Pi* day is here!  It is March 14^th today (3.14), near the “Ides,” about which we’ve been warned.  Is there some warning related to the 14^th?  Heck, no.  Only that we not have too much Pi. 

What would that be, too much Pi?  Maybe being too numerical, too caught up in calculating, in figuring, in trying to plot things out, needing to have an explanation that makes perfect sense, where everything adds up and comes out as expected, according to the formula.  While math is exacting and can be beautiful – as with fractals – how much of life is precise like that?  Why do we seek that?  I think we seek that kind of left-brain calculation because we’re uncomfortable with the unknown, the fluid, with the ebb and flow of “that which is taking form” and “that which is releasing form.”  In other words, with the messy truths of life on planet Earth.  Things are always taking form and leaving form.  With every breath, we ourselves change.

Yet we try to establish truths and constants, with some hope that they will comfort us, make us feel safe, make us feel like we understand and have a measure of control. 

What significant thing in your life came out exactly as you expected?  Name one thing.

Me either.  Can’t name one thing.  And today, I find that comforting.  I’ve reached a stage in life where it’s no longer important to invest in expectations, or at least not in calculating and planning so much.  

Now, it’s more about setting intentions and then letting go of expectations about how things will actually turn out.  Now, I tend towards, say, the intention of having a good time, or of being relaxed, or of enjoying time with friends, of being healthy, of being productive or compassionate, or of creating a garden I’ll enjoy, rather than investing energy in any details about those things.  It’s so freeing this way.

Which isn’t to say that I don’t get exacting sometimes!  I do, including around pie.  There are times when measuring matters, like getting the proportions among flour, salt, Crisco and ice water just right, or making the “perfect” lattice.  It’s also true that if my intention is to put love into what I’m doing, it seems to come out well enough and meanwhile, I’m not stressing.  Yay!

So, while I’m glad there are numbers like pi (3.14………), and that some people get a kick out of them, I’m not invested in them.  I’m more interested in any excuse to make and share pie, so if it’s Pi Day, that’s good enough!

Special thanks to a true Pie Pal, Peter, who found this photo of a Pie Day pie.  May you always have good pie, dear friend.

*Pi is a special number, representing the ratio between a circle and its diameter.  It can only be expressed in an exact way through the Greek letter “Pi,” as the numbers to the right of the decimal never terminate (thus 3.14159265359…).  Can you tell my partner is a math nerd?

Photo credit: Real Science-4-Kids

There are two kinds of Pie People.  Those who will eat any pie and those who are pie snobs.  I’m the latter.  Both types love pie.  How great is that?

Can you pass on a piece of pie?  It depends?  What about a piece of mass-produced pie?  You know – crust that can bend a fork and overly sweet canned fruit filling?  Maybe, maybe not.  Can you pass on a piece of really good pie – one with a flaky crust and flavorful fruit inside?  Less likely!

But that’s not the point.  There’s passing on a piece of pie, and there’s passing on pie:  the knowledge of how to make good pie and the recipes that go along.  That is passing on pie and is something I value.

Check out these photos that celebrate both of those 2 essential things: 1) teaching others to make pie, the craft of pie, the love that goes into making a delicious pie, and 2) passing on favorite pie recipes.

Look at this gem!  It’s a hand-scribbled recipe shared by a Pie Pal who’s now in her 60’s.  It’s a recipe she’s been making for friends every year for G.O.K. (God Only Knows) how long.  Thanks for sharing it, Chris!  (It was our pie of the month recently).  How many of us have family recipes like this, written out by hand and tucked somewhere in the kitchen?

And check this out:  another Pie Pal teaching her granddaughter how to make a pie.  How sweet is that? 

This is happening all over the country and it makes me very happy.  If you have a pie-teaching story or picture, share it!  The rest of us would love to see you in action, teaching a friend or family member your techniques.

Why does this matter – passing on pie?  Ours is a culture that’s all about fast:  fast food, fast information, fast work, racing through our days.  You know all this.  Even those of us who try to choose a more mellow pace are still swept along sometimes, finding life going too quickly, feeling pressure to keep performing and producing. 

Pie is about slow.  It’s about taking care, doing things by hand, like peeling apples or washing berries or separating eggs.  It’s hands-on, for sure!  It’s about being in the present and humming. 

