Pie season has arrived!

And it's peachy!

Never get between a man and his pie crust

Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day. As is family tradition with the Parkers, we will be going to my parents' home for corned beef and cabbage. Now, I have to admit that this is a dish I did NOT like as a child. I was never forced to eat a full serving, but I did have to try it. It wasn't until long after my mission that I found I actually LOVE corned beef and don't mind the soup. Mr. Perfect LOVES the whole thing.

Well, this year we've been assigned to bring dessert. I promised my mom that I would make her a blueberry sour cream pie after making one for a Relief Society social a few months ago. Mr. Perfect suggested that we use a graham cracker crust instead of a standard pastry one. So, I researched and found an easy-peasy one online (thank you All Recipes!).

When it was time to pat the mix into the pie dish and "create" the crust, I handed it over to the man who suggested it. As you can see, he did a beautiful job.

(Please forgive him the slightly bug-eyed look. He was trying hard to not have his eyes closed while I took the picture.)

When talking with Little Big Sis, she did admit that she's not very fond of pie. Well, not fruit pies. She likes Jell-O pies, so I will also be taking a lime (it IS Saint Patrick's Day, after all) Jell-O pie. Also in a homemade graham cracker crust lovingly formed by Mr. Perfect.

Experimenting with pies

Tonight, the Relief Society activity is a pie exchange. Now, I love making pies. And Mr. Perfect loves eating pies I've made. His favorite is fresh peach. However, to make a fresh peach pie at this time of year would take a couple of weeks of planning (to find fresh peaches and give them time to ripen) and money (to pay for said peaches). So that left pumpkin, apple, or mincemeat to be truly seasonal.

Well, I do have fresh processed pumpkin in my fridge awaiting packaging for the freezer, but I wasn't in the mood for pumpkin (it's not my favorite). Plus, I haven never made a pumpkin pie, and I've heard it's challenging to make it with fresh pumpkin. I didn't want to show up at the party with a pie that would make the sisters in the ward pat me on the head, click their tongues, and pity my husband.

I've made several really good apple pies (according to others who have eaten them). I love apple pie, and I love making apple pie. However, this time of year, who isn't making apple pie? It just wasn't original enough for my Relief Society baking debut. (The cookies were for the Primary children, not their moms.) Is that too prideful of me? Probably. I have never claimed to be perfect.

I'm not even going to discuss mincemeat. I know my mom loves it, but really...

I didn't go hunting on the internet for a new pie recipe, but I did find one. And even though I wasn't up for experimenting with fresh pumpkin on my sweet T'ville 9th Ward sisters, I will experiment with Blueberry Sour Cream. I found this recipe on Jamie Cooks It Up. After the cutting and consuming tonight, I will post it on my cooking blog.

So, wish me luck.

I have discovered...

Pie is a great way to teach a Family Home Evening lesson on the Plan of Salvation. It looks cool and tastes great!

(Just in case you are wondering, it's peach pie with a sun, moon, and star on it.)

A request for pie information

I had a request for the peach pie recipe. I usually post these things on my cooking blog, but I didn't actually blog this pie. Kind of sad, I know. The pie crust recipe is there, though.

So, here's the recipe (which I got from Cooks.com):

Ingredients:

5 C sliced peaches (yes, please peel first)

3/4 C sugar

3 Tbl flour

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Dash of salt

2 Tbl butter

1 unbaked pie shell 9" and top crust for pie

Combine sugar, flour, spice and salt. Add this to the fresh peaches and mix lightly. Pour this into the unbaked pie shell and dot with butter. Top the pie with strips of crust. Crimp edges. Bake in hot oven 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until brown. Serve warm with ice cream or whipping cream.

Here's a picture of the flaky, flaky crust:

Mr. Perfect's reward

Mr. Perfect's favorite pie is fresh peach. I made a couple last year, and he became an instant convert to the joys of warm peach pie with vanilla ice cream.

We have joined a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets. On Saturday our baskets included five beautiful peaches. On Tuesday, I made the most amazingly perfect pie crust dough. I don't expect it to happen again, so I don't mind bragging about it a little right now. Well, as amazing as it was to roll out, it was even more amazing to eat. Flaky, flaky, flaky. Did I mention it was flaky? The secret really is lard. I know it sounds gross. I know it looks gross. I know that Mrs. Obama would fine me for feeding anything made with it to children. I don't care. Lard makes the best pie crusts. Hands down.

This will not be the last peach pie this year. I've already promised at least two more. It's okay; it's one of my favorites, too.

(P.S. It's a sun on the pie, not a peach.)

I have discovered

The perfect pie crust. When I made the dough this morning, I was a little worried. It seemed way too sticky. But this afternoon, when I went to make the pie, it rolled out beautifully! I am a happy girl.

Another random pie sighting

Mr. Perfect's favorite pie flavor (for the moment) is peach. Right now, peaches are "on" in Utah, so I decided to research a good fresh peach pie recipe and try making one from scratch, including the crust. I know, I know. I had a bit of a mental breakdown the last time I made pie crust. But this time I was armed with fresh flour and the knowledge that I did finally make a good crust for the apple pie last Thanksgiving.

Well, this one only took one batch of crust (huzzah!) and three large peaches. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of the huge fruit, but I do have pictures of the finished product. We took it to the cabin to share with Dad and Mom P and Painter Extraordinarie, Little Big Sis, and the three Genius Children.

None of the pie lasted the evening.

First pie (it's apple, which isn't random)

My first attempt at crust ended up in the garbage can, but this one worked!!! No pie was left to testify.