pie

The Berry Best Four Berry Pie Recipe

This mixed berry pie is made with four kinds of berries and a buttery homemade pie crust. It’s the ultimate summer pie recipe!

If you live in the great state of Utah, you know that today, the 24th of July, carries nearly the same celebratory weight as the king of patriot days, July 4th. It’s the day Utahns celebrate statehood with parades, fireworks and a nod to the pioneers who walked thousands of miles until they stopped in our little valley and declared, “This is the place!”

Happy Pioneer Day! Or as us heathens who prefer to center all holidays around food prefer to call it, Happy Pie & Beer Day!

I’ll take a slice and a swill of both, please.

After posting my round up of 20 Classic Summer Pies to Love, I got the pie bug. I had the homemade pie fever. I had the lust to bake. So I set myself to task. I armed myself with a summertime selection of fresh berries: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

Then I turned to my favorite pie crust recipe, which I have come to realize is nearly as soft, sweet and supple as sugar cookie dough. Cookie as a crust? Not officially, but it strikes a resemblance.

There may have been a little inspiration for the cutaway crust thanks to the cover of this magazine. They used a cookie cutter. I used a big mouth straw, and ate the little roundie cutouts as I went.

A double crust pie loaded with fresh berries is nearly as patriotic as parades, firecrackers, and a side of beer with your pie.

continue to the recipe…

Easy Quiche Lorraine

This classic quiche lorraine recipe is an easy make-ahead breakfast, brunch, or lunch made of creamy egg custard, bacon and cheese filling.

Growing up, my dad’s usual weekend breakfast spread for the rest of us was bacon and eggs. A fancy dish like quiche was totally foreign to me, and I only knew of it because I loved the B-52’s and their quiche lorraine song. I thought quiche was only for chic occasions because it’s all fancy-French and must be finicky to make.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Quiche is basically the French version of my dad’s classic American breakfast of bacon and eggs but whisked into custard that’s baked in a buttery crust.

When visiting Paris earlier this year, quiche was served at every corner bistro at every time of day, and along with me and my daughter, my husband hungrily and happily proved that yes, real men do eat quiche.continue to the recipe… about Easy Quiche Lorraine

No-Fail Butter Pie Crust

These are the secrets to making a no-fail, all-butter pie crust that won’t slump or shrink, and turns out tender and flaky every time.

It feels like there are two big pie seasons that hit every year: Spring’s berry pie season and Fall’s Thanksgiving pie season, with all other slices o’ pie falling somewhere in between.

We are smack dab in the middle of prime time pie making and eating and everyone knows that a foolproof pie crust recipe is the make-or-break point of baking an amazing homemade pie. More important than whatever fruity, nutty, or creamy fillings you whip up—the true test is it’s crust. It should be flaky, light, flavorful, and easy to slice through with a fork.

I’m a bit obsessed with baking pies thanks to the over the top pie crusts I’m incessantly inspired by because of the Instagram account of my favorite local pie company.

Now, after much trial and error, I’ve decided this is the only pie crust recipe I’m willing to bet my pie on. And now, everything that I know, you will too.continue to the recipe… about No-Fail Butter Pie Crust

Key Lime Pie

This fresh, tart, authentic key lime pie recipe is the same one you’ll remember from when you were a kid, and it’s a breeze to make — all you need are a few ingredients to blend together!

One word of advice: Do not put lime rinds down the disposal. If you do, the result will be:

1 day of dirty dishes drying with caked-on, day-old food.
$67 rental for snake at Home Depot.
1 argument with the husband.
$234 fee for Roto Rooter to clear the drain.
17 minutes of scrubbing caked-on, day-old food from plates.
But an awesomely delicious key lime pie.

We’ve learned our lesson the hard way. Don’t put lime rinds down the garbage disposal. My sister-in-law learned it too. But with potato peels right before everyone showed up for Thanksgiving dinner.

There are a lot of things that seem indestructible. Garbage disposals aren’t one of them.

continue to the recipe… about Key Lime Pie

No-Bake Dulce de Leche Pie Recipe With Beyond Frosting

White chocolate and cream cheese mix with dulce de leche to create a light and airy no-bake caramel filling for the chocolate sandwich cookie crust.

