Sur-PIES Party!

I love pie. Fruit pie, cheese pie, veggie pie, mushroom pie... You can make any kind of pie and it's really easy, and it tastes really good. So we decided to have a sur-PIES party. Kaela, my daughter, has been exploring puns and she adored this idea. We made 4 pies! The dough recipe I use is for a single pie so multiply accordingly. My pie style is a simple peasant style. I simply roll out the dough into a large circle, put the filling in the middle, and then fold up the sides (like wrapping a present) leaving the filling open to the sky in the center. This way you don't even need a pie plate. Any baking sheet will do.

Pie Dough:
1 1/2 cups flour (unbleached)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
3 - 4 Tbsp of iced water

Mix the flour and salt. Cut up the butter and crumble it in to resemble bread crumbs. Add the water and mix it up into a soft ball. If it seems dry add a little more water. Wrap in wax paper and stick it in the fridge for 15 minutes. Voilà!  There is your crust.

Note: I don't sweeten my pie crusts, this way they can be used for sweet or savory pies! All of these ingredients should be adjusted for your own tastes.

Filling:
Fruit

3 - 4 cups of fruit
1/2 cup of sugar (+ or - depending on fruit sweetness)
Sprinkle of cinnamon 
1 tsp of butter cut into pieces

Veggie
 3 - 4 cups of veggies
1/2 cup of cheese (for veggies)
Sprinkle of herbs (for veggies)
1 tsp of butter cut into pieces


So we made cherry pie & peach pie, veggie pie & kids pie (apple, parsnips & carrots).

The cherries took a long time to de-pit but I had a helper. In fact it put me in mind of my childhood. I remember helping my grandmother pick the ends off of green beans. It made me realize that despite my love of ready-cut and pre-washed ingredients that make home cooking much easier... taking time to prepare fruits and vegetables allows you some uncluttered time to talk and think. I grew up sharing these tasks with my grandmother and mother and I look forward to sharing these times with my daughter.  We had fun talking and laughing about our juicy hands.  The time we put into the pie just made it more delicious!

Take the crust out of the fridge and roll it into a large circle on a nonstick baking mat (this will make the clean-up a breeze).  Place the filling in the middle and dot the top with the butter.  Fold up the sides of the pie to make an overlapping crust (like a volcano).  Move the mat onto a baking sheet and cook in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.  If it begins to brown too quickly, place a piece of aluminum foil over the top to prevent burning.  Let the pie cool completely before cutting into it.  Pie makes great left-overs and freezes well too!