Monroe's Patent Pie Meat

I've been getting back into meat-eating in 2012, but I'm not sure I'd be ready for Monroe's pie meat yet (or ever)! Circa 1869 wood engraving from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog.

Morrin Family Missouri Fruit Pie

 My friend Becca is from Louisville, Kentucky, home of the famous bourbon-chocolate-pecan concoction, Derby pie. Her father, though, hails from St. Louis, Missouri, where they apparently have a Derby pie variation known as Missouri fruit pie. While Derby pie generally denotes the bourbon-chocolate-and pecan trinity, Missouri fruit pie, at least the Morrin family recipe, generally doesn't use chocolate chips, but opts for dates and raisins instead.

I went to visit Becca and her boyfriend Justin in Baltimore last weekend, and they were raving about the Missouri fruit pie they made over the holidays. With a potluck on the list of our evening plans, along with a bike ride and another party, we decided to make two of them--one for the potluck, and one for us to eat late-night (and for breakfast the next morning). Our version veers back towards Derby pie, with the subtraction of raisins and addition of chocolate chips and bourbon. We also contributed our own variation by using walnuts instead of pecans.

Morrin Family Missouri Fruit Pie
adapted from the Morrin family recipe

Ingredients:
Nothing-in-the-house pie crust
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1/2 c. raisins (we omitted these)
1/2 c. chopped dates
1/2 c. coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 c. chocolate chips (not traditionally used, but we opted to and were glad!)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. bourbon (optional)


Directions:
Prepare pie crust using the Nothing-in-the-House recipe and after chilled, roll and fit into a greased and floured 9 or 10-inch pie plate. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (yes, 275 is correct). Cream butter until soft. Add sugar and gradually beat until fluffy. Beat egg yolks and add mixture with fruit, nuts, chocolate chips (if using) vanilla, and bourbon (if using). Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into other mixture. Put into shell and bake for 70 minutes.

The result was a deliciously gooey filling, that tasted quite like chocolate chip cookie dough in a pie crust. Though we aren't sticking exactly to the tradition, this Derby pie/Missouri fruit pie recipe is great for tweaking--use walnuts or pecans, raisins or chocolate chips, or all of the above. I imagine it's quite forgiving and still delicious.

Nutella Icebox Pie

It's winter. And when you're into (somewhat) seasonal baking and fresh ingredients are your game, this time of year can be a challenge. However, the cold season can also provide a great excuse for using "non-perishable" items for pie fillings such as... nutella. Nutella is already a cheater's ingredient, as it is the auspicious pairing of two delicious things--hazelnut and chocolate--that I daresay are greater than the sum of their parts. The Italian delight is versatile enough to be spread on your morning toast or late-night crepe, stuffed inside a doughnut, or poured in a pie crust.

We had an "It's a Wonderful Life" screening/holiday party at our house, featuring the movie projected on a sheet, blankets on the floor--picnic style, and a treats table already loaded with overflowing popcorn bowls, incredible chocolate-peppermint ice cream "sammiches," and the savory dark horse of homemade macaroni and cheese. I had seen some nutella pie recipes bandying about the internet, so I thought it would be a good addition to the #occupypottersville smorgasboard. Here's the recipe I used, adapted from Hill Country Cook.

Nutella Icebox Pie

Ingredients

For crust:

2 sleeves Oreos (or chocolate sandwich cookie substitute)

3 Tblsp. butter, melted

2 Tblsp. sugar (could probably do without since Oreos are already quite sweet)

For filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2/3 c. powdered sugar, plus 2 Tblsp.

3/4 c. nutella

2 c. heavy whipping cream

2 tsp. vanilla

Directions

For crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pulse cookies in a food processor until they form a fairly fine powder. Mix in melted butter and sugar until well incorporated. 

2. Pat filling into a 9 or 10-in. pie plate, reserving a few crumbs for topping. Bake crust for 7 minutes, let cool, then put in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

For filling:

1. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and 2/3 c. powdered sugar using a hand mixer, about one minute. Add 3/4 cup nutella and beat until fluffy, about three minutes (continue even once it's combined so filling gets fluffy). 