There’s always a reason to appreciate a no-bake dessert. In summer, it’s our craving to soak up all the summer sun that keeps us out of the kitchen and at the pool or shopping for sundresses. Come holiday season, no bake sweets save the day when oven time is at a premium with all the Thanksgiving turkeys and all the Christmas pies.

But you can still have your dessert, and eat it too, even when there’s no room at the inn.continue to the recipe… about No-Bake Dulce de Leche Pie Recipe With Beyond Frosting

Quick Rustic Apple Tart and Crushing On Three Many Cooks

Apples dashed with brandy make this simple tart with an oatmeal crumble topping shine, and gives the perfect excuse to enjoy with a dollop of ice cream.

There are few things that bring a family together more than those centered around food. For the Anderson family, the heartbeat of their kitchen is the door to their soul.

In their memoir, Three Many Cooks: One Mom, Two Daughters, Their Shared Stories of Food, Faith and Family acclaimed cookbook writer Pam Anderson and her two daughters Maggie Keet and Sharon Damelio, weave the good, the bad and the funny recollections of their mother daughter relationships with well-loved family recipes into one of my favorite books of the summer.

Writing a memoir with three different authors is no easy task. But somehow, this book’s stories and voice flow effortlessly into one.

“Our book was first conceived as a traditional cookbook, but when our editor, Pamela Cannon, read the stories behind the recipes, she asked us simply to write our stories,” shares Pam. “Since our blog is story-driven, we liked that idea too.”

With chapters that deal with Pam and Maggie’s challenging growth as a mother and a daughter who both know best, to the rebellious years that led Sharon to discovering her passion for food and culinary school, the stories that are shared are sometimes serious, always introspective, and flared by bitter fights, insight and soul searching, forgiveness and growth.

“We read one another’s work along the way and one story led to another. When it came time to stitch the stories, the book came together pretty naturally.”

Each chapter is told by either Pam, Maggie or youngest daughter Sharon, each of whom contribute to the food blog Three Many Cooks. Within each chapter the story telling is totally compelling and conversationally entertaining. These girls aren’t just good cooks, they’re great writers.

Food, Faith and Family

This book is one of my favorite of the year. The stories are told in a lively way that makes me feel like I’m one of the family, sitting down at their kitchen counter with a glass of wine, wryly spying on the drama and discovery that often enfolds.

At the essence of each story a shared dish is looped in, with the recipe provided at the end of each chapter. And the recipes…oh, they are good. I had a hard time choosing which recipe to feature, and Pam shared that they too each had their favorites.

“Sharon’s especially proud of her Perfect Carrot Cake. Maggy loves the Pumpkin-Walnut Scones, and I’m partial to my late father’s Grilled Lemon Chicken.”

This book may have never been written had it not been for the relenting work ethic of the family that starts with Pam. As an enterprising mother of two young girls with a husband starting a career in the clergy, Pam did whatever she could, and everything she could, to keep her family afloat. A tireless worker who sacrificed much of herself including time with her children, Pam’s dogged resourcefulness shaped her entire family.

She is proud. She is a success. She is a woman I whole-heartedly admire.

And now, my list of 10 Q’s for Pam, Maggy and Sharon.

1. Describe your blog in 3 words:

Maggy: Real life recipes

2. If you could be one blogger other than yourself, who would you be?

Maggy: I love Jen Yu’s blog, Use Real Butter. She’s a gifted photographer who lives in a wildly beautiful part of the world. She captures her outdoorsy, Colorado lifestyle alongside recipes that feel very true to my own tastes: often celebratory, but mostly just inviting, exciting comfort food. Right now I’m particularly enjoying her social media streams as she captures the autumn leaves – and the adventures of her new puppy, Neva!

3. Which 3 blogs do you follow/are obsessed with/can’t live a day without?

Maggy: Use Real Butter, A Thought For Food and Sprouted Kitchen. All three of these blogs have beautiful, inspirational photography and approachable recipes that I always want to cook.