Back to passing on pie.  If we, those of us who still make pie from scratch, don’t teach the next generation or two how we do it, what will become of our recipes and knowledge?  I’m pretty sure a YouTube video won’t compare to being shown by you how to roll a crust and crimp it.  I’m pretty sure a 30-second clip on Google won’t really help your grandchild understand what “cut in the shortening until it looks like cornmeal” means.  Who will teach children the importance of chilling the dough or using a pie crust shield to prevent the outer edge from burning while waiting for the juices to bubble at the center of a cherry pie?  And who will help the children in your life learn how to weave a lattice?

Please!  Be inspired by this recipe and make a folder full of your favorites to pass on to others in your family.  And, even better, share two or three of your favorite pie recipes here on Pie Pals.  It’s easy to enter your recipe and then you’ll be sharing it with the whole world! 

Please!  Be inspired by this photo and teach someone who’d like to learn how to make pie.  Spend a morning together and create a fabulous memory.  How the pie turns out is irrelevant, even for pie snobs, because it’s the making it that’s good. 

And for sure, someone will eat it. 

Hands.  Recently I was in the occupational therapy area of the Healthplex getting therapy on a smashed (but recovering) right index finger.  The other person getting treatment was a guy who seemed – from appearances, I didn’t ask – to be recovering from badly burned hands, arms and scalp.  He struggled to do basic therapeutic movements with his stiff hands, transplanted skin stretched tight across them, fingers cracked and bleeding.  He worked very hard at simple things, like moving pegs on a board.  Whew. 

How much of what we do every day is dependent on having the use of our hands?  You could make a list that would be almost endless, I’m sure.  Please take a moment to at least think about your list.  Hopefully one of the things on it would be the ability to touch those you love – family, friends, pets, other animals, even plants or books.  And I would include food on the list of things we might touch with love.  The ability to choose and prepare nutritious, good food with love and care is a blessing.  Now I’m not saying pie is nutritious, but you know I think it’s an important part of the food pyramid and deserves to be an occasional treat!

The next time you make a pie, think about how cool it is to have your precious hands to bake with.  Love your hands, love pie.  It’s all good.  Very good!

This contest has closed, but feel free to send us your "pieku"!

The Pie Pals Team. 

 Go ahead, write a little poem about pie! 

What:  We want poetry about pie.  Send in your original poetry about pie and win a prize! 

When:  Due date is February 28^, 2014.  Send any time between now and then.

Where:  Send to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. *

Why:  You love pie.  Good, homemade pie.

First prize is an original Pie Pals apron, and all honorable mentions will get a free Pie Pals magnet.  Winners announced in March, with winning poems posted on the Pie Pals website. 

Haiku poems are welcome!  I guess that makes them pieku? 

What else? 

• Any style of poetry is fine, keep it clean, fun is good, family stories as poetry are interesting, say what’s true for you about pie. 
• Attach as a Word document if your poem is longer than a half page.
• Must be your very own original poem(s).
• Limit 2 poems per person. 
• Anyone can enter.
• Entries need to be in English.
• Drawings, illustrations and photos are welcome but certainly not required.
• Decisions are final, blah, blah, blah.  You know the routine. 

Just write something and wax poetic about pie!

*Include with your email the following:

1.  Your name and the city/town/village/pueblo where you live, and the state/country.  Also let us know your age if you’re under 20.

2. Your statement, “I agree to the terms of this contest, and confirm that I wrote this poem and I am giving Pie Pals, LLC, permission to publicize it as they see fit.”  Cut and paste this into your submission email if you want to, or type it in.  This statement must be included for your poem to be considered!

3. Any tidbits about the poem, your love of pie, your history with pie, or anything else you think we might find interesting about you.  Don’t be shy!  This is all in the spirit of being pie pals – people who love pie and want to share that enthusiasm!

Nothing like smashing your index finger in a car door to set back blogging and pretty much everything else you do with your primary hand.  So, Deep Dish friends, let me keep this brief!

