Adventures in pie-making

[icepixie]

Okay, so, as a rule, I'm not a huge fan of pie. A few of the fillings are generally okay, but I'm opposed to piecrust. Basically, chocolate, pecan, apple, peach, and coconut cream pies are about the limit of my pie-eating, and that's, oh, twice a year or so.

However, Pushing Daisies awakened within me a yearning for pie (thanks ever so, Bryan Fuller), and it was egged along by a recipe + picture of a pear, cranberry, and caramel pie I saw on in a magazine last week. I've never had a pear pie (and I've been assured by reliable sources, i.e. my mother, that they cause severe gastrointestinal distress), so I decided to alter the recipe to cranberry-apple-caramel pie. And because fresh cranberries do not exist in my town, and who even knows what kind of apples are used to make a pie (hint: not me or anyone I know), I went the easy route of canned apple pie filling, canned whole cranberry sauce, and pre-made piecrust.

In the end, I think I could've saved a lot of trouble by just making an apple pie, because that's exactly what it tasted like. Or, more likely, I should hunt for real cranberries, because while these had no flavor whatsoever, I know from experience that cranberries do indeed have a taste, and it's a good one if you add enough sugar.* On the other hand, pie crust drenched in caramel sauce is kind of amazing, so that's a good thing to know.

In more pie-related discussion, I wandered into the pie article on Wikipedia tonight. It links to an article about a pastry with the euphonious name of "stargazy pie." As this picture shows, it's not nearly as sweet as one might think.

That article links to a lot of frightening things, such as the deep-fried pizza. One of the ways poeple eat them is apparently by breaking it in half, putting french fries in between the halves, and eating it as a sandwich. I begin to understand why Scotland has such a high heart disease rate.

* Yes, I know, I have a raging sweet tooth. Rar, it's raging at you.

*

Also on a sweet topic. belated happy birthdays to tarzanic, serendipityxxi, and ladysorka!

Comments

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

Not just one. Most recipes appear to call for five.

I like the implication of the picture, that there's so much fishy essence in that pie that it can't be contained inside the crust, but must BURST OUTWARD with eyeballs every which way.

You can get 'em frozen in Kroger or whatever the Chicago equivalent is...

Oh, but frozen pie would feel like a travesty, after looking at all those technicolor ones. I gotta try a fresh one, at least once.

(Don't deny that that's what would happen. I've been reading your truffle-colored posts this week.)

Oh, I'm not even pretending that it won't be gastrointestinally traumatizing. But I'm hoping it'll be very much worth it.

Oh, but we have a new microwave! So reheating won't be such a challenge anymore.

But it's Ned being dubious at a strawberry! How can that be creepy?

Nope, I believe that's Ned being creepy at a strawberry.

[icepixie]

I like the implication of the picture, that there's so much fishy essence in that pie that it can't be contained inside the crust, but must BURST OUTWARD with eyeballs every which way.

Indeed. (Or possibly the implication that the fishes want to see the stars one last time...before they're eaten...um...)

Oh, but frozen pie would feel like a travesty, after looking at all those technicolor ones. I gotta try a fresh one, at least once.

There is that. Although I'm sure the frozen ones are probably more technicolor than a fresh one, what with all the preservatives and food coloring and whatnot.

Oh, I'm not even pretending that it won't be gastrointestinally traumatizing. But I'm hoping it'll be very much worth it.

Ooof. That reminds me, there's still a couple slices left of the one I made...

Oh, but we have a new microwave! So reheating won't be such a challenge anymore.

Praise be!

Nope, I believe that's Ned being creepy at a strawberry.

But it's Ned! Ned couldn't be creepy if he tried!

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

(Or possibly the implication that the fishes want to see the stars one last time...before they're eaten...um...)

Because fish normally stargaze so much.

Although I'm sure the frozen ones are probably more technicolor than a fresh one, what with all the preservatives and food coloring and whatnot.

Ew. True.

But it's Ned! Ned couldn't be creepy if he tried!

Let me remind you, this is the guy who touches dead people.

[icepixie]

Because fish normally stargaze so much.

You don't know what goes on in their fishy little lives under the water.

Let me remind you, this is the guy who touches dead people.

But adorably!