4. What is the one kitchen tool you could never give up?

Sharon: I can make due with crappy wooden spoons, rickety cutting boards, and flimsy whisks, but I need a good, sharp knife. I have the Global Oriental Cook’s Knife, which is a little shorter than their traditional chef’s knife (18cm rather than 20) and a little lighter. I have small hands, and this knife fits like a glove. It’s got this gorgeous, graceful shape and their signature one-piece stainless steel design. I can’t say enough about this knife—easy to clean and sharpen and a dream to use.

5. What dish are you obsessed with mastering that you just can’t get quite right?

Sharon: Paella. My husband and I had a disastrous paella attempt our first New Year’s Eve together, and now it’s become an NYE tradition. Though we’ve gotten to the point where our recipe is really good…we haven’t quite perfected the technique such that it reliably produces that deep brown, crispy crust on the bottom. We just moved into a new apartment that has a gas stove (finally!) and I’m excited to try paella again. I think electric and induction burners make it nearly impossible to get the crust. You need fire!

6. What did you have for dinner last night?

Sharon: Kale salad with roasted sweet potatoes, apples, dried cranberries, spiced pepitas, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette. And a bottle of Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Heredad Cava. My husband and I make this salad—or some seasonal version of it—two or three times a week. We love to eat and drink, and we’ve found that having a big, beautiful salad on the weeknights keeps our calories in check, so we can enjoy wine with dinner most nights and heavier fare on the weekends.

7. What’s one secret talent outside of the kitchen nobody knows about you?

Sharon: I am a super-fast reader. Depending on the week, I can plow through up to 4 books in a week. I read everything from biographies to theology to culinary science, but novels are a huge source of relaxation and enjoyment for me.

8. You’re happiest when cooking/eating?

Pam: I’m happiest in the kitchen with Maggy and Sharon, my sons-in-law, Andy and Anthony, and my David, and we’re all doing our thing to make dinner and having fun along the way. And there are two new additions to our family—Dashiell, my 9-month old grandson and Eloise, my grand French bulldog, who adore one another. It’s a lively, lovely scene.

9. The one secret ingredient to your success is?

Pam: Stay open.

10. What’s next for you three? Do you see another book in your future?

Pam: See answer to previous question ☺

About the Recipe

This recipe for quick apple tart (the apples are dashed with brandy!) is just one of Pam’s contributions to the book. It comes from the chapter in which she describes her time as the food editor to the then start-up Cooks Illustrated, where she wrote, created, and tirelessly tested recipes under its founder Chris Kimball for the next nine years.

Sounds like a dream job. But there were drawbacks. Pam found herself becoming too much a perfectionist when it came to entertaining, trying to create the perfect meal. “Eventually I started to realize that many of the recipes I had so carefully developed in lab-like conditions often didn’t work in real time.”

On the flip side, others were reluctant to cook for her. They were too nervous to cook for a professional, worried their food wouldn’t live up to her standards. This is when she had an epiphany.

“I started caring less about perfection and more about connection,” Pam writes. “For me it’s a good night not when the apple tart I’ve made is perfect, but when the conversation has been significant, and people have made some connection of the mind or heart or spirit.”

Following is her recipe for Quick Rustic Apple Tart with Oatmeal Crumble Topping. It’s just one more reason to cheers Three Many Cooks for giving us an entire book of reasons to connect with one another over food.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

5 from 1 vote

Quick Rustic Apple Tart

Apples dashed with brandy make this simple apple tart shine and gives the perfect excuse to enjoy with a dollop of ice cream.