The Fall season is upon us and it’s definitely pie time.  Here are my top 8 recommendations for pies to enjoy this season in no particular order:

• Becky Appleseed
• Dutch Apple
• Nutty Caramel Apple
• Easy as Apple Pie
• Silky Pumpkin
• Honey Nut Tart
• Sweet Potato
• Maple Cream

Pick one or two and go!  All recipes are free at www.piepals.com

Watch for the November “Pie Pals e-Newsletter,” coming soon, where you’ll get suggestions on how to make and freeze fruit pies for easy holiday desserts, info on the Slow Food movement, Q&A on tapioca in pies, and the recipe of the month.  Not already getting the newsletter?  Sign up here.

Here’s to cozy and sharing pie love with family and friends,

Rebecca,

Your Pie Pal

STATE FAIR PIE CONTEST

By Sandy Bryan

Guest Blogger, Pie Pals

The State Fair Pie Contest is one of the most fun things in my year.  I got started years ago (1986) after a visit to the Torrance County Fair, where I visited the exhibit building and saw the Pie Contest entries on display with their ribbons.  There were only a few pies, of course, and I was fascinated to realize that there was a pie contest, that regular people brought their pies and entered the contest, and that they were awarded ribbons. 

I remember thinking, I could do that!  I wondered, where and when is the Bernalillo County Fair?  Then I realized that in Albuquerque we have the New Mexico State Fair.  I was a little daunted, but I found out where and when to enter, then baked a blueberry pie sweetened with maple syrup, and off I went.  I won a blue ribbon, and I was hooked!

The next year I baked a cherry pie with cherry brandy for Pie Contest.  I won a blue ribbon and Best of Show!  Now I was really hooked!  Since then I have entered every year except one, when a family emergency took priority.  Some years I have come away with a second or third place ribbon, and a couple of years ago I came back empty-handed for the first time. I realized that probably needed to happen at least once and accepted it as a part of the life of a hard core pie baker.

After the blueberry pie and cherry pie successes, I moved to another pie I liked, perfected that pie, eventually won a ribbon for it, then moved on to another pie.  I say eventually, because in some cases I’ve won a ribbon the first time I entered a particular pie category, and sometimes I went back two or three or more times. 

I recall my quest for the blue ribbon for pecan pie.  After the first time I entered and failed to garner a ribbon, a friend remarked to me that her neighbor had been the judge, and he was a fan of a very sweet pecan pie.  Well that’s okay, I don’t do that.  I went back the next year, and there was a different judge, who raved about the beautiful whole pecans in the winning pie.  My pecans were chopped. The next year, the judge went on about the way chopping the pecans releases the volatile nut oils, enhancing the wonderful flavor of the pie.  What to do!  Meanwhile, my loyal friends who served as pie tasters were going through the agonies with me!  What to do to get that ribbon for pecan pie?  Finally, on about the fifth or sixth year, I had my partner, a former precision machinist, come to my kitchen and cut each pecan half crosswise into four perfect pieces, mixed my filling, put it in the pie shell, then covered the top in concentric circles of pecan halves.  Whoever’s judging, here’s your pie!  I finally got my blue ribbon and moved on.  Thank goodness!

All this is to illustrate the trials and tribulations of a pie contest.  You really challenge yourself to do your best.  Sometimes you get a ribbon, sometimes you don’t.  It sure is fun!  I’ve involved the people in my daily life, giving ongoing updates on my research and test pies, having pie tastings to get their input.  Sometimes I’ll make a batch of pie filling, divide it into several parts and add different ingredients to different samples, then bake into mini-pies for side-by-side testing.  That’s one way to figure out what tastes best. 

After winning several ribbons, I challenged myself to see if I could win blue ribbons in every category.  This has meant developing skills in baking pies I’d never particularly considered, and it has widened my pie baking knowledge considerably.  Without meaning to, I’ve become an accomplished baker, far beyond where I was at the beginning. 

This is exactly what pie contest should do for all of us.  All it takes is stepping out and entering your first pie, and the road opens up before you.  Whether you win or not, you learn.  The judges give their critiques and often point out how to remedy the problem, so you know what to do next time. 

Probably the main thing a competitor needs to know, and what people complain to me about when the subject of pie baking comes up, is how to make a good crust.  Do that, and you’re on your way.  There’s lots of information available on every aspect of pie baking, whether you’re looking at your cookbook collection or searching on line.  No reason not to learn it, and do it, and dazzle your friends and wow the judges!

