This Topic Concerns Pie

@LeviOhPlz Pusheen and pie

That being said, I want to get more into making homemade pies.

Especially this one:

/youtube threadbanger pie face

@RiotDemon Love these! I don’t like those fruits but I want to make those pies.

@daveinwarsh Yeah home made crust tends to be SO MUCH BETTER than that thick store bought stuff. My grandmother’s pie crust recipe is fantastic too.

@Kidsandliz YES! The crust is just as important as the filling. My wife has perfected a crust over many many decades. She also uses butter in it, resting the dough in the freezer for a time. She chills everything before quickly doing her magic in the kitchen. How it’s done is just as important as the ingredients I guess. I love pie.

@tinamarie1974 I do enjoy both of those. Never thought to mix them.

@tinamarie1974 I haven’t made one, but I’ve eaten a homemade one at a family event. Probably my favorite seasonal pie!

@Targaryen @tinamarie1974 My brother mixes them and dumps bourbon into the mix. Way too over the top sweet for me–gotta serve it with vanilla ice cream to cut the sweetness, but it is a family favorite.

Targaryen, try adding a 1/3 cup of rolled oats to your nut crumb mixture. It’ll add to the crunch.

@tinamarie1974 I love choc pecan pie too. Did you know Cracker Barrel makes them (from scratch) during the holidays? Nov. 1 thru Xmas Eve.

@moonrayz6 seriously? I HAD NO IDEA!!! I may have to try it to see if it can replace my pie…the work it would save me!!

@mehcuda67 Dried cow pies are fun to throw and depending on how they dry can behave as frisbees. Although on my grandmother’s farm they were viewed as garden fertilizer, almost all the grandkids had a different perspective.

@Kidsandliz I remember as a kid, hearing stories about settlers using dried cow pies to cook their food. All I could think was, “I wonder how that food and camp smelled. I guess I shouldn’t complain about eating vegetables for dinner.”

@mehcuda67 Actually, if I recall correctly, dried cow pies don’t have much of an odor (we never tired to burn them though). It is just what they are that is more or less gross. Of course as kids we weren’t all that concerned about “dirt”. I mean we were walking and swimming in water (stream and pond) that cows also pee’d and pooped in too, not to mention slobbered in when they’d drink. We were more concerned, as kids, about the blue gill? fish (not especially edible) that would bite our toes.

@ybmuG what does rhubarb taste like?

@RiotDemon Chicken

@ybmuG

@RiotDemon @ybmuG
/giphy har har har

@RiotDemon @ybmuG It’s actually kinda bland by itself, a tart flavor needing lots of sugar (or Strawberries) to flavor it.
Rhubarb is good because it’s about the very first thing in Springtime that is fresh and you can cook desserts with. That mattered a lot back in the good 'ol days.

@RiotDemon @ybmuG Raw rhubarb is extremely tart - it’s not something you would generally eat raw. Even dipped in sugar, eating it raw is still too tart. It must be cooked in the sugar for that magic sweet / sour rhubarb taste to emerge… and when it does emerge, it’s unforgettable! Rhubarb is my favorite pie - mixed with berries is fine, but just plain is better. Rhubarb can also be cooked up as a sweet side dish to a meal… I expect you could google a recipe for it quite easily. And, as a restaurant/bar owner, I infuse some of my vodka with rhubarb every spring… it turns a beautiful shade of pink and has a distinctive tartness. Add some mulled strawberry’s and some sugar - pour over ice into a sugar-rimmed glass - and you’ve got a kick-ass Rhuberry vodka shot! And a little soda and you’ve got a delightful rhuberry vodka fizz. Yum yum!

@c00leen @RiotDemon @ybmuG There are some good rhubarb-strawberry jams I source from a family farm in the UP that work for me.

@Kidsandliz Formula for the area of a pie with radius z: pi*z*z=a

@Targaryen sounds delicious. Let us know how it goes and maybe share a recipe?

@RiotDemon I’ll do my best, I didn’t see anything like it online but what is baking if you aren’t experimenting?

@Targaryen general guidelines works for me. If you think you used 12 apples and like 4 spoons worth of spices as an example.

I don’t think it’s as crucial as a cake recipe.

