NELPie Cart ChaCha Line

All was quiet in the dining hall. The 6 tables were set with 9 places each and laid with a letterpressed menu for the evening's banquet, which foretold of savory wholesome dishes and good nutrition. Through the paned windows, the western light cast its glint from across the lake, which was serene and glassed at this hour. The only sound was the faint din of the breeze upon the hinged door, for all the students were bathing in their last moments on the docks and cliffs of Wohelo. When suddenly, HARK! a clamor of tin and aluminum, foot and floor, wheel and ball-bearing, erupted from the kitchen, an uproar that could only be that of chaotic celebration and fruity and heavily-sweetened concoctions! Whatever could this disturbance be, but none other than...THE NELPie CART CHACHA LINE!!!!

Sure to spoil savory suppers everywhere by pairing provocative dancing with provocative dessert, the NELPie Cart and its chacha devotees boasted 11 fresh (made that day) and homemade pies:

Crustless Coconut Cream (Obama family recipe) Pie
Banana Cream Pie
Sweet Potato Pie (rectangular!)
Mixed Berry pie
2 Wild Maine Blueberry Pie (Blueberries from Stoneset Farm)
2 Mixed Berry Rustic Tarts
Mixed Berry Pie
Raspberry-Blueberry Ginger Pie
Chocolate Pudding Pie
and a Vegan Avocado Pie

The Vegan Avocado Pie (also raw) has been a favorite of mine for the past year for its lightness, flavor, and ease. I've made it a lot but have yet to blog it. The recipe is as follows:

Vegan Avocado Pie

Ingredients
1 packet graham crackers
1/2 c. Earth Balance (for vegan), unsalted butter (for non-vegan), melted
Cream from 2 cans coconut milk
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. lime juice
1 ripe avocado, mashed
1/4 c. confectioner's sugar

Directions
1. In a food processor, place the graham crackers, and pulse until crumbs form. Add the melted butter through the feeding tube and mix to combine. Press into the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate.

2. Meanwhile put 1 can coconut milk into the fridge. After 1 hour, open, and spoon the cream from the coconut water.

3. Add sugar, lime juice, and 1 ripe mashed avocado to the coconut cream. Mix until incorporated and pour into graham cracker crust.

4. Refridgerate one hour until set. Top with mango/kiwi for decoration. If desired, mix another can of coconut cream with 1/4 c. powdered sugar to use as "whipped cream." Enjoy!!! Crust can be made with crushed pistachio, if desired. Agave nectar can replace sugar, for a healthier sweetness.


After the NELPie Cart Dancers wove their kickline through the tables, summoning all NELPers from their cabins and beehives, tempting them from their whole sprouted grains and and beta carotene, they lined up their wares on the table, and served them with a devilish dollop of whipped cream. Just what it did to those NELPers...well, the photographs (by J. Budd and Laura L.) speak for themselves...


Watch out! The NELPie Cart may be coming to ravage a dining hall and ruin an appetite near you!

Folkways Pie

I made a 'Folkways pie' to share with the staff on my last day as an intern at Smithsonian Folkways. It was a classic apple (with a touch of cranberry) pie. The sun in the background is a riff on the Smithsonian Folkways logo. As became my adopted joke motto--for style, wardrobe, music and food--when I was there: "Is that Folkways enough??!?"


If you are unfamiliar with Smithsonian Folkways, get familiar. Folkways Records was a record label started by collector, Mo Asch, in 1948. He put out a varied and eccentric collection of American and International Folk music, World music, spoken word, soundscapes, instructional albums, nature sounds, etc. Some favorites include Michael Hurley's first album First Songs, Shirley Collins' False True Lovers, Richard Lerman's Travelon Gamelon: Music for Bicycles, Jim Nollman's Playing Music with Animals, and of course, the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music. In 1987, the Smithsonian bought Folkways, adding their moniker and support of the national museum, and they have continued to uphold Mo Asch's mission as well as put out some excellent new albums and old archival materials.

