What are people saying about the Pie-Off?

The Pie-Off was all about YOU, and congratulations, you made it happen! Here are some links from around the tubes reporting on the Pie-Off:

OurPDX sounds like they had fun!
Dieselboi brought meat pies: impressive
Gary Walter gives the behind the scenes scoop
Judge Bogdanski had a good time
Melissa Lion didn't get a ribbon, but she's reveling in her sticker
Holy Pie! says Jenny Cook
Zoe gives it up about her S'Mores without Fire Pie
Zoe's pie is featured on Slashfood Tuesday morning!
Tyesha reports in with some kind words and good times
Lily submitted a gorgeous sweet potato pie
The Grand Prize winner chimes in: could she be any more humble and sweet?
The Vig was in the howze: and it sounds like he had a great time.

Links leading up to the Pie-Off:
Gary's workin' the pie lead in.
Jack gets prepared. Twice.
Metblogs gives a day-of shout out.
Jenny Cook plans to bring it!
Cami Kaos says, "Go now!"
Willamette Week loves pie, too
Just Out says prepare your pie tins
You know your County Commissioner is cool when he shouts out for the Pie-Off
The Pie-Off makes the list for Ready, Set, Mom
Florid Disposition prepares for the Pie-Off.
PDX Pipeline pipes up about the Pie-Off.
There's been a lot of talk over at Yelp: bring it on!
GayRightsWatch cheers for the Pie-Off
Betsy works on her strategy.
Lelo talks about Pie.
Slashfood blogs about Portland, Oregon's first Pie-Off
Pagent offers up his idiot proof crust
Recovering Straight Girl anticipates the wonderfulness

If we're missing your link, please leave a comment and let us know, we'll add it to the list.

Congratulations to the Winners!

49 pies were entered, over 125 people came. Pie was eaten, and if you were a judge, that would be 49 bites of pie. At least. And there were winners! Congratulations go out to....

Best Crème Pie
Michael Baden for Strawberry Balsamic Pie

Best Custard Pie
Michael Arnovitz for Summer Grapefruit Pie
Michael included some notes with his entries, and about this winning entry said: A Southern American pie typically made with cornstarch and “Jell-O” products. I decided instead to swap out the Key Limes in my Key Lime pie recipe and use grapefruit instead. Crust is graham crackers, sugar and butter. Filling is condensed sweetened milk, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, grapefruit zest, eggs. Topping of heavy cream (whipped).

Best Pumpkin Pie
Melva Carlson
Melva was the lone entry in this category, but according to the judges, this was a dang good pie.

Best Nut Pie
Michael Arnovitz for Musician’s Pie
Based on a traditional Catalonian (Spanish) recipe. Back in the day, Catalonian musician’s were often paid with dried fruits and nuts. This pie’s filling is made from dried dates, apricots and figs. The topping is a combination of cashews, pine nuts and almonds. Pastry is flour, sugar, salt, butter and vanilla. Filling was dried figs, dates & apricots, butter, peach nectar, brown sugar. The topping was almonds, pine nuts, cashews, butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, cream.

Best Fruit Pie
Laurita Carleton for Peach Blackberry Pie

Best Local Pie
Laurita Carleton for Peach Melba Cheesecake Pie

Best Mash-Up Pie
Zoe Richter for S’mores Pie

Best Faux Pie
Kathleen McDade for Dr. Pepper Pie

Savory Pie
Tricia Butler for Tomato Pie
This was the sneaker category: we didn’t plan for it, but we had quite a few people bring some great entries so voila! This category winner may not have received a ribbon, but they did receive the Pie Cozy.

Prettiest Pie
Laurita Carleton for Peach Melba Cheesecake Pie

Most Original Pie
Kathleen McDade for Dr. Pepper Pie

Best Pairing with Pie
Jenny Cook for Rosemary’s Baby (Blueberry Rosemary) + Wine

Best Overall Pie
Tricia Butler for Tomato Pie
And the best part? Tricia posted the recipe on her blog a little while back, so you can make it too. Or you can buy one at her booth at the Montavilla Farmer’s Market.