@Targaryen this kind of makes me regret not buying the apple peeler/corer I saw at the flea market. Maybe I’ll go Sunday and pick one up. They had a ton.

@RiotDemon Not a bad idea. That kind of contraption would be useful.

@Targaryen I think they had them for around $6-10.

/image apple peeler slicer

@RiotDemon @Targaryen those things are great, a lot of fun and useful especially if you have an apple tree (or your neighbor does).

@RiotDemon @Targaryen Here’s a good demo on how to use those more efficiently.

@RiotDemon @stolicat @Targaryen Love my johnny apple peeler! Highly recommend it.
This is my current favorite apple crumble pie recipe but I buy the crust:
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/apple-crumble-pie/

@Targaryen @tweezak the one I’m looking at is a knockoff and would likely explode at the first few turns of the drill. I’m hoping it’ll make it through a few pies though.

@RiotDemon @stolicat @Targaryen We use our peeler a lot (have 3 apple trees). The fork on the end that holds the apple broke after a while, but I was pleased to find replacement parts on Amazon.
My son makes an incredible apple pie (including double crust from scratch) and it has become a tradition for him to make one for Thanksgiving. Looking forward to a big warm slice topped with melty vanilla ice cream when he comes home in a couple weeks!

@duodec this will be the first year that I’m not cooking Thanksgiving dinner in many years. It feels weird. I’m going to someone’s house where there will be about 25 other people. I asked if I could bring something and they already have so much stuff I’m only going to be making deviled eggs.

I guess I’ll be making the staple sides for Christmas instead.

I might still make a pie just for me, my brother and his girlfriend because it’ll be strange not having mom’s pumpkin pie at dinner.

@duodec @RiotDemon you should make the pie. You will find it comforting.

@RiotDemon @tinamarie1974 Definitely make the pie. We have family heritage recipes for sides, but not for pies, so store bought has always been acceptable. The stuffing/dressing we have every year is my Mom’s, and the yam dish is my wife’s Grandma’s recipe.

@duodec @RiotDemon @tinamarie1974 I’m intrigued by the idea of apple-cranberry… were might need to start a recipe swap…

@amehzinggrace @RiotDemon @tinamarie1974
Actually the apple-cranberry was store bought at a local restaurant supply store (Gordons Food Service); they no longer carry that brand but I’ve seen apple-cranberry pies at better grocery stores since then.

Those first pies were wonderful. Those we tried lately are not quite as good but its still a wonderful flavor combination.

@amehzinggrace @duodec @RiotDemon @tinamarie1974 I haven’t had apple-cranberry, but one of my favorites is homemade cran-peach pie.

@duodec @msklzannie @RiotDemon @tinamarie1974 That sounds tasty too…gotta recipe or should i just google?

@amehzinggrace @duodec @RiotDemon @tinamarie1974

@pooflady you do if you come to my family’s house…we make enough for 20+ ppl I swear…abundance of food at thanksgiving is a side effect when there’s multiple chefs in the family…they will do 3 turkeys just to have it three different ways…smoked…fried…and regular oven baked…all for 7-10ppl…can you say overkill?

@amehzinggrace @pooflady There can never be overkill on leftovers. Leftovers justify all that work! Turkey/turkey club sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey on noodles… slabs of turkey with gravy… ahhh…

My Dad used to cook one turkey the day before Thanksgiving, then Mom did another Thanksgiving Day, both in the oven. The Thanksgiving Eve turkey was broken down into meal size packets and frozen, two separate stocks were made after Thanksgiving from the carcasses. These were 18-22 pound birds. That was after they stopped going to family Thanksgiving elsewhere so it was the two of them and a couple of neighbors, who also got to take some leftovers.

I keep trying to talk my wife into getting two birds, or one big one, but so far no go…

@amehzinggrace @duodec Since the majority of us prefer dark meat, I roasted 10 turkey thighs yesterday, husband picked the meat off, and I froze it for Thanksgiving Part II. We’re going to a raffle at the American Legion Friday and I’m hoping for two turkeys for Part II. That will give me 14 thighs and two breasts. Also have four thighs in the freezer because you can’t find them for most of the year. Also hoping for one ham for Christmas Part II.