As for this year’s contest, I entered the “Tart” category for the second time.  Last year I won second place for a dazzling coconut tart.  This year I brought a Chocolate Coconut Tart that was inspired by a conversation with a friend about German chocolate cake.  The tart consisted of a pre-baked classic tart crust with a cooked bittersweet chocolate custard. This was topped with coconut and chopped pecans which had been tossed with a bit of melted butter.  The whole thing went into the oven just long enough to toast the coconut and pecans, and it was off to Pie Contest.  I was hoping for a blue ribbon, of course, and I got it.  And, joy of joys, it also got Best of Show!  I am over the moon!

People who come to Pie Contest see their comrade/competitors year after year. It’s a great sense of camaraderie.  And we cheer new entries to the group.  I’ll be back next year, of course.  I hope to see you there!

Sandy has won 13 blue ribbons and four Best of Show rosettes over the years at the New Mexico State Fair Pie Contest.

A happy anxiety rises in the air as the judging begins.  Folding chairs squeak and restless movement settles into a collective forward lean.  Attention turns to the former university president’s wife, who is holding the mic and who has been running the show, at least at home, for years.

“Welcome to the 2013 State Fair Pie Contest!  Today we have16 categories of pies, and 61 pies altogether. They look just beautiful and so delicious!”

Contestants and their friends are impatient for the judging.  Four judges work, each one taking one type of pie at a time: first the apple pies, then blueberry, then cherry.  Next come the peach, peanut, pumpkin, and pecan.  Finally the “other fruits” -- an interesting and diverse bunch, including pears, plums, and luscious apricot hand pies – plus the chocolate and tart entries.

The judges take their time, and ours, considering the pies.  They check the bottom to see if it’s cooked enough (“No soggy bottoms!”), see how it cuts and holds together, taste the crust, taste the filling, taste the crusts again, all while keeping a poker face.  They really do give attention to each pie or tart, noting the strengths and weaknesses, and labor over deciding which ones to honor.

In each case, a third, second and first place ribbon are awarded and winners announced.  The best part of the whole thing – well maybe the 2^nd best – is how everyone applauds one another.  It’s the most generous audience you’ve ever seen.

And the delight, oh, the joy, of winning!  Sandy, one of the community of pie bakers who’s been entering for years, won “Best of Show.”  You should have seen the bright sparkle in her eyes when it was announced that her tart won!  She was one happy camper, and everyone there was happy with her.

And the best part?  Eating pie with friends afterwards. Pie, pie, pie everywhere!

I’m going to ask some of the Pie Pals who were present at the pie contest here to share their ribbons and recipes, so watch for more in the next few days. 

I’ve posted my two blue-ribbon recipes, for peach and rhubarb-raspberry pies.  Please help yourself!

Cheers, Rebecca

It’s Labor Day weekend and time to chill a little.  It’s time to spend time with family and friends, maybe enjoy some really good food.

Easy as pie, as they say, and this one surely is as easy as they come.  Try Angel Pie and see if you don’t agree that this is one of the better treats you can make for a warm weekend of kicking back.  It’s light, fluffy, lemony and fruity all at the same time.

An added bonus:  it’s gluten-free!

While relaxing this weekend, I’m going to appreciate especially those who have been or still are part of labor unions.  They help make for a middle class in America.  Here’s to everyone who works hard and contributes to their families and community! 

It’s kind of like looking for love in all the wrong places.

I was on a road trip with three friends recently and, just in time for lunch, we saw this sign on a roadside diner.  The whole roadside diner idea was appealing:  comfort food, big booths with padded vinyl seating, and a waitress with her name on the back of her belt refilling coffee cups.  Perfect!

The sign promised pie, so we checked out the refrigerated pie case immediately, before even being seated.  Featured there was a selection of fruit and cream options, including cherry, apple, lemon meringue and coconut cream.  The hostess reassured us that, yes, everything was made right there at the diner, just like homemade.  Oh, yum!  This was going to be fun!

The booths were full of local folks, so we settled down at a wooden table for four in the annex.  Sure enough, Betty brought lots of coffee and we ordered everything from country fried steak to enchiladas to a Chinese chicken salad.  Everything was pretty good, given that we were many miles from the nearest sources of fresh ingredients. 

