Pumpkin Pie (note: you do not have to use goat milk if you don't want to. I don't.)

My theory behind using the mix was that a) I'd save time and b) I was more interested in the pie crust. I tried a new recipe that involves 1/4 cup of cold 80 proof Vodka. Needless to say, I was intrigued. The idea is that the vodka keeps gluten from forming and thus you end up with a nice and tender crust. That's the idea at any rate. The results weren't that impressive. But maybe it's my bias against the entire pie that prevents me from being objective about it. It's definitely a recipe I'll try again. *

Persimmon-Apple Tart
Oh. This pie was good. Except by the time I finally made it, the lovely persimmons I had bought from the cheery kid selling them on the street outside his house and the free one given me by the guy promoting his CSA outside the library had gone bad and I feel guilty that I let them go so long (it's the little things I tell you).

The crust came from the 80 proof/fool-proof pie crust recipe. And it was in the freezer for a week and then thawed in the refrigerator, rolled out and put into the tart pan and I was all "come on over and have some Apple-Persimmon Tart and I've even put some Proseco in the fridge for when those unexpected holiday guests pop in" and then we all came down with Swine Flu. And so it sat. When I finally got back to it, there were sad persimmons that were just a tad too soft, but still an abundance of little yellow apples from our CSA basket and so I peeled as many as there were and cut them up and then a friend called and while we talked on the phone I arranged them in pretty little circles like I never do. And then it sat in the fridge for two days until I made the ginger snap streusel (from ground Newman's ginger creme cookies left over from a failed cookie attempt) and baked it late on a Saturday night and OMFG, no hyperbole, it was one of the best pies (tarts) I've ever made. The recipe is here.

Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie
This was a request pie and the recipe came from this nifty book called Killer Pies by Stephanie Anderson who compiled pie recipes from some of the top restaurants in North America (like where is that?) If the rest of the pies in the book turn out as good as this one, this little gem will more than have lived up to it's name. Mexican Chocolate Pie is a specialty of Border Grill in Santa Monica, CA whose chef, Susan Feniger, competes in the upcoming season of Top Chef Masters.

Meringue Shell
3 large egg whites
1/2 t. cream of tartar
3/4 c. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides (not the rim) of a 9" glass pie plate. I used my trusty Fire-King plate. Put egg whites in a large bowl and set it over a pan of hot water. Stir until the whites slightly warm. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. If you want to know what soft peaks mean, take a look at this video (which also features a little tour of Maker's Mark distillery). Beat in cream of tartar, then add sugar in a slow, steady stream. Beat continually for 15 - 20 more minutes or until the mixture is stiff and glossy. My mixer made short work of this task and it didn't take quite as long. To form the pie shell, spread meringue over the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Bake until slightly crisp and dry, about 15 minutes. Again. You have to watch it because oven temps vary. Cool shell on a wire rack.


Filling
7 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 1/4 c. cold heavy cream
1/3 c. confectioner's sugar
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. vanilla extract
1/2 slivered almonds, toasted and cooled

Melt the semisweet and unsweetened chocolates in a bowl over simmering water, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature.

Combine heavy cream, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla in a bowl. Beat on medium speed until very soft peaks form, 2 - 3 minutes. Stir one third of the whipped cream mixture into the melted chocolate. Fold remaining whipped cream until incorporated.

Scatter with toasted almonds over the shell then top with the chocolate filling, smoothing the top. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Grate or shave bittersweet chocolate over top for decoration. I need to work on my chocolate curl technique as you can see I eventually opted for grated chocolate which was just fine.


I suggest sharing this pie with other people. So that it isn't sitting in your fridge for days. The meringue gets soggy after awhile and I'd like to say that this diminishes the goodness of the pie, but that would be a lie.

Up next. Shaker Lemon Pie. I'm going to get the lemons tonight! I know, it's Friday night and I'm excited about lemons. I never thought it would come to this.

*In the future I promise to photograph my pie failures. Things were just too busy on Thanksgiving day to whip out the camera for a photo shoot.

