Take a deep breath and say it with me. I love Pie.
Because you know, like I know, that if you're a baker you must love pie. It is not a prerequisite, but I'm going to make some sweeping generalizations and say that anyone oppose to pie has got to have something wrong with their taste buds. And possible their brain.
Ok, maybe not. But if there are any pie skeptics out there in the void you're in the right place.
Ok....maybe not...
But seriously, think about it. Butter, flour, water, salt, mix it together, bake it, flaky browned delicious pastry. and what do you fill it with? ANYTHING. Literally. Their are not many recipes where you can substitute fruit and sugar for chicken and gravy and still end up calling it the same thing! Pie. Mmm.
There's everyones favorite fruit pies..Apple, Blueberry, Raspberry, Peach, and lets throw Rhubarb in because I really don't know where else it would go.
Don't forget about bottom crust pies. Cream and Custard type pies...Banana Cream, Coconut Cream, Keylime, Lemon Custard, Chocolate Pudding...Okay so, when I say cream in relation to pies (see Banana Cream) I mean meringue. Why? Habit. Also I'm a bit insane in the words department. Also, that milk is in fact required to make the base. My Grandmother B. makes the best damn cream pies on the entire planet, and she tops them with a meringue. Because, what the hell else do you do with 4 egg whites?! Plus it tastes delicious. Sorry haters. Whipped cream has it place in the world. Most of the time that place is in my stomach. Not today whipped cream, not today.
Moving along. How about MEAT pies? Mmm...Chicken Pot Pie, Tourtiere, Mince Meat...Okay I hate mince meat. But don't tell anyone.
And of course the other random ones I have no category for so I'm going to call them Random Pies. Like, Raisin Pie, Pecan Pie, and Sugar Pie.
I'm sure there are a lot more then that. In fact, I'm positive that there are more. I simply don't have enough energy to put into looking all of that up. I will however add one more to the list. It is my favorite pie in the whole entire world. There is no other food that I prefer more than this pie. True story.
Ready for it?
Saskatoon Pie.
If you haven't had it, get it now and try it. If you hate it, you fall into the category of tastebud/brain impairment. Okay, fine...I'm just defensive. I know plenty of people (like two) who don't prefer this pie. Whatever.
If you live in a part of Canada that does not PRODUCE SASKATOONS like I do part of the year, than I am so, so, sorry. Apparently you can find them in parts of Ontario under a different name, but that just sounds shady to me. My Grandma W. (Not the cream pie whiz), Makes the most delicious Saskatoon Pie in the entire world. Yes, I'm redundant. Is it any wonder why I love pie?! Sometimes, she freezes fresh Saskatoons and surprises my with pies in Mid-winter. Whole unbaked Saskatoon Pies freeze really well too, because the filling is partially cooked prior to filling the shell. Therefore you can throw a frozen pie right into the oven and bake until the crust is golden. Once, my Grandma W. made me the filling and canned it. I took it out East and made two pies with it. Best semester ever. Its just so versatile! It holds up better than blueberries, but has a similar texture. The berries are slightly smaller than your average store bought blueberries, and they taste waaaaay (WAY) better.
Sigh. I think I will be making pie for dinner with the farmer's market apples I bought last week.
Pie. That is all.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Must. Bake. Now.
The brownies are almost gone. Where did they all go?
The only explanation I can find if that there are Brownie gnomes in the house. Comforting thought, as I'm pretty sure none of my room-mates have eaten them and that leaves only me. But couldn't have eaten them all.
Brownie gnomes.
On another note...In celebration of the completion of my thesis presentation tomorrow morning, I will be baking an apple pie. I find it quite a good way to dispel any remaining stress, I simply coat it in flour and cinnamon, stick it in a crust and bake it all away.
Hmmm...nice :).
The only explanation I can find if that there are Brownie gnomes in the house. Comforting thought, as I'm pretty sure none of my room-mates have eaten them and that leaves only me. But couldn't have eaten them all.
Brownie gnomes.
On another note...In celebration of the completion of my thesis presentation tomorrow morning, I will be baking an apple pie. I find it quite a good way to dispel any remaining stress, I simply coat it in flour and cinnamon, stick it in a crust and bake it all away.
Hmmm...nice :).
Saturday, March 20, 2010
How much is too much?
I'm rather bored and thinking of taking a homework break. I'm working on my thesis and it's times like these when I get an uncontrollable urge to bake something, if only to pass the time instead of staring at my computer!