Ingredients

For the Tarts
1 recipe Perfect Apple Pie Filling with Cinnamon and Cognac
2 refrigerated pie crusts from at 16.7-ounce package
For the Oatmeal Crumble Topping
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup old-fashioned oatmeal
½ cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter melted by not hot
For the Perfect Apple Pie Filling with Cinnamon and Cognac
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
4 pounds crisp firm apples such as Granny Smith, cored, peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick, about 12 heaping cups
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

For the Tarts
Prepare Perfect Apple Pie Filling with Cinnamon and Cognac and refrigerate. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Meanwhile, mix the flour, oatmeal, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir in the butter with a fork until well combined then use your fingers to form clumps.
Unroll one of the refrigerated pie doughs and place it onto one side of a 12 X 18-inch baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a Silpat liner. Spoon half of the apple filling onto the dough, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Bring pie dough over filling, pleating it to fit. Sprinkle a portion of the crumble topping over the exposed filling.
Repeat the process with the remaining dough, filling and crumble. Bake until golden brown, 40-45 minutes. Cool slightly, serve warm with ice cream if you’d like. The tart can be made several hours ahead of time and warmed in a 300 degree F oven for 15 minutes.
For the Perfect Apple Pie Filling with Cinnamon and Cognac
Mix sugar, cinnamon, and salt; toss with the apples. Heat butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until it looks pale nutty brown. Add apple mixture; cover and cook until the apples soften and release their juices, about 7 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until juices thicken to a light syrup, 1 to 2 minutes longer.
Meanwhile, whisk cornstarch, brandy, and vanilla in 1 cup of water. Stir into apple mixture until it thickens, less than a minute. Transfer apples to a jelly roll pan to cool quickly. Refrigerate or set in a cool place until apples cool to room temperature.
Recipe reprinted from Three Many Cooks: One Mom, Two Daughters, Their Shared Stories of Food, Faith and Family

Thank you Three Many Cooks for being our foodie crush. Purchase their memoir/cookbook here and visit their blog here.

Food for Thought

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Raspberry Peach Hand Pies

Store-bought pie crust, fresh raspberries and sweet peaches make these simple hand pies an easy dessert made extra yummy when served with vanilla ice cream.

Even as little tow-head, I had a very special relationship with my Grandma Frieda.

Because she lived just outside San Francisco and we lived in Utah, we only saw her twice a year, sometimes three. But the times we did see her, either at our house or hers, it was all about spending time with her granddaughters. She taught us old old German children’s songs (hoppe hoppe reiter!), taught us the finer points of eating cottage cheese with jam on toast, and squired us in her 1968 VW Beetle that she and Grandpa brought over from Germany up and down El Camino Real to Safeway for treats.

We didn’t let the distance stop our relationship from growing because my grandma and I were die hard pen pals. My grandmother and I wrote letters back-and-forth, forth-and-back. She had the most beautiful penmanship, unlike any I’d ever seen thanks to her schooling as a youth in Germany, and no matter how mundane, she was always keen on receiving my letters.

I’d tell her about the weather, or my latest soccer game or that we gave the dog a bath. Whatever the topic was that either of us wrote about didn’t really matter. It’s the fact that we wrote one another at least once a month, and the anticipation of getting that familiar looking addressed envelope in the mail. That was always the most exciting part.

I’m trying to instill that same love and connection in my daughter for her grandparents. But it’s not easy.

It’s a lot harder today because letter writing just doesn’t happen as much anymore. It’s more about the immediacy of texting and seeing each other in person thanks to FaceTime. But I’m okay with that. Because no matter if it’s with a pen and paper or a device and a video, it’s really just about keeping in touch.

And that makes it even more special when Smudge gets one-on-one time with her grandmothers, like cooking lessons from her Grammy Pat.

continue to the recipe… about Raspberry Peach Hand Pies

Peach Pie Smoothie + $100 VISA Gift Card Giveaway

The flavors of fresh peach pie is made into a creamy, sippable smoothie made with almond milk, that’s perfect for healthy breakfast, dessert or snack.

This year I’m partnering with AlmondBreeze to create and share recipes using almond milk. We’ve traversed the course of sweet to savory and we’re finishing things off with a classic reason to use almond milk: it’s smoothie time folks!

But let’s be clear, smoothies aren’t just for breakfast anymore. Especially when you have the flavors of homemade peach pie in the mix.

We’ve been hitting the farmers market hard these days. It’s seems like it’s always that way thanks to our short growing season and the realization that before long our mountain air will be throwing down blizzards of snow instead of sweltering rays of sunshine. At least that’s what I’m counting on thanks to the good old Farmer’s Almanac. Make it so!

