Easy As Pie

      What's sweet, healthy, and filling, easy to make and almost always makes people smile?  Pie, of course!  And I'm not talking about the ones in the store overloaded with sugar and lacking in freshness and good quality ingredients. Rather, I'm referring to the ones that you can make at home...with the freshest ingredients, milder sweeteners such as agave or brown rice syrup, and most of all...lots of love.  I am blessed to be partnered with someone who love's to cook.  I love to cook too....but honestly, my partner could cook me under the table.  Often I will come home from work to find she has made a bean soup, has chicken in the oven, and a pie in the works for later. 

    Lately, she has taken to making pies once or sometimes twice a week.  I consider myself extra blessed since many people enjoy homeade pie just once a year.  When the blackberries in our back yard are in bloom...we enjoy blackberry filling, when we can buy fresh organic fruit...we do, through the fall and winter we have been buying organic frozen berries which have surpassed our expectaions for how frozen berries would taste in a pie.  Another popular favorite in our house is butternut squash pie which we have been making from organic canned butternut squash....a delight!  We also make apple pies...mixed berry pies....and quiche.  When we have people over to visit we entice them to stay longer by enjoying a slice of pie with us.  It usually works!  Once, my partner, my sister and one of our friends all sat down to peach pie, right from the oven.  A hush fell upon us as we licked our lips and finished the last bites.  We all admitted to basking in peach pie bliss for several minutes after finishing. 

    As I write this blog...my partner is in the process of putting together a mixed berry pie.  I say all this...not to brag...but because I want others to enjoy what I enjoy. The key for us seems to have been to find a good pie crust recipe...perfect it...then practice it enough that it becomes so easy to just roll out some pie dough....put some berries in....put it in the oven...and walk away for a while.  In fact, when Julie and I work together, we can get a pie in the oven in 20min.  Forty-five minutes later, and after a few minutes of cooling time....we are enjoying a beautiful, healthy, pie just like grandma used to make....but better!

     The reason I say better is that, for us, organic ingredients and mild sweeteners make all the difference.  We use organic whole wheat pastry flour and amish butter which we buy from our local health food co-operative store.  Then, we add in the freshest filling we can find...organic fresh or frozen berries...or local cage- free organic eggs for quiche.  For sweetener, we prefer agave syrup which comes from a cactus plant and has a low glycemic index.  This means it doesn't hype us up on sugar but is slowly absorbed and leaves our bodies feeling much calmer and happier.  The love is still the same that grandma would put in.  : )  I leave you with our crust recipe to try if you wish.  I encourage you to explore the varieties of pies you can make and enjoy them as often as possible for good health and well-being.  Finally, I leave you with one of our favorite sayings from Park Cafe in St. Mary, Montana...."Pie for strength." 

*This makes 2 pie crusts. 

2 c flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

2/3 c salted butter

6 Tbsp ice water

Sift flour with salt. Cut butter into flour with 2 knives or a pastry knife until butter is pea-sized. Gradually add ice water.  Toss flour as you go.  Compress into round balls and you're ready to roll!!! 

Also, check out the Park Cafe web-site in St. Mary, Montana.  They specialize in pies.  http://www.parkcafe.us/index.php  Picture above used from Park Cafe Logo. St. Mary, Montana. 

We buy a lot of our fresh organic ingredients from the Clintonville Community Market.  http://communitymarket.org/