Monthly Archives: May 2015

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

27 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in No-Bake Pie

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The question is on the table. For a million (imaginary) dollars, answer the following:

Which of the following is NOT found in Millionaire Pie?

A. Coconut

B. Pecans

C. Pineapple

D. Ice Cream

Oh never mind. I forgot to take away the sign.

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Although this no-bake pie does NOT contain ice cream, it does contain a goodly amount of cream cheese and whipped cream. Due to the simplicity of assembly, I made three of these for Sunday morning refreshments at church (one with a homemade graham cracker crust, the other with standard store-bought crusts. As Ken points out in the recipe notes for this pie, the intent here is to be quick and easy and sometimes I definitely see the wisdom in that.)

The above picture shows the crusts with just the main filling. Below you’ll see the finished pies, topped with whipped cream and pretty pecan halves. Voilà!

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For me, this pie absolutely fell into the category we refer to around here as “the weird ones”. I love to make fruit pies so much that when I have the opportunity to pick a new recipe from the cookbook for a particular occasion, Levi has started to tell me that I “really need to do one of the weird ones this time”. He’s right. This past year was perhaps the slowest yet in terms of my progression through Pie, but not the slowest in terms of overall pie production; I just need to remember to keep trying different things and moving forward. After all, with over 150 recipes left to choose from, it’s not like the pickins are all that slim. And really, I’m always delighted with the results of the “weird ones”. Millionaire Pie won’t make you wealthier, but it certainly has the potential to make you happier. (Unless of course you’re allergic to nuts or lactose intolerant, in which case obviously this is not the pie for you. Steeeer clear.) I loved the texture, the pineapple flavor, the whole delicious situation.

I’m very interested to hear if any of you have ever heard of/made/eaten Millionaire Pie before. I certainly hadn’t before being introduced to it in Pie. From what I’ve gathered, it probably hails from the convenience-food honeymoon period of the late 50’s or early 60’s, and maybe has Southern (Texan?) associations. To propose a reason for the name, Ken says, “perhaps it was fancied by some well-heeled Texas oilman”. (Or perhaps it’s Regis’ fave?) Please do leave a comment if you have any Millionaire pie encounters you can share!

Banoffee Pie?

24 Sunday May 2015

Posted by in No-Bake Pie

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Last week, I continued my seasonally appropriate blog posting with a pear pie I made for Christmas Eve. Today, I will be sharing some pictures from Christmas Day itself. It started out with early morning gifts and chats with Matt and Carmel, who had just arrived from Canada the night before. We were gearing up for a week and a half of incredibleness.

Here’s me loving my new Anthropologie rolling pin and pie plate from Levi. Beauty.

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These biffles unwittingly got each other whiskey stones. How adorable is that.

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After Obi unwrapped his new toy snowman, some serious bonding time ensued.

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He then absconded with the snowman to the top of the couch.

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As befitted her name, Carmel bestowed us with a trio of homemade caramel sauces.

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Later that evening, the Collisters joined the Gelineaus and Colbys to form possibly the first group of carolers Simi Valley has seen in 40 years (at least that’s what one of the neighbors told us, with teary eyes). We were largely greeted with excitement, cell phone videotaping, and wide-eyed little children, and decided that this was our new favorite Christmas activity—one that we hope to make a true tradition. Levi and I don’t have many of those yet, other than Christmas dinner Mexican-style. Tamales and tortilla soup all the way, baby.

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Now we get to the pie, which in fact stems from another Christmas tradition—maybe we have more of them than I originally thought.

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There’s a scene in Love Actually, our favorite Christmas movie, where Keira Knightley turns up with some Banoffee Pie in exchange for a wedding video filmed by her husband’s best man (aka guy who is hopelessly in love with her and secretly only filmed her throughout the entire wedding, leading to a rather awkward moment when said video is found and played.)

I’ve wanted to try Banoffee Pie since seeing this scene for the first time, even though there are jokes made on Keira’s character’s part that she has “terrible taste in pie”. I could not reconcile “terrible” with the ingredients in my cookbook’s version of this recipe…dulce de leche, bananas, cream, sugar, instant coffee. What could possibly go wrong there? The answer is, of course, nothing. Keira, you’re wrong-o.

