Apple Pie II

June 9, 2019

Because we went over to some friends’ house for dinner, we needed two pies to fill everyone up. We found out what our host’s favorite pie was and made that – apple pie. So we broke what Shelly thinks is a rule: no pie repeats during the year. After all, how can you spend an entire year and only eat one apple pie? Apple pie is the best pie. For all the research of different creative and crazy pies we’ve done this year, it’s clear that there is a very good reason apple pie is so darn popular.

Matt wanted to try a lattice, but the dough we use for this pie is so soft, it doesn’t work well for that kind of thing. So he just wrote “PIE” on the pie. Because it’s pie.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough “Ice Cream” Pie

June 9, 2019

When you think about it, it’s actually kind of amazing that Leah waited until halfway through the Year of Pie before she picked a pie featuring chocolate chip cookie dough. Her favorite ice cream is cookie dough ice cream, and she and Annie discovered an egg-free cookie dough recipe a while back, and every so often one of them has just made a big bowl of cookie dough balls. This pie featured just such cookie dough balls both on top and in the middle of the creamy filling. The online recipe we found uses the term “ice cream” in the title, but there is no ice cream in this pie – it’s cream cheese, sugars, and Cool Whip, with chocolate chips and dough balls. Then it’s served from the freezer. We took this to the home of some friends for dinner, and it was pretty much gone before we left. One of the friends’ kids said, “This is the best pie I have ever had in my life!”

Chocolate Vanilla Pudding Pie

June 2, 2019

By a happy coincidence, Kate got to pick the pie the day after her birthday. She said she wanted a “vanilla pie,” but what that turned out to be when you pressed her on it was vanilla pudding and chocolate pudding in a pie shell. We used our butter crust and put some Cool Whip and mini chocolate chips on top. It tasted like a bunch of pudding in a pie shell, so for those members of the family who think that’s a pretty great dessert, this was a pretty great pie.

Chocolate Marshmallow Ice Cream Pie

May 28, 2019

Let the record show that Matt voluntarily picked a chocolatey pie. But let the record also show that there were exigent circumstances. It was Memorial Day weekend, and the family was in Utah for a wedding. Staying at Matt’s parents’ house and focusing on visiting family, there wasn’t a lot of time or materials to make an epic creation like the Cannoli Pie of six weeks ago. It had to be something simple and easy.

Because it was Memorial Day, that meant two things: it was the beginning of summer, and it was a time to remember loved ones who have passed on. We’ve been saving some intriguing pie recipes for the summer, but the obvious category of summertime pie is ice cream pie. Plus, ice cream pie is super simple and easy. And Matt’s mom, who passed away a few years ago, was a big fan of chocolate marshmallow ice cream. You never see it around much anymore, but it’s basically just chocolate ice cream with a marshmallow ripple. So off to Wal-Mart we went, where we got a pre-made Oreo crust, Tillamook chocolate ice cream (for an amazing price – thanks, Utah!), and marshmallow fluff. Mix, scoop, presto: chocolate marshmallow ice cream pie. After eating it, we visited the cemetery with the family and paid homage to the inspiration behind the pie. Miss you, Mom!

Chocolate Truffle Pie

May 19, 2019

To the surprise of no one, Shelly once again went with a chocolate-cream-based pie. This time, it was officially called a Chocolate Truffle Pie though there were no actual truffles harmed in the making of the pie. The crust was Shelly’s creation: she used a box of Girl Scout Do-Si-Do shortbread cookies. Then there was a chocolate ganache layer (Shelly’s specialty), and then a creamy chocolate layer, and then whipped cream. The cookie crust gave it a bit of crunch and maybe even a slight saltiness that complimented the creamy chocolate well.

Triple Key Lime Pie

May 12, 2019 (Mothers’ Day)

This week Ellie wanted key lime pie. But not just any key lime pie. We found a recipe online for Triple Key Lime Pie, featuring three layers of limey goodness: The bottom is a traditional key lime pie. The middle is almost a no-bake cheesecake – it features cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk and sour cream as well as key lime juice. The top layer is whipped cream infused with key lime juice. And because this is Ellie, there had to be a bit of cinnamon, but it’s relegated just to the crust.

