Stay Calm and Bake Pie — Episode 2, Mixed Berry Crumble
I am learning how to do the video shooting and editing on the fly — flying solo, at that. I am using Doug’s iPad to film and iMovie to edit. I’m starting to get the hang of splitting clips and splicing music. But the sound quality needs a lot of improvement. I need a wireless […]
Cool Stuff from Chef’s Planet
I’m having lunch with my friend Carolyn tomorrow. Carolyn volunteered many, many hours last summer for my Pitchfork Pie Stand. She would come over on Thursday evenings and we would weigh and roll out pie dough, slice lemons (not her favorite job, especially picking out all those seeds, but she did it anyway), cut strips […]
More AGH Video…And My Kohler Sink is the Star
My friend Jo Brown works for Kohler and when she found out I lived in the American Gothic House she suggested I might want an old-fashioned cast iron farm sink, a brand new top-of-the-line one made by Kohler. “Good for all your pie baking,” she said. “Yes, but only if you come down to see […]
All I Want for Christmas is…Pie Supplies, Not (Footie) Pajamas
For Christmas, my mom gave me pajamas. These were not your ordinary pajamas. They were not from Victoria’s Secret or Gap Body or Soma. These were bright pink fleece with a dog appliqué on the chest. So far, not soooo bad. I love pink. I love fleece. I love dogs. But the pjs were a […]
Essential Pie Tools
I opened my Pitchfork Pie Stand at the American Gothic House two and a half weeks ago and have been reminded that making pie in large volumes requires more than my usual two tools of a rolling pin and a mixing bowl. I have also discovered some new, indispensable items…some you can purchase, some you cannot. 1) Transport […]
Swag Update: Welcome to my Test Kitchen
While it was great to get the pie swag, I doubt I’ll be a likely candidate to receive more free pie stuff after I write about my baking experience on Sunday. So if you’re not a PR person, read on. As I was saying….On Sunday, I set up my bowls and pie plates in my […]
Pie Swag!
When I was writing for magazines as an outdoor adventure/sports and fitness journalist I got a lot of swag — free stuff — from companies who hoped I would review their products. Back then I’d get packages in the mail containing fleece jackets, snowboard boots, trail running shoes, bike clothes, water bottles, carabiners, poison oak […]
Rhubarb and Rosemary
I took a late afternoon walk with my dogs today, unsure of which direction we would go, and after some persistent tugging by Jack on his leash, ended up at the house of my neighbor Sylvia. She welcomed us into her huge garden and we sat in the sun while Team Terrier dug up her […]
Good Borrowers, Bad Borrowers
I have a list taped to my refrigerator to keep track of all my dishes out on loan, all of them were used to deliver pie to neighbors — either a slice, a mini size, or a whole pie. The list includes: Syliva: Limoges dessert plateStacy: Pyrex pie dishSharon: Bennington Pottery pie dish Elizabeth: handmade […]
Pietopia in Portland
Speaking of pie contests, I just received a letter and news clipping from a friend in Portland (where we lived before moving to Mexico). The article, from The Oregonian newspaper, was about a pie contest. Contestants wrote 300-word essays about what kind of pie would best describe the way they were feeling right now–with their […]