Pushing Pies

One of my favorite shows of all time, Pushing Daisies, kicked off its second season last week after a hiatus that seemed longer than the line at Cafe Rio. The return of this whimsical tale with its stellar production design, hilariously poignant characters, and genius writing full of silly alliteration was easily the highlight of my week. As I was watching the episode, I was completely fascinated by the pies. I had this sudden urge to bake my own pie. And so the adventure began.

It wasn't really an adventure though. Except for maybe the part where I almost clawed my eyes out trying to battle my way through Trader Joe's. I am about to have a nervous break down just thinking about it. Trader Joe's, why must you be such a thorny lover? So apart from Trader Joe's, things went pretty well considering it was my first pie ever. I chose to go with a traditional apple pie because I thought that it would be relatively simple and minimize my risk of disaster. The only real problem I had with the process was that the recipe for the pie crust left me a little short and I felt a little pressure to make it stretch to cover my needs. Apart from the potential dough shortfall, the crust turned out fantastic. It tastes excellent and the color and texture are exactly what I had envisioned. The only other problem I encountered was that the apple filling was a little on the runny side. This is really only a problem from an aesthetics viewpoint because it actually tastes like Christmas in my mouth. 

So my final grades of the inaugural pie are a B for aesthetics, a solid A for flavor, and an overall grade of "this pie is so good I want to sew my ass shut." I am really looking forward to my next effort. I am still trying to decide which type to go with though. Maybe an apple/pear combo? Or a tasty peach? Or maybe even a nice sweet potato pie?