2. In a separate bowl, beat 1c. of the heavy whipping cream, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar until stiff peaks have formed- approximately 3-4 minutes. Starting with 1/3 of the whipped cream mixture, fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Once it's combined, add the remaining whipped cream to the chocolate mixture, folding gently until thoroughly mixed. 

3. Pour the mixture into the cookie crust. Freeze approximately 4 hours or until firm (I think mine only froze for 1-2 hrs). Twenty minutes before serving, remove pie from freezer and let sit at room temperature. Beat remaining 1 c. of heavy whipping cream with 1 tsp. vanilla and extra powdered sugar, maple syrup, or bourbon to taste. Top pie with whipped cream mixture and sprinkle on cookie crumbs. Enjoy!

I have been making pretty intense pies as of late (see dark chocolate sea salt tart with candied pecans) and this one was no exception, with the triple threat of cream cheese, whipped cream, and nutella. The intense flavor and smooth filling did pair well with the swimmin' Charleston, a charmingly off-key rendition of Buffalo Gals, and parallelled the sweet revenge when George Bailey sticks it to mean ol' Potter. Bedford Falls, welcome to the Pie Enjoyment Zone. 

Related recipes:

Speculoos Icebox Pie

Pie Class at Mary Washington

Two pies a piece at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia! From the UMW Centennial archives flickr.

Shaker Pie Furniture

My friends Becca and Justin recently visited Maine's Portland Museum of Art, where they saw the Gather Up the Fragments: The Andrews Shaker Collection exhibit, which features Shaker furniture and objects from the most extensive collection of materials and works by the United Society of Believers. There, Becca slyly snapped these iphone photos of some Shaker pie furniture--a pie safe and pie board rack with boards. Thanks, Becca, for taking one for the Nothing-in-the-House team!

I love that pies were baked in such large quantities, that they needed that large of a rack to hold all their pie cooling boards. It looks like there is space for at least 20 boards! I'd like to enrich my repertoire of Shaker and other traditional pies this year. I love Shaker lemon, but what else should I try?

"Indiana" Amish Oatmeal Pie

For Christmas, my mom gave my dad The Amish Cook: Recollections and Recipes from an Old Order Amish Family by Elizabeth Coblentz. My dad was a fan of Coblentz' column, The Amish Cook, which she wrote out longhand by candlelight every week in her Indiana home in an old order Amish community. She mailed or directly delivered the column to her editor, Kevin Williams, who edited and published her words. Though Coblentz passed away in 2002, many of her recipes and domestic wisdom live on in this cookbook. On my last night at home in Indiana, I thought it only appropriate to try a pie from her book. As they say, when in Indiana...

All of her pie recipes sounded intriguing, if not all appetizing. There was cracker pie (mock-apple), and rhubarb custard pie (out of season), and whoopie pies, but we finally decided on an oatmeal pie, as my dad said it was a favorite, similar to pecan pie, that he used to order from the nearby Amish restaurant, Das Dutchman Essenhaus. We had all the ingredients, except for pecans instead of walnuts, so I whipped up my version, an "Indiana" Amish oatmeal pie. Here's the recipe.

"Indiana" Amish Oatmeal Pie

adapted from Elizabeth Coblentz's The Amish Cook

Ingredients

Nothing-in-the-House pie crust, halved (I noticed that Coblentz's was very close to ours)

1/2 c. (one stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 c. light corn syrup (could use brown rice syrup or agave)

3/4 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. pecan pieces (the original recipe uses walnuts)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Follow the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust recipe (halved, as only a bottom crust is needed), roll out chilled crust and place in a greased and floured pie pan. Flute edges decoratively. 

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine melted butter, sugar and eggs. Add corn syrup, oats, nuts, and combine. Pour into pie shell and bake for 1 hour until thickened inside and golden brown on top.