Plus the collection of almost 3,000 albums contains some great songs about pie!:
-Pumpkin Pie by Joe and Odell Thompson
-Custard Pie Blues by Sonny Terry's Washboard Band
-The Preacher and the Slave (Pie In The Sky) by Cisco Houston, Joe Glazer, and Pete Seeger
-No More Pie by Ella Jenkins
Even a poem:
-Calico Pie by Edward Lear

Golden Birthday Pie Party Potluck!

On April 26th, my 26th birthday, I drove up to Stoneset Farm, the home of my friends Nathan & Clara and their young daughters, Eleanor and Magpie, in Brooklin, Maine. They had organized a beautiful pie potluck party for my birthday and the birthday of their friend Fred (the day before). I arrived (with a pear-ginger pie in tow) a little late, to this dreamy scene of a picnic table full of delicious pies (at least 10), dear friends, kids and dogs running about, the start of spring on the farm, and a new little baby Magpie (how apropos) to meet.
 The pie table--note Eleanor's little custard pie in the red dish, and Alison's amazing leeky cheese pie (leeks and all the leftover cheese in her house.) Some other favorites were Clara's (she also took these lovely photos) custard pie with eggs from their chickens, a spinach mushroom eggy pie, a banana cream pie, and a wild Maine blueberry with a few strawberries pie. The spread made for quite a colorful and copious plate of pie and by the end of the afternoon, EVERY pie was completely gone, leaving us wondering how many more pies would we need to add for there to be any leftover? We followed the pie with some fiddle tunes and swinging. I'm so grateful to Nathan and Clara and their friends for making my golden birthday so special--I can't think of a better way to have spent the day. Thank you!

How To Make Apple Pie and See The World

Last winter I taught a week-long class for 1st &2nd graders entitled, "How To Make Apple Pie and See The World" (title taken from this book) at Mt. Vernon Community School in Alexandria, VA. We sewed oven mitts, made baker's hats with apple prints, read about life cycles of apples and dairy, illustrated a family food tradition, learned pie fractions, and of course, made and ate a delicious apple pie. We also wrote our very own pie song. Here's the song the class composed, accompanied by a picture of our pie:

 

Two of the students were so excited by our pie melody that they wrote an additional song, inspired by Neil Young's "Love Is A Rose," which they knew from a children's cover album. Here's their version:

Let's bake a pie right now.

Is the Whoopie Pie a Pie?

Though I have spent a good deal of time in Maine and grew up in Amish country, I didn't pay whoopie pies much heed until one of the reference librarians at the American Folklife Center came in with this New York Times article, raving about the sandwiched dessert. After a long discussion with her on the merits of the whoopie, its history, and the difference between a whoopie pie and a moon pie, I figured it was my obligation as an aspiring folklorist and pie enthusiast to give these traditional treats a whirl and investigate the question: is the whoopie pie indeed a pie?

I followed this recipe from the Times article, which happens to be from Zingerman's Bakehouse, a favorite Ann Arbor haunt. The cakes were indeed dry and not-so-sweet, which I thought was perfect, especially considering the OBSCENE amount of butter called for in the filling. Next time I would cut down on the butter, because when I put the whoopies in the fridge, the filling congealed in a not-so-appealing way, more reminiscent of biting into a stick of butter than not.


Since baking these whoopies once in Alexandria, with expert tasters Abby and Jake, and again at NELP in Maine, I tried a pumpkin whoopie (which I prefer to chocolate) at the Dutch Country Market in Laurel, MD and a brownie whoopie, homemade by a pair of little girls at the Bowdoinham, ME Farmers' Market. Both were excellent.


So is a whoopie a pie? Recipe-wise, it seems more like an inverted cupcake to me, but it does utilize the basic pie structure of filling surrounded by 2 doughs. But in the end I find the question negligible--no big whoop(ie).

Recital season in Santa Barbara...