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I followed Ken’s recipe precisely on this one and used prepared dulce de leche rather than making it from scratch. Turns out that Trader Joe’s has a very delicious jar of it, at least around the holidays. Joe never lets me down.

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*The screenshot was borrowed from this top-notch post on the same subject, which I highly recommend reading in its entirety. It includes a variant recipe for banoffee pie, history on where this pie originated, and some classic jokes about the zip-up turtleneck that features so prominently in the referred-to movie scene.

Mixed Feelings

20 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in Apple Pie

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It’s always a little bittersweet, baking pies for auction. I imagine it must feel like when painters sell their art; there is consolation in knowing that someone else will enjoy your creative work, but isn’t that joy sometimes mixed with the sentiment, “but…but…I want to keep it!”?

I’ll be honest, it’s borderline maddening when you’ve made your whole house smell like apples and caramel and cinnamon and know you aren’t getting a single bite.

It’s okay though. Really, it is. Not only did someone else (my super-fun 3rd grade student Sam’s uncle, Jeff) have the kindness to place the highest bid on this pie and support a wonderful school in the process, I got to bake it. And if that sounds like a paltry comfort, let me put it this way; if the only part of the pie-making process I cared about was the eating, I would have given up on this whole thing a long time ago. Baking and sharing are at least two-thirds the fun.

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Jeff requested an apple pie, and since he was open to a few tweaks on the old classic, I decided to start with a recipe I’d done once before in 2011 (it’s #56 in the gallery)…Liz Reiter’s All-Granny Slug-O-Bourbon Spiced Apple Pie. To that, I made a few more changes: a pink lady apple mixed in with the grannies, a pecan crumb topping, and a little bourbon pecan caramel sauce on top of THAT! (Caramel sauce made by the lovely Carmel, who you’ll meet in a post in the very near future.)

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I have a feeling you’ll be seeing a lot more of this beautiful craftsman cutting board that we recently bought from Karveware, our good friend Jamil’s company. All of their boards are fully made from end-grain wood pieces (scratch-resistant, as they’re self-healing), fitted together to create what almost looks like a wooden mosaic. I’m loving having enough space to chop everything I need for pie/dinner/etc. on my extra-large board. If you’re interested in getting one for yourself, scroll down to the bottom of the page and send me an email, and I’d be happy to get you more details. (Mental note: maybe I’ll post a Karve giveaway someday when I’m a full-time blogger and have more time to generate interest and amass followers and that sort of thing…)

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Here’s the finished product, and as I alluded to before, the smell coming out of the oven towards the end of the hour it baked was just mean. Cruel. 

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I heard tell that this boozy pie may have been destined for Jeff’s bachelor party (he’s getting married soon!) Here’s hoping it was a big hit. And thanks again, Jeff, for supporting a great group of kids.

Pears of Yore

19 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Pear Pie

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Why have I not posted for two months? Why have I not posted the pies I made for CHRISTMAS when it’s MAY?!

These are the burning questions that I constantly struggle with.

I made the delightful Streusel-Topped Pear Pie with Walnut Crust last Christmas Eve. Levi’s family has a get-together on that night and I’ve brought pies to the celebration for as long as I’ve been grafted into the Sommerville clan…Pear and Fig with a Pine Nut Crust and Chocolate Cream with Cinnamon Meringue were last year’s stars. Dried Cranberry and Walnut Pie the year before that…

I love it when pies have secret ingredients.

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Yes, very often “secret ingredient” is synonymous with liquor. After adding this pear brandy to the pie, we sipped it alongside the finished product and it was not at all a bad plan.

Nutty Pie Pastry made with walnuts…check. IMG_5267

Christmas Eve Morning Piefie…check. IMG_5268

Along with brandy, these pears are tossed in lemon, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt and are warmly luminescent in the morning light.

(Sometimes I just make up flowery sentences to see if you’re still paying attention.)IMG_5269

The pears are topped with what Ken calls a “blond streusel” which basically just means it has none of the dark ingredients that often make it into a pie topping (brown sugar, cinnamon…) and all of the white ones (cream, butter, white sugar, you know, all the healthiest food groups. If you know me you know I have no fear of the butter.)

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What’s next??

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What a trick! That’s not a pie, that’s a baby nephew on his first Christmas!

Here’s the pie, in all it’s pear-ish resplendence. I’d heartily recommend trying this recipe at any time of year. IMG_5277