This pie whips up in no time and has the flavor of pecan pie (though less syrupy sweet) combined with baked oatmeal (one of my favorite dishes from the Mennonite summer camp I attended as a kid). It would be a great breakfast pie, but was also a hearty dessert, especially when paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a fiddle tune or two around the fire with my dad (and alright, several bootleg episodes of Downton Abbey season two!) on my last night at home for a while.

Cae's Pumpkin Pie Pops!

This post comes from my friend, former NELP student, and now guest blogger, Cae Keenan! Though I have read a lot of Cae's writing before, it was mostly in the form of lovely journal entries and creative responses. I'm so excited to read and be inspired by her baking and bit of food writing. Here's what she has to tell us about her pumpkin pie pops...

The apple pie cookies over at Smitten Kitchen are what first got us goin’ on this mini pie kick. They are awfully cute – a new twist on a wonderfully old tradition. They also fit in the palm of your hand and you can walk up and down the stairs while eating, no problem! Suddenly, ‘the pie is mobile’ idea had us braving holiday rush hour traffic for the grocery store. We wanted to add a stick, turn this apple pie cookie into a pumpkin pie pop.

A word on the crust: homemade is tops. But if you’re in a pinch, spinning from a long To Do list, or, in our case, if the number of holiday dinner guests you’re expecting grossly outnumbers the hours left ‘til they show up hungry… yes, we used store-bought piecrusts. I ain’t proud of it, but it’s the truth.

So! Two 9-inch pie dough crusts will do it. If you'd like to use homemade crust, use the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Pops

(With a few adjustments, adapted from Cakespy, via Serious Eats)

For the filling:

¾ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 eggs

1 15-ounce can of plain pumpkin puree

1 12-ounce can of condensed milk

Also:

1 egg for glazing

25 wooden skewers, lollipop or Popsicle sticks

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together the dry ingredients. Send the sugar, salt, and spices into a small bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 eggs. Add the pumpkin puree, the dry ingredients, and the condensed milk. Stir to combine. Set filling aside.

We were able to make 25 mini pies from the 2 pie dough crusts. Be mindful, though, that this means cutting out 50 little circles.

2. Roll out each piecrust on a floured surface. Even though our store bought (!) crusts came smooth, flat and round, we rolled each for a thinner pie pop crust – and to get 25 pops. Once the dough reaches your desired thickness, use a round cookie or biscuit cutter (I grabbed a small water glass and turned it over), and cut out 50 circles. Gather and re-roll the dough as needed to get as many pops from your dough as possible.

To assemble:

3. Lay the 25 bottom crusts across several cookie sheets, or work in batches. Press one wooden stick into each crust. Be sure the top of the stick reaches at least ½ way up the crust. Add a spoonful of filling in the center of each crust, covering the stick. (My sister Aidan says: “A small spoonful is crucial to avoid over-spillage or bursting pies.”) Top each bottom crust with its mate, Mates! Seal the seams of each pie by pressing a fork around the edges, all 360 degrees of the pop. Score the top of each pie pop with a small knife. (Aidan calls these “air breathers,” “slits,” or “filters.” We scored a few smiley faces, too.) Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl. Brush the top crusts with the egg wash… We also sprinkled sugar for added sparkle.

4. Bake, baby, bake. About 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven, carefully transfer to wire rack. Allow to cool and for sticks to set.  

Enjoy your pie pop. Walk around, talk on the phone, play the piano with your free hand while eating!

My Grandma Eileen's Lemon Meringue Pie

 My grandma Eileen's handwritten lemon meringue pie recipe

One tradition that is in decline in the internet age of food blogs and cooking sites is the handwritten recipe. Both my mom and grandma Georgette have boxes and binders full of old recipes that they or their friends had written on personalized cards "from the kitchen of..." or scraps of paper. I have a few of these binders, but they are mostly filled with printed out recipes from Smitten Kitchen, Epicurious, or some other food blog. Maybe it's just my nostalgic leanings, but it seems that there was once a time when you had a more personal connection with the recipes you used. Instead of celebrity cook Ruth Riechl's spiced chicken or the Barefoot Contessa's spaghetti and meatballs, it was your friend Beth's cheesecake, dad's famous potato leek soup, or your grandma Eileen's lemon meringue pie, even if it was just a special variation on Betty Crocker or Irma Rombauer's well-known recipe.

