As soon as I learned about the Pie Party for July 5th, 2011, I counted myself in and started trying to narrow down my pie-options. The more options I have, the faster I melt into indecision and confoundedness, so I limited myself to summertime essentials which around here runs to blueberries, blackberries, and peaches. Not that we don't absolutely ...
Pies
Easy Chocolate Chess Pie
Three words: Chocolate Chess Pie. Add "Easy" to the title because this easy-as-pie pie is a quick, rich, people-pleasing winner. And did I mention "chocolate"? Advice? Make two Chocolate Chess Pies while you're at it, because this recipe doubles up easily, and one Chocolate Chess Pie won't stay around for long! Where did this pie come ...
Edna Lewis’s Tyler Pie
Bright and tangy lemon flavor meets luscious Southern chess pie goodness in Edna Lewis's Tyler Pie. Stir it together in a jiffy, and then celebrate Chef Lewis's culinary genius with pie-loving family and friends! Custard meets chess meets lemonade, with luscious results sure to win you all the praise! What is Tyler Pie? Tyler pie hails from ...
Nancie’s Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Strawberry season makes North Carolina people happy, and with good reason. Come the Merry Month of May, farmer's markets tend to have a bountiful supply, such that even the tardy-arriving market-goers have a good chance of finding sweet ripe strawberries, enough to eat, sprinkle on cereal, cook into jam, and bake into pies. You can find ...
Pumpkin Pie Minis with Brown Sugar Whipped Cream
My Thanksgiving prep plan includes pumpkin pie minis and here's why. They are easy-as-pie to make, cute and inviting, easy to serve, and full of deliciously seasonal pumpkin spice! I wrote this post for #HalloweenTreatsWeek, but it's on-time for the entire holiday season! I received samples from some of the sponsoring companies, but as ...
Delicious Black Walnut Pie
Black Walnuts Though they seldom appear on standard lists and menus, black walnuts are both growing on today trees and widely available for purchase in supermarket produce sections and by mail order. Even back when they were familiar as a Southern pantry ingredient for baking and sweets, buying them shelled was common practice and shelling them ...
Apple Pie – A Fall Favorite
Fall leaves coming in and those scents you love, but what is the best things about fall besides pumpkin spice? Apple Pie! Warm, gooey fresh apple pie with the hint of spices. Time to EAT! In a beautifully written and handsomely illustrated book called Old Southern Apples, Creighton Lee Calhoun tells the story of what apples and ...
Butternut Squash Pie
Pie Time! Pumpkin pie has been on my A-list forever, and I've never understood why we relegate it to the holiday menus between November and January 1st. Delicious? Check --- Simply and swiftly made? Check --- Made from accessible inexpensive ingredients? Check --- Popular? Check! Perhaps its automatic inclusion on menus that require turkey, ...
Magic Coconut Pie
What's sweet and a little crunchy, rich and coconutty, and so easy to make, it's like you waved a magic wand? That would be my magic coconut pie! This dream dessert skips the crust completely, and makes coconut custard filling the star. No-Crust Coconut Pie? This Coconut Pie is one of two recipes in Southern Pies with no crust to keep ...
Farewell to Summertime Pies
"I miss summer!" my husband Will said as we sat out on the deck yesterday evening, with a little merlot and smoked salmon and pate from Harriss Teeter, and candles flickering to simulate the campfire we could have used had it been a wee bit cooler and had we been located a safe distance from our house. Yes, it was a school night, but this week ...
Easy Egg Custard Pie
Scalding the Milk? First pie I ever made, and it still delights me in every way. Scalding the milk is a technique seldom used in today's recipe instructions; it's gone the way of sifting flour and testing cake layers for doneness with a toothpick or a spear of broomstraw. It was part of basic cooking and baking when I took up the art and craft as ...
Brown Sugar Pie
Simplicity itself, this Brown Sugar Pie is an old-timer. I suspect it's the great-aunt of the modern darling, pecan pie, though I thus far I have no documentation to support this guess of mine. You start this particular pie off in a 450 degree oven for a five-minute heat-blas; then ease it down to 350 and let it bake slowly to plush ...
Easy Buttermilk Pie
Wishing for the rich tangy goodness of cheesecake, but short on time to fuss? My Easy Buttermilk Pie uses only six ingredients, and gets stirred together with a fork. Made in minutes, it's what you need for your Thanksgiving celebration. What is Buttermilk Pie? Buttermilk Pie is an old-timer which was surely edged over to the ...
