I've got a channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/katespiehole

Ode to Dough

Today I am baking 2  quiches.
Perfect pie to bake when  I haven't a clue what to bake.
This  brings my pie count to 84 and #85.
85 pies in 6 months.
That's not a pie a day..  not even  a pie every Sunday as I had prematurely assumed I would do.
Not that I didn't want to be baking every Sunday, but as they say..
time kinda slips away.
My day job gets  in the way.
Things have quieted  down now and I am ready to resume baking & writing .
The "story" left off in early December  of 2010.
I had just switched over to yet  another dough recipe.
I had tried three or four different recipes till I found the one. I could tweak this  to make it my own. And this is crucial ~ I have got to have my own recipe!
I thank-you Hilda Mars, Alan Carter and Mom ~ but I think I got this one now.  There isn't much one can do to tweak a dough recipe, but I'll  keep my secret just the same.
Any baker  will tell you its all in perfecting your dough. It  must be first and foremost . It is nothing  if it's not flaky & buttery. It must lend itself to manipulation; be able to twist and hold it's shape and above all  pass the test...will he eat it?
He loves 'em.

I  also decided it was time to get serious with the Christmas hints.. I needed  better equipment.
I asked Santa  for  more cookbooks.
Christmas morning arrived with a whole lot of goodies. My Sister from Texas sent me a wonderful Southern Pies cookbook along with Texas Pecans. Yummy!
My mother bought me a beautiful HEAVY  Marble slab along with a perfect exactly- what- I dreamed- of black marble  rolling pin.  Now I  realized   why  she was  so tired and hunched over for the past  week.  Mom carried these two items...
(my 81 year old mother ) from the store through the  mall to her car and home.. I can barley lift this slab from my cabinet to my counter. WOW and she never laid a guilt trip on me. But, she'll tell the tale forever.
Anyway.....

I baked pie #30 Chewy Pecan Pie with the Texas Pecans. Chewy and flat like a pancake because it dripped out of the pan and smoked up the kitchen something awful!
My pie shrunk to within a  1/2 inch thick. Oh well, learned another lesson.
and so on... Pecan Pies for the rest of the month till I got it right.

The plan

 April & May are killer months  when you work in a garden center.
Very very busy time of the year.
So much to do  and too many  people to help.. I can  barely keep up with the  stocking watering and designing..I really love how crazy it all is.
And it is so nice to see  so many people  rediscovering the joys of  creating their own gardens.
I love seeing all my regulars too  and to  hear their plans for this years garden.
But I am getting a little burn out and need to take a day off.. it's also  98 degrees today. So I watered my own garden and baskets turned the AC's on turned off my phone & locked my door.
Sorry folks but the plant lady needs a rest.
Soon this whole phase of my life will be over and I'll start my own business.
Yes.. the record store dream.
My guy and I have been planning this one for sometime now.
Kate's Piehole Records. coming soon (2014)
promote and nurture the love of vinyl records, live music, & warm pie .
Our goal is to create a space for our patron’s and employees to engage one another through the shared love of live music & cool vinyl.
It is our most earnest wish to enhance Rockford’s Downtown River District with a music centric environment while comforting its soul with delicious pie.

AT Kate's Piehole Records,
Our Atmosphere will be unique.
We will offer the ultimate in comfort foods,
while resurrecting a most beloved and missed institution...the record store.
We will sell vinyl ..... Specializing in punk, from the 70’s, 80’s and 90‘s, vintage country, blues,
rockabilly, and soul.
We will be a fully stocked record store! Of course we will still sell CD’s along with the usual record store items: T-shirts, posters, & other punk memorabilia.
We will sell pie..... Freshly baked classic meat and dessert pies only. Baked from scratch using only the purest of available ingredients.
We will offer a super quick lunch service for the downtown community in a comfortable rock atmosphere.
We will promote community..... On site wifi will be available, Each table will be equipped with it’s own charge port.
we will encourage an active involvement with our real & virtual community.
We will Promote thru. Katespiehole.com
local media, FaceBook,& Twitter.

Oh and I am on pie #82 as of yesterday.

Rip Van Winkle

HEY HI THERE.....
Have I been asleep or have I done the usual thing and procrastinated my blog?
Yes I am lazy/busy call it what you like...  I think I've discussed THIS before.
Anyway, I have another problem. I need to write about something.
I have three stories simultaneously being discussed here.
Do I resume or start anew?
My pie baking is behind schedule,
My record store is pushed into the future,
My story is stuck in November of 2010.
I think I'll have another glass of wine and write about it later.

The fresh news

Hello, this is Kate and I am writing this from TODAY.. kinda breaking away from my story I've been   telling  to get ya  a little caught up to the fresh story... ya see  my guy and I are moving in together!
Next Saturday. hurrah!!!

