Davis & Dewald Thanksgiving 2008

Four pies this year!

I made the first two, a vegan pumpkin pie and apple pie, both repeats from the Obama party. My brother cut out this amazing turkey - wow!

The barley crust on the apple pie turned out great. Here's the recipe, adapted from Angelica's Kitchen cookbook:

4 cups barley flour
2 T maple syrup
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t sea salt
3/4 cup walnut oil

This made a very hardy crust that would be amazing with a savory pie.

After a delicious gluten-free vegan Thanksgiving dinner (it was really good), we went over to Meghan and Gahlord's house, and then the two of them, plus JT and Rachel, came back over to our house for pie. Greg made maple whip to go with these beautiful pies that Meghan made.

The first is an apple-quince tart with sour cream - very original and rich with an amazing shortbread-like crust. The second is a Japanese squash pie that was as creamy as cheese cake and perfectly baked.

Greg about to enter the PEZ

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

From the kitchen of Andi Whitaker, my bff in Berea, Ohio:

Because I'm off of eggs and milk for a little while, I figured I just wasn't going to get any pie this Thanksgiving. That's a pretty unbearable thought, no? So I tested out this recipe last night: 

Vegan "Punkin" Pie 

Take 1 package (12 oz) of soft tofu. Blenderize it.
Add 1 small can (15 oz) of punkin. Re-blenderize.
Add 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of ginger and 1/4 tsp of clove. Tri-blenderize.

Pour into 9" graham cracker crust. (I guess you could make your own, but I had a toddler clinging to my leg, so I used a store-bought crust.)

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 min, then turn down to 350 and bake for 40 min. Let cool and resist the urge to add whipped cream.

The photo doesn't look like much, but it was extra tasty. I give it a big thumbs up. I'm going to do an apple crumble (with apples from our tree!) for Thanksgiving day. I hope it's as good!

Baltimore Pie Party (People)!

Last month we had a pie party at Jamie, Anna, and Dana's house in Baltimore. We decided to make an Apple-Rhubarb-Pear-Basil pie after viewing this post on feeding maybelle. We tweaked it a little and I wrote down our recipe, but now cannot find it, alas. Basically, I made the crust using the standard Nothing-in-the-House crust recipe. Then, Jamie cut the apples and pear (about 2 cups, and acquired at the Baltimore Farmers' Market):and picked the basil in the backyard: Anna cut the rhubarb (about 2 cups): and made the basil simple syrup with one leaf basil, sugar, and water: (I like how the filling bowl looks like fluted crust!)

We combined the fruit, simple syrup (added no additional sugar), spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger & cloves), put it in the filling, topped with a crust, designed with basil leafs cut out and in relief:
Then we invited friends. and pies. Bob made a delicious vegan savory pie, topped with mashed potatoes and filled with TVP, and an assortment of fresh veggies. He's seen happily cutting it here: Justin and Becca also brought a gourmet vegan savory pie, my favorite of the night. With a gravy and all sorts of yummy veggies. It's pictured here on the left, with Bob's pie on the right, and a can of National Bohemian (NattyBo, Baltimore's beer) in the corner: For dessert we had the rubapple pear basil pie, which turned out great, with the tang of the rhubarb, sweet of the syrup, and a pleasantly subtle basil flavor, and a scrumptious pumpkin pie brought by Katie and Katie from their excursion to a nearby orchard.
Here's Justin and Becca in the post-Pie Enjoyment Zone:and Jamie, who Nothing-in-the-House photographers caught licking his plate: We ate 4 pies, listened to Fleetwood Mac, and made lots of jokes. Baltimore Pie Party, People! (who want to know what kind of pie you are making for the biggest pie party of all, Thanksgiving)!?!

Strawn's Strawberry Pie

On a recent road trip from Dallas to the border town of Shreveport, Louisiana, I had the opportunity to sample a strawberry pie. Strawn's Eat Shop has been serving hamburgers, fried chicken, and fresh ice-box strawberry pies since 1944.

I had never experienced a strawberry pie, and was expecting something syrupy and mushy. But the strawberries were fresh, flavorful and firm. The heavy topping of homemade whipped cream made the pie double dang good.

I Made Two Pies... For Obama

The night before the election
With nerves running high
While my peeps worked the phone banks


I made these two pies:

The first is a pumpkin
Which was lacking in flavor
Not enough maple syrup
or spices to savor


The second looked sloppy
But tasted appley and sweet
An American classic
That like Obama, can't be beat.


We ate them together
On Tuesday night
We are all one people
One nation, that's right!

Obamastication: A President Who Loves Pie!

What a week for Americans--pie-loving and otherwise. There is much to say on this historic occasion, but we'll leave it to other publications, for this humble (get it?) blog is one with an eye on the pie. We asked Nothing-in-the-House readers and contributors to make and document their own Obama pies, and so far have had just 3 (and one is a cake) take us up on the offer. Send in those pres-pie-pics, folks, it's not too late!

Here is an Obama sweet potato pie I made on election night, in an attempt to keep my hands busy and think positive thoughts as I anxiously waited for the returns to come in. Here's the recipe I used:

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients
2 ounces butter, softened
2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (from Eastern Market)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
5 ounces (about 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust

Directions
1. Prepare Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions.

2. Mix butter, potatoes, sugar and evaporated milk until well blended. Add vanilla, eggs, and spices; mix well. Pour into the bottom crust. Top, and bake 45 min. in a 350° oven.


Though it was hard to resist, we eyed it nervously, anticipating the official announcement before we could have our pie and eat it too. When the west coast polls closed and CNN made their projection, we finally got a piece of the pie... and entered the Pie Enjoyment Zone with the rest of roaring D.C.

Over at APT, Ward was cooking up his first pies EVER for Obama volunteers at the Portland, Maine office. Here's some pics, and check out the whole story here.

And though it is cake, not pie, this is too good to not post. In Obama's home city of Chicago, Heather was baking this BEAUTIFUL Obama sunrise cake, and then headed over to Grant Park to share with Oprah, Jesse Jackson and the rest of the city.
Obama: A lot of people have been saying they can make sweet potato pie.
Us: Yes, we DID.