More photos and news from the first ever Portland Pie-Off to come: uploads to Flickr from the event? Please tag them with mmmPie.

Game On!

Today is the day. I am live tweeting my pie baking this morning. Follow the action here.

If you'd like to fill out your entry form before you come, feel free.

We'll have these at the Pie-Off for each entry into the competition, but if you'd like to fill them out ahead of time, feel free. Please check the correct category both on the top and bottom portions. The circle is for judging purposes only. Just print it out, fill it out, and bring it with you with your pie. mmmPie!

Have you saved room for pie?

Okay pie enthusiasts - tomorrow is the big day! Are you ready to bring it? Are you freaking out a little bit because you have been running your pie hole, talking smack all over the internet and now have to deliver? I feel your pie anxiety. I do.

Sadly, I have no advice to give you - because I don't know what I'm doing. I've learned not to let that stop me. All I have to offer are a few more photos of winning pies from this year's Oregon State Fair. Study them.

Political leanings and pie choices

What kind of pie do you think Barack Obama would say is his favorite? What kind of pie do you think John McCain would say is his favorite?

Carla posed the very important pie question to the candidates running for Portland City Commissioner. Amanda Fritz says her top pick is pumpkin, made from homegrown pumpkins, while Charles Lewis loves a good apple or strawberry-rhubarb.

I've been pondering these important questions lately. Friends have chimed in with answers of apple or berry for Obama, and crisco crusts or easily palatable pies like peanut butter for McCain. What do you think presidential candidates would choose as their favorite pies? What do these choices say about the candidates?

Yes, it's deep topics here at the Pie-Off blog: 2 days until the big day!

Keep your fingers crossed

Let's hope this woman doesn't show up at the Pie-Off. She went 8-for-8 on her pie entries: blue ribbons baby! Christine Anderson, we salute you!

Are you coming to the Pie-Off? A little FAQ

With the Pie-Off just around the corner, here's some information to help you plan for what we hope will be a really fun event.

What are the categories for the pies?
There are 8 categories to enter, and 12 categories to be awarded.

Can my pie be entered into more than one category?
Certainly. You may have a berry pie made from local berries, thus you can enter it into both the local and the berry categories.

What if I don't bake a pie? Can I still come to the Pie-Off?
Yes! The Pie-Off is for lovers of pie as well as pie makers. However, the more pies that are brought, the more there is to share.

Are we going to eat the pie?
Hells to the yeahs! After judging and awards, the pies will be available for eating, first come first served.

Are there prizes? Awards?
There are some very impressive ribbons. And the coolest pie cozy ever.

What's with the parking at the event?
It's a really popular area of Washington Park. You can see a map here. There will be a place to drop off pie while you go park, but we'd suggest to not be late!

Do I need to sign up to bring a pie?
Not really, but it would be great to let us know you're coming over here at Upcoming.

Should I bring anything else with me to the Pie-Off besides my happy pie-itude? (that's a new word, feel free to use it)
Yes! There will be time for pie judging when attendees are encouraged to hang out, socialize and enjoy the park. If you'd like to enjoy a picnic, bring your own chairs, drinks, blankets, and have a nice time. The site is really nice. And remember, if you're bringing a pie, please bring serviceware for it. We'll provide plates, forks and napkins.

Where do I go if I have a complaint?
The Pie-Off is brought to you by the Pie-Off Planning Commission. It's all about fun. We are not raising awareness and we are not trying to sell anything. We just love pie, and summer, and all the great local produce. And we are doing this completely as volunteers. Please keep this in mind.

State Fair Pies

We took a little trip to the Oregon State Fair on Sunday. The fair is a time-honored tradition in my family. We usually go every Labor Day but this year that just wasn't going to work out, so we went early. We'll be going again on Wednesday night to see Garrison Keillor who will hopefully give us a few verses of Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.

