Pie #40: Grasshopper Pie (Mint Chocolate Pie)

Perry, a helpful guy

stepped in to make a pie.

A marshmallow in,

he asked with a grin,

"What a Chubby Bunny am I?"

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Grasshopper Pie

Ingredients:
1 chocolate pie crust
1/4 c. milk
24 large marshmallows
12 drops green food coloring (or more!)
1/2 t. peppermint extract
1/2 pt. whipping cream

handful of Oreos, crushed
1/3 c. whipping cream
1 small spoonful of powdered sugar

Pie Algorithm:
1. In small saucepan combine marshmallows and milk over medium heat until marshmallows are melted.  Add food coloring and peppermint.  Let cool.

2. Whip 1/2 pt. cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold into minty marshmallow milk.  Put into pie shell and let cool in fridge at least 1 hour.

3. Whip 1/3 c. cream with powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.  Top pie with Oreos and whipped cream as desired.

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Pie #39: 88 County Pie (Brown Sugar Cream Pie)

The recipe for this week's pie belonged to Perry's great-grandma Katie King.  The story goes that Perry's grandpa Lawrence and his brothers used to tell their mom "That's the best pie in 88 counties!"  With a review like that, I knew I HAD to try it!

This pie seems especially appropriate because I have recently committed to a job in West Virginia for the fall.  The decision to move away is bittersweet; I'm very happy about my new position, but am equally as sad to leave Ohio and our friends and family.

Speaking of family, we had 4 guests from NW Ohio this week.  Marvin, Grandma, Gavin, and Al all had reason to come to Columbus, and made some time to visit us!  Of course I provided each a slice of pie; it was a hit all around!  (Sadly the picture of Grandma and Marvin didn't turn out...but I think Gavin's smile and empty plate is telling.)

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88 County Pie
Judy (King) Selzer in memory of Willard and Katie King
West Clinton Mennonite Church cookbook

Ingredients:
2/3 c. white sugar
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1 c. light cream
1/2 t. vanilla
9-inch unbaked pastry shell
nutmeg

Pie Algorithm:
1. Combine sugars, flour and salt.  Add cream and vanilla.  Pour into pie shell.  Sprinkle a little nutmeg on top.

2. Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then reduce to 325F for 40 minutes. 

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As mentioned several weeks ago, I love sugar cream pie.  Because of the brown sugar, the flavor of this week's pie is slightly different from the sugar cream pies I have eaten in the past.  I must say, Lawrence and his brothers were right - this IS one of the best pies I've ever eaten!  I'll have to share it with our new friends in WV!

Pie #38: Pi Day Pie (Oatmeal Pie)

 

Happy Pi Day!  Last year my friends Katie and Tian and I made 80+ mini pies to share with our Stats friends on 3/14 at 1:59pm.  It was great to see everyone's excited faces when they walked into the conference room to find eight different kinds of pie in hand-held form!

 

One of the recipes we made was Oatmeal Pie.  This pie is a lot like pecan pie, but substitutes the oatmeal for the nuts.

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Oatmeal Pie

Ingredients:
8-inch unbaked pie crust
2 eggs
2/3 c. melted butter
2/3 c. corn syrup
1 T. brown sugar
2/3 c. oatmeal
1 t. vanilla
3 shakes cinnamon
2 shakes nutmeg


Pie Algorithm:
1. Mix everything (but the crust) together.  Pour filling into crust.

2. Bake at 350F for 45 min, or until mostly set.  (The pie should be slightly jiggly; it will set up as it cools.)

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Pie #37: Craft Pie (Apple Praline Pie)

I am not crafty.  I've tried my hand at crafts many times, but always end the session feeling frustrated at my own project, jealous of the other people creating cool projects near me, and disappointed in my lack of crafting talent.  No matter how many times I've tried, I'm never satisfied.  It's gotten to a point that I just generally don't participate in crafting activities.  (If I can't do something well, then I don't want to do it at all!)

Today I went to Crafting Day at my friend Miranda's house.  Per usual, everyone else was making very beautiful and creative projects.  This time, I was also doing something I loved!  I received a 'Craft-Pass', and was invited to bring my pie supplies.

The recipe for the week came from Simply in Season, one of my favorite cookbooks.  Everyone at Crafting Day was very complimentary of the pie, but it isn't my favorite.  The praline flavor was good, I just don't really like apple pie.

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Apple Praline Pie
Simply in Season, by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert

Ingredients:
9-inch unbaked pastry shell
3 cups apples (peeled and sliced)
1/3 cup sugar
2 T. flour
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
3 T. honey
2 T. butter
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans

Pie Algorithm:
1. Combine apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl, tossing to coat apples.

2. Place apples in pastry shell and bake in preheated oven at 400F for 15 minutes.

3. Combine brown sugar, milk, honey, and butter in saucepan and bring to a boil.  Boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat.

4. Add nuts to praline topping.  Remove pie from oven and pour honey-nut mixture over top.  Continue baking at 350F for 30 minutes.


