Pie a week Part 1

(the warm glow of the fridge at night)

sorry for the backwards post, clearly I have been out of the loop for far too long.
My first installment for the PAW(awwwww!) project was a key lime meringue pie. and it did not come easily for me....
I wanted to make a key lime pie, Jamie wanted a key lime meringue pie. Trying to be accommodating I agreed to the slight alteration and went shopping. First obstacle, not only could I not find key limes, they were also about twice as much as "regular" limes(upon some investigation), and I would have to buy twice as many because they are so damn small. The biggest difference is that they are a bit sweeter than other limes, and since i was topping the pie with a meringue (the epitome of sweet) I decided it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.
The crust was a graham cracker crust, which is so amazing I want all pie crusts to be graham cracker crusts. melt butter. crush crackers. DONE. <3333333
The two components of the pie, the lime filling and the meringue were not problems themselves. It was marrying the two of them that nearly caused me to have a stroke.
You see, the filling is made with eggs, and they have to be cooked so you aren't consuming 8 raw eggs and suing your dear baker (that's me). but also, the meringue has to be baked so the top sets and has that nice burnt affect (oh yea, and also to cook the egg whites. however there is a disclaimer on the recipe that the whites might not be cooked entirely, so eat with caution. but it is only 3 whites and come on, live a little!) So since i had a recipe for lemon meringue pie and Key lime pie, I had to do some adjustments and here is where my world collapsed. What i should have done was searched for a recipe for lime meringue pie. i should have made it simple and just replaced the limes with the lemon in the lemon meringue pie. boom, done. but i made things about 5,000 time more complicated. and that was fun(ish). and actually, it was not complicated at all, I just worried about it so much and convinced myself i had just added 2 hours of work onto my project, when really? I just needed to chill out, and tweak out the recipe on my own. (which i notoriously hate doing)
I baked the pie for 18 minutes (it called for 22), then i dolloped the meringue on the top and cooked for an additional 12 minutes. now the filling had cooked completely to avoid a dreadful case of salmonella, and the meringue looked awesome. yea, i said it....i looked awesome.

pie a week part 2

Gosh, this project is getting exciting! and by exciting i mean, if i keep ruining each pie I make it will make for some great reading. up this week, Ginger Buttermilk Pie!
Saturday i spent the day watching LOST and eating potato chips. I mean the entire day. Which was amazing and exactly what i needed, but when evening rolled around and it was time to begin baking a pie, i did not want to ruin my shut-in streak by going outside for any ingredients. and it was gross out....i think? So i pulled my cookbooks onto my bed and started leafing through the pages; colorful fruit pies were out- no fruit. creamy chocolate pies were out- no chocolate...or cream for that matter. Then one jumped into my path that i could not take my eyes off, perhaps for the sole reason it made no sense to me. Ginger Buttermilk. Ginger BUTTERMILK?! I went down the list of ingredients, and started checking them off if they already resided in my pantry. All of them did, and so i began.
the first and hardest step is always the crust. I love making pies, and have great fun making homemade crust, but as I was making this one I forgot why. Entirely. it was silly, just plain silly. Canola oil and not enough flour and milk and come ON! it just didn't make sense....it didn't feel right. but i pushed on, continuing my ongoing quest to find the perfect pie crust.
As i rolled it out i cursed a bit and then made up with some some sweet talking, but it was tearing and I found that the amount of flour i used on the rolling pin and counter should have been added in the recipe to make it more manageable. So i made a little note and kept on truckin'. it was barely the size of the pie pin, so i did some patchwork and figured it was going to be on the bottom of the pie, who the hell cares?? no one! that's who. So I popped it in the oven with some cookie cutters acting as pie weights and began the filling.
The filling was easy as pie (that never gets old). all the ingredients into a blender (eggs, ginger, buttermilk, cinnamon, salt) and mixed until it well blended but not foamy. It looked fantastic and creamy and thick and i had high hopes indeed. I poured it into the baked crust and took a break for one moment to get a drink.i turn my back for ONE second and when i come back half of the custard had leaked onto the counter. ok. OKOKOKOK. apparently there was a small tear in the bottom of the crust. rats.
the problem: my pie tins have holes on the bottom, to help with proper heat distribution.
the (weak) rationale: it will cook so quickly it wont' leak! and i will put it on baking sheet to catch any excess! (HAHAHAHAHA)

needless to say, i put it on a baking sheet, threw it in the oven and started worrying. (oh and i burnt my thumb when taking off the cookie cutter/pie weights so i was grumpy about that already!) The pie was supposed to stay in for 22 minutes, and by minute 8 it looked like this:

and. that, my dear friends, is when i gave up the little hope i had. Pie a week Project part 2? FAIL.
xo-TSR

*sidenote: once it came out of the oven i ate a bit of the guts, and it was very good. Weightless, with just a hint of ginger, a lovely custard I would like to try again. The crust though? the quest continues.