I’ll let you in on a not-so-small secret: I love pie. Like borderline-unhealthy-obsession-with-pie syndrome. Like if a recipe looks delicious and simple I will think to myself “Hmm, Kari, how can this translate into pie form?” (Which, I should warn you, doesn’t work with everything…like margaritas.)

So, pie obsession in mind, I was strolling the produce section last Sunday and stumbled upon super ripe, super cheap summer blueberries and, well, the rest is history. This recipe is delicious and somewhat nutritious (seriously people, pie is still pie, even if I sub sugar for Truvia), and the best part? Incredibly easy. Some might even say easy…as pie. Read More »

Ah, pie crust. I could practically eat it raw . . .

Well, okay, that’s pretty disgusting, so I take it back (sorta). But baked pie crust is an entirely different story. It’s so versatile—you can use it for tarts, dessert pizza, and (obviously) pies. And you can fill those pies with anything—lemon curd, banana cream, fresh strawberries . . .

Now that we’re getting into some serious summer weather, fresh fruit (yes, the kind that you don’t take out of the freezer and probably haven’t had since you were home for Christmas) is soon going to be abundant in grocery stores and farmers’ markets all over the country. You’ll be able to pick your own berries for cheaper than the cost of a vanilla latte, and everyone knows that berries taste best in pie!

It’s easy to haul down to the store and pick up a ready-made pie crust, but who needs that? People (cute people, obviously) will be sooooo much more impressed if you can make your own. Not to mention the feeling of accomplishment that comes from putting a homemade pie on the table!

Here’s how you do it.

Stuff You Need
To make one double pie crust (bottom and top), get together:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter or vegetable shortening
- 1 teaspoon salt
- A bowl of ice water
- A rolling pin Read More »

[Every week, CC and John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, saddest things he hears on his college campus. Join the Overheard revolution!Leave your own overheard convos in the comments or send ‘em over!]

(Guy, stalking around office, exasperated.)

Guy: And nobody here knows what a cloaca is? Seriously? You guys need to get out more.

(Two girls at a dining hall table.)

Girl 1: It’s not like that. If you put anything in a crust, it’s a pie. That’s a pie.

Girl 2: What about cheesecake? Cheesecake has a crust.

Girl 1: No it doesn’t.

Girl 2: Have you ever had cheesecake? Have you even seen a cheesecake? This is a problem, like, for us. For you and me. Read More »

It is really easy to throw caution to the wind and dive headfirst into holiday dinners, cocktails and leftovers (a few hours later.) Unfortunately, it is not so easy to rid your body of the fat and calories the next day. So, instead of letting yourself go crazy for the holidays this year (“But my mom only makes this peanut buttery chocolatey heavenly dessert once a year!”), why not try a little moderation?

Don’t worry; you can still eat some of the chocolatey peanut butter thing.

1. Exercise: Whether it is Christmas dinner, or a plate full of latkes, you know you will be eating something out of the ordinary (and off the charts in terms of calories) this holday season. Prepare in advance by getting a workout in. Most gyms are open – even on Christmas day – so don’t use the holiday as an excuse to take a vacation from fitness. Unless you want everyone to buy you a size up in the clothes on your holiday wish list.

2. Eat Before You Go: Whenever I go to holiday meals I tend to starve myself all day to make room for the scrumptious treats that will be served. That is a good idea in theory, until I find myself taking second and third servings of very unhealthy foods (and feeling horribly guilty/angry at myself later). Don’t go to these meals hungry! Eat a little snack before you go to curb your hunger, that way you can have a little bit of the foods you love without going completely overboard. Read More »

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The worst part of Thanksgiving is the dogs. Everyone has that one relative with a German shepherd, two Corgis and a Schnoodle/Pug mix. Some of us have more than one of these relatives, and some of us have many, many more than one. Some of these relatives have named their dogs Bill O’Reilly. All of these relatives arrive at every holiday party.

But you can’t just tell someone that you don’t like their dogs. There is no greater insult around the Thanksgiving table; you may as well have stuffed, dressed and roasted nephew Kenny.