I've been munching my way through those Brownies, but one tiny piece is often more than enough for me. This is when I end up baking too many different things at once, not to mention all the other members of the house, who bake as well.
Currently we have Leftover Chocolate (gluten-free!) Birthday Cake (that my lovely room-mate made for me last week), a failed attempt at Chocolate Cupcakes with melty green icing for St. Patties day, last nights Brownie experiment, what appears to be Banana Bread from another room-mate, and the Croissants I bought yesterday. Not to mention the last piece of Coconut Cream Pie that had to be thrown out two days ago :(.
Mmm...carbs.
I've been munching my way through those Brownies, but one tiny piece is often more than enough for me. This is when I end up baking too many different things at once, not to mention all the other members of the house, who bake as well.
Currently we have Leftover Chocolate (gluten-free!) Birthday Cake (that my lovely room-mate made for me last week), a failed attempt at Chocolate Cupcakes with melty green icing for St. Patties day, last nights Brownie experiment, what appears to be Banana Bread from another room-mate, and the Croissants I bought yesterday. Not to mention the last piece of Coconut Cream Pie that had to be thrown out two days ago :(.
Mmm...carbs.
Friday, March 19, 2010
A Baker's Brownie
In honor of my highly embarrassing 'self-cleaning' incident with my first ever on my own baking experiment... I have made brownies. Actually it's mostly because writing that made me crave brownies.
To be honest...my stomach and chocolate don't get along. Not that I don't love you chocolate, because I DEFINITELY love you. ALOT. Its just that a little goes a long way. It's probably a good thing, because when I love something I tend to eat waaay too much of it. Chocolate however... is quite considerate, and tells me when to stop. Often its sooner than later. So I don't make brownies much. Maybe once every 18 months. At most. Hence why I didn't have a recipe and found an excellent one to try out on Allrecipes.
I love Allrecipes.com. because the comments are always useful when deciding how to bake them, how many, and if this recipe is what it...says it is. Anyways, I modified it a bit because A. I doubled it. B. 2 cups of sugar is WAY too much for a recipe with one 1 cup of flour and C. icing on top of a brownie ruins the brownie. This is only my opinion but I grew up without icing and can't stand it on already overly sweet things!
(based off a recipe from Allrecipes.com "Best Brownies")
Ingredients
To be honest...my stomach and chocolate don't get along. Not that I don't love you chocolate, because I DEFINITELY love you. ALOT. Its just that a little goes a long way. It's probably a good thing, because when I love something I tend to eat waaay too much of it. Chocolate however... is quite considerate, and tells me when to stop. Often its sooner than later. So I don't make brownies much. Maybe once every 18 months. At most. Hence why I didn't have a recipe and found an excellent one to try out on Allrecipes.
I love Allrecipes.com. because the comments are always useful when deciding how to bake them, how many, and if this recipe is what it...says it is. Anyways, I modified it a bit because A. I doubled it. B. 2 cups of sugar is WAY too much for a recipe with one 1 cup of flour and C. icing on top of a brownie ruins the brownie. This is only my opinion but I grew up without icing and can't stand it on already overly sweet things!
A Bloggers Brownie
(based off a recipe from Allrecipes.com "Best Brownies")
Ingredients
Yep. Delicious. A little more cakey than I wanted. I was craving a very chewy brownie, but I think it was the over cooking. Potentially over mixing! There is A LOT of butter in this...I cut out a bit. I supposed you could also add an egg (the original calls for 4 eggs) and cut the butter down to 3/4c. But I love me some butter. Mmmm. SO not exactly a hit, but not a miss.
This Baker's Brief History
Welcome to a Baker's Blog. You can read the 'about me's' and all that jazz but that's really only a small condensed version of why I decided to start this. Want the whole story? Read on.
I used to think I was a horrible baker. Though my mother doesn't bake a lot (she has a gluten intolerance) when she made pie's (and boy does she make pies) they were amazing. Both of my grandmothers have this amazing ability to create the most delicious pies, cakes, loafs and cookies. My favorite thing to do at either of their houses was to bake with them. A lot of my memories as a child revolved around some kind of baking or cooking, or just generally being in the kitchen.
