Living The Pie Life

Don’t blink as you drive west on Chicago Avenue in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago.  If you do your likely to miss Hoosier Mama Pie Company, and that would be a shame.  Located in a tiny storefront just west of Ashland,  Hoosier Mama bakes a substantial variety of delicious pies.  Mrs. Pie Dude and I visited there on a recent Saturday afternoon and fell in love with the place.  From a real estate standpoint, there is not much to look at.  The shop is not much more than fifteen feet wide.  A raised  booth for four sits in the…

     I have been working on this recipe for close to a year, tweaking it in different ways and believe I have created the ultimate pastry crust.  Debates always emerge over what type of fat to use: shortening, lard, butter, or some combination of the three.  My crust is mostly lard with a little butter added for flavoring.       My choice of lard reflects the fact that of the three it has the highest melting level, i.e it remains solid at a higher temperature than either shortening or butter.  This is important because of the role fat plays in producing a…

Lately my pie baking has taken some diverse turns.  I’ve created a traditional Key Lime Pie.  I’ve turned tradition inside out with an Apple Chile Pie.  I’ve created a hybrid Oatmeal Pecan Cookie Pie. Then there is the novelty Drunk Peeps Pie. Key Lime is a classic pie, and a favorite of many people.  Part of the charm of this pie lies in the citrusy flavor, part in the light texture  of a slice melting in your mouth.  For me, Key Lime Pie is best enjoyed on a cold Milwaukee winter day.  It calls forth images of tropical breezes, sandy beaches, and warm salt…

One of my favorite memories from childhood was the sound of the ice cream truck making its way through our neighborhood.  Sure, it played Turkey in the Straw over and over and over again, but it still got my juices flowing.  My friends and I would race into our houses saying “Mom!  The ice cream man is here.  Can I have a quarter?” More often than not Mom would indulge me and off I would run to catch up to the truck. This is where the real problem began:  what to choose?  There were so many delicious treats on board…

Winter in Wisconsin is not a good time for fruit pie baking.  Unless you are a canner of fruits there are no locally grown fruits available, and the market price for fruit is often way too high to justify.  This makes winter the perfect time for baking nut pies.  Nuts aren’t necessarily cheap, but they are a tasty alternative to imported or canned fruits. With this in mind I offer four nut pies for winter bakers:  Chocolate Pecan Whiskey Pie, Toasted Coconut Macadamia Pie, Pear Walnut and Blue Cheese Pie, and Pine Nut Pie. I am not a big fan of…

In the 1990s TV show Twin Peaks FBI agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle McLachlan had a fondness for cherry pie and a “damn fine cup of coffee.”  Many people share this love of pie and java, so why not combine them and put your coffee into your pie?  This thought recently led me to two beverage inspired caffeinated pies: Peppermint Mocha Pie and White Russian Pie. While waiting for my order my local Panera, I was looking over the menu and saw a Peppermint Mocha Latte on the menu.  Why not pie?  So I went home and created one, beginning with…

Happy New Year!   If you have been reading this blog you know that I am in the midst of a project called 52 Weeks of Pie, during which I bake a new pie every week.  I began this in July of last year, so I’m now half way through the 52 weeks.  Back in June when I formed the idea, I had no inkling that 2011 would come to be know as The Year of The Pie.  I just love pie, and wanted to try as many types of pie as I could. You too may have noticed all the buzz…

This week I have two pies with Christmas written all over them: Maple Pecan Upside Down Pie and Chocolate Chess Pie. The pecan pie has two noteworthy qualities.  First, using maple syrup in place of corn syrup adds a woodsier flavor to the filling which is a nice complement to the nuttiness of the pecans.  To my taste buds, corn syrup is just too sweet.  Real maple syrup may be pricier, but it is well worth it.  Second, the pie is served upside down which make it both fun and appropriate for Christmas.  Slicing into an upside down pie is…

With Thanksgiving just a week away, I have been giving a lot of thought as to what pies to prepare for the holiday meal. Truth be told, I have also been receiving a lot of suggestions from family on the same topic. I’ve also been thinking about what the meal means to those who partake, and how it symbolizes the connectedness of families across generations. The Thanksgiving meal, including the dessert, poses some interesting issues. For many families the holiday is a time to celebrate tradition. Grandma’s recipe for stuffing, for example, may be the only option. To consider a…

Well, Mrs. Pie Dude and I were feeling the need to get away for a long weekend, and a pie road trip to Door County seemed to be just the right thing.  So we loaded up the SUV and went in search of the best that the cherry capital of Wisconsin has to offer. It’s a little late in the season now and many shops and eateries were closing for the season, but we did find several worthy places.  Our first stop was at Sweetie Pies bakery, located just south of Fish Creek.  First established in 1995 by Susan Croissant (yes that’s her…