Then the moment we’d been looking forward to:  sharing a piece of pie.  There was lots of talk and we finally agreed on the coconut cream, as it did look the most beautiful and all of us were in the mood for few bites of something sweet and blissful.  And if the pie was shared four ways, no great harm would come to anyone’s diet!

Shockingly awful.  I mention this not to disparage the café but just to be real with you about what commercially made pie is like these days.  Can you imagine pie so bad that four of us couldn’t finish one piece?  It’s true:  the crust was dense and tough, the filling was starchy to the point of gakky, and the topping seemed to be a cross between whipped cream and plastic.  Really!  We left most of it on the plate.

Do you find yourself looking for good pie and frequently being disappointed by what’s served?  Me, too.

So, my friends, I’m proposing that we once again commit to making pie and teaching others how to make pie and then enjoying it together.  Let’s keep good pie alive! 

And what do you think about making a list of places in the U.S. and Canada where it’s possible to buy a really good piece of pie, based on your experience and judgment?  I’d love to compile a list! 

Start thinking about where you go for good pie in your area and in the next newsletter (Sept.), we’ll set up a system for collecting your personal endorsements and posting them with pictures on a list here at Pie Pals so we can all find that good pie when we’re traveling.  Who knows?  Maybe we’ll take more road trips, just for the sake of finding a good piece of pie! 

Yours in the search,

It’s a Full Moon!  The “moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie!”, right?  For me at least, it’s time to go outside and howl, or at least wave at the moon and be grateful for all of the blessings in my life! 

For what am I grateful?  First, grateful to be alive at all.  Yesterday I got the “all clear” report on a recent CT scan, meaning no melanoma has metastasized and I’m healthy as a horse.  Yeah!!  There’s nothing quite like that news…a new lease on life, again, an opportunity to look forward with delight and a sense of expansiveness and grace.  And then, too, I’m grateful for all of the love and fun and abundance in my life.

I know I’m one of the lucky ones, the ones who get good news like that from an oncologist.  Please send love and healing energy out as you can, in whatever way works for you, to everyone you know who needs it and even to those you don’t know – that whatever they may be suffering from will be relieved according to their highest good.

Meanwhile, if you know someone who needs a pie, make it and take it!  We’re in this together and the more connection we can manifest, the better. 

As we enjoy Spring and this full moon, here are some suggestions for spring pies:  Royal Rhubarb, Mocha Latte or Banana Cream Pie.  (Recipes for rhubarb and latte pies are at www.piepals.com, recipes section!)

Here’s to gratitude and beautiful full moons,

Rebecca

Take a look at this dough!  Oh, my gosh.  This was the gluten-free dough after chilling, before rolling.  It was a mess:  look at how it had crumbled into a bazillion pieces already.  Nothing seemed to be holding it together in any way…how was I ever going to roll it out and get it into the pie dish?

Dutifully, I worked on a cold surface, dusting the rolling pin with more gluten-free flour.  But it just cracked and split and went this way and that, with no pretense of “rolling out.”  This was one radically uncooperative crust. 

Finally, I had to get rough with it. I did something I would never do with wheat crust:  rolled back and forth, back and forth across the dough, pressing hard. It cracked and split at will, and I could almost hear it laughing at my efforts.  I rolled harder.  What in the world was going on here and what would hold this dough together?  The xanthum gum?  The eggs?

With a great deal of persuasion – rough play, really – I got it big enough and loosened it from below.  Okay, whew.  Then, going into the plate, it ripped into 9 pieces.

Onto Plan B:  there would be no lattice on this cherry pie.  The top crust would be made into small pieces intentionally and laid on top.  Meanwhile, the bottom one was pieced together, pinched and patted and molded with fingers to fit and to form something of a lip on the crust.  There would be no folding together of the two crusts, either.  Instead, I built up the lip enough to then use a fork and make a little pattern going around the edge.  That would have to do.  My perfectionist self was getting a lesson in gluten-free realism!

As you can see, the top crust was pieced together by making cut-outs using a cookie cutter.  I highly recommend this solution, as it allows you to create an attractive top without the drama of trying to transfer a large, rolled piece of dough intact onto the pie.

