Projects Projects Projects!!! Part I

So after a brief (month-long) hiatus I am back! With lots and lots of things to share!!

Since the last time I've posted I have successfully completed:

1. A delicious experimental pie (for which I finally have the pictures)
2. A cuddly bear
3. My February Beret
4. Birthday wonderfuls

And am working on a pair of hand warmers to match my beret that will be done soon. Exciting, huh? And now you all know that even though I may not be writing I am certainly keeping busy.


First, the pie.

I found a spectacularly delicious-looking plum pie recipe over at Savour Fare quite a long time ago but I was afraid to start it because I'd never made a pie crust before, and all I've ever heard about them is that they're more finnicky than delicate machinery. The boyfriend, who is apparently the king of pie crusts, talks all the time about how he'll sit there and cut the butter into perfectly-shaped squares so it'll melt perfectly because otherwise the dough will be lumpy and your pie will be ruined oh noooooooo!!!!

But really, this recipe was super easy. Basically you just throw some ingredients in a mixer, whip it up, and chill it overnight. Then tada! After a bit of shaping you've got yourself a pie crust! A beautiful, tasty, and deliciously flaky pie crust.

I'm glad I finally worked up the courage to tackle this. I visited the boyfriend and a bunch of other friends at school a few weeks ago and finally had the guinea pigs necessary to try something new, so I figured, why not? Thanks to all my guinea pigs... and look how wonderfully it turned out!

Okay, so... secretly the only picture I have of the pie is the one above. I was rushing out the door and didn't snap pictures when it got out of the oven. D'oh. Instead I will give you a picture of the hardest part of the whole pie: the plums.

You know how with pitted fruit it's generally pretty easy to cut it in half and remove the pit? Well, yeah. I was working with mutant plums.

See how those pits are only sort of existent??? It added so much time to the cutting process!! There wasn't a full pit to pull out, and I was stuck with all this nasty hard stuff that I had to cut out with my paring knife. Gross.

All in all, though, this was a wonderful experience. The crust is like the crostata (tart) dough in that if it's out of the fridge or too long the butter in it will start to melt, so I'd recommend keeping the lattice dough in the fridge while shaping the base. It's also missing sugar (and we definitely noticed its absence), so I'd add some next time. It's a super versatile recipe, though-- I also made a scrumptious blueberry pie that I kind of made up the recipe to but that I didn't take any pictures of (shame)-- and is something I would love love love to do again!


Next time: Part 2, and maybe parts 3 and 4, depending on how loquacious I'm feeling. Stay tuned!