I don't really remember my grandma Eileen, my dad's mom. She died from breast cancer when I was two years old. I do know that she was from Pittsburgh, of Irish descent, raised four boys, and was a clogger and a partner roller skater. She also clearly made a killer lemon meringue pie, which my dad said he loved, and that it was such a special treat that she would make at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and sometimes Easter.

 

My mom found Eileen's handwritten lemon meringue pie recipe in one of her aforementioned recipe binders, and suggested I try it when I was home for Christmas. I had a little trouble reading the writing, especially as the paper was worn from years of what appears to be lemon meringue spills and crust crumbs, but my dad was able to decipher it and translated for me. Here's the recipe, with a few adaptations.

My Grandma Eileen's Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients for pie:

Nothing-in-the-house pie crust recipe (only 1 crust needed)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 2/3 c. water

2 Tblsp. butter

1/2 c. cornstarch

4 tsp. cold water

8 Tblsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest

5 egg yolks

4 Tblsp. milk

Ingredients for meringue:

5 egg whites

6 Tblsp. sugar

Pinch cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Crust: Follow instructions for the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust (though halved, as you only need one bottom crust). Chill in fridge for about 1 hr. Preheat oven to 400, then roll out and fit into buttered and floured pie dish and flute edges. You may wish to chill the rolled crust for 10-20 minutes at this point to ensure it does not fall down in the oven. Line with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie weights and bake for 5-10 minutes more or until golden brown and flaky.

2. Lemon curd: Combine sugar, butter, and 1 1/2 c. water in a medium saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves. Add cornstarch, blended with 4 tsp. cold water. Cook slowly until clear, about 8 minutes (mine did not get quite "clear" but you will notice it starting to thicken). Add lemon juice and zest, cook 2 minutes. Slowly add egg yolks (save whites for the meringue) beaten with milk. Bring to boiling, then cool. Pour into baked shell and chill.

3. Meringue: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add sugar gradually and pinch of cream of tartar. Spread over cooled filling and brown in oven, 13-15 minutes.

This pie turned out to be a true Christmas day family kitchen collaboration, with my dad helping to read the recipe, me on the crust and lemon curd, my mom tackling the meringue, and even my brother lending a hand to continuously stir the curd while I juiced and zested lemons and cracked eggs--a Christmas miracle!

My mom served up the slices, and we enjoyed it in the living room by the fire,  with my aunt, uncle and grandma, after our Christmas dinner.

As I never really knew my grandma Eileen, it felt important to me to be able to read her loopy cursive, similar to my own, try out her recipe, and bring one of her favorite desserts to life at our Christmas dinner this year. My dad said it tasted familiar, and maybe it will eventually become familiar to me too, as much as it was familial this Christmas.

Happy 2012 & 2011 State of Nothing-in-the-House Address

Happy New Year! I want to get up-to-date and share all the pies and tarts that friends and I made this holiday season, but before I do, I wanted to do a little 2011 "State of Nothing-in-the-House Address"/year end wrap up because it was a great year--perhaps the best ever-- for the pie blog, pie baking and other pie-related endeavors!

First off, this year we had the greatest number of posts yet--85! We also had the most blog hits in 2011, with 3,280 page views in November. Thanks to all those readers, new and old out there. In 2012 I'd like to aim for 100 posts, and for even more readers...and commenters! I love when people give feedback, personal connection to or historical context of a pie, etc. Keep 'em coming.

 Part of the spread at Pi(e) Day on the Piedmont 2011

In March we hosted our 2nd annual Pi(e) Day on the Piedmont, at Johnny's in Carrboro, NC. We had a spread of 24 different pies and some hand and mini pies made by our awesome Pi(e) Day baking team, raised $400 for CEFS to develop a statewide youth food council, and celebrated pie, spring, and math with about 75 attendees. I've enjoyed revisiting Ashley's video about it here-- maybe you will too.

