baking - M&M's Musings

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 (Ï€). And there’s no better way to mark the day than with that classic mix of artistry and chemistry: pie. Today’s recipe comes from the Ontario government; it’s a recipe we’ve had for about fifty years now so it’s probably time to bring it forward.

NB: We realize it’s probably not fair to have people salivating over peach pie when much of Canada is still covered in snow, but it gives you something to anticipate! And when peach season does arrive, have you ever tried peachzza?

Without further ado…

Peach Schnitz Pie

Ingredients:
1 unbaked 9″ pie shell (we recommend Barbie’s Perfect Pastry)
2/3 cup (160 ml) brown sugar
3 tbsp (45 ml) flour
pinch salt
2 tbsp (30 ml) butter
4 cups (1 litre) thickly sliced peaches
2 tsp (10 ml) lemon juice
1/4 cup (60 ml) whipping cream
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp (2 ml) cinnamon

Chill pie shell. Combine flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter to make a slightly crumbly mixture. Spread 1/3 over bottom of pie shell. Evenly spoon in peaches. Sprinkle lemon juice over peaches. Combine whipping cream and egg yolk; drizzle over fruit Cover with remaining crumbs and dust with cinnamon. Bake at 425Â° F ( 218Â° C) for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 375Â° F (190Â° C) and cook for 30-35 minutes, until pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.

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)

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?

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.