Happy π Day!

Hi Folks:

It’s March 14 once again, the one day of the year where everyone has the right to be at least a little more irrational than usual. For some of us that isn’t easy, but we do our best. 🙂

For the past several years we’ve honoured π Day by offering glimpses of that most alchemical of processes (pastry), although one year we shifted to Michael Smith’s Potato Bacon Cheddar Tart (with a bacon crust) and one year we offered a Cast Iron Shepherd’s Pie. This year we thought we’d shift once again and go with something a little more romantic. As the song goes, “When the moon hits your eye like a big peachzza pie…” WAITAMINUTE. Peachzza? Why not?

Flatbread in varying forms has been around for centuries, and while most tend to be savoury in nature, there’s nothing to suggest one can’t twist flatbread toward dessert as well. When we lived in BC’s Okanagan Valley, peach season was (and still is) a highly-coveted celebration. Woe betide those who failed to show up at the Saturday market much later than the crack of dawn because fresh peaches always sold out early.

NB: if you’re of the overly anxious type and can’t wait for peach season, it is possible to make peachzza with canned peaches. Just make sure to drain them well first. You can drink the drained-off juice separately (we promise not to tell anyone 🤫) Continue Reading →

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 π Day!!

Hi Folks:

Happy Pi Day (3-14)! Today, devotees around the world dedicate themselves to the pursuit of all things irrational, and of course, really good desserts. BTW, if you want to know what the first 1,000,000 digits of π are, you can find that at the link.

As we have in previous years, we’re going to celebrate today with some pi(e). Since Marcia has grain sensitivities we’re going to forego the crust, and since we’ve already profiled Michael Smith’s wonderful Potato Bacon Cheddar Tart, we’re going to choose something equally savoury instead: shepherd’s pie. The recipe we’re using today comes from the folks at America’s Test Kitchen, here: Cast Iron Shepherd’s Pie.

NB: They did provide this recipe free for two days, but that period is now over. You can still view it by signing up for a free trial. That of course is up to you. As for us, it’s been so long since either of us have eaten ground beef we don’t remember the last time, but shepherd’s pie has been a comfort food recipe in both of our families for generations. We thought of using ground turkey instead, but we thought we’d go all out. We’re using organic corn instead of peas and while we usually replace potatoes with yams, we did find some lovely organic potatoes to use here. We’ll see how it goes!

Cast Iron Shepherd's Pie
Cast Iron Shepherd’s Pie

Okay, that’s it for now. Enjoy Pi Day, however you celebrate it! For more of our Pi Day posts (and recipes) click here.

Remember to hug the ones you love today. If you can’t hug a stranger, then at least offer them a smile. 🙂

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. While you’re wandering around the Cook’s Illustrated site, watch out for their Cast Iron Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe!!

Happy Pi Day!!

Hi Folks:

It’s that time of the year (3-14) where we get to celebrate all things irrational, and so as we’ve done for several years now we thought we’d add a recipe or two. Mike’s Auntie Dona – at various stages in her life – ran a bakery, a restaurant, a catering service for several small airlines, and a cooking school. She was also quite a character. Wherever she is now, she likely has flour in her hair. These recipes are hers.

In case pastry has become your bête noire, here’s the one I used in the bakery and still do.

5 cups flour, 1 lb. lard, 1 tsp. salt… blend with pastry blender. Break 1 egg into a cup, beat and fill with water. Add to flour and stir and knead until it’s ready to handle. Seeing as how you’ve got that great lump of pastry there, make a pie or two, some butter tarts, turnovers (apple pie filling, zipped up with cinnamon and a few raisins) or raisin squares or just bake the shells and store them on a shelf. They’ll stay good for ages.

Now about those butter tarts. This recipe I gleaned from an old Mennonite cookbook and have used constantly over the years. Surprise, no butter in butter tarts.

Dona’s stolen recipe for butter tart filling

2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 cup brown sugar, handful of raisins. Beat the hell out of the eggs with your balloon whisk. If you don’t have one, stop right now and go and get one. I mean, really. Then put in the sugar and beat until you have big glutinous bubbles on top. Add your vanilla and raisins, put in tart shells and bake. Do use a 2-lb jam can to cut out your tart shells, 4-lb size for turnovers. Don’t bake butter tarts or anything with an egg base in a high oven. 325° at the most. I find 325 is best for these as a nice crust will form and they look beauteous. Gravy ladle fills the easiest. The amount makes 1 dozen.

So there you go. Have some fun with it! And since you have pastry dough left over, maybe put together a pumpkin or lemon pie or something. Check our Food section for more recipes.

Hugs,
M&M

Happy Pi Day!!

Hi Folks:

That most special day of the year is upon us once again! While it will be another 97 years before we’ll have a really special Pi Day (3-14-15, 9:26:53), any excuse to eat baked treats is a good one!

Since the idea of combining irrational numbers and desserts is a bit nutty, we thought we’d offer up two slightly nutty recipes for you today. The first comes from the oldest cookbook we have on the shelf (so far): The Good Housekeeping Cookbook (© 1942, edited by Dorothy B. Marsh). Continue Reading →

Happy Pi Day!!

Hi Folks:

It seems Pi Day (3-14) is upon us once again, and there’s no better way to celebrate all things irrational than with pie! In the past we’ve profiled recipes for pastry and for various dessert pies; this year we thought we’d take a different tack and mention a crustless, savoury pie instead: a potato bacon cheddar tart. The recipe comes from our favourite Canadian chef, Michael Smith, and may be found here: Potato Bacon Cheddar Tart.

As Michael himself would say, the best recipe for cooking is to cook without a recipe! To that end, and since Marcia can’t eat nightshades (including potatoes), we use yams instead. And if you want to switch up the cheddar for some other firm cheese like Havarti, that would probably work too. Have fun with it!! The recipe is pretty simple and straightforward to make, although, as mentioned, it’s important to stagger the placement of the bacon around the centre of the pie plate to avoid having a big mound in the middle. And remember to put a baking sheet underneath to catch the drips.

Bon appetit! Now, the 100,000th decimal place for pi is… ? Oh ya… 6.

Hugs,
M&M

P.S. Happy Birthday, Uncle Albert!! E=MC2, huh. We’ll believe you. You could always see the beauty in the sinuous undulations of the rim of the crust, and you recognized that baking is all chemistry and physics… 😉

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 →