“Southern Pies”, now out of the oven and onto the bookshelves and countertops!
Though I've had my author copy for a month, and the Chronicle Books warehouse has been shipping out advance orders for a couple of weeks, today is the official start of publicity month for my latest book, "Southern Pies: A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes, from Lemon Chess to Chocolate Pecan". I haven't gotten over it yet, not even close --- still ...
Blackberry Roly Poly for #summerdessertweek
Sweet, ripe, and juicy blackberries say Summertime, and this old-time favorite recipe shows them off beautifully. Blackberry Roly Poly is fun to say, fun to make, and fun to share at any summertime celebration! This post and recipe were created for #SummerDessertWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are ...
Coconut Custard Pie
Coconut custard pie brings old-time baking pleasure home and makes a simple, delicious dessert for friends and family, for guests, or for taking along to a potluck, a party, or an event at work or school. Easy-to-find ingredients, simple methods, everyday equipment: It's a fine everyday homemade treat. Start with a single round of pastry ...
Fresh Plum Sonker with Vanilla Milk Dip
I love home baking and traditional recipes with a story to tell. This week I got to share one in a big, wonderful way, cooking up a fresh plum sonker on the Hallmark Channel in the bright, sunny Home & Family kitchen. A sonker is a North Carolina regional dessert treasure, a great big, juicy, pastry-lined version of cobbler, with a lovely ...
Southern Tomato Pie from Chef Ashley Christensen
Savory and satisfying, Southern Tomato Pie brings the smiles and why not? When you pile summer's ripe, juicy tomatoes, fresh basil, mayo, and gooey cheddar cheese into a buttery, flaky piecrust, people feel hungry and happy fast. Easy, cheesy, and simple to prepare, it's the best make-ahead party recipe I know. You bet it's on my go-to ...
Apple Pear Persimmon Pie
This year I followed through on my long-time intention to find out about the many National (fill-in-the-blank-with-an ingredient or dish) Day which occur throughout the year. Intention? Perhaps not, since I did not act up on it for a long time. But then, I did! Early in January I looked up resources on these declared days, and wrote some onto my ...
My Thanksgiving Pies in Southern Living Magazine
Since I love fall so much, this time of year always brings me joy, but this particular year, autumn has been providing an extra-special delight. As a longtime reader and fan of Southern Living magazine, I have dreamed of seeing my byline and recipes among its pages. This year my dream came true, when the November issue arrived, full of beautiful ...
Tomato Pie for Summertime Lunch or Supper
Tomato Pie is one of the simplest summer main dishes you can make, and with ripe, juicy tomatoes at their annual best, this is the time to get one on your table. You'll need a baked piecrust, a generous array of thickly-sliced and lightly salted and drained tomatoes, and a few other items which you simply stack up spread out and assemble: saltine ...
Sweet Corn Custard Pie
This fall has been a busy one for me, with lots of travel especially in October. A highlight was the Southern Foodways Alliance annual Symposium, a gathering I look forward to every year. It takes place on the campus of the University of Mississippi, in the small and fascinating town of Oxford, and it brings together a noisy, lively, curious, ...
Fresh Fig Pie: Bye-Bye, Summer, and Welcome, Fall
Sweet and luscious, ripe and ready, fresh figs make me happy, just to see them. Chopped up and baked into this fresh fig pie? They deliver easy joy to you and your family and friends! You will love this simple sweet figgy treat! I Love Fresh Fig Pie! I love figs in every form: Fresh and dried, in preserves, in jam, and in chutney. I even love ...
Craftsy Class: Classic Pies Made Easy
Back in July, I had the good fortune to travel back to Craftsy.com 's Studio F in Denver to shoot my second online video cooking class with an amazing, talented and delightful Craftsy crew. It was a whirlwind week with clouds of flour, sprinkles of sugar, strawberries and syrup, buttermilk and butterscotch, all rolled out, stirred ...
Easy Strawberry Icebox Pie
Pretty, pink, party-ready: This easy strawberry icebox pie is simple to make and sure to delight you and yours! Use a graham cracker crust and serve it with whipped cream for a cool finishing touch. Easy as Pie, no-bake, do-ahead, and sure to please your people AND you! Icebox Pies and Why We Love Them: What is make-ahead, easy to prepare, ...
