A Year of Pies Book Giveaway
Monday, August 13, 2012 at 8:00AM
I was elated when my friend Ashley asked if I’d share a recipe in her new book, a book all about pies. I said yes immediately, of course, and have anticipated seeing the finished product since those hours I put in last summer testing my gluten-free streusel top apple pie.
I’ve long loved Ashley’s blog and book series, Homemade Living, which includes Home Dairy, Cannning & Preserving, Keeping Chickens & Keeping Bees, and even got to spend some time with her during my book travels last year.
My prolific pal has put together a lovely book, chock full of beautiful, informative photos.
;)
Fabulous seasonal recipes I can’t wait to try. These in particular:
;)
The pecans are green and bunching, nearly time for harvest here in Texas.
And this is definitely happening next year, when our blueberries come in:
;)
I like Ashley’s book for its seasonally-minded sections, her great how-to photos and descriptions for the hard parts of pie making and for incorporating all kinds of great guest recipes, including many gluten-free options!
The publisher mailed me a few copies, so I’m giving away two of them, one via the comment section below and another here on my author site’s new blog feature. You may enter twice if you’d like.
US & Canadian residents please enter by leaving a comment on this post by Monday August 27, midnight CST, telling us about your best (or worst) pie experience, either making it or eating it. (If you don’t include your email address in the specific box where asked on the comment form you won’t win because I can’t get ahold of you.)
Good luck!
Reader Comments (109)
My kids go to a school that has a spring fair every year with the theme - Children and Apple Pie. Every family gets to make 6 or more apple pies to sell at the bake table. the (usually) Moms get together for "pie bees' in the weeks prior to the fair and those of us who have an idea of how to do it usually end up making and rolling pastry, the other moms core/peel/slice apples and prepare the other fillings or wrap the finished pies. halfway through, at my pie bee, we stop for soup and the first pie (baked as we work) and a bit of wine. When all is done the kitchen floor is sticky and slippery and greasy, and we all are gifted with a spare pie as a reward. the pies go home to our freezers and we bake them the day before the fair. HARD work to make 36 + pies when you have a crew of 6, yet the connection with Moms that we might otherwise never hang out with is absolutely vital to the health of our school community
Hands down favorite pie memory- when I was little I would steal my mom's nice pie pans and artfully line them with a crust of mud (careful to mold the edges). Then I would fill them with a clay goo dotted with black dirt to look like chocolate chips. My dad knew the drill- he would come home, pretend to eat a piece of my chocolate pie, and rave about how wonderful it was. Classic "pie" memory that will always make me smile. Hopefully my actual creations taste better than my mud pies.
My mother was an amazing pie baker. In fact, her epitaph reads: "Wife, Mother, community leader and damn good pie maker." I try to follow in her footsteps and I think I do pretty well. My husband claims he married me for my pies, especially my rhubarb custard pie.
I made a very low carb pecan pie for my diabetic husband and his father our first Thanksgiving together. The filling came out the texture of rubber cement, but they ate it and years later, they are still asking me to try again. Maybe this year...
Nothing in the world better than Saskatoon Berry pie! Awesome website! Keep up the good work!
The year after my mother died, I took charge of Thanksgiving dinner and the extended family at the age of 25. The thing I was most nervous about was the pies – I’d never made one before. While my mother used her mother’s recipes for pumpkin and pecan pie, they never turned out well. I feared making pie from years of watching my mother struggle with (store bought) dough and the subsequent subpar result (the family joke was that you needed a chisel to cut out a piece of pecan pie). That first year, I did as much research as I could (bless Martha Stewart online videos), and held my breath as we sliced into my first pie. It was perfect. Pie-making must have skipped a generation. I am now the official pie maker in our extended family, and love making any kind of pie. Last year my favorite creation was a pear ginger pie.
Ever since I learned how to make a homemade pie crust, I can't get enough pie. Rhubarb pie is my absolute favorite!
I think my best pie experiences, however, have been while making pies without any set recipe.You can't go wrong with delicious ingredients! (With that said, I'm sure the recipes in your book will be out of this world!)
