Dani Cone - Cutie Pies

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MY GRANDMA MOLLY AND GRANDPA JERRY , WHOSE LOVE AND SUPPORT ARE A CONSTANT INSPIRATION TO AIM FOR MY PIE IN THE SKY. I LOVE YOU BOTH WITH ALL OF MY HEART, AND I THANK YOU.

SPECIAL THANKS TO CAT WILCOX , WITHOUT WHOM THESE RECIPES AND THIS PROJECT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE OR NEARLY AS FUN AND DELICIOUS! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ENDLESS HARD WORK.

CUTIE PIES copyright 2011 by Dani Cone. Photographs on pages vi, xi, 25, 38, and the front cover copyright 2011 by Thomas Gibson. All other photographs copyright 2011 by Clare Barboza. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.

Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC
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E-ISBN: 978-1-4494-1394-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010937749
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Cutie Pies is produced by becker&mayer!, Bellevue, Washington.
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Author photo by Brayden Olson. Cover photography by Thomas Gibson. Cover design by becker&mayer!

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Contents

Introduction

A PASSION
FOR PIE

be good. do well.

For years Ive heard my Grandma Molly say Be good. Do well, sometimes as an aside or quietly to herself, or sometimes more directly to one of her children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren. I always thought the phrases were a combination of her advice, her personal credo, and a lesson for us. Although she does indeed believe in and embody those phrases, they have actually been spoken more as a lesson in good grammar. (I should have known this, since she has been an acclaimed author for over sixty years.) Nevertheless, I take it to heart daily, both as a fundamental directive and as a sturdy grammar go-to.

So what does this have to do with pie? Up until a few years ago, I didnt have any sort of professional baking experience. In fact, it may even be a stretch to say I had much experience in the kitchen at all except for the fact that I love eating. Boiling water scares me, recipes involving multiple pieces of equipment intimidate me, and ingredients I cant pronounce stress me out. But there is little I love more than the smell of a fresh blackberry pie right from the oven. And this got me into the kitchen.

I grew up fascinated by the many talents, kitchen-related and otherwise, of my grandparents Molly and Jerry Cone. Grandpa Jerry is known for his perfect challah, smoked salmon, and gorgeous fruit tarts. Grandma Molly is known for the best pies around. My first memories of pie involve sunny late-summer afternoons picking blackberries with Grandma Molly. Most of the berries went directly into my mouth, but there were some that made it into my basket. Grammy didnt seem to mind, and went about picking berries along the road with a mission: Pie for that evenings dessert. One thing about Grammy: Everything she does, she does with purpose.

I have spent many an afternoon or evening (OK, maybe a few mornings, too) scouring Seattle in search of perfect pie: a place I could go to enjoy a warm slice of apple crumb or celebrate summer with a just-right strawberry-rhubarb. Ive found some great pie, but nothing like my grammys. Sure, I could go straight to the source, and despite her always busy schedule, she could probably make me a pie now and then. But Ive never been a now-and-then pie eater. And so came the idea, way in the back of my mind, to attempt to make Grandma Mollys pies myself. After all, if I could even come close to her delicious pies, I knew Id be onto something great, and I could spread the pie love to the good people of Seattle. Beyond that, I had a feeling I might just enjoy the process of learning about making pies from scratch, in part because I knew that a lot of taste-testing would be in order. And so began my pie production.

I went off to the kitchen, armed with the following cooking knowledge: (1) Sprinkle the packet of powdered cheese over macaroni noodles after my sister boils the water and cooks the noodles. (2) Cake is made from a box. (3) Frosting comes in a tub. (4) If using the oven, just set it to broil no matter what. (5) If making anything from a recipe (rather than a box), better plan to make a day of it. Be Good. Do Well.

It probably goes without saying that numbers 1 through 4 didnt help me much, so I held on tightly to number 5. The first pies I made were horrific. They looked like fruit-filled embodiments of a two-year-olds temper tantrum. But I kept at it, making batch after batch of dough and trying everything I could think of to get better. Grandma Molly made it look so easy! I thought of her constantly, and took on the pie project with all the drive, passion, and determination I could muster. I focused on putting all these things into each pie (or each attempted pie), just like she does.

Slowly, with much patience and an ever-growing love of all things pie, my creations improved. It is exciting to watch as each pie takes on its own personality of sorts. Really no two are alike! Each one seems ready for a very special occasiona term I use loosely and can easily be defined as Wednesday afternoon.

Everything comes down to this: Whatever you choose to do, take it on with purpose and do it well and with your heart. For what I lack in professional baking credentials, I try to make up for in each handmade pie, a proud example of what Grandma Molly taught me beyond the perfect crust: Be Good. Do Well.

PIE IN THE SKY

I like pie. I like pie not only for dessert, but for breakfast and for a sometime-anytime snack. My favorite is blackberry. My most favoritewild blackberry. Although a hearty piece of pie filled with tart apples bathed in sugar and cinnamon topped with a slice of sharp cheddar or a generous slice of delicate wiggly lemon with high meringue are also among my first choices.

Making pie is not something I learned in my mothers kitchen. My mother made genius sponge cakes, beautifully sticky pineapple upside-down cakes, and wonderful butter cookies she had to hide from us kids on the top shelf of the pantry to keep any for company. But not pies.

I tasted my first pie, accompanied by my mother, in Rhodes Department Store in Tacoma, Washington, in the late 1920s. We sat on the mezzanine, looking down at the busy first-floor aisles of clerks and shoppers and merchandise, indulging in what seemed to me at the time to be the most sophisticated dish in the worldapple pie la mode. To me, la mode translated to oh l l. I was an easily impressed kid.

Today, even though Im a fully grown-up mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, what still excites me is the heavenly taste of a great pie.

Grandma Molly