These peach pie smoothies don’t actually contain pie. Although that would be pretty darn good, but it would sort of negate the healthy aspect of this recipe. Or would it?

I’ll let you be the judge.

continue to the recipe… about Peach Pie Smoothie + $100 VISA Gift Card Giveaway

Heirloom Tomato, Zucchini, Caramelized Onion and Feta Galette

Caramelized onions and a spread of Dijon mustard make this rustic summer vegetable pie a favorite for an easy lunch, a light dinner or impressive appetizer.

Welcome, lazy dog days of summer. I’ve been waiting for you to show up.

The time of year I wish I was one of my favorite four-legged furry friends so that it would be perfectly acceptable to lie about the house and languish in the long shadows of the evening as the air conditioner kicks on and off before I wander down the hall to have someone else prepare my dinner, feed me and even get a little scratch on the old belly. And of course since I wouldn’t have thumbs, how could I possibly be expected to do the dishes?

It sounds pretty good. Except I wouldn’t want to eat dog food. No. Not at all. But rustic tarts loaded with summer veggies? That I will do. And friends, it is a FAR cry from dog food.

continue to the recipe… about Heirloom Tomato, Zucchini, Caramelized Onion and Feta Galette

4 Ingredient Ice Cream Pie with Peanut Butter Krispie Crust

Use whatever store bought or homemade ice cream you desire to fill this crispy, peanut butter crust for a super easy dessert.

The note with an asterisk at the bottom of the recipe reads, “*green peppermint choc. chip is gram’s fave.”

Apparently my grandma had some pretty wild taste buds. Green peppermint chocolate chip with peanut butter? She had cravings too.

I copied this from my grandma’s recipe book at an early point of my cooking career, it must have been when I was a teenager. I later transferred it to my master recipe book, handwritten at least 25 years ago. By the way, that book is now about 5 inches thick, with a broken bind and is a hot mess of recipes, some written but most of them torn from magazines, newspapers or written on scraps of random paper. It’s where I store all of my family favorites.

I’ve wanted to share this recipe for oh…say…ever since I started the blog. Somehow or another it would always get pushed to the back burner, but with summer in full swing and my wish for easy on the brain, it popped right to the top of this week.

It’s time to indulge in the easiest of ways.

continue to the recipe… about 4 Ingredient Ice Cream Pie with Peanut Butter Krispie Crust

Skillet Cherry Pie

Sweet, plump cherries scented with vanilla and almond make up the filling of this easy and classic, lattice-topped pie, baked in an iron skillet.

There’s something about a pie that brings people together. It’s comforting, it’s made with love and it takes more than one to fully enjoy it.

Pies are a lot like babies that way.

Babies bring people together. They need, and give, the ultimate comfort. They’re made with love and give back more than one could ever anticipate. And it takes a lot more than just one person to nurture a baby…that baby who becomes an incredible gift to all.

Today’s post is in honor of a new baby who will soon be welcomed into the extended blogging family, to Catherine and her family of the food blog Weelicious.

I’d say nibbling on those new baby toes is the perfect excuse to nibble on pie. Oh forget the nibbling, let’s eat the whole dang thing!

continue to the recipe… about Skillet Cherry Pie

German Chocolate Brownie Pie

An easy, from scratch, fudgy brownie is baked into a tart pan and topped with a classic coconut-pecan German frosting for a decadent dessert you won’t be able to resist!

It was my birthday last week and that makes me an Aquarian. And like all water-bearing astrological believers, that means I have an affinity for chocolate.

I know! I didn’t know that was an astrological trait either. But just look it up online. That fact is sure to be attributed as truth out there somewhere. Or at least…it is now.

I get it from my mom. We’re both chocolate lovers. I can pass all day long on vanilla cupcakes and caramel dripping anything. But slip a piece of chocolate in front of me, and I melt.