My favourite pie is usually the one I last ate. Recently I made a fantastic pie from a Greek Orthodox Church ladies cook book (thrift store find) . The ingredients were ricotta or cottage cheese, eggs and honey with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. So good. I think I have to go make another.
Hmm... well I've had some pretty gross savory pies in my life- none of which I made.
My proudest pie moment was the first one I ever made - when I was 12. My mother wasn't a pie baker, but I had gotten the notion that I was going to be - so I went for it, and it was (mostly) successful!
I grew up loving my mom's rhubarb pies. Early in my marriage, my husband was offered a piece of her pie at a family gathering. He hesitantly took it, not expecting to like it. Upon the first bite, he looked so surprised. He took another. By the end of the slice, he'd pronounced it his new favorite pie.
I can never go wrong making Tom a rhubarb birthday pie.
I love making this dutch apple pie where the crust ingredients are actually mixed into the apples and it all bakes up wonderfully. It usually turns out great, but the recipe doesn't have a bake time recorded on it. One time I served it to my father-in-law, and it was under baked by probably 20 minutes, because not only could I not remember how long it was supposed to bake, (about an hour), but I forgot to set a timer! Oops….
Every Christmas I make little mincemeat pies. Sprinkled with powdered sugar, they are a delight! They always turn out great! I use a mini muffin top pan and 2 sizes of biscuit cutters; one for the bottom and a small one for the top. The filling goes in the middle!
The very first thing I made for my fiance's family was an apple pie... they loved it and now they love me too!
My first memories of pie are standing on a stool in my grandmother's kitchen watching her fingers delicately create flawless flutes on perfect peach pies. Though she's gone now I'll always remember her and her secrets to buttery flaky crust.
Currently where my fiance and I live, we don't have a working stove (our landlord still hasn't provided us with a new one so let's just say we're looking for a new place to live lol). Point is, I can't bake until we move so when my fiance got his new job I wanted to make him something DELICIOUS! I made him a pumpkin pie that could be put in the fridge using pudding, cool whip, pecans & caramel. MMMMM :) I have to say I was worried at first he wouldn't like it but he loved it so now he has me trying out new recipes every weekend. I just can't wait to move so I can actually BAKE a pie lol
My mother is a pie queen; I grew up on her amazing apple, cherry, ruhbarb, grape, banana cream, pumpkin, etc. I've not had a lot of experience making pies myself yet, but I think this book would be just the thing to get me started!
Every Christmas I look forward to my mother's sweet potato pie. Its absolutely delicious! A few holidays my father made the pie crust, which turned out perfect, and my mother did the rest. Every year we have a tradition of eating sweet potato pie for breakfast on Christmas morning. Best pie experience ever!
Almost 20 years ago I worked at a local apple orchard and in one season I made almost 2000 apple pies. I giess that was my worst pie making experience, that year I made pumpkin cheesecake for thanksgiving!
Every summer I try to make at least one sweet cherry pie with dark cherries. I pit them by hand which is a labor of love, but worth it for the appreciation I recieve from my family. Occasionally though, a pit slips by me and an unsuspecting pie eater finds it- no one has broken a tooth yet :)
When my husband and I vacationed in Key West, I went on a quest to find the best key lime pie on the island. Everywhere we went, I tried it. It turned out that my favorite was at the resort we stayed at. Every time I think about key lime pie, I'm immediately transported to the beach. I can feel the salty breeze and taste that pie as if I just ate it. Alas, I've never been able to recreate the same taste at home.
My Mom makes a delicious Blueberry Rhubarb Pie that tops the list as my favorite!
Many, many years ago, my uncle was carrying two freshly (i.e. lovingly) baked (my, but they were perfect) pumpkin pies toward the car to take to another relative's house.Sadly, his foot hit a patch of ice on the sidewalk and as he fell, he somehow managed to toss both pies about 12 feet straight up into the air where they flipped and fell upside down and were ruined. Funny in slapstick movies. Big drag In real life.
My best pie is blueberry with vodka pie crust.
I learned that tapioca wasn't optional in a huckleberry pie recipe that was SO runny and made a mess of my kitchen