Pie's# 65-70 Cherry Bombs

Sans ring but I am still  very happy.
I have been trying to keep up with the Sunday  baking, but very busy packing.
These are some Cherry Tarts I made Last week-end
 I  have gotten pretty damn good haven't I ? But before I start fantasying about opening  a Pie Shop/ Record Store, I've got to finish this move.
So folks... I need another two weeks ,I'll reorganize and  be back to the story.
With more to show and so much more to tell. I've gotten some really good recipes I want to start sharing too.   These Tarts are just the start of what I hope will be  a huge hit with all my friends and family.
See ya

Every pie tells a story

As of today I have baked  70 pies.
Not all of them good ~ but all of them have been valuable.
Valuable lessons that I could not  have gotten any other way.

I have taught myself  (more or less) the art of baking.
And it is an art.
I look at rolling  dough like an artist would look at clay.
Sometimes my dough tasted  like clay.
Like most things in life we learn best from our mistakes and fortunately for me the worst my pies turn out... the better the lesson.
SO... as I retell the tale of woe bear in mind
that I actually have  learned a thing or two about pies
and I have become an accomplished baker.

Our  story left off Just after Thanksgiving .
We were in the middle of holiday gluttony. Every day another excuse to have over the top delightfully rich comfort food.
My guy and I made some lame attempts to changing  our diets but who can at this time of year ?? Too many left overs, can't just throw them out, how wasteful!
With all that turkey  tempting us,
I thought
why not try my hand at a dinner pie?

#24 Whole Wheat Turkey pie

I was totally thinking of his health
and the brownie points I would earn
when I masterminded this disastrous pie.

OK... so when baking with whole wheat one should not use just whole wheat but rather cut it
half and half with white flour.
Did not know this.
What a waste of an excellent bird.

#25-#28 Chicken Pot Pies

I felt the need to redeem myself by making  Chicken pot pies. Safe and effective.
Yes this was the ticket, diced chicken  Cream of Mushroom soup, and a little sprinkling of peas and carrots.
Perfect.
Easy.

 I also baked another pecan Pie that night and the edges were just about perfect.

BTW my date stamp is usually way  off.
Like my  old VCR  which was perpetually blinking  12:00...
I  cannot set any of my  digital equipment.

#29 Pecan Pie

I know I baked this pie after Thanksgiving.
But..

the main point I want to stress here...look at those edges!!!
I did it, finally!
( not perfect but pretty damn close)
OMG  how can such a simple little thing like that elude me for so long?
And why oh why has this become my white whale???

Cabin fever?
Nah, its not even Christmas yet.
I haven't even reached Pie #30 yet.     cheese us..
  I  had to get out of that  kitchen.
"I would love a  road trip into Chicago" I thought to myself 
 Rock N' Roll  road trip.
Yeah.  I've earn it.

The primal urge to bake

NOW  what do I do?
Do I continue on  making as many pies as I can till I hit my goal number?
Or do I stop now... and change my guy's diet?
I mean.. what good will it do to reach the number; I might be placing  that last pie on his grave!
The project had quickly taken a different direction. Sure I started this as a joke  but I was falling in love with baking.
I enjoy the whole the creative process.
Its not just for him anymore. This satisfies something deep and primal within me. I know it sounds crazy, but I think I found something I can do really well.
I love him, its true..
if we were meant to marry.. we'll marry.. regardless of the number of pies I make him, right?
I want to keep making pies.
 I could learn how to modify.. use less sugar, cut down on the carb.'s a little pie now and then won't kill him, I reasoned.
So onward I bake.
Ti's the season for home baked comfort food.
Thanksgiving week was coming up  and I committed myself to 3 pies for the family feast.
Like most  large  families we  all chip in for the dinner.
We each have our own distinct specialties.
Mine had been the floral arrangements, but not this year.
This year I'll join the "kitchen people" and create some comfort of my own.
Mother of course was in charge of the main course.
My second eldest brother (who is a professional chef) makes the homemade bread and  usually an elaborate  side dish. So on blah blah blah..
I planned on taking over the dessert menu from one of my sisters .
Well, as the dinner approached everyone  was finding the whole project I was working on quite humorous.
They truly believed I was incapable of serving an edible pie.
I hadn't given them any reason to believe otherwise. So now was my moment to shine, I hoped.

 I  impressed the family.. and no one complained.

#21 Pear Pie with a lattice top.

My first lattice top.

Since I couldn't for the life of me do a simple pinch
 I use a knife to do a decorative edge.

#22 Pumpkin Chiffon

#23 Frozen Cranberry Cream
 

this was the crowd   favorite. I made this the night before and kept it in the freezer.
but the dough barely made it to the edge.


So Thanksgiving came and went. They meet the guy and ate my pies and no drama. Wow, I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful relationship. Pie , Guy and I.