Hey pie people :) So Emily, you met my friends Bridget, Calisa, and Shannon. Well basically the month of April and so far May I have felt like the husband of three manaically emotional pregnant woman because they all are finishing their MA degrees and doing their recitals. Two down, one to go... But what calms the nerves like nothing else? That's right: pie. So for my room mate Bridget's recital, I was commissioned to make pies. I wasn't given much direction, except not to make anything "weird," so I decided to step up to the plate and try my hand for the FIRST TIME EVER at making my own personal favorite. And so you see me, after a long afternoon of careful preparation, proudly displaying my first Black Bottom Banana Cream Pies. Does anyone else love this pie as much as I do? It's about as bad for you as you can get, but hey, let's first come to terms with the fact that I guess this is a PIE BLOG... Anywho, a friend of mine who made two cheesecakes for the reception decided we should have a little friendly competition and see who made the more kickass dessert, and at the end of the night he approached me and conceded defeat. I have to admit they were a hit -- I was bursting with pride :) As far as the recipe goes, I'm not posting it or anything only because I feel like if you just get the layers right (crushed graham or nilla crust, sliced banana, vanilla pudding or custard, whipped topping, bam) it's somewhat idiot-proof and most recipes are basically the same. I URGE EVERYONE TO MAKE THIS PIE MORE OFTEN. It will win you friends, basically (and only occasionally lose them for you -- my buddy approached me at the reception and lambasted me for my choice. But when I apologized and said I would make whatever his favorite pie was anytime and asked him what it was, he replied "banana cream pie." I asked him what the problem was in that case, and he answered "I'm violently allergic to bananas!" Sorry, John.)

Guest Submission: Cherry-Hobo-Campfire Pie with Serendipity Shavings

The epic tale of this pie begins with an act of faith: my housemate announced that we would be having an inter-house Easter potluck/bonfire and that we all ought to make something. I'd never been to an Easter dinner before, and that fact may or may not have had something to do with the decision to make a pie, my first ever. We happened to have some canned cherries lying around the kitchen, and I went to the Bestway in search of some butter (and also to Pfeiffer's for a bike tube, but that is unrelated).

I've made lots of food and food-like things before, but never pie. I don't feel biased against pies--I happen to enjoy them very much. I just tend to make more food-for-the-week stuff, like soups. But for whatever reason, the spirit had moved me, so to speak, in the direction of a cherry pie.

I was raised Jewish, and the people who raised me Jewish live in Florida, so there was no religion or family to distract me from this pie.

Given that this was my first pie, I was very nervous about the crust falling apart. I've heard the horror stories. I checked a couple cookbooks and the general consensus is that the ingredients have to be really cold before rolling them out onto a pie tin. I thus spent as much, if not more time refrigerating the crust ingredients before starting than I would baking the pie. I heated the canned cherries with brown sugar and a thickening agent. I put the latter on top of the former, refrigerated it again just to be sure, and then baked it on 400F for 50 minutes.


At some point in this process my housemate told me that, in fact the Easter potluck had been canceled due to lack of neighborly interest, but we'd probably have the bonfire later on.

At 6:28:46 in the PM I sent out a text message about this resurrection-themed bonfire. A few minutes later I received a call from the host of this blog, although at the time I did not know that this blog existed. Emily said "word on Irving street is that there is a bonfire at your house!" I said "yes, and I made a pie." To which Emily said, "no way, did you know I have a blog about pies?". To which I said "well, it's my first pie ever so it probably isn't worth blogging about." To which, of course, she said "woah I have a whole section about first pies!"

A gang assembled in my backyard after sundown. Pie was consumed hobo-style, which is to say, passed around a campfire, eaten directly from the tin with a single shared fork.

My coincidence of having made a pie for a pie-blogger (and subsequently writing for her blog myself) was dwarfed by other serendipitous and auspicious events. Emily, it turned out, had a friend in common with Isabel, and they phoned him from beside the campfire. It was also revealed that when Iga moved to DC, her best friend Jimmy gave her the phone number of my friend Jordan, who was also present at the bonfire and pictured next to me in the photo above.