Happy Pi-Day! 3-14-15 via Ronni Lundy’s Sorghum Pecan Pie
What a lucky week for me: I was pondering which pie to make in honor and celebration of National Pi Day 2015, and the answer arrived in my mail box. I received a review copy of the brand new book by my friend Ronni Lundy, entitled Sorghum's Savor. Published by University of Florida Press, this book lets Ronni share the story of this heirloom ...
Pears from Blue Ridge Mountain Farmstand = Pear Pie and Pear Chutney
My friend Dean brought me this pile of pears from a roadside stand in Ashe County, North Carolina. Ashe County is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, on the NC-Virginia border northwest of Winston-Salem, NC. They were hard and sturdy, not the best for eating out of hand, but full of flavor, which I took in two directions: one sweet and one ...
Summer Plum Torte, Easy and Elegant
What a treasure! One layer of luscious but simple plum-studded goodness, simple to make and a pleasure to share. No wonder it's the New York Times's most beloved and requested recipe! You need Summer Plum Torte in your repertoire, to vary and enjoy all year long! I love Lottie + Doof, a blog by a Chicago-based food writer and photographer named ...
My Pie-Sister Kate McDermott’s Lemon Meringue Pie
I love following "Art of the Pie", the beautiful, useful blog my friend Kate McDermott bakes up from Pie Cottage out in the great Northwest. Kate not only knows everything about pie-making, not only creates gorgeous, varied pies and pastries: she shares her knowledge, wisdom, and experience with the whole wide world, on her blog, in ...
Banana Cream Pie from Beth M. Howard’s “Making Piece” on Leite’s Culinaria
Last week we went to heaven --- not the one-way ticket concept, or the Rewards for Good Behavior concept, but the Heaven on Earth concept, and it was lovely all around. My friends Dean and Joe have a beautiful farm up past Scranton, Pennsylvania, with all the transcendant beauty of an old-school dairy farm and none of the work. We sleep late, sit ...
My Apple Pie Recipe, Easy as Pie
My wonderful young cousin Erika Sue got in touch late last week, asking if I might have a recipe for making an apple pie. Matter of fact, I did, and I decided to make one and take pictures, so that I could pass along the closest thing to going over and sharing the pleasures of making an apple pie with her in her kitchen. (Only distance and time ...
Happy 100th Birthday to the Hughes Family and Pine Knot Farms: A North Carolina Century Farm
I've been a fan and a customer of Mr. Stanley Hughes and Pine Knot Farms since we moved home to North Carolina from Southern California in 1999. His family farm out in Hurdle Mills, 12 miles north of Hillsborough, produces a marvelous organic harvest which he sells to area chefs and to the public at the Carrboro Farmers' Market. His justifiably ...
Rhubarb Pie
Rhubarb: The springtime treat which makes mighty fine pies, tarts, muffins, and compotes, all with beautiful color and tangy flavor. Easy to prep, fun to cook with, and delicious in its signature British-American form: Rhubarb Pie! What is Rhubarb? When I came across an armload of fresh ruby-red rhubarb at my local supermarket this spring, my ...
Bill Smith’s Daddy’s Sweet Potato Pie
Pumpkin pie suits me fine, and I gladly eat it all year long. With Thanksgiving meals on my mind this week, I wanted to share a simple treasure that my friend Bill Smith shared with me about 3 years ago. When he was in his early 60's, my father began making the pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving, and he continued that tradition as long as his health ...
Brooklyn’s “Four & Twenty Blackbirds” = Pie Heaven
Why do I deeply trust anything suggested by my friend Nicole Taylor, food writer, host of Heritage Radio Network's "Hot Grease", and food justice activist? Because during a recent visit to New York City, she told me to check out Four & Twenty Blackbirds in Gowanus, Brooklyn, cause she knows I love pie. The shop's website ...
Pi Day ? Try an Osgood Pie
An old-school member of the chess-pie family, Osgood Pie is a simple stir-up of pecans, raisins, butter, sugar and eggs. It's been a long time since I sat in Mrs. Holder's geometry class, learning about proofs, formulas, and recipes for figuring out the area of a square, the volume of a cylinder, and the meaning of 'rhombus', a word I like very ...
Three Swingin Chicks’ 20-Minute Apple Pie
Janice Cole's 20-minute apple pie is gorgeously good, and so beautiful coming out of the oven in my cast-iron skillet. My friend Janice Cole writes a delightful and unique blog, one you will want to visit often. Here is where you'll find it: http://threeswinginchicks.blogspot.com/ Not only will you find excellent recipes from a superb food ...