Plans are in the works for another Pi(e) Day this year, though it will likely be in the Washington, D.C. area, as I moved up here in June. Stay tuned for more info on that as March 14th draws nigh...

Lora's and my article in online food journal Zenchilada

I was very excited to have the opportunity to do some pie-related writing in an outside publication last year. My friend Lora and I wrote this piece Pi(e) R Squared Revolution is Round, using pie as a lens to discuss our ideas of female friendship, tradition, and the domestic arts, for the awesome online food magazine Zenchilada. You can read our article here and see our featured recipes here.

I was also asked by author of Pie Contest in a Box Gina Hyams, to do an interview with her for her blog, Pie Takes the Cake. I was so honored to be asked, and excited to see it come out so well. You can read the full transcript here.

I'm looking to find more opportunities to do some off-blog pie and food writing in 2012, and would like to feature more of my own interviews with fellow bakers, pie shop owners, and authors. Check back here for one with Natalie of Bike Basket Pies coming soon in the new year.

Me at the Tarts By Tarts stand at Crafty Bastards

One of the highlights of 2011 for me in general was the launch of Tarts by Tarts-- a new baking venture with my friend, housemate, and fellow baker Miss Kari Nye of Tanglewood Baked Goods. We kicked off our collaboration at DC's Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair with great success! Even on the freezing cold Saturday, we sold out in 4 hours and got lots of great feedback from our customers. Read more about it here and on Kari's blog here. We've been scheming about our next venture, and will likely be doing made-to-order pies and tarts a.k.a. "Hearts by Tarts" for Valentine's Day. Shhh! Don't tell your sweetheart...

And lastly, this year we launched the Nothing-in-the-House Facebook and Twitter (@housepie) pages, adding 2 more ways to bring pie recipes, history, and ephemera into your life. Please follow and like us if you haven't already, and tell your friends!

On ward and upward to Nothing-in-the-House 2012, with more pie baking experiments and musings on pie history, paraphernalia, and cultural import. How bout Bedfordshire clangers? An audio piece about a visit to Pie Lab? Maybe we can even get co-founder Margaret to start contributing again? Here's to this being the best year yet--may your pies be tasty, your butter be cold, and your PEZ (Pie Enjoyment Zone) be frequently visited and full of friends.

May Your Christmas Pie Be As Full Of Plums

Little Jack Horner in the Christmas PEZ

There are no plums planned for Christmas pies here in the Nothing-in-the-House kitchen, but the sentiment still stands. Last night, for a music holiday party at my parents' I made a Shaker clementine pie, a salty honey pie (upon my dad's request) and collaborated on a green tomato pie with my dad. For Christmas dinner tomorrow, I'm making my grandma Eileen's lemon meringue pie, and perhaps another. 

What will your Christmas pie be full of? Whatever it is, I hope it is as full of that as Jack Horner's is of plums.

My Grandma Georgette's Apple Pie

My grandma Georgette is Belgian. When my brother and I were growing up, our family celebrated St. Nicholas Day, on the eve of the 5th/6th of December, in an adapted Belgian tradition. We'd leave out our wooden shoes overnight, and in the morning they were filled with little treats, "shoe stuffers" and a new ornament for our miniature trees. In the evening our grandma would come over and we'd eat Belgian chocolates, and speculoos (windmill cookies) & pizelles she had made.

Now my brother and I don't live close enough for "St. Nicholas" to put gifts in our shoes, but my grandma and mom still carry on the tradition. This year my grandma made a beautiful apple pie for my mom to take home and share with my dad.

My grandma's beauteous apple pie, which she put in a trompe l'oeil pie tin for transport. She is cute like this.

I'm excited to go home and visit with her over Christmas. This year I plan to make some audio recordings of us in the kitchen together, with her talking through some of my favorite recipes of hers, including her chicken soup, sugar cookies, speculoos, and apple pie. I'll be sure to include it here.

Dark Chocolate Sea-Salt Tart with Candied Pecans

It's the busiest baking time of the year, what with holiday celebrations at the office, screenings of It's A Wonderful Life at my house, and music-and-dinner parties at my parents', not to mention Christmas Eve, morning, dinner, AND New Year's Eve. But it's okay, because I've got a long list of things I want to bake (keep checking back here for what they are!). 

