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                                  New Skills.  Old ways.

  Kettle And Canyon represents my way of life.
​
The kettle references teaching myself to pressure can, learning wild game recipes,
and how to cook all usable parts of an animal. The canyon represents the land where
I am learning to hunt big game and fly fish.

​Kettle And Canyon is  my experience in the Rocky Mountains. 

Humble Pie

7/29/2020

16 Comments

 
I grew up in a small farming community in the mid-west. Interestingly, I do not have a single memory of any woman in my family ever baking a pie. I am sure I had some highly qualified pie bakers in my extended family, but not my mother, aunts, sisters, or grandmothers.

In high school, I used to jokingly tell my mom, “Woman, go bake me a pie!” She would almost always respond with “Go bake your own damn pie!”

Looking back, baking pies represented everything that I did not want in my life. At that time, it represented being a woman in the kitchen, living a southern lifestyle. The stigma of baking pies was strong and negative for me as a kid, although I am not sure where I got that perspective.

Baking pies was the antithesis of how my parents raised me. I remember being in the fourth grade the first time my dad asked me where I wanted to go to graduate school. Fourth Grade. I left home at 18 and went to college, with big plans for my life. Throughout the next few years, I became fluent in a second language and lived in three foreign countries. I moved across the U.S. and started grad school at 22. By age 25, I had visited 25 countries. I felt very accomplished and far from my small town. I never felt the urge to bake a pie.

After grad school, my husband and I received a gift certificate from Williams-Sonoma as a wedding present. My husband bought a rolling pin. I remember blankly staring at him while thinking, “What in the hell are you going to do with that?” He said we needed it in case we wanted to bake. I remember rolling my eyes and thinking that was never going to happen.
As newlyweds, we quit our jobs in Denver and moved to a small mountain town. We bought our first house, which was on a dirt road even though it was within city limits. I found my priorities shifting drastically and quickly. I was no longer looking for international flights; I could not even get a direct flight anywhere but Denver.

​One Saturday, my husband was out of town and I woke up very early. I dusted off a 
New York Times cookbook that we had received as a wedding present (and never opened) and looked up a pie recipe. Before 8 a.m., I had made coffee and my first pie.
PicturePictured: Not one of my first pies.
I was baking at 7,000 feet in elevation, which presents plenty of difficulties for experienced bakers. My New York Times recipe book clearly did not make any adjustments for high altitude baking. My first few (20?) pies were pretty lackluster. I struggled with rolling the dough to create an even crust, which means we ate a lot of lumpy pies.

Through trial and error (and a lot of ugly pies), I discovered that I really like a lattice crust. It looks more impressive, even when it is not done well. I have made a lot of uneven, cracked lattice pies. In an effort to hide my inconsistent crust, I went through a stage where I twisted the lattice to make it look more even. It did not look any better and was actually pretty unappealing.

I still struggle with the edges of the pie crust. I leave a little extra crust to fold over the lattice and then crease it. Sometimes this works beautifully and sometimes it is a disaster and I want to throw it into the garbage.

Although I am baking pies often, I am obviously still learning.

I have been thinking about why I started baking pies in the first place. A part of me thinks I probably missed my small town. Or maybe I was just really bored? Regardless of why I started, the significance of baking pies has become clear. Baking a pie is a labor of love. I always bake a pie for someone else – my husband, dinner guests, a friend that is having a hard time. For me, baking pies is an expression of caring for someone and wanting them to have a better day. How can you receive a fresh, homemade pie  and not smile?

I am now well into my 30s and have not been back to my old small town in almost a decade. But, I have a new small town in the Rocky Mountains and I bake my own damn pies.

This is my current go-to pie crust, courtesy of Food 52:
https://food52.com/recipes/78548-stand-mixer-pie-dough

Stand-Up Mixer Pie Crust

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, refrigerated until right before you use it
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of very cold water
​
  1. Chop the butter into pieces about ½ inch thick. Place the butter in the freezer when you prep the rest of the recipe.
  2. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment.
  3. Add the pieces of butter and mix for 5-10 seconds.
  4. With the mixer on low, pour the cold water in very slowly. (The ½ cup of very cold water is necessary at higher altitude. Use less water at sea level, more water the higher you are in elevation)
  5. Mix until the dough is shaggy that holds together when squeezed.
  6. Turn off the mixer, form the dough into a ball, and wrap it in plastic wrap.
  7. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. You can freeze it too (this actually turned out better for me).
16 Comments
Tammy Robinson
7/29/2020 11:20:21 am

Great job. Grandma Betty always cooked pies at holidays - favorites were her pumpkin (which she actually had to make my ex 1 of his own bc he loved hers so much) and her brown bag dutch apple pie. I haven't made many myself, but I understand crust issues. Keep up the good work!