There were some complaints that the limey whipped cream was either too limey or not sweet enough. The crust was definitely too thin – we could have used about double the crunchy goodness. But the bottom two layers, at least, were clear winners. The traditional pie layer was tart, and the cheesecakey layer was sweeter and creamier to offset it. Part of the fun of making this pie was finding key lime juice (we looked in lots of exotic places until we found it at Safeway), and then daring each other to dip our fingers in it and lick. And once again, Annie refused to eat Ellie’s pie, but fortunately Shelly liked it, because it was Mothers’ Day.

Chocolate Strawberry Oasis Pie

May 5, 2019

Matt’s new philosophy is that, since he only gets to pick the pie every six weeks, he can manipulate the kids into picking pies that he wants if he suggests to them pies that they would like. Then they think it’s their idea, but Matt still gets the pie. The first successful implementation of this strategy was this week’s Chocolate Strawberry Oasis Pie, “chosen” by Annie.

The Oreo crust has not just butter, but melted bittersweet chocolate holding it together. The filling is a thick pudding, with egg yolks, sugar, cocoa, ginger, nutmeg, milk, and more bittersweet chocolate. Lining the bottom of the pie is a layer of halved strawberries (though we left a wedge without strawberries to accommodate Shelly).

The general consensus was that although the flavor was great, and the chocolate and strawberries went well together, the filling was a little TOO stiff. It detached from the crust and the strawberries easily. Maybe a little less egg yolk next time? Who cares? The pie was tasty and awesome, even if its texture was a little off.

Lucky Charms Pie

April 28, 2019

Leah went crazy this week and decided to make a Lucky Charms pie. Yes, there is such a thing as Lucky Charms pie. The crust is made from crushed up cereal pieces. The filling is cream cheese and marshmallows, divided into rainbow stripes. Then all the marshmallows in the cereal box on top. There’s an entire box of Lucky Charms in this pie, plus a bunch more stuff!

The pie was surprisingly tasty. The kids enjoyed eating off all of the marshmallows (when they left the room, there was still some pie left on the serving dish, but there were no marshmallows on top of it). The filling was better than expected, and the colors matched the marshmallow colors just right. We all gave it a thumbs up.

Easter Pie

April 21, 2019

For the main pie for Easter, Kate chose a recipe Shelly found online. The main feature was a rice krispie crust, with a chocolate pudding filling, and various Easter candies on top. It was so good. Shelly was impressed that she was able to make the chocolate pudding on the stovetop, and it came out perfectly. Our crust was a little hard, possibly because we had to chill the pie in the fridge to get the pudding to set up, or possibly because we used some old marshmallows (or not enough marshmallows). Everyone loved the Easter pie!

Blueberry Sour Cream Pie

April 21, 2019 (Easter)

For the second pie of Easter Sunday, Matt decided to pull out the blueberry sour cream pie he’s been talking about for a while. Kate’s Easter pie was chocolatey, so we needed a fruity pie. It was a lot easier than last week’s cannoli pie. Blueberries, sour cream, an egg, some flour and sugar, and a crumble topping (which got doubled, and thank goodness – it still was almost not enough). Unfortunately, when he took it out of the oven and placed it on our stove range to cool, someone who shall remain nameless had forgotten to turn the range off. So there’s a big black circle on the bottom of the pie now. Only half of the pie was edible.

But the story of this pie is that despite the fact that we had an Easter dinner with 13 people, and despite the fact that the Easter Pie’s rice krispie crust was a bit tough, and despite the fact that everyone knows blueberries are one of the most underrated fruits out there, and despite the fact that Annie believes that sour cream is one of the major food groups, exactly TWO people even attempted to put a bite of this pie in their mouth. And Leah the Blueberry Lover, though she said she liked it, didn’t finish her piece. Matt has never been more disappointed in his family.

This pie was fantastic. Creamy, crunchy, flavorful, and just about perfect. It was better than the cannoli pie. It was better than the unicorn pie. It was definitely better than the Easter pie, even with its excellent chocolate pudding. It might not have been better than the apple pie, but that’s nigh impossible, and it was really close. Seriously, this pie was definitely in the top three if not the top two of all the pies we’ve made this year (still thinking about Kate’s chocolate fudge pie…). AND MATT IS THE ONLY ONE WHO HAD THE GOOD SENSE TO EAT IT.

Their loss.