PIE

“Cut my pie into four pieces, I don’t think I could eat eight.”

― Yogi Berra

Besides the pies that my wife makes, there are two sources of pie in our household.

Church Lady  Pie, Church Lady Pie

If I don't get some, I think I'm gonna die.

Give away the green grass, give away the sky,

But don't give away my Church Lady  Pie.

― Apologies to Dennis Lee

The first is affectionately know as “Church Lady Pie.” Every month the Ladies Auxiliary of Knox Presbyterian Church produces pies for sale. They use in-season ingredients as much as possible: Spring brings rhubarb pies, summer brings peach pies, and the Fall brings apple. It is essentially a Pie of the Month Club.The pies come frozen, and each one has baking instructions. These pies always taste delicious, and they fall into the ‘eat more’ classification. There is, however, one drawback to these pies. When our son was a teenager, he would arrive home, remove a pie from the freezer, bake it, and then eat THE WHOLE THING HIMSELF.

If you are interested in the most flavourful pies you will ever eat, call the Presbyterian Church Office in Bracebridge, and, if you are lucky, they will add you to the list.

Pine Cone Pie, Pine Cone Pie,

If I don't get some, I think I'm gonna die.

Give away the green grass, give away the sky,

But don't give away my Pine Cone Pie.

― Apologies to Dennis Lee

Our second source of pie is produced by Brian McAsey, and his operation is called Pine Cone Pies. Brian is formerly from England, and he has a delightful south-east London accent.

Brian’s pies are also delicious, and, unlike the Presbyterian Ladies’ dessert pies, his offerings are main courses. Perfect for those times when you do not feel like preparing dinner.

His lineup includes shepherd’s pie, steak pie, and Cornish pasties for the beef lover. He also prepares Quiche Lorraine with ham or a vegetarian variation with cheese. His other vegetarian offering is vegetable pie with ten fresh vegetables in a homemade mushroom sauce topped with creamy mashed potatoes. Chicken pot pie and sausage strip pie topped with puff pastry round out his menu. If you are interested, call Brian at 705-646-8992. You will be glad you did.

Think of this: one of Brian’s pies followed up by a piece of Church Lady Pie. It does not get any better.

My last item is not a pie but rather a large cookie the size of a pie. It was given to me as a Christmas present by my daughter’s mother-in-law, Ruth Scholey. Just in case you cannot read the writing, it says Goose Grease Gramps. The cookie was delicious. Thanks, Ruth.

“I went to sit in the bus station and think this over. I ate another apple pie and ice cream; that’s practically all I ate all the way across the country, I knew it was nutritious and it was delicious, of course.”

― Jack Kerouac

Cooking with Charmaine

 I do not do much of the cooking in our household. My specialties are pizza and cream puffs. However, when a Facebook ad for a holiday entertaining class at The Creative Cook in downtown Bracebridge popped up in my feed, I decided to take the plunge. When I arrived, I was greeted
warmly by Beth Kelly, the owner of The Creative Cook, and our chef for the evening, Charmaine Broughton. You may recognize Charmaine, ­­ she appears on Daytime York Region, CHCH Morning Live, and Breakfast Television, She also writes for Running Room Magazine. Charmaine is on the left in the photo and Beth is on the right.


 Here are the members of my class: in the foreground, Debbie and Kim; back row, left to right, Gramps, Elsie, and Larry.

The first treat of the evening was prosciutto ­wrapped figs with blue cheese. This is a great hors d'oeuvre and is dead easy to make. No recipe needed here. Simply place a fig, a dab of blue cheese,and a sprig of arugula on a piece of prosciutto and roll it up. Presto! This is what you get.








 Next Charmaine prepared Twenty Minute Seafood Chowder. This recipe starts with onions and a carrot and winds it’s way through spices, clam juice, clams, water chestnuts, and salmon. If you like oysters, as I do, add one to the center of the bowl. Lots and lots of flavors here and the crunchy water chestnuts add a nice mouth sensation.





Larry and I teamed up to make the next delight: Caramel Covered Brie with Dried Cherries and Nuts. Melt butter, brown sugar and corn syrup together, then stir in baking soda,dried cherries or cranberries, rosemary, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Pour this mixture over a wheel of brie and serve with an assortment of crackers. This is definitely an eat more. It will soon disappear, believe me! You can also substitute popcorn for the brie if you wish.






The grande finale to the evening was Coconut White Chocolate Cheesecake. Use a food processor to combine nuts, coconut, and butter to make the bottom layer of the cake. This mixture goes in the oven for ten minutes. Next, use the food processor to combine cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, eggs, melted chocolate, and rum. Pour this concoction on top of the first layer and bake. Thirty minutes later the cake comes out and after the addition of some garnishes(lightly toasted coconut, finely chopped white chocolate and fresh berries) the eating commences. Lovely, lovely, lovely.


 All of the recipes are available at http://charmainebroughton.com/creative-cook-holiday-entertaining-cooking-class/.
If I have whetted your interest, Beth is planning more cooking sessions for the winter months. Check out http://www.thecreativecook.ca/ for details. You will not be disappointed!