Friday, December 9, 2011

A Baking Star Is Born

Next month I/we will be married 51 years.  In all that time I have never made a pie.  Every time I thought about it it seemed like it was really hard so I would forget about it.

 

DH came into this marriage telling me he LOVED apricot pie.  Have you ever tried to buy an apricot pie?  Well, they are really hard to find and we have only found a couple of bakeries that made them and none in the last 30 years.

 

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Enter the mini pie machine.  Isn’t this a great looking idea?  But this machine retails for $150, currently on sale for $99.99.  I don’t know about you but $100 for something that just makes pies seems a bit high, especially since I lead Weight Watcher’s meetings and don’t eat a lot of pies.

 

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However, last week we came across this.  It was under $30 so we thought it was worth a try.

Then we had to buy a rolling pin (never had or needed one before).

 

 

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And today I gave it all a try.  See my new rolling pin?  Isn’t it nifty.  I rolled the premade pie crust very, very thin.  And here you see the bottom crust rounds, ready to bake.

 

 

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Next I prepared the filling: dried apricots, Splenda, lemon juice and cornstarch.  It looks a little fuzzy here: it looked a little fuzzy in the making, too.

 

 

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And here we have the pies after only 10 min. baking time.  Isn’t that impressive?  I realize they are a little misshapen but that is because I need to work on my technique a little.

 

 

010 I set them out to cool: they were really easy to get out of the machine. 

 

I was so excited with my success that I immediately sent for a recipe book that is especially for making mini pies of all kinds: pot pies, feta cheese & spinach pies, pumpkin pies, etc.  I see lots of pies in our future.  Especially since DH proclaimed the apricot pie a rousing success!

 

While the pies were cooling I spent some quality time in the studio and DH put lighting on our Christmas village. 

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Now I just need to figure out how to hide the bookshelves and the niche.  They just seem to be junque collectors.  Maybe I will have to design a quilt curtain for these areas.  What a great idea!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is pretty cool. We might have to look into this.

Jessica said...

I'm putting in an order for Gari's Feta Spinach pies. When can I expect them in the mail?

Denise :) said...

That's a nifty little contraption, Gari! Congrats on the success (and on nearly 51 years, too)!! :)

Rhonda said...

WOW! I am so proud of you, girlfriend. Those pies look yummy and what a great gadget. I see you being the life of this next year's parties..... hehehehehe

Wendy said...

Hi Gari, your pie maker seems to have worked really well for you...Where did you find yours? That might be a great investment for me also...Hope you share future recipes and pies with us....