The recipe came from a well-known flour company’s Web site and featured their own gluten-free all-purpose flour.  I’ll post the recipe and comments on the results in the next “Deep Dish” blog. 

Til then, to your health and to happy gluten-free baking,

Rebecca

More Good Pie!

That’s a motto to live by, isn’t it?  And we had GOOD PIE on PI DAY last week!

Several of us spent a whole evening at John and Bianca’s home, with laughter and pie coaching in abundance.  John honed his pie skills while Bianca made her very first pie ever!  Yay! 

John made a blueberry peach pie, after making homemade crust for the first time.  He's already known for making pumpkin pie from fresh pumpkins, and now he can claim success with making the flaky crust, as well!

Beth, an experienced baker, made her favorite:  custard pie.  She added a piece de resistance, freshly grated nutmeg, to the top of the pie just before baking.

Havens, also an experienced baker, made a sour cherry pie and brought it to share.   We had three to sample:  the cherry, blueberry peach and custard!  Check these out in the attached photo.

Bianca and John were coached by yours truly, someone who finds great joy in sharing the how-to of pie.  They were very good sports!  They learned the chemistry of crust: the “keep it cold” rule, how to cut in the shortening in two batches using a pastry blender, and how to judge the consistency of the dough and to add just enough water (which varies from one day to the next, depending on humidity and such). They managed to roll the dough and get it into the pie plate without excessive cursing, and created a crust edge to seal in the juices and look pretty. Now they can make great pie crust any time! 

Bianca made a beautiful first-ever pie, a traditional apple pie in an all-butter crust.  It came out late at night, so we didn’t get to try it, but I’m quite sure it was fabulous. 

Special thanks to Janet for being our taster extraordinaire! 

If you, too, want to have the confidence to make perfect crust every time, you can learn everything you need to know with “Pie Crust 101,” a DVD with all of the tips and tricks and a recipe, created by me with the help of my film friends, “Film Feed.”  You can find it in the Pie Pals Pie Shop, where you'll also find aprons either made by a microentrepreneur or printed in a union shop.  Made in the USA, of course!

Happy baking to all, and here’s to more good pie bakers! 

Rebecca

Pie Advocate

What would be the perfect pie for sharing at an Oscars party?  What would celebrate the stars, the golden statuettes, the talented filmmakers and crew members who make that magic happen?  What would celebrate a good story well told, a story that moves us more than just excites our nerves for 2 hours?

How about a Life of Pi Pie?  Irresistible.  It would have to feature stripes, like Richard Parker (the tiger).  Maybe be blue like the ocean and sky?  Maybe rich brown, like Pi’s dark eyes?  Yes, that’s it:  chocolate chess pie – rich, dark brown -- with orange stripes. 

What would the stripes be made of, to have them be orange like the stripes on the tiger?  We want to complement the pie and not make it overly sweet like a frosting would.  So, start with orange juice, stir in just a little creamy peanut butter to give it body.  Maybe a little powdered sugar, but not too much, just enough to make it the right texture for making stripes.  Add a tiny touch of yellow & red food coloring to brighten the color a bit. Below is a little recipe.

This is easy!  Bake and let the chocolate chess pie cool entirely, then drizzle wide bands of the orange mixture to create the “stripes.”  Let it chill.  Roar when you serve it.

There you go:  Life of Pi Pie.

Have fun, Rebecca

Life of Pi Pie

Chocolate Chess Pie, made ahead and cooled completely.

For the “Richard Parker” tiger stripes – approximate proportions:

2 T.      orange juice

1/2 t.    creamy peanut butter

3/4 c.   powdered sugar

Tiny touches of yellow and red food coloring.

Mix the juice and peanut butter until smooth.  Stir in enough powdered sugar until the mix is about as thick as you would make the frosting for sugar cookies (thick enough to stay where you put it but will still drizzle off a spoon or pastry brush).  Using the tip of a toothpick dipped into food coloring, add just a touch of food colorings to brighten the color to orange. 

Make stripes using a spoon or pastry brush, and chill until they set.

Gardens are calling.  Some gardens are fairly shouting by this time of year.  “Yo!  Over here!  Do me!”

