A Blueberry Buckle for Woody

March 27, 2025

Back in my New Hampshire days, I shared a border on one side with the White Mountain National Forest and on the other with a dirt road that, depending on the season, would either swallow unwary cars in mud, or snap their axles on a gauntlet of washboards, potholes and outright ditches. This stretch of road being something of a gold mine for them, the local tow truck drivers would always smile and wave as they made their way…

Recipes

Peanut Butter & Jelly Shortbread Bars

March 15, 2025

This tariff business is getting out of hand, but I think I’ll be okay so long as nobody slaps a tariff on my peanut butter. Peanut butter is off limits because, as you probably know, it’s one of the major food groups for those of us 70 and over, along with Coffee, Mashed Potatoes, Hot Italian Sausage or Meatloaf, and Anything-Parmesan. After 70 you also qualify for a supplemental food group – Dessert – that covers an additional six, or…

News, Sweet Pies

Fresh Plum Pie with Coconut Almond Crumb Topping

September 2, 2021

So what’s going on, my pie friend? Are you holding steady in a cool summer groove? Or are you ready to be done with summer and get on with the fall? Part of me sure feels that way. But before we put summer in the rearview mirror, how about we give a shoutout to one of the most underrated pies of summer? That would be plum. Somehow plum pie ends up at the bottom of way too many summer pie…

Fruit Pies, Recipes

Glazed Peach & Almond Pie

July 13, 2019

I make so many pies that my wife Bev and I invented what we call our “sliver rule” – we cut a couple of small pieces for ourselves; give as much away as we can; and then freeze any that’s leftover. And we’ve been pretty religious about it, too. Then this pie happened. We didn’t mean to fall off the wagon – and by WE I mean me – but when I weighed myself at the gym the other day…

Pie Doughs, Recipes

Cornmeal Pie Dough (Single and Double Crust Versions)

July 13, 2019

I love this dough for all sorts of pies, from double crust summer fruit pies to pumpkin and sweet potatoes pies in fall, pecan pies, chess pies – you name it. The cornmeal does wonderful things to the dough: it makes the dough a real pleasure to roll, and adds a little crunch, too. It gives the dough an eye-catching gold hue, and the little bit of Crisco in the dough makes for a tender dough with a superior texture….

Fruit Pies, Recipes

All Strawberry Double-Crust Pie

May 19, 2019

When was the last time you baked an all strawberry, double-crust pie? I’ll stick my neck out and wager it’s been a while, because even if nobody ever comes right out and says it, a lot of bakers just don’t consider an all strawberry double-crust pie a thing. Strawberry rhubarb pie is a thing. So is strawberry chiffon. Everybody swoons over those thickly glazed fresh strawberry pies with mountains of whipped cream; that’s a thing. But a double crust strawberry…

Recipes, Sweet Pies

Banoffee Peanut Butter Pie

April 13, 2019

courtesy Ken Haedrich dean of The Pie Academy

My latest book project took a giant leap forward this week when I sent the contents of the binders you see here off to my publisher for the first round of editing. Well, not the actual contents; I sent digital files, of course. Back when I started writing cookbooks in the late 80’s and early 90’s, writer and publisher would indeed volley reams of paper manuscript back and back and forth, the bulk growing progressively heavier with multi-colored sticky notes…

Fruit Pies, Recipes

Cherry Blueberry Slab Pie

March 24, 2019

Thanks to Huey Lewis and the News and their 1986 hit song, we all know it’s hip to be square. But if you’re a pie maker, you should know it’s even hipper to be rectangular. I’m talking about slab pie, if you hadn’t guessed, that sheet pan kin to pie-in-the-round. Pie in a sheet pan? You’d be forgiven for asking why bother. Does a slab pie taste any better than its circular counterpart? Is it easier to assemble? Can slab…

Recipes

How to Make Lemon Curd

February 16, 2019

Let’s talk about lemon curd. Do you know what it is? Have you ever made it? Thought about it but never got around to it? Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s time to strike up a friendship, if you’re not a member of The Lemon Curd Fan Club. Lemon curd is a nifty item to have in your pie maker’s tool kit, but it’s got a lot more tricks up its sleeve than pie filling. It tastes wonderful…

Fruit Pies, Recipes

Little Cherry Pies with Mascarpone Whipped Cream

February 9, 2019

I’ve been giving Valentines Day quite a bit of thought this week, on account of the fact that my previous lapses never worked out that well, so I’m going all in with the flowers, the dinner out, and one of those really expensive Hallmark cards to show my wife that when it comes to her happiness, money is no object. Oh, and these little cherry pies to top things off, too. I agree – none of that is very original….