Fruity not tarty

It's a stormy Saturday afternoon and I can't get into  my garden. I planned on baking all day Sunday, but it looks like today would be better.  I decided on making Strawberry Cream Cheese & Cherry Cream Cheese Tarts.
My co works were less than enthusiastic about the Lemon and Lime  Tarts I made last week.
So, I listened to my customer base and I am reciprocating with THESE   this week.
Hopefully that will please.
More Fruit instead of the  tart  is what I hear.

Last Monday night I made pie#123. 
Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie. Now, I know it's a tired  old song and dance I sing, but .. when  oh when am I going to learn to follow directions?
This pie was rushed every step of the way. I didn't chill the dough the full 3 hours before trying to roll its' sticky self out. I poured the cream cheese in before the shell was cooled after baking, and the next topping melted right into the first.
But it was delicious.
I do make a much prettier tart.
Hmmm...that doesn't sound right.
Hee Heee

Guinea Pigs

I've started baking for my co-worker's today.
I've been baking all day.
Lemon and Key Lime Tarts.  Hopefully they'll enjoy it but I really don't give a hoot  if they like 'em  or not.
I'm still practicing.
They are just Guinea Pigs to me.
Luckily tarts are the easiest to make because you just press the dough right into the pan. they always come out perfect.
well.. sometimes perfection isn't what it seems.
They taste good! That's really all the matters.
I'm trying really hard to stay focused here.
Be nice, bake the best possible pies, and tarts.
I 'm working towards a set of   goals here....
#1. Bake  365 pie's &/or Tart's.
#2. Open my own shop.
#3. Well, I'm not even going to go there....(hint, the boyfriend issue)
First and foremost...
The customer is king. So I'd better start catering to them.
 Of course I do care if they like my pies.
Honest.
 I'm just being my usual defensive over  critical self again.
 I know when I hit the magic # they will be oh-so-beautiful!!! (gush gush)
 Onward I bake.
My guy still is  the inspiration behind every pie I bake (so Donna Reed of me).
I've baked 101 pies  for him.
Yes...
The count goes on.
Even though these are not for his consumption
(he ate one)
Now I'll add in 20..er, 19
he ate one.
That's free.
So today right now 121 pies! YEAH

I have a web site

http://katespiehole.com

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.