late night pie party! (happy thanksgiving, everyone!)
Well, between planning a blogger get-together in December, scrambling around to get Thanksgiving stuff done, and dealing with our crazy toddlers, Summer and I have been pretty busy. The other day we took a coffee break and walked over to Stumptown, and on the way back we happened by a large pile of free stuff on the side of the road. Score! Summer snagged a handful of old Martha Stewart Living magazines from the mid 90's (and hey- don't get all butthurt. 1998 was a decade ago, okay?), and one of them had instructions for decorating gorgeous pies. It was perfect- Thanksgiving was on its way in, and here we were, staring down inspiration for some of the cutest pies we'd ever seen.
One of the designs really jumped up at us- a simple braid of pie crust ringing a cute little pie. Summer and I are both suckers for braids, and we couldn't resist. Summer invited me over for a pie-decorating party (she knows how much I love to decorate pies. Seriously, it's awesome.) and I stayed over until almost midnight helping decorate and bake a couple of pies, and helping out with a few other preparations for tomorrow's feast. It was great because I'm not in charge of anything fun for our family's Thanksgiving (we're making biscuits and green bean casserole. BOOOORING.) so I got a chance to do some cute seasonal stuff, even if we don't get to eat any of the ones I decorated.
For the braided pie, the instructions in the Living mag weren't that specific, it just showed how to braid the dough and didn't really mention how to get it on there. Well, I just kind of went for it, using water to stick the braid on and covering the seams that didn't match up so great with little leaf cutouts. Sadly, the braid was too wide and the lip of the dish wasn't very big, so the braid slid down the edges in some places. The final product was kind of sad, honestly, but I've learned my lesson for next time and I'm excited to give it another try soon.
The other design that popped out at us was a simple floral design around the edges of a pie. We decided to throw some flower cutouts on top of the other pie we put together, a deep-dish apple pie.
I was VERY pleased with the result of this pie- it's adorable! It did melt down a little bit in the oven (this was the vegan pie, I don't know if that made any difference) but the flowers held their shape fine and it looks just lovely.
To form the leaves and flowers, I just used some fondant cutters that Summer had laying around- but you could easily use a sharp knife to cut out shapes freehand. Adhere them to the crust using egg wash, or milk, or water. I could have spent all night sticking flowers to this pie, but I showed a small amount of restraint and took Summer's advice to stop while it was well-balanced.
If you're reading this, thinking- "Hey! I want to make an apple pie, dangit!" Go ahead and check out our favorite apple pie recipe, found here. We also have a pumpkin pie recipe that was pretty tasty, right here. If you just need a solid pie crust recipe to make adorable designs, look no further than our goddess, Martha herself.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday, celebrating with anyone you can find! And eat pie!
One of the designs really jumped up at us- a simple braid of pie crust ringing a cute little pie. Summer and I are both suckers for braids, and we couldn't resist. Summer invited me over for a pie-decorating party (she knows how much I love to decorate pies. Seriously, it's awesome.) and I stayed over until almost midnight helping decorate and bake a couple of pies, and helping out with a few other preparations for tomorrow's feast. It was great because I'm not in charge of anything fun for our family's Thanksgiving (we're making biscuits and green bean casserole. BOOOORING.) so I got a chance to do some cute seasonal stuff, even if we don't get to eat any of the ones I decorated.
For the braided pie, the instructions in the Living mag weren't that specific, it just showed how to braid the dough and didn't really mention how to get it on there. Well, I just kind of went for it, using water to stick the braid on and covering the seams that didn't match up so great with little leaf cutouts. Sadly, the braid was too wide and the lip of the dish wasn't very big, so the braid slid down the edges in some places. The final product was kind of sad, honestly, but I've learned my lesson for next time and I'm excited to give it another try soon.
The other design that popped out at us was a simple floral design around the edges of a pie. We decided to throw some flower cutouts on top of the other pie we put together, a deep-dish apple pie.
I was VERY pleased with the result of this pie- it's adorable! It did melt down a little bit in the oven (this was the vegan pie, I don't know if that made any difference) but the flowers held their shape fine and it looks just lovely.
To form the leaves and flowers, I just used some fondant cutters that Summer had laying around- but you could easily use a sharp knife to cut out shapes freehand. Adhere them to the crust using egg wash, or milk, or water. I could have spent all night sticking flowers to this pie, but I showed a small amount of restraint and took Summer's advice to stop while it was well-balanced.
If you're reading this, thinking- "Hey! I want to make an apple pie, dangit!" Go ahead and check out our favorite apple pie recipe, found here. We also have a pumpkin pie recipe that was pretty tasty, right here. If you just need a solid pie crust recipe to make adorable designs, look no further than our goddess, Martha herself.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday, celebrating with anyone you can find! And eat pie!
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