Happy Pi Day!!

Hi Folks:

It’s Pi Day once again (3-14) and so today we celebrate all things irrational as represented by that most well-known irrational number (π). And there’s no better way to mark the day than with that classic mix of artistry and chemistry: pie. We made apple…how about you?

An image of a deep dish apple pie, made with whole-grain spelt flour. On slice removed to show the contents.In our previous Pi Day posts we’ve added a recipe to each post. We’re not going to do that today, but we do have a story – about pie of course.

It was about twenty years ago, and we heard that the crew with which Mike used to work were going to be at the local airport over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. Working on the holidays is bad enough, but combined with being away from home and family – well, we thought we should do something to help out. So we made pies. Six of them, in fact. There was pumpkin (being Thanksgiving), lemon-meringue, apple and so on.

Pies in hand (or well boxed, anyway) we headed off in great anticipation to the airport to find… no one. Nada. Even the crickets were quiet, but it was October after all. It turned out that because of inclement weather the crew had been delayed at their previous location. Even the office and the airport restaurant were closed.

Heavily bowed down with grief, but resolute to the end, we thought that if we visited the local shelters they’d be glad to receive a little extra treat for the holiday. Nope. Closed for Thanksgiving. We were beginning to feel like Arlo Guthrie at Alice’s Restaurant, only with pie. It was Thanksgiving, after all.

Twenty years later we can remember that the pies had been distributed – somewhere – but neither of us remember exactly where. It’s entirely possible we took to wandering the neighbourhood, knocking on anonymous doors with hopeful looks in our eyes. “Hi! No, we’re not selling anything. Would you like some pie?” Fred Flintstone would understand.

an image from an episode of the Flintstones, where Fred decided to become a pie entrepreneur. In the image are Fred, Barney, a wholesaler and stacks of pies

The Gravelberry Pie King

Enjoy the day!!

Hugs,
M&M

P.S.
Happy Birthday, Albert Einstein! (March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955)
RIP Stephen Hawking (January 8, 1942 – March 14, 2018)

Happy Pi Day!!

Hi Folks:

Today being 3-14, it’s the best day of the year to celebrate pi (π) and all things irrational. Since there are few things more irrational than a nice tender, flaky crust, what better way to celebrate than with pie!?!?

Blueberry Pie“Blueberry Pie” by leguico is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Both of us have some sensitivity, especially to white flour, and to that end we mostly use a gluten-free flour mix. It works well for making cakes and things, but for bread/pastry … not so much. We’ve tried. We have buckwheat flour for making waffles, but it also fails at making bread or pastry because there’s nothing to bind the dough together.

However, we recently discovered einkorn flour and all is well in our (pastry) world once again. You’ve probably never heard of it, and that’s okay. Einkorn is an ancient grain, with some estimates for cultivation going back 10-12000 years. It was likely the first cultivated plant. Einkorn is a form of wheat, but for those with gluten sensitivities it’s often a much better choice:

“It is a diploid, with 14 chromosomes, compared to 42 in modern wheat. The grain has higher protein than modern wheat and is considered more nutritious. There some evidence that einkorn contains a less toxic form of the gliadin protein, which may reduce the toxicity to consumers with gluten sensitivities.” (https://plantscience.psu.edu/research/projects/grains/heritage-grains/einkorn)

“Einkorn does contain gluten and has a higher percentage of protein than modern red wheats and is considered more nutritious because it also has higher levels of fat, phosphorus, potassium, pyridoxine, and beta-carotene.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einkorn_wheat)

Whether or not it will work for you is something you’ll have to discover for yourself, but we appreciate having it to use!

As far as a good pastry recipe, we refer you to the pastry recipe we posted back in 2012. Egads! Have we really been doing this for 10 years?!?! Talk about irrational!!

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. In honour of Pi Day we’re making Cast Iron Shepherd’s Pie. No crust, but very tasty!!

Happy Pi Day!!

Hi Folks:

It’s Pi Day (3-14)!! Since there are few things more irrational than the alchemical blending of fat and flour, it means it’s time for another recipe. A pie recipe, of course. Today’s recipe comes from the book, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Chocolate by Christine McFadden and Christine France. The book was a gift to us from Mike’s mom, and we trust the publishers won’t mind us sharing a recipe if we encourage you to buy the book. It really is a perfect gift for the chocolatier in your life. Before we get started we also wanted to mention how important it is to buy Fair Trade Certified chocolate. From the site:

You may not know it based on first glance, but chocolate products go through a lengthy process to earn the Fair Trade Certified™ seal. Producers and businesses we work with adhere to strict labor, environmental, and ethics standards that prohibit slavery and child labor and ensure cocoa growers receive a steady income, regardless of volatile market prices. It’s not an easy process. You can thank them for their commitment, and incentivize even more sustainably-made chocolate, by enjoying fair trade chocolate in its many forms, from chocolate bars, powders, and baking chips to ingredients in energy bars and snacks.

If you live in Victoria, BC, be sure to check out The Chocolate Project at the Hudson Bldg, and also the new Chocolat and Co on Fort Street.

Today’s recipe is for “Chocolate Truffle Tart” because, well, chocolate. ’nuff said.

Continue Reading →

Happy Pi Day!!

Hi Folks:

It’s that one day of the year again (3-14) where we celebrate all things irrational by honouring the most famous of their brethren, pi (Ï€). And as any mathematician worth his or her salt with tell you, nothing associates better with pi than pastry! It may be the perfect alchemical blending of flour and lard, egg and vinegar… or it may just be the homonym. No matter.

pi-blue-2400px

Continue Reading →

Happy Pi Day!!

Hi Folks:

For those in the know, today is Pi ( π) Day (3-14). Today however marks a Pi Day that comes by only once a century because we have 3-14-15 9:26:53! Twice in one day! How cool is that?

As with our previous Pi Day post, in a moment of non-rational thought we thought we’d post a recipe! A pie recipe, of course. This one marks a favourite of Mike’s dad – a French Canadian tradition called Sugar Pie (or Tarte au Sucre in French).

To make this pie you’ll need a pre-baked pie shell. If you need a good pastry recipe, see our previous post!

Without further ado:

Sugar Pie

Ingredients
1 baked pie shell
3 cups (750 ml) pure maple syrup
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (125 ml) demererra brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. (30 ml)  unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. (5 ml) vanilla extract

Reduce/thicken the maple syrup by ¼ to ⅓ by placing it in a pot on the stove and boiling it for about 10-15 minutes or so. Set it aside to let it cool before continuing. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).  Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl then add the maple syrup and combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and bake for about 35 minutes until it has risen slightly and is somewhat firm to touch. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving.

NB: As the name implies, this pie is very sweet. You may wish to balance it with a nice dark roast coffee and/or some vanilla bean ice cream.

Enjoy!

Hugs,
M&M

Happy Pi Day!!

Hi Folks:

It’s Pi Day! (3.14), so in honour of that most famous of all mathematical constants we thought we’d do something completely irrational and post a couple of recipes. Pi(e) recipes, of course. And a story or two.

There weren’t a lot of male cooks around in the circles where I grew up (BBQ aside), but from the time I started Boy Scouts when I was 10 I’ve learned how to cook. Okay, not always well, and a fire doesn’t have a dial for temperature control, but like everything else, it takes some time to learn. By the time I started college I could cook and bake fairly well, despite the fact that my mother lovingly weighed me down with packages of freezerable food every time I went for a visit. When Marcia and I first moved in together I told her the kitchen was mine and she told me I was welcome to it (Marcia’s actually a very good cook herself, and one of our many shared activities is cooking together). Anyway, I digress. Continue Reading →