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Seven days without a pie…

makes one weak!
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In an unusual move, I’m not baking this week.

I have some plans with my dear husband both to celebrate and console him through a significant birthday milestone (50!).

On Monday, the day I usually send out my “Pie Message”, I had that achy sensation that comes from breaking a habit. All day long, I kept asking myself what I had forgotten to do.

By Tuesday, I felt the need to clarify my lack of pie email, so I sent out a little message to explain– and then I felt much better.

I’ll be back next week with more pies, stories, and recipes to share!

My Pies Have Weekend Plans

Snickerdoodle Pie -- Photography by Diane & Doug Russell
Snickerdoodle Pie — Photography by Diane & Doug Russell

What do you have planned for the weekend ahead? My pies have places to go and people to see. A few that I’ve been tipped off about include:

  • Being a guest at a dinner party
  • Surprising a sweetheart with her favorite pie
  • Refreshments at Green Wood Coffee House, a live folk music venue in Ann Arbor
  • Going Up North
  • Shared among officemates
  • Saying thank you for doing a great job

… and who knows what else.

Pies made and shared with love can do amazing things!

Fresh Blueberry Rhubarb Pie captures the flavors of spring, with Recipe

Blueberry Rhubarb Pie, photography by Diane & Doug Russell
Blueberry Rhubarb Pie, photography by Diane & Doug Russell

Last summer, I came across a reference to a Blueberry Rhubarb Pie, and I wanted to make one right away. Unfortunately, rhubarb season was long gone. Rhubarb is really best in spring in Michigan; the heat makes it less desirable by high summer.

So I had been dreaming of trying out this fruit combination since then. The fresh flavor of the combination was worth the wait.

My testers liked it too. A rhubarb fan called this a “very grown-up” pie. Another tester who is not fond of rhubarb noted that the berries’ “redemptive qualities extended to the rhubarb.”

Blueberry Rhubarb Pie with Crumble Top

Ingredients:
2 cups rhubarb, rinsed & sliced
2 cups blueberries, rinsed & picked over
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch, whisked with 1/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon of orange zest
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Method:
Combine ingredients and mix well.

Turn into pastry lined pan. Crimp edge.

Top with crumble mixture.

Bake at 400F for 50-60 minutes.

From a sweet little fan across the ocean

The Little Family, as we affectionately call our son, his wife and their daughter, are living overseas for the year. The brilliant and hard-working Lyssa received a Fulbright Fellowship, and she is teaching English at the University of Warsaw. The Little Family has settled in and done well this year.

Skype has been a real life-saver, allowing us to chat with the Little Family. We can have a lengthy serious and/or silly conversation with all of them and catch up on the news while Emma and Grandpa make faces at each other.

Last month, Emma showed us the pictures she’d drawn for us.

Gma Gpa Emma

This one says she loves us. Note my fashionable side ponytail and glasses, and Grandpa’s impressive beard.

I love pie by Emma

In this picture, Emma declares her love of PIE as well. She loves us and sends us kisses and hugs.

I have plenty of hugs and kisses stored up for her, upon her return. And I promise there will be plenty of pie as well.

Pie Angel

Pie Angel by Willow Tree

My mother-in-law collected angels. She had a set of shelves to display her collection of several dozen angels of different shapes, sizes and composition, and when she moved from her house to an apartment, the angel collection was one of the items that had to come along. Mom loved this collection and loved the gifts her friends brought to add to her shelves.

After Mom passed away 3 years ago, we thought about what to do with her collections of angels and also teacups and teapots. Keeping another person’s collection is a daunting prospect, especially when those items are added to one’s own sizable belongings. Although it may not have been Mom’s idea to break up the collections, we wanted to share our good memories of Mom with those who loved her too.

First we asked our children what they would like to have, and they selected pieces that they wanted to keep in memory of their grandmother. Then we reached out to friends and relatives and asked if they might like a teacup or angel to remind them of Mom. Many of them did. I packaged up a teacup or angel from the collection and sent them on their way. The recipients appreciated the pieces we gave them or mailed to them. Although it wasn’t an easy project, the task gave me joy to do and peace to complete.

Sometimes we look at a collection of items and don’t see the individual parts. Going through the angels and teacups to sort them out, I discovered the Pie Angel pictured above. I had not previously noticed her sitting on the shelf with all of the other angels; she hadn’t stood out to me then.

When I saw her, the Pie Angel felt like a messenger sent to me. I was launching my pie business, and this angel seemed to embody the sense of hospitality and sharing that I want to incorporate into the pies I make. Each pie is like a gift, made for someone and made to share. I’ve kept the Pie Angel to remind me of someone dear who was always generous to me and to remind me to keep a generous heart.