Political beliefs work the same way, and in some ways are more annoying, because there’s no practical limit to how many you can stuff into the same party, and they’re usually invisible, unless Uncle Joe’s got some kind of witty hat (“Republicans Screw The Country, Democrats Usually Raise Taxes”). Read More »

I have always had this intense passion for baking. I’m not sure how much of it was the romantic sense of making something great looking and great tasting and feeling the accomplishment that came along with it, and how much was just plain old having the ability to scrounge around and make something from practically nothing to satisfy my raving sweet tooth.

One thing I had never really delved into was pie baking. Brownies, cookies, cakes — I loved them all and I could bake them fairly well. But pies…if it wasn’t refrigerated, I hadn’t tried it. And then I had a craving for apple pie.

My fiance being the loyal supporter he is, accompanied me to the store and watched me stare at the shelves trying to figure out what looked yummy. I’ve never been one for cooking apples (sometimes I have an issue cutting them uniformly) and since this was my first foray into pie-world, I didn’t want to risk screwing up the um, very essential filling. So, without an official recipe, and without really knowing what I was doing I came up with the following plan. No, it isn’t good for you, but it’s darn tasty with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream.

You will need the following: Read More »

I’m not a good baker, but since I’ve been home for a few days (perks of surgery!), my mom’s giant kitchen has got me thinking that all my past transgressions weren’t really true and I’m actually a fabulous cook. So the other day when I got a craving for pumpkin pie, I decided I would totally make one.

Then of course I looked in the pantry and saw we had nothing in terms of pie crust ingredients. Could I make a crust-less pumpkin pie? I asked myself. Yes you can, the Internet answered, and in fact many people prefer crust-less pies because there’s way less carbs.

Part of the reason I’m not the best baker is because I don’t measure things real well and if I don’t have the right ingredients I substitute. This recipe is no different. I didn’t measure things perfectly and I made random substitutions. But guess what? It freaking tasted like pumpkin pie. Without the crust. Nice.

What You Need: Read More »

Oh man, do I love pie. It’s kind of impossible to explain just how much I love it…but I mean, when somebody made me peach and blueberry pie for my birthday last week, I ate it for almost every meal for two days. I did not get sick. It was glorious.

My fellow editor in crime knows how much I love crust and fruit, so she recently sent me this recipe with the words “True story: this pie will make you drool” in the subject line of the email. Even though I’m a pretty stupid cook, I decided to try to make the thing the night I got the email — and you know what? It really wasn’t that hard. The whole presentation wasn’t Martha Stewart pretty or anything, but it tasted like heaven and Martha Stewart has 700 people helping her on a daily basis.

What You Need

9-inch frozen pie crust

3/4 c. plus 5 T. all-purpose flour

2/3 c. firmly packed golden brown sugar

1/3 c. granulated sugar plus 1 T. for the filling

2 t. ground cinnamon

1/8 t. salt

1/2 c. cold unsalted butter, cut into 3/4 in. pieces

5 c. blueberries Read More »

I have never liked blueberry pie. In fact, I would even go beyond that—I’ve always thought it was disgusting. I am not the biggest fan of fresh blueberries, either, but lately I have started to like them more and more.

Despite all of this, last week I could not stop thinking about how I really wanted to make a blueberry pie. Why did I think this… why? I have no idea. I am still unable to explain it. But I suspect it was divine intervention, because the resulting blueberry pie was THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN.

The recipe is dunce-free (not that CC readers are dunces, of course) and uses fresh berries, which I suspect is the real reason for my enthusiasm behind this pie. All previous blueberry pies that were set in front of me were either a) made from cans of blueberry pie filling or b) things that I refused to eat because I was under the impression that I hated blueberry pie. Read More »

So, I set out the other night to make a crostata, but let’s just say I don’t seem to be at that level in my baking prowess yet. In my understanding, a crostata is supposed to have a nice, firm, flaky, golden brown crust… and, well, mine didn’t.

In good news, though, it tasted great. And it ended up looking exactly like something else I like a lot—pizza.

So if you too want to try dessert pizza, here’s all you need: about 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries, 1 small sliced apple (optional), 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon water, enough pie dough for 1 small pie (use your discretion), 1-2 tablespoons chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon milk, and a little bit (not more than a tablespoon) of brown sugar, oats, and flour. Read More »