[Dairy_Queen]

Okay...I am ANGRY!!! Really, really angry!!!

Well, maybe pissed off.

Okay, more like a 5 year old kid who's holding their breath and stomping their feet.

Why? Because of the instructions in a stupid new cookbook that I was given for Valentine's Day. (Do I sound enough like a stroppy 5 year old yet? )

First, I have baked over a 1000 pies in my life time. I've been baking for over 44 years and am the Queen of Pie in my tiny Universe.

I've made every single type, from cream, fruit, mince, custard, and nut.

I have never, ever, EVER had to pre-bake a pie shell, to only have to bake it again!

Here's where my temper tantrum is coming from: My partner gave me a (supposedly) wonderful pie book called Easy As Pie, loaded with heirloom and new recipes. It's written by one of those cooking divas (aren't we all!) who, apparently, has nothing in life to do but bake pies.

The recipe that I was going to be making is for a Sour-Cream Apricot Pie. I had all the ingredients assembled, all the stuff chilled, and that should have been the end of it.

But, when I got down to the instructions, this "chick" said to "bake the pie shell in advance, for 20 minutes" with the usual beans, peas, junk you throw inside an empty pie shell to keep it from puffing.

She also said that you MUST glaze the inside of the shell, with an egg yolk wash, to guarantee a crispy crust.

So, your wondering "What's Dairy Queen's problem?" Because you do this to the shell, and then put the filling inside the pie and bake it an additional 50 minutes!

I'm sorry, but I've baked more custard filling pies than Sara Lee (almost) and have never in my life had a "soggy bottom" (a 'saggy' bottom, yes, but that's on ME, not the pie! )

I sat down with the pie book and read through instructions for most of her pies and this "nutcase" has you pre-baking and glazing the pie shells for virtually 100% of her recipes! My only thought: "WTF is wrong with you, Miss Designer Pie Maker??!!"

Yes, I'm ranting, and I know it. I'm being unreasonable, and I know it. My only excuse is that my history of pie baking precedes this book and I doubt, seriously, that you have to pre-bake every darn pie shell before you bake it again.

(...step away from the computer and breath, D.Q....

I ended up not making the recipe, putting all the ingredients back into the frig, because I wanted all of your advice/opinions first. I'm not insecure about this, but it's a 2005 book, and I'm wondering if this advice is SOUND and is the "new" way to bake pies, or if this chick just has w-a-a-y too much time on her hands!

Okay, I'm going off into a corner of my kitchen to pout....

[Sarape]

Holy Cow. This is a real crisis.

I'm so glad you didn't mention the author or title since I'd hate to generate big sales for this book -- nothing like a scandal to generate interest and sales.

I've never baked a pie, so I'll trust that you're sincere and didn't just have a bad day with the landscaping crew.
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' She says, 'I am the glamorous type.' I said, 'So what?'

[Dairy_Queen]

I loved your response, Sarape. And no, it wasn't a bad day at the Landscape Corral.

I wanted the post to be silly, because I had put so much thinking into this "problem", but it was also serious, too.

I despise wasting time and money, so for me to just say, "Screw it! I'm making this custard pie the way that I always have!" would have made me angrier than not making it at all.

I just wanted some feedback, before I did the entire double-baking thing, to see if there were other pie bakers that had done this process. But, I still don't understand how a pie crust can bake for 70 minutes total, and not come out charcoal brown.

So, I'll wait to see if there are any other bakers, and if not, I'll just do it the way I always have, and throw the book into the back of my pantry...far, far away from me!

[Erin]

Miss Designer Pie Maker??!!"

That just made my day.
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"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

"It's hot ham water."

[Dairy_Queen]

Glad that I could send a giggle your way, Erin! You know the type that I'm talking about: the kind that hoes the field, to plant the grapes, to harvest them, to make the wine, to let it cure...into vinegar....for a salad dressing!?

Go. To. The. Damn. Store. And. Buy. The. Vinegar., Witch.!

I'm wondering if this was a Vanity Book and this woman has no actual experience baking pies. I can't think for a moment that a commercial bakery, that makes 1000's of pies a day "double-bakes" their crust for pecan and pumpkin pie! Geez!

[Rainey]

I've never heard of pre-baking and then re-baking either. Never heard of doing an egg yolk wash -- my experience is egg whites to seal the crust. But my response would be to do it once and see if I liked the experience or the results better and then continuing to do it any damned old way I liked. ...even if it should turn out to be the new 2005 way.

I do a lot of stuff my own way instead of the "right" way. Like never dissolving yeast in water. It's OK. The food police don't know where I live. I bet Ms. Designer Pie doesn't have your address either.

[Dairy_Queen]

Rainey: Bless your Pea-Pickin' Heart! I haven't laughed so hard in ages...thank you for that! I decided to use your Food Police line, placed it into WORD and have it now hanging in my kitchen.

Sometimes it just feels good to rant about random silliness, doesn't it? Especially with all the seriousness in the World.

[Sarape]

[David]

I'm a bit confused about the egg wash in this. Wouldn't using an egg wash, then covering the shell in foil and weighing it down result in a soggy pieshell?
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Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

[Dairy_Queen]

"Hello-o-o-o!? That's another conundrum in this book! And, as a loving friend emailed me this morning, when I was bitching to her about this process, she asked, "What good does pre-baking the crust do when you place a completely liquid pie filling inside of it, bake it for 50 minutes...and then let it sit for a couple of hours to cool!!??"

My friend patted my head and told me to ignore her, claiming the woman had too much time on her hands or suffered from OCD.

So, that's what I decided to do. I've got the pie crusts resting in the fridge and plan on baking the pies after lunch.

[Rainey]

[Dairy_Queen]

All's well that end's well:

I followed Rainey's advice about the Food Police, locked the doors, closed the blinds, and went ahead and baked the pies WITHOUT pre-baking the crust.

End result: perfection, just as all my other pies have turned out.

I must have been having a Crisis of Faith, that I had to do the "Freak Out" over this dumb pie book.

Instead of making one big pie, I used this wonderful pie tart tins, with removeable bottoms, to bake them in.

Poured the filling inside the crusts, dotted the top with an apricot half covered in peach preserves and baked them.

The aroma...just this side of Heaven.

Now, in the last fading rays of the day, I'm setting down in the sunroom, cuppa Scottish Blend tea in one hand and a tart in the other!