Boterkoek, with research and recipe

Boterkoek or Dutch Butter Cake
My friend Janet wrote to ask how the Boterkoek had gone over with local pie lovers. I reported that it had done well indeed. I made several for customers and an “extra” one for sharing samples with friends. Some tasters liken it to shortbread or marzipan, but I really think it’s a unique taste and texture among desserts.

One Boterkoek went to a women’s group meeting; one of the members is a holocaust survivor who had spent part of her childhood in Amsterdam and has a fondness for all things Dutch. She liked the Boterkoek, although it wasn’t the same as the one in her memories.

The range of recipes for what counts as Boterkoek was something that struck me in my internet research on the topic.

I had a recipe in my file, and I asked my friend Janet, a second-generation Dutch-Canadian, to review its authenticity. She stated that she thought of Boterkoek consisting of only flour, sugar, and butter, with a bit of almond extract.

Jan showed the recipe to her mother, who noted that even with the egg and baking powder in my recipe, it likely was “someone’s tradition”, even if it wasn’t Boterkoek exactly like she made it.

In research online, I found more varied and wide-ranging ingredients. Some cooks use vanilla, orange juice or zest, lemon juice or zest, cake flour, brown sugar, 3 eggs (!), milk, or almond paste. The variety of ingredients shows the range of creativity and ingenuity of bakers in different times and places, perhaps working with what they have on hand or pushing the boundaries of a recipe through experimentation.
Here is the recipe I like to use.

Boterkoek

Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter (really, it needs to be butter)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 egg, beaten; set aside 1 Tablespoon for finishing the surface
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
sliced almonds, optional but certainly a nice touch.

Method:
1. In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and almond extract.

2. Mix in the beaten egg, being sure to reserve 1 Tablespoon.

3. Mix the flour and baking powder together. Then add them to the other ingredients.

4. Gather the dough together and kneed lightly 3 or 4 times.

5. Spread the dough in a greased 9 inch pie pan. Wet the back of a spoon and use it to spread the dough evenly. Some bakers like to score the top of the dough with a knife or fork to create a diamond pattern.

6. Brush the reserved egg over the surface of the dough.

7. Sprinkle the surface with sliced almonds.

8. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. It will be firm to the touch but still soft on the inside.

This is a delicious, dense dessert that is best served in thin slices and enjoyed by many.

Berry Patrol or Watch out for the Birds!

Last summer was a disappointing season for Michigan fruits in many ways. We had a early warm spell followed by a killing frost that wiped out most of our Michigan apples. Our own teenage apple tree might have been ready to come into its own and produce a crop, but the weather made sure that didn’t happen.

To add insult to injury, in our gardens, our berries were also disappointing. The lovely Serviceberry (Saskatoon, Juneberry) tree next door was picked clean by the birds. We got nary a berry.

Our black raspberries also met with a too-similar fate. There weren’t many berry and they didn’t last long. The harvest was our smallest ever.

This year, I am full of hope that the fruit season will be much better for us humans. Although we had a frost night on Mother’s Day, May 11, sources say that there was no damage to the state’s apple crop. That’s great news– Michigan is the third largest apple-producing state in the US, and apples are a big part of our agricultural economy. Also, I love baking with Michigan apples.

I’m planning to be wilier about our small fruits too. I’m doing a daily check when I walk in the garden to chart the ripening process. The berry patches need some weeding, and I’ll be on standby to do some watering, depending on the weather. It may be a battle, but we will get some of the serviceberries and black raspberries this year. I hope to make pies with both of them, and I’ll post recipes and pictures too.

Fresh Rhubarb Harvest

Homegrown Rhubarb
Homegrown Rhubarb

This morning’s harvest of rhubarb– before being masterfully transformed into pie!

There’s something great about being able to turn plants that we grow into wonderful pies. It’s amazing that we get just a great rhubarb harvest even from our city-lot garden.

So far this season, I’ve baked Rhubarb, Strawberry Rhubarb, and Blueberry Rhubarb pies. I’m also planning to bake a Rhubarb Custard Pie and perhaps a Rhubarb Kuchen.

Here’s to more sunny days and more glorious rhubarb stalks!

What Pies Do on the Weekend

Homemade Cherry Crumb Pie
Cherry Crumb Pie, Photography by Diane & Doug Russell

What are you up to this weekend?

I have a few activities going on– but not as much as my pies have planned.  This weekend, pies I’ve made will be:

  • Going to a Kentucky Derby Party
  • Cheering up a mom
  • Being a surprise guest at a dinner party
  • Thanking someone for his time
  • Refreshments at Green Wood Coffee House, a live folk music venue in Ann Arbor
  • Thanking a teacher
  • Going to a wedding shower
  • Saying a sweet good-bye

… and who knows what else.

Pies can do amazing things!