Yesterday we had a going away/holiday party at work, and my co-workers/party planning team asked if I would bake a pie and some cookies for it. They were already ordering a carrot cake from the caterer, so I decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to make something rich and chocolatey, namely, this chocolate sea-salt tart with candied pecans I had been eyeing over at Food Republic.

As I mentioned before, I've been on a salty-sweet kick, and this tart is no exception. Though I am always a bit dubious of other crusts, I went out on a limb and tried the one in Paul A. Young's recipe-- he is a master chocolatier after all. In the end, I think that the tart is SO rich that it doesn't really need a chocoalte crust, and that a normal pastry crust would help to temper the intensity of the bittersweet chocolate and salty pecans. But I'll let you decide for yourself. Here's the recipe I adapted...

Chocolate Sea-Salt Tart with Candied Pecans

(adapted from Paul A. Young, via Food Republic)

Ingredients:

Crust (You can use Nothing-in-the-House standard recipe, or as below):

12 Tblsp. unsalted butter,  kept cold and cut into pieces

1/3 c. sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

Filling:

7 oz. Madagascan

60-70% dark chocolate, broken into pieces

1 c. sugar

3/4 c. heavy cream

1 tablespoon flaky sea salt

Topping:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup pecan halves

Directions:

Crust:

1. If using the Nothing-in-the-House standard recipe, follow those instructions. If using the cocoa crust, mix together flour, sugar, and cocoa powder, the cut in cold butter pieces with a knife and fork or pastry cutter. Stir in beaten eggs, until dough comes together into a ball. Flatten dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour. Can be made 2 days ahead or frozen and thawed.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle your work surface with flour and roll out pastry until it is about 12 in. in diameter. Grease and flour 10-in. tart pan and transfer crust to pan, trimming off excess crust. Refrigerate the crust for 15 minutes to help prevent shrinkage during baking.

3. Remove crust from fridge and line with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights or dried beans, and blind bake for 20 minutes. Take out paper and weights and bake for 5-8 more minutes until tart is fully baked. Let cool.

Filling:

1. Put all ingredients into the top of a double boiler. Put water in the bottom of the boiler and place on medium heat until filling is melted, glossy, and thick. 

2. Pour filling into the cooled, baked crust and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Topping:

1. Heat a saucepan on low heat until warm and gradually add the sugar, stirring constantly until melted into a golden liquid caramel. Add salt, then the pecans, mixing well. When fully combined, quickly pour the hot mixture onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Spread with a spatula.

2. Allow topping to cool thoroughly, then chop into bite-size shards and sprinkle over the tart. Keep tart refrigerated, until just before serving. Serve at room temperature and enjoy!

This tart went over quite well with my co-workers, with a lot of raving feedback--- "YUMMMMM" and "NAILED IT!"-- along with some and some "you KILL mes!" paired with a head shake (like I said, it's rich). Personally, I thought it was an excellent blend of flavors, and the slightly soft chocolate was perfect with the hard candied pecans, even though I admittedly couldn't finish my slice. It would probably best be washed down with a hot cup of coffee, or as once co-worker suggested, a cold glass of milk.

A Apple Pie

While researching archival pie images and literature, as I am wont to do, I came across this version of a nursery rhyme A Apple Pie, estimated to be from 1870, and published by Kronheim & Company. This nursery rhyme seems to have missed me as a a child, but maybe some of you know it? Here's the illustrations, though you can see a pdf of the entire book here.

A apple pie  B bit it  C cut it  D dealt it  E eat it  F fought for it  G got it  H hid it  I (invisible?)  

J joined it  K kept it  L longed for it  M mourned for it  N nodded at it  O opened it  P peeped at it 

Q quartered it  R ran for it  S stole it  T took it  U (understated?)  V viewed it  W wanted it

XYZ& amperse and all wished for a piece in hand.