I am happy to have discovered this blog, the connections between the people described herein, and the fun to be had from piebaking.

-Sam

3.14

dallas folks celebrated pi in a big way. i made a pinto bean pie (thanks for suggesting it emily and homesick texan). check the pictures here.

Pi Day (3.14): Washington D.C. Outpost

On Pi Day last Saturday, we here in the Nothing-in-the-House Washington D.C. outpost celebrated with a rainy day-long pie making extravaganza. Danny generously gave Matt and me the run of his well-equipped kitchen (not to mention his breezy apartment including a great record collection and turn tables)for our pie production. By the evening, we had produced 3 pies, an extra crust (for the peach pie featured below), and a crumble composed of leftover ingredients. They were as follows: The MVP (Most Valuable Pie) of the day: Key Lime, using Martha Stewart's recipe. Matt tackled the day's oddball pie--a sweet Pinto Bean Pie, using this recipe from the great blog, Homesick Texan. The protein-full filling was supported by Nothing-in-the-House's standard crust(at right.) We substituted some maple syrup for brown sugar, and next time, I might advise using all syrup to cut eliminate refined sugars. For our classic selection, we went with Apple Pie(using the linked recipe, but with cornstarch instead of tapioca, and sans pre-cooking apples), but switched it up, by making it a DEEP DISH in a glass pyrex bowl. With the leftover apples and graham cracker crumbs from the key lime pie crust, we made an apple crumble, which Matt ended up "stuffing" in the pocket of the deep dish apple (that crust and fruit separation that apple pie is prone to) for a apple-crumble-stuffed-deep-dish-apple-pie. Take that tur-duck-in! We enjoyed the pies after a pasta, salad, wine, and empanada (more pies!) dinner with Danny (who also took these beautiful pics), followed by a bit of mandolin.

(Preserved) Peach Pie

Last night my friend Layne and I made a peach (with perhaps some nectarine mixed in) pie with fruit he froze last summer. We drained about 2 quarts of peaches (they were frozen in their own juice) and added ginger and cinnamon--it really didn't need any sweetener because the fruit was so sweet already! We put the peaches between the nothing-in-the-house standard crust recipe, making an extra-thick edge, and baked for about 15 minutes at 425, then reduced to 375 and baked for about 30-35 minutes more.
All the deliciousness of summer in early spring!

Birthday Meat Pie at Pretty Boy Reservoir

The Baltimore nothing-in-the-house contingent is keeping the spirit alive with al fresco birthday meat pies. Jamie reports via e-mail:

went to prettyboy reservoir yesterday with anna bob and adrienne to celebrate b-days with champagne and a meatpie. it was awesome.

A truly excellent savory pie was consumed. The sharp cheddar was the key.Sunset was nice too.

Greg Makes Pie... And It's Good

On Thursday, Greg made an apple pie, following the recipe from Angelica Kitchen cookbook with a butter for oil modification. This recipe is a good one for those seeking a rustic, wheat-and-maple flavor without the cane sugar. Greg was so amazingly precise and careful with all the chopping, measuring, mixing and rolling that it took him a long time, but he enjoyed it and produced a delicious, tender and flavorful creation. His friend, Ryan, was there, hanging out while he made it. I was lucky enough to come home and see it getting put together. Even the slashes on the top look like Greg made them to me, which of course, he did.


I also made two 30 second raspberry-blueberry tarts with some of the leftover dough, heartshaped. You can tell they were me because look how sloppy they are. But they were good to taste, too!


We then brought the pie over the Meghan and Gahlord's, where we enjoyed an evening of pie, cookies, laughs and crafting.


Meghan in the PEZ


Allaire and me in the PEZ

On Friday night, Greg and I re-entered the PEZ with friends, Chris and Ryan, enjoying pie with Vanilla Coconut Bliss, a great fake ice cream product with no cane sugar and a must try for those of you who don't do dairy, soy or refined sugs or who like coconut.

