Three Pies in a Week

A few weeks ago, the 4th of July was coming up and I was in a celebratory mood, so that meant that I should bake a pie. Usually, that means I will bake one pie for us to enjoy in one week, so that we don't overdo it with the calories and sugar. After all, over indulging would negate all of the exercise that I work at each week. But I was in a cooking mood and just couldn't stop baking, so let me tell you about how this extravaganza turned out.

The first pie attempted was the Lavender Honey Custard Pie from the Four and Twenty Blackbirds cookbook. I had been wanting to try this pie for quite some time, mainly because my husband had wanted me to make it. The idea of lavender and honey together sounded intriguing to me. The hardest part of this recipe was finding edible lavender oil. Although I could have ordered this online, I did find it at the local Earth Fare in Asheville. Eggs cream, lemon juice, and honey were among other ingredients. The most interesting part of the recipe was the garnish, made of dried lavender flowers (from my garden) heated in the oven with a sugar topping. I must say that I was a little skeptical that this pie would turn out well, because a custard is so easy to overcook. But the end result was heavenly! The texture reminded my of lavender creme brulee that I have eaten - smooth and silky. My husband and I ate the entire pie by ourselves (not all at one time, fortunately), and it was a treat! I will make this one again, and will have to decide whether or not to share! It was literally, the kind of pie that I would lie awake at night and think "should I raid the refrigerator"?

I had been wanting to make an old fashioned chocolate cream pie but had been unable to find a recipe in the past. This time I searched online and found one for an old fashioned chocolate meringue pie. It included cocoa, egg yolks vanilla, milk (both whole and evaporated) and cornstarch. The crust was my regular butter crust. The egg mixture was cooked and filled into the prepared crust. Then, the meringue was spread on the top, of course, and slightly browned. I was very pleased with the look and taste of the pie. It was authentically the type of chocolate pie that my mother used to make.

I took this pie to share with my sister when I went on a recent visit. To my surprise, she had made a chocolate cream pie, because we are both sweet and chocolate fanatics. But hers was one called Velvety Chocolate Cream Pie, and was from a Hershey cookbook. Hers had a graham cracker crust and no eggs but included the cocoa and whole milk. This pie had a very smooth, delectable filling and was delicious. We ended up eating most of both of the pies, and they satisfied our sweet tooth craving. I would make both of these pies again.

Actually, I made another pie to take to a Fourth of July party. This was a fresh peach pie with butter crust. But enough about pies for now - I will talk about peach pie another day. As you can see, I haven't changed my blog name yet, and am still talking about pies! But I will be branching out soon! Will definitely be going to the gym this week after my pie eating frenzy!