Apples, rhubarb, peaches, berries -- obviously, gardens provide ingredients for delicious homemade pies.  Now, in mid-February, those fruits are far off.  Depending on where you live and what gardening arrangements you have, you may already be nurturing a winter garden of vegetables.  But fruits?  Those respond to spring warmth, water and bees.

Ah, bees. What would we do without them?  Starve to death.  They pollinate our gardens and crops everywhere.  And right now, bees in North America are being threatened by “Colony Collapse Disorder,” where the worker bees mysteriously and abruptly disappear.[1] 

And it’s not just the pollinating that’s good.  What about that honey?  Besides being a nectar of golden goodness, honey has many noted health benefits, both nutritional and medicinal.  Check them out here.

This is definitely the time of year for dreaming of gardens-to-come, lush, verdant, fertile:  Peas dripping off of vines, little curling wisps holding them to the garden twine; cucumbers stretching out in the shade of their own big leaves; an abundance of berries, cherries, and apricots.  And always, tomatoes!

Beyond providing the goods for pies, why do we pie bakers love our gardens?  To me, the two are related by a love of the Earth herself, a knowingness about the connection we have with the Earth and all things that are round, yin, grounded, based in nurturing and love. 

People instinctively enjoy growing food.  And it gives us an opportunity to be grateful for all that the Earth gives us and for our chance to nurture her in return.  Yes, gardens are work – the planning, the prepping the soil, the planting, the watering, the endless weeding, even the harvesting takes energy.  But what gardens give back, when we pat the Earth and watch for new growth, is priceless.

And pies are like gardens, don’t you think?  Full of goodness, created with effort, tended with intention and love, requiring planning & cleanup as well as providing nurturing and enjoyment.  There’s nothing like lifting a bubbling, breathing pie from the oven!

Seduction can be simple.  As easy as pie, in fact. 

If you want to impress anyone, make a homemade pie.  If you want to get the attention of someone special, give him or her a Valentine’s pie.  Seduction is nearly guaranteed.

Americans do love their pie.  A survey[1] of Americans reveals that our favorites are apple, lemon meringue, pecan and pumpkin, with cherry, strawberry rhubarb and chocolate rounding out the pie chart. 

But, for Valentine’s Day, you’ll want to tailor your pie-giving to your talents and the recipient’s tastes.  Basic guidelines:  make it yourself, make it rich, and make it with love. 

Here are the 5 steps to wowing your way through Valentine’s Day:

1.      Without giving away your plans, find out what your lover loves:  Chocolate?  Lemon?   Pecans?  Raspberries?

2.     Make the crust if you can.  Buy a frozen one if you can’t.

3.     Make the pie early in the day (or the night before) so that it has time to cool and set.

4.     Pick a recipe at your level of experience that will still meet your partner’s fancy so that you won’t stress out:  easy, average or more challenging.  Find recipes at all levels and for all flavors at:  www.piepals.com

5.     Above all, don’t worry about how it looks.  The person receiving it will be so blown away that you might want to have a camera handy to catch his/her expression upon realizing you made this pie.

Suggestions:

1.      For chocolate lovers:  "Over the Top" Chocolate Mousse Pie (challenging) or Chocolate Chess Pie (easy)

2.     For lemon lovers:  Lemon Chess Pie (easy)

3.     For nut lovers:  Pecan Pie (average)

4.     For fruit lovers:  Raspberry Rhubarb (average) or Easy as Apple Pie (um, easy)

When it comes to making pie, there are some tips and tricks that make it easier the first few times.  Check out the “Tips and Tricks” section of www.PiePals.com.

Most people say the crust is the challenging part, and I would agree.  The main thing is to act with confidence and not let that crust manipulate you into defeat.  You are in charge.  True, a gentle touch is the best, but don’t give your power away, roll the dough too much or burst into tears.  Just roll it out gently, fix any cracks, loosen it with a big spatula, and roll it onto your rolling pin and then unroll it gently over the pie plate.  Lift it to let it fall down into the plate and then trim it with a dull knife against your finger.  You’ll be fine and so will the crust.

Oh, yes, the other big thing for a good crust is to make sure the crust is well-chilled before you put the filling into it and bake it.  It’s about the chemistry of when the fat melts, so just make sure the crust is well-chilled before baking.  Ta da.  There you go, you lover, you. 

This could be your most memorable Valentine’s ever.