There have been a few changes at the fair this year. I couldn't tell if some of these changes were because we were attending earlier and some displays that normally would have gone bad by Labor Day were still fresh. The Home Arts exhibition in the Jackman-Long Building has switched up a few things. You can now walk through some of the quilts instead of straining your neck to see them all hanging from the rafters. There were also three refrigerated cases of home-baked pies. My little pie-loving heart skipped a beat. I've never seen pies on display at the Jackman-Long Building before - but there they were in all their fluted edged or latticed topped glory.

Take a gander at how fabulous they all look together and imagine how amazing all the pies are going to be at the Pie-Off! Think about how fantastic your pie is going to look with a blue ribbon laying next to it. That moment is just days away...

I come from a town called Pie

East of Arizona, Southwest of Albuquerque, there really is a Pietown. And in that Pietown, there is a cafe that sells, you guessed it, pie. And every year? Yes, they have a pie contest. All in Pietown, New Mexico.

But what's really intriguing to me, is the kind of pie they make. Apple pie, with green chiles. Now I love apple pie. And I love green chiles. But I can't say I've ever had the two together. Here is the recipe from the Daily Pie Cafe, in Pietown, New Mexico:
4 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 c. sugar
3 T. flour
2 t. cinnamon
¾ t. nutmeg
½ c. green chili, hot or mild to taste
3/4 c. pinon nuts
1 T lemon juice

Put apple slices into large mixing bowl. Top with seasonings, chili and pinon mix well. Set aside to blend flavors while the crust is being prepared.

Pastry crust (makes four crusts)
This recipe will use two crusts.
The other two can be frozen for future use

2 ½ c. flour
¼ t. baking powder
1 t. salt
½ c. salted butter
½ c. shortening
1 egg
1 T. white vinegar
1 c. cold water

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter and shortening. In separate bowl, mix egg, vinegar and water. Add to flour mixture and blend with hands until dry ingredients are moist (more water may have to be added).

Divide dough into four sections. Roll out one section on a floured board to fit 9” pie pan. Put crust into pan. Place apple mix , mounded in the center. Top with one rolled section of crust. Flute edges, cut vent holes into top crust. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle natural sugar on top (optional). Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then 400 degrees for one hour. Pie is done when juices bubble thick around the outer edge.

Oh what I'd give to try this pie. Here's to Pietown! Here's to Pie!

OMG! Ribbons!

Did you think we were kidding when we said there would be prize ribbons? We were very serious - and here is the proof. You know you want one so bad you can taste it.

Unusual Pies

Sure, everyone has heard of blackberry or peach, pecan or cream pie, or even Shoo-Fly pie. But how many of you have ever had tried the joys of unusual pies?

While a mouthful of Sawdust Pie sounds like punishment, the meringue filling of coconut and nuts actually sounds quite good.

Or how about the cheesy Ricotta Pie?

Then there is the British oddity of Treacle Tart Cornflake Pie. Treacle tart being a classic British treat made with a type of sorghum syrup. Although, we have no idea how, when or why the Brit's adopted the cornflakes and decided to put them in a pie. Odd? Yes. Intriguing? Certainly.

It might look like a key lime pie, but don't be fooled. That's an Avocado Pie. Yes, sweetened avocado. Hmmmm...

Have any other weird pie recipes? Sure grasshopper pie sounds weird as does Shoo-fly pie. But I think most of us figured out around age 5 that neither contain real grasshoppers nor flies.

Oh, yes, you're really coming to the Pie-Off!

We're getting excited about the amount of attention the Portland Pie-Off is getting with some of ya'll. Check out this wonderful post by Media Chick about her preparation for the Pie-Off. And Gretchen has been trying her hand at pie for the very first time: I'd say her first pie was pretty beautiful. I wonder if it was tasty?

Are you ready for the Pie-Off? Are you practicing? Researching recipes? Planning on bringing the classic family recipe? Bring it on!

