Teeny Pies

If there is one other person in my life that eats more pie than Aaron it has got to be my dear friend and pie phenomenon, Carly. I would say that Mo eats pie because he likes it and more often than not there is a plethora of pie in his general vicinity whereas Carly consumes pie as though it’s the one pastry in the entire world that will make her truly happy. And gosh darn it, if it doesn’t make me the happiest person in the entire world to be able to provide her with ample amounts of pie. Like I said, she is a pie phenomenon and it makes this lady baker all warm and gooey to have had Carly around for the weekend. She has recently become the newest, hippest host for the Sunnyside Up Show on Sprout, so when she was town this past weekend we figured we should probably bake at least two pies to celebrate! 

We decided on strawberry basil and bluebarb, two classic Carly favorites. After a quick dash to the store in the pouring rain (we really couldn’t have asked for a better baking day) we chopped and sugared, rolled out crust, filled pies, and even made a few crust cookies sprinkled with cinnamon and vanilla sugar. I love baking pies with her! She’s so passionate and excited by every step and her lovely energy is infectious. Our pies came together perfectly, and we spent the rest of our rainy afternoon snacking on small slices after they’d cooled a bit and watching a very random, albeit perfectly suited movie called Toast on Netflix. 

The bluebarb was the winner of the evening however. The sweet, dark purple juice of the blueberries, perfectly thickened with just the right amount of cornstarch enveloped the pinkish chunks of tart rhubarb. The bright filling was tucked into a flaky, buttery whole wheat crust and the result was a truly stunning pie. I had seconds… everyone had seconds, and at least ten minutes were spent oooing and aaahhhing over this insanely perfect looking pie. Success!

The next day, after several slices of breakfast pie, we tucked a few crust cookies into Carly’s backpack and bid her farewell. The pie phenomenon had to head home. She had silly songs to sing and a slew of small children to entertain. I can only hope she consumed enough pie to last her until our paths cross again.