Pie of the Week: Shaker Lemon Pie

Obsessing about this pie. Part of me wants to rush out and buy lemons right now then come home and get it started. Thinking I'll make it sometime this week instead - perhaps for Valentine's Day? I've also discovered Betty's Kitchen on youtube. Check out her tour of the Maker's Mark distillery. Plus she has a recipe for Derby Pie - excuse me - a version of chocolate nut pie.

World Penguin Day

Today is World Penguin Day - the day that marks the annual northward migration of los pingüinos.

There's still time to celebrate with Tuxedo pie.

Have It Your Way

Burger King. San Jose Airport.

I decided to order a quick lunch for my kids before we hopped on the plane for Phoenix. We queued up at the home of the you-know-what (but not for hamburgers my god they recalled 143 lbs of ground beef the day before are you crazy?!!). No. We went for the chicken nuggets and oh yes I know how they lived and died. It's The Omnivore's Dilemma all day every day. Carter managed to convince me to order the kid's meals which is not something we normally do.

Waitress: Do you want a boy toy or a girl toy?

Me: Excuse me?

Waitress: Boy toy or girl toy?

Me: I thought these were kid's meals.

Something you won't find on the menu at BK.

National Pie Day

It's National Pie Day. Did you know this? One of you did and alerted me. Why National Pie Day?
Because back in 1986 (how's that for a long standing tradtion?) the American Pie Council wanted to acknowledge Crisco's 75th anniversary of "serving foods to families everywhere." I did not know Crisco was considered a food item. No, I did not. Will I bake a pie to commemorate Crisco? Hmmm. There's always room for pie, no? I'm going to see what I can whip up. I found a great recipe yesterday. Can you guess what kind? Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan. I guess this does not qualify as a "new" recipe.

I did have Quiche for lunch. That may be as close as we get to pie today. It's been very hectic in Spreenland so far. But I will save those details for another time.

Thanks T.

First Pie of the New Year.

I'm not a big fan of Pecan pie, but you wouldn't know it from this blog - half of the pie recipes I have on here are for pecan pie. In fact, it is the same pie recipe posted twice. But honestly, Chocolate Pecan Pie with Bourbon - it's mighty tasty. And, over the past two years, I've mastered the technique for making them. I made two CPP's avec Bourbon for Christmas and they were absolute perfection. Well, there was too much Bourbon. I never thought I would say such a thing but - unequivocally - 4Tbs of Bourbon is beyond my tolerance (in pie). Texture-wise though, these pies were light and moist. I took a bite and it almost made me cry. If I sit here and use my incredible powers of concentration, I start to well up from the memory of those pies. But I am a professionally trained actor and I spent a lot of money so I would be able to do fancy stuff like make myself cry over the memory of pie. I don't advise it.

For New Year's I made - guess what? Pecan Pie. But with a twist - German Chocolate Pecan Pie. I saw a picture of this in the Rachel Ray magazine and it oozed yummy goodness so I had to give it a try. This is the easiest pecan pie recipe ever and it is indeed, scrumptious. Rachel Ray is a beloved figure in our household. My daughter, Olivia, loves 30 Minute Meals, but it confuses her that Rachel changes her shirt every thirty minutes. "Why did her change her shirt?" "She must have gotten chili on it." Olivia thinks Rach is our neighbor. Yep. "Where is her bedroom, Mommy? When can we have dinner at her house?" I let this go on because frankly, it is so charming and precious. She'll hate me one day for it I'm sure.

New Year. New Rules.
Given that it's My Bill Murray Year, I'm compelled to make some changes. I must. There. I've said it. I must. There are a lot of pies out there and they must be tried. They Must. So, one of my resolutions for the New Year is to branch out pie-wise. Expect to see some posts about fruit pies.

No. That's not all. Oh no. I'm going to make friends with the Internet this year. I'm going to be chatting it up regularly. Internet: you are my new best friend. I'm going to spill and consume your energy like a needy, undervalued girlfriend. But my self-esteem will remain intact, know why Internet? Because I'm in charge and you are a disembodied figment of my imagination, kind of. Plus, you apparently have no way of responding. Let's keep that channel going one way shall we? Hmm?

