Pie🥧Mama

The history of Pie, the mamas that served it and the recipes they share with generations to come!

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98 Degrees Outside but its less than 32 Degrees in my Tummy

Living in the Pacific Northwest, you will find that houses built pre 1990s were often not built with air conditioning.  However with climate changes, the weather has heated up to 98 ° today and even for a mama that endured living in the Las Vegas desert heat, and the Michigan lake humidity, it feels hot on a day like today. Our house happens to be a 1978 rambler, so while we have a couple of portable AC units, we still live in the past, and the best pie for today is one that can put a chill on things-- 

Frosty Freezer Pie! Ingredients:

1 package (8 ounces) Cream Cheese, softened

1 jar (7 ounces) Marshmallow Creme

2 cups Frozen Sherbet, softened

2 to 3 cups Whipped topping

1 prepared 9 inch Graham Cracker Crust 

Instructions: 1) In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and marshmallow creme until smooth. 2) Stir in sherbet. 3) Fold in whipped topping. 4) Pour into crust and freeze until firm. 5) Remove from the freezer 10-15 minutes before serving.

While the mama who originally created this pie didn’t mention it, I have added a couple of “value added” ingredients to my version from time to time. Like Sue Blow the recipe creator, I love the Orange Sherbet version and have added a small drained can of crushed pineapple to mine, and playing up on the marshmallow cream, I sprinkle the top with colored miniature marshmallows. That being said, my absolute favorite version of this pie will make any eater APE over GRAPE, because it uses Grape Sherbet and I garnish the top with some white chocolate shavings (instead of marshmallows). Everyone reading this should be making a resounding “GRAPE APE-GRAPE APE!” cry after hearing that.  If you can’t find Grape Sherbet in your local area, you might be adventurous enough to make your own Grape Sherbet using either a Kitchenaid Ice Cream Attachment for your mixer or a Cuisinart Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker. I personally have both, so I guess you could say mama’s house gets ahem- adventurous alot. heh-heh! Seriously though, I only have both because at one time, I was considering having an ‘ALL Kitchenaid kitchen’ and I already had the Cuisinart version. Call me impulsive if you must, but honestly I have never had to throw out or replace any Kitchenaid product I have owned, they are just great home products. That being said, both the Cuisinart Maker and the attachment, perform on the same premise with a bowl that you chill ahead of time, and neither need special freezer salt so I firmly support their 4.5- 5 Star reviews.  So whataya waitin for?!  Go now, make your family a Grape Ape Frosty Freezer Pie...  The next time mama sees ya, I wanna see some purple tongues! XOXO, mama!

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What do you call a dancing pie?

A Merengue Pie!  

And on that note, you should be able to figure out that mama’s recipe of the day has meringue... and ooo its a doozy! GRAPEFRUIT MERINGUE PIE

Ingredients:

1 Prebaked 9″ Pastry Pie Crust Shell

1 1/3 cups Granulated White Sugar, plus 6 Tblspns

6 Tblspns Arrowroot

2 cups Pink Grapefruit Juice (fresh squeezed if possible)

3/4 cup cold water

2 Tblspns Butter

4 Eggs, separated (reserving yolks for filling and whites for meringue)

1/4 tspn Cream of Tartar

Directions: 1)  Preheat oven to 350 ° F

2) In medium saucepan whisk, 1 1/3 cups of sugar with arrowroot. Combine with water, and grapefruit juice. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring continuously until mixture begins to bubble. Add Butter.

3) Temper egg yolks with a scant 1/2 cup of filling mixture, by whisking filling slowly into the yolks, then add yolk mixture into the pan of filling mixture. 

4) Bring filling mixture back to a boil, whisking continuously until thick. Pour into prepared pie crust.

5) In clean mixing bowl, mix egg whites with cream of tartar until soft foamy peaks build. Gradually add 6 tablespoons of sugar, until very stiff peaks form. 

6) Pipe the meringue onto pie, starting in center, working around in a circle until pie is covered to the outside edge and edges are sealed. 

7) Bake in preheated oven approximately 10 minutes, until meringue peaks are golden brown. Remove pie to a wire cooling rack for 1hr.  For best taste, followup by chilling pie in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. TIP:  Arrowroot and Corn Starch are similar thickening agents, so you can use the same amount of Corn Starch in place of Arrowroot if desired. 

Now go play a Carmen Miranda record or two , cause this pie will have you dancin too!

XOXO, mama

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Are ya a Drinker, or a Virgin?

Finishing off this week with two more pies to pucker your tongue with… If you are a “partying mama” step up to Bon Appetit’s bar and try their Frozen Lime Marguerita Pie…  Or if you are still trying to retain your angel wings, you can go virgin and choose a Classic Key Lime Pie  – its my favorite of the two and the same rings true to thousands of mama’s and their families nationwide. Either choice will be a fantastic touch to your weekend summer dinner! Classic Key Lime Pie Ingredients:

One Prepared 9 inch Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Two 14 ounce cans of Carnation Sweetened Condensed Milk

½ Cup Sour Cream

¾ Cup Fresh Squeezed Key Lime Juice

1 Tablespoon Grated Lime Zest

Whipped Cream Topping & Additional Lime Zest for Garnish

Directions: 1.Preheat oven 350 ° F 2. In large mixing bowl combine 3 cups of the canned Sweetened Condensed Milk with sour cream, key lime juice and 1 tablespoon Grated Lime Zest. (Using a hand whip works best.) 3. Pour pie filling into prepared pie crust 4. Place pie on cookie sheet and into hot over for 5-8 minutes being careful not to brown. You will begin to see small bubbles on top when pie is ready to come out of oven.  5. Chill pie for 90 minutes and serve with a dollop of Whipped Cream Topping and Zest for garnish. Sounds simple eh? That’s because it is, but MuuUUAaaH Its so creamy-yummy! You will make little devil faces before you finish the whole pie… send photos, mamas love devilish grins!