So it makes complete sense that when the stars align, this Aquarian’s all-time favorite birthday tradition is a toast of German chocolate flavored anything and everything. Cake. Jars. Heck, toss me a bite size ALMOND JOY bite-size bar and look at me go all weak in the knees like a lovelorn 13 year old who just set eyes on her crazy crush. continue to the recipe… about German Chocolate Brownie Pie

Pumpkin Tiramisu

Who doesn’t love pie? I mean, Thanksgiving is right around the proverbial corner and that sends nearly every pie lover on earth into pie fantasy orbit complete with little pilgrim space helmets. But Pumpkin Tiramisu? In the shape of a pie? We’re talking Mayflower to Mars.

While I’m a fan of pies, particularly pumpkin pie which has ALWAYS been my favorite, sometimes I go stark raving off the typical Turkey-day-desires charts and crave something more. Well, maybe not more, just different. Like a pumpkin tiramisu shaped like a pie.

When the husband and I were carousing Costco in Las Vegas, doing a little boozey-perusing (Utah’s liquor laws don’t allow hard alcohol or wine to be sold in grocery stores—I know, don’t get me started), my little eye spied a pumpkin liqueur.

It looked creamy, it looked dreamy and I immediately knew I had to cook with it. Funny that I didn’t even think about drinking it. But now I have, and trust me, it’s good for that too.

continue to the recipe… about Pumpkin Tiramisu

Crushing On Lauren Brennan of Lauren’s Latest, a Giveaway and Chocolate Cream Pie

I’m so happy to share Everyday Ingredients, Extraordinary Meals: 30 Ridiculously Simple Family Favorite Recipes with you, and the chance to win a copy of your own. But first a love letter to it’s author, Lauren of Lauren’s Latest.

When bloggers connect with their readers by sharing their life through cooking, magic happens. For Lauren Brennan of the food blog Lauren’s Latest, that recipe for success is one that’s propelled her to the top of the foodie blogosphere.

Lauren has a talent not all of us possess by making what she does look effortless. But I know the real deal, what’s behind her rosey glow and beautiful smile that creates an immediate, friend for life connection. I know the real secret to her success: Good, old fashioned, hard work is what’s behind this young wife as one of the web’s most creative content creators and comfort cooking powerhouse.

Like many bloggers, Lauren originally had a different career path in mind. She graduated from college with a Health Science degree and was a Developmental Specialist working with adults and children with developmental delays before becoming a stay at home mom to her newborn, now 4-year-old daughter.

And then the blog was born.continue to the recipe… about Crushing On Lauren Brennan of Lauren’s Latest, a Giveaway and Chocolate Cream Pie

Mountain Fresh Peach Pie Recipe

I suck at baking pies.

Have you noticed that I shy away from the mighty pie? I’ve made galettes, mini-cuplettes, hand pies, tarts and my biggest wanna-be pie impersonation: cake pie.

But I am a pie-phobe. And it’s all because of the crust. Why is it so intimidating? Why does mine never seem to come together just right or look perfectly crimped along the edges?

I think I have finally found the secret to perfect pie crust. continue to the recipe… about Mountain Fresh Peach Pie Recipe

Meyer Lemon Tart and a Recipe Round-up

When life gives you lemons, make…something sweet.

I’ve always been a big fan of lemons and their pucker power: Lemon meringue was my favorite flavor of pie and Lemonheads were my favorite candy and also one of my favorite bands (hello Evan Dando was HOT!)

Did you catch Johnny Depp in the video trying to upstage Evan? Hot begets hot. But Evan ain’t got nothin’ on my love of Meyer lemons.

Growing up in the mountains with nary a citrus tree in sight, I didn’t discover Meyer lemons until after a trip to Scottsdale, AZ where our friends had a Meyer lemon tree dripping with hundreds of the yellow citrus orbs.

With just one squeeze of its mellow-yellow, sweet lemon juice my tastebuds were doing backflips and I was smitten and itching to cook with them.

continue to the recipe… about Meyer Lemon Tart and a Recipe Round-up

Girl Scout Thin Mint Mini Pies Plus Girl Scout Cookie Recipes

I was never a Girl Scout.

I guess I either didn’t make the cut, or I just had my fill with being a Brownie, the lower tier in the scouting world. Brownies were to Girl Scouts like Skipper was to Malibu Barbie. Just. Not. Quite. As. Cool.

