THE Pushing Daisies Pie.

I did it.
I patiently waiting for my pears to ripen.
I did the grocery store marathon trying to find cheap port wine (doesn't exist).

I conquered the homemade gruyere crust.

I baked THE Pushing Daisies Pear Gruyere Pie.


Is it good? Couldn't tell ya.

I'm waiting (yes, more waiting) for a friend from Ventura to make the drive north tomorrow and THEN we will do the taste test.
Honestly, though, I am quite confident that it will be amazing. Just look at it. And look at the ingredients. You can't go wrong.

I just wish Ned, Olive, Chuck, and Emerson were around to try it...
I guess I'll just have to open my own Pie Hole.

Pear Gruyère Pie
Gruyère Pie Crust:
2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp. sugar
20 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1 in pieces
3 oz. Gruyère, grated finely
6 tbsp. ice water

Whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and grated gruyere in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter. Sprinkle ice water over flour in increments of one tablespoon, toss with fork after each addition. When dough begins to clump together as you stir, form two equal balls of dough. Roll out the bottom crust, place in pie dish, pour pears over crust and top with top crust.

Spiced Poached Pear Pie Filling:
3 lbs. Bartlett pears
1/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. port wine
1 1/2 c. water
2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp clove
1 cinnamon stick

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Add sugar, wine, water, vanilla, cinnamon stick, nutmeg and clove into a large stock pot or dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Put an empty medium bowl into the freezer to chill.
Peel and halve pears. Scoop the core and seeds out and then cut the halves in half. Once liquid mixture has come to a boil add cut pears. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the pears are tender.
Using a slotted spoon remove the pear quarters from the poaching liquid and put them into the chilled bowl. Return the poaching liquid to a boil and reduce until you have about 3/4 of a cup of syrup. Add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to the syrup to thicken the syrup further.
Remove the pears from the chilled bowl layer them into the bottom of the pie. Pour the syrup on top of the pears and top with top crust, sealing edges.
Bake pie until the crust is golden and you can see the filling bubble up between the slits in the crust, about 30 to 40 minutes.

3rd graders, take III

There must be something in the air of this 3rd grade classroom...they are the only students who consistently interrogate me with some of the most random questions.
They must love me. Or something.

Today's dialogue:

"Miss Heinz, I have a question."
ME (thinking it was academic): Ok...
"Would you have a baby?"
ME (surprised): Uh, yes, someday.
"Do you already have a baby?"
ME: No.
"Do you have a husband?"
ME: No.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
ME: No.
"Why not? Why don't you have a boyfriend? You're nice."
ME (laughing and not quite sure how to answer): Um, because the right person hasn't come along yet.
"Well, do you have a lamp?"
ME: Yes.
(Really? A lamp comes after boyfriend and husband?!? I guess that's the next best thing.)
"Is it a big lamp?"
ME: It's just a normal sized lamp. Wait, didn't Carlos already ask me all of these questions a few weeks ago?
"Yes, but I'm not Carlos!"

And then the questions started coming...
"Do you have a dog?
Do you have a yard?
Do you have a dad? A mom? Any brothers or sisters?
Does your brother hit you?" (WHAT?!? What kind of follow-up question is that?)

I love my job and the entertainment that it brings :)

Scones...with a kick.

Once upon a time, a wonderful Irishman decided to make cider. Hard apple cider (aka: Apple Pie liquour). He and his equally wonderful wife chopped up apples and let them steep in vodka, brandy, rum, and loads of cinnamon until one day the apples and cinnamon were pulled out and separated.

What came of these apples, you might ask?
Apple Pie.
Apple/Lemon Cake.
and...

Apple Cinnamon Scones.

Please excuse the yellow tint to the photo. Darn kitchen light.

I followed my trusty scone recipe (see other scone blog entries) and added a very generous amount of cinnamon, plus one generous cup of chopped brandy/rum soaked apples.

I've got to admit, these scones have a kick if you get a bite with the apples, but who doesn't like a jolt in the morning? Drizzle with powdered sugar glaze and you've got a tasty midnight snack.

My favorite part? Packaging them up in Ziplock bags and dropping them off on various doorsteps. It's kind of fun being a scone fairy. Perhaps next week I'll be a cookie fairy...

Pie

I'm sorry if you are hungry...and I'm sorry if I make you start salivating or talking pie, but I've got pie on the brain and I need to get it out on paper, er, I mean blog.

I've been watching the show Pushing Daisies.
It's wonderful.
A tad bit strange. But funny. And the main character is a pie maker. It was love at first sight...sadly, there are only two seasons, but let's not talk about that.

I love pie. a lot.

Dear future husband,
I'm not the type of girl who has had my wedding planned since the age of 5 BUT I know one thing: there will be pie served. I hope you like pie.

Favorite pies?

Ollalieberry Pie (it's the best. it will be at my wedding. and at my funeral. and everywhere in between.)

Brown Bag Apple Pie.

Avila Barn Cherry Pie.

Pies to try?

Strawberry Lemon Meringue (it sounds intriguing).

Pear with Gruyere baked in the crust (THE Pushing Daisies pie).

Oh Carlos...(take II)

This kid is full of brilliance.

"I'm tired of working."
ME: We've only been working for 35 minutes.
(Another student) "Yea, 35 minutes is not long!"
ME: Carlos, you'll have to work harder than 35 minutes in high school and college.
"Yea, that's why I'm gonna flunk those two grades."


NOW my eyes are open...8 years of education was only two grades?!? Unbelievable.

Oh Carlos...

Dialogue with a 3rd grader:

"Are you in high school?"
ME: No.
"Are you in university?"
ME: No. I'm done with everything.
"So you're married?"
ME: No.
"Oh, so you're not done with married."
(pause)
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
ME: No.
"Do you have an ex-husband?"
ME: (starting to laugh) No.
Another kid chimes in, "Look, she's laughing. She DOES have an ex-husband. Miss Heinz, you have an ex-husband, right?"

And this is just one example of why the life of a teacher is never dull and boring.

Note to self: Always carry a Post-It to write down these kinds of conversations.

A day off...to muse, of course.

Muse? What a strange word. But, I do have some musings to share, regardless of how odd that word may sound.

-I went through an addiction of Tejave unsweetened black iced tea last summer...it's back. Blame it on the unreasonably hot weather we've been having. A friend (who grew up in Ireland, don't judge) called it "stupid hot" weather. I agree.

-Every time I open my front door, I'm greeted by cool air. Praise the Lord I have a downstairs, mountain-facing apartment that stays cool naturally...otherwise, I'd be living out of my car with the AC blasting.

-2 year old children make the best companions. They are little sponges. It's a great form of entertainment to teach them new words. Yesterday, the 2 year old I spend most of my free time with looked at my leg freckles and then gave me a face that said "what on earth ARE those?" I said "freckles" and he repeated "freckles" about 30 times as he attempted to count all of my freckles. By #22, "freckle" sounded more like "freak hold". Priceless.

-I greatly dislike the "Two of us.org" ad that pops up on Pandora. "Make your relationship recession proof?" "Tips on how to make your marriage last?" Really? (gag) Cheesy. I just want my music.

-Where the heck did September go? Seriously. I have rent due tomorrow and I'm pretty sure that I JUST paid rent last week. Wasn't last week Sept 1st? This year's months have flown by faster than I ever remember months flying by.

-The clouds were beautiful yesterday afternoon/evening. I wonder if the Netherlands have beautiful clouds in November. Hmm, I shall see. :)

-I risked it. I bought nectarines from the store today. They looked really good. I couldn't resist. I hope I'm not disappointed.