XOXO, mama

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Blum’s Coffee Toffee Pie

Legend has it this pie made in 1971 by Blum’s San Francisco, California Bakery & Restaurant,  inspired the first Banoffee Pie, which is one of the most sinfully scrumptious ideas ever made! Banoffee pie incidentally originated in England at the “Hungry Monk” restaurant in Sussex by its owner

Nigel MacKenzie

.Nigel called the pie Banoffee, based on the main ingredients: Bananas and Toffee. We celebrate Nigel’s life and great invention with the idea that sent him into recipe invention history. Nigel unfortunately passed on in May 2015, but left England with one of the most famous pies in the world. 

If you are interested in seeing the original Banoffee Pie recipe created by Nigel, its included in a cookbook called The Deeper Secrets of Hungry Monk. 

XOXO, mama

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Grandmas don’t Twerk Much-

Summer time means thoughts of sitting by a sparkling poolside with sunglasses, in your hottest bathing suit and ice cold lemonade. If you don’t have a pool, you can still lounge around your house in air conditioning and drink lemonade, but I say lets kick it up a notch by enjoying a nice slice of: “Grandma’s Lemon Meringue Pie”  This recipe has just the right amount of lemony flavor, and blends well with the amount of meringue. so it won’t cause your tongue to start “twirkin” from the tartness. (Now there’s an image— heh heh!)

Tips: Always make sure the mixing bowl is clean with no oily residue and that you don’t get any of the egg yoke in your egg whites or you won’t be able to build the stiff peak consistency needed for your meringue topping. Also “micro-plane graters” are really effective kitchen tools because they create a much finer grating than the average grater and won’t disinte-grate the texture like a food processor. The fine grate for a lemon pie keeps the mouth from biting into a chunk of bitter peel.  Now go put on your bathing suit and do your best twirk– you’ll have some time while the pie is chillin’ and I won’t tell Grandma

XOXO, mama

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Memories and Stained fingers...

I grew up in midwest America with a Southern born mother who knew everything about cooking because she was raised in a household of NINE girls... (which explains why my grandfather spent so much time farming at least one week a month-- heh! ) 

Mom had a flair for baking pies and collected many newspaper clipped recipes through the years. Unfortunately my parents both passed away of terminal illnesses when I turned 30 and all of mom’s collections were either sold in the estate sale, or lost in a house fire that occurred a couple of years later. Memories still come back to me though of some of mom’s recipes that were used time and time again. She grew up during the depression era, so feeding a family so large as hers meant being resourceful and frugal with ingredients. Usually the recipes were short, but involved such great technique and flavor profiling that they were quickly “heirloom worthy”-- 

Blackberries were commonplace on my grandparents farm and during visits, all the grandchildren were sent to scour their acreage to fill their buckets and bowls to see who could return with the most berries or least “stained fingers”. I remember that we often ate more berries than we returned with, however if you have a dozen grandkids all picking berries at the same time, you are bound to end up with enough for a cobbler pie or two-- Blackberry Pie was one of my favorites, and mom often saved berries by canning or freezing them, which meant I could have my lovely favorite, long after peak berry season had dissipated.

Now that I reside in the Pacific Northwest, I have plenty of opportunity to follow mom’s blackberry traditions and it just so happens, I found a recipe created by world renown Chef Mario Batali’s mother Marilyn, that equals mom’s tasty rendition. I love that the ingredients are simple and allow the berries to share their full flavor. If you miss “clipping” this one, you are truly missing summertime love. 

Coincidentally, one of my favorite cookbooks, also features a lovely Blackberry Pie on its cover-- “Art of Pie” , by Kate McDermott

Its one of those “GO-GO RUN TO” books that every homebaker should stock in their kitchen. After 2 years in print, it carries a five star rating and James Beard nomination, so don’t say I didn’t tell you so-- You’re gonna LOVE IT!

XOXO, mama

[yesterdaysprint]

The Billings Gazette, Montana, February 9, 1912

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Have a giggle! XOXO, mama

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Salty or Sweet, Here’s my take on Pie History

The history of pie predates Jesus to the Egyptians who created pie, made of bread dough filled with honey, nuts and herbs. Somewhat like the mothers of today who share family recipes on tumblr, The Egyptians shared their “pie love” on tomb drawings passing their knowledge to the Greeks who shared it with the Romans. It took thousands of years for Pie to migrate to the Americanized version we know of today. As Pie travelled to colonial times the terminology adapted. Colonial Englishmen referred to the crust as a “coffin” as the pie was cooked in long narrow pans with crusts so thick , it entombed the fillings like a coffin, supposedly with the desire to permit for a longer shelf life of the contents (up to a year! Sorry but the term “ewww” comes to mind) 

💡THANK GOODNESS FOR MODERN FOOD STORAGE OPTIONS! 💡

 During the American revolution the term crust was taken on and American housewives truly bloomed the tradition of pie baking with the flaky delicate pie bottoms we know today, hence the saying “ American as Apple Pie”. For this first Pie-Mama post we share a sweet honey of a delivery of its Egyptian past from :

MorgansMystics’ / Salted Honey Pie. (while tempting, don’t rush the “setting” stage)

Now head on over to school and get a real education children! XOXO, mama