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Pie #36: Delight Pie (Cream Cheese Pie)

Recently Perry and I did a survey of the pies we have consumed over the past 9 months.  We ranked each pie using a likert scale with values:

• 3 = "I would request this pie to be made."
• 2 = "I would eat this pie if it was around."
• 1 = "I would not eat this pie again."

It was interesting to see the similarities and differences in the ratings Perry and I gave to the pies.  Out of the 34 pies in the survey, only three received top honors from both Perry and I: Pie #4: Blueberry Lattice Pie, Pie #13: Salty Caramel Apple Pie, and Pie #30: Peanut Butter Pie.

Only two pies received reviews that were on the opposite ends of the spectrum (a '3' from one of us and a '1' from the other).  Perry loved Pie # 3: Butter Brickle Banana Cream Pie while I loved Pie #25: Grapefruit Pie.

One pie received a '1' from both of us: Pie #20: Chai-Pear Pie. (It looks like time has skewed our memory; looking back we both seemed to like the pie at the time!)

To me, the most interesting part of this little survey was how the likert scale was interpreted.  Overall Perry had 26 pies that he rated as a '2', while I only had 13 pies rated with a number '2'.  (We both had the same number of '1' ratings.)  Generally speaking I would say that Perry loves pie more than I do, however when rating the pies he gave fewer top marks.  I'm not sure what all of this means, but I definitely find it interesting!

This week's pie would receive a '3' from me.  My friend Kathy brought this delicious pie to the Piecemaker fundraiser a few weeks back, and I had to have the recipe for my project!  The pie reminds me of the Cherry Delight dessert Wandi would often make when I was kid.  I really like the raspberry substitute for cherry, and think that making a fresh fruit compote during the summer months would be simply wonderful.

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Cream Cheese Pie
Kathy Bauman
(serves 8)

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c. butter or margarine
2 T. powdered sugar

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
8 oz cool whip

1 can fruit pie filling (Cherry or blueberry was suggested, but I love raspberry!)

Pie Algorithm:
1. Crust: Mix together and press into a 9-inch pie pan.

2. Filling: Whip cream cheese, add powdered sugar and mix together, then add cool whip.

3. Put cream filling into cracker crust and top with pie filling.  Let cool in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

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Pie #35: Mischief Pie (Shoo-Fly Pie)

Sorry for the short blogging hiatus - thesis writing and job securing has consumed my life.  Of course I couldn't ignore the project completely; last week's pie was made, licked, and liked.  More on that to follow...

Until last week, I had never eaten a piece of Shoo-Fy Pie.  I was turned off by the idea of the molasses.  But, I figured that if I was going to be true to my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, I should set aside a week for this pie in my project.  That week finally came.  We went home for another reason, but since my father-in-law Marvin loves this pie, I knew that this was my chance!

I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of the pie (especially after I nearly gagged spooning the molasses out of the jar!)  The flavor wasn't overwhelming, and I enjoyed seeing the cake part sitting on top of the gooey part!

It ended up that my nephews spent the evening with us at Marv and Kathy's, so like me, they also got their first taste of this pie.  Actually, the smallest nephew got his first and second tastes of this pie.  After everyone ate their piece, we went back to playing games only to find 'Little Guy' wandering out of the kitchen with a cumb-filled tongue sticking out of his mouth.  Yep folks, the pie was so good that he decided he just wanted another taste and licked the top of the pie. :)  I guess the joke's on him because it isn't the crumbs on top that make the pie taste so delicious!

Unfortunately, the pie mischief didn't end there.  After a mishap with Kathy's camera, I realized I wasn't going to have a picture of the completed pie for the blog.  So, I took the pie to my parents' house to snap a picture with the intent of returning the half of the pie that remained.  I awoke the next morning to find that pie thieves run rampant in NW Ohio!  This time an entire piece was taken instead of just a lick!  Upon confronting the thief I made sure to point out that he had probably eaten a 'licked' slice. :)

The rest of the pie was delivered safely back to the Pettisville/Tedrow area for Marvin to enjoy.

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Shoo-Fly Pie
Kathy Leatherman

Ingredients:
1 9-inch pie crust
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. flour
1 T. margarine
1 egg
2 T. molasses + enough Karo to make 1 cup (total) of sticky sweetener
1 c. hot water (not boiling, but hotter than tap)
1 t. soda

Pie Algorithm:
1. Mix brown sugar, flour, and margarine into crumbs.  (Kathy suggests using your fingers.)  Reserve 1/2 cup.

2. Beat the egg, molasses/Karo and 3/4 cup of hot water, then mix with the crumbs from step one.

3. Mix 1/4 cup hot water and 1 t. soda.  Add to the rest of the filling, then pour the filling in the unbaked crust.  Top with the 1/2 cup of reserved crumbs.

4. Bake at 350F for 30-45 minutes.  Pie is ready to be removed when the center has risen and is rounded above the rest of the pie.


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