The Pie-Off Venue

The key to success is often attributed to location, location, location. I think we've scored a nice little piece of real-estate for the pie-off - the Elephant House at Washington Park (aka picnic site D). Just take a look:




And there are a couple of nice grassy areas on both sides of the Elephant House perfect for bringing some lawn chairs or blanket and socializing with your fellow pie lovers (and competition that should be squashed like a bug! Oh wait, I'm not sure what took hold of me there.)



The pie-off is a family friendly event. Bring your kids. There is a very fun looking playground right next door that has that comfy foam flooring underneath so when you fall and bonk your head - the ambulance doesn't have to come.

There is parking nearby as well, but on a lovely Saturday afternoon it can get a little scarce. I suggest you carpool with friends (which will also provide the opportunity to sabotage their pie. Wait, again, I'm not sure what got into me.) We will secure a spot in front of the Elephant House for you to drop off your pie, chairs, and whatever else while you find a place to park.

Do you have questions? Post them in the comments and I'll try to answer them.

Pie in the Face Wednesday - Classic Pie'd

Probably one of the best pie fights in film history. It's a Three-Stooges Pie Fight of Course!

Blueberry pie is bona fide health food

This month, thanks to the work by Yale University's Griffin Prevention Research Center, thousands of stores will be posting numbers about the nutrition information of your food choices. According to National Geographic Magazine, "the Overall Nutritional Quality Index scores foods from 1-100, based on nutrients, vitamins, sugar and salt as well as impact on blood pressure and other health concerns."

Pie makers? Blueberries scored 100. And apples? 96. Clearly, pie is health food. Get bakin'.

Pie Practice

Maybe some of you out there are thinking to yourself, “Self, I really want to go to this pie-off thing because it sounds really fun but I don’t know how to bake a pie.” Well, take heart. The pie-off embraces all skill levels. I myself have only made two pies in my life. It was about 10 years ago and they were hardly from scratch – and I am an official Pie Commissioner.

So on Sunday I dusted off my rolling pin and baked a practice pie. I’ve never made pie crust from scratch and this was my biggest source of pie anxiety. So many people have conflicting theories on what makes the best pie crust. How does a pie novice decide what to do? My fellow Pie Commissioners both swear by this person, her recipe and technique. Seemed like a good starting point to me. My mom gave me the last harvest of her backyard rhubarb. So I was good to go.

Except, I still needed to buy a pie plate. When presented with the various pie plate options at Kitchen Kaboodle, I made a snap decision and purchased a Pure by Chantal pie plate in ivory. It’s environmentally friendly, but I made my decision solely on looks. It was cute and it was mine.

Here's a little pictorial diary of my first homemade pie from scratch.

Behold, the Pie-Cozy

I announced on Twitter last week that my mom was making a pie-cozy tote to give as a prize at the Portland Pie-Off. The overall reaction was, "what is a pie-cozy?" This surprised me as my mom has been carrying pies to potlucks, picnics, and family dinners in pie-cozies for as long as I can remember. I thought every home had one, but a Google search only turned up one other pie-cozy and it is butt-ugly. My grandmother made our pie-cozies and I guess took the pattern with her to her grave. My mom is an amazing seamstress and was able to re-create the wonderfulness that is a pie-cozy. And if you are lucky, you can win this very pie-cozy at the Pie-Off:

A fairly simple item. The pie-cozy looks like this.

It opens up at the top like so.

Then insert your pie (works well for casseroles, too).

Pull the drawstring closed and carry with the handles.

Butter or Shortening? The Debate Continues

A long standing, and often passionate issue among devoted bakers (read: **crazies**), is the use of butter vs. shortening in pie crusts as well as margarine and Lard (leaf lard vs. suet? You decide). In fact, I can think of nothing that induces more pie-in-the-face online and offline mayhem than these few simple ingredients.

Take this heated online debate.

My favorite quote with such adamant use of ALL CAPS and !!!! POINTS!

"I always use LARD and ICE COLD water!. it is better than anything else I have tried. Regarding kosher baking, 'CRISCO' is certified by the OU and is better than margarine. 86 the butter and margarine for pie crust!"

