Glazed Peach & Almond Pie

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 […]

Cornmeal Pie Dough (Single and Double Crust Versions)

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 […]

All Strawberry Double-Crust Pie

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 […]

Banoffee Peanut Butter Pie

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 […]

Cherry Blueberry Slab Pie

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? […]

How to Make Lemon Curd

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 […]

Little Cherry Pies with Mascarpone Whipped Cream

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 […]

Creamy Coconut Custard Pie

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been testing custard pie recipes for my book-in-progress, and now that I’m nearing the end of this chapter it’s time to move on. It won’t be easy. Not that the pie territory ahead is any less promising. It’s simply that I’ve re-fallen in love with custard pies in a […]

Tipsy Transparent Pie

You hear an awful lot about transparency these days – in business and government, in education and on the internet. But there’s a type of transparency that’s dreadfully overlooked and needs many more champions, so I’m counting on you. It’s called transparent pie.  Transparent pie is to Kentucky what chess pie is to the Carolinas […]

Maple Butter Tarts

What with all the holiday fun and festivities swirling about, you’d be forgiven if your plans for National Maple Syrup Day – December 17th – were still a bit up in the air.  So let me help: why not mark the occasion with a batch of these Maple Butter Tarts? My friends in Canada, where […]