Cherry Is So Very....

ok. I think cherry pie isn't my favorite pie. I bought the cherries fresh from the farmer's market and pitted them all by hand. My fingers have never looked so grubby! I made the dough which was a bit harder to handle than normal- would crack. After I made the lattice, I wished I had made thick and thin strips for contrast...next time. The pie tasted good but it was kind of one note: cherry. This was the first fresh cherry pie I have ever had, I think. It was a bit runny but again, fresh cherries, very little starch. Next, please.

Me vs. the Banana Cream Pie

And I won...after three rounds. I have been making my own pie crust in the last year or so but I have mostly made it for fruit pies and for pumpkin pie. Fruit pies don't have you fully bake the crust in advance as this banana cream pie does. I decided that I want to be an excellent pie baker and I am going to make all of the pies in the Williams-Sonoma Pies book. So, when I made my pate brisee and baked it in the pie plate in the oven, it shrunk from the edges and looked terrible. I repeated it and it again, slipped down. I then changed pie plates to my favorite red pie plate with a substantial ridge to which I made a thicker crust. That did it. I made the delicious custard and put in the bananas and topped it with a rum- whipped cream. My mom said this pie crust was the best she has ever had... even better than my Great-Aunt Mary or Great-Aunt Marie. Well, I aspire to become one of the pie making queens like my Aunt Mary and Aunt Marie- so that made me feel really good. One pie down, many to go.

Sometimes I want to make complicated things

so I indulged myself this week and bought two cookbooks: Hello Cupcake and Tartine. Sometimes I really like spending a lot of time crafting, creating and working on the details. Tartine looks like a pretty complicated dessert book and Hello Cupcake has all of these crafty cupcakes. I think I will learn a few new techniques. I really like the presentation of the cupcake book although it doesn't look as tasty as the Tartine. Fun fun fun!

Welcome to my blog!

After reading many of my friends' blogs, I finally decided to start my own. I am not sure what it will be about....time will tell.