Category Archives: Berry Pie

The Love of my Life

30 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by in Berry Pie, Chocolate Pie, Cream Pie, Nut Pie

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….is not pie. It is my husband, Levi.

We’ve been married for three years today. Three whole years! It’s both hard and easy to believe.

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If you’ve read the “Why Pie?” section of my blog, you already know that I received my now well-worn Pie cookbook as a wedding present. What you may not know is that Levi and I opted have pies instead of a wedding cake…much to the initial chagrin of my very traditional Italian relatives. (Although I happened to look through my Nana’s wedding album shortly after our wedding and discovered that she and Pop-Pop had a big heaping platter of Italian cookies instead of cake at their wedding. Needless to say, I drew her attention to this incriminating fact!)

Our reasoning for this decision went something like this:

1. We really like pie.

2. We don’t like wedding cake.

3. Wedding pie it is.

A decision that was less easy to make was, “What KIND of pie should we have?” So we had five kinds. Pecan, Berry Medley, Key Lime, Chocolate Chiffon, and Coconut Cream. Something for everyone. (If you were in attendance, what kind of pie did you choose? If you weren’t, which one would you pick today, three years later?)

Levi and I sampled every pie, I’m not ashamed to say. Each was as wonderful as the last, just as the years of our marriage have been. Three years later, I’d still pick you, Levi. You’re my favorite, favorite one, my very best friend, the love of my life. Happy Anniversary.

(Professional photographs taken by the incredible Elisabeth Millay. Her blog is super gush-worthy.)

A Family Affair

05 Saturday May 2012

Posted by in Berry Pie

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Lucky for me that most everyone I’m related to (which is a very, very large number of people) enjoys eating pie. My parents, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, brother, husband…all pie eaters. In fact, I haven’t baked a pie in a couple weeks now, and yesterday I was given a joint ultimatum by my brother and husband that if I don’t put a pie on their table by tomorrow night, they are going to go BUY A PIE AT MARIE CALLENDER’S AND EAT IT. Ack!!!!!! Treason!!!!!! Needless to say, I’ll be baking later on.

When I was in New Jersey last month, I enlisted some friends-and-relations to help me try out a couple more of Ken’s recipes. Inspired by the delicious looking blueberry pie I’d seen at Lovin’ Oven and (as always) by the cuteness of mini pies, I wanted to make Junior Blueberry Crumb Pies.

First, I made and refrigerated the cream cheese pastry. Cream cheese makes everything better.

My cousin Daniel apparently had little to no trouble rolling the pastry out, even with a cockatiel on his shoulder. Talent.

Once the pieces of pastry were flattened to our liking, my lovely cousin Leanna cut circles juuuust right for tiny pie crusts.

(Coco just watched and tried to eat the crumbs falling from the table.)

Meanwhile, I mixed up the blueberry filling and let it juice.

Dry ingredients stand by.

Nana was put in charge of pie assembly.

Checking to ensure that the tops are as crumb-y as possible.

*1 hour LATER*

Voila!! Junior Blueberry goodness.

(Thank you to all of the helping hands…this one truly was a joint effort!)

Summers, Falls, Winters, and Springs

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

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I really miss seasons.

I know there are some who would argue, “But California does have seasons…they’re just different!” And they’d be right, technically. But, I must say that the vague, mild “springtime” of southern California is no substitute for the full resurrection glory that East Coasters experience yearly.

My parents are moving to Georgia. This is big news, as I’ve never known them to live in a house other than the one I grew up in. I’m sure most kids are somewhat attached to their houses, but I think I surpassed most. When I was about eight, I took a pencil and drew a square on the wall in my closet and pretended that it was a portal into a secret planet of my own creation. (The continent had several countries, including Girl Land, Starland, and Heartland….Heartland was the most important one, FYI.) Every time I heard rumors that we might move, I would write anxiously about the repercussions of this dreaded idea in my journal…journals…(I went through them pretty quickly.) The gist was that if we moved, some other inferior child would figure out how to enter my secret world!! Oh the indignity.

So now my parents really are moving, it looks like, and this may have been my last visit to the old house. Even though I’ve lived many other places (at least five) since moving out six years ago, it will still be a little bittersweet to hear that this house has been sold. I hope some other little girl can find magic there.

My mom and I made a pie with the last of the frozen raspberries from their harvest last summer. We didn’t need a recipe. We used an olive oil based crust, some honey, nutmeg, sugar, flour, and lemon juice.

Thanks, Mom, for all of the other long-since-eaten pies that have been made on this same little round table!

“hadn’t given it much thought

hadn’t been back here for a while

everything looks so small

seen through the memories of a child

who would dream and stare

from that second story window

that was my whole world,

it was all I knew

like the hull of a seed this old house cracked wide open

and I flew”

~Sara Groves, This House