2012 Pie Resolution

cross-posted from my personal blog Tro Creideamh - one in a series of posts about 2012 resolutions

Last year, I started a project intended to bake at least one pie a week for the year. I got through about April or so, when a month-long illness knocked my plans awry. After I got back into it, I decided that I liked baking pies better than I liked blogging about baking pies, so the blog posts stopped. I didn't make my goal of a pie a week, but I certainly did learn how to make a pie and I've discovered some winner recipes.

I still want to explore pies, but I think a more relaxed goal is in order. In 2012, I will bake a new pie every month and hopefully blog about the experience. I've put together a list, primarily based on pies I didn't get to last year.

• January - Nutmeg Pie
• February - Oatmeal Butterscotch Pie
• March - Maple Pecan Pie
• April - All-Rhubarb Pie (perhaps May based on availability)
• May - Shoofly Pie
• June - Sweet-Tart Lemon Pie
• July - Ultimate Four-Cherry Pie
• August - Creamsicle Pie
• September - Black Bottom Ricotta Pie
• October - Dried Cranberry Walnut Pie
• November - Spiced Pumpkin Indian Pudding Pie
• December - Eggnog Chiffon Pie

Here's to more pie in 2012!

My Guidebook

When I first had the idea for this year-long pie project, my plan was to come up with a list of general types of pies, then go out and find recipes for them. I had planned to use sources such as The Joy of Cooking, America's Test Kitchen, Good Eats, and others.

Just before Christmas, I was at our local library and figured I'd see what books they had in the cooking section. That's where I came across this:

Ken Haedrich, previously the author of Apple Pie Perfect (a collection of one-hundred versions of the American classic), has compiled "300 tried-and-true recipes" for pies (hence the apt title). Here in one (thick!) volume was the first part of my work done for me!

Or so I thought. Do you have any idea how time-consuming it is to pick 52 pies out of a possible 300? Ask my family - that's what I did during most of Christmas vacation! And I couldn't narrow it down to just one pie a week, so we'll have some double weeks (and one very special four-pie week) coming to a blog near you.

Throughout the year, I'll have a smattering of pies from other sources (including a skinny little book I borrowed from my chainsaw-carver uncle), but for the most part, the pies you will see here are from Haedrich's Pie.

I say this primarily so that, if you want to try your hand at some of the pies I'm featuring here, you know where to go find the recipes. I don't want to get into copyright issues by posting the full recipes online, but I still want you to be able to try out a pie you see that looks too delicious to just read about.

Do you have a go-to source for good pie recipes? Did your grandmother make a special pie that's been handed down through the generations? Let us know in the comments below!

Why Pie?

I like pie.

At least, I think I like pie. I might just like the idea of pie.

Following Thanksgiving dinner last year, I was presented with the choice of four different pies. I chose all four and was satisfied, but not thrilled out of my mind.

The blueberry was good, but a bit gluey. The pecan was most everything I'd hoped for, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the flavor could be a bit more pecan-y. The pumpkin was standard November fare, all the better for having been homemade instead of frozen, but how would it be with fresh pumpkin in lieu of canned?

And the apple.  All-American Apple Pie. The favorite of red-blooded U-S-of-A’ers from Portland to, well, Portland. The spices were intriguing (a bit of clove, maybe?) and the fruit was juicy, but the bottom crust was damp and the filling didn’t quite hold together.

None of this stopped me from eating my pie with a smile on my face and, honestly, I enjoyed every last bite. A seed lodged itself in my brain, though. I had been so excited to walk in and see four pies of which to partake. I had built myself great expectations of pie to come that when it did, I was slightly deflated. That’s when I began to wonder: did I really like pie, or did I just like the idea of pie?

The logical next step in my crazy brain was to try as many pies as I could get my hands on. This quickly morphed into wanting to make various different pies, because I think that the best store-bought pies probably can’t hold a candle to a well-devised homemade creation.

So here we are: a rational approach to the question of pie. Do I like pie? Do I like all pie, or just particular ones? Do I have a favorite, really? I could list what I think are my “favorites” -- key lime, lemon meringue, cherry, pecan – but again, do I truly like them or do I like some ideal pie, an immaculate confection to which no human-prepared dessert could ever measure up?

Over the twelve months, I plan to bake up a broad range of pies, from basic vanilla cream to real mincemeat, boiled beef and all. Stop by at least every Saturday to see what’s come out of the oven in the past week and to see how long it takes me to get sick of pie. Or the idea of pie. Or something.