Local food writer and avid baker, Nancy Rommelmann weighs in with her personal experience here.

Moi? Well, I fall into the butter only camp. It's taken me several years to perfect my recipe (including a hands-on class with Shuna Lydon herself), but Crisco just doesn't do it for me in both baking satisfaction and taste and lard is too alienating to vegetarians and my Jewish friends. However, I won't judge anyone if they want to use the solid-greasy, chemically produced trans-fat laden Crisco stuff. Seriously.

My Mom, an excellent pie baker if ever there was one, even uses these weird pre-made pie crust sticks. So weird that you can't even find them online. She's the only one I know who uses them. Her pies, including the crust, are always excellent BTW.

Greetings, and Happy Lemon Meringue Pie Day to you!

Special thanks to Philadelphia, not just the city of brotherly love, but also the birthplace of lemon meringue pie. Elizabeth Coane Goodfellow invented the tangy sweet treat. But the most recognizable element of the lemon meringue pie is the meringue, right?

It turns out the precursor to the meringue was something called Snow Eggs, a popular dessert in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. In case you'd like to try it out, here's the handy 17th Century French recipe...

Snow eggs
Boile some milk with a little flower water well allyed, then put it in more than half of one dosen of whites of eggs, and stir well all together, and sugar it. When you are ready to serve, set them on the fire again and glase them, that is, take the rest of your whites of eggs, beat them with a feather, and mix all well together; or else fry well the rest of your whites, and powre them over your other eggs. Pass over it lightly an oven lid, or the fire-shovell red hot, and serve them sured with sweet waters. You may instead of whites, put in it the yolks of your eggs proportionable, and the whites fried upon. The cream after the Mazarine way is make in the same manner, except you must put no whites of eggs on it."
---The French Cook, Francois Pierre, La Varenne, translated into English in 1653 by I.D.G., with an introdution by Philip and Mary Hyman [Southover Press:East Sussex] 2001 (p. 98-99)

Now that's an easy one, right?

Happy Lemon Meringue Pie Day to you!

Sade Sings Cherry Pie

With a sultry voice and jazzy guitar rifts in the background, this sexy songstress makes me wanna whip out the apron and get to bakin'. Cause we all know nothing satisfies like Cherry Pie!

As Sade sings,

"oooh You're as Sweet as Cherry Pie"

Enjoy!

Pie: the Ultimate Communication Tool

Sssshhh. Listen carefully. Pie is talking to you. What is it saying? Is it the last piece of peach pie calling to you from the kitchen? Perhaps. The siren-song of pie is impossible to ignore. Listen closer. Pie has more that it wants to say.

Pie is an amazing creative outlet: a place to experiment, explore, and perfect skills. You can tell a lot about a person by the pie they bake. And if you can’t bake a pie, you can paint it. Pie can let others know how you feel about them. If someone bakes you a pie, you can be fairly certain that they love you.

And if that weren’t enough - pie can also illustrate concepts. That’s right. I’m talking about the Pie Chart. From Wikipedia:

A pie chart (or a circle graph) is a circular chart divided into sectors, illustrating relative magnitudes or frequencies or percents. In a pie chart, the arc length of each sector (and consequently its central angle and area), is proportional to the quantity it represents. Together, the sectors create a full disk. It is named for its resemblance to a pie which has been sliced.

Blah, blah, blah, clinical language, blah, blah. Let’s take a look at the pie chart in action. For those of you who have been RickRolled – a pie chart can help you understand what just happened to you.

If you seek more song clarity in pie form (as well as lesser, more inferior charts), why not check out the song chart pool on flickr.

Pie tastes better on environmentally responsible plates

I hate Styrofoam. No, I seriously hate Styrofoam. At an event last summer, I was hot, I was parched, I needed some liquid libations. I approached the booth featuring hand squeezed lemonade, and discovered my only option was to drink it out of a Styrofoam cup. Despite my rapidly decreasing loveliness wilting in the heat and my approaching puffiness from dehydration, I declined the lemonade. I just can’t do the Styrofoam. That’s petroleum. Things just don’t taste good when they’re served on or in things that are bad for the environment. At least that’s my humble opinion. But you know the great thing about this whole blog post? We have options.

