Break

I'm sort of on a forced break here now that my computer no longer exists. Nonetheless, I have a few things in the works: photos to come and a photo-coordinated menu tab on the site, a Facebook fan page where you can order pies and other sweets, and I'm selling my tea cakes through the Oakland Farmer's Market.

I've been doing yoga each morning as well, so I haven't felt much like eating butter. Not that butter is bad. It's very, very good. I just feel like cleansing myself of all that for a bit.

The Purloined Laptop, Pies in Jars, Pretty Tea Cakes

Want to know what I've been working on? Normally, I'd say you wouldn't care because, like, why would you? But this is really beyond adorable.

Well, to preface this, I've been without a computer for several days. My car was broken into, and poor, forgetful me had left my brand new Macbook in the trunk. Needless to say, whoever broke into my car just popped open the trunk and purloined my precious computer.

So I've been using my phone to take photos and updating remotely. It isn't easy. Excuse the graininess.

Nonetheless, here is the exciting development: I am now doing the cutest ever pies in jars! Last week, I tried out my chess pie, sweet potato pie, and bourbon apple pie, and they worked like a charm. The jars I found are just the right volume and depth to hold up to my normal pie recipes as well.

I sent some out to customers this week, leaving one on a doorstep and mailing one package all the way to Montana. These will cost $6, and, as with all my pies, the sky is the limit. Bacon-maple custard pie in a jar could be yours.

The final package

My apple pie in a jar

I've also been hard at work creating a customized cookie to match my friend Jeni's amazing House Breakfast Tea No. 2. She runs a truly delicious tea company, called SKY Tea. All of her tea is handmade, and her chai is the best I've ever tasted.

So these cookies I'm making are honoring all of the time and care she puts into her masterpieces. The result: a nutmeg-ginger southern tea cake. These are delicate with a spicy aftertaste that wakes up your tastebuds and cleanses your palette for the next sip. They might just be my cookie masterpiece.

The package for the tea cakes, all covered in gold sugar and chunks of my homemade candied ginger 

The cookies are sold in her holiday gift baskets, but you'll also be able to buy them at her market stall in Oakland! This is huge for me! Yay!

Finally, I will be participating in a blogger meetup later this month, which is really exciting for me because I feel like I will finally get a chance to meet some of the people I follow religiously on Twitter, and I will also get to talk about what I truly love: food. Oh, there's free wine too. Forgot to mention that.

Hello, Fall

It's November, and it's finally starting to feel like autumn here in San Francisco. That is, the mornings are a bit foggy but the sun is shining by mid-afternoon. Still, there's a bite in the air at night that is crisper than it was in the summer, cleaner somehow.

Here's a small glimpse into my kitchen and life this fall, and all that I am grateful for as I embark on several new baking projects and adventures in the coming weeks.

The view from my kitchen in the evening as the fog rolls in. I look out over this as I mix together some cookie dough by hand.

Some of the loot and a shopping list from my birthday in October. I got a whole Sur La Table gift basket. 

And my friend Marie handmade me this adorable apron.

Some of my favorite cookbooks that I keep on hand at all times: White Lily's classic, The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook, Southern Cooking by Nathalie Dupree, a vintage pie cookbook or two from the 60s, and Ken Haedrich's Pie (I don't know if a better pie cookbook exists)

Apple-Cinnamon and Pecan Pie Pops

Two weeks ago, I made some tiny little pie pops for the speakeasy. I sold them separately for people who wanted to bring some home for loved ones, and they were quite a hit. When I do these again, I will probably do only super-sweet pies because the ratio of crust to filling is strongly in the crust's favor. You need a filling that would normally smack you in the face, like cherry pie or pumpkin pie. The pecan pie worked very nicely as well, and I highly recommend that.

Here are the supplies you need to pursue a similar project:

• Ingredients for regular pie filling (or you can do store-bought, but you're hella cheating), cut into one quarter the amount
• Pre-rolled pie crust
• Lollipop sticks (you can buy these at Michael's)
• Rolling pin
• Patience. Worlds of patience.
• A cookie cutter, about the size of caramel apple pop

This is how they'll look before they go in the oven.

Some of the filling may spill out. It's okay.

And here is me making sure to secure the sticks in place.

The final product! Well worth the effort!

Pecan was by far my favorite, so I'll give instructions for that.

Pecan Pie Pops

inspired by bakerella

Ingredients: 

What is listed above (pie crust, lollipop sticks, rolling pin, etc.)

For filling:

1/3 cup dark corn syrup (I use half corn syrup and half molasses)

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup sugar

2/3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1/3 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup chopped pecans (dice these if possible)

For brushing: 

1 egg white

brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all filling ingredients together in one bowl (I love how easy pecan pie is).

2. Roll out the crust and use a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out circles in the dough. Make sure you have enough for the top and bottom of the pie pops. 

3. Place one circle down and press the lollipop stick into the middle of the circle to secure it in place. Place about 1/2 tbsp of filling into the CENTER of the circle. 