@cf1 my dad makes Chess pie. I am not a fan, but he seems to like it

@Kidsandliz And the recipe for that pie crust would be…? Hand it over, and no one gets hurt.
The cookies & whipped cream dessert sounds like a zebra cake

@LaVikinga I’ll have to dig around to find it. My entire life at the moment is confined to 2 rooms and a storage unit. No idea were it is stashed although I do know it is in a white index card box. And yes Zebra cake. I had no idea what it was called. Only that it was good and when we were kids it was a major treat.

@Kidsandliz If you can find the chocolate wafer cookies, this is one of the easiest desserts to make especially for kids. Layering it in a casserole dish makes it even easier.

@LaVikinga
OK I found it. Be aware that all amounts are approximate and this makes a bunch of pie crusts. Looking at the recipe I think why I like it is that it is rolled out really thin and so the crust does a really nice job of absorbing the fruit juice from fruit pies.

Quoting exactly from the photocopy of what someone in the generation above me wrote down when measuring what my grandmother threw in the mixing bowl. Includes her commentary:

6 c. sifted enriched flour. Sift first then measure.
3 t. salt (add that to the flour as you sift it)
2 c. shortening - like crisco

Mix all together using clean! fingers until it looks like little crumbs of peas or smaller size. Store in an air tight jar like a peanut butter jar in the ice box.

To make pie - put 2-3 cups into a bowl and add COLD water - about 5-6T. Sprinkle the water across all of it, don’t just dump it in the middle. Mix with a fork. Too much water and it will stick to everything. Too little and it will fall apart. Judge it by how it looks and feels (my note - it doesn’t look wet but when you touch it it doesn’t really stick to your fingers once the water is fully mixed in). Handle as little as possible or it will be tough.

Push to make balls the size of a fist. Roll out thin. Be careful how much flour you put on the table and put on the rolling pin. You want just enough it doesn’t stick. Too much and it will taste terrible and be too dry.

Fold in half and lift into the pie tin. If baking the empty pie crust put fork holes all over so it doesn’t bubble up.

Fill the pie and then put the top on. Cut off the excess and save. Crimp the edges. Then cut slits radiating out.

Then if you want to brush on a tiny, tiny bit of melted butter to help it brown nicely. For some kinds of pies you might not want to do this. Depending on the pie sprinkle on a tiny bit of sugar on the crust. This is especially good with apple pie. Cook until done at 400 degrees.

Take the cut off pieces and lay then out next to each other with edges touching. Tear pieces to fill holes. Make maybe 1-2 passes with the rolling pin. Put in left over filling and roll up. Give that to the children when it comes out of the oven to keep them from picking at the pie. Not worth eating that yourself as it will be too tough. Just don’t tell the children.

===========
So there you have it. Still pretty open ended. Probably nothing super special but I like it - especially when fruit pie juice from baking is soaked into it. My impression is that one of the big keys is handling it and rolling it as little as possible along with having just the right mix of water and flour used to keep everything from sticking when rolling. Also making the crust thin.

@Kidsandliz Oh, my goodness! Thank you for posting this. I think the best part of the entire recipe is making the tidbit treats with the leftover bits for the children!
You know, there’s a sub on reddit, r/Old_Recipes, that would adore seeing this recipe–ESPECIALLY the actual photocopy.
I’m busy looking for some small pie pans. I want larger than 4 or 5 inch mini pie pans, more like 7 inch if I can track them down.

@LaVikinga And as a child I loved eating those fresh from the oven. Especially if we could convince an adult to let us have ice cream with it. if not then I’d dip it in milk.

I have photos of a bunch of much older recipes as the box ended up with a cousin (box belonged to a relative born in 1896). I took photos of the ones my mom was saying, “I remember this. That was good”… I am not on reddit much though.The side comments on some of them are a riot. None tell you what temperature. Many only vaguely tell you what to do with the ingredients. It was presumed you’d know what to do if your mother trained you well. If not, well then you’d better have a servant to do the cooking for you.

@Kidsandliz That’s why the sub is so great. There are people who can figure out how to “work” the recipe. I have to laught at some of the younger posters who talk about finding a “very old recipe of their grandmothers from the early 70/80s.”
Child, I have sweaters from the late 70s! Knock that “very old” ish off!
Every once in awhile there will be a trend to try out recipes from the early half of the 20th century that someone has found in a women’s magazine. The most recent one was a mustard gelatin ring.