OPTIONS! If you’re having a picnic or a get-together or an event, you don’t have to go the bad-for-the-environment route. There are so many other ways to do right by the planet. With this in mind, our friends at Verterra have generously offered plates for us to use at the Portland Pie-Off. Yeah, Verterra! Why are they better than Styrofoam? Oh, let us count the ways….

Verterra plates are made from leaves. And they can biodegrade in less than 3 months. There’s a lot of other really great things to be said about them, and you can read about it here. And you can see their lovely products here. We’ll be using these at the Pie-Off.

But the really great thing? These plates are reusable before they are composted. If there is a community organization that would like these plates after the Pie-Off, just let us know and we’ll make arrangements for you to pick them up from the event and continue their life, serving good foods, hopefully as good as the pies are sure to be at the Pie-Off. And when they eventually are at the end of their lives, we’ll know they compost back into the earth. Doesn’t that pie taste even better now? Mmmmpie.

Special thanks to our friend GreenSmith on Twitter for making this sponsorship possible!

It's Pie in the Face Wednesday!

***Please note, The Pie-Off Commission as the officially designated group of the Portland Pie-Off does not condone, promote or otherwise approve the use of pie-in-the-face tactics or shenanigans and hereby declares the Portland Pie-Off as a pie-in-the-face free zone.*** However, it's always fun to watch other people get creamed.

Below is a classic video of homophobic actress and washed up Hollywood star Anita Bryant getting pied by gay rights activists. Politically Pied!

A Slice of Nostalgia

If pie isn’t the poster child for nostalgia, I don’t know what would be. Pie represents the very definition of nostalgia: a longing for the past, often in idealized form. Pie is about mom, and holidays, and socials, and comfort. My dad likes to tell a story about when he would take the train back and forth from college in St. Louis and home in Tacoma. He would have a big ol’ slice of apple pie in the dining car and back then the perfect compliment to apple pie was a slab of cheddar cheese. My dad always tells this story at Thanksgiving, as he cuts a slice of cheddar to go with his apple pie. Lots of people have romanticized stories about pie and I suspect that is a big part of why we love pie so much.

I love this photo for a lot of reasons. I am a big fan of the automat, although I have never actually been in one. To me it represents the anonymity of the big city. The automat was a place you could go, put a few coins in the vending slot and get a meal without dealing with wait staff or cashiers. Anonymous and efficient. But what is behind that sea of little vending windows? Pie, of course. Pie like mom used to make. A little slice of comfort to ease the workday troubles of the common man.

Portland used to have a fine establishment on NW 23rd called Quality Pie. QP was a great 50s style diner frequented by people from all walks of life. And I do mean ALL walks of life; high school kids, cops, drag queens, neighborhood folk and stoners. It was a great hang-out. My in-the-know friends took me there late one night when I was a very sheltered 19 year old just starting art school. I think they thought the clientèle would shock my small town sensibilities. I may have been small town, but I knew a great pie joint when I saw one. Small towns are all about great pie joints and the characters that inhabit them.


Big town or small town, one thing is universal - the comfort of pie. I think this bit that's a regular feature on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion radio show sums it up:

It's at times like that, you want Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie. Yes, nothing gets the taste of humiliation out of your mouth like Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.

But one little thing can revive a guy,
And that is home-made rhubarb pie.
Serve it up, nice and hot.
Maybe things aren't as bad as you thought.

Mama's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb,
Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.
Mama's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb,
Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.

(c) 1999 by Garrison Keillor

Faux Pie or Mock Pie?

One of the more serious discussions of the Official Pie Commission Summit was whether or not to allow "Faux", (aka Mock, or "fake") pie in the Pie-Off. After 3 seconds of serious debate we concluded that faux pie is not only perfectly acceptable, it even deserves a Pie-Off category all its own.