Broccoli Quiche

Since our third child was born last month, I've been obsessively making this savory ditty. It's a simple, tasty, any-time meal that's great when I need to power snack. I've been making it with pre-made pie crust. I prefer homemade sure. But I don't have time to make it right now. As it is, sometimes I have to assemble the components over a couple of days because I either don't have all the ingredients or I get interrupted by the kiddies. Anyway, I've tried two different brands from Whole Foods. 1) Vermont Mystic Pie Company's frozen pie shells 2) some other brand I can't remember (not as good as #1, but takes up less room in the freezer).

Broccoli Quiche

Filling (use any combination of the following and put into 2 pie shells)
7 - 8 fresh mushrooms
1/2 bunch of green onions
2 packages of frozen broccoli or the equivalent in leftovers
1 pound cooked bacon or prosciutto
6 - 8 oz of cheddar
6 - 8 oz of monterey jack
season with salt and pepper if you like


Batter (mix well then pour over the filling slowly)
1 1/2 pints of whipping/heavy cream
7 - 8 eggs

Bake
400 degree oven for 15 minutes
350 degree oven for 45 minutes

Looks something like this:


I've been making it with broccoli and prosciutto and a variety of cheeses. This week's was a mixture of muenster, pepper jack, and cheddar, plus I used bacon which was nice change. The pepper jack was a bit much at times. I like the astringent taste of using only cheddar. Astringent - what a selling point. Makes 2 pies or you can halve the recipe.

Serve and enjoy!

Lemon Creme Brulee Tart

I made this tart for the Staff Appreciation Luncheon at my son's school. This is the stylized version that appeared in the April 2004 issue of BON APPÉTIT . Needless to say, mine doesn't look exactly like this, the crust shrunk in the tart pan and I haven't yet carmelized the sugar on top. Delicious none the less. It's pretty simple to make. I didn't have the will for it at midnight, although I managed to get the crust prepared. It takes two hours to chill, you know, the butter and fats thing. Get the recipe here.

Jack and Chocolate Pecan Pie

Jack Kerouac's Rules for Spontaneous Prose

1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside yr own house
4. Be in love with yr life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better
29. You're a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

Chocolate Pecan Pie

• 9" pie crust
• 1 Cup pecans (Trader Joe's Cinnamon glazed pecans are an excellent choice)
• 1/4 Cup semisweet chocolate chips
  
• 1 Cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 3/4 Cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 Cup butter, melted
• 3 large eggs
• 3 - 4 Tablespoons of bourbon
  
• 1 1/2 - 2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 Teaspoon salt

Preheat oven 325 degrees.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans and 1/4 cup chocolate chips over bottom of crust. Whisk brown sugar and next six ingredients in medium bowl. Pour into pie crust. Sprinkle remaining pecans over filling. Bake until filling is set in center about 40 minutes. Cover the edges of pie crust with aluminum foil or a pie shieild about halfway through baking to prevent edges from getting too brown.

Funeral Pie: Hunter S. Thompson

The Requiem Shark
—For A by Stuart Friebert
Said to exist chiefly
in tropical waters, where,
contrary to belief, depths
can be gloomy, full of
unnerving sadness, as if
a geological error and
diving down Neitzsche comes
to mind: not how one soul
comes closer to another,
but how it moves away,
tells about kinship.
We merely expect
a wallowing pleasure
when it turns a cold shoulder,
on the born side of creation,
as beside it human swimmers
do not seem to have matured:
it is the most alarming
of our qualities, while
the shark’s bloodless gaze
calls forth piety, then nausea.

Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino
And Polo said: "The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live everyday, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of the inferno, are not the inferno, then make them endure, give them space."

Chocolate & Bourbon Nut Pig
1 stick butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. flour
Pinch of salt
2 - 3 tbsp. bourbon and/or 1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. chopped semi-sweet chips
1 (9 inch) pie shell, partially baked (prick crust with a fork)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs, flour, salt and bourbon (or vanilla). Add chocolate chips and nuts. Stir well. Pour into partially baked pie shell and bake for 30 minutes or until center is set. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.