@LaVikinga In the same vein I’ve had online college students who have said that everyone over 40 needs to retire so that there are jobs for the younger people and they have a chance at the good jobs. I ask them if they are willing to support those folks for the next 40-60 or more years since they would no longer have a job.

@Kidsandliz @LaVikinga
And how, exactly, do you think Social Security works today?

@LaVikinga @mike808 But not for 40-60 years for most people. And the folks who get it, with a few exceptions, at least pay into it for a bunch of years. Of course many live longer than when the forumla for payout was first figured out and get more payout than what they put in - but at least most of them work 22 years longer under the current system than the one the student proposed.

@Kidsandliz @LaVikinga This is very similar to my Mom’s recipe also handed down through the family. I was taught to use two butter knives instead of clean fingers. Cut the Crisco through the flour and salt until pea sized. Sprinkle 3/4 of the cold water and mix in. Add more water until it is “the right consistency”. If it is too sticky (too much water) add a little more flour. Do not mix too much. Form balls and roll out. You should see the crisco patterned in the crust. For the top crust, we used a knife to make designs before putting on the pie. You can also cut in strips for a lattice top. Excess dough was eaten raw, cooked with sugar on top or mini pies made for us kids. I start with the ingredients for one pie and double when I need more.

Dug out my notes. 2 cups flour, 1/3 cup shortening, 8 to 10 tablespoons cold water and a dash of salt. Makes one crust so double if you need bottom and top. Mom always made many pies at a time and I talked her into showing me how to do 1 or 2 pies instead of 5 or 10.

@speediedelivery Ever use lard instead of shortening? And for the extra dough, baking with sugar and cinnamon is great!

@ybmuG Never tried lard. We did use cinnamon though.

@speediedelivery yes the add more water or flour until “right” is so common in those recipes. Have another one for kuchen that is the same way - add enough until the spoon stands up straight and it “looks right”.

@ybmuG - I am sure lard was used back when these recipes were first used many generations back because crisco (looking it up) wasn’t “invented” until 1911. The sugar and cinnamon with extra dough was also done if there was no pie filling left or just pie shells were being baked for chocolate cream pie or something like that.

@Kidsandliz @speediedelivery @ybmuG My Gran used one of three methods for cutting the fat into the flour: two knives, a fork, or a pastry cutter. Pastry cutters are a frustration for me. I split the difference and you a knife & fork, or the food processor.

I’m a fan of using butter, or lard. If it’s a sweet pie, I’ll add a bit of sugar to the dough. I have my best success with the processor & ice cold butter method, with limited water, and a rest in the refrigerator for an hour or two. Pâte Brisée It allows the dough to absorb the water and seems to give it a better flake.

The last time I made a pie, I used this recipe for sour cream pie crust. It was pretty darned good and I may try it again for my pecan & apple pies next week.

@LaVikinga @speediedelivery @ybmuG I forgot about the fridge part of the family recipe since it wasn’t written down - you were just expected to know. Just like at what temperature to bake it. The first part of the pie dough would be made in the morning and put in the fridge. Then the water added and the pie rolled out no earlier than mid afternoon.

@ybmuG wwwhhhhaaaaa. I have never heard of grape pie!

@tinamarie1974 Oh Yeessss. It’s definitely a Finger Lakes NY kind of thing as we have a lot of wineries around here. Best if they are concord grapes. They typically just come out at this time of the year. I will admit they are a little on the sweet side (see my other pie preferences) but as a once a year thing I do look forward to them.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12289/concord-grape-pie-i/

@tinamarie1974 @ybmuG I’m from the PA/New York area. Not really fond of grape pie, but I could sit and eat bunches of Concord grapes. But you have to know how to eat them. You squeeze the meat into your mouth and swallow. You don’t ever put the skin in your mouth and you don’t chew. Long before they had mechanical grape pickers, I picked grapes after school.

@tinamarie1974 @ybmuG Are the wineries around there the ones producing kosher wines for Mogen David and Manischewitz?
To my (limited) knowledge, those are mostly the only wines using Concord grapes.

@Limewater @tinamarie1974 Not sure. The connection was not the wine but that the Finger Lakes area is great grape country, thus a lot of wineries, AND that it is where grape pies are popular.