Reply
Kettle and Canyon link
7/30/2020 01:39:16 pm

Thank you for your response! I have not tried a pumpkin pie from scratch, but I think that sounds like a great plan!

Reply
Cindy Hein
7/31/2020 05:41:34 am

Pumpkin is the easiest pie filling to make. Put plenty of cinnamon in it

Judith Nuetzel
7/29/2020 12:08:42 pm

Seriously Beth! Your granmother was a great pie maker (as Tammy has already pointed out) and your sister Jessica makes the best pecan pie ever! I enjoy cooking but was never a baker. You probably get your talents from your great grandmother Healy who was the queen of pies and cobblers. It ia nice to see that your small town upbringing had some influences on you.

Reply
torie mason
7/29/2020 05:12:18 pm

yummmm. will you bake me a pie, woman?! these look so good and honestly i love an imperfect lattice crust. XO.

Reply
Kettle and Canyon link
7/30/2020 01:40:10 pm

I would be happy to bake you a pie! I have been a making quite a few spinach quiches recently with the pie crust.

Reply
Cindy Hein
7/29/2020 05:15:07 pm

I love to cook but don’t do much baking. Pie is my favorite dessert so I have to bake one once in awhile because they aren’t very good in restaurants. My favorite is 🥥 coconut cream! Keep on bakin’, gal!!🥰

Reply
Kettle and Canyon link
7/30/2020 01:41:13 pm

Cindy - So great to hear from you! I would love to make a coconut pie. What do you use for the filling? Also, be sure to like the Kettle and Canyon Facebook page so that you can see updates to the blog!

Reply
Cindy Hein
7/30/2020 03:47:27 pm

I sent pie recipe on Facebook

Abby
7/29/2020 08:05:50 pm

Thanks for this great post! How do you adjust your pie crust recipe for altitude?

Reply
Cindy Hein
7/30/2020 05:50:38 am

Abby, I found this online: One of the myths of high-altitude baking is that pies need no adjustment. That is not exactly true, though pies are easier to adjust than cakes. Pie crusts are often too dry and need slightly more liquid to become pliable (be careful: too much liquid can develop gluten and toughen crusts). Baking pie fillings all the way through takes longer than it would at sea level. Cover pies loosely with foil during part of the baking time to prevent the top crust from burning before the fruit beneath is completely cooked.

Reply
Kettle and Canyon link
7/30/2020 01:42:25 pm

Abby - The pie crust recipe listed above accounts for the higher elevation. Cindy is right - you have to add more water than usual. The original recipe calls for less water, so I increased it. I do not take the extra precautions that Cindy mentioned, but it sounds like a great idea!

Reply
Abby
7/30/2020 06:57:34 pm

Great and thanks so much for the response!

Elaine Waltz link
7/30/2020 10:17:40 am

Pie dough recipe from my mother that even Amanda uses.
Whisk together 3 cups flour, 1tsp salt, 1Tablespoon sugar to blend
Cut in 1 cup or purchased ‘stick’ of butter flavored Crisco-first with a knife , then blend with a pastry cutter (cleaning it off at the end) blend quickly by hand to form pebble or sandy consistency. Add 1/2 cup ice water (without ice) blend at first with pastry cutter then your hand-Just until blended. Working it too much or with a mixer may make it gummy or tough. Form the dough into a log and divide into thirds-form each into a thick disc-wrap and refrigerate for 20 min before use. If it cracks while rolling, moisten with water and overlap edges to seam in the crack. (Fill pie) bake at 425 for first 15 minutes then adjust temp and time for remainder of required time. This is a flakey tender crust every time. Cut leftover dough into strips and dust with cinnamon/sugar and bake 12 min. The kids always fought over these! So Exciting to see your baking interest! Enjoy! -Elaine

Reply
Kettle and Canyon
7/30/2020 01:43:27 pm

Elaine - Thank you for the recipe! I hope that you and your family are well. Feel free to like Kettle and Canyon on Facebook so that you can see other updates!

Reply
Pat Turner
8/22/2021 06:27:35 pm

Hi Beth, your Aunt Linda just shared your blog with me. I am your cousin Patty from Maryland. I am not sure if we met at the family reunion I had many years ago at my home in Elkton,MD. I plan on reading all your blog from here on out. Love the pies you did a great job, be proud of yourself.

Keep up the good work and enjoy every minute of it.

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    About Beth

    From no experience in the outdoors and few culinary skills to big game hunting and rendering elk lard, this is my journey.

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