What's Faux Pie?
Unlike its high-falutin' cousins the galette, the tart and other fancy pastry crusted delectables, Pie comes from humble origins. For our pie-baking forbearers, pie was a way to use what was available at hand during the seasons and stretch expensive ingredients like butter, sugar and flour so that several hungry people at one table could all enjoy a slice.

As the age of industrialization, and America's love affair with all things packaged and quick-Mix took hold, the "use what you have on hand" pie tradition continued. Sometimes with some funny, yet tasty, results.

Sure to piss off pie purists, slow foodies, and other gourmets, we here at the Pie-Off love the faux pie. We love it for its slice of cheesy Americana and what is sure to be in certain households and church potlucks, long standing tradition. Faux Pie, we salute you!

I present for your inspection, the most well known, and probably the oldest of the faux pie family, "The Mock Apple Pie." Although attributed to an inventive cook in the late 1800s, it was the Ritz cracker people in the 1930s who really figured out they had a good thing on their hands and began to market the pie out of it. Who doesn't remember growing up staring at the Ritz box and wondering, "can you really make an apple pie out of Ritz crackers?"



Here is the recipe in all it's crackery buttery (or margarine induced if you wish) glory.

Yet mock apple pie is but one of the many other faux pie offerings out there.
There are several versions of Mock Pecan Pie. This one made with oats, while another is made with high fiber pinto beans!
Pinto beans are also the main ingredient in Mock Pumpkin Pie

Of course there are quick and easy candy bar pies and other no-bake cheaters delights, featuring that favorite dessert of yore, Jello Pudding-Mix!

Got any faux pie recipes of your own? A favorite faux pie memory? Feel free to share it in the comments below. See you at the Pie-Off!

Confused about Custard, Confounded by Cream

I've received several desperate sounding emails asking the following questions. Below is a typical example:

"Dear Pie Commission,

What's the difference between a Custard and a Cream Pie? Aren't pecan pies and pumpkin pies simply custard pies, so why the separate categories in the Pie-Off?

Signed,

A Confused Pie Lover"

Here are your answers:

Custards and Cream Pies are often, but not always, in the same cuisine family but it's the cooking techniques that make them different.

The main difference between cream and custard pies:
1. Custard pies both filling and crust are baked together.

2. Cream Pies use a pre-baked pie shell and the fillings are cooked separately then put into the finished shell, or in some cases use uncooked filling made with whipped cream, or using thickeners like gelatin in lieu of actual custard.

See, pretty simple. Except there are exceptions. Read on...

A custard is simply a preparation made with eggs, milk or cream and/or other liquids and heated until thickened. The cooking temperature and time, amount of eggs and other ingredients, will all dictate how thin or thick the cooked custard is. WiseGeek has a pretty good definition of custard. A custard may be simmered on top of the stove, baked or baked in a water-bath. Some custards have the addition of cornstarch, tapioca or gelatin as thickeners, but French cuisine codes are strict: Jello? Cornstarch? Sacre-Bleu! C'est nes pas une creme! (translation, "That's not custard!"). Don't mess with the French and their goddamn rigid food rules.

Anyway, some things in the custard family include flan, creme brulee, the Italian dessert known as zabaglione or the related French version dessert/sauce Sabayon. Puddings are custards, but not the British term "pudding", which simply refers to a type of steamed cake. Panna Cotta (or "cooked cream") is also a custard.

And speaking of Jello. Jello pudding mix is a custard and may be used in pies, it's just a bastardized processed food version that may require cooking, or in the case of Instant Jello Mix, no cooking is required at all. However, when used in pies, Jello pudding mix actually becomes a cream pie since it is usually put into a pre-baked pie shell. Confusing, isn't it.

Let's explore a bit further which should help explain...

