Potluck dinners at church always ended with a bonanza of home-baked pies...and the church kitchen was equipped with a pie cupboard to store the pies as they arrived. Then came the day when a few of the pies had supermarket labels attached...a dead giveaway that they were not homemade. Gasp! And I'm sure it has been well over a decade since we have had pie for dessert at any church funnction. Over the years...pie making seems to have become a lost skill...and pies have disappeared from restaurant menus as well. That leaves very few restaurants that my dad will frequent...since no dinner out would be complete without pie!In my kitchen...we are still serving up pie. How well I remember the first pie I ever baked! First I picked the cherries from a wild cherry tree on our farm...then I proceeded to mix pastry...and roll. I'm afraid the whole process took so long, that the pie was not ready for the intended meal...but it eventually it was completed. Since that time I have found a few tricks to simplify pie-making.
When I make pastry...I make enough for many pies.
I divide the pastry into portions required for one pie crust...and form them into disks. They are stacked with parchment paper between...and stored in the freezer ready at a moment's notice. There's not much effort required to make a fruit pie...if the pastry is ready to go. (And, with a microwave to help with the defrosting...it's always ready.)Last year I picked up the Farm Chick's cookbook...and loved their idea of baking mini-pies. After a long search for the wee pie plates...I found what I was after in a kitchen shop across the line.
So I have been baking up mini-pies this winter...bumbleberry for the most part. One pie serves one...or two, if you feel like sharing. The minis are the pie version of cupcakes! 
All that to say...I'm baking pie today. It's rhubarb season...and if you happen to be coming by for coffee tonight...guess what we are having? (I should mention that we will be having our Bible study lesson before coffee is served!)And if you are not coming by...why not bake your own? Mom's rhubarb pie recipe can be found right here...and as my daughter recently discovered...pastry can be purchased at the supermarket...all ready to go.
Oh...and if there are bits and pieces of pastry left over...they never go to waste.
They make great rustic tarts...apple, peach, plum...or rhubarb.
Any way you slice it...have a great day!
As I sit here sipping my morning coffee, I am thinking how nice it would be to have a piece of that delicious pie to go with it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about the role the pies played in your church potluck dinners.
What a great idea you have shared for making and freezing the crusts. I am going to print your recipe as I love rhubarb pie. I just bought a rhubarb plant, but I guess it won't be producing until next year. I'll have to get my rhubarb from the grocery store this year.
OH...I can't wait...I've never had my very own pie. I agree...there is nothing like home-made pie. The best are at the Airport.
ReplyDeleteGuess I won't make dessert for supper tonight.
I like the idea of my own pie!
ReplyDeleteThe first pie that I ever baked was also a cherry pie. My favorite is Strawberry rhubarb, but there's not much that I don't like when it's put between two flaky pie crusts!
Ahhh, very nice ideas for having pie crust on hand and the good stuff not the store bought. (Sorry, can't suffer that stuff.) How I wish that it were rhubarb season here. Perhaps I'll break down and buy some imported.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if my rhubarb is being put to good use in my absense. . I sure do wish I would have brought some along. (even though it fell in the forbidden list)
ReplyDeleteI looked at Fred M. since I thought I could at least make some rhubarb crisp. . but a $4 a pound .. I left it there.
I'm so hungry for some of that pie.
Gosh, Judy, your photos are so wonderful they belong in a food magazine or cookbook!
ReplyDeleteMy husband loves apple pie. When I was first married I made one a week for him. But as our waistlines expanded we stopped eating desserts on a regular basis and have just the fresh fruit as our dessert. I do sneak a thin crust tart into the menu now and then...and I love the way your rustic tart looks :-)
Do you reccomend that cookbook? I ahve so many cookbooks but there is always room for one more! :-)
Rhubarb pie might be on the menu this weekend. My husband would love it, although I myself am not a pie lover. (other than French Silk or lemon meringue!)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful creations Judy. Love the mini pie idea!
ReplyDeleteOh you are making my husband's favorite pie! I must make amends and make one for him; it wouldn't do for him to be dreaming of another woman's kitchen and pies!
ReplyDeleteAnother one of those blogging visits that makes me wish that I was your neighbor, or attended your Bible Study. You are something else! Who would think to stash extra dough disks in the freezer but you! This is one amazing post! I think my SIL is the best pie maker I know. What fun it would be if you and her got together...with me:) since I don't make pies. These pie creations do look so good to me as I sit here with my hot cup of coffee.
ReplyDeleteA pie making grandma...that is the ultimate!
What a great post! When I saw your stack of ready to go crusts I smiled as I do the exact same thing. It is so nice to pull them out on a moments notice. I do love your mini pie plates....I'm on the prowl:) Kathy
ReplyDeleteOH you're making me hungry!! We still eat pie here. My dear mil is one of the best pie makers around. Her butterscotch pie is heavenly!
ReplyDeleteWe always buy 5 or 6 apple pies every fall for the freezer - from the Women's Institute here. It's their big fund raiser - and they make great pies. They use Seven Up in the crust. I've never tried it - I use the same recipe as found at MGCC. That was my mom's. But the seven up pie crusts are good too.
I love those cute little pie plates. That might be the way to go with our reduced family size.
Thanks for the pie crust disk tip - I've never done that before.
Now I'll check out your rhubarb recipe - thanks!