The invitation went something like this...
Deck the dog and come to Pie Night and included this adorable shot of my cooperative yet pouting pooch Izzy.
Our 11th year of Pie Night starts out very early in the morning. Here's a peak at my blackberry pie that just went into the oven.
Ridiculously, homemade pie crusts generally scare people silly. I can honestly say that I have
NEVER bought a prepared pie crust. I wouldn't even know where to find one in the grocery store. I make every single one from scratch.
Now you might say "well that's easy...because you have been baking since before you were two". Truthfully I was the world's worst cook when I was in college. About the only thing I could prepare was a bowl of Lucky Charms...just ask my roommates. The first few years of my marriage weren't much better in the baking department either. The point is...if I can learn to make pie crust from scratch, so can you!
I currently use several different recipes, depending on what type of filling goes in the pie. This one will be a banana cream.
For this Dutch Oven Apple Pie, I mix up a yummy butter crust. Made with cream and egg, it is a perfect companion to the apples. Sometimes I'll get creative, like this snowflake cut crust. The apples are roasted in a dutch oven before going into the crust. Add a little egg wash and it's ready for baking.
I don't know if this is your tradition, but my mom taught me all leftover crust pieces should be sprinkled with sugar and baked...little pie crust cookies if you will. Chet ate them for breakfast. Since his mom was preoccupied.
No matter how much I try to stay organized...by early afternoon I'm knee deep into a kitchen nightmare. I own 5 sets of measuring cups and spoons so as to avoid the "everything is dirty" problem that comes with making a billion pies in a day. What I love about this photo...
- Dueling Kitchen Aids (genius)
- Stacks of recipes/books/magazines
- My cupboards are open...yet again
- Diet Coke-absolutely necessary
After an episode involving the neighbors dog, my backyard chickens, and an over baked Coconut Cake...I'm finally ready for the party.
Fifteen pies/deserts made the buffet this year. I had planned on making Isabel's Chocolate Silk Pie...but the chicken-dog-cake episode eliminated that one.
Thanks to Cassandra, one of the best new pies this year was a Lime Blackberry Italian Creme. Wow! If you missed getting a slice of this one...you really missed out!
Slicing and serving is what I do...thanks to my friend Joni for coming to the dark side and shooting these last few photos with my Nikon camera even though she is a Cannon girl.
Autumn and Sid have been coming to pie night for years.
Somehow Susie convinced her adult kids to drive all the way from the big city for Pie Night. I wonder what she really promised them...it couldn't just be a slice of homemade pie. But what a treat it was to see them all.
Gavin and Chet are discussing important stuff like his pictures of "no snow" at Snowbasin.
Milling around, chatting, and eating pie...that's pretty much what Pie Night is all about.
After all the guests had gone, and all the crumbs swept away...we found this note. Whoever left this has beautiful handwriting and a very sweet heart.
Just what I needed to complete the evening...and then I collapsed into bed.