4. Take another circle and place it on top of the bottom circle, pressing into onto the lollipop stick. Then press the top onto the bottom with the end of the lollipop stick to make a pretty design. 

5. Use a pastry brush to cover the top crust with an egg white and then sprinkle with brown sugar.

6. Place back in the fridge for a few minutes before baking to set up. 

NOTE: You may need to place the dough back in the fridge before putting the top circle on. This is because the crust is much easier to deal with when it is cold. 

7. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned, just before the juices start to bubble (this timing is an art that takes practice).

Plum-Pear Port Mini Pies and Sweet Potato Mini Pies

On Monday night, after a long day at work, I decided to work through some recipes I'd been meaning to try and send them to my friend Mike in Los Angeles for his review (and enjoyment too). My friend Will also came by, and I owed him a pie from the raffle, so I threw together a bourbon apple pie crumble pie for him. He was eating it before it came out of the oven, and brought it to his friend's house, where it promptly disappeared.

For me, fall is all about thanking the summer for all that delicious, vibrant fruit, and turning to warmer flavors like sweet potatoes (or yams), pumpkin, squash, pecans, bourbon and port, and lots of butter. With that in mind, I decided to try out two new recipes, and they were an absolute success: Sweet Potato Pie and Plum-Pear Port.

Placing the Bourbon Apple Pie beside the baby pies and the momma sweet potato pie

Plum-Pear Port in the foreground, and sweet potato just in front of it

Sweet Potato Pie gets its time in the spotlight

And here are the recipes!

Sweet Potato Pies (recipe modified from Paula Deen's)

Mine has less sugar, and you can totally get away with it!

Ingredients

2 cups of whipped sweet potatoes (you'll need about 2 large sweet potatoes or 3 medium-sized ones, and I'll explain how to whip them below)

3/4 - 1 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it; brown sugar could also work nicely)

1/2 stick melted and cooled butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Roll out the pastry and transfer either to a 9-inch pie plate or cut with circle cookie cutters and press lightly into buttered muffin tins. Trim and decorate pastry, and then place it back in the fridge to set up. 

2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into evenly sized cubes. Then steam them for about 20 minutes, or until soft. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Once cool, mash with a potato masher (or a wooden spoon or some other mashing implement), then transfer to a mixer and whip them up. You can do this by hand, but I got a KitchenAid for my birthday, and it is the single-best gift of all time.

3. Scoop out 2 cups of whipped potatoes and put into a bowl. Combine with the sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk and continue to mix. 

4. Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature. 

You can add a meringue to this, but I love how it tastes by itself. 

Plum-Pear Port Pies (recipe modified from BHG)

Mine is heavier on the plums because I love their tartness

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

Squeeze of a lemon

1/2 tsp cinnamon

4 cups chopped plums (I leave skins on)

2 cups cored and chopped pears

2 tbsp port (you can omit this if you feel like it, but add in some more lemon)

1/4 tsp vanilla

Pie crust for either a double-crust pie (you can do a large lattice, or tiny muffin-tin pies like I do)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Roll out the pastry and transfer either to a 9-inch pie plate or cut with circle cookie cutters and press lightly into buttered muffin tins. Trim and decorate pastry, and then place it back in the fridge to set up. 

2. Combine sugar, lemon, cinnamon, a pinch of salt with all of the fruit and allow it to juice for about 30 minutes. Then pour off the excess. Add lemon juice or port and vanilla. Transfer the mixture into the pie tin(s).

3. Roll out the remaining pastry for the lattice crust, or do whatever you want really with the top a crust. A crumble would be a good choice since this pie is REALLY juicy. It could soak up some of the excess.

4. Bake 1 hour-20 minutes if you are baking a large pie, or 1 hour if baking in muffin tins.  

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

For my birthday, my friend Kelley got me a set of adorable ramekins that I've been using nonstop. I've been feeling rather lazy about cooking lately, so I'll just throw some leftover pie crust into the ramekin and put in some of my pre-made chicken pot pie filling that I keep in the freezer and defrost when needed, preheat the oven to 400F, press on a top crust and give it some air vents, put a milk glaze on top, and wait 40 minutes to chow down.

A very lucky boy was extremely fortunate that I have a whole set of these so I could make one just for him at 10 PM after a long day of work.

These are best when served warm with a glass of bourbon-gingerbeer-lemonade. That's right, I said bourbon-gingerbeer-lemonade. Sip on that for a minute.

Enjoy!

More Speakeasy Photos

Here are yet some more photos of the Speakeasy. These photos were taken by my friend, Will Rittenhouse, who happens to have impeccable taste in cameras and an impeccable photographic eye. I love how warm these came out. They really captured the lighting we created with the candles and white lights everywhere. 

The DJ

That's me serving banana cream pie!

My beautiful friends, Marie and Maureen

Some more of my beautiful friends, Kelley and Amy

A close-up of the gorgeous Maureen