Thus, I never had the “opportunity” to hit the street, begging door to door, asking kind hearted souls to take pity on a skinny-legged 7 year old sporting a skewed emblem-bellished sash trying to make her troops sales goals.

This was back in the day before kids were discouraged to talk to strangers and parents took the sign-up sheet to the office to guilt their co-workers into supporting their kid. *Full Disclosure: I did just this same thing just this week with the cookie tub fundraiser for my daughter’s school. Um, thank you co-workers.

But different from the wrapping paper drives and the soccer team camp fundraisers, Girl Scouts is celebrating its 100th year of teaching our young ladies skills and grace that actually do lead them into young adulthood armed with some semblance of a higher moral ground and conscience for others and the environment. Oh, and I think you’d all agree they ROCK the cookie world.

I’m sure part of the allure of the Girl Scout cookie is its rarity, only available to satiated our yearlong cookie obsession during the seasone when we’re all looking for a little break from our post-holiday diets and need some serious cookie hoovering time.

My favorite cookie? The Thin Mint. Straight from the freezer. Or just from the sleeve. Or in any form that presents itself. So what am I supposed to do with these 4 packages of Thin Mints begging to be consumed?

And that’s what inspired me and Smudge to create a quick and easy homage to the Girl Scouts in the form of her favorite dessert…say it with me…Pie!continue to the recipe… about Girl Scout Thin Mint Mini Pies Plus Girl Scout Cookie Recipes

Sweet and Savory Galette. Or, the Fancy Free-Form Pie

Why is it that something made with just three of cooking’s most basic ingredients can be so terribly intimidating? A food that has the most basic of foundations that in the wrong conditions can go terribly awry, with multiple variations and nuanced secrets handed down from mother to daughter, from pastry chef to novice baker.

You know what I’m talking about don’t you?

photo > foodiecrush

Yes, I’m talking pie crust.

To lard or not to lard? Regular unbleached flour or whole wheat? And what about those gluten-free pie lovers?

With a bounty of fresh fruit and an evening BBQ that I had volunteered to deliver a dessert to, I had to come up with something fast, something proven and something delicious.

So instead of poring over recipes and waiting for ingredients to sufficiently freeze, blend and roll, I took the easy way out, dug into my freezer for my emergency stash of store bought Pillsbury roll-up pie crust and went rustic. For the galette filling you can use any combo of fruit, just keep the proportions of sugar and flour the same as in the recipe at the end of the post.

And whaddya know? Noone was the wiser.

If you’re thinking savory is more your flavor, try some of these delicious versions from some of our favorite foodie bloggers.

photo > Aran Goyoaga

Cannelle Vanille‘s delightfully succulent recipe starts with an herb pie dough that sounds like it could be a task, but is actually a basic dough with herbs and pepper artfully added in, making Aran’s Crispy Mushroom, Potato and Blue Cheese Galette takes earthy mushroom and stinky blue cheese to the ultimate savory level, and perfect to share with family. Just like she did.

photo > Sarka Babicka

In my book, nothing says savory like Sarka’s combo of butternut squash, rosemary and goat cheese in a crispy crust. Enveloped in a créme fraiche studded wholemeal pie dough, Cook Your Dream‘s Roasted Vegetable Galette is a healthy, all-in-one feast. Now, if I could just stuff the whole thing in a ravioli I’d be the happiest eater on earth. Hmm, I think I have a recipe idea…

photo > In Praise of Leftovers

Sarah’s last minute tomato harvest provides the rest of us the bounty of her latent gardening habits. Cooking the tomatoes whole and then picking through the sauce for the cooked wrinkled skins is a secret tip to perfecting In Praise of Leftover‘s Green Tomato Chutney Galette topped with brie and chutney.

And now, my super-simple, sweetened-up galette version.

4 from 1 vote

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:167]

As a final note, we have an exciting announcement coming up early next week. Bloggers, pre-heat your ovens and get ready to start your mixers, it’s Christmas in July.

Thanks for reading. If you liked this post, please subscribe to foodiecrush and follow me on twitterand Facebook and Pinterest

pie