I think my favorite is the girl (Q) using the compass to exactly quarter the pie, though the baby (B) taking a bite and dogs (F...foxes?) fighting for it are also quite humorous. I also came across this edition, c. 1886/1900 (?), by Kate Greenaway. More about her classic and slightly different version coming soon...

Texas Thanksgiving Pies

My friends Stacy and Chris are the official Nothing-in-the-House Texas correspondents (though let's not forget our friend Shannon!), always sending photos of pies they eat and bake. This year, Chris sent me three pics of Stacy's Thanksgiving pies-- all fall classics of pecan, apple, and pumpkin.

The pecan pie recipe is from Homesick Texan, though Stacy likes to toast her pecans first for added flavor. The apple pie was "grandma" style, with Granny Smith apples and Grandma Ople's recipe, which calls for pouring the sauce/filling over the apples as opposed to mixing the apples with the sauce.

 Stacy and Chris also had another pie at this year's Thanksgiving--cutie pie Hudson, who helped roll out the crust. Baby's first pie crust--looks like he did a great job!

Salty Honey Pie

Salt 'n' caramel, salt 'n' chocolate, buttered popcorn ice cream with bacon and pecans (believe!). Salted sweets are so in right now. I've fallen in to the fad too because you know what, it's delicious (I'm making salted caramels for Christmas gifts--spoiler alert!!).  I saw this recipe on the South Brooklyn Post from the Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Shop in Gowanus, and thought it sounded like a different (yet familiar, see maple pie, and sugar pie) yummy take on the sweet 'n' salt. Oh boy, it was. Here's my version.

Salty Honey Pie
adapted from Four & Twenty Blackbirds

Ingredients
Nothing in the House pie crust, halved
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablepsoons white or yellow cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup honey (I used raw, local honey)
3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or extract, in a pinch)
1 or 2 tablespoons flake sea salt for finishing (pink salt looks quite nice!)

Directions
1. Prepare half of Nothing in the House pie crust as per the directions, reserving leftover egg for an egg wash. Chill dough at least one hour before rolling and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix melted butter, sugar, salt, and cornmeal to form a thick paste. Add honey, vanilla, and vinegar, then beaten eggs and cream. Blend well by hand or with an electric mixer.  Pour filling into pie shell, flute crust (or apply crust design) and brush on an egg wash. Bake  for 50-60 minutes or until fillings is puffed, only slightly wobbly in the middle, and golden brown on top. Cool for one hour. Sprinkle with flake sea salt and serve with whipped cream, if desired.



For the crust design, I cut leaves using a Williams-Sonoma crust cutter I got at a local church sale, and overlapped them, securing them to the bottom crust with an egg wash. To make sure they stayed put in the oven, I froze the crust for about 30 minutes before adding the filling and baking.

Gotta say, this pie is sooo goood. The top of the filling gets a bit crusty, while underneath it is smooth and oozy, like a creme brûlée. The small amount of cornmeal gives it a little grit, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was not too too sweet (I mean it does consist mostly of honey), but more smooth and floral.

For the salt flakes on top, I used Himalayan pink and white, which adds a nice contrast. I took the pie to a music party and potluck with some new friends and strangers.

Related:

An Interview with Emily and Melissa Elsen of Four and Twenty Blackbirds

Nothing-in-the-House First Annual Gift Guide!

I know I still haven't posted about our Thanksgiving pies (though you can see some pictures of the day on the host MAV's blog here), but I've been admiring holiday gift-guides out there in the blogosphere-- Lottie and Doof, Tomboy Style, and Well Spent to name a few-- and thought the pie blog should have one too. 

Here's Nothing-in-the-House first annual gift guide--for the pie baker on your list.

First for some literature...

1. Pieminister cookbook by Tristan Hogg and Jon Simon, $22. I discovered this new cookbook when perusing the fine selections at Rabelais cookbook store in Portland, ME. The authors, Tristan and Jon, started a small pie shop in Bristol, England in 2003. Their company has since exploded, and pieminister now has multiple shops and sells at markets across the UK. I've been exploring British pies (which may mean having to start eating meat?!) lately, and this book is on the top of my own Christmas list.