As I grew up I decided I could bake on my own. BIG mistake. I had a friend who lived just down the street who came over a lot, and one day we decided we should make some brownies. Being 12 or 13, I thought I knew everything, including how to use our ancient brown and beige oven that was so old that most of the instructions were worn off. We made the batter and poured it into the pan, everything was going well. However, my mother wasn't home...my older brother was baby sitting, and I really didn't think he would know how to work the oven. Long story short, I accidentally set the oven to 'self clean' which...being an old oven, I am still amazed it even had that capacity. Anyways, the door locked, smoked up the kitchen, and by the time we had come back from playing Barbies, our brownies were charred on the outside and still cold on the inside. Yea, we totally ate them.
Needless to say, I was in trouble when my mom got home. I didn't bake for awhile after that, though I did manage to learn which symbol mean't 'self-clean'. It will forever be ingrained in my memory! But I did start again eventually. I mostly dabbled in it, and only baked when necessary. In my house, if you wanted something sweet, you had to make it. My mother, having many food allergies, had mostly healthy healthy food in the house, and though I didn't like it then, I am really glad for it now. Now when I need a snack, I make it myself. That way I know exactly what is going into my food, and how much of it!
So I guess I left a little bit of a gap. Between my burnt 'self cleaned' brownies and my current baking obsession lies a number of years of on an off baking. My current situation is a result of an over-stressed student with a sweet tooth. During my 1st year of college I realised how much baking I was missing in my daily life. My dorm room didn't have an oven and being the rather anti-social person that I can be, I never felt comfortable using the communal one, I didn't even own a cook book! but during the last 4 years of school I fell in love with baking again. I bake biscuits, cakes, cookies and muffins. I conquered my fear of pie (which will be revealed eventually I'm sure) and now it is one of my favorite things to make.
Sure, sometimes I will bake to avoid studying. I often bake when I'm upset. I bake when I'm bored, and I bake when I'm happy. It's nearly a vice! But I enjoy it, and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. So if you're interested in discovering the world of baking with me, come along for the ride. Share some recipes, stories, maybe some laughs, and certainly share failures (because the more I bake, the more screws ups I get!), but above all let's share some FOOD!
I used to think I was a horrible baker. Though my mother doesn't bake a lot (she has a gluten intolerance) when she made pie's (and boy does she make pies) they were amazing. Both of my grandmothers have this amazing ability to create the most delicious pies, cakes, loafs and cookies. My favorite thing to do at either of their houses was to bake with them. A lot of my memories as a child revolved around some kind of baking or cooking, or just generally being in the kitchen.
As I grew up I decided I could bake on my own. BIG mistake. I had a friend who lived just down the street who came over a lot, and one day we decided we should make some brownies. Being 12 or 13, I thought I knew everything, including how to use our ancient brown and beige oven that was so old that most of the instructions were worn off. We made the batter and poured it into the pan, everything was going well. However, my mother wasn't home...my older brother was baby sitting, and I really didn't think he would know how to work the oven. Long story short, I accidentally set the oven to 'self clean' which...being an old oven, I am still amazed it even had that capacity. Anyways, the door locked, smoked up the kitchen, and by the time we had come back from playing Barbies, our brownies were charred on the outside and still cold on the inside. Yea, we totally ate them.
Needless to say, I was in trouble when my mom got home. I didn't bake for awhile after that, though I did manage to learn which symbol mean't 'self-clean'. It will forever be ingrained in my memory! But I did start again eventually. I mostly dabbled in it, and only baked when necessary. In my house, if you wanted something sweet, you had to make it. My mother, having many food allergies, had mostly healthy healthy food in the house, and though I didn't like it then, I am really glad for it now. Now when I need a snack, I make it myself. That way I know exactly what is going into my food, and how much of it!
So I guess I left a little bit of a gap. Between my burnt 'self cleaned' brownies and my current baking obsession lies a number of years of on an off baking. My current situation is a result of an over-stressed student with a sweet tooth. During my 1st year of college I realised how much baking I was missing in my daily life. My dorm room didn't have an oven and being the rather anti-social person that I can be, I never felt comfortable using the communal one, I didn't even own a cook book! but during the last 4 years of school I fell in love with baking again. I bake biscuits, cakes, cookies and muffins. I conquered my fear of pie (which will be revealed eventually I'm sure) and now it is one of my favorite things to make.
Sure, sometimes I will bake to avoid studying. I often bake when I'm upset. I bake when I'm bored, and I bake when I'm happy. It's nearly a vice! But I enjoy it, and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. So if you're interested in discovering the world of baking with me, come along for the ride. Share some recipes, stories, maybe some laughs, and certainly share failures (because the more I bake, the more screws ups I get!), but above all let's share some FOOD!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)