Custard pie examples include the chess pie family, pumpkin, pecan (really just a chess pie with pecans), buttermilk pie, Kentucky Derby pie and shoo-fly pie. Key lime pie is a custard pie, but lemon meringue is not (see below). Many custard pies were quite popular in the days of yore but outside of South have now sadly fallen out of favor in mainstream American cooking. This is a shame since custard pies are very easy to make and are quite delicious!

Cream pies are filled with pre-cooked flavored custards (American term: pudding or pastry cream) with an endless variety of flavors including chocolate, vanilla, coconut, banana, lemon, and so on. Lemon meringue pie is actually a cream pie since the filling is cooked beforehand and put into a pre-baked shell, even though the end pie is quickly finished in a hot oven to cook the meringue. Other cream pies use uncooked fillings that are thickened by whipped cream, gelatin, or the like. To make things even more confusing, uncooked pies that contain no dairy, such as my favorite "unbaked blueberry pie", are still considered part of the the cream pie family. Go figure.

As for separate categories of pumpkin, pecan and custard pies in the Pie-off, pumpkin and pecan pies are so loved and iconic by pie makers that they deserve their own categories.

Regardless, I hope this helps explain the cream vs. custard pie questions. We here at the Portland Pie Commission look forward to trying your own versions at the Portland Pie-Off!

Happy Baking,

Lizzy

The Art of Pie

One of my all-time favorite painters is Wayne Thiebaud. Mr. Thiebaud's oeuvre (big word alert) includes a wide variety of subject matter, especially.... PIE.

"It started out just as a sort of crazy problem to set for myself to orchestrate abstract elements with the subject matter. As soon as I did that, as I say, I couldn't help but look at it and laugh, 'That certainly has to be the end of me as a serious painter--a slice of pie.' But I couldn't leave it alone...It just seemed to be the most genuine thing which I had done." - Wayne Thiebaud

I know I sound cliche here, but aren't these paintings delish?

Pies, Pies, Pies - 1961

Lemon Meringue Pie - 1964

Pie Counter -1963

Neapolitan Pie - 1991

Refrigerator Pies - 1962

We Interrupt this Program for an Important Message

...From the American Pie Council



Yes indeedy, the American Pie Council does exist. In fact they are thriving!

From their most awesome website:

"The American Pie Council (APC) is the only organization committed to preserving America's pie heritage and promoting American's love affair with pies. Designed to raise awareness, enjoyment and consumption of pies, the APC offers both Personal and Commercial Memberships."

What else have I learned from the American Pie Council?
*National Pie Day on January 23rd was created by the Pie Council to celebrate and share the joyous wonders of pie! The SF Gate has a recap here.
*The Council sponsors The Great American Pie Festival, every April.
*Every year the Council also sponsors an APC Pie Industry Seminar with riviting topics such as,

* Pie Trends
* Organic and Natural Pies
* Freezing Technology
* Oils and Fats
* Pre- and ProBiotics
* Sustainability

Although it costs money to become a member of the American Pie Council, there is still a ton of free information and resources such as pie history, fun facts about pies and bonus recipes on their gingham checkered red, white and blue website.

Sign me up!

And yes, the pies will be judged

We are pleased to announce the judges for the Pie-Off. While there may be more judges coming on board, these three heavy hitters are sure to put the pedal to the metal to test drive your pie.

Gary Walter - Gary offered himself up as a judge within minutes of the idea being hatched on Twitter. How could we possibly say no?

Kir Jensen - Pastry chef famous! Portland Food Carts says this about Ms. Jensen: Pastry chef Kir Jenson is the real deal folks with some pretty impressive credentials including working at the Ritz Carlton, Genoa, Blue Hour and Clark Lewis. Kir is whipping up some sophisitcated yet comforting food at her new cart including sweet treats, savory nibbles and meals, and serving excellent Spella coffee and a few other liquid things like smoothies and a refreshing vanilla bean lemonade. Mmm. Sugarcube.

Jack Bogdanski - Blogger and Lewis & Clark professor, Mr. Bogdanski may just be the wild card to our trilogy of judges. He says, "Bring it on!"

In the Spirit of The Games...