2. Bike Basket Pies Recipe Booklet by Natalie Galatzer, $12. I found out about Bike Basket Pies simultaneously--from my friend Valeda in San Francisco, and when Nothing-in-the-House joined Twitter (follow us here @housepie!). Though Natalie has since moved on from her bike-delivered pie company, she wrote this adorable pie recipe booklet to commemorate her two year run. I can't wait to get mine in the mail, and we'll be featuring an interview with her here soon.

3. PIECRUST Magazine: Sugar & Salt, $7. You may have read our interview with PIECRUST's founders Megan Collins and Lauren Cardenas a few weeks ago. Though the content of their handmade letter pressed literary and art magazine is not limited to pie, they use pie crust as a concept-- a foundation for creativity. Keep up to date with news about future issues here.

4. Pie Contest In A Box, by Gina Hyams, $9. Gina, the author and creator of Pie Contest In A Box contacted me through her delicious pie site, Pie Takes the Cake . She asked if she could do an interview with me about the pie blog, AND asked if she could send me a promo copy of the Pie Contest-- yes, please! Though I am more into communal baking than competitive baking, this would be a great way to get kids or your friends into pie-- and this box provides everything you need, from ribbons, to scorecards, to labelling flags, and a cute hand book full of interesting pie tidbits.

Now for some supplies...

5. Rectangular tart pans, $9-$18. I'd been seeing a lot of beautiful rectangular tarts all over the food blogosphere (here, here, and here are a few examples). So I ordered some on Amazon (and tried them out with this ginger lemon & bourbon orange tart a few weeks ago) but lots of companies seem to be riding this tart trend--the one pictured is from Wiliams-Sonoma.

6. Pastry scraper, $2-$10. My housemate and fellow Tart Kari (of Tarts by Tarts and Tanglewood Baked Goods) has a pastry scraper in our baking drawer, and it's become one of my favorite tools of the kitchen--I'm not sure how I managed without it before. Great for chopping pastry, positioning crust, and scraping dough off of counter tops. An must-have for the pie baker on your list--the one pictured from Chef Tools.

7. Vintage Tupperware pastry mat, $9-$20. Nothing really says pie baking to me like this era Tupperware rolling mat. My mom and grandma both have them and always use them to roll out any dough that needs a-rollin', be it crust, biscuits, or cookies. Though any mat will do the trick-- providing a clean work surface and crust-size guidance-- I'm partial to this one for mainly nostalgic reasons. I got mine from a friend, but they are available on Etsy, Ebay, and likely your local thrift or vintage shop. 

Some artful supplies...

8. Herriott Grace hand-turned cherry rolling pin, $70-$80. Yes, alright, that's a lot for a rolling pin, and granted, mine was a very very sweet and unexpected gift from my dear friend. But hear me out. Herriott Grace is the company of Nikole and Lance Herriott, a father-daughter team who live 3,400 km apart from each other. After years of Lance sending his daughter hand-carved spoons in the mail, they decided to launch their small business. More functional art than ordinary kitchen tool, this rolling pin is beautiful solid cherry, has a heavy weight, great feel, and will last forever.

9. Double-decker Amish pie carrying basket, $45-$70. My parents got me one for Christmas a few years ago from our local Amish market and it is one of my favorite things I own (mine is very similar, pictured here). Perfect for carrying not just one but TWO pies (or other dishes) to a potluck or party--there's a tray that fits inside so you can stack them. Beautiful crafted--mine is signed by the woman who made it-- Loretta Miller.

And some supplying art...

10. Measurement poster by Hatch Show Print, $12. Last on our list is this very useful letter-pressed poster by Nashville's famous Hatch Show Print, available in black online and in an array of color at their shop. With its list of useful measurement conversions, its perfect for any baker's kitchen. Just need to get mine framed (its light blue) and it will be hanging next to our sink.

Hope you can find something useful for your favorite pie baker, or to put on your own list! And never underestimate the power of a gift you make yourself...even pie bakers like to get a homemade pie sometimes!