Vacation Pie

I thought and thought about what pie I could make while my family is vacationing this week.  I needed a pie that did not require a lot of ingredients since the car would be loaded to the gills with all manner of other items.  I knew we would have access to a kitchen, so baking would be a possibility.  I did not however, know what kind of equipment I would be working with or what utensils would be at hand. 

The solution: Chocolate Bar Pie from Better Homes and Gardens. 

The recipe needs no flour, no odd spices, and very little sugar.  The only prep necessary before leaving for vacation was to grind some walnuts for a crust.  The rest could be made in a sparse kitchen with minimal utensils and equipment... while watching whales surface from the window in front of me. 

Smells like a perfect vacation pie.

Hello, Good-Pie!

Hello! Today marks the beginning of a year long adventure in the art of pie-making.  For the next year I will be hand-crafting a minimum of one pie each week.  These pies are not limited to dessert pies, but may include non-traditional pies including meal-type pies, ice cream pies, and others that I may unearth in the weeks ahead.

I have had an affinity for pies since childhood, beginning with Grandma Mac's pies at all of our holiday festivities.  Surrounded by family and warmth and laughter, pies have been a part of fond memories and a sense of peace and togetherness in my life.  Now as an adult I want to invite you to journey along with me as I step into the kitchen each week, and hopefully share some of the warmth, peace and togetherness this year brings.  So, hello and welcome!

Now to business...

Each week my goal (this is a key word) is to write a post  before and after making the pie.  This said, I am already off on the wrong foot, because I have made my first pie and did not post what I was going to make and my reasoning for trying the pie!  Again, going back to my note in the first sentence of this paragraph, "goal" is a key word.  This blog and this year long journey is is a work in progress.

The pie this week was Apple-Blueberry and was made as a farewell pie for my friend Jason who is moving to Texas to start and run a new pizza franchise.  I am not particularly fond of straight blueberry pie, but it happens to be Jason's favorite pie, so I compromised and met him in the middle with the Apple-Blueberry pie from Pillsbury Complete Cookbook.

Pastry crust filled with Granny Smith apples, blueberries, sugar and spice.

Finished off with a crumb topping and ready for baking.

Oven-baked to a golden brown and cooling to eat in a few hours.

The consensus after a slice of the Apple-Blueberry pie... delicious!  I may not be fond of straight blueberry pie and I can be a tough critic on many apple pies, but this was a fantastic combination that I would be more than happy to make again.  The four of us gathered around the table Sunday night were seriously holding back from having seconds.  Jason and his wife went home with two slices and the last two my hubby and I cleaned up the following night.

  

Hello, Good-Pie!