Bill Smith’s Daddy’s Sweet Potato Pie
One mighty fine sweet potato pie, made with a family recipe shared with me by Chef Bill Smith of Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill, NC. If they'd let me have another couple of dozen pies in the cookbook, I would have blessed Southern Pies with a whole entire chapter on sweet potato pie. It's always been one of my favorites, and since I ...
Fresh Fig Pie
It's too late for figs here in Piedmont North Carolina, the late summer season having passed us by --- though with warmer than usual days popping up now and then, it can be difficult to tell. They come and go quickly, and by the time we've eaten them fresh off the tree, or wrapped in proscuitto or chopped up and mixed with toasted ...
Martha Hall Foose’s Sweet Tea Pie
Martha Hall Foose's Sweet Tea Lemon Chess Pie My friend Martha Hall Foose is a chef, author, teacher and storyteller. She combines homegrown Mississippi Delta smarts with professional culinary education, work in France, and world travels, and her writing and teaching open windows into the kitchen for her readers and students. Her ...
Peanut Pie
Though not equal to the grand dame of Southern piedom, pecan pie, peanut pie has long had a loyal and enthusiastic following, and it quickly earns a place of honor anytime it's given a chance. Peanut pie is another variation on the chess pie theme, with coarsely-chopped dry-roasted peanuts stirred into a sugar-butter-eggs ...
Muscadine Grape Hull Pie
Muscadine Grape Hull Pie, juicy and wonderful, worthy of the time it takes. I love the old-school way it uses everything but the seeds. This pie is an heirloom well worth dusting off and setting out in a place of honor at today's table. Made with a dedication to thrift and flavor, it uses the thick, sturdy hulls of the ...
Lemon Icebox Pie
Meringue gives Lemon Icebox Pie an old-timey touch, but whipped cream works wonderfully as well. Or serve it as is, plainly irresistibly good. For a do-ahead, pleasing and simple to make pie, lemon icebox pie --- well, I almost said "...takes the cake!", but I will make that... has little competition. Lemon juice, grated lemon rind, sweetened ...
Delicious Pumpkin Pie
Fall brings flavors and colors we love, with one classic I can't wait to bring back to my kitchen: Delicious pumpkin pie. Why wait till the holiday season when this traditional favorite is so easy to make and perfect for breakfast and snacktime, not just dessert? Remember, people: Pumpkin pie delivered "pumpkin spice" to our tables long before a ...
Almond Custard Pie
Made from finely ground almonds, eggs, sugar, and butter, Almond Custard Pie reminds me of marzipan and makes luscious, simple-to-prepare dessert, with or without ice cream! With early American roots and accessible ingredients, it's ideal for celebrations and a perfect finale on your Thanksgiving dessert menu. What is Almond Custard ...
Sour Cherry Pie
Sour cherries make mighty delicious pies, and when you start with canned sour cherries, you're taking it EASY! Make this beauty any time of year, and remember the ice cream or whipped cream! My grandmother's pantry was lined with mason jars, lined up in glassed-in rows on ascending shelves, floor to ceiling with counterspace in the middle, ...
Tasty Osgood Pie
Take a bite of days gone by, and know the pleasures of Osgood Pie. Apologies for corny rhyming, but I did make it all the way into the double-digits of October without wordplay around the word 'pie', but now the gloves are off. Osgood Pie gives me such homespun, back-porch, milk-bottles and henhouse vibes that I can't ...
KMA Radio’s Chocolate Pecan Pie, from “Cooking with Kelly” on The Morning Show
October 14th: Nancie here, back a few days later with an essential for this post. I'm adding the recipe for Kelly's sweet treat of a choco-pecan pie, down beneath my original post on 10/10/10. Ten minutes away from airtime on the Morning Show with Chuck and Don, so I can't do much more right now than tell you that ...
Classic Chess Pie
Looking for a great, crowd-pleasing dessert that is sweet, luscious, and easy to make? I've got you covered, with this old-time Southern standard, Classic Chess Pie. A fork, a bowl, eggs, butter, sugar, and flavorings, and you're ready to deliver delight! What Is Chess Pie? Chess pie comes to mind when I want to get a magnificent sweet onto ...
Sweet Fall Butterscotch Pie
Butterscotch Pie is one of those pies in the chorus, one I remember well from my Southern upbringing, though not one as familiar as lemon meringue or chocolate pie. Its ingredients seemed mysterious to me, its flavors of another time and place. I knew how chocolate pie and lemon pie got their signature flavors; they ...