The Friday Pie Slice: North Carolina Edition

Alright. Gonna try to get this little segment goin' again.

1st slice. My friend April McGreger's new book Sweet Potatoes from UNC Press' "Savor The South" series just arrived in the mail. I can't wait to make sweet potato-habanero hot sauce, sweet potato sonker, sweet potato donut muffins, etc. etc. etc...

2nd slice. Last weekend I trekked down to Asheville, NC to hang out with pals at Harvest Records' Transfigurations II Festival. I made a little country-ish mix for my road trip and thought you might enjoy it too. Find it here.

3rd slice. On that trip I got to finally visit Tara/Smoke Signals Baking's beautiful little enclave in the hills of Marshall. If you're in the area, check out her upcoming pie classes and Saturday PIZZA NIGHTS!

The tasty crumbs. I also got to hang out and make pie for & eat pie with one of my favorite musicians and long-time pen pal Michael Hurley! Check his Nothing in the House post from a few years back.

Find past Friday Pie Slices here. 

Pictured above: Butterscotch Pie with a Meringue Top and Butter & Lard Crust

Nothing In The Dog House Presents Pie for Dogs!

Don't know what to get your dog for Christmas? Pick up a copy of Pie For Dogs, written by me, illustrated by Elizabeth Graeber, and tested by Chickpea (featured on the cover)! Inspired by the dog pie with bacon grease whipped cream that I made for Chickpea's birthday, Elizabeth and I made this little zine so wo/man's best friend can enjoy our nation's favorite dessert. It includes a recipe for a canine-friendly pie adapted from a King Arthur Flour dog treat recipe. You can find it for sale on Etsy and soon at Meeps & Treasury in D.C.



Related post: Birthday Pie for a Gal and Her Dog

Nothing in the House 2013 Gift Guide

simplebooklet.com

My friend Morgan put together an enviable (I'll take one of everything) holiday gift guide by a dream team of local DC contributors for the December edition of her Panda Head Newsletter (which I highly recommend you subscribe to!). I gladly contributed this little set of present ideas for the baker on your list. You'll notice some overlap from previous year's gift guides, but that just means those things are tried and true.

Herriott Grace Rolling Pin: My friend Diane gave me one of these rolling pins a few years ago and now it's the only one I use (and I've accumulated a few). It's the perfect weight and size, plus it's hand turned and one-of-a-kind-- an heirloom in the making. $70

Heavy Linen Towel from my friends at More & Co. in Portland, Maine: Everyone needs a good dishcloth or two. These are durable AND stylish. If you're a baker yourself, wrap some homemade treats in one and you've got a perfect host/ess gift. $15

Vanilla Bean Paste: The "pros'" vanilla extract. A lot of recipes call for this and I never seem to have it on hand. It gives an added boost of flava and you can use it wherever vanilla extract is called for. $13

Hatch Show Print Measurement Poster: This hangs above my sink and is the handiest piece of kitchen art there is! This particular poster is from Hatch Show Print, the historic letter press & country music poster shop in Nashville, Tennessee. $12

Vintage Pyrex: I'm always on the lookout for nice, old Pyrex kitchenware. They're a common find at thrift and antique stores - I love this set of nested primary color polka dot mixing bowls on Etsy. Prices vary.

A pair of great pie cookbooks-- The Hoosier Mama Pie Company Book of Pie and The Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book -- came out this year, but for those literarily minded kitchen wizards, check out writer & baker Kate Lebo's new book A Commonplace Book of Pie - part-recipe, part-slim poetry volume, to feed both stomach and mind. Oh, and for a bit of shameless self promotion, Elizabeth Graeber's and my Pie. A Hand Drawn Almanac makes a lovely gift, especially when paired with another item from this list. $15-30

Stitch and Hammer Denim & Stripes Apron: I've been ogling this apron ever since I saw Shauna of The Long I Pie Shop donning it on her site. It is SO beautiful and utilitarian (the leather straps are removable so you can wash it!) and if I had one I would probably wear it everywhere and just pretend that I forgot to take it off, just because it is that nice. $92

Thank You & Pie: A Hand Drawn Almanac Holiday Sale

Thanksgiving is really the best time of year to be the keeper of a nerdy blog about pie. It's been so nice the past few days to have friends and readers from all over the country (and one in the UK!) send photos of their pie creations (I've posted a few here) or ask for advice about substitutions or cooking temps or burnt pears (you know who you are) or send exclamations of satisfaction. It's as if I get to share a little bit of your celebration with you, and I'm thankful for that.

I hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday with friends and family and delicious food, and now you're enjoying some pie for breakfast and a big cup of coffee at home and not out out in the shopping madness. If you do want to do a little at home shopping, though, Elizabeth Graeber is running a Holiday Sale in her shop, which includes our PIE. A Hand Drawn Almanac, and all of her many other beautiful illustrated goods! Get $5 off of every order of $30 or more, which means two Pie Almanacs will cost ya just $25. And if you're looking for more ways to shop local & handmade, check out the Handmade Holiday series on Witchin' in the Kitchen which profiles three women artisans whose work makes lovely gifts.

Illustrations by Elizabeth Graeber from PIE. A Hand Drawn Almanac

The Friday Pie Slice

1st slice. I spent the past few days baking, talking shop, and running about town with the lovely and inspiring Kate Lebo (pictured above), whose volume of poetry, recipes, and ephemera A Commonplace Book of Pie is fresh off the presses! Catch the fun trailer for the book here.

2nd slice. Though it came out a few month's back, my friend Lora just reminded me of artist Debbie Grossman's My Pie Town, a reimagining of Russell Lee's 1940 photographs of Pie Town, New Mexico, that plays with gender, history, and notions of Americana. Very cool.

3rd slice. Ashley Melzer and I were pleasantly surprised this week when Garden & Gun listed our short doc The Wharf, about DC's Maine Ave. Fish Market in their list of five favorite Southern Foodways Alliance Greenhouse films! Honored to be included in this fine company.

The tasty crumbs. "I think food is so amazing because it's such a powerful voice. But it really brings to voice the once-silenced voices. I think of the women who all through time in Southern history, their hands and minds have really deeply shaped Southern cuisine." My mentor and UNC American Studies professor Marcie Ferris, talking women's influence on Southern food on last weekend's episode of The Splendid Table.

"A Commonplace Book of Pie" Reading & Tasting

This evening Seattle poet, pie baker, and Pie School founder Kate Lebo and I will be hosting a reading & pie tasting at Trohv DC. Kate will be reading from her new book A Commonplace Book of Pie, we'll talk feminism, domesticity, and pie, and then serve some! Kate and I have been discussing our ideas on these topics for a while now, we're so excited to share this conversation (and pie) with others. You can find more info via Trohv's facebook invite here. Hope to see you!

The Friday Pie Slice: Fall Equinox Edition

My most favorite time of year is almost here. I know that spring is traditionally the season of reawakening, but I tend to feel most invigorated in the fall. I'm back home, reconnecting with friends, digging into  some new projects, and getting back into the kitchen. Here's a few of the things I'm working on, and others' work I'm excited about.

1st slice. My copy of Hoosier Mama's Book of Pie arrived in the mail this week. Can't wait to try out ALL the recipes, starting with the Fat Elvis Pie, I reckon, which I'll be sharing soon. In the meantime, read about my visit to the Chicago pie shop and get the recipe for Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie here.

2nd slice. This coming Wedesday, Kate Lebo, Seattle pie baker, poet, and author of A Commonplace Book of Pie and I are doing a reading and pie event at Trohv DC. We'll chat about domesticity and feminism and pie, and of course, serve some too. Details here.

3rd slice. This weekend my grad school thesis advisor and all-around heroine Marcie Cohen Ferris & Southern Foodways Alliance's John T. Edge will be on The Splendid Table talking the role of women in Southern food. Tune in!

The tasty crumbs. For your listening pleasure, I made a Fall Equinox mix of some favorite American and British folk songs (-ish). Have a listen this weekend when you're putting up apple butter or driving to the orchard or sitting on your butt on the porch drinking a hard cider. Find it on my music blog, The Everchanging Minstrel.

Illustration by Jessica Lynn Bonin from Kate Lebo's A Commonplace Book of Pie, Chin Music 2013

Pastry Brushes

This past weekend my friends Mandy and Katy and I were looking at old Childcraft books. The art and design in them is so amazing! We came across this page in a section about "people who use brushes" in the What People Do volume. I'm liking the crust design on those pies...

The Blueberry Pie Elf

For Christmas my mom gave me a copy of a re-print of the 1959 children's classic The Blueberry Pie Elf, by Jane Thayer and with pictures by Seymour Fleishman. It is the story of a little elf, Elmer, who loves blueberry pie so much that he tries to convince the family (whose house he lives in) to make him one by helping them out with household chores. Apple and cherry pies just won't do for little Elmer--only blueberry! I won't reveal how he finally communicates this message to the family, but I will share some of my favorite illustrations from the book...

I hope you also received some lovely little treasures (or lovely little pies) this holiday season!