FRIED PIE (FRAH PAH)

I had been talking and thinking about fried pies for a while. On road trips my dad would sometimes buy those gas-station varieties for my brother and me, but I quickly developed an aversion, convinced that they gave me a headache (with the amount of preservatives and artificial whatever in there, they probably did). But when my Texas friends started raving about homemade pocket-size pies dipped in grease, I was ready to give the fried pie another shot.

A few Saturdays past, we were graced with 65 degree weather here in the Washington-metro area, so I ventured to Baltimore to visit friends and have an impromptu winter barbecue. After homemade black bean burgers (thanks Ben and Angela), cabbage soup, and beers, it was time to frah some pahs.

We used the recipe for "Fried Apple Pies" in Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie by Ken Haedrich, which calls for dried apples. Surprisingly, the local grocery store had none (though the dried fruit mix "Tropical Temptations" sounded appealing), so we went with fresh apples, cooked down. It was just as well, maybe better.

First, Bob prepared the pastry,

combining:
3 c. all purpose flour+ 1 Tblsp. sugar+ 1 tsp. salt in the food processor. after a few turns on pulse, he added 1 stick of cold, unsalted butter, pulsing 5-6 times. Then he added 1/2 c. shortening, pulsing 5-6 times. After that, he sprinkled 1/4 c. water, pulsing and fluffing the mixture, and then another 1/4 c. of water until it looked like coarse crumbs. he used his hands to form the dough into a ball, flattened it, wrapped it in wax paper, and put it in the fridge for about an hour.

Meanwhile I cut up about 5 baking apples and put them in a frying pan with some splashes of orange juice, 1/2 c. sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg. Matt sauteed them until they became tender.We heated about 4in. of vegetable oil in a saucepan on medium high-heat, until it was hot enough to fry a test-corner of the pie dough. As the oil was heating up, Jamie made the petit pocket pies, rolling out about a 5-in. circle of dough,
  dropping on 2 dollops of filling, folding it over, and fluting it around the edges.

When it was hot enough, I dropped the pies, one-at-a-time, in the hot oil, frying them for about 4 minutes. It took some finesse to get it right (we overfried the first one, though it still was pretty tasty), but for the most part, frying pies is a breeze! This recipe made about 8 pies. For the first batch, we merely sprinkled the pies with confectioner's sugar,

but for the second, Bob took it up a level and made a glaze to coat the pies. WOAH! Beware, these pocket pies pack a punch--the frying accentuates the flakiness of the crust, their shape makes for a perfect, bite, every bite.

All in all, their small size, layers of crust, tender fruit, and soak in oil makes for an intense experience that goes straight to your head...just look what it did to these guys!

It also might make you play the banjo.

 

And as if we hadn't already had enough fry, Matt had the zany idea to use the oil for fried hash browns (he prefers to call them "latkes," when latkes are actually only shallow-fried) the next morning. I thought he was out of his gourd, but whaddayaknow...delicious.

Sun Pie

It was warm in Chicago this week. 65 degrees warm! In anticipation for the spectacular weather, I had a pie party last week with pizza pie and apple sun pie.

It is cold again now, and I'm wearing long johns again, but sometimes a couple really nice days is just what you need to get you through the darkest days of winter.

Drone Pie

In December I saw Greg, Zach, and Ben in the Baltimore> D.C. leg of the Sun Circle/Bird Show tour.

  

For the D.C. show at the Lighthouse, the group house of my friend Layne (who always offers a pre-show potluck), I made a drone pie. It was another Bosch pear and cranberry, similar to the Welcome to Maine Pie we made for Artie, but was slightly sweeter, had a lot of ginger, and a half whole-wheat pastry/half all-purpose flour crust. The parabolas of crust around the lettering are meant to represent a sine wave.

We injested the drone (pie) after Echolalia and before Kokomo (who gave me a sweet tape in exchange for baking!) played, and it was gone by the time Sun Circle/Bird Show blew drones/dance tranced it out.

  

It was so nice to see these pals, even for a short while, and enter the PEZ with friends old and new, just like old times!