My Week In Pie

MONDAY

   My week began with a little preparation for a pie class I was to teach on Wednesday at Williams-Sonoma.  I stopped by the grocery story to pick up a few things that I needed to make Lemon Meringue Pie.  I had never made Lemon Meringue before (believe it or not) so I felt like I should give it a go before I taught it in class.  Who knew Lemon Meringue contained so many eggs?  Watch out cholesterol, here we come!  Anyway, this pie required making the lemon curd ahead, which was a rather daunting task but turned out perfectly.  And, you must also make meringue.  Once again, making meringue was scary.  The instructions said to whip the EGG mixture to glossy peaks.  Glossy peaks... they actually were glossy peaks!  Good show!!  It was eleven o'clock on a school night when I first sat down.

TUESDAY

   Another evening, another pie.  Once again, I was preparing for the pie class at Williams-Sonoma.  This time, the pie in question was Black Bottom Banana Cream.  The most difficult part of this pie was making the vanilla cream portion of the pie.  I have always had a little problem with the creamy portion in cream pies.  Usually, I worry that I am going to overcook the cream, take it off too soon and then it never sets up properly.  This is my M.O.  I had heard from my pie class co-instructor that the cream did not set up (in the pie she had made) so I threw a little extra cornstarch in there for good measure.  It worked!  Yea me!!  What didn't work, however, was the pie dough for the crust.  It was an absolute nightmare!!  I was trying the pie dough recipe that came with the pie filling recipe, not my usual pie dough.  In the end, while I was piecing the pie dough together in the pie plate, I found myself yelling, "THIS is why people are afraid to make pie!" It turned out, although the crust kinda fell apart when sliced. Ah well, pie finished at 10:30.  Time to go to bed.

WEDNESDAY

  So I left job number one, working with pre-kindergarteners all day.  Rushed to Williams-Sonoma to help put together the pies for tasting that must be made ahead.  I prepared the Blueberry Crumble Pie.  This pie had only a bottom crust which I rolled out.  Then put together the crumble topping and the fresh blueberry filling.  I put the whole thing together before class.  We also made the Black Bottom Banana Cream (but as a tart without the whipped cream), and the lemon curd portion of the lemon meringue.  The last pie, an Apple Cherry was to be put together in class.  The class was super fun, if not slightly disorganized.  But, the three participants seemed to learn a lot.  Needless to say the Apple Cherry Pie did not get baked.  Four pies plus pie dough is a hell of a lot to cover in two hours!! Home at 10 pm.

THURSDAY

   I ate pizza pie and one slice of the blueberry crumble pie. 

FRIDAY

   A evening of rest.  No pie. Happy Hour. Gin and Tonic. Black Bean Dip. Salad.

SATURDAY

   I gave a pie lesson to my neighbors, who were excited to learn how to make pie.  And while, the conversation was great, and the beginning seemed promising.  The time came to roll out the dough which we had made.  And... disaster.  It was a bitch to roll out.  Kept falling apart.  I basically had to wish it into the pie plate.  The top crust was a little bit better but kept tearing all over the place.  It, quite possibly, was the ugliest apple pie I have ever seen (damn, forgot to take a photo).  I was mortified.

   After my struggle with pie dough earlier in the week, I felt I needed to redeem myself.  So on Saturday evening, I used the leftover dough (which I had added a little water to and chilled) to make the above mini savory green tomato and cheddar pies.  Ah....sweet success!

SUNDAY

   This week ends with a SWEET Green Tomato Pie.  A Southern pie.  And it really does taste exactly like apple pie.  Amazing.  I have not lost my touch.  And I tried five new pies this week.  All is right in my world of pie!  And that is good